843 research outputs found
Beyond Rentiership: Standardisation, Intangibles and Value Capture in Global Production
We examine corporate rentiership in the contemporary economy and suggest that the idea we are in a moment of step-change within capitalism may be premature. Implicit in arguments for a step-change is the claim that the present-day economy emphasises unproductive or rentier forms rather than the more productive and entrepreneurial forms of the past. In contrast, we argue that to understand our current situation we need to focus on the division of labour and most especially on processes of standardisation and the rise of intangible assets. Moving from Marx’s understanding of rent as a class relation, we re-embed rent within the circuit of capital and the realm of value distribution to investigate the class dynamics (among labour, capital and the state) through which giant firms seem to generate value out of rentierism. We argue that these class dynamics include the crucial and unexplored relation between standardisation and intangibles. We suggest standardisation within the division of labour renders people, places, and things interchangeable and that, in contrast, intangible assets differentiate them. When intangible assets emerge as new forms of property, they enable owners to generate scarcity and exert direct and/or indirect control over the wider division of labour. Through examining the combined rise of standardisation and intangible assets within the technical division of labour, we demonstrate how hierarchy within the social division of labour empowers some corporations to capture value produced elsewhere within the circuit of capital
Health-related quality of life in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome at the transition between adolescence and adulthood
Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a neurodevelopmental
condition characterised by tics and comorbid
behavioural problems, affecting predominantly
male patients. Tic severity typically fluctuates over time,
with a consistent pattern showing improvement after adolescence
in a considerable proportion of patients. Both tics
and behavioural co-morbidities have been shown to have
the potential to affect patients’ health-related quality of life
(HR-QoL) in children and adults with persisting symptoms.
In this study, we present the results of the first investigation
of HR-QoL in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome
at the transition between adolescence and adulthood using
a disease-specific HR-QoL measure, the Gilles de la
Tourette Syndrome-Quality of Life-Children and Adolescents
scale. Our results showed that patients with GTS and
more severe co-morbid anxiety symptoms reported lower
HR-QoL across all domains, highlighting the impact of
anxiety on patient’s well-being at a critical stage of
development. Routine screening for anxiety symptoms is
recommended in all patients with GTS seen at transition
clinics from paediatric to adult care, to implement effective
behavioural and pharmacological interventions as
appropriate
Mode-coupling theory predictions for a limited valency attractive square-well model
Recently we have studied, using numerical simulations, a limited valency
model, i.e. an attractive square well model with a constraint on the maximum
number of bonded neighbors. Studying a large region of temperatures and
packing fractions , we have estimated the location of the liquid-gas
phase separation spinodal and the loci of dynamic arrest, where the system is
trapped in a disordered non-ergodic state. Two distinct arrest lines for the
system are present in the system: a {\it (repulsive) glass} line at high
packing fraction, and a {\it gel} line at low and . The former is
essentially vertical (-controlled), while the latter is rather horizontal
(-controlled) in the plane. We here complement the molecular
dynamics results with mode coupling theory calculations, using the numerical
structure factors as input. We find that the theory predicts a repulsive glass
line -- in satisfactory agreement with the simulation results -- and an
attractive glass line which appears to be unrelated to the gel line.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures. To appear in J. Phys. Condens. Matter, special
issue: "Topics in Application of Scattering Methods for Investigation of
Structure and Dynamics of Soft Condensed Matter", Fiesole, November 200
[BMIm][BARF] imidazolium salt solutions in alkyl carbonate solvents: Structure and interactions
Solutions of weakly coordinating ionic liquids (ILs) in alkyl carbonates are gaining growing attention, as the latter are "green" solvents with high solvation power, but the phase behavior and structure of ILs in organic polar solvents are still poorly understood. Here, we study the interactions and nanoscale structure of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrakis[3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate, [BMIm][BARF], in three symmetrical alkyl carbonate solvents with increasing alkyl chain-length. Electrical conductivity and nuclear magnetic resonance measurements showed that [BMIm][BARF] was mostly undissociated in these solvents, especially at lower IL concentration. Small angle X-ray scattering patterns evidenced the presence of rod-like nanostructures in the IL/solvent mixtures. At higher IL concentration, [BMIm][BARF] is increasingly more dissociated in solvents with lower dielectric constant, as confirmed by analysis of the solvents' carbonyl stretching band via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. This trend is opposite to that exhibited by BMIm ILs with less bulky counterions. The bulky BARF(-) is weakly coordinating and has no ability to give strong H-bonding, thus short-range anisotropic van der Waals forces are likely key in the interaction of the ion pairs. The slower self-diffusion of the ions in alkyl carbonates with lower dielectric constants might partially hinder close contact needed for self-assembly into local nano-sized structures. Overall, our results shed light on interactions and self-organization in imidazolium salt-alkyl carbonate mixtures, with potential impact in applicative fields spanning from batteries, catalysis and extraction, up to bio-applications (antimicrobial and bioengineering)
Observation of Fragile-to-Strong Dynamic Crossover in Protein Hydration Water
At low temperatures proteins exist in a glassy state, a state which has no
conformational flexibility and shows no biological functions. In a hydrated
protein, at and above 220 K, this flexibility is restored and the protein is
able to sample more conformational sub-states, thus becomes biologically
functional. This 'dynamical' transition of protein is believed to be triggered
by its strong coupling with the hydration water, which also shows a similar
dynamic transition. Here we demonstrate experimentally that this sudden switch
in dynamic behavior of the hydration water on lysozyme occurs precisely at 220
K and can be described as a Fragile-to-Strong dynamic crossover (FSC). At FSC,
the structure of hydration water makes a transition from predominantly
high-density (more fluid state) to low-density (less fluid state) forms derived
from existence of the second critical point at an elevated pressure.Comment: 6 pages (Latex), 4 figures (Postscript
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