These data indicate that the sex difference in myointimal proliferation after vascular injury is estrogen dependent. C-myc gene expression is greater in the undamaged carotid artery of the male than in that of the female, and the responsiveness of this gene to balloon injury of the artery is more rapid and more robust in the male than in the female rat. These findings have direct implications for the prevention and treatment of vascular disease in humans.

To test the hypothesis that endothelin (ET)-1 synthesis and ET receptor levels are increased selectively in the lung of rats with chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension, the current study examined the effects of exposure to chronic hypoxia (10% O2, 1 atm, 4 wk) on pulmonary arterial pressure, ET-1 levels in plasma and lung, and ET-1 and ETA and ETB receptor mRNA levels in lung, heart, pulmonary artery, aorta, kidney, spleen, and liver. Hypoxic exposure was associated with increases in pulmonary arterial pressure, plasma ET-1 levels, ET-1 mRNA in lung and pulmonary artery, and ET-1 stores and ETA and ETB receptor mRNA levels in lung. In thoracic aorta and the four heart chambers, ETA and ETB receptor mRNA levels were increased, but ET-1 mRNA levels were unchanged from air control levels. No change in ET-1 or ET receptor mRNA levels was seen in organs perfused by the systemic vascular bed, except in liver, where ETA receptor mRNA levels were decreased. The findings of concomitant increases in gene transcript levels for ET-1 and the ETA and ETB receptors in lung, but not in the great vessels or any other organ examined, are consistent with the hypothesis that increased ET-1 synthesis in the lung contributes to pulmonary vascular remodeling and the maintenance of chronic hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.

Purpose – This paper aims to show how the relative global status of a country influences its internal country reputation and resulting social cognitions of citizens. Design/methodology/approach – The theories of social identity and collective self-esteem were employed to explain how self-assessment and evaluations of a country’s reputation are regulated by social concepts and vice versa. The structural equation modeling technique was employed to estimate the conjectural relations. Findings – The groups which people belong to are their primary source of pride and self-esteem. But if a country is negatively stereotyped on the global stage, it weakens the ability of people to live their nation’s brand. A formidable nation’s brand can only be constructed if people are deeply involved and committed to it. Practical implications – The results of this study have implications for policymakers, nation’s branding experts and researchers to focus on internal branding of nations. The academicians and researchers should focus more on the internal audiences in their role as a “communication medium” to external audiences. A more purposeful internal branding will promote community strengthening and enable people to act as a mouth piece in communicating a desired experience to external audiences. Originality/value – The existing nations branding literature does not show how relative global status of a country influences self-assessment and evaluations of people’s associations with that country. The present study aims to fill this gap by drawing on the theories of social identity, self-categorization and collective self-esteem to show how people’s self-perception in negatively perceived countries is regulated in relation to their country’s relative global status and its influence on resulting social cognitions.

There is a wealth of results in the literature on the thermodynamic formalism for potentials that are, in some sense, "hyperbolic". We show that for a sufficiently regular one-dimensional map satisfying a weak hyperbolicity assumption, every Hölder continuous potential is hyperbolic. A sample consequence is the absence of phase transitions: The pressure function is real analytic on the space of Hölder continuous functions. Another consequence is that every Hölder continuous potential has a unique equilibrium state, and that this measure has exponential decay of correlations. 1 n S n (ϕ) < P (f, ϕ).

To test the hypothesis that expression of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP)-receptor genes is modified to provide a compensatory mechanism against hypoxic pulmonary hypertension, steady state mRNA levels for the ANP-A receptor (or guanylate cyclase-A; ANPAR), ANP-B receptor (or guanylate cyclase-B; ANPBR), and ANP-clearance receptor (ANPCR) were quantitated by Northern blot and slot-blot analysis in lung, kidney, spleen, and liver of hypoxia-adapted rats and air controls. Exposure of rats to short-term (48 h) and chronic (4 wk) hypoxia (10% O2, 1 atm) did not affect lung ANPAR-mRNA levels. Lung ANPBR-mRNA levels were unchanged by short-term hypoxia but selectively increased (approximately twofold) by chronic hypoxia. ANPCR-mRNA levels were selectively and significantly downregulated by 48-h and 4-wk hypoxia in lung but were unchanged or upregulated in other tissues. Lung ANPCR gene transcription, assessed by nuclear-runoff analysis, was decreased by hypoxia. These data support the conclusion that altered pulmonary ANP-receptor gene expression modulates the development of hypoxic pulmonary hypertension.

Significant elevations in endothelin (ET)-1 levels accompany many diseases, but the underlying regulatory mechanisms are unclear. To investigate the in vivo regulation of human preproendothelin-1 (PPET-1), we examined the activity of the PPET-1 promoter in transgenic mice exposed to hypoxia. Mice expressing one of three PPET-1 promoter-luciferase (PPET-1/LUC) reporter transgenes (≈2.5 kb, 138 bp, or none of the 5′-flanking sequences of the PPET-1 gene) were generated. LUC expression was reduced in mice with a truncated 138-bp PPET-1 promoter. Exposure of mice bearing the 2.5-kb PPET-1/LUC transgene to hypoxia (10% O2 for 24 h) increased LUC expression sixfold in pulmonary tissue but only twofold in other tissues. In situ hybridization revealed the strongest transgene expression in the pulmonary vasculature and bronchiolar epithelium. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that hypoxic induction of the PPET-1 gene leads to increased pulmonary production of ET-1 in diseases associated with low O2tension.

We study the thermodynamic formalism of sufficiently regular interval maps for Hölder continuous potentials. We show that for a hyperbolic potential there is a unique equilibrium state, and that this measure is exponentially mixing. Moreover, we show the absence of phase transitions: The pressure function is real analytic at such a potential.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This paper seeks to explore the influential role of religion in developing a nations brand and discusses the possibility of re-positioning the brand Pakistan as a "Sufi country" that is coherent with the cultural values and social realities of the country. Design/methodology/approach -The paper follows a case study approach in delineating the image problem encountered by Pakistan and describing how governments in Pakistan related country branding efforts with the religious sentiments to foster their motives. This paper also follows an inductive approach in making a theoretical explanation about promoting Pakistan's image as a "Sufi country". Findings -The negative image of Pakistan is gaining worldwide currency due to the absence of proactive management by government and relevant stakeholders. Pakistan as a Sufi brand has a potential to grow into a strong country brand. Branding Pakistan as a Sufi country would not only pave the way for forming a different set of associations that would be positively contradictory to the current militancy and extremism oriented perceptions associated with Pakistan, but it would also benefit her as a tourism destination. Practical implications -This paper is basically a policy recommendation regarding the reconstruction of brand Pakistan around the Sufi theme that is fairly consistent with the prevailing disposition of Pakistani society, in contrast to the current image of Pakistan cultivated in the World's media as a country with the terrorist roots. With thousands of Sufi Khanqahs, tombs and shrines spread throughout the country conforming to the ancient Islamic architecture with shades of Mughal artifacts presents with a significant 'spiritual tourism' opportunity provided with proper management and planning. Originality/value -The present study makes significant contribution to the theory of nation's branding by discussing the potential role of religion in developing a nation's brand, a topic that hasn't been profoundly inquired. Moreover it discusses the reputation management of a country brand in a crisis, a topic that hasn't been adequately studied.