From the Margins to the Core of Haute Couture: The Entrepreneurial Journey of Coco Chanel

We trace the history of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s entrepreneurial journey as a fashion designer from her early years as an outsider (early 1900s) to her rise to success and consecration as an icon within the French haute couture field (early 1930s)—a field controlled by powerful insiders. Our study sheds light on the social forces and historical circumstances underlying an outsider’s journey from the margins of an established field to its core. Drawing on unique historical material, we develop a novel process view that highlights the shifting influence of forces operating at different levels in the accumulation, deployment, and conversion of various forms of capital (i.e., human, social, economic, and symbolic) that outsiders need to promote their ideas. In particular, our multilevel perspective accounts simultaneously for the individual’s efforts to push forward these ideas (micro-level), as well as the audience dynamics (meso-level) and exogenous forces (macro-level) that shape their recognition. Chanel’s historical case analysis also affords a window into one of the first female entrepreneurs with global impact in business history, with the added challenge of establishing herself in what at the time was a male-dominated and mature field.

Friends or Foe?

Scholars have argued that business ethics is a crucial ingredient for the successful recipe of human resource management. However, little is known about the factors that trigger an organizational commitment towards the promotion of an ethical approach in crafting human resource management practices. This is especially true for family firms, whose ethical slant in devising human resource management practices has been under-researched. This chapter intends to push forward our knowledge in the field of business ethics investigating the role of familiness in determining ethically-rooted human resource management practices among small and medium-sized enterprises. More specifically, the authors investigated how awareness of business ethics issues and formalization of human resource management policies and practices affect the SMEs commitment to ethics. Family firms were found to be aware of the ethical challenges that characterize human resource management; however, no evidence was retrieved about the role of familiness in triggering an ethical commitment in managing human resources.

Material-based high-impedance surfaces for infrared photonic technologies

Metamaterial high-impedance surfaces (HISs) are characterized by a boundary condition close to that of aperfect magnetic conductor (PMC). This property has enabled a variety of antenna systems such as low-profileantennas, electromagnetic absorbers and anti-radar systems. Here, we push forward the concept of material-basedhigh-impedance surfaces (MatHISs), where a high-impedance boundary is directly obtained from the materialproperties of doped semiconductors and polar dielectrics at infrared frequencies. Technological advantages ofMatHISs such as fabrication simplicity, large-area deployment and integrability into conformal devices suggestmultiple applications for infrared photonic technologies, including dynamical thermal emitters, optoelectronic devicesand basic research on atomically-thin materials.

Recent Advances in the Genetic of MALT Lymphomas

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphomas are a diverse group of lymphoid neoplasms with B-cell origin, occurring in adult patients and usually having an indolent clinical behavior. These lymphomas may arise in different anatomic locations, sharing many clinicopathological characteristics, but also having substantial variances in the aetiology and genetic alterations. Chromosomal translocations are recurrent in MALT lymphomas with different prevalence among different sites, being the 4 most common: t(11;18)(q21;q21), t(1;14)(p22;q32), t(14;18)(q32;q21), and t(3;14)(p14.1;q32). Several chromosomal numerical abnormalities have also been described, but probably represent secondary genetic events. The mutational landscape of MALT lymphomas is wide, and the most frequent mutations are: TNFAIP3, CREBBP, KMT2C, TET2, SPEN, KMT2D, LRP1B, PRDM1, EP300, TNFRSF14, NOTCH1/NOTCH2, and B2M, but many other genes may be involved. Similar to chromosomal translocations, certain mutations are enriched in specific lymphoma types. In the same line, variation in immunoglobulin gene usage is recognized among MALT lymphoma of different anatomic locations. In the last decade, several studies have analyzed the role of microRNA, transcriptomics and epigenetic alterations, further improving our knowledge about the pathogenic mechanisms in MALT lymphoma development. All these advances open the possibility of targeted directed treatment and push forward the concept of precision medicine in MALT lymphomas.

Europejski Zielony Ład jako narzędzie modernizacji i legitymizacji projektu europejskiego

Covid-19 pandemic created a new environment to New Green Deal - flagship initiative of European Commission and crucial element of Ursula von der Leyen political manifesto. Author argues, that faced with the possibility of weakening or postponing ambitious environmental programme because of new challenges the commission, backed by important group pf member states decided to build a direct link between reconstruction after pandemics and greening of the economy. The result was a push forward with decarbonisation commitments - the stimuli for change should be bound together to strengthen their interdependence and build a momentum for modernization of EU in both economic and political dimensions. Conditionality of Next Generation Europe financial instrument is one of the links between these two dimensions.

Europejski Zielony Ład jako narzędzie modernizacji i legitymizacji projektu europejskiego

Covid-19 pandemic created a new environment to New Green Deal - flagship initiative of European Commission and crucial element of Ursula von der Leyen political manifesto. Author argues, that faced with the possibility of weakening or postponing ambitious environmental programme because of new challenges the commission, backed by important group pf member states decided to build a direct link between reconstruction after pandemics and greening of the economy. The result was a push forward with decarbonisation commitments - the stimuli for change should be bound together to strengthen their interdependence and build a momentum for modernization of EU in both economic and political dimensions. Conditionality of Next Generation Europe financial instrument is one of the links between these two dimensions.

Homologous or Heterologous Booster of Inactivated Vaccine Reduces SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant Escape from Neutralizing Antibodies

The massive and rapid transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the emergence of several viral variants of concern (VOCs), with the most recent one, B.1.1.529 (Omicron), which accumulated a large number of spike mutations, raising the specter that this newly identified variant may escape from the currently available vaccines and therapeutic antibodies. Using VSV-based pseudovirus, we found that Omicron variant is markedly resistant to neutralization of sera form convalescents or individuals vaccinated by two doses of inactivated whole-virion vaccines (BBIBP-CorV). However, a homologous inactivated vaccine booster or a heterologous booster with protein subunit vaccine (ZF2001) significantly increased neutralization titers to both WT and Omicron variant. Moreover, at day 14 post the third dose, neutralizing antibody titer reduction for Omicron was less than that for convalescents or individuals who had only two doses of the vaccine, indicating that a homologous or heterologous booster can reduce the Omicron escape from neutralizing. In addition, we tested a panel of 17 SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Omicron resists 7 of 8 authorized/approved mAbs, as well as most of the other mAbs targeting distinct epitopes on RBD and NTD. Taken together, our results suggest the urgency to push forward the booster vaccination to combat the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.

History and the Future of the Hybrid Party Politics in Neoliberal Age: A Case of Pakistan

The causes of rising populism and collapse of the left-right ideological paradigms termed “death of ideology” is important development on election canvas. This trend in recent decades has been described as hybrid party politics. The neo-liberal discourse in hybrid regime shape party politics with free market values, issues of inequality, denial of social justice, and crises of freedom are rampant. Consequently, hybrid party politics perpetuate systemic deprivation and chronic punishment to marginalized sections. The fast penetration of neoliberal and populist elements quickly fused into multi-layered public pedagogy. The common political discourse propounds for quick solutions to seek legitimacy with expanding corporate power constantly. The socioeconomic inequalities consequence of expanding neo-liberal values in all spheres like education and electoral practices have recently started crucially influencing urban socio-political environment that shape populist narratives in electoral arena. Neoliberal-populists leadership promote free market policies that push forward neoliberal populist rhetoric across political parties of different shades. The combination of neo-liberalism and populism thrives on subjects who perceive it solution to their problems. Thus, fast penetrating market-centric subjectivities consider alternative subjectivities outside perimeters of social dignity therefore political inclusiveness becomes subject to connection with power. The educative public pedagogy has been at the base of rising populism unfolding hybrid party politics

Seeds of hope, seeds of resistance: Cultivating food justice and community economies through urban agriculture

<p>Grounded on the experiences and discourses of volunteers and members of Southern Garden located in the Southern suburbs of Wellington and Wesley Community Action in Cannons Creek, I explore the work these community projects to contest the current corporate agrifood system using ethnographic and participatory approaches. This thesis is an attempt to show the often unrecognised and underestimated revolutionary work community activist are doing through UA. This research seeks to advance the discussions around food justice, and community economies in UA in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand since the literature around these topics is limited. The main aim of this thesis is to open spaces for these conversations to happen both in academia and among grassroots groups in order to push forward for a more just system. Using food sovereignty, food justice, community economies and the right to the city as my theoretical framework, I highlight the power of everyday politics to change and challenge the status quo without being complacent and uncritical about the limitations and contradictions of such work. Both projects open spaces of possibility and freedom where we can all build better futures to come. I have tried in this thesis to make justice to their work and to help move forward in search of more radical spaces of transformation.</p>

Seeds of hope, seeds of resistance: Cultivating food justice and community economies through urban agriculture

<p>Grounded on the experiences and discourses of volunteers and members of Southern Garden located in the Southern suburbs of Wellington and Wesley Community Action in Cannons Creek, I explore the work these community projects to contest the current corporate agrifood system using ethnographic and participatory approaches. This thesis is an attempt to show the often unrecognised and underestimated revolutionary work community activist are doing through UA. This research seeks to advance the discussions around food justice, and community economies in UA in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand since the literature around these topics is limited. The main aim of this thesis is to open spaces for these conversations to happen both in academia and among grassroots groups in order to push forward for a more just system. Using food sovereignty, food justice, community economies and the right to the city as my theoretical framework, I highlight the power of everyday politics to change and challenge the status quo without being complacent and uncritical about the limitations and contradictions of such work. Both projects open spaces of possibility and freedom where we can all build better futures to come. I have tried in this thesis to make justice to their work and to help move forward in search of more radical spaces of transformation.</p>