Beginning Of 1990s Research Articles

The Decade of Great Myths: Developments in the Estonian Art Scene of the 1990s

Estonian art life changed radically at the beginning of 1990s,especially with regards to organisational and financial systems. Inother words, the collapse of the Soviet cultural system was followedby strong shifts that brought with them changes, in both content andform, within the arts and the institutional mechanisms.This article maps out some of the most notable developmentaltendencies that began taking shape after the restoration ofindependence, for example the meaning of art and the role of culturaljournalism and art critique in the new reality. Even though the focusof the text is on Estonia, the changes that took place in the culturalsphere of the 1990s were not location-specific as similar trends existedmore or less in all former republics of the Soviet Union.

A educação ambiental nas teses e dissertações da área do direito no Brasil: um campo em construção

Neste artigo partimos do pressuposto de que é indispensável ao processo de consolidação da Educação Ambiental (EA), no Brasil, uma consistente base teórico-metodológica. Essa base é construída, principalmente, pela produção de pesquisa sobre o tema. A produção acadêmica sobre EA é um fato recente, data do início da década de 1980. Ela ocorre em diversas áreas do conhecimento, apresentando uma variada produção de pesquisa sobre o mesmo tema, em diferentes áreas. O artigo trata da produção de pesquisa sobre EA na área de Direito. É um recorte1 de uma investigação de natureza qualitativa, do tipo estado da arte, enfocando teses e dissertações de EA em Programas de Pós-Graduação em Direito. A abrangência da pesquisa compreende o período de 1981-2009 e 2011-2012. O que caracteriza a produção de pesquisa sobre EA na área de Direito? Quais os objetivos dessas pesquisas? Quais seus referenciais teórico-metodológicos? Em busca dessas respostas, consultamos o Banco de Teses do Projeto Estado da Arte da Educação Ambiental no Brasil (EArte). Até 2012, os pesquisadores desse projeto haviam catalogado 2.763 trabalhos sobre EA nas diversas áreas de conhecimento. Na definição do corpus documental para a análise que empreendemos, identificamos, inicialmente, 55 trabalhos. Contudo, tivemos acesso a 31 deles, que constituíram o corpus a partir do qual foi possível empreender, efetivamente, a análise. Foi feito um mapeamento dos 55 trabalhos, a partir dos dados catalogados pelo EArte. A identificação dos objetivos e dos referenciais teórico-metodológicos ocorreu nos 31 trabalhos que tivemos acesso. No mapeamento constatamos que a pesquisa sobre EA na área de Direito ocorre, predominantemente, em instituições privadas situadas nas regiões Sul e Sudeste. Contudo a produção ocorrida na Região Norte, numa instituição pública, chamou nossa atenção. No que se refere aos objetivos e referenciais teórico-metodológicos das pesquisas analisadas, foram identificadas certas particularidades próprias da área de Direito, tais como a valorização de pesquisas teóricas em detrimento de pesquisas empíricas, a não explicitação clara dos objetivos, questões de pesquisa e procedimentos de investigação. Além disso constatamos, também, o uso da hermenêutica e a reprodução de doutrinas jurídicas, ao invés da problematização da temática investigada. Tais constatações nos levam a indagar sobre as contribuições e fragilidades da produção de pesquisas sobre EA na área de Direito

A IGREJA DE NOSSA SENHORA DO ROSÁRIO DOS PRETOS COMO ESPAÇO DE MEMÓRIA

Este trabalho buscou compreender como a igreja de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos é identificada e percebida pelos moradores do seu entorno. Sabemos que a igreja presenciou vários momentos da comunidade e foi testemunha das mudanças ocorridas (no traçado urbano natalense e paisagístico) no bairro de Cidade Alta no município de Natal no Rio Grande do Norte, segundo Luis da Câmara Cascudo no seu livro “História da cidade do Natal”. A falta de informações sobre o patrimônio relega a igreja a invisibilidade urbana e a um esquecimento perigoso para o patrimônio artístico local, pois as pessoas que poderiam cuidar do espaço, por falta de identidade contribuem para a depredação. A pesquisa tem a pretensão de perceber a importância desse espaço social para a memória local e contribuir com as discussões historiográficas regionais, colaborando com a história do Rio Grande do Norte. A metodologia utilizada na pesquisa foram entrevistas orais (por meio de questionários) e revisão bibliográfica. A temporalidade para buscarmos entender os conceitos de espaço, patrimônio e memória está compreendido entre as décadas de 1980 e 1990, século XX, e espraia-se até o início dos anos 2000 do século XXI. Fizemos ainda, a transcrição dos resultados das entrevistas que nos mostraram uma dada visão da população local sobre seu conhecimento de espaço e memória.

