University satellite institutes as exogenous facilitators of technology transfer ecosystem development

Universities can contribute to knowledge-based regional development not only in their home region but also in other regions. In a number of countries, universities have established university satellite institutes in additional (host) regions to promote research and technology transfer there. We investigate the role of university satellite institutes in the industrial development of regions, which, albeit not economically marginal, suffer from a weak knowledge infrastructure, limited absorptive capacities for external knowledge in the business sector and hence a low degree of attractiveness for non-local knowledge actors. Despite policy recommendations in favor of establishing satellite institutes, there has only been limited empirical research on this phenomenon, particularly concerning technology transfer ecosystem development. To fill this gap, we provide an exploratory case study of university satellite institutes in the Pearl River Delta of China’s Guangdong province. We show how such institutes can be successful in facilitating the development of their host region’s technology transfer ecosystems and demonstrate why they should be conceptually included in our existing understanding of third mission activities. Our research centers on the interplay of geographical proximity and non-spatial, organized proximity in the development of interregional knowledge bridges and entrepreneurial opportunities. We argue that the university’s geographical proximity is only successful if the satellite institute, by facilitating organized proximity, promotes the geographical proximity of further knowledge actors, hereby propelling ecosystem development. © 2021, The Author(s)

Common genetic determinants of intraocular pressure and primary open-angle Glaucoma

10.1371/journal.pgen.1002611PLoS Genetics85

The ERCC6 Gene and Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible visual loss in the developed countries and is caused by both environmental and genetic factors. A recent study (Tuo et al., PNAS) reported an association between AMD and a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs3793784) in the ERCC6 (NM_000124) gene. The risk allele also increased ERCC6 expression. ERCC6 is involved in DNA repair and mutations in ERCC6 cause Cockayne syndrome (CS). Amongst others, photosensitivity and pigmentary retinopathy are hallmarks of CS. Methodology/Principal Findings: Separate and combined data from three large AMD case-control studies and a prospective population-based study (The Rotterdam Study) were used to analyse the genetic association between ERCC6 and AMD (2682 AMD cases and 3152 controls). We also measured ERCC6 mRNA levels in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells of healthy and early AMD affected human donor eyes. Rs3793784 conferred a small increase in risk for late AMD in the Dutch population (The Rotterdam and AMRO-NL study), but this was not replicated in two non-European studies (AREDS, Columbia University). In addition, the AMRO-NL study revealed no significant association for 9 other variants spanning ERCC6. Finally, we determined that ERCC6 expression in the human RPE did not depend on rs3793784 genotype, but, interestingly, on AMD status: Early AMD-affected donor eyes had a 50% lower ERCC6 expression than healthy donor eyes (P = 0.018). Conclusions/Significance: Our meta analysis of four Caucasian cohorts does not replicate the reported association between SNPs in ERCC6 and AMD. Nevertheless, our findings on ERCC6 expression in the RPE suggest that ERCC6 may be functionally involved in AMD. Combining our data with those of the literature, we hypothesize that the AMD-related reduced transcriptional activity of ERCC6 may be caused by diverse, small and heterogeneous genetic and/or environmental determinants

Comparative Genome Analysis of Filamentous Fungi Reveals Gene Family Expansions Associated with Fungal Pathogenesis

Fungi and oomycetes are the causal agents of many of the most serious diseases of plants. Here we report a detailed comparative analysis of the genome sequences of thirty-six species of fungi and oomycetes, including seven plant pathogenic species, that aims to explore the common genetic features associated with plant disease-causing species. The predicted translational products of each genome have been clustered into groups of potential orthologues using Markov Chain Clustering and the data integrated into the e-Fungi object-oriented data warehouse (http://www.e-fungi.org.uk/). Analysis of the species distribution of members of these clusters has identified proteins that are specific to filamentous fungal species and a group of proteins found only in plant pathogens. By comparing the gene inventories of filamentous, ascomycetous phytopathogenic and free-living species of fungi, we have identified a set of gene families that appear to have expanded during the evolution of phytopathogens and may therefore serve important roles in plant disease. We have also characterised the predicted set of secreted proteins encoded by each genome and identified a set of protein families which are significantly over-represented in the secretomes of plant pathogenic fungi, including putative effector proteins that might perturb host cell biology during plant infection. The results demonstrate the potential of comparative genome analysis for exploring the evolution of eukaryotic microbial pathogenesis

