Persistance and change in coordinated market economies: the case of venture capital for biotechnology in Switzerland

"The institutional configuration of Switzerland resembles the ideal type of coordinated market economies (CMEs) which are said to be highly supportive for incremental innovations but not for radical innovations like biotechnology. Therefore, the emergence and success of Swiss biotechnology comes as a surprise. Against this background, our paper deals with the biotechnology sector in Switzerland. Special attention will be drawn on venture capital. It can be shown that Switzerland has formed a specific variant of venture capital which nicely has adapted to its institutional context. The case thus indicates that technological innovations have the effect that some elements of LMEs can be incorporated into CMEs. However, this occurs incrementally and in accordance with the overall institutional configuration." (author's abstract

Enzymhistochemie des klassischen und des ultrakurzen Morbus Hirschsprung

Zusammenfassung: Der M.Hirschsprung bildet die wichtigste gastrointestinale Motilitätsstörung in der frühkindlichen pathologischen Diagnostik. Die fehlerhafte kraniokaudale Migration der aus der Neuralleiste stammenden Neuroblastenvorläuferzellen führt zu einem aganglionären Kolonsegment variabler Länge: Beim klassischen M.Hirschsprung (60-75%) umfasst das aganglionäre Segment Rektum und Sigma, der ultrakurze M.Hirschsprung (5-10%) ist auf die distalen 3-4cm oder den unmittelbaren rektoanalen Übergang beschränkt. Die myenterischen Ganglien des normalen enteralen Nervensystems modulieren die parasympathische Innervation der Sakralwurzeln S2 bis S4. Beim M.Hirschsprung entfällt diese Modulation. Der gesteigerte Parasympathikotonus führt im aganglionären Segment zu einer spastischen Pseudoobstruktion. Enzymhistochemisch lässt sich der gesteigerte Parasympathikotonus am nativen Kryostatschnitt in einer massiven Acetylcholinesterase-Reaktion darstellen und erlaubt an der Rektumschleimhautbiopsie die Diagnose eines klassischen M.Hirschsprung. Beim ultrakurzen M.Hirschsprung ist die gesteigerte Acetylcholinesterase-Aktivität nur in den Nervenfasernetzen der Muscularis mucosae und Submukosa nachweisbar, nicht aber in der Lamina propria mucosae. Die Gangliendichte im distalen rektoanalen Übergang ist physiologisch sehr gering. Das Fehlen von Ganglienzellen in einer Biopsie darf daher nicht zur (falschen) Diagnose eines ultrakurzen M.Hirschsprung verleiten. Diese ist ausschließlich enzymhistochemisch mit der Acetylcholinesterase möglic

Aus baltischen Landen : Studien und Bilder

http://tartu.ester.ee/record=b2411497~S1*es

Institutional change in the German financial system. From a bank- to a market-based financial model?

Seit Mitte der 80er Jahre ist das deutsche bankbasierte Finanzsystem durch die zunehmende Globalisierung des Finanzgeschäfts, die Liberalisierung und Integration der Kapitalmärkte und europäische Harmonisierungsbestrebungen verstärkt unter Druck geraten, der in einzelnen Dimensionen des Finanzsystems zu Veränderungen geführt hat. Ziel der Arbeit ist es, die Änderungen im Finanzsystem Deutschlands anhand einer institutionalistischen Perspektive zu analysieren, und zu bewerten, inwiefern diese als Konvergenz, Divergenz oder Hybridisierung beschrieben werden können. Im Ergebnis kann eine Hybridisierung des Finanzsystems festgestellt werden, die zu einer Bifurkation des bankbasierten Finanzsystems geführt hat. Diese beinhaltet zwei verschiedene, parallel verlaufende Logiken, die nebeneinander existieren: eine international orientierte Logik mit marktbasierten Elementen und eine national orientierte Logik mit bestehenden bankbasierten Strukturen. Daraus folgernd scheinen institutionelle Arrangements offensichtlich anpassungsfähiger zu sein als ursprünglich angenommen.Since the mid eighties, the German bank-based financial system has come under increasing pressure due to the globalization of financial markets, the liberalization and integration of capital markets as well as processes of European harmonization, which has led to institutional changes in the German bank-based system. The aim of this work is to analyze these changes on the basis of an institutional perspective and to evaluate whether these changes can be described as a convergence, divergence or hybridization of the German financial system. It can be shown that a hybridization of the financial system has occurred which has led to a bifurcation of the German bank-based financial system implying two different but coexisting logics. One of them is characterized by an increasingly international orientation with market-based elements whereas the other one maintains the established structures of the bank-based system. This leads to the conclusion that institutional arrangements are much more flexible than often assumed

