Instrumental Comparative Tort Law

This article examines the possible uses of comparative tort law in practice and theory. It takes the view that comparative law is always a means, never an end in itself, explains how it can be utilized by judges, legislatures, and legal scholars, and puts forward important caveats and qualifications. Part 2 demonstrates the traditional role of comparative law in interpreting and implementing shared or similar tort doctrines and in providing ideas for domestic tort law gap-filling and reform. It highlights the challenges that such utilization might present. Part 3 maintains that comparative research is the cornerstone of unification endeavors. Starting with coordinated projects, Part 3 argues that unification is in itself an instrument (making comparative law a second-order instrument) and that it cannot be pursued without taking into account some concerns about its desirability and practicability. Part 3 then discusses uncoordinated unification processes, whereby lawmakers in one jurisdiction identify a “global consensus” and decide to join it, and elaborates on the normative and positive components of these strategies. Part 4 acknowledges that comparative analysis usually uncovers trans-jurisdictional diversity and argues that such findings can underlie normative and positive theories of tort law. A comparison can offer a systematic taxonomy of possible legal solutions to a particular problem, enabling scholars to critically evaluate and compare the alternatives from their preferred theoretical perspective. Moreover, any hypothesis about the impact of cultural, economic, political, technological, and other conditions and changes on the law can be substantiated or refuted through comparative analyses that seek out legal differences (or similarities) among systems with different (or similar) underlying backgrounds. Through this analysis, the article aims to reignite and enrich the debate and inspire tort-law makers and scholars to integrate comparative research into their work.

The Concern of Energy Companies in Obtaining and Maintaining their Sustainable Value

The last years are distinguished by increasing the awareness of companies towards sustainable business, going beyond their traditional role of providing goods and services at competitive prices to meet customer requirements. Thus, companies will have to consider the effects of their best practices on the environment and society, in order to contribute to the progress of society and the protection of the environment, the essence of sustainable development being the coexistence of economic and social relations and environmental protection by implementing economic, social and environmental objectives. We can see that every company that seeks to become sustainable must consider approaches based on sustainable business practices geared to meeting customer needs. For companies listed on the stock market, the index that stands next to each company is the one that shows the level of sustainability, through corporate sustainability, long-term value is created for shareholders, taking into account all social factors, those related to the environment, as well as economic ones. All these considerations have led to the establishment of the general objective of the paper, through which the authors aim to explain and present the importance of sustainability/sustainable development in energy companies in conjunction with the UN guidelines on business and human rights, which will address with priority to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030.

Mutation of the Conserved Threonine 8 within the Human ARF Tumour Suppressor Protein Regulates Autophagy

Background: The ARF tumour suppressor plays a well-established role as a tumour suppressor, halting cell growth by both p53-dependent and independent pathways in several cellular stress response circuits. However, data collected in recent years challenged the traditional role of this protein as a tumour suppressor. Cancer cells expressing high ARF levels showed that its expression, far from being dispensable, is required to guarantee tumour cell survival. In particular, ARF can promote autophagy, a self-digestion pathway that helps cells cope with stressful growth conditions arising during both physiological and pathological processes. Methods: We previously showed that ARF is regulated through the activation of the protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent pathway and that an ARF phospho-mimetic mutant on the threonine residue 8, ARF-T8D, sustains cell proliferation in HeLa cells. We now explored the role of ARF phosphorylation in both basal and starvation-induced autophagy by analysing autophagic flux in cells transfected with either WT and ARF phosphorylation mutants by immunoblot and immunofluorescence. Results: Here, we show that endogenous ARF expression in HeLa cells is required for starvation-induced autophagy. Further, we provide evidence that the hyper-expression of ARF-T8D appears to inhibit autophagy in both HeLa and lung cancer cells H1299. This effect is due to the cells’ inability to elicit autophagosomes formation upon T8D expression. Conclusions: Our results lead to the hypothesis that ARF phosphorylation could be a mechanism through which the protein promotes or counteracts autophagy. Several observations underline how autophagy could serve a dual role in cancer progression, either protecting healthy cells from damage or aiding cancerous cells to survive. Our results indicate that ARF phosphorylation controls protein’s ability to promote or counteract autophagy, providing evidence of the dual role played by ARF in cancer progression.

Faculty perceptions of information literacy skills: an investigation at the Florence University Campus of Social Sciences

Purpose The Florence University Social Science Library has for some time been engaged in courses for information literacy (IL), but so far, there has been a lack of collaboration with teachers. This study aims to investigate teachers’ perception of students’ IL skills. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative investigation was based on semi-structured interviews with 24 faculty members of the Florence University Social Sciences campus. Findings Knowledge of the IL frameworks is not widespread among the teachers of the campus, but following the discussion, most of the interviewees came to acknowledge its certain validity. The teachers tend to attribute an insufficient level of information skills to the bachelor’s degree students, a good level to master’s degree and a more positive level to the postgraduates. They express appreciation of the training activity of the library, but they, nevertheless, still tend to consider librarians, as their more traditional role would suggest, only as bibliographic research experts. No one seemed to believe librarians possess those training competencies they would need to get involved in teaching curricula. The recognition of the work that has been accomplished up to now represents foundations for an increasingly necessary partnership. There is an awareness, however, that a suitable strategy which requires determination and initiative will be difficult to implement. Originality/value This study represents one of the few contributions on the perception of IL skills by faculty members in Italian universities.

