In this article, we argue that the ability of a firm to access a variety of knowledge resources and, in turn, upgrade its products depends on its being tied not simply to any or many organizations ...and institutions, but rather to those that act as social and knowledge bridges between previously isolated producer communities. Through a multimethod analysis of the recent transformation of the Argentine wine industry, we highlight how distinct governance rules for new government support institutions can anchor their multiplex, cross-cutting network qualities, which underpin their ability to provide improved collective resources and reshape the ties between firms.
Why have seemingly similar African countries developed very different forms of democratic party systems? Despite virtually ubiquitous conditions that are assumed to be challenging to democracy - low ...levels of economic development, high ethnic heterogeneity, and weak state capacity - nearly two dozen African countries have maintained democratic competition since the early 1990s. Yet the forms of party system competition vary greatly: from highly stable, nationally organized, well-institutionalized party systems to incredibly volatile, particularistic parties in systems with low institutionalization. To explain their divergent development, Rachel Beatty Riedl points to earlier authoritarian strategies to consolidate support and maintain power. The initial stages of democratic opening provide an opportunity for authoritarian incumbents to attempt to shape the rules of the new multiparty system in their own interests, but their power to do so depends on the extent of local support built up over time.
ABSTRACT
A single bout of low‐frequency electroacupuncture (EA) causing muscle contractions increases whole‐body glucose uptake in insulin‐resistant rats. We explored the underlying mechanism of this ...finding and whether it can be translated into clinical settings. Changes in glucose infusion rate (GIR) were measured by euglycemic–hyperinsulinemic clamp during and after 45 min of low‐frequency EA in 21 overweight/obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and 21 controls matched for age, weight, and body mass index (experiment 1) and in rats receiving autonomic receptor blockers (experiment 2). GIR was higher after EA in controls and women with PCOS. Plasma serotonin levels and homovanillic acid, markers of vagal activity, decreased in both controls and patients with PCOS. Adipose tissue expression of pro‐nerve growth factor (proNGF) decreased, and the mature NGF/proNGF ratio increased after EA in PCOS, but not in controls, suggesting increased sympathetic‐driven adipose tissue metabolism. Administration of a‐/β‐adrenergic receptor blockers in rats blocked the increase in GIR in response to EA. Muscarinic and dopamine receptor antagonist also blocked the response but with slower onset. In conclusion, a single bout of EA increases whole‐body glucose uptake by activation of the sympathetic and partly the parasympathetic nervous systems, which could have important clinical implications for the treatment of insulin resistance.—Benrick, A., Kokosar, M., Hu, M., Larsson, M., Maliqueo, M., Marcondes, R. R., Soligo, M., Protto, V., Jerlhag, E., Sazonova, A., Behre, C. J., Højlund, K., Thorén, P., Stener‐Victorin, E. Autonomic nervous system activation mediates the increase in whole‐body glucose uptake in response to electroacupuncture. FASEB J. 31, 3288–3297 (2017). www.fasebj.org
The 1990 Rudbar earthquake (Mw 7.3) broke along three right‐stepping segments of the left‐lateral Rudbar fault, in the western Alborz mountains (Iran), producing ∼80 km of surface rupture. Previously ...reported horizontal (∼60 cm) field offsets were surprisingly low, and the vertical (∼95 cm) unexpected, given the relatively large moment release, shallow source depth, vertical fault geometry, and left‐lateral rake. We characterize the surface displacement from optical image correlation of satellite and aerial images. A maximum displacement of ∼6.5 m is observed in the eastern part of the rupture consistent with both a sharp pulse in the moment release rate ∼10 s after the rupture initiation, and the macroseismic isoseismal curves. We find ∼2.2 m mean surface slip, larger than field measurements, but consistent with empirical scaling laws based upon the seismological moment release. Estimates of fault zone width based on correlation of 1 m resolution aerial photos (and corrected for smoothing bias) are <200 m; these values increase artificially with lower resolution imagery, which is more affected by smoothing bias. The large mismatch between field and correlation displacements suggests the Rudbar earthquake probably featured significant off‐fault deformation, consistent with its low structural maturity. Finally, we document a surface rupture along a structural continuation of the Kabateh segment, east of the Sefid Rud river. Slip along this segment (1–2 m), is less than the neighboring Zard Geli segment (1.5–6 m). The two faults converge at Sefid Rud, which appears to represent a major structural feature controlling fault segmentation in this region.