Main Causes of the Rise of Political Islam

One of the most controversial topics that are argued about among many scholars nowadays is Political Islam. The significance of this appeared widely after the success of Iranian revolution in the previous century, and then the Soviet Union's breakdown in the beginning of 1990s that flamed the desire for recruiting and supporting Islamists, and the active participating in elections in some Arab and Islamic countries. Despite that, the occurrence of some other factors, in previous century, caused momentum to the appearance of political Islam. Hence, this paper comes to shed light on the most important of those reasons and factors.

INVOLVEMENT OF THE THEORY OF SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION FOR CONSIDERATION OF ARCHITECTURAL AND CITY BUILDING PRACTICE

Social aspects of the formation of architectural complexes in metropolian Kharkov have not yet been analyzed in homeland architectural theory. The study into "Kharkov constructivism", due to unfortunate historical ocurrence, is still in fact at the initial stage. Thesises of Kharkov authors illuminate this phenomenon in general or analyze some of the most significant sights. Approaches to the study of social aspects of architecture and urban development went through several stages. Architectural theory of the late 1940s- the beginning of 1950s was sharply critical of the architectural and urban planning experiments in the 1920s. The XXth century Soviet history of architecture in the 1960s and 1970s was marked by ideological rehabilitation of constructivism, including social experiments of the 1920s - early 1930s. A turn from apologetics of the 1960s - 1980s to critical analysis of the architecture and urban development of the avant-garde was indicated at the beginning of 2000s by the studies considering Soviet architectural and urban planning practice in the context of public behavior management as a tool for structuring general population to achieve political goals. Foreign studies into the Soviet avant-garde sprang up in the 1970s - early 1980s affected by Western sociology where architecture began to be viewed as a tool for managing social processes and new types of structures and models of urban planning organization- as “a transition from social to material”. Many studies highlighted the influence of Soviet architectural and urban planning programs of the 1920s and 1930s on the system and structure of public consciousness. There was established that large-scale housing, cultural and domestic construction was carried out as part of the capital's administrative and government center creation programs and the formation of an industrial complex. There were identified four conceptual approaches for housing construction, they were consistently implemented during the realization of the two above-mentioned programs: garden city, communal house, housing complex and social city. In these programs, the concepts of "garden city" and "communal houses" were practically tested and reasonably rejected, and the most productive models were residential complexes and social city. Keywords: social construction, architectural and urban concepts, soviet human, metropolian Kharkov.

Mortality burden in patients born with Ebstein's anomaly: a 40-year nationwide cohort study.

Survival rates for unoperated patients with Ebstein's anomaly (EA) are unknown. We estimated overall long-term mortality in operated and unoperated EA patients, compared with the general population in Sweden. Using national medical registries, Swedish individuals born 1970-93 and diagnosed with EA between 1970 and 2011 were included. The hazard ratio for overall mortality for EA patients (n = 216) vs. the matched comparison cohort (n = 2160) was 43.7 [95% confidence interval (CI): 24.8-82.5]. Mortality risk for EA patients (vs. controls) decreased as birth period progressed, with hazard ratios declining from 63.6 (95% CI: 26.3-191.8) for those born in the 1970s to 34.4 (95% CI: 15.8-83.1) for those born in the 1980s and 20.2 (95% CI: 1.6-632.5) for those born at the beginning of 1990s. The overall mortality hazard ratios for unoperated and operated patients with EA (vs. controls) were 30.2 (95% CI: 13.8-73.3) and 63.7 (95% CI: 28.1-172.5), respectively. The risk of mortality among unoperated EA patients (vs. controls) declined with progressing birth period, with hazard ratios declining from 58.4 (95% CI: 15.1-415.2) in the 1970s to 22.9 (95% CI: 8.0-75.3) in the 1980s and 10.2 (95% CI: 0.3-395.9) in the 1990s. Overall all-cause mortality for patients with EA declined dramatically from 64 times to 20 times that of controls without EA, from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Unoperated patients with EA had better survival than did operated patients, possibly reflecting the higher severity of disease or more severe associated cardiac defects in patients undergoing surgery.

