Our article focuses on a question that is at the core of comparative capitalisms (CC) scholarship and historical materialist state theory: What is an appropriate theory of institutions in capitalism? How can we conceptualise institutions in relation to the fundamental contradictions and power relations of capitalism? Starting from the social foundations of institutions, the aim of this article …
This article critiques the institutionalist literature on varieties of capitalism and the more regulationist comparative capitalisms approach. It elaborates the alternative concept of variegated capitalism and suggests that this can be studied fruitfully through a synthesis of materialist form analysis and historical institutionalism within a world-market perspective. It highlights the role of …
A number of scholars have criticised the methodological nationalism of the mainstream study of capitalist diversity for ignoring a global convergence trend triggered by global competition. This contribution agrees with this criticism but insists on the need to take the diversities into account in order to understand the dependence of capital on the geographical concreteness of living labour and…
This paper develops a notion of ‘local capitalisms’. Starting from a particular, Marxist theorisation of capitalism and of the state, local capitalism is analysed as a nexus of production, reproduction of people, and the state within a locality. The latter construct, and are constructed by, specific relations of class, gender, ethnicity and age, themselves internally related. On this basis …
This article engages critically with an emerging Brazilian research programme,varieties of Kapitalism and development in Latin America’, a perspective which seeks to ascertain the institutional chances of, and limits to, the implementation of state-led ‘national development strategies’. Adopting a critical political economy viewpoint, the text discusses the deficiencies inherent in this …
This introduction to the special issue focuses on the rise to dominance in debates on capitalist diversity of approaches which take institutions as their starting point, rather than the wider social relations in which institutions sit and are constituted by. However, although this is part of broader trends across the social sciences over the last three decades, the self-marginalisation of criti…
Purpose – The purpose of this poster is to present the new Lausanne Laboratory Lesson Study. Design/methodology/approach – It stresses the links between six dimensions of this research center. Findings – The poster provides a list of current researches and a list of publications. Originality/value – This research center is the first about Lesson Study in French-speaking countries. K…
Over time, the comparative analysis of capitalism has moved beyond the strict confines of the narrow varieties of capitalism (VoC) framework. In this sense, it is possible to observe an emergent post-VoC discussion that goes beyond the static design and methodological nationalism that can be found in a strictly comparative and institutionalist account of capitalism. So far, however, the post-Vo…
This paper agrees with much of the current criticism, especially from Marxist perspectives, which argues that the varieties of capitalism (VoC) approach overemphasises the degree of harmony and mutual benefit, as well as the absence of class tension and exploitation, within contemporary capitalist relations. It also, however, criticises many of these Marxist critiques on the grounds that they t…
Aim: We investigated whether plasma levels of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) could serve as a diagnostic indicatorfor assessing disease progression in ovarian cancer (OC) patients. Material and Methods: In this study, we enrolled 98 patients with OC, 70 patients with benign ovarian tumors and 75 healthy controls. Plasma levels of LPA and cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) were measured in all study su…
Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is one of the major precursors for aerosols and cloud condensation nuclei in the marine boundary layer overmuch of the remote ocean. Here we report on coupled climate simulations with a state‐of‐the‐art global ocean biogeochemical model for DMS distribution and fluxes using present‐day and future atmospheric CO2 concentrations. We find changes in zonal averaged DM…
The present study aims to learn how collateral affects firm performance in the case of newly established wine producers. The issue is to identify the effects of collateral in situations of asymmetric information when the bank is the main financial partner of the entrepreneurs involved. On the one hand, the use of collateral may reduce the risk of overinvestment by entrepreneurs and thereby redu…
Purpose – In the Swedish biology curriculum for upper secondary school, it is stated that teaching in ecology should include field studies. The purpose of this study was to answer whether students increased their understanding in ecology after they had participated in a field trip, compared to traditional classroom teaching. Design/methodology/approach – The students’ (n¼64) prior knowl…
To limit the risk associated with invasion of habitats by exogenous species, the International Convention for the Control and Management of the Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments was adopted in February 2004 and may soon enter into force. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has produced guidelines to assess the efficacy and reliability of Ballast Water Treatment Systems (BWTS), but no…
During childhood and youth we build the foundations for financial well-being later in life, acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and personality traits that enable us to manage our finances as adults. This article reviews literature from consumer science, developmental psychology, and allied fields to gain insight into moments during youthful development when interventions are likely to …
1. There are multiple tools for scientific inference that seem rarely used in research examining the effects of stressors on rivers caused by human impacts. Very few of these scientific tools are ‘new’. While foundational to scientific methods, they seem to have been overlooked or forgotten. The thesis of this paper is that, by looking back to what used to be considered basic knowledge abou…
The fatty acids (FA) profile was determined in n-3 enriched (ColumbusTM) Belgian eggs and pork in order to evaluate to what extent the n-3 fatty acids, which are very sensitive to oxidation, are resistant to storage or cooking. In standard eggs or pork, no change of the fatty acid profile was observed after storage or cooking without culinary fat, as well as in ColumbusTM eggs and pork after st…
