Is there a place for culture in life cycle sustainability assessment?

Purpose

Cultures are increasingly recognised for their inherent value, yet, despite political and societal concern, culture is widely unrecognised in assessment techniques. Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), a technique encompassing environmental, social and economic aspects, is growing in popularity. However, cultural values are rarely considered in LCSA. This paper reviews the meaning of culture; current efforts to include culture in environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), social LCA (S-LCA) and LCSA; and aspects to address when investigating integration of culture in LCA, S-LCA and LCSA.

Methods

A literature review was undertaken on definitions of culture, recognition of culture in policy and decision making, and how culture is incorporated into assessment techniques. The potential for integrating culture in LCSA was evaluated in terms of the potential benefits and challenges.

Results

Culture is often intangible and inaccessible, which may then lead to a lack of recognition in decision-making processes, or if it is recognised, then it is relegated as an afterthought. Explicitly including consideration of culture within LCSA will allow its representation alongside other sustainability aspects. The challenges of representing culture within LCSA include recognising when ‘culture’ should be distinguished from ‘social’; culture’s dynamic nature; the data collection process; and the diversity of cultures between stakeholders and at different scales from community through to nation. The potential benefits of representing culture within LCSA include greater resonance of LCSA results with stakeholders; a more comprehensive decision support tool which appropriately accounts for values; and an assessment technique which may help protect communities and their diversity of cultures.

Conclusions

Representing culture in LCSA is not straightforward and, to some extent, may be addressed through social indicators. However, developing LCSA to explicitly address cultural values has potential benefits. Future research should focus on opportunities for the development of (a) a culturally inclusive LCSA process and (b) additional cultural indicators and/or dimensions of existing LCSA indicators that represent cultural values.     

Is there a place for nuclear medicine in the radioembolization of liver tumors?

This is purposely an ultraprovocative title for the broad nuclear medicine community (including radiophysics and radiopharmacy) which leads us to ask questions about how we should correctly use ⁹⁰Yttrium (MSY90) microspheres in the treatment of liver tumors.     

Is there a place in the United Kingdom for intensive antacid treatment for chronic peptic ulceration?

Sixty nine patients with chronic duodenal or juxtapyloric ulceration were studied in a prospective double blind randomised trial to compare the efficacy of antacid and placebo at high (30 ml seven times daily) and low (10 ml as required) doses. After four weeks ulcers had healed in 12 out of 18 patients (67%) receiving "low dose" antacid compared with in six out of 17 patients (35%) receiving low dose placebo; ulcers had also healed in six out of 19 patients (32%) receiving "high dose" antacid compared with in two out of 15 patients (13%) receiving high dose placebo. Overall, the effect of antacid was superior to that of placebo in healing ulcers (p less than 0.05) and the effect of low dose treatment was superior to that of high dose treatment (p less than 0.01). There were no significant differences between antacid and placebo at eight weeks. Antacid was better than placebo in relieving pain, but the difference was not significant. Poor compliance and high incidence of diarrhoea made high dose antacid an impractical treatment. Low dose antacid was associated with a significantly better rate of healing than high dose antacid and was far better tolerated. This low dosage of antacid should be considered to be an active treatment in trials of ulcer healing.     

Is there a place for placebo controlled trials of antiepileptic drugs?

In many patients who develop epilepsy the disease is short lived and the overall number of seizures small. The role of anticonvulsant drugs in such patients is uncertain. If treatment is merely suppressive and the disease self limiting then treatment may not be necessary in some patients. If, on the other hand, early treatment prevents the subsequent evolution to chronic epilepsy then it is imperative. To resolve this issue it is essential to undertake placebo controlled trials, in which a group of patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy is given active treatment and compared with a similar group given placebo alone.     

Mutual replacement of species in space in a grassland community: is there an evidence for functional complementarity of replacement groups?

Many plant communities show strong fine‐scale spatiotemporal dynamics due to frequent natality and mortality events. This process is often non‐random, implying that the community can be broken into groups within which species mutually replace each other in time and are distinct from the other such groups. We examined whether such groups fill separate niches and are functionally complementary in a species‐rich mountain grassland. We used cluster analysis of fine‐scale spatial data time series to discern which species were more likely to replace each other in space. Next, a four‐year removal experiment (removing one group in each experimental treatment, or similar amount of biomass across all groups) was used to determine whether simultaneous occurrence of all these groups would maintain a greater total biomass than if an entire group were eliminated. The results do not support the hypothesis that the simultaneous presence of groups of species that replace each other in space is necessary for the community to attain its maximum biomass. However, the experiment showed strong differences among the replacement groups in their capacity for opportunistic behaviour: some groups responded quickly to space made available by removal while others did not. Furthermore, there were strong differences between groups composed primarily of grasses and groups composed primarily of dicots. In spite of the large differences among these groups, they are not functionally complementary. We therefore conclude that replacement processes in this grassland community more closely resemble a neutral process with sets of species differing in the speed at which they fill empty spaces.     