China in the Shadow of Russia: Covert Tools for Expanding China’s Influence over Kyrgyzstan’s Security

The article examines the set of tools that China is using to expand its influence in Kyrgyzstan’s security sphere and the relationship of these actions to Russia’s traditional role in the region. Through in-depth interviews with experts in the military field, the authors conclude that Beijing is gradually ‘maximising power’ in relation to Russia, which still occupies a leading position in Central Asia (including education and the supply of weapons), in a manner that is non-aggressive and covert. These actions are reflected in the non-institutionalised nature of China’s interactions with countries in the region, which are more beneficial, in contrast, to institutionalised mechanisms. Beijing is betting on its ‘safe city’ system in Central Asia, which will allow the country to solve its own internal problems (Uyghur separatism, terrorism) while also strengthening Chinese influence in the security sphere by permitting it access to the data of Kyrgyz citizens and by making Kyrgyzstan more financially dependent on China; its educational programs for security service employees in Central Asia, which will, in turn, prepare the ground for the legalisation of the activities of Chinese PMCs (military contractors or ‘private military companies’).

Deployment of service-learning as a pedagogy for social transformation

Teaching is not only a traditional role of universities, but it remains one of the most critical missions of them. The pedagogy used in teaching determines if learning will be transformational or just transactional. Transactional learning has continually increased university graduates who become a problem to the community instead of being a source of solutions to the community problems. This study introduces service-learning as a transformational learning pedagogy that empowers students to identify problems in their community and enables them to work with the community as co-creators to solve the myriad challenges that the communities battle with daily. The study provides empirical evidence of how the service-learning model is used as an education pedagogy in the informal settlements of Nairobi to train slum dwellers in civic education and development. The study adopted a qualitative approach. The study's findings demonstrate that service-learning enables students to acquire knowledge and skills to deploy in their communities. It provides evidence on how service-learning can be modelled for transformative education. The study results reveal how service-learning as a teaching pedagogy can contribute to students' personal transformation and the social transformation of the community.

When Fathers Feel Socially Constrained to Assume a Role: A Negative Predictor of the Coparental Relationship in Switzerland

Role distribution is a central issue for parents in the transition to parenthood, but little is known about the motivations in fathers to assume a specific role. Differences in work-family balance in each parent may be motivated by an individual choice mutually shared by both partners; however, in many couples, the parents may feel forced to adopt a traditional role distribution, either for financial reasons, or to comply with social expectations about what men and women should do when they are parents. This feeling of being socially constrained to adopt a role distribution that is not congruent with intrinsic motivations can generate dissatisfaction and may jeopardize the development of the interparental relationship. Coparenting refers to the emotional and instrumental support parents bring to each other in their parental tasks. It has been shown to be central in family functioning and a powerful predictor of children’s emotional and cognitive development. In this study, we aimed to assess the extent to which different motivations for role distribution in fathers are predictive of the quality of the coparental relationship. A convenience sample of 144 fathers from the French-speaking part of Switzerland completed online questionnaires about their motivations, coparental relationship, and sociodemographic characteristics. Results showed that the reasons for role distribution were mainly economical, practical, and in order to meet personal expectations. Multivariate general linear modeling showed that role distribution that is constrained to meet social expectations and age were predictive of a less cohesive coparental relationship, whereas a deliberate choice in role distribution was linked to a more cohesive coparental relationship.

Relationship between factors of teachers’ leadership

Today, the traditional role of teachers is challenged, and teaching practice requires less time for face-to-face instruction, a unique position that does not impose responsibilities on one person (teacher or student) and creates a common teaching and learning space in which new knowledge is co-created and socially developed. This change requires teachers’ high professionalism and leadership skills, which is the key component of a successful educational process. Therefore, it is important for researchers, school principals, and teachers to understand better the predictive factors of teachers’ leadership, which should be developed, nurtured, and sustained. This study addresses the teachers’ leadership regarding their attitudes toward themselves, attitudes towards the school, teachers’ activeness, and stress experienced at school. The study involved 418 teachers from five regions in Lithuania. The findings indicate that the four analyzed factors, influencing teacher leadership are strongly interrelated. Moreover, the research results reveal determinants surrounding the factors of interest, which leads to a more complex understanding of underlying reasons and problems related to practicing teachers’ leadership at school.

Helpful Behavior and the Durability of Collaborative Ties

Long-term collaborations are crucial in many creative domains. Although there is ample research on why people collaborate, our knowledge about what drives some collaborations to persist and others to decay is still emerging. In this paper, we extend theory on third-party effects and collaborative persistence to study this question. We specifically consider the role that a third party’s helpful behavior plays in shaping tie durability. We propose that when third parties facilitate helpfulness among their group, the collaboration is stronger, and it persists even in the third’s absence. In contrast, collaborations with third parties that are nonhelpful are unstable and dissolve in their absence. We use a unique data set comprising scientific collaborations among pairs of research immunologists who lost a third coauthor to unexpected death. Using this quasi-random loss as a source of exogenous variation, we separately identify the effect of third parties’ traditional role as an active agent of collaborative stability and the enduring effect of their helpful behavior—as measured by acknowledgments—on the persistence of the remaining authors’ collaboration. We find support for our hypotheses and find evidence that one mechanism driving our effect is that helpful thirds make their coauthors more helpful.

Extended Supply-Use Tables

The statistical challenges of globalization are profound. We cannot rely solely on national statistics to understand how economies work and how to create industrial policies focusing on competitiveness. It is necessary to see the whole. National statistics build pictures based on relationships between producers and consumers and the rest of the world. But these relationships, especially those with the rest of the world, have become increasingly more complex. There is an increasing need to consider global production within a global accounting framework. This implies a departure from the traditional role of international organizations as compilers of internationally comparable national statistics to bring together the national tables to create a global table.