MR imaging of the fetal musculoskeletal system

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) appears to be increasingly used, in addition to standard ultrasonography for the diagnosis of abnormalities in utero. Previous studies have recently drawn attention to the technical refinement of MRI to visualize the fetal bones and muscles. Beyond commonly used T2-weighted MRI, echoplanar, thick-slab T2-weighted and dynamic sequences, and three-dimensional MRI techniques, are about to provide new imaging insights into the normal and the pathological musculoskeletal system of the fetus. This review emphasizes the potential significance of MRI in the visualization of the fetal musculoskeletal system. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The European whitefish, Coregonus lavaretus (L.), under conditions of technogenic pollution in the Kostomuksha tailing pond

The population structure and biological parameters of the European whitefish, Coregonus lavaretus (L.), have been analyzed in a technogenically polluted water body. The biochemical state of the whitefish and the fauna and morphology of helminths parasitizing them have been assessed. It is shown that the species composition of the fish, plankton, benthos, and parasite faunas of this water body are depleted and the morphological parameters of common fish parasites are altered. It is noted that, in addition to adaptive rearrangements in biochemical metabolism, the whitefish from the transformed water body are characterized by a reduction in the level of protein synthesis in muscles and the rate of aerobic energy metabolism in the liver and muscles.     

Building institutions based on information disclosure: lessons from GRI's sustainability reporting

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the best-known framework for voluntary reporting of environmental and social performance by business worldwide. Using extensive empirical data, including interviews and documentary analysis, we examine GRI's organizational field and conclude that since its modest beginnings in 1999 GRI has been by several measures a successful institutionalization project. But the institutional logic of this new entity, as an instrument for corporate sustainability management, leaves out one of the central elements of the initial vision for GRI: as a mobilizing agent for many societal actors. This emergent logic reflects GRI's dominant constituency – large global companies and financial institutions and international business management consultancies – and not the less active civil society organizations and organized labor. We attribute these developments to factors such as building GRI within the existing institutional structures; the highly inclusive multistakeholder process; and the underdeveloped base of information users. From the institutional theory perspective, this case shows how the process of institutionalization is deeply affected by initial strategies of the founders, and how it reproduces existing power relations. From the governance perspective, this case leads us to question the power of commodified information to mobilize civil society and to strengthen governance based on partnerships.