Disrupted meaning: a study of subverting logic through artists' books

This dissertation will discuss artists’ books as a form of visual arts practice that has been developed primarily since the 1960s. Works associated with this term can be distinguished from books in general and even books containing works of art, in that artists’ books are works of art in and of themselves. In particular, this dissertation will focus on non-narrative, nonlinear or disrupted artists’ books that require alternate or reinvented methods of reception and interpretation as they put forward different experiences to those of traditional books. In order to approach this focus from a theoretical perspective, which is currently lacking in existing literature on artists’ books, there are four key areas that will be examined, as they will provide the context for the examination of non-narrative artists’ books. The first is an account of artists’ books in general, where a brief history and various conceptual and material approaches related to their practice will be outlined. Secondly, modes of narrative communication conducted both through books and in society in general will be discussed. This is important for the dissertation because it will outline related book and narrative conventions that the particular works in question will be shown to depart from. The third field that will be considered concerns aesthetic debates. In order to situate non-narrative artists’ books in these debates, the presence of an illogical signifier or non-narrative occurrence in a visual work will be explored as a potential aesthetic element. The fourth field to be examined addresses the processes and effects related to non-narrative ordering in literary, film and visual works in general. Once the aforementioned areas have been addressed, specific nonlinear or disrupted artists’ books will be discussed. This discussion will be carried out in terms of content, structure, reader role and experience and alternate methods of comprehension that may be required, so that the various ways in which such works depart from traditional books can be considered and responded to. Through these considerations, this dissertation will identify the potential relevance and functions of non-narrative book works as a mode of contemporary art practice. The dissertation does not seek to examine overt structures of meaning, but to investigate disruptive or illogical spaces that arise within a work. This is the gap in existing literature that will be filled, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the viewing and discussion of non-narrative artists’ books

The underdetermined knowledge-based theory of the MNC

This paper revisits two core propositions in the knowledge-based view of the firm propounded in the seminal work by Kogut and Zander (1993): (a) that MNCs exist because transfers and re-combinations of knowledge occur more efficiently inside MNCs than between MNCs and third parties, and (b) the threat of opportunism is not necessary (although it may be sufficient), to explain the existence of the MNC. We question these conclusions, arguing that firms are only one of many types of ‘epistemic communities’ possessing and nurturing procedural norms, identity, and the cognitive, linguistic and reflexive attributes conducive to efficient exchange and recombination of knowledge. Through their ability to attenuate opportunism, the existence of non-firm epistemic communities has interesting implications not only for the knowledge-based view but also for the applicability of transaction cost economics in the analysis of the scope of the firm

International business relationships triads: Classical-type and relational-type interactions between Chinese and western firms

China’s expanding position within the global business arena has placed focus on its role in assisting to stimulate the global economy during the current ‘global financial crisis’. This raises the importance of better understanding how the Chinese conduct their inter-firm interactions, in their exchanges between Chinese and Western firms. We report an expository study that identifies both classical-type exchange and interactions that are relational-type in the one context and how these conflate to form triadic structures within business networks. From case study evidence, we propose a typology of triadic interorganisational forms. To understand better exchange in this complex international marketing context, and the additional demands this places on relationships management, it is important that we understand the causes and nature of the fuzziness of these opaque inter-firm network structures

Conceptualizing accelerated internationalization in the born global firm: A dynamic capabilities perspective

Existing approaches at explaining accelerated internationalization of born global firms are incomplete as they do not capture the learning that is undertaken by these firms and their founders prior to the firm's legal establishment. Building on the extant literature and drawing on the dynamic capabilities view of competitive strategy, this paper presents a conceptual model of born global firm internationalization. We conjecture that a set of dynamic capabilities that are built and nurtured by internationally-oriented entrepreneurial founders enable these firms to develop cutting-edge knowledge intensive products, paving the way for their accelerated market entry. We develop propositions and offer concluding remarks

A bacterial toxin-antitoxin module is the origin of inter-bacterial and inter-kingdom effectors of Bartonella.

