The Case of Lisbon as a Starting Point to Understanding the International Academic Debate on Governance Models for Metropolitan Areas

AbstractIn an era of dramatic financial challenges, pressure is growing for U.S. nonprofit organizations to consolidate. Yet, we know little about the current concentration of the sector and even less about the degree of competition in various nonprofit subsectors. In this paper we offer a detailed analysis of concentration patterns across the sector and analyze variations in these patterns by subsector and metropolitan areas. It is well known that measuring concentration is not identical to assessing effective competition and is but a starting point for a more thorough competitive analysis. An important distinction is made between the concentration of resources within larger subsector organizations and inequality in the distribution of resources across those organizations. Some subsectors may be concentrated yet behave competitively because resources are distributed relatively equally among several large organizations. By contrast, other concentrated subsectors may behave less competitively because resources are very unequally controlled by a few organizations. Understanding the patterns of both concentration and inequality in the nonprofit sector is likely a prerequisite to drawing defensible conclusions about the degrees of competition in the sector and the desirability of further consolidation. This analysis has implications for both public policy and philanthropy. It bears on the issues of whether antitrust policy should be forcefully applied to the nonprofit sector, whether government funding programs should encourage nonprofit consolidation or competition, and whether philanthropic institutions should implore nonprofit organizations to consolidate further or to compete more vigorously.

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Die Patronatserklärung

10.5771/9783748901495 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Gregor Grimm

Keyword(s):

Case Law ◽

Recent Case ◽

Legal Instrument ◽

Starting Point ◽

Academic Debate

The comfort letter [Patronatserklärung] is a legal instrument created in the practice of commercial transactions and banking, and has undergone a remarkable development. It may appear in different forms (using softer or harder wording), expressing various degrees of commitment regarding the person issuing the comfort letter [Patron]. Originally, the comfort letter was developed as an atypical collateral, e.g. in order to avoid the disadvantages associated with instruments such as guarantees. Meanwhile, its field of application has expanded to the use as an instrument of restructuring, for example to avert a company’s insolvency. In this respect, its focus within academic debate has expanded. Taking recent case law developments as a starting point – for instance the insolvency of Air Berlin – this study analyses doctrinal and practical issues of the use of comfort letters.

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The advertising standardisation debate revisited

Journal of Islamic Marketing ◽

10.1108/jima-11-2014-0072 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 2-14 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Sarah Turnbull ◽

Liza Howe-Walsh ◽

Aisha Boulanouar

Keyword(s):

Middle East ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Review Of The Literature ◽

Islamic Ethics ◽

Content Type ◽

Advertising Strategy ◽

Starting Point ◽

Key Driver ◽

Islamic Values ◽

Academic Debate

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to bridge the gap between previous examinations of advertising standardisation and consideration of Islamic ethics to develop a better understanding of how Islamic values influence global advertising strategy. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a critical review of the literature. The paper presents a conceptual framework which considers both the environmental influences and Islamic ethics which need to be considered when developing advertising strategy in Middle East Islamic States. Findings – The authors assert the importance of considering Islamic ethics when planning advertising in the Islamic Middle East. In particular, six dominant ethical dimensions are provided for marketing scholars and practitioners to observe: unity (Tawheed), Iman (faith), Khilafah (trusteeship), Balance, Justice or Adl and Free will. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual model presented provides a useful starting point to generate further academic debate and empirical verification. Originality/value – The paper extends our understanding of the influence of Islamic ethics on advertising and contributes to the wider marketing standardisation literature by considering religion as a key driver in the debate.

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How to apply Asimov’s first law to sex robots

Paladyn Journal of Behavioral Robotics ◽

10.1515/pjbr-2020-0032 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 161-170

Author(s):

Carlotta Rigotti

Keyword(s):

Legal Reasoning ◽

Fundamental Rights ◽

Sexual Freedom ◽

Sex Robots ◽

Starting Point ◽

Sex Toys ◽

Academic Debate

AbstractSex robots may be surfacing in recent controversy, but they are certainly not a novelty in the academic debate. However, given the lack of legal reasoning in this field of research, this article aims at examining the balancing of the fundamental rights involved in the sex robots’ manufacture and usage, taking Asimov’s first law as the main starting point and with an eye to a future lawmaking process. Specifically, Section 1 gives a brief overview on how to define sex robots, while distinguishing them from sex toys and pornography. Section 2 interprets Asimov’s first law in order to apply it to sex robots. Section 3 develops a pertaining legal reasoning based on competing fundamental rights, i.e. the user’s sexual freedom and the manufacturer’s freedom of enterprise versus the gender dignity and right to equality. Finally, the conclusions review the main findings and address considerations to policymakers.