WHO global research priorities for antimicrobial resistance in human health

The WHO research agenda for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in human health has identified 40 research priorities to be addressed by the year 2030. These priorities focus on bacterial and fungal pathogens of crucial importance in addressing AMR, including drug-resistant pathogens causing tuberculosis. These research priorities encompass the entire people-centred journey, covering prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of antimicrobial-resistant infections, in addition to addressing the overarching knowledge gaps in AMR epidemiology, burden and drivers, policies and regulations, and awareness and education. The research priorities were identified through a multistage process, starting with a comprehensive scoping review of knowledge gaps, with expert inputs gathered through a survey and open call. The priority setting involved a rigorous modified Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative approach, ensuring global representation and applicability of the findings. The ultimate goal of this research agenda is to encourage research and investment in the generation of evidence to better understand AMR dynamics and facilitate policy translation for reducing the burden and consequences of AMR

Anachronismen und neue Aufmerksamkeiten: Überlegungen zur geschlechtersensiblen Sprache in der deutschsprachigen historischen Forschung

Stellen wir uns historisch Forschende der Zukunft vor, für die Fragen einer geschlechtersensiblen Sprache keine Rolle mehr spielen werden. Das Problem wird für sie seit langem obsolet geworden sein (so, wie sich im 20. Jahrhundert kaum jemand mehr fragen musste, wie man einen Hochadligen anzusprechen hatte, und im 21. Jahrhundert den Jüngeren die Anrede "Fräulein" für unverheiratete Frauen jedes Alters fremd geworden war). Stellen wir uns weiter vor, dass die historisch Forschenden sich in einem zukünftigen Jahr X für jene Menschen interessieren, die im frühen 21. Jahrhundert an Universitäten im deutschsprachigen Raum lernten. In schriftlichen Hinterlassenschaften dieser Zeit werden sie einer Vielzahl von Möglichkeiten begegnen, die Lernenden als Gruppe anzusprechen und deren Zusammensetzung mit Blick auf das Geschlecht sprachlich und typographisch zu erfassen: Student(inn)en, Student/innen, StudentInnen, Studentinnen und Studenten (oder vice versa), Studierende, Student_innen, Student*innen, Student:innen. Offensichtlich, diese Vermutung würden die Forschenden wohl anstellen, war in den Jahren um 2020 in Bezug auf die Bezeichnung geschlechtlicher Differenzen etwas in Bewegung geraten, ohne dass sich den Nachgeborenen die mit den Wörtern und Zeichen verbundenen Bedeutungen unmittelbar erschlössen. Gut möglich, dass sie zunächst ein leichter Schwindel erfassen wird, bevor sie sich an ihre sozial-, kultur- oder wissensgeschichtlichen Untersuchungen machen

Gewalt und Heldentum

Heldenerzählungen berichten von Gewalt, dem vorsätzlichen Übergriff auf den Körper eines anderen gegen dessen Willen. In der Gewalttat kulminieren Mut und Entschlossenheit, Regelverachtung und Handlungsmacht, sie erscheint als Bewährungsprobe des Individuums. Gewalt zwingt die Beteiligten, sich zur ihr zu verhalten und zu positionieren – Täter wie Opfer, Beteiligte wie Beistehende, Zeitgenossen wie Nachkommende. In diesem Band strukturieren drei Perspektivierungen –zur Heroisierung, zum Ertragen und zur Vermeidung von Gewalt – literatur-, geschichts-, kulturwissenschaftliche und soziologische Zugänge zum Beziehungsgeflecht von Heldentum und physischer Gewaltausübung. Ein einleitender Aufsatz identifiziert theoretische Schnittstellen. Mit Beiträgen von Ronald G. Asch, Cornelia Brink, Ulrich Bröckling, Olmo Gölz, Joachim Grage, Felix K. Maier, Vera Marstaller, Christoph Mauntel, Sotirios Mouzakis, Friederike Pannewick, Jan Philipp Reemtsma, Sven Reichardt und Cornel Zwierlein. Heroic tales recount violence, which can be defined as a deliberate assault on the body of another against their will. The act of violence is a culmination of courage, determination, contempt for rules and the power to act; violence appears as a paradigmatic test of the individual. Violence forces those involved to position themselves in relation to it – perpetrators as well as victims, participants as well as bystanders, contemporaries as well as descendants. In this volume, three perspectives on the heroization, endurance and avoidance of violence structure different literary, historical, cultural and sociological approaches to identifying the relationship between the heroic and physical violence. An introductory essay identifies theoretical intersections between violence and heroism. With contributions by Ronald G. Asch, Cornelia Brink, Ulrich Bröckling, Olmo Gölz, Joachim Grage, Felix K. Maier, Vera Marstaller, Christoph Mauntel, Sotirios Mouzakis, Friederike Pannewick, Jan Philipp Reemtsma, Sven Reichardt and Cornel Zwierlein