Can telomerase be put in its place?

The Cajal body is an intriguing nuclear structure present in a great variety of plant, animal, and some fungal cells. Recent work on the ribonucleoprotein enzyme telomerase has indicated an unanticipated degree of intranuclear dynamics of both its RNA and protein subunits. In this issue, Jady et al. place the Cajal body on the intranuclear traffic route of telomerase RNA (Jady et al., 2004).     

Is there a future for therapeutic use of transcranial magnetic stimulation?

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has in recent years been used to explore therapeutic opportunities in a bewildering variety of conditions. Although there is good evidence that this technique can modify cortical activity, the rationale for its use in many of the conditions investigated so far is not clear. Here we discuss the effects of rTMS in healthy subjects and how it has been used in a number of neurological conditions. We argue that a better understanding of both the effects of rTMS and the pathological processes underlying the conditions for which it is used will reveal whether rTMS really does offer therapeutic potential and, if so, for which conditions.     

Alternative hormone replacement regimens: is there a need for further clinical trials?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the randomized trials of hormone replacement therapy. RECENT FINDINGS: Studies have shown that conjugated equine estrogen 0.625 mg a day plus medroxyprogesterone acetate 2.5 mg a day increased the risk of cardiovascular events during the first year of treatment in women both with and without coronary heart disease. Conjugated equine estrogen plus medroxyprogesterone acetate also increased the overall risk of myocardial infarction and stroke in women without coronary heart disease, and myocardial infarction or death in women with coronary heart disease, and also increased the risk of breast cancer, cognitive decline and dementia. Unopposed, oral 17B-estradiol increased the risk of stroke during the first 6 months of treatment in women with a previous stroke. Oral 17B-estradiol with or without cyclic progestin had no effect on the progression of atherosclerosis or reinfarction. Transdermal 17B-estradiol plus cyclic progestin was associated with a non-significant increase in coronary heart disease events in women with coronary heart disease. Compared with placebo, cardiovascular events increased in the ongoing estrogen-only arm of the Women's Health Initiative, indicating that unopposed conjugated equine estrogen is unlikely to be cardioprotective. However, oral 17B-estradiol retarded the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis in younger women without coronary heart disease. SUMMARY: Hormone replacement therapy should not be initiated for the primary or secondary prevention of coronary heart disease in women. A trial of 17B-estradiol started at menopause in women without coronary heart disease should be considered.     

What place for polyacrylamide in proteomics?

Two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2D-PAGE) continues to deliver high quality protein resolution and dynamic range for the proteomics researcher. To remain as the preferred method for protein separation and characterization, several key steps need to be implemented to ensure quality sample preparation and speed of analysis. Here, we describe the progress made towards establishing 2D-PAGE as the optimal separation tool for proteomics research.     

Is there a role for amplifiers in sexual selection?

The amplifier hypothesis states that selection could favour the evolution of traits in signallers that improve the ability of receivers to extract honest information from other signals or cues. We provide a formal definition of amplifiers based on the receiver's mechanisms of signal perception and we present a game-theoretical model in which males advertise their quality and females use sequential-sampling tactics to choose among prospective mates. The main effect of an amplifier on the female mating strategy is to increase her mating threshold, making the female more selective as the effectiveness of the amplifier increases. The effects of the amplifier on male advertising strategy depends both on the context and on the types of the amplifier involved. We consider two different contexts for the evolution of amplifiers (when the effect of amplifiers is on signals and when it is on cues) and two types of amplifiers (the ‘neutral amplifier’, when it improves quality assessment without altering male attractiveness, and the ‘attractive amplifier’, when it improves both quality assessment and male attractiveness). The game-theoretical model provides two main results. First, neutral and attractive amplifiers represent, respectively, a conditional and an unconditional signalling strategy. In fact, at the equilibrium, neutral amplifiers are displayed only by males whose advertising level lays above the female acceptance threshold, whereas attractive amplifiers are displayed by all signalling males, independent of their quality. Second, amplifiers of signals increase the differences in advertising levels between amplifying and not-amplifying males, but they decrease the differences within each group, so that the system converges towards an ‘all-or-nothing’ signalling strategy. By applying concepts from information theory, we show that the increase in information transfer at the perception level due to the amplifier of signals is contrasted by a decrease in information transfer at the emitter level due to the increased stereotypy of male advertising strategy.     