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Wat is nationaal aan nationale cinema?

Tijdschrift voor Communicatiewetenschappen ◽

10.5117/2010.038.001.049 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jasmijn Van Gorp

Keyword(s):

National Identity ◽

Film Studies ◽

Transnational Cinema ◽

National Cinema ◽

Art Cinema ◽

Starting Point ◽

Heated Debate ◽

The Subject ◽

Academic Debate

What is national about national cinema? The academic debate unravelled What is national about national cinema? The academic debate unravelled The concept of national cinema has been the subject of a heated debate in film studies for almost 20 years. In this article it is argued that the debate should be seen in the light of the discussion on the concepts of nation and national identity. The starting point is Higson’s pioneering article ‘The Concept of National Identity’ (1989), identifying four views on national cinema (i.e., art cinema, textual, productional and consumptional approach). A fifth approach is being formed by the antipode of national cinema: post- or transnational cinema.

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Characteristics of Innovation in Regions with Small- and Medium-Sized Towns

Naše gospodarstvo/Our economy ◽

10.2478/ngoe-2018-0010 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 64 (2) ◽

pp. 34-42

Author(s):

Zoltán Birkner ◽

Tivadar Máhr ◽

Erzsébet Péter ◽

Nora Rodek Berkes

Keyword(s):

Social Problems ◽

Social Innovation ◽

Metropolitan Areas ◽

European Region ◽

Global Competition ◽

Eastern European ◽

Development Path ◽

Starting Point ◽

Intellectual Potential

AbstractGlobalisation “takes” its victims, which the authors believe means that the future of small- and medium-sized towns has become uncertain in Europe. The role of centres is continuously increasing, and most researchers prefer to analyse the competitiveness and innovativeness of metropolitan areas. In this study, we characterise the small- and medium-sized towns in the central–eastern European region as well as explore their possible development path. The authors are convinced that one way for these towns to survive is through strengthening of innovation abilities, which means increasing the innovation performances of economic stakeholders and new forms of interaction among other institutions in order to handle social problems. The theoretical starting point is the interpretation and presentation of the micropolitan (without big towns) regions as well as understanding the concept of technological and social innovation. As the result of the research, the innovation measurements carried out in some of the settlements will be represented. These experiences can help the small- and medium-sized towns keep up with global competition and cancel migration and erosion of intellectual potential.

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Estereotipar economiza tempo: Transformando representações culturais lusófonas e melhores práticas de língua portuguesa em Práticas para Alavancagem de Ensino

Fórum Linguístico ◽

10.5007/1984-8412.2019v16n4p4152 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 4152-4166

Author(s):

Silvia Ramos-Sollai

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Teaching Practice ◽

International Communication ◽

Identity Status ◽

Linguistic Distance ◽

Foreign Language Acquisition ◽

Starting Point ◽

Teaching Learning ◽

Target Culture ◽

Academic Debate

This paper focuses on stereotyping in a comparison of Portuguese as a Second Language and Portuguese as a Foreign Language teaching, learning, and material. Current academic debate shows that stereotypes impact foreign language acquisition, despite the fact that categorizing the world helps us acknowledge the unknown. Yet, stereotypes can be a starting point to the exercise of deconstruction, common in High-Leverage Teaching Practice (HLTP) and applicable to any teaching approach, audience repertoire, or content alignment (GLISAN; DONATO, 2017). Stereotyping also occurs beyond classroom when externalized at a belonging-distancing dichotomy: the keener on the target culture, the more distant learners place themselves from the source culture. Findings indicate that categories of linguistic distance and identity status are only strongly biased by life repertoires, thus compromising any attempt of a pluricentric approach to Portuguese for international communication, if teaching, learning, and content evolve around best practices as model-outs and observations, rather than around deconstruction through HLTPs.

