Networks and campaigns but not movements: collective action in the disciplining Chinese State

Popular protest, civil society organizing, and non-governmental organizations have become notable features in China’s socio-political development. A mounting body of research has documented both opening opportunity structures and remaining restrictions when it comes to collective action within the authoritarian state. However, given the wide range of definitions and interpretations that are at play in the literature, it can be difficult to distinguish between different forms of collective action and determine which actions represent actual movements. This article argues that a refocus towards the basic components that constitute movement action can provide more clarity and help explain the limitations, as well as the opportunities, that surround collective action within authoritarian states. To illustrate, the article studies the organizational growth, networking, and collective action that have occurred in connection with AIDS in China. It finds that political restrictions and other coordination challenges prevent the mobilization of actual social movements.     

The Effect of Family Violence on Sexual Victimization among Young Women

Young people who grow up in a violent family context are more vulnerable to become victims of sexual aggression outside the family context. The present study contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms that explain this link among young women by looking at the mediating role of sexual exposure behavior and target vulnerability. Data were used from an online survey among 237 young women aged 16 to 26 (M?=?21.0 years, SD?=?2.75). Experiencing violence from (one of) the parents and to a lesser extent witnessing interparental violence were related to an elevated risk for sexual victimization. Witnessing interparental violence was related to increased target vulnerability but this factor did not mediate the link with sexual victimization. Experiencing parental violence was related to both increased sexual exposure behavior and increased target vulnerability and these factors did mediate the link with sexual victimization.     

Street-level bureaucrats' emotional intelligence and its relation with their performance

This article analyses whether the emotional intelligence (EI) of street-level bureaucrats, in this case inspectors, predicts their individual performance. It explores whether EI predicts the aggression that inspectors face and whether this explains the relation between EI and performance. Our survey among 547 inspectors, measuring their (self) perceptions, shows that inspectors' ability to appraise others' emotions and use their emotions intelligently (i.e., motivating themselves and maintaining a positive attitude) is significantly associated with inspectors' performance. Ability to appraise others' emotions predicts increases encountered aggression (as perceived by inspectors), and capacity to regulate one's emotions correlates with decreased perceived encountered aggression. The paper contributes to street-level bureaucracy literature by identifying affective factors that help explain performance, and to EI literature by theorizing and testing succedents of various dimensions of EI rather than assuming that EI is unidimensional. Dit artikel verkent of de emotionele intelligentie (EI) van inspecteurs hun individuele prestaties voorspelt. Er wordt onderzocht of EI verklarend is voor de agressie waarmee inspecteurs te maken krijgen, en of deze ondervonden agressie vervolgens de prestaties verklaart. Uit dit onderzoek waarin we de (zelf)perceptie van 547 inspecteurs hebben gemeten, blijkt dat het vermogen van inspecteurs om emoties van anderen in te schatten en hun eigen emoties intelligent te gebruiken (d.w.z. zichzelf te motiveren en een positief te blijven) significant samenhangt met de prestaties van inspecteurs. Het vermogen om emoties van anderen in te schatten voorspelt een toename van agressie die inspecteurs ondervinden, en het vermogen om hun eigen te emoties te reguleren correleert met een afname van ondervonden agressie. Het artikel draagt bij aan de literatuur over contactambtenaren (street-level bureaucracy) door affectieve factoren te identificeren die prestaties helpen verklaren, en aan de EI-literatuur door verschillende dimensies van EI te theoretiseren en te testen in plaats van aan te nemen dat EI eendimensionaal is.     

License Compliance Issues For Biopharmaceuticals: Special Challenges For Negotiations Between Companies And Non-Profit Research Institutions

