Strategy in History and (versus?) in Economics: A Review of Lawrence Freedman's Strategy: A History

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 1119-1134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avinash Dixit

This essay reviews Lawrence Freedman's book Strategy: A History. The main themes—definitions, strategies in war, business, politics, and revolutions—are overviewed. The value of game-theoretic thinking for practical strategy is assessed. A critical discussion of some concepts and dichotomies emphasized by Freedman, e.g., strategy is governed by the starting point, not the end point, and of the role of stories and scripts in strategy, follows. (JEL A11, A12, C70, D74)

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Giorgio Crescenza

Due to the unprecedented period which has swept over educational agencies, as well as society as a whole, it is appropriate to try to learn and understand the first effects of these transformations operating on different levels: educational, formative, relational, and social. This contribution intends to develop some reflections on the different dimensions which have affected more than others the educational, formative, and scholastic experience, paying particular attention to the educational relationship and the modifications in teaching. The analysis takes as its starting point some empirical data from an exploratory study at the Università degli Studi Roma Tre. The role of the school on the path of cultural humanisation of the human being is then presented, followed by a critical discussion on how the teaching and relational changes that have inevitably been introduced this year fit into this path. Lastly, the conclusion considers how to transform the crisis which has struck schools at the heart into an opportunity for thinking about them with a wider perspective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-193
Author(s):  
REN YANYAN ◽  

The friendship between nations lies in the mutual affinity of the people, and the people’s affinity lies in the communion of hearts. The cultural and humanities cooperation between China and Russia has a long history. In recent years, under the role of the“Belt and Road” initiative, the SCO, and the Sino-Russian Humanities Cooperation Committee, Sino-Russian culture and humanities cooperation has continued to deepen. Entering a new era, taking the opportunity to promote Sino-Russian relations into a “new era China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership”, the development of human relations between the two countries has entered a new historical starting point, while also facing a series of problems and challenges. This article is based on the current status of Sino-Russian human relations in the new era, interprets the characteristics of Sino-Russian human relations in the new era, analyzes the problems and challenges of Sino-Russian human relations in the new era, and tries to propose solutions and solutions with a view to further developing Sino-Russian cultural and humanities relations in the new era. It is a useful reference, and provides a reference for future related research, and ultimately helps the Sino-Russian cultural and humanities relations in the new era to be stable and far-reaching.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-62
Author(s):  
Laura Gómez Urquijo

The objective of this article is to contribute to the discussion on the validity of new instruments to enhance cohesion in the European Union (EU). First, we question to which extent cohesion policy is submitted to the new economic governance. Second, we discuss this subordination affects the fulfillment of cohesion aims. This question is especially relevant due to the increase of inequalities in the current economic crisis and the great diversity among State Members (including social protection systems and expenses). Thus, our starting point is the new economic governance framework and its impact on the fulfillment of cohesion objectives. Statistical data are considered with this aim. Next, we will assess the role of European Structural and Investment Funds to eventually compensate public expense cuts, as well as its subordination to the macroeconomic government. This aspect will be contrasted through the study of Country Specific Recommendations given by the European Semester. Spanish El objetivo de este artículo es contribuir a la discusión sobre la validez de los nuevos instrumentos para fomentar la cohesión en la Unión Europea. Nos preguntamos en qué modo queda sometida la política de cohesión a la nueva gobernanza económica y cómo afecta a la efectividad para cubrir susfines. Esta cuestión es particularmente relevante ante el incremento de las desigualdades suscitado en la crisis económica actual. Por ello, nuestro punto de partida es el nuevo marco de gobernanza económica y su impacto en el cumplimiento de los objetivos de cohesión, considerando para ello datos estadísticos. A continuación, valoraremos, el papel de los Fondos Estructurales y de Inversión Europeos como posibles compensadores de la reducción del gasto público así como su subordinación al gobierno macroeconómico. Esta cuestión será contrastada también a través del examen de las Recomendaciones Específicas por país dadas por el Semestre Europeo. French Le but de cet article est de contribuer à la discussion sur la validité de nouveaux instruments pour promouvoir la cohésion dans l'UE. Nous avons considéré, d'une part, en quoi la politique de cohésion est soumise à la nouvelle gouvernance économique et, d'autre part, la façon dont elle utilise l'efficacité pour répondre à ses fins.Cette question est particulièrement pertinente étant donnée l'augmentation de l'inégalité soulevée par la crise économique actuelle, dans un contexte de grande diversité d'États membres, notamment en ce qui concerne les systèmes de protection sociale et les dépenses publiques. Par conséquent, notre point de départ s'inscrit dans le nouveau cadre de gouvernance économique et son impact sur la mise en œuvre des objectifs de cohésion, à partir de la prise en compte de données statistiques. Pour ce faire, nous évaluons le rôle des Fonds Structurels Européens, leur capacité de compenser la réduction des dépenses publiques et leur subordination au gouvernement macroéconomique. Ce e question sera également abordée par l'examen des recommandations spécifiques par pays fournies par le Semestre Européen.


