E-Commerce and Industrial Upgrading in the Chinese Apparel Value Chain

The economic and social gains from electronic commerce (e-commerce) that promote innovation, industry upgrading and economic growth have been widely discussed. China’s successful experience with e-commerce has had a positive effect in transforming consumer-goods sectors of the economy and motivating economic reform. This article looks at how e-commerce reduces barriers to entry and enables firms to move up the value chain by using the global value chain framework to analyse the impact of e-commerce on the upgrading trajectories and governance structures of China’s apparel industry. For large Chinese brands, e-commerce has enabled end-market diversification. For small- and medium-sized enterprises, e-commerce has facilitated entry with functional upgrading as well as end-market upgrading. In the “two-sided markets” created by platform companies, the “engaged consumers” are the demand side of this market, and “e-commerce focused apparel firms” are the supply side of the new market. Consumers and platforms are more directly involved in value creation within this emerging internet-based structure.     

Anarchy as a Model for Network Governance

This article centers on two interconnected ideas that have garnered increasing attention in public administration: (1) a shift away from centralized institutional authority structures and (2) the concomitant rise of networks in the public sector. While network theories have been viewed as ushering in a new paradigm for understanding governance, they remain rooted in the language and framework of hierarchical bureaucratic systems. The author suggests that embracing an approach not grounded in a centralized institutional perspective may clarify network theories in public administration. Specifically, the author argues that anarchism has much to add to our understanding of networks and illustrates how an anarchist perspective may advance our understanding of networks in three areas—network formation, network stability, and accountability in networks—in which the hierarchical perspective has generated persistent questions.     

Detection of nitro-organic and peroxide explosives in latent fingermarks by DART- and SALDI-TOF-mass spectrometry

The ability of two mass spectrometric methods, surface-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (SALDI-TOF-MS) and direct analysis in real time (DART-MS), to detect the presence of seven common explosives (six nitro-organic- and one peroxide-type) in spiked latent fingermarks has been examined. It was found that each explosive could be detected with nanogram sensitivity for marks resulting from direct finger contact with a glass probe by DART-MS or onto stainless steel target plates using SALDI-TOF-MS for marks pre-dusted with one type of commercial black magnetic powder. These explosives also could be detected in latent marks lifted from six common surfaces (paper, plastic bag, metal drinks can, wood laminate, adhesive tape and white ceramic tile) whereas no explosive could be detected in equivalent pre-dusted marks on the surface of a commercial lifting tape by the DART-MS method due to high background interference from the tape material. The presence of TNT and Tetryl could be detected in pre-dusted latent fingermarks on a commercial lifting tape for up to 29 days sealed and stored under ambient conditions.     

L’Ail for What Ails You

<正>Is at down in a small,crowded hutong restaurant and waited for the harried waitress to finally navigate through the bustle of requests and take my food order.From my obvious appearance as a foreigner,she must have guessed in advance that my spoken Chinese would be barely intelligible.As I waited,I mooted whether or not to blow my runny nose on a few sheets taken