Reversals of fortune: path dependency, problem solving, and temporal cases

Historical reversals highlight a basic methodological problem: is it possible to treat two successive periods both as independent cases to compare for causal analysis and as parts of a single historical sequence? I argue that one strategy for doing so, using models of path dependency, imposes serious limits on explanation. An alternative model which treats successive periods as contrasting solutions for recurrent problems offers two advantages. First, it more effectively combines analytical comparisons of different periods with narratives of causal sequences spanning two or more periods. Second, it better integrates scholarly accounts of historical reversals with actors’ own narratives of the past

Liberation of recalcitrant cell wall sugars from oak barrels into bourbon whiskey during aging

Abstract Oak barrels have been used by humans for thousands of years to store and transport valuable materials. Early settlers of the United States in Kentucky began charring the interior of new white oak barrels prior to aging distillate to create the distinctively flavored spirit we know as bourbon whiskey. Despite the unique flavor and cultural significance of “America’s Spirit”, little is known about the wood-distillate interaction that shapes bourbon whiskey. Here, we employed an inverse method to measure the loss of specific wood polysaccharides in the oak cask during aging for up to ten years. We found that the structural cell wall wood biopolymer, cellulose, was partially decrystallized by the charring process. This pyrolytic fracturing and subsequent exposure to the distillate was accompanied by a steady loss of sugars from the cellulose and hemicellulose fractions of the oak cask. Distinct layers of structural degradation and product release from within the barrel stave are formed over time as the distillate expands into and contracts from the barrel staves. This complex, wood-sugar release process is likely associated with the time-dependent generation of the unique palate of bourbon whiskey

Understanding the use of Smart Working in Public Administration: the experience of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers

While there is no consensus in terms of what “smart government” includes and how it is related to emergent technologies and innovation in the public sector, in this paper smart working (SW) is regarded as one of the most important initiatives for building smart government. In the Italian public sector—according to the Law n. 81/2017—SW has emerged as a “new” way to define what is considered as an innovative approach to work organisation and human resource management. Analysing the Presidency of the Council of Ministers case study the paper aims to investigate to answer to the following questions: (i) to what extent is the interface between organisational model for working and new technology contextually bound? (ii) what are the combination of the different elements affecting the configuration of SW? (iii) what are the outcomes of SW likely to be for smar-workers, organisations and society