Author(s):  
Анатолий Мигунов ◽  
Anatoliy Migunov ◽  
Елена Лисанюк ◽  
Elena Lisanyuk

To overcome the crisis in the sphere of argumentation studies, the project proposes a logical-cognitive concept of argumentation which is a compound formalized theory that includes formalisms for modeling argumentation of different types, a relevant conceptual framework and a methodology for the use of scientific research in the practice. Three types of argumentation are defined: theoretical (two types) and practical. Theoretical argumentation is a critical discussion of the agents’ knowledge and opinions about facts aimed to substantiate a certain view or to change it – i.e. persuasion. Practical argumentation is a critical discussion of opinions about actions which includes, in addition to the statements about knowledge and opinions, statements of a non-descriptive nature about the agents’ values and intentions to adhere to a certain line of behavior. The study of argumentation needs to focus on the large structures that reflect specifics of the criticism and defense of the positions of the parties. An atom unit of such study is the argument as a statement of reason, while its molecular elements are the argumentative structure of a dispute (frame), a multitude of arguments that express the parties’ positions, a multitude of the agents’ knowledge and opinions that act as the bases for the formation of positions, lines of behavior, etc. Within the framework of this trend, both indefeasible (deductive) and defeasible argumentations can be studied. The argumentation effectiveness can be assessed based on the procedural semantics and using analogues of such logical notions as consistency and completeness. Modern approaches to the argumentation, including those claiming the compound status, can be classified using two methods: based on the substantive and practical criteria. Importance of the research outcomes amounts to the theoretical and methodological role of the new conception of argumentation and the general “umbrella” term argumentation that allows systematizing the manifold research and educational approaches and concepts in this field and is associated with communicative nature of modern social life where efficiency and social success rely on argumentative and narrative competences.


Author(s):  
Igor Ponomarev

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is characterized by clinically significant impairments in health and social function. Epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation may provide an attractive explanation for how early life exposures to alcohol contribute to the development of AUD and exert lifelong effects on the brain. This chapter provides a critical discussion of the role of epigenetic mechanisms in AUD etiology and the potential of epigenetic research to improve diagnosis, evaluate risks for alcohol-induced pathologies, and promote development of novel therapies for the prevention and treatment of AUD. Challenges of the current epigenetic approaches and future directions are also discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6301
Author(s):  
Giulia Grisolia ◽  
Mariarosa Astori ◽  
Antonio Ponzetto ◽  
Antonio Vercesi ◽  
Umberto Lucia

Recently, a non-equilibrium thermodynamic approach has been developed in order to model the fundamental role of the membrane electric potential in the cell behaviour. A related new viewpoint is introduced, with a design of a photobiomodulation treatment in order to restore part of the visual field. Here, a first step in experimental evidence of the validity of the thermodynamic approach is developed. This result represents the starting point for future experimental improvements for light stimulation in order to improve the quality of life of the patients. The future possible therapy will be in addition to the pharmacological treatments.


AMB Express ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunmiao Jiang ◽  
Gongbo Lv ◽  
Jinxin Ge ◽  
Bin He ◽  
Zhe Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractGATA transcription factors (TFs) are involved in the regulation of growth processes and various environmental stresses. Although GATA TFs involved in abiotic stress in plants and some fungi have been analyzed, information regarding GATA TFs in Aspergillusoryzae is extremely poor. In this study, we identified and functionally characterized seven GATA proteins from A.oryzae 3.042 genome, including a novel AoSnf5 GATA TF with 20-residue between the Cys-X2-Cys motifs which was found in Aspergillus GATA TFs for the first time. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that these seven A. oryzae GATA TFs could be classified into six subgroups. Analysis of conserved motifs demonstrated that Aspergillus GATA TFs with similar motif compositions clustered in one subgroup, suggesting that they might possess similar genetic functions, further confirming the accuracy of the phylogenetic relationship. Furthermore, the expression patterns of seven A.oryzae GATA TFs under temperature and salt stresses indicated that A. oryzae GATA TFs were mainly responsive to high temperature and high salt stress. The protein–protein interaction network of A.oryzae GATA TFs revealed certain potentially interacting proteins. The comprehensive analysis of A. oryzae GATA TFs will be beneficial for understanding their biological function and evolutionary features and provide an important starting point to further understand the role of GATA TFs in the regulation of distinct environmental conditions in A.oryzae.


