'Word from the street' : when non-electoral representative claims meet electoral representation in the United Kingdom

Taking the specific case of street protests in the UK – the ‘word from the street’– this article examines recent (re)conceptualizations of political representation, most particularly Saward’s notion of ‘representative claim’. The specific example of nonelectoral claims articulated by protestors and demonstrators in the UK is used to illustrate: the processes of making, constituting, evaluating and accepting claims for and by constituencies and audiences; and the continuing distinctiveness of claims based upon electoral representation. Two basic questions structure the analysis: first, why would the political representative claims of elected representatives trump the nonelectoral claims of mass demonstrators and, second, in what ways does the ‘perceived legitimacy’ of the former differ from the latter

Closed-Loop supply chains in circular economy business models

With the emergence of the circular economy (CE) approach into business models, there is need for deeper understanding of resource loops activities and how current supply chains can support the development of emerging CE business models. However, there is still limited research addressing the conceptualization of closed loops in the supply chain literature. This work addresses this research gap and proposes a typology for closed loops that is independent from the type of product under concern. Our findings suggest that there are two types of closed-loop supply chains in circular business models. Further work is envisaged to understand how companies can effectively develop their closed-loop supply chains as part of their transformation towards a more circular business model

Principles of mRNA transport in yeast

mRNA localization and localized translation is a common mechanism by which cellular asymmetry is achieved. In higher eukaryotes the mRNA transport machinery is required for such diverse processes as stem cell division and neuronal plasticity. Because mRNA localization in metazoans is highly complex, studies at the molecular level have proven to be cumbersome. However, active mRNA transport has also been reported in fungi including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Ustilago maydis and Candida albicans, in which these events are less difficult to study. Amongst them, budding yeast S. cerevisiae has yielded mechanistic insights that exceed our understanding of other mRNA localization events to date. In contrast to most reviews, we refrain here from summarizing mRNA localization events from different organisms. Instead we give an in-depth account of ASH1 mRNA localization in budding yeast. This approach is particularly suited to providing a more holistic view of the interconnection between the individual steps of mRNA localization, from transcriptional events to cytoplasmic mRNA transport and localized translation. Because of our advanced mechanistic understanding of mRNA localization in yeast, the present review may also be informative for scientists working, for example, on mRNA localization in embryogenesis or in neurons

Responding to Crises—Worries About Expertization

The chapter discusses challenges arising from the growing role of experts and expert knowledge in policymaking. It identifies a series of distinguishable epistemic and democratic worries about “expertization.” Examples are drawn from EU governance, in particular economy policy and debates over EU’s democratic deficits. It is argued that worries about larger expert influence on EU policymaking should be taken seriously, and that several of the listed problems have become more urgent in a time when the Union faces multiple crises. Still, good governance requires significant amounts of expert input. The solution thus is not to debunk expertise, but to organize and institutionalize expert arrangements in better ways. The chapter suggests a reform approach and takes up implications for different scenarios of EU integration

The Role of Natural-Based Biomaterials in Advanced Therapies for Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases (ADs) constitute a heterogeneous group of more than 100 pathophysiological conditions in which an immune response against the self is observed. The incidence and prevalence of these chronic diseases are increasing with inherently high social and economic impacts. The currently available therapies generally focus on reducing the activity of the immune system and, therefore, can present severe side effects such as enhanced patient susceptibility to opportunistic infections. Advanced therapies emerged as promising treatments and with real curative potential for ADs. Additionally, the use of natural polymers to engineer gene therapies, cell therapies and/or tissue-engineered medicinal products presents specific advantages. Natural polymers present higher affinity with biological systems than synthetic polymers, and frequently have a chemical structure and motifs similar to those existing in the extracellular matrix of the tissues. They also have good biological performance, making them very strong candidates for advanced therapy medicinal products. This review discusses the therapeutic advances and provides demonstrative examples of the role of natural-based biomaterials for the development of advanced therapies for ADs.Programa Operacional Norte 2020 under the research project FROnTHERA (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023) and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia do Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal) under the research project SPARTAN (PTDC/CTM-BIO/4388/2014)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio