Digitalization or flexibilization? The changing role of technology in the political economy of Japan

We are increasingly surrounded by talk of digitalization. Yet, we remain unsure about what impact this digitalization will have upon socio-economic institutions, how the introduction of this digitalization will be contested, the likely role of the state in managing the adoption of digital technology, and the likely consequences for the broader political economy if and when it is introduced. This article examines the process of digitalization as it has unfolded in the service sector in Japan. Based on qualitative interviews with managers in the hospitality industry and union officials, the paper depicts a process that contrasts starkly with the more optimistic view adopted by some commentators, according to which digitalization has the potential to improve working conditions and contribute to a more stable form of growth. Instead, the paper draws on Regulation Theory to argue that the introduction of digitalization is part of a wider process of neoliberalization. As such, digitalization has contributed to deskilling, the fragmentation of work tasks, a digital divide, the intensification of work, and higher levels of workplace surveillance. This represents a further dismantling of the social compromise that underpinned Japan’s earlier period of economic growth

Enhancement of antibacterial effect of quaternary ammonium with inorganic nanosheets against Enterobacter cloacae

To suppress nosocomial infections, numerous studies of quaternary ammonium cations (R4N+) to improve the antibiotic properties have been investigated. However, most of them reported developments of novel organic or polymeric materials with R4N+. To pioneer antibacterial inorganic materials hybridized with R4N+, a colloidal solution of metal oxide nanosheets, which have a small particle size (typically less than 10 nm), is considered to be a suitable option because oxide nanosheets with a negative surface charge strongly interact R4N+. Herein, we demonstrate for the first time that the high antibacterial/bactericidal effects of titanate nanosheets (TNS) adsorbing tetramethylammonium (TMA-TNS) or tetrabultylammonium ions (TBA-TNS). Their antibacterial effects against Enterobacter cloacae were evaluated using a colony forming unit (CFU) counting method. The results showed that the synthesized TNS composites had superior antibacterial and bactericidal effects to those of free R4N+ and TBA-TNS exhibited the strongest effect (69% CFU reduction compared with that of free TBA+ and 98% CFU reduction compared with the control) among the samples examined. Dark incubation was employed to ensure that photocatalytic reaction of semiconducting TNS did not contribute to the process. Compared with TiO2 spherical particles, such high bactericidal effect would be induced by a synergistic function of TBA+ and TNS, which physically damages bacteria due to long hydrophobic alkyl chains and an anisotropic nanocrystalline structure with sharp edges, respectively