The \u27New Woman\u27 Gender Roles and Urban Modernism in Interwar Berlin and Shanghai

During the interwar period, urban modernism was connected to opposing ideals of womanhood. On the one hand, women’s participation in a culture of leisure, consumption and body consciousness created images of the New Women in Berlin and Shanghai during the 1920s and early 1930s. On the other hand, women in Weimar Berlin and Republican Shanghai were both desired and feared for their role in the significant changes in these two metropoles. This article analyzes the emergence of the neue Frau and modeng xiaojie. The growth of the cities, industrialization and changes in the work force provided new opportunities for many women’s lives. However, in the interwar period, anxiety-ridden discourses about sexual disorder and moral decay became significant forces and shaped attitudes toward women’s roles in urban society. The article examines the critics and conflicts generated by the modern women in the two societies and the conditions leading to the demise of the modern women era in China and Germany

Success at the Base of the Pyramid: A relational view of competitive advantage

In this paper, we propose a new framework to measure the success of projects at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP), based on the relational view of strategy (Dyer and Singh, 1998; Lavie, 2006; Mesquita et al., 2008), and we test the framework using new case studies. We argue that the success of BoP projects depends on relation-specific resources and capabilities resulting from partnerships among participating organizations. Typical partners involved in a BoP project are firms that make a product or a service designed for BoP customers, a public or private agency that has local knowledge and presence, and a BoP community that uses the product. The relational view model can help assess the sustainable success of a BoP project because it examines unique interorganizational relationships and relation-specific combination of resources designed to create sustainable value (Dyer and Singh, 1998; Dyer, 1996). We apply this important model of strategic analysis to two new BoP projects

Sinker Structure of Phoradendron californicum (Viscaceae) Confounds its Presumed Close Relationship to Other Acataphyllous Species

Phoradendron is the largest genus of New World mistletoes, with about 250 species in two subgenera, Boreales and Aequatoriales, corresponding, respectively, to northern acataphyllous and southern cataphyllous groups. The typically acataphyllous P. californicum of western North America is controversial because recent phylogenetic work has nested it in the southern cataphyllous clade. Seedling establishment, stem anatomy, and endophytic system structure of this species were studied. Seedling haustorial holdfasts have gland cavities, structures considered absent in the Viscaceae clade of Santalales. The stem epidermis has a thick cuticle, deeply sunken stomata, and branched multicellular trichomes. The stem has an outer cortex of palisade chlorenchyma and an inner cortex of large isodiametric parenchyma cells. The boundary area between the outer and inner cortex contains druses and an unusual ring of small xylic bundles lacking protoxylem fibers and phloem. Sinkers are of two types: uniseriate, with only parenchyma that often has thick-walled transfer cells at its interface with vessels of the host; and multiseriate, with parenchyma and vessel elements that often are in direct contact and share simple perforation plates with vessels of the host. Sinker morphology is also dimorphic in the cataphyllous P. fragile but only unimorphic (multiseriate) in the acataphyllous P. juniperinum and P. serotinum. The dimorphic sinker system of P. californicum may be functionally partitioned, whereas these functions are combined in the unimorphic sinkers of other acataphyllous species. Differences in sinker morphology may reflect evolutionary trends in Phoradendron. This study also supports the hypothesis that P. californicum is more closely aligned with the mainly tropical cataphyllous species of the genus

Phosphorylation of CREB affects its binding to high and low affinity sites

Cyclic AMP treatment of hepatoma cells leads to increased protein binding at the cyclic AMP response element (CRE) of the tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) gene in vivo, as revealed by genomic footprinting, whereas no increase is observed at the CRE of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene. Several criteria establish that the 43 kDa CREB protein is interacting with both of these sites. Two classes of CRE with different affinity for CREB are described. One class, including the TATCRE, is characterized by asymmetric and weak binding sites (CGTCA), whereas the second class containing symmetrical TGACGTCA sites shows a much higher binding affinity for CREB. Both classes show an increase in binding after phosphorylation of CREB by protein kinase A (PKA). An in vivo phosphorylation-dependent change in binding of CREB increases the occupancy of weak binding sites used for transactivation, such as the TATCRE, while high affinity sites may have constitutive binding of transcriptionally active and inactive CREB dimers, as demonstrated by in vivo footprinting at the PEPCK CRE. Thus, lower basal level and higher relative stimulation of transcription by cyclic AMP through low affinity CREs should result, allowing finely tuned control of gene activation

