The recognition that organizations are a part of adverse outcomes has become commonplace in risk research. Social organization is a key theme in relation to risk minimization through institutional ...control and monitoring, and in how organizations are connected to society's perceptions of risk (beyond outcomes). The article reviews progress made in research on organizational risk over the last four decades and the contributions made to the field by fieldwork and descriptive approaches, understanding risk as partly determined by organizational context. A key issue for risk analysis is to figure out what these insights mean for risk professionals, such as while developing assessment methodologies and management approaches. Analysis of the literature shows that what to model if organizational factors are to be included in risk assessments remains as big a question as how to model. Integrating fieldwork and descriptive approaches for analyzing organizational risk, accidents, and safety is argued to be a main task for the risk analysis community.
In Nigeria, the threat posed by climate change is leading policymakers and the media to frame climate change as a security threat that warrants support for adaptive actions. We draw upon ...securitization theory to examine how security narratives affect climate change adaptation. Using primary and secondary data, we find that although securitization arguments are easily identified in climate change policies and action plans in Nigeria, the implications of securitization for adaptation policy and practice are harder to discern. We find that adaptation is not as urgent a policy as would be expected from the logic of securitization. The transformation of security framing into urgent adaptation actions appears difficult because there are no urgent adaptation measures. We also find that people's level of vulnerability and adaptation to climate change is a function of deeper socio-political dynamics and processes that defy the political theatre of securitization.
In the last decade, New York City has transformed its formerly industrial waterfronts into gentrified residential neighborhoods for the sustainability class. To do this, the city has had to clean up ...and “green” these spaces. We call this process green gentrification. It is led by the green growth machine—public officials and private investors who appropriate unrevitalized environmental resources (like the waterfront), restore them, develop them, and repackage them for sale to the sustainability class.
This open access book explores the synergies and tensions between safety and security management from a variety of perspectives and by combining input from numerous disciplines. It defines the ...concepts of safety and security, and discusses the methodological, organizational and institutional implications that accompany approaching them as separate entities and combining them, respectively.The book explores the coupling of safety and security from different perspectives, especially: the concepts and methods of risk, safety and security; the managerial aspects; user experiences in connection with safety and security. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners in the fields of safety and security, and to anyone working at a business or in an industry concerned with how safety and security should be managed.
In this article, we use system/network theory together with the social amplification of risk framework (SARF) to show how expert actors over time and across multiple events can contribute to social ...risk amplification and attenuation. The framework and the theory, in particular the concepts of risk emplacement and displacement, are employed in the analysis of an illustrative case related to the use of the feed additive, narasin, and provide explanations of how risks are part of continuously ongoing and dynamic social processes. By emphasizing the role of experts in such developments, connecting what happens in expert communities with the processing of risks and effects on the outside, the analysis shows the larger context within which social risk attenuation and amplification happen. Showing the value of integrating different theories and perspectives, this article lays the foundations for further studies of risk amplification and attenuation dynamics. Based on the results of the analysis, we indicate opportunities to update and further develop the SARF. We also present some implications for public policy and risk management practices including addressing the positive contributions of risk amplification and how this relates to adaptive risk management approaches.
Stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD) is an integral membrane protein of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that catalyzes the formation of monounsaturated fatty acids from saturated fatty acids. Recent studies ...suggest that SCD is a key regulator of energy metabolism and has implications in dislipidemia and obesity. Four SCD isoforms (SCD1–4) have been identified in mouse. In human, only one SCD isoform has been characterized so far. Here we report that the previously reported human ACOD4 gene encodes a distinct stearoyl-CoA desaturase, hSCD5. GenBank database mining revealed orthologues of hSCD5 in the primates, but not in the rodents. In transiently transfected 293 cells, hSCD5 co-localized with calnexin on ER membrane. Microsome fractions prepared from hSCD1 and hSCD5 transfected cells displayed similar delta 9 desaturase activity. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis suggested that hSCD5 was abundantly expressed in adult brain and pancreas. These data suggested that hSCD5 plays a role distinct from that of hSCD1 during development and in normal physiological conditions.
Transgenic nonhuman primate models are an increasingly popular model for neurologic and neurodegenerative disease because their brain functions and neural anatomies closely resemble those of humans. ...Transgenic Huntington's disease monkeys (HD monkeys) developed clinical features similar to those seen in HD patients, making the monkeys suitable for a preclinical study of HD. However, until HD monkey colonies can be readily expanded, their use in preclinical studies will be limited. In the present study, we confirmed germline transmission of the mutant huntingtin (mHTT) transgene in both embryonic stem cells generated from three male HD monkey founders (F0) and in second-generation offspring (F1) produced via artificial insemination by using intrauterine insemination technique. A total of five offspring were produced from 15 females that were inseminated by intrauterine insemination using semen collected from the three HD founders (5 of 15, 33%). Thus far, sperm collected from the HD founder (rHD8) has led to two F1 transgenic HD monkeys with germline transmission rate at 100% (2 of 2). mHTT expression was confirmed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction using skin fibroblasts from the F1 HD monkeys and induced pluripotent stem cells established from one of the F1 HD monkeys (rHD8-2). Here, we report the stable germline transmission and expression of the mHTT transgene in HD monkeys, which suggest possible expansion of HD monkey colonies for preclinical and biomedical research studies.
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