Crisis and Upgrading: The Case of the Hungarian Automotive and Electronics Sectors

By triggering a wave of organisational restructuring, reconfiguration of supply chains and consolidation of business processes at multinational companies, the crisis offered significant upgrading opportunities for peripheral actors in globalised production networks (the so-called global value chains). Drawing on Hungarian case studies of local subsidiaries in the automotive and electronics industries, this essay investigates the crisis-induced product, process and functional upgrading opportunities in low-cost locations. We show Hungary's high level of integration into global value chains and document the rapidly ongoing process of functional upgrading.     

Expression and function of C5a receptor in a fatal anaphylaxis after honey bee sting

The mechanisms leading to death from anaphylaxis after insect sting involve antigen cross-linkage of antibody molecules that activate immunoglobulin receptors on inflammatory cells. The aim of our study was to investigate the pathomorphology and the expression of C5aR in fatal anaphylaxis in a patient after a fatal insect sting. A 38-year-old women was stung by a honeybee. C5R1 expression was detected in many dilated capillaries in the lungs. Pulmonary epithelial cells did not bind the monoclonal antibody for C5R1; however, intensive cytoplasmic staining was detected in endothelial cells. The findings of this case provide evidence for an active role of complement in fatal anaphylaxis elicited by bee venom. C5aR detection could be useful in the identification of sudden death cases because of unwitnessed fatal insect sting cases. Authors can recommend this immunohistochemical analysis on all sudden unexpected deaths outdoors where a possible bee sting might occur.     

The Changing Impact of Electoral Structure on Black Representation in the South, 1970–1996

For many years voting rights litigation has focused on eliminationof at-large elections and the creation of ``majority-minority''districts – election districts where a majority of the electorateare racial/ethnic minorities. Numerous studies have analyzed theimpact of district elections on minority representation,particularly the election of blacks in the South. Most of thesestudies have focused on a single time period, comparing the ratioof black representatives to black population across cities withdifferent electoral schemes. The present study combines data fromsix different data sets to produce a panel of data covering fivedistinct time periods over a 26 year span. Cross-sectionalestimates of the effect of district elections in each time periodare compared to determine how the efficacy of district electionshas changed over time. To control for possible selection bias,inter-temporal models of the impact of changes in electionstructure on changes in representation are also estimated.     

Sudden Death Due to Infiltration of Left Bundle Branches by Interventricular Septal Cardiac Fibroma

Cardiac fibromas are benign conditions; however, their location and size may cause ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. We report a case of a 68‐year‐old female who died suddenly. Postmortem investigation detected a huge cardiac fibroma in the pars muscularis of the interventricular septum, occupying almost the entire muscular septum, and restricting the volume of left ventricular chamber. Histological examination revealed numerous foci of calcification in the alternating complex interlacing or strictly parallel collagenous fiber mass. Tumor mass was mainly demarcated, but in some places, fibrous infiltration of surrounding working cardiac muscle was found. We present a case when direct tumor involvement in the descending left bundle branches was evidenced. Mainly, the branches of septal fascicle were disrupted, entrapped, and degenerated by the tumor mass. This case report emphasizes that postmortem histological examination of conduction system in all sudden cardiac death cases may substantially improve the accuracy of postmortem diagnosis.     

Responding to COVID-19 through Surveys of Public Servants

Responding to COVID-19 presents unprecedented challenges for public sector practitioners. Addressing those challenges requires knowledge about the problems that public sector workers face. This Viewpoint essay argues that timely, up-to-date surveys of public sector workers are essential tools for identifying problems, resolving bottlenecks, and enabling public sector workers to operate effectively during and in response to the challenges posed by the pandemic. This essay presents the COVID-19 Survey of Public Servants, which is currently being rolled out in several countries by the Global Survey of Public Servants Consortium to assist governments in strategically compiling evidence to operate effectively during the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Charter High Schools’ Effects on Long‐Term Attainment and Earnings

Since their inception in 1992, the number of charter schools has grown to more than 6,800 nationally, serving nearly three million students. Various studies have examined charter schools’ impacts on test scores, and a few have begun to examine longer‐term outcomes including graduation and college attendance. This paper is the first to estimate charter schools’ effects on earnings in adulthood, alongside effects on educational attainment. Using data from Florida, we first confirm previous research (Booker et al., 2011 ) that students attending charter high schools are more likely to graduate from high school and enroll in college. We then examine two longer‐term outcomes not previously studied in research on charter schools—college persistence and earnings. We find that students attending charter high schools are more likely to persist in college, and that in their mid‐20s they experience higher earnings.     

Book reviews

This paper analyzes recent free trade arrangements from a positive political economy perspective. In contrast to most other literature which fails to take into account geographical factors it is argued here that proximity and transportation costs play an important role in trade arrangements. Another important also largely neglected factor is the degree of social cohesion in terms of labor standards among potential trading partners. A political support maximizing government will consider these factors when balancing political support from free traders and protectionists.