Fixing Hollingsworth: Standing in Initiative Cases

In Hollingsworth v. Perry, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal filed by the “Official Proponents” of California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California. Chief Justice Roberts’ majority opinion held that initiative sponsors lack Article III standing to defend their ballot measures even when state officials refuse to defend against constitutional challenges. As a result, Hollingsworth provides state officers with the ability to overrule laws that were intended to bypass the government establishment—in effect, an “executive veto” of popularly-enacted initiatives. The Article examines this new “executive veto” in depth. It places Hollingsworth in context, discussing the initiative process in California, and the history of the federal lawsuit challenging Proposition 8. An in-depth discussion of Hollingsworth follows. The particular issue presented by the appellants, their claim to standing based on their status as representatives of the People of California, and the Court’s treatment of that issue, is scrutinized. This includes the Court’s rejection of California law on the legal status of initiative proponents, and its adoption of the Restatement of Agency as the basis for Article III standing. After concluding that Hollingsworth establishes an “executive veto” over the initiative process, the Article proceeds to examine the potential effect of this in California and the thirty-six other “direct democracy” states. Finally, the authors present a series of “fixes” to Hollingsworth’s executive veto. These could assure defense of initiatives in the future, protecting them from the fate that Proposition 8 suffered in Hollingsworth

Networking capability development in new venture internationalisation: a theory building approach

This thesis aims to explore how technology start-ups build dynamic capabilities in networking to enable their new venture internationalisation (NVI). Positioned within the theoretical context of international entrepreneurship research, this thesis draws on the strategic management, entrepreneurship, and international business literature. Specifically, this thesis draws on three theoretical perspectives: (1) dynamic capabilities, (2) networking and social capital, and (3) NVI theory. Together this study combines Helfat et al. (2007) asset orchestration framework along with Nahapiet and Ghoshal’s (1998) three dimensions of social capital as a theoretical lens to explore how various networking activities enable or inhibit NVI. Specifically, this thesis explores three overarching network processes, with respect to how international new ventures (INVs) (1) create, (2) extend, and (3) modify their social capital in high-technology markets. The empirical context is Scottish and Australian medical technology start-ups that compete in the global medical technology sector, a distinct sector of the wider life sciences industry. Methodologically, this an interpretivist study, which takes an abductive approach to building theory from longitudinal multiple case study research. The focal actor (i.e. level of analysis) is the INV, while the unit of analysis is the focal actor’s network relationships. Data collection and analysis took place over three iterative phases drawing on multiple primary and secondary data sources and processual analytical techniques. To collect these data, this thesis used semi-structured interviews drawing on the critical incident and narrative sequence techniques along with documents, and observation. This study began with a purposeful sample of eight medical technology start-ups, and as findings emerged, a theoretical sample of four cases, along with visual maps, conceptually ordered displays and case-ordered effects matrices helped focus and refine the cross-case analysis. From the emergent cross-case data analysis, three overarching aggregate categories were found to aggregate eleven second-order themes, which aggregate several first-order concepts. The overarching finding of this thesis is that networking capability development is an affect-based emergent process that enables NVI. Specifically, this thesis makes three contributions to knowledge. The primary contribution of this thesis takes a step towards a process theory of networking capability development. Therefore, this study identifies networking capability as one particular type of dynamic capability that enables NVI. Secondly, this thesis begins to unlock the black box of networking by identifying several networking activities that underpin the network-enhancing, network-delaying, and network-modifying process, which triggers, enables, and accelerates a virtuous cycle of networking capability development. Finally, this thesis argues that learning from delays and nurturing core ties helps shift technology start-ups’ reliance from impersonal relations towards future aspirations to internalise operations. A discussion of these findings then outlines the implications for theory, policy, and practice. This study closes with a discussion on research limitations and recommends new avenues for future research

Noninfectious retrovirus particles drive the APOBEC3/Rfv3 dependent neutralizing antibody response.

Members of the APOBEC3 family of deoxycytidine deaminases counteract a broad range of retroviruses in vitro through an indirect mechanism that requires virion incorporation and inhibition of reverse transcription and/or hypermutation of minus strand transcripts in the next target cell. The selective advantage to the host of this indirect restriction mechanism remains unclear, but valuable insights may be gained by studying APOBEC3 function in vivo. Apobec3 was previously shown to encode Rfv3, a classical resistance gene that controls the recovery of mice from pathogenic Friend retrovirus (FV) infection by promoting a more potent neutralizing antibody (NAb) response. The underlying mechanism does not involve a direct effect of Apobec3 on B cell function. Here we show that while Apobec3 decreased titers of infectious virus during acute FV infection, plasma viral RNA loads were maintained, indicating substantial release of noninfectious particles in vivo. The lack of plasma virion infectivity was associated with a significant post-entry block during early reverse transcription rather than G-to-A hypermutation. The Apobec3-dependent NAb response correlated with IgG binding titers against native, but not detergent-lysed virions. These findings indicate that innate Apobec3 restriction promotes NAb responses by maintaining high concentrations of virions with native B cell epitopes, but in the context of low virion infectivity. Finally, Apobec3 restriction was found to be saturable in vivo, since increasing FV inoculum doses resulted in decreased Apobec3 inhibition. By analogy, maximizing the release of noninfectious particles by modulating APOBEC3 expression may improve humoral immunity against pathogenic human retroviral infections