2021 ◽  
pp. 007327532199926
Author(s):  
Camille Lyans Cole

Between 1893 and 1908, at least six private consortia and the municipality of Baghdad were denied permission to operate steamships on the Tigris and Euphrates on the grounds that a navigation concession had already been granted to the Privy Purse ( hazine-i hassa). The Privy Purse justified its insistence on monopoly with reference to the emerging ideology of development ( nafia), though its ideas about the role of steam technology in nafia stood in contrast to those of private investors and other Ottoman bureaucrats. Working from the hazine-i hassa’s planning memos and contracts, I show that the private treasury envisioned a primarily agrarian future for Iraq, with steamships serving agricultural aims. As such, it focused on envisioning future steamships rather than managing its existing fleet, while still acquiring dominance over land and transport in the region. However, private companies and officials contested this vision, emphasizing the materiality of existing steamships, their roles in trade, and the potential for commercial competition as a means of resisting British imperial encroachment. After the Committee of Union and Progress came to power in 1908, the Privy Purse was disestablished and its properties reverted to the Finance Ministry, opening a brief window during which steamship companies were encouraged to proliferate. Quickly, however, new comprehensive schemes were proposed, though with railways replacing steamships as the corollary to Iraq’s imagined riches. Engaging questions about the futurity of both infrastructure and capital, as well as those posed by the technology-in-use paradigm, this article suggests that the hazine-i hassa is a rich starting point for analysis because the scalar and ontological tensions it embodied highlight how different kinds of futures interact in development planning to affect the present.


Author(s):  
Lisa Bode

On July 14, 2019, a 3-minute 36-second video titled “Keanu Reeves Stops A ROBBERY!” was released on YouTube visual effects (VFX) channel, Corridor. The video’s click-bait title ensured it was quickly shared by users across platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. Comments on the video suggest that the vast majority of viewers categorised it as fiction. What seemed less universally recognised, though, was that the performer in the clip was not Keanu Reeves himself. It was voice actor and stuntman Reuben Langdon, and his face was digitally replaced with that of Reeves, through the use of an AI generated deepfake, an open access application, Faceswap, and compositing in Adobe After Effects. This article uses Corridor’s deepfake Keanu video (hereafter shorted to CDFK) as a case study which allows the fleshing out of an, as yet, under-researched area of deepfakes: the role of framing contexts in shaping how viewers evaluate, categorise, make sense of and discuss these images. This research draws on visual effects scholarship, celebrity studies, cognitive film studies, social media theory, digital rhetoric, and discourse analysis. It is intended to serve as a starting point of a larger study that will eventually map types of online manipulated media creation on a continuum from the professional to the vernacular, across different platforms, and attending to their aesthetic, ethical, cultural and reception dimensions. The focus on context (platform, creator channel, and comments) also reveals the emergence of an industrial and aesthetic category of visual effects, which I call here “platform VFX,” a key term that provides us with more nuanced frames for illuminating and analysing a range of manipulated media practices as VFX software becomes ever more accessible and lends itself to more vernacular uses, such as we see with various face swap apps


Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1290
Author(s):  
Chiara Arcangeli ◽  
Daniele Lucarelli ◽  
Martina Torricelli ◽  
Carla Sebastiani ◽  
Marcella Ciullo ◽  
...  

Maedi-visna virus (MVV) and caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV), referred to as small ruminant lentiviruses (SRLVs), belong to the genus Lentivirus of the Retroviridae family. SRLVs infect both sheep and goats, causing significant economic losses and animal welfare damage. Recent findings suggest an association between serological status and allelic variants of different genes such as TMEM154, TLR9, MYD88 and CCR5. The aim of this work was to investigate the role of specific polymorphisms of these genes in SRLVs infection in some sheep flocks in Italy. In addition to those already known, novel variants in the TMEM154 (P7H, I74V, I105V) gene were detected in this study. The risk of infection was determined finding an association between the serological status and polymorphisms P7H, E35K, N70I, I74V, I105V of TMEM154, R447Q, A462S and G520R in TLR9 gene, H176H* and K190K* in MYD88 genes, while no statistical association was observed for the 4-bp deletion of the CCR5 gene. Since no vaccines or treatments have been developed, a genetically based approach could be an innovative strategy to prevent and to control SRLVs infection. Our findings are an important starting point in order to define the genetic resistance profile towards SRLVs infection.


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