Substantive Action Research Articles

Efficacy of natural antimicrobials in toothpaste formulations against oral biofilms in vitro

ObjectivesTo evaluate the antimicrobial efficacies of two toothpaste formulations containing natural antimicrobials (herbal extracts and chitosan) against oral biofilms of different composition and maturational status. MethodsBacteria from a buffer suspension or fresh saliva were adhered for 2h to a salivary conditioning film and subsequently grown for 16h. Dual-species biofilms were prepared from Actinomyces naeslundii T14V-J1 and Streptococcus oralis J22, whilst multi-species biofilms were grown from freshly collected human saliva. Biofilms were exposed to 25wt% toothpaste supernatants. A chlorhexidine-containing mouthrinse and a buffer were used as positive- and negative-controls, respectively. Antibacterial efficacy was concluded from acute killing, bacterial removal, prevention of bacterial re-deposition and continued killing during re-deposition. ResultsThe herbal- and chitosan-based supernatants showed immediate killing of oral biofilm bacteria, comparable with chlorhexidine. Moreover, exposure of a biofilm to these supernatants or chlorhexidine, yielded ongoing killing of biofilm bacteria after exposure during re-deposition of bacteria to a matured 16h biofilm, but not to a much thinner initial biofilm formed by 2h adhesion only. This suggests that thicker, more matured biofilms can absorb and release oral antimicrobials. ConclusionsSupernatants based on herbal- and chitosan-based toothpastes have comparable immediate and ongoing antibacterial efficacies as chlorhexidine. Natural antimicrobials and chlorhexidine absorb in oral biofilms which contributes to their substantive action.

Not just global rhetoric: Japan's substantive actualization of its human security foreign policy

While there is much theoretical and academic discussion of human security, as well as regional expressions of human security by the Organization of American States, African Union, and the European Union, little of this is translated into substance except for Japan, which has incorporated human security into foreign policy. This paper examines Japan's definition and aspiration for human security, especially its plans to expand development aid through this modality in Southeast Asia. This scrutiny will encompass Japanese human security foreign policy and its substantive action through the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the UN Trust Fund for Human Security. Thus, the potential for Japanese human security cooperation with Southeast Asian partners will be reviewed in light of Japan's projected trajectory. The paper concludes by positing that bilateral engagement might be expected for the considerable future and suggests policy consolidation before regional engagement can be effected.

The Responsibility To Protect and the Conflict in Darfur: The Big Let-Down

This article discusses the international response to the conflict in Darfur from 2003 onwards in order to explore some of the key challenges related to implementing the responsibility to protect (R2P). First, we show that the debates on R2P in connection to Darfur translated into little more substantive action than the pragmatic decision to deploy peace operations with mandates that included civilian protection, as suggested by the African Union (AU) Mission in Sudan (AMIS), and later by the hybrid UN—AU Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). Second, we argue that the international response to Darfur illustrates three major challenges to R2P implementation. These are: political limitations inherent in the R2P framework; moral dilemmas emerging from military action; and tactical challenges, as exemplified by the struggles faced by the AU and the UN in Darfur. We conclude that the international failure to offer meaningful protection in Darfur highlights the need for continued caution and critical analysis of the ways in which R2P is conceptualized and implemented.

Recent Evolution of the Climate Change Dialogue in the United States

Recent polls indicate that a majority of Americans believe that climate change is happening and is a problem that the nation must address. Likewise, political activity in the past year has catapulted climate change to the top environmental issue being considered by the current U.S. Congress. Even corporate America has demanded action on climate change. Several factors have contributed to this more proactive attitude toward climate change. The scientific community, the media, individual observations, recent extreme weather events, and the efforts of a wide array of governmental, grassroots, and business organizations have all played a role in changing the tenor of the public dialogue. As a result, the nation is poised to take substantive action on climate change in the next couple of years and many governmental leaders are already seeking solutions.