Geschlechter ordnen? Männlichkeit als paradoxes Versprechen

Das ägyptische Körperkultur-Magazin "al-Abṭāl" ("Die Champions" oder "Die Helden"; beide Übersetzungen sind möglich) berichtete im Februar 1933 über eine öffentliche athletische Leistungsschau in Kairo. Angesichts der beeindruckenden Performance ägyptischer Männer und ihrer trainierten Körper feierte es eine "sportliche arabische Renaissance" (an-nahḍa ar-riyāḍiyya). Diese Leistungsschau zu Ehren des Besuchs Viktor Emanuels III., des Königs von Italien, war nur denkbar in einem politischen und gesellschaftlichen Kontext, in dem der männliche Körper zur Projektionsfläche ägyptischer Selbstbehauptung gegenüber dem britischen Kolonialismus auserkoren wurde. Der Historiker Wilson Chacko Jacob hat in seinem Buch "Working Out Egypt" dargelegt, wie sich die Bemühungen einer aufstrebenden Mittelschicht, ein "unverwechselbares modernes und ägyptisches Selbst vom kolonialen Blick (colonial gaze) zu befreien", in Diskursen über Geschlecht und Sexualität äußerten, bei welchen einer performativen, auf den athletischen Körper bezogenen Männlichkeit ein zentraler Stellenwert zukam. Eine solche Fokussierung auf den virilen männlichen Körper hatte bereits zur Jahrhundertwende eine globale Dimension erreicht. Dies war eng mit den kolonialen Hierarchien und dem Prozess der Nationsbildung verknüpft, wie Sebastian Conrad feststellt. Beide Aspekte sind auch für den ägyptischen Fall in der Zwischenkriegszeit von Bedeutung, wo vergleichbare Prozesse nicht zuletzt als Reaktion auf den Orientalismus zu sehen sind, hier verstanden als eine diskursive Strategie zur Beherrschung des Orients, der das koloniale Ausgreifen Europas auf die islamische Welt und damit die Region immer auch geschlechtlich codierte. Edward Said hatte dies bereits in seiner heute klassischen Studie "Orientalism" von 1978 konstatiert. Zwar ist die Polemik Saids seit ihrem Erscheinen vielfach kritisiert worden; seiner grundsätzlichen Beobachtung aber, der Orientalismus konstruiere einen feminisierten und als passiv verstandenen Orient, dem das maskuline kolonisierende Subjekt gegenüberstehe, wird weitgehend zugestimmt

Innovation in emerging economies: How do university-industry linkages and public procurement matter for small businesses?

Small businesses face major challenges to becoming more innovative. These challenges are particularly prevalent in emerging economies where high uncertainties are a barrier to innovation. We know from previous studies that linkages to universities, on the one hand, and public procurement, on the other, support large and innovative firms in their efforts to become more innovative. However, we do not know whether these positive effects also hold true for small businesses. In this paper, we focus on how policy strategies reducing information, market and financial uncertainties shape small businesses’ innovation in China. Based on a sample of 926 small businesses derived from the World Bank Enterprises Survey in China (2012), we find that university-industry linkages enhance innovation, though only when it comes to minor forms of innovation. In line with the resource-based view of the firm, this effect is stronger for small businesses with higher capabilities. Moreover, we show that bidding for or delivering contracts to public sector clients has a positive effect on innovation, and in particular of major forms of innovation. In the bidding selection process, private firms and firms with higher capabilities are selected. Our findings show that both policy strategies have enhanced innovation, though with different effects on the degree of novelty. We attribute this finding to the different degrees of uncertainties they address