Is there a role for auxin in early embryogenesis?

The very young embryo of a flowering plant is not an idealsystem in which to study the effects of auxin. Conversely, auxin isusually not considered as a major component of developmental processesin early embryogenesis. However, recent findings from both experimentalstudies in Brassica and analyses of developmental mutants inArabidopsis make it worthwhile to examine critically thepossibility that auxin may have a role in early embryogenesis. In thisreview, we will focus on specific processes, such as formation of anapical-basal axis of polarity and the initiation of the primary rootmeristem. To provide a conceptual framework in which to discuss possibleeffects of auxin, we will first briefly summarise essential features ofearly embryogenesis in Arabidopsis. This will be followed by anevaluation of relevant data suggesting a role for auxin in axisformation and root meristem initiation. Finally, we will discuss a fewexperimental approaches that we believe are necessary to examine whetheror not auxin plays a role in fundamental processes of earlyembryogenesis.     

Is there a role for actin in virus budding?

Electrophoretic data from both sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels (SDS-PAGE) and acid-urea gels reveal a protein in purified murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) which co-migrates with purified chick skeletal muscle actin. 125I-labeling of intact and disrupted virus preparations shows that the actin-like protein is not artifactually adsorbed to the outside of virions during isolation. Quantitative SDS- PAGE and examination of negatively stained preparations show that the actin cannot be accounted for by a contaminating population of virus- free vesicles. The ultrastructure of mammary epithelial cells and of Rous sarcoma virus-transformed chick embryo fibroblasts shows that virus extrusion is associated with filament-containing cellular processes. In particular, MuMTV is released from the ends of long microvilli which contain a bundle of 6-8-nm microfilaments and share other structural features with intestinal microvilli. We suggest that virus nucleoids require an interaction with host cell contractile proteins for their extrusion from the cell.     

Is there a role for copper in neurodegenerative diseases?

Copper is an essential metal in living organisms; thus, the maintenance of adequate copper levels is of vital importance and is highly regulated. Dysfunction of copper metabolism leading to its excess or deficiency results in severe ailments. Two examples of illnesses related to alterations in copper metabolism are Menkes and Wilson diseases. Several proteins are involved in the maintenance of copper homeostasis, including copper transporters and metal chaperones. In the last several years, the beta-amyloid-precursor protein (beta-APP) and the prion protein (PrP(C)), which are related to the neurodegenerative disorders Alzheimer and prion diseases respectively, have been associated with copper metabolism. Both proteins bind copper through copper-binding domains that also have been shown to reduce copper in vitro. Moreover, this ability to reduce copper is associated with a neuroprotective effect exerted by the copper-binding domain of both proteins against copper in vivo. In addition to a functional link between copper and beta-APP or PrP(C), evidence suggests that copper has a role in Alzheimer and prion diseases. Here, we review the evidence that supports both, the role of beta-APP and PrP(C), in copper metabolism and the putative role of copper in neurodegenerative diseases.     

Is there a dietary requirement for DHA in pregnancy?

The metabolic demand for docosahexaenoic acid (22:6 n-3, DHA) is increased during pregnancy because of the extra needs of the fetus, expanded maternal cell mass and placenta. In Western countries maternal dietary DHA intake in pregnancy is low and it is not clear whether adaptive metabolic mechanisms, such as increased DHA synthesis from precursor fatty acids, are capable of meeting the increased DHA need in pregnancy. Consequently randomized controlled trials are important to determine whether additional dietary DHA in pregnancy modifies maternal or infant health outcomes. The available randomized comparisons of DHA supplements vs placebo have assessed outcomes as diverse as maternal depression, infant visual acuity and development, and infant growth and allergy. The outcomes of these trials have not been conclusive because they have often been limited by small sample size. On the other hand, large-scale trials assessing marine oil supplementation with large doses indicate that DHA supplementation in pregnancy is safe.     

Is there a role for GPIs in yeast cell-wall assembly?

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) membrane anchors are essential for the integration of yeast cell adhesion proteins into the cell wall, but mature cell-wall proteins are unlikely to be attached directly to the membrane. We thus propose that GPI-anchored glycoprotein forms are intermediates in a process that crosslinks the major components of the cell wall by transglycosylation. This mechanism may be critical for both the biosynthesis and overall architecture of the cell wall.