Strategies to reduce phosphorus and sediment yields are identified for two Australian catchments using a nonlinear optimisation model. This provides novel insight into the Cost-effectivemanagement of dual pollutants of water courses in Australia. A strong degree of complementarity between the two pollutants is highlighted, given the adsorption of phosphorus to sediment that augments the value o…
BACKGROUND: Over the past 10 years, food safety incidents have occurred frequently in China. Food safety issues in the dairy sector have increasingly gained the attention of the Chinese government and the public. The objective of this research is to explore consumption changes of dairy products of different income groups after these dairy safety incidents. RESULTS: The research indicates what …
Raspberry leaf blotch virus (RLBV) is a recently described (−)ssRNA virus (genus Emaravirus) associated with the long-known, severe raspberry leaf blotch disorder (RLBD). The virus is presumably transmitted by the raspberry leaf and budmite (Phyllocoptes gracilis; Eriophyidae). Cultivated and wild raspberries (Rubus idaeus) displaying RLBD or yellowing symptoms were sampled in 14 districts in…
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe how a learning study model, guided by variation theory, can be used to improve lesson design and a pupil’s understanding of key words and vocabulary in the context of three different subjects, namely art, dance and science. Design/methodology/approach – Three lesson designs were used with three groups of pupils from the same year group. …
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test peer-learning in small groups as a didactic method with respect to its effectiveness in homogenising initially heterogeneous learning collectives. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on two sets of data collection (before and after the application of the tested method). The data collection tools were student self-assessment and st…
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show, from a theoretical point of view, the promising relationship between the processes generated by Lesson Studies (LS) and the development of practical thinking in in-service teacher training, derived from two pieces of research. Design/methodology/approach – The authors propose broadening the focus of LS in order to not only improve the “less…
The aim of the first and second editions remains unchanged: to provide a modern, easy-to-read textbook for students and instructors. The book is also suitable for upper-level undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate instruction. Scientists who have left the university and are engaged in research and development in the industry, government, or academics will find this book a useful reference. I…
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the methodology used by the authors to describe the enacted object of learning, a methodology where data production and analysis is rooted in a theorisation of pedagogy. The authors share how the authors used this methodological approach to provide a comprehensive description of the enacted object of learning and in so doing the authors hop…
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine an Iranian mathematics lesson through the eyes of Japanese educators, and the critiques of Iranian teachers for raising the quality of teaching. In this paper, the Japanese lesson study process is considered as an approach to raising the quality of teaching. Design/methodology/approach – Qualitative methods including pre-lesson planning, pe…
Abstract: Although certain measurements regarding super-tall buildings constructed using the top-down method have been published, new advances in top-down construction have been developed with the construction of super-tall buildings in China. This paper presents the theory of soil-structure interactions in pile foundations and extends it to the top-down construction method. Based on this theo…
Abstract: The static and dynamic displacements of high-speed railway bridges, which are determined by the load conditions, travel speed, and span, may cause passenger discomfort when they are excessive. In the Korea Railway Bridge Design Specifications, the allowable deflection is based on the train travel speed. It is, however, not sufficient for considering the vibration serviceability. The …
Abstract: Masonry is the most important construction material in Turkey. It has been used for public and residential buildings in the past several thousand years. A great number of well-preserved old masonry structures still exist proving that this form of construction can successfully resist loads and environmental impact. Traditionally, most major buildings were solid walled structures with …
Abstract: Soil-bentonite slurry-trench wall, usually consisting of sandy soil and Na-bentonite, is used extensively as in-situ engineered barriers for contaminant containment. Clayey soil/Ca-bentonite may be considered as an alternative backfill when Na-bentonite is scarce at some sites. Adding trace amount of phosphate dispersant to clayey soil/Ca-bentonite backfills may be advantageous to ma…
Abstract A side orifice created in the side of a channel is a structure for diverting some of the flow from the main channel for different purposes. The prediction of the discharge through this side structure is very important in hydraulic and irrigation engineering. In the present study, three artificial neural network models including feed forward back propagation, radial basis function, and…
Abstract: Curve-section traffic accidents occur due to a mixture of vehicle, human, and road environmental factors. Traffic safety research in curve sections, however, so far has been confined to only investigating the effect of highway geometry factors on traffic accidents. Accordingly, this study suggested curved part safety-level evaluation criteria by complexly considering the hazard-level…
Abstract: In this paper, a Cochlea-inspired Artificial Filter Bank (CAFB) was developed in order to efficiently acquire dynamic response of structure, and it was also evaluated via dynamic response experiments. To sort out signals containing significant modal information from all the dynamic responses of structure, it was made to adopt a Band-pass filter Optimizing Algorithm (BOA) and a Peak- …
