Economic Geography and the Financial Crisis: Full Steam Ahead?

This article considers whether the growing theoretical and methodological diversity or pluralistic nature of economic geographycontributes to its lack of engagement outside the discipline and academy. Although we are enthusiastic about the vibrancy thispluralism brings, we also speculate that it contributes to the discipline’s tendency to fall short of significantly impacting keydebates in the social sciences. In particular, we consider the disciplinary challenges to influencing mainstream debates overfinancialization and the recent financial crisis and the recurring lament that economic geography “misses the boat” by failingto significantly impact key scholarly and policy issues. Specifically, we suggest that methodological and theoretical diversity,local contextualization, and relational analysis, all of which we support as vital to the discipline, make it difficult to isolate adisciplinary core. We conclude that pluralism produces a vibrant discipline with unique explanatory power but that it also hasimportant impacts on the design, execution, and influence of geographers’ research outside the discipline

Robotic-assistance does not enhance standard laparoscopic technique for right-sided donor nephrectomy.

OBJECTIVE: To examine donor and recipient outcomes after right-sided robotic-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (RALDN) compared with standard laparoscopic donor nephrectomy (LDN) and to determine whether robotic-assistance enhances LDN. MATERIALS & METHODS: From December 2005 to January 2011, 25 patients underwent right-sided LDN or RALDN. An IRB-approved retrospective review was performed of both donor and recipient medical charts. Primary endpoints included both intraoperative and postoperative outcomes. RESULTS: Twenty right-sided LDNs and 5 RALDNs were performed during the study period. Neither estimated blood loss (76.4 mL vs. 30 mL, P = .07) nor operative time (231 min vs. 218 min, P = .61) were significantly different between either group (LDN vs. RALDN). Warm ischemia time for LDN was 2.6 min vs. 3.8 min for RALDN (P = .44). Donor postoperative serum estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) were similar (53 vs. 59.6 mL/min/1.73 m2, LDN vs. RALDN, P = .26). For the recipient patients, posttransplant eGFR were similar at 6 months (53.4 vs. 59.8 mL/min/1.73 m2, LDN vs. RALDN, P = .53). CONCLUSION: In this study, robotic-assistance did not improve outcomes associated with LDN. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm any perceived benefit of RALDN

Flexibility within the middle ears of vertebrates

Introduction and aims: Tympanic middle ears have evolved multiple times independently among vertebrates, and share common features. We review flexibility within tympanic middle ears and consider its physiological and clinical implications. Comparative anatomy: The chain of conducting elements is flexible: even the ‘single ossicle’ ears of most non-mammalian tetrapods are functionally ‘double ossicle’ ears due to mobile articulations between the stapes and extrastapes; there may also be bending within individual elements. Simple models: Simple models suggest that flexibility will generally reduce the transmission of sound energy through the middle ear, although in certain theoretical situations flexibility within or between conducting elements might improve transmission. The most obvious role of middle-ear flexibility is to protect the inner ear from high-amplitude displacements. Clinical implications: Inter-ossicular joint dysfunction is associated with a number of pathologies in humans. We examine attempts to improve prosthesis design by incorporating flexible components