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This article provides a review of the historical trends that are shaping global competition for standard setting in emerging technologies. Specifically, it explores how the traditional rule-makers of international standardization, namely the United States and Europe, are responding to the rise of China in standard-setting. The article argues that three polities are adapting their standard-setting strategies to shifting power dynamics in the international technology order. To preserve its competitive advantage, the US is becoming more interventionist and proactive in setting technology standards. China has developed a long-term standardization strategy to bolster its domestic industrial development, increase its influence and reap greater profits from the process of rule-making. Finally, the EU is seeking a third way that strikes a balance between competition and cooperation to preserve values like interoperability, which have historically benefited its single market and the global economy at large. Our historical review shows that, while the three polities have different priorities and face distinct challenges, they all seem to converge towards a greater role for governments in standard-setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the organization of social welfare production work (shehui fuli shengchan gongzuo) in China's southwest Sichuan province from 1956 to 1965, with a focus on the marginalized experience of disabled workers during and after the Great Leap Forward Campaign (1958–62). Utilizing unexamined state archives, local gazetteers, and newspaper publications, the study traces how disabled workers were incorporated into or excluded from the campaign and their survival strategies after its derailment. During the Great Leap Forward, a campaign that aimed to rapidly industrialize China and accelerate developmental timelines, disabled workers were mobilized into collective production for the first time in the People's Republic of China. When the industrial labor force needed to shrink, however, these once-mobilized disabled workers were marginalized and excluded from the state production system and instead resorted to heterodox forms of labor not officially recognized by the Communist state. The article argues that the tension between disabled workers and the Chinese Communist state, intensified by poor economic conditions, stemmed from the marginalization of disabled individuals with limited productivity in the state's idealized vision of productive labor. By uncovering the interplay between disability, labor mobilization, and state ideology, this article contributes to a deeper understanding of the social and economic dynamics during the Great Leap Forward era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) is a technique for the selection of strains with better phenotypes by long-term culture under a specific selection pressure or growth environment. Because ALE does not require detailed knowledge of a variety of complex and interactive metabolic networks, and only needs to simulate natural environmental conditions in the laboratory to design a selection pressure, it has the advantages of broad adaptability, strong practicability, and more convenient transformation of strains. In addition, ALE provides a powerful method for studying the evolutionary forces that change the phenotype, performance, and stability of strains, resulting in more productive industrial strains with beneficial mutations. In recent years, ALE has been widely used in the activation of specific microbial metabolic pathways and phenotypic optimization, the efficient utilization of specific substrates, the optimization of tolerance to toxic substance, and the biosynthesis of target products, which is more conducive to the production of industrial strains with excellent phenotypic characteristics. In this paper, typical examples of ALE applications in the development of industrial strains and the research progress of this technology are reviewed, followed by a discussion of its development prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In both Britain and France, pollution from emergent chemical manufacturing during the early industrial era presented a choice between two regulatory approaches. One option, consistent with longstanding restrictions in both countries on the location of malodorous trades, insisted on the separation of chemical plants from (upper-class) residences. The alternative approach allowed polluting firms to operate near residences, subject to incremental technologybased mitigation. By 1810, France issued a decree that conferred on most chemical manufacturers the right to operate inside cities, subject to permitting requirements. For residents of working-class industrial neighborhoods, who never stood a realistic chance of removing polluters, a regulatory regime geared at incremental mitigation held the potential for modest environmental improvement. For wealthy landowners, however, partial technological mitigation was far inferior to the complete relief obtainable through the removal of pollution sources. France's example loomed large over chemical pollution debates in nineteenth-century Britain. Manufacturers hoped the courts would remove locational restrictions on chemical plants, while the near absence of pollution mitigation within working-class areas alarmed liberal reformers. The road to a compromise solution patterned after France's was impeded in Britain, however, by a deep-seated aversion to uniform, centralized pollution control. This reticence was rooted in common-law-inspired understandings of nuisance law as the sole and inviolable constitutional means for the regulation of land use. By the 1860s, through the combined impact of St. Helens v. Tipping (1865) and the Alkali Act of 1863, Britain moved towards the French approach. Nevertheless, compared with France, British law remained more protective of landowners, more reactive in its implementation, and more willing to vary required mitigation based on sociodemographic factors. Beyond its contribution to comparative environmental history, in revealing the legal-ideological underpinnings of the Franco-British divide over the regulation of early chemical pollution, this Article also seeks to shine a light on the lingering role of legal ideology within contemporary cross-national divisions over the efficacy and legitimacy of centralized technology-based regulatory instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation Bioproduction of value-added compounds is frequently achieved by utilizing enzymes from other species. However, expression of such heterologous enzymes can be detrimental due to unexpected interactions within the host cell. Recently, an alternative strategy emerged, which relies on recruiting side activities of host enzymes to establish new biosynthetic pathways. Although such low-level 'underground' enzyme activities are prevalent, it remains poorly explored whether they may serve as an important reservoir for pathway engineering. Results Here, we use genome-scale modeling to estimate the theoretical potential of underground reactions for engineering novel biosynthetic pathways in Escherichia coli. We found that biochemical reactions contributed by underground enzyme activities often enhance the in silico production of compounds with industrial importance, including several cases where underground activities are indispensable for production. Most of these new capabilities can be achieved by the addition of one or two underground reactions to the native network, suggesting that only a few side activities need to be enhanced during implementation. Remarkably, we find that the contribution of underground reactions to the production of value-added compounds is comparable to that of heterologous reactions, underscoring their biotechnological potential. Taken together, our genome-wide study demonstrates that exploiting underground enzyme activities could be a promising addition to the toolbox of industrial strain development. Availability and implementation The data and scripts underlying this article are available on GitHub at https://github.com/pappb/Kovacs-et-al-Underground-metabolism. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the network of interactions of Brazilian medical research groups, identifying key actors and their roles in generating and diffusing knowledge. Social network analysis was applied, with data from the Research Groups Directory Census of the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development, from 2016. The main results show (1) the central role of universities, public institutes, and university hospital research groups; (2) the importance of scientific infrastructure and research capability of scientists in knowledge production; (3) the minor role of the industry, denoting the fragility of university–industry interactions; (4) spatial concentration of network actors, mostly located in the south and southeast of Brazil; and (5) a great opportunity to expand flows and cooperation. Regarding these results, the recent budgetary cuts in science and technology resources since 2016 seem to be a misguided and detrimental strategy as these resources are essential for future technological and industrial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on rural policy measures launched by European Commission supporting from senior policy figures and practitioners as LEADER. Topics include policy based on rural industrialization, branch plant developments, and agricultural modernization; and LAGs demonstrating innovation or interaction between different sectors in the strategies or projects.

Cieszyn Silesia is a region which was divided between Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1920. Czechoslovakia obtained the industrially developed and strategically important part, which had a large Polish and German population. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the minority policy of the Czechoslovak state administration by focusing on the examples of state-run railway employees and workers in large, mostly private, industrial establishments. It discusses the mechanisms of an ethnic policy that functioned in a particular, distinctive region at the crossroads of three cultures—German, Polish and Czech. Policies towards minorities in Czechoslovakia in the period before the Munich Agreement of 1938 have often been regarded as democratic and tolerant. Nonetheless, the integration of Cieszyn Silesia was a significant challenge for Czechoslovak authorities and their actions were often in contradiction with liberal principles. This paper focuses not on the legislation, but on the practical approaches that contributed to the enhancement of the position of the Czech nation. In the case of both railwaymen and industrial workers, the state authorities took action that had a common goal—the Czechification of the region. The main difference in methods used against both groups depended on the direct dependence of the former (railwaymen) on the state as their employer. In the case of industrial workers, state policies had a less direct impact, but nonetheless created conditions conducive to discriminatory and assimilationist pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microneedle array patch (MAP) is a patch of sharp but painless microstructure needles ranging from only a few microneedles to several hundred, attached to an adhesive patch. The arrays penetrate the outer layer of the skin on application and then are given time to dissolve to deliver a local dose of medication intradermally (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6jPA9liUMc). MAP enable alternative and easier delivery scenarios for physicians as they require less training to apply and not as hazardous as traditional needles. MAP also improve adherence to drug regimens as it makes the administration of drugs to patients safer and less painful. Additionally, microneedles offer suitability for self-administration, no biohazardous sharps waste, and no risk of needle-stick injuries. The work that supported the preliminary research/development have been patented/published (Patent WO 2020/250210). The key opinion leaders KOLs and industry stakeholder feedback confirmed an unmet market need for the MN technology, particularly in support of many topical applications. The in-vivo data showed that the MAP delivers a superior localized drug dose compared current standard of care, which should translate to a reduced treatment-time. Also, the comparative plasma bioavailability of the MAP translates to less side effects. It was also observed that after one week, there was no sign of inflammation or irritation at the site of application. We are seeking potential clinical partners for whom collaboration and MAP technology is advantageous. Such collaboration would ensure rapid product development and industrial production to allow clinical assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]