Multifaceted Science in Environmental Cooperation

Decades of research on environmental regimes have led to a consensus that science matters in setting the stage for international cooperation to address such problems (see, for example, Litfin 1994; Andresen et al. 2000; Miller and Edwards 2001; Parson 2003). Radoslav Dimitrov points out in Science and International Environmental Policy, however, that this consensus is underspecified. Most important, it does not tell us which aspects of science underpin successful international environmental cooperation. In his attempt to fill this gap, Dimitrov does some things particularly well. He does not, for example, make the mistake-common in the vast majority of studies in the field-of explaining cooperation by only looking at situations in which international agreements have been successfully created. Focusing solely on successful agreements is problematic methodologically. Even if we determine that successful regimes have certain characteristics in common, the conclusions are meaningless if unsuccessful regimes also share those characteristics. Dimitrov, however, examines cases in which international agreements have been created (addressing ozone depletion and acid rain) and those in which they have not (forests and coral reefs). Indeed, his definition of nonregimes is usefully flexible. Repeated international negotiations have failed to create meaningful international action with respect to international forest issues, but no real attempt at international cooperation has been launched with respect to the issue of coral reefs. The primary advantage of Dimitrov's work is his attempt to disaggregate the characteristics of scientific knowledge that may matter to international environmental action. He focuses on three specific dimensions of the information that is available. The first is the extent or magnitude of the environmental problem itself. The second is how much we know about the causes of the problem. Finally, he examines the level of scientific understanding about the negative cross-border consequences of the problem in question. Because these three factors vary across the four cases he examines, the cases allow Dimitrov to make observations about the conditions of scientific knowledge that correlate with international cooperation. Two of Dimitrov's conclusions are reassuring. First, he concludes that we do not need certainty about the full extent or magnitude of an environmental problem to take international action. In the case of ozone depletion, the extent of damage to the ozone layer was not clearly understood at the time of the first important negotiations to decrease the use of ozone depleting substances. This lack of certainty did not prevent substantive action. Second, we do not even need full information about the causes of environmental problems in order to allow international cooperation. In addressing the problem of acid rain in Europe, scientists understood some of the causes, but their understanding was not as strong as it could have been. Likewise, the uncertainty about the extent of ozone depletion was compounded by

Ethics Concerns Draw Many Questions, Some Answers

On any problème du jour, and these days it’s ethics, a person must go through some visible motion to convince all interested parties that “something” is being done. The process has a therapeutic effect: Frustrations get vented (often anonymously), the judgments of “experts” gain support, and one gets to imagine that the “bad guy” at least feels bad; all these outcomes are quite uplifting. Ethics is always in plentiful supply as long as problems happen elsewhere. Or, as Otto von Bismarck put it: “Principles are held high as long as one is not held to them.”After people’s nominal attention to ethics has been exhausted, will there have been that grand catharsis, with crooks arrested and abused students redeemed? Stop dreaming: In our society the ultimate enforcement is through the legal system, where the only winners are the lawyers. Put differently, the cost/benefit ratio of following through on most perceived injustices to the satisfaction of the presumably injured simply doesn’t warrant substantive action. A student’s gripe against his professor has very different opportunity costs compared with salvaging a university’s reputation.In science, those who fake data a priori set their own trap and will be caught, aside from the sad fact that they never understood the ultimate privilege of scientific pursuit. Those folks are taken care of automatically and inevitably. The rest constitute a social problem, not a scientific one, and I’d like to offer some specific actionable observations for younger folks out there: Science is done by people and therefore is not exempt from social problems. Start by genuinely coming to grips with that. It’s a fundamental fact, not an aberration. Inquire about your new collaborators and your boss carefully, as you would about salary and benefits. If an institution has a bad reputation, stay away. Money won’t make up for it. If you’ve lost all confidence in your chain of command, consider having worked there a bad investment, pull up stakes, and move on. Don’t play hero and destroy yourself; better yourself. Change your job, change your boss, change your institution, and choose better next time. No white knight will come riding to your rescue, ethics guidelines in hand, and behead the guilty. So stop waiting for one.Once you have folks working for you, step up and lead by example. You’ll find it’s easier to demand standards from others. Once you lead, you get to hear both sides of the argument and do something about the issues raised, even if you don’t agree with the view of the complainer. Be explicitly generous with giving credit, and conscientiously short-change yourself. People will see that you’re not primarily interested in yourself, and you will earn their trust. It’s one of those magic hard-earned ingredients of leadership. I’ve had the huge privilege of working for several men who lived that way.If a sleazeball does get caught—and it happens!—relish the sight and let him know you do. Consider his demise a strength of your organization, not a weakness of it. Besides, leaving someone dangling at the gallows for all to see has been an effective deterrent for thousands of years. After all the ethics discussion has died down, some people will continue to cover their tracks and maybe add another layer of obfuscation; and it will work, too. Some will continue to see the inside but hang on; who knows why? Only a few who have wavered already might actually change—for better or worse. By far the largest group will continue to do good work with decent colleagues and bosses, as they always have. To close with a quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole town will be clean.”© 2005 American Institute of Physics.