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Human Rights and Development: Some Institutional Perspectives

Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights ◽

10.1177/016934410702500304 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 459-504 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Siobhán McInerney-Lankford

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Critical Comment ◽

International Human Rights Law ◽

Human Rights Law ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

International Human Rights ◽

Specific Nature ◽

Starting Point ◽

The Relationship ◽

Academic Debate

The relationship between human rights and development endures as a subject of lively academic debate and critical comment. In this piece, the author offers some institutionally based perspectives on the nature of that relationship, which take as their starting point the principles and obligations of international human rights law. The article begins by examining the intersection of human rights and development at three distinct but interrelated levels: factual or substantive overlap, principles and obligations, and goes on to argue that aspects of each have been neglected in contemporary analyses. The article argues for clarity about the specific nature of the overlap and the emerging convergence between the two areas, and the particular need to revisit the issue human rights obligations. Following from this theoretic framework, the article proceeds to a discussion of the challenges faced by development actors in attempts to integrate human rights into developments policy and practice. The article argues that the significance of these challenges has not been fully appreciated, nor the potential of existing human rights obligations and frameworks to address them fully harnessed.

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Crystal structure images of large gold clusters and growing crystals by HRTEM

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s042482010011218x ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

pp. 428-429

Author(s):

L.R. Wallenberg ◽

J.-O. Bovin ◽

G. Schmid

Keyword(s):

Crystal Structure ◽

Nucleation And Growth ◽

Close Packing ◽

Gold Clusters ◽

Molecular Weight Determination ◽

Growth Mechanisms ◽

Starting Point ◽

Different Types ◽

Nucleation And Growth Mechanisms ◽

Points Of View

Metallic clusters are interesting from various points of view, e.g. as a mean of spreading expensive catalysts on a support, or following heterogeneous and homogeneous catalytic events. It is also possible to study nucleation and growth mechanisms for crystals with the cluster as known starting point.Gold-clusters containing 55 atoms were manufactured by reducing (C6H5)3PAuCl with B2H6 in benzene. The chemical composition was found to be Au9.2[P(C6H5)3]2Cl. Molecular-weight determination by means of an ultracentrifuge gave the formula Au55[P(C6H5)3]Cl6 A model was proposed from Mössbauer spectra by Schmid et al. with cubic close-packing of the 55 gold atoms in a cubeoctahedron as shown in Fig 1. The cluster is almost completely isolated from the surroundings by the twelve triphenylphosphane groups situated in each corner, and the chlorine atoms on the centre of the 3x3 square surfaces. This gives four groups of gold atoms, depending on the different types of surrounding.

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Two isoprenylated flavonoids from Dorstenia psilurus activate AMPK, stimulate glucose uptake, inhibit glucose production and lower glycemia

Biochemical Journal ◽

10.1042/bcj20190326 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 476 (24) ◽

pp. 3687-3704 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Aphrodite T. Choumessi ◽

Manuel Johanns ◽

Claire Beaufay ◽

Marie-France Herent ◽

Vincent Stroobant ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Glucose Uptake ◽

Human Cancer ◽

Glucose Production ◽

Liver Mitochondria ◽

New Drugs ◽

Structural Isomer ◽

Rat Liver Mitochondria ◽

Ionization Mass ◽

Ampk Activation ◽

Starting Point

Root extracts of a Cameroon medicinal plant, Dorstenia psilurus, were purified by screening for AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activation in incubated mouse embryo fibroblasts (MEFs). Two isoprenylated flavones that activated AMPK were isolated. Compound 1 was identified as artelasticin by high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and 2D-NMR while its structural isomer, compound 2, was isolated for the first time and differed only by the position of one double bond on one isoprenyl substituent. Treatment of MEFs with purified compound 1 or compound 2 led to rapid and robust AMPK activation at low micromolar concentrations and increased the intracellular AMP:ATP ratio. In oxygen consumption experiments on isolated rat liver mitochondria, compound 1 and compound 2 inhibited complex II of the electron transport chain and in freeze–thawed mitochondria succinate dehydrogenase was inhibited. In incubated rat skeletal muscles, both compounds activated AMPK and stimulated glucose uptake. Moreover, these effects were lost in muscles pre-incubated with AMPK inhibitor SBI-0206965, suggesting AMPK dependency. Incubation of mouse hepatocytes with compound 1 or compound 2 led to AMPK activation, but glucose production was decreased in hepatocytes from both wild-type and AMPKβ1−/− mice, suggesting that this effect was not AMPK-dependent. However, when administered intraperitoneally to high-fat diet-induced insulin-resistant mice, compound 1 and compound 2 had blood glucose-lowering effects. In addition, compound 1 and compound 2 reduced the viability of several human cancer cells in culture. The flavonoids we have identified could be a starting point for the development of new drugs to treat type 2 diabetes.

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