EXPRESS: 2021 Annual World Congress of the Pulmonary Vascular Research Institute Webinar Series

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Challenges to Press Freedom in India

Since the late 1990s, the news media landscape in India has experienced widespread and arguably transformative shifts that are manifest in the explosive growth of media outlets and consumption at both national and regional levels. As of 2021, the country has over 100,000 registered periodicals and newspapers, with 17,000 dailies that report a combined circulation of over 240 million copies according to government data, as well as an estimated 400 news and current affairs channels and numerous news-related websites. Yet despite the existence of a seemingly dynamic and expansive news landscape, many observers have expressed significant concerns about the independence of the Fourth Estate in the world’s largest democracy. According to the annual World Press Freedom Index, compiled by the media watchdog group Reporters without Borders, India has experienced a steady decline in press freedom since 2015, slipping from a position of 135/180 in 2015 to 140/180 in 2019, and 142 in the 2020 report. At present, India ranks behind most of its neighbors, including Afghanistan (122), Bhutan (67), Nepal (112), and Sri Lanka (127). Thus, even though the writers of India’s constitution clearly recognized the right to the freedom of the press as an essential part of the freedom of speech and expression as guaranteed in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, and this right has generally been upheld in court, the space for the free expression of views and critique by the press—widely recognized as crucial to democratic functioning—has been shrinking consistently in the Indian context due to a variety of threats ranging from physical violence and intimidation of journalists, and government pressure on news outlets to structural economic forces.

Spreading the Word: The Salzburg Seminar

Salzburg! The name conjures up images of the annual world-famous Salzburg Festival and The Sound of Music, with its magnificent castle and the glorious singing of Julie Andrews. The birthplace of the divine Mozart.

Tackling Societal Challenges with Open Innovation

Open innovation includes external knowledge sources and paths to market as complements to internal innovation processes. Open innovation has to date been driven largely by business objectives, but the imperative of social challenges has turned attention to the broader set of goals to which open innovation is relevant. This introduction discusses how open innovation can be deployed to address societal challenges—as well as the trade-offs and tensions that arise as a result. Against this background we introduce the articles published in this Special Section, which were originally presented at the sixth Annual World Open Innovation Conference.

Modern trends in the processing of linear alpha olefins to technologically important products. Part 1

Linear alpha olefins (LAO) form a class of chemical compounds that are used in the production of highly marketable products, such as plasticizers, synthetic lubricants, surfactants and (co)polymers with the improved operating characteristics. Since the annual world consumption of LAO derivatives is growing, specialists from research institutes, universities and industrial laboratories become involved in LAO processing. The analysis of scientific literature published in recent ten years revealed the absence of general reviews devoted to LAO processing. This review considers modern trends in the processing of LAO, which contain four and more carbon atoms, to technologically important derivatives. General information on the main products obtained by LAO processing, methods of their production and application fields is reported. The existing technological processes used to obtain LAO derivatives as well as the catalysts employed in the processes are briefly described. The review presents modern trends in LAO processing and promising ways for enhancing the available technologies, particularly the development of new types of catalysts. Authors of the review make no pretence to a comprehensive or detailed presentation of the material; the main aim was to give a general idea of the main directions in LAO processing, the catalysts used in such processes, and the advanced approaches to their improvement.

Open Innovation

Open Innovation, published in 2003, was a ground-breaking work by Henry Chesbrough that placed technology and innovation at the center of attention for managers of large firms. The term open innovation refers to the ways in which firms can generate and commercialize innovation by engaging outside entities. The ideas have attracted the notice of scholars, spawning annual world conferences and a large literature in technology and innovation management (including numerous journal special issues) that documents diverse examples of innovations and the often novel business models needed to make the most of those innovations. The role of business models in open innovation is the focus of Open Business Models, Chesbrough’s 2006 follow-up to Open Innovation. Managers have likewise flocked to Chesbrough’s approach, as the hundreds of thousands of hits from an online search using the term open innovation can attest. Surveys show that the majority of large firms were engaging in open innovation practices in 2017, compared to only 20% in 2003 when Open Innovation was published.

The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine Looks Ahead Towards the 28th Annual World Congress

This editorial report the 28th Annual World Congress ongranized by The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. The congress will be taking place entirely online from December 12-13, 2020. The rest of this edtorial discribs the details and contents oft he congress.

Strategic Management of Open Innovation: A Dynamic Capabilities Perspective

Open innovation has become well established as a new imperative for organizing innovation. In line with the increased use in industry, it has also attracted a lot of attention in academia. However, understanding the full benefits and possible limits of open innovation still remains a challenge. We draw on strategic management theory to describe some of these benefits and limits. More specifically, we develop a dynamic capabilities framework as a way to better understand the strategic management of open innovation, which can then help to better explain both success and failure in open innovation. With this background, as guest editors we introduce select papers published in this Special Section of California Management Review that were originally presented at the fifth annual World Open Innovation Conference, held in San Francisco, California, in December of 2018.

Vitiligo: Challenging Cultural Assumptions and Shaping Identity

Vitiligo is a skin condition where pigmentation stops developing, leaving people with white spots on their bodies. Vitiligo is likely caused by gene mutation and is hereditary, but it can happen to anyone. From a medical standpoint, it is a physically harmless condition but it has vast socio-cultural impact. This study was conducted at the Annual World Vitiligo Conference in Detroit, Michigan and on the internet (Instagram and Facebook), through participant-observation at the event, textual analysis of blog posts, and interviews online and in-person, respectively. Through these methods, three discourses emerged: 1) Feeling outcast, 2) Vitiligo as beautiful, and 3) Solidarity. I documented the way cultural assumptions about conditions and disabilities shape the identity of those who have it. These interviews suggest that vitiligo is as much a cultural condition as it is a medical condition. Although more research is needed, people living with vitiligo stated that greater representation of individuals with the condition is needed in the media and pop culture to enlighten the public about vitiligo and improve the day to day interactions of individuals with the condition.