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Copyright of People & Nature is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: Foot ulcers are a common complication of diabetes and are associated with an increase in lower limb amputation and death. Early referral to a specialised unit is recommended. The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics of new-patient referrals to specialised diabetes foot care units across Europe and to determine the factors involved in delayed referral. Method: In this prospective observational study, consecutive patients with a new foot ulcer presenting to nine diabetic foot centres in five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) were included. Results: Some 25% of the 332 patients included had presented with a foot ulcer >3 months before referral to the participating foot clinic. Compared with patients referred earlier, patients with a long time to referral (>3 months) were older (p=0.006) and had a less severe wound according to Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) classification (p=0.003) and University of Texas classification (grade D=infection + peripheral artery disease, p=0.004). Conclusion: The proportion of patients with a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) referred to a specialised unit >3 months after the beginning of the ulcer remained high throughout Europe. Patients with severe DFU were, however, referred more quickly by front line health professionals. Primary care professionals need to be made aware of the importance of early referral to a specialised unit in order to improve the management of foot disease in patients with diabetes. Declaration of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on industrial democracy. The author focuses on changes that have been made in industrial organization and management since the conception of labor unions. Industrial democracy is evaluated using the examples of the system of codetermination in Western Germany and the worker-owned mills in the Pacific coast softwood plywood industry. Economic reform programs that attempt to offer more freedom for workers while maintaining industrial efficiency in production systems are also discussed. The practice of involving workers in policy making decisions is evaluated. It is suggested that the goals of employees are not always the same as the goals of the organization for which they work.

Copyright of Comparativ: Leipziger Beiträge zur Universalgeschichte und Vergleichenden Gesellschaftsforschung is the property of Leipziger Universitaetsverlag GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Nuclear energy policy should have been a major area of cooperation for France and Germany, playing a lead role in the energy policy of the EU. Yet they have retained different options, especially regarding nuclear energy while the EU energy policy remained very indicative. These two "coordinated economies" should have been able to cooperate more closely on this issue. While the reasons for this difference in behavior have much to do with the specificities of the nuclear energy, they are more precisely related to the continuously rising level of security requirements, a learning process in which the magnitude of risks and time lengths appeared, even before Fukushima, to go beyond rational boundaries on which cooperation (as well as market) ventures could be based. This raises the issue in the present state of the technologies of the possibility of an international governance of this nuclear industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PTPδ is a dual-domain receptor type protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) with physiologically important functions which render this enzyme an attractive biological target. Specifically, loss of PTPδ has been shown to elicit a number of cellular phenotypes including enhanced nerve regeneration following spinal cord injury (SCI), chemoresistance in cultured cancer cells, and hyperactive autophagy, a process critical to cell survival and the clearance of pathological aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases. Owing to these functions, modulation of PTPδ may provide therapeutic value in a variety of contexts. Furthermore, a small molecule inhibitor would provide utility in discerning the cellular functions and substrates of PTPδ. To develop such molecules, we combined in silico modeling with in vitro phosphatase assays to identify compounds which effectively inhibit the enzymatic activity of PTPδ. Importantly, we observed that PTPδ inhibition was frequently mediated by oxidative species generated by compounds in solution, and we further optimized screening conditions to eliminate this effect. We identified a compound that inhibits PTPδ with an IC50 of 10 μM in a manner that is primarily oxidation-independent. This compound favorably binds the D1 active site of PTPδ in silico, suggesting it functions as a competitive inhibitor. This compound will serve as a scaffold structure for future studies designed to build selectivity for PTPδ over related PTPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: On the basis of archaeological and alluvial records, this paper presents the first spatial analysis of artefacts in relation to the evolution of the Rhine River, at the Gallo-Roman site of Oedenburg, during the first four centuries AD. The dataset consisted of several thousand Roman artefacts found by pedestrian prospecting over the last twenty years, over half of which were coins. This dataset was used together with high-resolution topography and geomagnetic mapping, to reconstruct settlement evolution, both on the terrace and in the floodplain. A comprehensive monetary chart has been compiled for the Oedenburg site, which highlights four major phases of settlement. These results provide a possible causal link connecting historical factors and alluvial events with intra-site evolution. Therefore, while changes observed during Phases I (until AD 68), II (AD 69 to AD 180) and III (AD 180 to AD 295) seem largely related to historical and societal events, Phase IV (AD 295 to AD 402) shows patterns of abandonment of the lower part of the floodplain that may well be related to an unusually humid period in the fourth century. These results are set in a broader context, from the Rhine catchment area to the Alps, and are in agreement with the wet conditions also documented in alluvial, lacustrine, geomorphological and palynological records in Germany (Lahn River, Lake Constance, Lake Nussbaumen, Kaisersthul area and the Black Forest). Studying the intra-site spatial distribution of artefacts with high temporal constraints, at a long-lived site with contrasted topography, opens new avenues for the detection of discreet events such as a higher water table, affecting only the lower zone. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Sequencing of the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene (732 base pairs) in samples of Apodemus sylvaticus from Central Europe (eastern France, Switzerland, southern Germany and western Austria) revealed significant molecular variation not reflected in previous morphological and genetic studies of this species. A comparison with the sequences (150 bp) of 54 specimens available from GenBank (NCBI) showed that two problematic individuals originating from southern Germany have to be assigned to A. fulvipectus, a species not yet known in western Europe. A. sylvaticus specimens (n = 14) sampled north of the Alps exhibited a maximum intraspecific sequence divergence of about 5.1%, whereas the maximum divergence is much lower in A. flavicollis (1%, n = 5) and in A. alpicola (0.5%, n = 4), although the samples originate from a similar geographic range of about 350 km. We also found a high rate of erroneously assigned specimens in GenBank, which indicates that the discrimination of Apodemus species remains a problem and requires further investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The collection of fossil fishes from Solnhofen (Upper Jurassic, southern Germany), deposited at the Bavarian State Collection for Paleontology and Geology was examined for the detection of integument or skeletalpathologies. Among 50 studied specimens, only one halecomorph fish exhibited lesions: these are diagnosed as skin tumors. In extant taxa the causes of this disease are varied (toxins, infectious agents, physical or immunological causes, nutritional and metabolic perturbations). The morphology of these skin lesions is identical to those previously observed in fossil fishes from Monte Bolca (Eocene, northern Italy). This case study represents one of the oldest paleopathology in fossil fishes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Symbioses such as mutualism, commensalism and parasitism are crucial factors for evolutionary strategies and innovations. Epibiotic associations are particularly difficult to detect in the fossil record and, only exceptionally preserved organisms from Konservat-Lagerstätten, may provide new data to reveal past symbioses. Microscopic epibionts are here described on a small erymid lobster (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the Upper Jurassic Eichstätt Lagerstätte, Germany. These epibionts are here identified as nubeculariids, a group of foraminifera encrusting inorganic substrates or sometimes sessile organisms. This is the first report of nubeculariids fixed on a mobile host both in the fossil and extant records. The relevance of this association in the paleoenvironmental context is discussed to argue the possible symbiotic feature of this partnership. Next, the benefits and costs for both partners are assessed to finally deduce that a phoretic relation could have existed between nubeculariids and decapod crustaceans during the Late Jurassic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]