The evolution of a climate regime: Kyoto to Marrakech and beyond

At meetings in Bonn and Marrakech in 2001, the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change broke through an impasse on the detailed provisions needed to allow the Kyoto Protocol to enter into force. Key ingredients in the breakthrough included US withdrawal from the process, an effective relaxation of emissions targets for Japan, Canada, and Russia, and provision of access to unrestricted emissions trading. We analyze the costs of implementation and the environmental effectiveness of the Bonn–Marrakech agreement, and its effect on the relative roles of CO2 versus non-CO2 greenhouse gases. The ability of the major sellers of permits, notably Russia and Ukraine, to restrict access to permits, and the ability to trade across all greenhouse gases controlled under the Protocol, are both found to have a significant effect for both costs and effectiveness. Nevertheless, the current agreement requires reductions that do not constitute a significant step in accomplishing the long-term objectives of the Framework Convention. While the letter of the agreement does not require substantive action, individual nations have indicated an interest in actions that will affect the distribution of costs and could improve the environmental effectiveness of the agreement. The Bush administration proposal allows for emissions growth that exceeds even that found under the weakened Protocol, but is important for re-engaging the US and offering a possible approach for developing countries in future commitment periods. Finally, the potential for reconciling competing systems is explored.

CITES and the CBD: Tensions and Synergies

Review of European Community & International Environmental LawVolume 10, Issue 3 p. 259-267 CITES and the CBD: Tensions and Synergies Rosie Cooney, Rosie Cooney Africa Resources Trust, Cambridge, and Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, CambridgeSearch for more papers by this author Rosie Cooney, Rosie Cooney Africa Resources Trust, Cambridge, and Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, CambridgeSearch for more papers by this author First published: 17 December 2002 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9388.00284Citations: 8AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume10, Issue3November 2001Pages 259-267 RelatedInformation

Cigarettes and the US Public Health Service in the 1950s.

The conclusion of the United States Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health in 1964 that excessive cigarette smoking causes lung cancer is cited as the major turning point for public health action against cigarettes. But the surgeon general and US Public Health Service (PHS) scientists had concluded as early as 1957 that smoking was a cause of lung cancer, indeed, "the principal etiologic factor in the increased incidence of lung cancer." Throughout the 1950s, however, the PHS rejected further tobacco-related public health actions, such as placing warning labels on cigarettes or creating educational programs for schools. Instead, the agency continued to gather information and provided occasional assessments of the evidence as it came available. It was not until pressure mounted from outside the PHS in the early 1960s that more substantive action was taken. Earlier action was not taken because of the way in which PHS scientists (particularly those within the National Institutes of Health) and administrators viewed their roles in relation to science and public health.

Health care marketing

Although health care managers pay a great deal of attention to marketing, there appears to be limited substantive action. As more organizations successfully implement the marketing concept, other organizations will follow suit and marketing will become more prevalent throughout the health care industry.

MANAGEMENT IN CONTEXT: AN ESSAY ON THE RELEVANCE OF CULTURE TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

ABSTRACTThe recent interest in cultural analysis of organizations is based on the belief that organizations have symbolic aspects that affect organizational behaviour. Underlying this research, however, are different assumptions about the nature of symbols and the role they play in organizations. The majority of writers have assumed that symbols perform an expressive function and are used in a type of action they call 'symbolic action’which they contrast with ‘substantive action’. This dichotomy between symbolic and substantive action has resulted in the development of models that assume culture is a causal factor in organizational change, and should be controlled by the management of symbols. In this article, this approach ‐ the management as symbolic action approach ‐ is examined and found to be inadequate. An alternative approach is developed ‐ the culture‐as‐context approach ‐ that assumes all actions have a symbolic aspect, all actions are value‐laden, symbols are meaningful only in terms of their relations with other symbols, and symbols are dispositions to action, not causes of it. The study of culture is seen, then, as the explication of action in terms of the system of symbolic forms ‐ goals, plans, ideas, roles and traditions ‐ that people use to give meaning and order to their experience. This approach is applied to the interactions of the members of the‘Transition Team’in a Bell Telephone operating company preparing for the deregulation of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, its parent corporation, in 1981. It is demonstrated empirically and explained conceptually that culture leads to a certain class of possible actions which makes certain attempts at change, or reactions to change, probable in a given situation.

Editorial: The foreign medical graduate--a time for action.

Crisis, scandal, catastrophe, immoral, etc., are words that have been used to describe the problem of the foreign medical graduate (FMG) in the United States. Such words are so shopworn these days that they have little or no impact on the reader. The problem is a serious one that demands both attention and substantive action in the immediate future. Two excellent articles in this and last week's issue of the Journal provide the reader with data regarding the rapidly escalating numbers of FMG's immigrating to this country, the quality of their education, and the effect of their entry on the . . .

Political Rituals in Developing Nations: The case of the Philippines

Systematic manipulation of symbols is present to varying degrees in all political processes. Such rituals may or may not suggest further substantive action, and when they do, such action may or may not be forthcoming. The term ritualism (or ritualistic behaviour) will here refer to activity which can be subsumed under the general concept of formalism. While some political scientsists describe formalism as a concern to establish an institution rather than to ensure its functioning, our use of the term is less specific: both structure and function may be symbols and parts of a ritual which, if suggesting further activity which is not forthcoming, constitutes ritualism.