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CHINA'S STRUGGLE FOR STATUS The Realignment of International Relations Yong Deng New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008. 312pp, US$29.99 paper (ISBN 978-0-521-7145-0) AXIS OF CONVENIENCE Moscow, Beijing, and the New [...]

Breast cancer (BC) represents the most incident cancer case in women (29%), with high mortality rate. Bone metastasis occurs in 20–50% cases and, despite advances in BC research, the interactions between tumor cells and the metastatic microenvironment are still poorly understood. In vitro 3D models gained great interest in cancer research, thanks to the reproducibility, the 3D spatial cues and associated low costs, compared to in vivo and 2D in vitro models. In this study, we investigated the suitability of a poly-ether-urethane (PU) foam as 3D in vitro model to study the interactions between BC tumor-initiating cells and the bone microenvironment. PU foam open porosity (>70%) appeared suitable to mimic trabecular bone structure. The PU foam showed good mechanical properties under cyclic compression (E = 69–109 kPa), even if lower than human trabecular bone. The scaffold supported osteoblast SAOS-2 cell line proliferation, with no cytotoxic effects. Human adipose derived stem cells (ADSC) were cultured and differentiated into osteoblast lineage on the PU foam, as shown by alizarin red staining and RT-PCR, thus offering a bone biomimetic microenvironment to the further co-culture with BC derived tumor-initiating cells (MCFS). Tumor aggregates were observed after three weeks of co-culture by e-cadherin staining and SEM; modification in CaP distribution was identified by SEM-EDX and associated to the presence of tumor cells. In conclusion, we demonstrated the suitability of the PU foam to reproduce a bone biomimetic microenvironment, useful for the co-culture of human osteoblasts/BC tumor-initiating cells and to investigate their interaction. Statement of significance 3D in vitro models represent an outstanding alternative in the study of tumor metastases development, compared to traditional 2D in vitro cultures, which oversimplify the 3D tissue microenvironment, and in vivo studies, affected by low reproducibility and ethical issues. Several scaffold-based 3D in vitro models have been proposed to recapitulate the development of metastases in different body sites but, still, the crucial challenge is to correctly mimic the tissue to be modelled in terms of physical, mechanical and biological properties. Here, we prove the suitability of a porous polyurethane foam, synthesized using an appropriate formulaton, in mimicking the bone tissue microenvironment and in reproducing the metastatic colonization derived from human breast cancer, particularly evidencing the devastating effects on the bone extracellular matrix caused by metastatic spreading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The foreign policies of the Central Asian republics are widely qualified as “multivector.” Yet this concept remains vague in terms of both its underlying causal mechanism and the goals this policy can serve. Departing from received wisdom, this article recasts the notion both conceptually, in terms of co-alignment, and theoretically, by integrating it into a neoclassical realist framework that emphasizes how the geopolitical characteristics of the Eurasian region interact with the nature of the domestic political regimes to explain multivector foreign policy as a form of statecraft beyond the popular catchphrase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from an analysis of the outcome of the 2009 SCO Summit in Yekaterinburg, this paper seeks to explain the recent evolution of power relations within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, by introducing the notion of a tacit deal between the two major players, foreshadowing an emerging 'division of labour' between China and Russia for leadership of the organization. The paper therefore suggests that China is assuming leadership of the economic dimension and Russia of the security dimension of cooperation, in the context of a broader redefinition of the SCO's mandate based on these dual pillars. The paper then explores what this division of labour might look like in practical terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multilateralism is a key feature associated with China's rise both at the global and regional level, particularly in South East and Central Asia. Consistently, China has opted for multilateralism to manage cooperation with African and Arab countries, establishing the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, and the Sino-Arab Cooperation Forum. Multilateralism has also been described as China's chosen balancing tool in the post- 2001 world. If the role of multilateralism can be inferred from an examination of the principled meanings it embodies, my paper investigates how the said structures might allow such form of balancing. It argues that it can provide a social infrastructure to embed alternative principles and values to those associated with the prevailing configuration of the international system, criticised for its 'double standards' as far as sovereignty, trade liberalisation and third party intervention are concerned. By the same token, multilateralism can also reproduce such principles through the performance of its functions, thereby translating them into norms. I investigate this process by reference to the role of institutions in allowing the adjustment of actors' preferences through socialisation and learning, and the achievement of interdependent goals. I further suggest that the promotion of alternative norms represents an area of interstate cooperation in its own right, where the development of norms in such non-trivial areas as the constitutive principles of the international system (sovereignty and equality), the rules of the international trading system (mutual benefit and win-win), and human rights (primacy of the right of development) should be seen as a collective good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]