Marginal Player Research Articles

Oxidative stress and cardiovascular injury: Part II: animal and human studies.

This review so far has considered the role of vascular cells in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and novel approaches to their detection in integrated systems such as animal models of vascular disease and humans. We now turn attention to evidence consistent with a role for ROS in models of human disease and in discrete patient populations. We also briefly comment on the outcomes of clinical trials of antioxidants. Mainly, these have been disappointing. However, it is premature to conclude that the oxidation hypothesis of disease causality has been adequately tested. Animal studies, for the most part, support a fundamental role for ROS in cardiovascular disease. Any controversy could in part reflect the use of ineffective antioxidants and the selection of models in which ROS generation is of marginal relevance to the measured outcome. Both of these issues require a quantitatively accurate measurement of drug effect (ie, antioxidant capacity) before hypotheses relating to the role of oxidant stress can be addressed rationally. These issues pertain to clinical trials also, as we will discuss. However, animal studies permit administration of much more powerful antioxidants (eg, rate constant for interaction of superoxide dismutase (SOD) with O2·− ≈1.6×109 · mol/L−1 · s−1) than is possible in humans (eg, rate constant for vitamin E ≈0.59 mol/L−1 · s−1) or, like in the case of vitamin E, doses of the antioxidant in excess of those usually applied in clinical research. ### Atherosclerosis Animal models of atherosclerosis have documented that all the constituents of the plaque produce and use ROS. Lesion formation is associated with the accumulation of lipid peroxidation products1,2 and induction of inflammatory genes,3 inactivation of NO·resulting in endothelial dysfunction, 4,5 activation of matrix metalloproteinases,6 and increased smooth muscle cell growth.7 …

The Philippine Development Puzzle

Introduction The Philippines is one of the world's major development puzzles. In the immediate aftermath of the Pacific War, and despite extensive wartime destruction, it had one of the highest per capita incomes in East Asia: above South Korea and Taiwan; significantly higher than Thailand, Indonesia, and China; and below only Japan, the then Malaya, and the city states of Hong Kong and Singapore. Among newly independent countries, its initial conditions were favourable. American rule from 1898 had been comparatively benign by colonial standards. The transition to formal independence was relatively painless, compared with some of its neighbours. Also unlike some of its neighbours, it had no really serious communal or ethnic divides. Its education standards were amongst the highest in the developing world. By dint of its colonial experience, it had privileged access to the market of the world's largest economy, a facility that continued until the expiration of the Laurel-Langley Agreement in 1974. The country's civil institutions were comparatively well developed, too. It possessed a reasonably democratic political system, albeit of the winner-takes-all variety. Its judiciary and legal system were quite well developed and somewhat independent. Its press was open and vigorous. Finally, while not especially resource-rich, the country possessed ample agricultural land to sustain a generation and more of rapid agricultural growth. Yet its development outcomes have been disappointing by any yardstick. In 2000, its real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) was about the same as that of 1980 (see Figure 1). Its per capita income was overtaken by South Korea and Taiwan in the 1950s, Thailand in the 1970s, Indonesia in the 1980s, and China in the 1990s (see Figure 2). It missed out almost completely on the Asian boom from the late 1970s until the mid-1990s (see Table 1). In particular, the restructuring from the mid-1980s, which witnessed the large-scale migration of labour-intensive industries to China and the lower-wage ASEAN economies, largely bypassed the Philippines. By the 1980s and early 1990s, the Philippines became an increasingly marginal player in the region's trade and investment

Community Economic Development in Urban and Regional Regeneration: Unfolding Potential or Justifiable Scepticism?

In this paper I explore the scale of community economic development (CED) and the barriers impacting upon its evolution within an English region—Yorkshire and The Humber. CED has been widely perceived by a range of policymakers as one mechanism through which to moderate the scale of economic decline in more disadvantaged localities. A number of funding sources, and in particular European Structural Funds, have increasingly allocated resources to creating and sustaining CED projects. But evidence from this region points to a very limited population of community businesses which undertake trading activities. Moreover, the sector is bedevilled by a series of constraints including those revolving around finance and partnership working. A number of policy developments could enhance the status and sustainability of CED projects, including a more structured approach towards the funding and operation of intermediary agencies. Even then, CED is likely to prove only a marginal player in economic reconversion. The scale of market failure in ‘CED localities’ points to the need for a more interventionist and collective approach to regeneration.

India's Bulk Drugs Sector Grows Up

That there are extremes in India is well known. Among India's 1 billion citizens is a high diversity of wealth, housing, education, and modernity. The country's bulk pharmaceutical industry reflects that diversity. Despite some recent achievements, India's bulk pharmaceuticals industry is still perceived as a marginal player on the world stage. It is seen as an industry that relies on outdated technology and nonexistent environmental standards to produce active ingredients that are still protected by international patents. This image persists while an increasing number of Indian producers are complying with U.S. Food & Drug Administration standards and have received ISO 14000 certification, meaning they meet international environmental management guidelines. Some of India's active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) producers have already achieved world-class status and are still relentlessly upgrading their operations to the highest international standards. Numerous others remain an embarrassment to the nati...

Portuguese Civil Society under Dictatorship and Democracy, 1910-1996

Portuguese civil society has had an eventful twentieth century. It was a marginal player during the First Republic (1910–1926); it was tightly controlled and manipulated by the Estado Novo authoritarian regime between 1933 and 1974; and it was abruptly set free with the 25 April 1974 coup. Since 1976, civil society has played an important role in the consolidation of the new democratic regime; organized labor and business associations have helped to deepen the legitimacy of the new democratic institutions by linking them to the people. Today, for the first time in Portuguese history, civil society-state relations have evolved into a more typical, West European-style democratic situation. How did it happen? Which variables have controlled or influenced the evolution of civil society in the political process? What does the future promise for state-civil society relations?

Is Russia Still a Power in Asia?

Continued pol itical, economic, and military crises have left Russia a marginal player in East Asia. In an era when economic instruments are essential for political influence, Russia’s weaknesses make it a pauper.

Peaceful or Dangerous Collaborators? China's Relations with the Gulf Countries

T HE GULF is no longer a theater of superpower rivalry, yet it remains an area of uncommon volatility and crucial global economic importance in which the U.S. enjoys an unprecedented latitude to exercise its prerogative. China, once a marginal player in the Middle East and temporarily supportive of Washington's policy in the Gulf as a counterweight to Moscow, is today a major actor in the region and the last remaining Communist power. This study examines the basis, nature and extent of Sino-Gulf cooperation; and considers whether this cooperation, apart from serving the interests of its partners, threatens regional stability and thus poses a challenge to U.S. interests.