Plain Language Summary
The 1990 (Mw 7.3) Rudbar earthquake was one of the most destructive earthquakes to have affected Iran in recent history. However, despite the relatively large size of the earthquake, field surveys revealed surprisingly small (<1 m) left‐lateral offsets. We resolve this long‐standing problem using new optical correlation techniques, which allow us to fully document the earthquake surface displacement. Left‐lateral offsets reached up to 5‐6 m along the Zard Geli fault segment, while new surface ruptures are reported along a failed branch of the rupture east of the Sefid Rud river valley. Our results indicate that slip was relatively continuous between various fault segments, with slip becoming distributed in the fault linkage zones. We find that OFD is unusually high, and appears to vary as a function of the fault geometric roughness. This study highlights the power of optical image correlation for revisiting past earthquakes and providing valuable new constraints on surface ruptures in general. With this approach, we may thus expand the catalog of earthquakes that have robust measurements of on‐ vs off‐fault slip, which will be essential for characterizing the parameters that control the localization of coseismic slip, and how we engineer for future surface rupturing earthquakes.
Key Points
We characterize the surface displacement field associated with the 1990 Rudbar earthquake using new optical image correlation techniques
We find the average surface slip ∼2.2 m, with a maximum displacement of ∼6.5 m along Zard Geli eastern part of the fault rupture
We find that off‐fault deformation is unusually high, and appears to vary as a function of the fault geometric roughness
This book deals with certain "hot-button" contemporary issues in Islam, including the Shari'a, jihad, the caliphate, women's status, and interfaith relations. Notably, it places the discussion of ...these topics within a longer historical framework in ord.
Lately, the concept of 'resistance' has gained considerable traction as a tool for critically exploring subaltern practices in relation to power. Few researchers, however, have elaborated on the ...inter-linkage of shifting forms of resistance; and above all, how acts of everyday resistance entangle with more organized and sometimes mass-based resistance activities. In this paper, these entanglements are analysed by taking into consideration the connections between articulations of resistance and technologies of power. Empirical observations from Cambodia are theorized in order to provide better theoretical tools for searching and investigating the inter-linkage between different resistance forms that contribute to social change. In addition, it is argued that modalities of power and its related resistance must be understood, or theorized, in relation to the concepts of 'agency', 'self-reflexivity' and 'techniques of the self'.
This article discusses political state capture in the context of party patronage. Evidence of this is delivered from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the rotations of members of their management ...and supervisory boards. In this case, it is deemed that an interest group, which consists of politicians and representatives in the government administration, decides about the appointment and dismissal of board members through the corporate governance of SOEs and ownership policy of the state. We analyzed the scale and intensity of rotations in Poland of about twelve thousand joint-stock companies in the years 2001–2017 according to their ownership structure. We show that changes of managers and supervisory board members in state-owned enterprises are higher than in private companies and are related to political elections. We estimated that on average three months after a new government is formed, a peak of changes in the composition of boards is observed, though they are earlier in the case of a supervisory board. We conclude that this can be regarded as an example of state capture by politicians.
What is power and how is it effective? This volume responds to these questions in terms of regional international relations with a particular focus on the Baltic Sea region, an area still charged ...with a residue of Cold War conflict and power disparity, in a setting of new cooperative ventures. Each contributor examines the region from a different angle and discusses how its actors coped with the new situation facing them after 1991. The volume looks at how governments have defined their new circumstances, how they have dealt with the opportunity to shift to a new mode of coexistence and collaboration, and how they have tackled the challenge of peacefully converting their region to a security community. The book breaks with tradition by adopting a new, thematic approach based on regional issues and functions rather than a country-by-country discourse. It will be of critical value to readers interested in security studies and European politics.
The book “War Crimes in Čajniče – Verdicts” documents the verdicts of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for crimes committed against civilians in Čajniče and its surroundings. The Court has ...sentenced Milorad Živković, Milun Kornjača, Milosav Jovanović, Marijan Jovanović and Slavko Jovanović to six to eleven years in prison. Duško Tadić and Stevo Jovanović were acquitted. In 2015, the State Court confirmed the indictment against Duško Kornjača, charging him with the criminal offense of crimes against humanity, but he is inaccessible to the judicial authorities. According to the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a total of 138 missing persons were reported in the area of Čajniče. To date, 90 victims have been found and identified. So far, the remains of 68 exhumed men and 22 women have been handed over to their families. The fate of another 48 people from Čajniče, who are still being searched for 18 years after the horrific crimes, is completely unknown. The largest grave with the bodies of Bosniaks from Čajniče was found in Mostina, from which the remains of 18 victims were exhumed in September 2002. The youngest victim in this mass grave was Zlatko Bukva. He was only 19 at the time he was killed. In addition to this, six more mass graves were found in Mostina, from which the bodies of a total of 60 victims were exhumed.
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