CSR, co-optation and resistance: the emergence of new agnostic relations between business and civil society

This article examines the theoretical implications of the changing relationships between NGOs and businesses that have emerged as a response to the evolving agenda around CSR and sustainable development. In particular, it focuses upon examining whether greater engagement from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in this area reflects a process of appropriation and co-optation of protest by the business community. To examine this process, the article considers two forms of appropriation—appropriation of language and appropriation via participation—as a basis for discussion. While co-optation pressures are identified within both areas, the article argues that co-optation is identified almost as an inevitable outcome of engagement without significant consideration of the ability of movements to identify and respond to these processes. In identifying an alternative approach, the article utilises Mouffe’s framework of agonistic pluralism. Mouffe’s framework, it is argued, provides an understanding of the way in which agonistic relationships are emerging between NGOs and businesses while highlighting the continuance of conflict between parties struggling to influence the contested interpretations of responsible business

Position dependent microparticle charge in a spatiotemporal afterglow plasma

In the growing field of dusty afterglow plasma physics, the key parameter is the residual charge of dust particles. However, the particle (de)-charging process in afterglow plasmas is still far from fully understood and further development of a governing theoretical framework requires experimental data. In this work, the influence of the location of a microparticle in a spatiotemporal afterglow plasma, at the moment when the plasma was terminated, on its residual charge is investigated. It is found that the measured charge depends strongly on the local characteristic diffusion length scale of the system, while the plasma power prior to the start of the temporal afterglow phase is of much less influence. Our results contribute to an improved understanding of particle (de)-charging in afterglow plasmas and are highly relevant to the design of applications in which afterglow plasmas are present and where the charge of dust particles needs be controlled for the sake of (nano)contamination control

Improved clinical effectiveness of adalimumab when initiated with clindamycin and rifampicin in hidradenitis suppurativa

Background: Adalimumab monotherapy for hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is often insufficient with a maximum clinical efficacy of 60% in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Response (HiSCR) and limited effect on draining tunnels. Data suggest that adalimumab therapy could be improved by concomitant antibiotics. Objective: To compare the clinical effectiveness of adalimumab with clindamycin and rifampicin versus adalimumab monotherapy after 12 weeks. Methods: This retrospective study included patients who started adalimumab with additional clindamycin and rifampicin and patients treated with adalimumab monotherapy, matched on sex and refined Hurley score. The primary outcome measure was the difference in change in the International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score System (IHS4) at 12 weeks. Results: In total, 62 patients were included in the combination therapy group (n = 31) and adalimumab monotherapy group (n = 31), showing comparable IHS4 scores; 32.5 versus 29, p = 0.87 at baseline respectively. The combination therapy demonstrated greater clinical effectiveness expressed in median IHS4 improvement (−20 vs. −9, p &lt; 0.001), IHS4-55 (74% vs. 36%, p = 0.002), median draining tunnel reduction (−4 vs. −2, p &lt; 0.001) and pain response (47% vs. 27%, p = 0.02). Conclusion: Adalimumab initiated with clindamycin and rifampicin shows greater clinical effectiveness than adalimumab monotherapy. An important difference in effect was observed in the decrease of draining tunnels, addressing a serious limitation of adalimumab monotherapy.</p

Coachen op taal. In gesprek over taalgerichte didactiek.

Geen samenvatting beschikbaa

Plasma assisted particle contamination control:Plasma charging dependence on particle morphology

With the introduction of EUV lithography, the control of contamination in advanced semiconductor processes has become increasingly critical. Our work is a joint effort (TU/e and VDL-ETG) and is aimed at the development of plasma-assisted contamination control strategies mainly focusing on airborne particles in a low pressure gas. We present experiments comparing the charge-to-mass ratio of single spherical micron-sized particles with that of non-spherical agglomerates thereof in the spatial plasma afterglow. It is shown that the charge-to-mass ratio of two-particle clusters deviates only 6% from that of singlets. This means that for the proposed mitigation strategy, of which the efficiency is based on the charge-to-mass ratio, it is acceptable to study the charging of spherical particles and to extrapolate the results towards non-spherical particles within a reasonable range.</p

Charge neutralisation of microparticles by pulsing a low-pressure shielded spatial plasma afterglow

In this paper, it is shown that microparticles can be effectively neutralised in the (spatial) plasma afterglow of an inductively coupled plasma. A key element in the reported experiments is the utilisation of a grounded mesh grid separating the plasma bulk and the 'shielded' plasma afterglow. Once particles-being injected in and charged by the inductively coupled plasma-had passed this mesh grid, the plasma was switched off while the particles continued to be transported under the influence of both flow and gravity. In the shielded spatial plasma afterglow region, the particle charge was deducted from their acceleration in an externally applied electric field. Our experiments demonstrate that all particles were neutralised independently of the applied electric field magnitude. The achieved neutralisation is of primary importance for the further development of plasma-assisted contamination control strategies as well as for a wide range of other applications, such as colourimetric sensing, differential mobility analysers, and medical applications