Історія вищої освіти кіровоградщини хх століття у працях краєзнавців

The genesis and evolution of higher education in Kirovohrad region (Ukraine) in the 20th century have been subject of interest of a number of local lore researchers. The abolishing of the strict ideological limitations in the beginning of 1990s and the provision of free access to local archives and other formerly forbidden sources of information greatly helped to reconsider historical events and phenomena in the field. the period from 1991 – to our time can be called the most productive in terms of the number of works on the history of higher education in the region, which leads to the conclusion that modern Ukrainian researchers have made a significant contribution to the study of higher education in Kirovograd region. Based on the deep analysis of the archival local lore, regulatory documents and historical statistical data Ukrainian educators and scientists traced the development of local professional education system, in particular teacher training, technical, commercial, in terms of content, forms, methods and techniques applied, educational process organization and teaching staff at different historical stages. The article provides a brief historiographic outline of the most significant works. It is found that in the late twentieth century generalizations appear, which purposefully and systematically analyzes the history of higher education in the Kirovograd region, gives an objective assessment of the current state of vocational education and identifies trends in its improvement, positively evaluates the development of higher education in the region. The main achievement of modern scientists is that due to the attraction of new documents and materials, they have been able to carry out comprehensive research within the studied areas. However, most of them undoubtedly have a high relevance in view of the modern development of higher education. At the same time, the papers lack an objective analysis of the negative trends in the development of higher vocational education. This problem also determines the prospects for further research.

Secular Changes in the Morphotype of the Modern Human (Based on Anthropometric Data from a Retrospective Survey of Moscow Youth)

Trends in body size in young men and women in the early 21st century were analyzed based on the results of anthropometric examination of more than 6300 undergraduate students of various departments of Moscow State University that were obtained in 2000–2018. The retrospective analysis was conducted by comparing data of total body dimensions collected based on a sample of Moscow youth examined in different years since the 1920s. The observations of 17–18-year-old young men and women demonstrated an increase in height during the last 80 years until the beginning of the 21st century in Moscow. This parameter was noted to be relatively stable in both sexes since the beginning of 2000s until present. Against the background of the secular increase in body weight, which continues at present, some sex differences in growth dynamics of this index were observed. From the microevolutionary prospect, the noted tendencies could be explained as a result of changing lifestyle in modern human populations. Along with secular changes in body size, both sexes were observed to have concomitant changes of head and face dimensions, which were probably related to debrachycephalization (decrease in cephalic index) and a tendency toward leptoprosopia (increase in facial index). The observed patterns of secular (cross-generational) changes in morphological characteristic of modern youth can reflect socio-economic processes occurring in society and could be of great importance for fundamental studies in biology and sociology as well as for preventive medicine.

Gümüşhacıköy Basma Bölgesi İçin Geliştirilen Hibrit Tütünlerin Verim ve Kalite Performansları

Gümüşhacıköy Basması, oryantal tip tütünler içinde aromatik yapısı ile ün yapmıştır. Ancak özellikle 2000‘li yılların başından itibaren düşen üretim miktarı nedeniyle, bu tip tütünlerin üretim sahasına Taşova, Erbaa ve Niksar hattı da katılarak, yeni oryantal tütün tiplerinin yaygınlaştırıldığı bilinmektedir. Bu araştırmada bazı oryantal tütün ebeveyn ve hibritlerinin Gümüşhacıköy ekolojik koşullarında verim ve kalite performansları ile bu hibritlerin heterosis ve heterobeltiosis değerleri incelenmiştir. Hibrit hatlar Xanthi-2A, Erbaa, Nail, Katerini ve Canik 10821 (Sıtmasuyu) genotiplerinden yarım diallel melezleme ile 2016 yılında elde edilmiştir. Çalışma 5 ebeveyn ve bunların hibritlerinden öne çıkan 4 F1 popülasyonu ile yürütülmüştür. Verim ve verim ile ilişkili özelliklerin (bitki boyu, yaprak sayısı, yaprak eni ve boyu) yanı sıra glikoz, fruktoz, nikotin, klorogenik asit ve rutin içerikleri incelenmiştir. Yaprak boyu dışındaki tüm özelliklerde genotiplerin istatistiki bakımdan çok önemli derecede farklılık gösterdiği belirlenmiştir. Bitki boyu ve yaprak sayısı dışındaki tüm parametrelerde hibritler, ebeveynlerinden daha iyi performans göstermiştir. Bu üstünlük verimde %8,42, randımanda %7,73, indirgen şekerde %8,64, nikotinde %3,49 ve klorogenik asit+rutinde %15,20 düzeyinde olmuştur. Verim üzerine yaprak eninin ve randıman üzerine ise klorogenik asit+rutin içeriğinin etkisi belirlenmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda heterosis ve heterobeltiosis verileri de değerlendirildiğinde Xanthi 2A x Katerini hibritinin ümitvar sonuçlar ortaya koyduğu tespit edilmiştir.

