University of Bath

About: University of Bath is a education organization based out in Bath, Bath and North East Somerset, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Photonic-crystal fiber. The organization has 15830 authors who have published 39608 publications receiving 1358769 citations. The organization is also known as: Bath University.

A Review of the Concept of Visual Literacy

Abstract: Many people from very diverse disciplines have attempted to define the concept of Visual Literacy (VL), but with little general consensus so far. This is probably due to the fact that those representing the different disciplines and paradigms are each wanting to interpret Visual Literacy in a way that reflects and flatters their contribution or way of thinking. As a consequence, a theoretical concept with seemingly little practical value has been created, but cannot be used productively until an agreed definition is established. It is self evident that if a concept does not have a broadly accepted definition, if the theory behind it is confusing, and if its viability on practical terms is a matter of continuing controversy, then the only reasonable way to cope with it is to abandon it. Nevertheless, with the exception of very few and of minor importance cases, no serious attempt has ever been made towards discarding VL altogether.

The Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility: Techniques of Neutralization, Stakeholder Management and Political CSR.

Abstract: Since scholarly interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) has primarily focused on the synergies between social and economic performance, our understanding of how (and the conditions under which) companies use CSR to produce policy outcomes that work against public welfare has remained comparatively underdeveloped. In particular, little is known about how corporate decision-makers privately reconcile the conflicts between public and private interests, even though this is likely to be relevant to understanding the limitations of CSR as a means of aligning business activity with the broader public interest. This study addresses this issue using internal tobacco industry documents to explore British-American Tobacco’s (BAT) thinking on CSR and its effects on the company’s CSR Programme. The article presents a three-stage model of CSR development, based on Sykes and Matza’s theory of techniques of neutralization, which links together: how BAT managers made sense of the company’s declining political authority in the mid-1990s; how they subsequently justified the use of CSR as a tool of stakeholder management aimed at diffusing the political impact of public health advocates by breaking up political constituencies working towards evidence-based tobacco regulation; and how CSR works ideologically to shape stakeholders’ perceptions of the relative merits of competing approaches to tobacco control. Our analysis has three implications for research and practice. First, it underlines the importance of approaching corporate managers’ public comments on CSR critically and situating them in their economic, political and historical contexts. Second, it illustrates the importance of focusing on the political aims and effects of CSR. Third, by showing how CSR practices are used to stymie evidence-based government regulation, the article underlines the importance of highlighting and developing matrices to assess the negative social impacts of CSR.

5-Formylcytosine can be a stable DNA modification in mammals.

Abstract: 5-Formylcytosine (5fC) is a rare base found in mammalian DNA and thought to be involved in active DNA demethylation. Here, we show that developmental dynamics of 5fC levels in mouse DNA differ from those of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), and using stable isotope labeling in vivo, we show that 5fC can be a stable DNA modification. These results suggest that 5fC has functional roles in DNA that go beyond being a demethylation intermediate.

α-Bungarotoxin-Sensitive Nicotinic Receptors Indirectly Modulate [3H]Dopamine Release in Rat Striatal Slices via Glutamate Release

Abstract: Nicotinic agonists elicit the release of dopamine from striatal synaptosomes by acting on presynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) on dopamine nerve terminals. Both α3β2* and α4β2 nAChR subtypes (but not α7* nAChRs) have been implicated. Here, we compared nAChR-evoked [3H]dopamine release from rat striatal synaptosome and slice preparations by using the nicotinic agonist anatoxin-a. In the more integral slice preparation, the concentration-response curve for anatoxin-a-evoked [3H]dopamine release was best fitted to a two-site model, giving EC50 values of 241 nM and 5.1 μM, whereas only the higher-affinity component was observed in synaptosome preparations (EC50 = 134 nM). Responses to a high concentration of anatoxin-a (25 μM) in slices (but not in synaptosomes) were partially blocked by ionotropic glutamate receptor antagonists (kynurenic acid, 6,7-dinitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione) and by α7*-selective nAChR antagonists (α-bungarotoxin, α-conotoxin-ImI, methyllycaconitine) in a nonadditive manner. In contrast, the α3β2-selective nAChR antagonist α-conotoxin-MII partially inhibited [3H]dopamine release from both slice and synaptosome preparations, stimulated with both low (1 μM) and high (25 μM) concentrations of anatoxin-a. Antagonism by α-conotoxin-MII was additive with that of α7*-selective antagonists. These data support a model in which α7* nAChRs on striatal glutamate terminals elicit glutamate release, which in turn acts at ionotropic glutamate receptors on dopamine terminals to stimulate dopamine release. In addition, non-α7* nAChRs on dopamine terminals also stimulate dopamine release. These observations have implications for the complex cholinergic modulation of inputs onto the major efferent neurons of the striatum.