Biopharmaceuticals are therapeutic products based on biotechnology. They are manufactured by or from living organisms and are the most complex of all commercial medicines to develop, manufacture and qualify for regulatory approval. In recent years biopharmaceuticals have rapidly increased in number and importance with over 400() already marketed in the U.S. and European markets alone. Many companies throughout the world are now ramping up investments in biopharmaceutical R&D and expanding their portfolios through licensing of early-stage biotechnologies from universities and other non-profit research institutions, and there is an increasing number of license agreements for biopharmaceutical product development relative to traditional small molecule drug compounds. This trend will only continue as large numbers of biosimilars and biogenerics enter the market.A primary goal of technology transfer offices associated with publicly-funded, non-profit research institutions is to establish patent protection for inventions deemed to have commercial potential and license them for product development. Such licenses help stimulate economic development and job creation, bring a stream of royalty revenue to the institution and, hopefully, advance the public good or public health by bringing new and useful products to market. In the course of applying for such licenses, a commercial development plan is usually put forth by the license applicant. This plan indicates the path the applicant expects to follow to bring the licensed invention to market. In the case of small molecule drug compounds, there exists a widely-recognized series of clinical development steps, dictated by regulatory requirements, that must be met to bring a new drug to market, such as completion of preclinical toxicology, Phase 1, 2 and 3 testing and product approvals. These steps often become the milestone/benchmark schedule incorporated into license agreements which technology transfer offices use to monitor the licensee's diligence and progress; most exclusive licenses include a commercial development plan, with penalties, financial or even revocation of the license, if the plan is not followed, e.g., the license falls too far behind.This study examines whether developmental milestone schedules based on a small molecule drug development model are useful and realistic in setting expectations for biopharmaceutical product development. We reviewed the monitoring records of all exclusive Public Health Service (PHS) commercial development license agreements for small molecule drugs or therapeutics based on biotechnology (biopharmaceuticals) executed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Technology Transfer (OTT) between 2003 and 2009. We found that most biopharmaceutical development license agreements required amending because developmental milestones in the negotiated schedule could not be met by the licensee. This was in stark contrast with license agreements for small molecule chemical compounds which rarely needed changes to their developmental milestone schedules. As commercial development licenses for biopharmaceuticals make up the vast majority of NIH's exclusive license agreements, there is clearly a need to: 1) more closely examine how these benchmark schedules are formed, 2) try to understand the particular risk factors contributing to benchmark schedule non-compliance, and 3) devise alternatives to the current license benchmark schedule structural model. Schedules that properly weigh the most relevant risk factors such as technology classification (e.g., vaccine vs recombinant antibody vs gene therapy), likelihood of unforeseen regulatory issues, and company size/structure may help assure compliance with original license benchmark schedules. This understanding, coupled with a modified approach to the license negotiation process that makes use of a clear and comprehensive term sheet to minimize ambiguities should result in a more realistic benchmark schedule.     

Uniformity as response to soft law: Evidence from compliance and non‐compliance with the Dutch corporate governance code

The objective of the paper is to examine how firms have dealt with the trade‐off between flexibility and uncertainty that is characteristic for the decision‐making of firms in coping with self‐regulatory initiatives in general and the comply‐or‐explain principle in corporate governance in particular. Using unique data for 126 listed Dutch firms, we find that firms respond to this self‐regulatory initiative by largely complying with the code recommendation, possibly out of fear that the firm's reputation may be damaged. Furthermore, we find evidence suggesting that firms confine themselves to adopting a specific set of code recommendations and use similar arguments to explain non‐compliance. Our findings indicate uniformity in adopting the standard of good governance which is not in line with the logic of corporate governance codes and casts doubt on the effectiveness of this form of soft law. Overall, the paper's findings indicate that more restrictive (regulatory) instruments may be necessary to make firms conform to the spirit of codes.     

Validation of Ultrastructural Analysis of Mitochondrial Deposits in Cardiomyocytes as a Method of Detecting Early Acute Myocardial Infarction in Humans*

Abstract: In the present study, ultrastructural analysis of mitochondrial deposits (black dots within mitochondria) as a method for the detection of early acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was evaluated. In 24 patients with AMI and six controls, analysis was performed in the heart of infarcted patients and noninfarcted controls. In the infarction area in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)‐diagnosed AMI, the percentage of positive mitochondria was significantly higher compared to corresponding heart tissue in control patients and compared to noninfarcted areas within these patients. Also in patients with a clinically diagnosed AMI but no LDH decoloration, a significant higher percentage of positive mitochondria was found in the left ventricle compared to controls and noninfarcted areas. In patients with AMI, an increase in mitochondria with deposits was found in the infarction area compared to controls and noninfarcted tissue within the same patient, suggesting that electron microscopical changes in mitochondria can be used for the diagnosis of AMI less than 3 h old.     

Panel on the Economic and Political Consequences of Chernobyl'

This article summarizes a discussion by a panel of leading experts on Soviet energy analyzing the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl' nuclear plant in the Ukraine on April 26, 1986.

The near-term economic costs associated with clean-up, relocation, and compensating for losses to electricity supplies are significant but manageable. The longer-term effects will focus on likely modifications in Soviet strategies for the nuclear industry, which may shift emphasis back towards conventional fuels and conservation.

The political consequences were managed fairly well by the leadership. Consistent with Secretary Gorbachev's policy of glasnost' (openness) more information has been available on this event than was the case in previous analogous situations. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 027, 124, 723.     

Definitions and Typologies in Public Administration Research: The Case of Decentralization

The field of public administration knows many concepts. By focusing on one such concept, this research shows how definitions can be deceptive, and how typologies unable to capture all dimensions of a concept can blind policy makers and researchers. We concentrate our attention on decentralization. This has been a core concept in the field of public administration for decades. Definitions and typologies of decentralization have flourished. The present study gives an overview. We categorize definitions and analyse their different emphases. Typologies serve to order and compare items, but have themselves become prone to disorder. We provide a meta-analysis of typologies, exposing the wide variety of policy dimensions. Even after aggregation, typologies ignore—and definitions explicitly exclude—certain aspects of decentralization. One such issue is “silent decentralization.” It is characterized by absence of explicit decentralization reform, and thus distinguishes itself mainly by its potential origins: network changes, initiative shifts, policy emphasis developments, or resource availability alterations. Highlighting this particular aspect might well proof useful for other concepts in the field as well.