Патоморфологические изменения при скрепи у овец: световая и электронная микроскопия

In Russia sporadic сases of scrapie in sheep of Romanov breed registered from the beginning of 1980s. However the scrapie agent characteristics have not been studied. In case the BSE agent is introduced into Russia it may be recognized as sheep scrapie, while the BSE agent is very dangerous from social and economic points of view.
 
 The purpose of investigations. To study path-morphological and submicroscopic changes in ovine brain tissues in experimental infections with scrapie agent (BT-91 strain) isolated from Romanov sheep.
 
 Materials and methods. The BT-91 strain isolated from a Romanov sheep was used in our experiments. Eight merinos lambs were used. The animals were orally infected with partially purificated brain homogenate from a sheep with scrapie. Pathological changes in the brain tissues were studied using routine methods of light and electron microscopy.
 
 Results. The incubation period was on average 568 days. The clinical symptoms were typical of CNS infection. Pathogistological changes were seen as spongiform encephalopathy in light microscopy. Ultrastructural changes in the brain tissues were seen as mass formations in the nerve cell cytoplasm multivesicular structures, autophagosomes, membrane changes, and dystrophy of cell organelles.
 
 Conclusion. The BT-91 strain causes clinical symptoms and histopathological changes in the CNS of sheep typical to classical scrapie.

The impact of migration on human capacities of two generations of Poles: the interplay of the individual and the social in human capital approaches

ABSTRACT The article explains the impact of working and living abroad on informal human capital of two generations of Poles: the ‘Generation of Change’ who was born in 1970s and the beginning of 1980s and the ‘Generation of Migration’ who was born in mid-1980s and at the beginning of 1990s. Our contribution to this Special Issue brings the umbrella concept of human capacities with the interplay of its individual (cognitive and intrapersonal) and social (interpersonal) domains. We use data from quantitative (migrants = 4040; non-migrants = 67,174) and qualitative studies (n IDI = 160). In the qualitative data, we found out that international migration has the strongest impact on human capacities of the ‘Generation of Change’, mostly born 1968–1972. In general, the effects of migration on informal human capital connected to employment persisted in birth cohorts born till the symbolic 1989. We also established that the younger cohorts were, the more the work abroad impacted on their individual, rather than social domains of human capacities. Especially for young Polish migrants, working abroad went far beyond the impact on formal qualifications and competences connected to work and employability only. It related to human capacities connected to life skills of self-making, being, communicating, relating to people and understanding society.

Treatment technologies for pharmaceutical effluents-A scientometric study

Treatment of highly polluted pharmaceutical effluents is a major challenge all over the world for technical and economic considerations. In this study, scientometric study is performed on the application of various methods for the treatment of pharmaceutical effluents to explore further developments. In this regard, a total of 1964 documents were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database using a set of relevant keywords to cover all published documents. The extracted documents were subjected to scientometric study including the contributed authors, publications, citations received, contributing countries and institutions as well as the subject categories. From the data retrieved, the status of scientific knowledge on the subject history and current trends were identified and scientific gaps were critically discussed. Publications in this area started to appear since the sixties and were considerably promoted around the beginning of 2000s. Scientific publications of years 1960–2018 followed sigmoidal trend. It was found that leading countries are China and the United States in terms of scientific output on treatment technologies for pharmaceutical effluents. Among the active journals published, “Water Research” has received the most citations. A detailed discussion on the science and developments in this field is provided including the potential applications of scientometry.