Abstract: This study proposes a 3D intelligent object model in highway construction to electronically represent a large amount information in highway projects based on the international standard ISO 10303. Also known as STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product), ISO 10303 is an open standard, and has been used for data exchange in building projects of the AEC industries. Motivated by the suc…
Abstract: In recent years, Vietnam has many diseases such as measles, HFMD, chicken pox, and so on. Although there are many new hospital projects, the central hospitals of government still usually overload. Besides that, similar to other construction projects, the hospital projects in Vietnam always have lengthy delays. This research analyzed the factors that cause delay the time of hospital p…
Abstract: This study aims to investigate the ability of different least squares adjustment techniques for detecting deformation. A simulated geodetic netwo rk is used for this purpose. The observations are collected using the Total Station instrument in three epochs and different least squares adjustment methods are used to analyze the simulated network. The applied methods are adjustment-bye…
Abstract: A Project Management Information System (PMIS) is a key Information System (IS) tool used for the successful completion of construction projects and the achievement of organizational goals. This study investigated the effects of computer self-efficacy and IS quality (information, system, and service quality) on perceived net benefits of PMIS. The study used the updated DeLone and McL…
Abstract: The ogee-crested spillway is a passage in a dam through which the design flood could be disposed of safely to the downstream. Spillways of improper design or insufficient capacities have caused failures of dams. Therefore, the spillway must be hydraulically and structurally adequate. This paper presents Gene-Expression Programming (GEP) models as an alternative approach to prediction…
Abstract: Ultra-soft soils have high water content, low strength, and high compressibility. Staged preloading has been commonly used in China to improve ultra-soft soils during land reclamation before highways and other structures are constructed. In this study, seven series of one-dimensional consolidation tests were performed on undisturbed, remolded, or reconstituted specimens of three type…
Abstract: This paper seeks to understand the effect of acidic fluids on the compressibility of soil. Three natural soils (namely, Kansai clay, Yurakucho silt, and Oumigawa silt) containing kaolinite were leached with solutions of sulphuric acid for various lengths of time. At the end of each time interval, standard compression (oedometer) tests were performed to study the behavior of soil in a…
Abstract In this study Shortcut Biological Nitrogen Removal (SBNR), Granular Sequencing Batch Reactor (GSBR), and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) were comparatively discussed for combined treatment of anaerobic digester effluent. The experiments were carried out through operating pilot and lab scale reactors. These processes have common ground that biologically removes high strength amm…
Abstract: Aluminum Alloy Gusset (AAG) joints widely used in the single-layer latticed shells have a significant application prospect in spatial structures. Unfortunately, studies on the resistance of AAG joints are insufficient, leading to a lack of applicative design methods for this joint system. This paper is devoted to investigate the resistance of AAG joint plates. Firstly, tests on fourt…
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on elementary students’ observational drawings,which were produced from two science lesson study cycles. Design/methodology/approach – The authors collaboratively studied student work from two science research lessons. The authors evaluated 50 students’ science notebook entries, paying specific attention to their observational sketches. …
Abstract Blasting excavation disturbance is an important influencing factor related to the initiation and the evolution of the surrounding rock damage zone in deep-buried tunnels. Based on the excavation of auxiliary tunnels in the Jinping II Hydropower Station, the effect of blasting excavation disturbance on the surrounding rock damage zone in deep-buried tunnels is studied by means of in-si…
Abstract: In addition to the global awareness regarding green buildings, there is growing interest in Building Energy Load Calculation (BELC). The BELC process, however, has several potential problems, including the fact that the required data are input manually through subjective engineer choices and, during the BELC process, a designer must wait for feedback from the engineer regarding the B…
Abstract: Due to the presence of solid matter in the flow passing through sewer pipes, determining the minimum velocity that prevents sediment deposition is essential. In this study, the Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) network optimized with three different training algorithms, including variable learning rate (MLP-GDX), resilient back-propagation (MLP-RP) and Levenberg-Marquardt (MLPLM) is studie…
Abstract: The purpose of this study targets overseas gas plant construction projects with the aim of analyzing the probabilistic cost variation range with consideration of the effect of core quantitative risk factors. C-Project, which is expected to be completed by a domestic construction company in country U, was thus selected as the subject of analysis. By interviewing experts through survey…
Abstract: The theory of beam on elastic foundation is a simple and popular analytic approach for computing the response of laterally loaded piles. For a laterally loaded pile with constant subgrade reaction coefficient, an analytical solution can be easily deduced based on the theory of beam on elastic foundation when the load distribution and boundary condition are simple. However, when the …
Abstract: Parshall flumes are commonly used in irrigation systems, storm water systems, and sewer systems in order to measure the flow rate. The dissolved oxygen content in surface waters is a main indicator of the quality of that water for human use as well as use by the aquatic plant and animal life. A higher dissolved oxygen content supplies better water quality. Hydraulic structures can in…
Abstract: To quantitatively evaluate crack width of concrete structures surface, this paper presents a stereovision-based crack width detection method. Compared with the traditional visual inspection with single camera, this approach uses a pair of cameras to capture cracks images for recovering 3D coordinates of crack edge, and does not needs scale attached to concrete surface for converting …