Silicon Valley and Nothing New Anywhere Else? Biotechnology in Switzerland as an Example of New Organizational Forms and Their Legitimation

Der Beitrag untersucht den Einfluss und die Hinterfragung sogenannter Weltmodelle in der Diffusion und Organisation von Innovationen. Nach der Beschreibung des „Silicon Valley“-Weltmodells für Innovationen in Hightech-Sektoren analysieren wir den Biotechnologiesektor in der Schweiz und vergleichen ihn mit diesem Modell. Dieser empirische Fall unterscheidet sich grundlegend vom Weltmodell, und zwar (a) hinsichtlich informeller Kooperationen und technologischer Gemeinschaften (die praktisch fehlen) und (b) im Hinblick auf Beziehungen zwischen Risikokapitalgebern (die sehr dicht sind und stark durch die Pharmaindustrie beeinflusst werden). Zudem präsentieren wir Indizien, die von einer neo-institutionalistischen Warte aus betrachtet auf eine Theoretisierung dieser fallspezifischen Merkmale schließen lassen. Abschließend diskutieren wir die Bedeutung derartiger Theoretisierungen für Prozesse institutionellen Wandels.This contribution investigates the influence as well as the questioning of so-called world models in the diffusion and organization of innovation. After describing the “Silicon Valley” world model for innovation in high tech-sectors the biotechnology sector in Switzerland is analyzed and compared to the model. This empirical case differs remarkably from the model with respect to (a) informal co-operation and technological communities (which are practically absent) and (b) relations between risk capitalists (which are dense and heavily influenced by the pharmaceutical industry). Furthermore, evidence is presented that aims, within a neo-institutionalist framework, at a theory of these case-specific features. Finally, the significance of such a theoretical development for processes of institutional change is discussed

Landscape science: a Russian geographical tradition

The Russian geographical tradition of landscape science (landshaftovedenie) is analyzed with particular reference to its initiator, Lev Semenovich Berg (1876-1950). The differences between prevailing Russian and Western concepts of landscape in geography are discussed, and their common origins in German geographical thought in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries are delineated. It is argued that the principal differences are accounted for by a number of factors, of which Russia's own distinctive tradition in environmental science deriving from the work of V. V. Dokuchaev (1846-1903), the activities of certain key individuals (such as Berg and C. O. Sauer), and the very different social and political circumstances in different parts of the world appear to be the most significant. At the same time it is noted that neither in Russia nor in the West have geographers succeeded in specifying an agreed and unproblematic understanding of landscape, or more broadly in promoting a common geographical conception of human-environment relationships. In light of such uncertainties, the latter part of the article argues for closer international links between the variant landscape traditions in geography as an important contribution to the quest for sustainability

Is there a reduction of congenital abnormalities in the offspring of diabetic pregnant women after folic acid supplementation? A population-based case-control study

The objective of the present study was to estimate the preventive effect of folic acid for structural birth defects (i.e. congenital abnormalities [CAs]) in the offspring of pregnant women with diabetes mellitus type 1 (DM-1). The occurrence of medically recorded DM-1 in pregnant women who had malformed fetuses/newborns (cases) and delivered healthy babies (controls) with or without folic acid supplementation was compared in the population-based Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance System of Congenital Abnormalities. The case group included 22,843 offspring, and there were 79 (0.35%) pregnant women with DM-1, while the control group comprised of 38,151 newborns, and 88 (0.23%) had mothers with DM-1. Case mothers with DM-1 associated with a higher risk of total rate of CAs in their offspring (OR with 95% CI: 1.5, 1.1-2.0) compared to the total rate of CAs in the offspring of non-diabetic case mothers. This higher risk can be explained by four specific types/groups of CAs: isolated renal a/dysgenesis; obstructive CA of the urinary tract; cardiovascular CAs; and multiple CAs, namely caudal dysplasia sequence. However, there was no higher rate of total CAs in the children of pregnant women with DM-1 after folic acid supplementation; in addition, neural-tube defect and renal a/dysgenesis did not occur. However, this benefit cannot be explained by the CA reduction effect of folic acid during the critical period of major CAs. In conclusion, there was a certain reduction in maternal teratogenic effect of DM-1 after folic acid supplementation during pregnancy, but the explanation of this effect requires further study