Assessing Ocean Literacy in a sample of Italian primary and middle school students

Despite the rise of Ocean Literacy (OL) movement at the beginning of 2000s, ocean sciences remain a neglected topic in school curricula of many countries, including Italy. This study investigates ocean-related knowledge and opinions in a sample of 351 primary and secondary school students of North Eastern Italy (4th, 5th and 8th grades) by means of structured questionnaires, before and after a teaching intervention aimed at promoting higher education and careers in the maritime sector. Students demonstrated a moderate level of knowledge and positive opinions about their relationship with the marine environment, as well as some misconceptions about the connectedness of all seas, the origin of half of atmospheric oxygen from the sea and the global dimension of water cycle. After the teaching intervention, primary school students’ scores evidenced a significant improvement, while secondary school results showed minimal change. This difference could possibly be attributed to differences in teaching organisation between primary and secondary schools. This is the first investigation on OL among Italian students, and is part of a larger project carried out by EMSEA (European Marine Science Educators Association) in three Mediterranean countries.

Sensing Infrared Photons at Room Temperature: From Bulk Materials to Atomic Layers.

Room-temperature operating means a profound reduction of volume, power consumption, and cost for infrared (IR) photodetectors, which promise a wide range of applications in both military and civilian areas, including individual soldier equipment, automatic driving, etc. Inspired by this fact, since the beginning of 1990s, great efforts have been made in the development of uncooled thermal detectors. During the last two decades, similar efforts have been devoted using IR photon detectors, especially based on photovoltaic effects. Herein, the proven technologies, which have been commercialized with a large format, like InGaAs/InP pin diodes, InAsSb barrier detectors, and high-operating-temperature HgCdTe devices, are reviewed. The newly developed technology is emphasized, which has shown unique superiority in detecting mid-wavelength and long-wavelength IR signals, such as quantum cascade photodetectors. Finally, brand-new concept devices based on 2D materials are introduced, which are demonstrated to provide additional degrees of freedom in designing and fabricating room-temperature IR devices, for example, the construction of multi-heterojunctions without introducing lattice strain, the convenient integration of optical waveguides and electronic gratings. All information provided here aims to supply a full view of the progress and challenges of room-temperature IR detectors.

Legal boundaries and sanctions in subcontracting

Purpose- The main purpose of this study is to scrutinize the problems caused by the subcontractor business model that has been spreading in our country and in the world since the beginning of 1980s and the legal regulations to overcome the said problems. Methodology- The legal legislation regulating subcontracting and the related literature were scanned, and provisions that aim to prevent excessive contracting were examined. Findings- It was found that subcontracting has a strong tendency to exceed its purpose and related legal regulation does not meet the expectations of either employees or employers. Conclusion- Regulations that do not ignore obligations originating from global competition, aims to protect the most basic rights and values of the modern society and reinforces working peace will contribute greatly to solving this problem.

The importance of financial recession for mental health among students: short- and long-term analyses from an ecosocial perspective.

Background and aim: Referring to the ecosocial theory and utilising the ‘natural experiment’ setting provided by the global recession at the beginning of 1990s, the aim of our study was to analyse the short- and long-term associations between trade and mental health in young students followed until mid-adulthood.Method: The study was based on two prospective cohort studies, the older and the younger Northern Swedish Cohort which both consisted of all pupils in a middle-sized industrial town in Northern Sweden. At age 21, the younger cohort entered the labour market during the deep recession of the early 1990s, while the older cohort entered the labour market during the boom of the 1980s. Both cohorts were followed up with a high response rate in mid adulthood. For this study, all students were selected at age 21.Results: At age 21, those who studied during recession had more depressive and functional somatic symptoms than those who studied during boom. The cohort differences did not remain over age: by the follow-up in early middle age the differences between the cohorts were non-significant, most notably due to decreased depressive symptoms in the younger cohort and increase of functional somatic symptoms in the older cohort.Conclusions: The short-term mental health consequences of the business cycle seem to be more extensive than limited only to those who are unemployed, even though the possible long-term consequences seem to be more complex. Thus, the macrolevel had a great short-term impact on the individual level in relation to the microlevel setting of university/school. The chronosystem was also of major importance. Future research would benefit from taking the context into account.Significance for public healthAlthough those who study at age 21 may be considered as a relatively healthy and advantaged population group in the long run, our results provide evidence for the significance of recession for mental health, not only among those suffering from concrete job loss but across all population groups. Students’ mental health should be given high priority during times of financial crisis. Mental health services for students should receive increased resources during times of recession. Even if young people may be reluctant to study after school during a financial crisis, it seems to be beneficial for their mental health in a long-term perspective. So, for them poorer mental health does not seem to be dangerous in the long run. Students surveys should pay special attention to understanding the relation between macroeconomic conditions and individual mental health symptoms.

