The Asexual Virus: Computer Viruses in Feminist Discourse

Feminist work on computing technology has for the most part concentrated on concepts of cyborgs and notions of (dis)embodiment in cyberspace. It is the contention of this paper that, as yet, these conceptions have, outstripped the realities of the technology and that an alternative and technically realistic model is that of the computer virus. The virus has all the positive theoretical advantages of the cyborg, as well as the added benefits of being in existence now as opposed to the product of science fiction, and viruses may be capable of use as a tool for education and activism. Thus, this paper shall examine the limitations of current cyber feminism, and the range of possibilities viral hacktavistic feminism opens up. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Enacting motherhood: time and social change in Chile

Motherhood is changing. An increasing number of women are deciding to remain childless, having fewer children, postponing their transition to motherhood, and simultaneously pursuing careers. These changes are deeply embedded in a reconfiguration of the times of motherhood. Although the intersection of motherhood and time has been widely acknowledged by gender and feminist studies, less attention has been paid to how in the making of motherhood women reproduce, negotiate and subvert time mandates and norms. This article aims to underscore the importance of time and how it relates to the enactment of motherhood in contemporary societies by analysing the planning, timing, sequencing, and simultaneity of the transition to motherhood in Chile. Through the analysis of 15 life story interviews with urban women from Santiago de Chile, this article addresses the intersection between social change, motherhood and time by showing how in the making of the transitions to motherhood women reproduce, negotiate and subvert traditional and emergent cultural mandates and social norms on the times of motherhood.     

The creation of the World Trade Organization and the establishment of an advocacy regime

Interest group research is a nascent domain in the literature on the World Trade Organization (WTO). This article seeks to explore the development and the current status of the WTO's advocacy regime. It reviews the role of interest groups in the history of the multilateral trading regime and explores the mechanisms of interest representation at the WTO. The paper shows that the design of the WTO's advocacy regime goes back to international efforts for a new governance of global economy after World War II. It is presented that the system is not static but subject to frequent changes, and it is contended that the recently implemented access badges mechanism is one important step toward a conventional lobbying regime as known from the nation states. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Youth Work in Croatia: Collecting Pieces for a Mosaic

This article explores the historical development of youth work in Croatia. By drawing from available data and personal experience, we describe three key phases of youth work development in a post-conflict country: (a) the period of the early 1990s as a “direct peace building" youth work; (b) the rise of nonformal education during the mid and late 1990s; and (c) the growth of a networked youth sector and its focus on youth policy advocacy starting in 2000. In addition, we refer to today's context, particularly because of its project-management orientation. Such categorization highlights various practices that we consider to represent youth work in a specific and contested national framework. Work with young people with fewer opportunities is being presented as a case, building on our observation that contemporary youth work continues to be embedded in civil society development and nonformal education, facing challenges of funding-driven discourse and unsystematic support.     

Keine nachbarrechtliche Haftung des Grundeigentümers für Schäden aus dem Betrieb einer Kanalanlage durch einen servitutsberechtigten Dritten

Für die von einem Dritten vom Nachbargrundstück aus verursachten nachteiligen Einwirkungen haftet der Grundeigentümer nach § 364a ABGB dann, wenn ihm gegen die St?rungen des Dritten ein effektives und zumutbares Hinderungsrecht zusteht. Zur Vermeidung einer reinen Erfolgshaftung ist die Haftung grunds?tzlich auf Sch?den begrenzt, deren Eintritt für den Haftpflichtigen ein objektiv kalkulierbares Risiko darstellt. Für nicht vorhersehbare Sch?den aus dem Betrieb einer Kanalanlage durch einen servitutsberechtigten Dritten, die auf unzureichende Wartungsarbeiten zurückzuführen sind, haftet der servitutsbelastete Grundeigentümer grunds?tzlich nicht.     

Science and technology parks in Italy: main features and analysis of their effects on the firms hosted

We analyse the results of a survey conducted by the Bank of Italy in the spring of 2012 on Italian science and technology parks. First we describe the main features of science parks in Italy. Then we investigate whether they have been effective in improving the economic performance and innovative capacity of the firms located within them. We find a pronounced heterogeneity between science and technology parks, whose cooperation with public research institutions is characterized by physical proximity. Although the business situation of firms located in science and technology parks tends on average to be better than that of similar “non-park” firms, a difference-in-differences estimation shows that entering a science and technology park did not generally improve firms’ business performance and their propensity to innovate compared with external counterparts.     

Pulmonary Cement Embolism After Kyphoplasty

Pulmonary polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) cement embolism after kyphoplasty (KP) surgery is a quite frequent event as well as the pulmonary embolization of central venous catheter fragment. This report shows the case of a subject who, after KP, developed pulmonary embolism and who underwent thoracic surgery. After hospital discharge, the subject advanced a claim for damages toward the hospital where he was operated, complaining sensation of tenderness at the chest surgical scar and esthetic damage. To understand the nature of the embolism (either central venous catheter fragment or cement), chemical investigations were then ordered. Spectrometry identified the PMMA cement used for KP. When doubts rise about the origin of the embolized material, chemical investigations may reveal important data not only for clinical but also for forensic purposes.