Building dynamic capabilities for digital transformation: An ongoing process of strategic renewal

In this qualitative study, we explore how incumbent firms in traditional industries build dynamic capabilities for digital transformation. Digital transformation has been defined as the use of new digital technologies, such as mobile, artificial intelligence, cloud, blockchain, and the Internet of things (IoT) technologies, to enable major business improvements to augment customer experience, streamline operations, or create new business models. In making sense of digital transformation, we discovered that leaders in various industry circles use the term inconsistently to describe various strategizing and organizing activities; in addition, the term has gained limited scholarly attention as a context for study of strategic change. Drawing on senior executives' experiences with leading digitalization projects at incumbent firms, we propose a process model comprising of nine microfoundations to reveal the generic contingency factors that trigger, enable, and hinder the building of dynamic capabilities for digital transformation. Our findings reveal that digital transformation is an ongoing process of using new digital technologies in everyday organizational life, which recognizes agility as the core mechanism for the strategic renewal of an organization's (1) business model, (2) collaborative approach, and eventually the (3) culture

Endothelial cell Bcl‐2 and lymph node metastasis in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90040/1/j.1600-0714.2011.01081.x.pd

English in Wartime: A Symposium by College Teachers

After the declaration of war upon us by the Axis nations, it seemed the editors of College English that the members of the College should, as soon as possible, co-operate in determining how best to fulfil our special responsibility throughout World War II. As a first step, we invited twenty-five teachers of English in colleges and universities to suggest how we should meet this professional emergency. The Planning Commission of the N.C.T.E., at their meeting in Chicago during the Christmas holidays, and the College Section, at their meeting in Indianapolis with the M.L.A., considered general and basic wartime policies for the National Council. The result of these deliberations will be presented in the March College English. To assemble a preliminary survey of opinion on the teaching of English in World War II, we had to act quickly in order to meet the deadline for the February issue. Nine letters from college men and women came back in time to be included in the symposium. The weakness of the small number, however, is overcome by the strength of the unified and obviously representative character of the responses. Teachers of English believe in the permanent value of the work they are doing. In peace or in war the discipline of the humanities is a way to decency in human relations. Those who have written for the symposium agree that our time of emergency requires of us, as teachers of English, a more vigorous concentration than ever upon clear expression and broad, permanently vital reading. We will need to make curriculum changes, and individually we will perform special wartime duties; but the initial message from outstanding college teachers is that we must do the job for which we are trained: help others to realize the power which emanates from great literature to live humanely in the midst of conflict

Coherent control of a superconducting qubit using light

Quantum science and technology promise the realization of a powerful computational resource that relies on a network of quantum processors connected with low loss and low noise communication channels capable of distributing entangled states [1,2]. While superconducting microwave qubits (3-8 GHz) operating in cryogenic environments have emerged as promising candidates for quantum processor nodes due to their strong Josephson nonlinearity and low loss [3], the information between spatially separated processor nodes will likely be carried at room temperature via telecommunication photons (200 THz) propagating in low loss optical fibers. Transduction of quantum information [4-10] between these disparate frequencies is therefore critical to leverage the advantages of each platform by interfacing quantum resources. Here, we demonstrate coherent optical control of a superconducting qubit. We achieve this by developing a microwave-optical quantum transducer that operates with up to 1.18% conversion efficiency (1.16% cooperativity) and demonstrate optically-driven Rabi oscillations (2.27 MHz) in a superconducting qubit without impacting qubit coherence times (800 ns). Finally, we discuss outlooks towards using the transducer to network quantum processor nodes

Biogeochemistry of Arsenic and Antimony in the North Pacific Ocean

The biogeochemical cycles of the metalloid elements arsenic and antimony were examined along a 15,000 km surface water transect and at 9 vertical profile stations in the western North Pacific Ocean as part of the 2002 IOC Contaminant Baseline Survey. Results show that the speciation of dissolved arsenic (As III, As V, and methylated As) was subtly controlled by the arsenate (AsV)/phosphate ratio. An additional fraction of presumed organic arsenic previously reported in coastal waters was also present (~15% of the total As) in oceanic surface waters. Dissolved inorganic antimony displayed mildly scavenged behavior that was confirmed by correlations with aluminum, but atmospheric inputs that may be anthropogenic in origin also affected its concentrations. Monomethyl antimony, the predominant organic form of the element, behaved almost conservatively throughout the water column, radically changing the known biogeochemical cycle of antimony