M&A Update and Cross-Border M&As: Considerations for Middle-Market Firms

Global activity in mergers and acquisitions (M&As) has weakened during the past year and a half. With continued concerns about the recovery of the global economy, many large companies were reluctant to close mega-deals. Economic and political events, such as increased fiscal crises in Europe, slowing economic growth in the BRIC countries, and political gridlock in Washington, reduced confidence among many dealmakers. Despite companies’ record cash reserves, many were reluctant to execute new M&A deals. In this article, we discuss global M&A activity in 2011 and the first half of 2012. The article concludes with a discussion of factors for middle-market companies to consider in pursuing cross-border M&As

2014 M&A Update

Market conditions for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) remained positive in 2013. Relative economic growth in the U.S. and within specific industry sectors, and positive economic developments in the emerging markets signaled an optimistic outlook for M&A activity. There was a decline in worldwide M&A transactions in the first half of 2013 following a modest gain in 2012 which resulted in an overall slowdown in M&A activities, yet there are positive signs for future M&A growth. Corporate executives and their boards were selective with their investment choices and sought many of their M&A opportunities in the middle market. In this article, we report on global M&A activity in 2012 and the first half of 2013, and conclude with a discussion on the board of directors’ role in mergers and acquisitions

There is more to life than subsistence: use-wear and residue analyses on pre-Still Bay stone tools at Sibudu

peer reviewe

Why do Gen Y students study abroad? Individual growth and the intent to study abroad

This paper proposes that Generation Y college students’ desire for individual growth is a critical factor that motivates them to express the intent to study abroad, and that five additional variables -- gender, parents’ educational level, prior international experience, age, and household income -- moderate the direct influence of the desire for individual growth on the intent to study abroad

Phosphorylation of CREB affects its binding to high and low affinity sites

Cyclic AMP treatment of hepatoma cells leads to increased protein binding at the cyclic AMP response element (CRE) of the tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) gene in vivo, as revealed by genomic footprinting, whereas no increase is observed at the CRE of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) gene. Several criteria establish that the 43 kDa CREB protein is interacting with both of these sites. Two classes of CRE with different affinity for CREB are described. One class, including the TATCRE, is characterized by asymmetric and weak binding sites (CGTCA), whereas the second class containing symmetrical TGACGTCA sites shows a much higher binding affinity for CREB. Both classes show an increase in binding after phosphorylation of CREB by protein kinase A (PKA). An in vivo phosphorylation-dependent change in binding of CREB increases the occupancy of weak binding sites used for transactivation, such as the TATCRE, while high affinity sites may have constitutive binding of transcriptionally active and inactive CREB dimers, as demonstrated by in vivo footprinting at the PEPCK CRE. Thus, lower basal level and higher relative stimulation of transcription by cyclic AMP through low affinity CREs should result, allowing finely tuned control of gene activation

Predicted vs. measured paraspinal muscle activity in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patients: EMG validation of optimization-based musculoskeletal simulations.

Musculoskeletal (MSK) models offer great potential for predicting the muscle forces required to inform more detailed simulations of vertebral endplate loading in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). In this work, simulations based on static optimization were compared with in vivo measurements in two AIS patients to determine whether computational approaches alone are sufficient for accurate prediction of paraspinal muscle activity during functional activities. We used biplanar radiographs and marker-based motion capture, ground reaction force, and electromyography (EMG) data from two patients with mild and moderate thoracolumbar AIS (Cobb angles: 21° and 45°, respectively) during standing while holding two weights in front (reference position), walking, running, and object lifting. Using a fully automated approach, 3D spinal shape was extracted from the radiographs. Geometrically personalized OpenSim-based MSK models were created by deforming the spine of pre-scaled full-body models of children/adolescents. Simulations were performed using an experimentally controlled backward approach. Differences between model predictions and EMG measurements of paraspinal muscle activity (both expressed as a percentage of the reference position values) at three different locations around the scoliotic main curve were quantified by root mean square error (RMSE) and cross-correlation (XCorr). Predicted and measured muscle activity correlated best for mild AIS during object lifting (XCorr's ≥ 0.97), with relatively low RMSE values. For moderate AIS as well as the walking and running activities, agreement was lower, with XCorr reaching values of 0.51 and comparably high RMSE values. This study demonstrates that static optimization alone seems not appropriate for predicting muscle activity in AIS patients, particularly in those with more than mild deformations as well as when performing upright activities such as walking and running