Host-targeting type IV secretion systems (T4SS) evolved from conjugative T4SS machineries that mediate interbacterial plasmid transfer. However, the origins of effectors secreted by these virulence devices have remained largely elusive. Previous work showed that some effectors exhibit homology to toxins of bacterial toxin-antitoxin modules, but the evolutionary trajectories underlying these ties had not been resolved. We previously reported that FicT toxins of FicTA toxin-antitoxin modules disrupt cellular DNA topology via their enzymatic FIC (filamentation induced by cAMP) domain. Intriguingly, the FIC domain of the FicT toxin VbhT of Bartonella schoenbuchensis is fused to a type IV secretion signal-the BID (Bep intracellular delivery) domain-similar to the Bartonella effector proteins (Beps) that are secreted into eukaryotic host cells via the host-targeting VirB T4SS. In this study, we show that the VbhT toxin is an interbacterial effector protein secreted via the conjugative Vbh T4SS that is closely related to the VirB T4SS and encoded by plasmid pVbh of B. schoenbuchensis. We therefore propose that the Vbh T4SS together with its effector VbhT represent an evolutionary missing link on a path that leads from a regular conjugation system and FicTA toxin-antitoxin modules to the VirB T4SS and the Beps. Intriguingly, phylogenetic analyses revealed that the fusion of FIC and BID domains has probably occurred independently in VbhT and the common ancestor of the Beps, suggesting parallel evolutionary paths. Moreover, several other examples of TA module toxins that are bona fide substrates of conjugative T4SS indicate that their recruitment as interbacterial effectors is prevalent and serves yet unknown biological functions in the context of bacterial conjugation. We propose that the adaptation for interbacterial transfer favors the exaptation of FicT and other TA module toxins as inter-kingdom effectors and may thus constitute an important stepping stone in the evolution of host-targeted effector proteins

Drivers and Effects of Internationalising Innovation by SMEs

This paper investigates the drivers and the effects of the internationalisation of innovation activities in SMEs based on a large data set of German firms covering the period 2002-2007. We look at different stages of the innovation process (R&D, design, production and sales of new products, and implementation of new processes) and explore the role of internal resources, home market competition and innovationrelated location advantages for an SME’s decision to engage in innovation activities abroad. By linking international innovation activities to firm growth in the home market we try to identify likely internationalisation effects at the firm level. The results show that export experience and experience in knowledge protection are highly important for international innovation activities of SMEs. Fierce home market competition turns out to be rather an obstacle than a driver. High innovation costs stimulate internationalisation of non-R&D innovation activities, and shortage of qualified labour expels production of new products. R&D activities abroad and exports of new products spur firm growth in the home market while there are no negative effects on home market growth from shifting production of new products abroad

Force-length recording of eye muscles during local-anesthesia surgery in 32 strabismus patients

Abstract. Force-length recordings were made from isolated human eye muscles during strabismus surgery in local, eye-drop anesthesia in 32 adult patients. From each muscle three recordings were made: (1) while the patient looked with the other eye into the field of action of the recorded muscle, (2) looked ahead, and (3) looked out of the field of action of the recorded muscle. Non-innervated eye muscles (state 3) had an approximately exponential relation between force and length. During contraction evoked by letting the patient look ahead or into the field of action of the muscle (states I or 2), the relation between force and length was grossly linear. The approximate spring constants of horizontal rectus muscles that had not been operated on before ranged from 2 to 4 g/mm. In palsies, the degree of muscle paresis could be quantified accurately using this method and, accordingly, cases of true superior oblique palsy could be well differentiated from strabismus sursoadductorius (= upshoot in adduction) that may mimic a superior oblique palsy. In seven patients with Graves' disease of recent onset, affected muscles were found to be very stiff when the other eye looked ahead. It was expected that these stiff muscles would be able to shorten to some extent but would not be able to lengthen, due to fibrosis of the muscle. We found, however, that the affected muscles lengthened considerably when the other eye looked out of the field of action of the muscle. This implies that, in these cases of Graves' disease of recent onset, the raised muscle tension and reduced elasticity of the affected muscles and, hence, the strabismus were primarily caused by active muscle contraction, not by fibrosis