Geochronological investigation of the Danube Djerdap Lake sediments (Serbia): sedimentology and inorganic composition.

The objective of this study is geochronological investigation of sedimentological and inorganic composition, in the Danube Djerdap Lake sediments in order to obtain reliable information about former pollution. Eleven samples were taken from the 135-cm-deep sediment core drilled at the Orlova location. Since the core represents sediments deposited during 1972-2016, the sedimentation rate of ~ 3cmyear-1 was estimated. Grain size, mineralogical and geochemical composition was determined. Sediments are sandy silts and clayey silts, and only the deepest and shallowest layers contain > 30% of sand-size fraction. The highest concentrations of minor elements are found in the oldest sediment (1972-1977) as a consequence of the high flux of the material from variable sources. During the sedimentation period (1975-1990), the concentrations of analyzed elements are generally decreasing until the beginning of 1990s. After this period, there are two distinct decreases and two distinct increases in concentrations of elements. The fluctuations in minor element concentrations are a consequence of both natural and anthropogenic sources. Granitic rocks situated south are source of minerals that carry minor elements. Enrichment Factor, Geoaccumulation Index, Contamination Factor and Pollution Load Index indicate that concentrations of certain minor elements at specific depositional periods have anthropogenic source.

Dirençli Epilepside Düşük Glisemik İndeksli Diyet Tedavisi: Olgu Sunumu

Yüksek oranda yağ, yeterli miktarda protein ve düşük karbonhidrat içeren ve açlıkta olduğu gibi vücudu glukoz yerine başlıca yağlardan enerji sağlayacak şekilde yönlendiren ketojenik diyet, geçmişten günümüze ilaca dirençli epilepsi hastalarının tedavisinde ilk akla gelen tedavi seçeneğidir. İlk olarak 1920’li yılların başında ‘klasik ketojenik diyet’ ile başlayan geleneksel KD tedavisini, diyetin yeni etki mekanizmalarının keşfedilmesi ile birlikte 2000’li yılların başından itibaren ortaya çıkan ve daha az kısıtlama yapılan alternatif KD’ler izlemiştir. Alternatif diyetler çoğunlukla diyete uyumun azaldığı adölesan (12-18 yaş) dönemde tercih edilse de, ciddi davranış sorunları olan ve diyetten fayda görmesine rağmen diyete uyumun azalması nedeniyle nöbet kontrolü sağlanamayan daha küçük yaştaki çocuklarda da göz önünde bulundurulması gerekebilir. Bu alternatif KD’lerden birisi olan düşük glisemik indeks tedavisi (LGIT) kan glukoz düzeylerini minimal ve stabil düzeyde tutmayı amaçlar ve bu şekilde epileptik nöbetler kontrol altına alınır. LGIT, klasik KD’e oranla daha fazla karbonhidrat (enerjinin yaklaşık %10’u, günde 40-60 g/gün düşük glisemik indeksli karbonhidratlar) ve protein (enerjinin %25’i) alımına, dolayısı ile daha fazla besin tüketimine olanak sağlar. Bu olgu sunumunda, preadölesan dönemde olan ve hafif nöbet bulguları, şiddetli elektroansefalogram (EEG) bozukluğu ve davranış bozuklukları ile izlenen bir vakada, klasik KD uygulamasındaki zorluklar ve LGIT diyetine geçişin tedavinin etkinliği üzerindeki etkileri tartışılmıştır.

Phage Display Libraries for Antibody Therapeutic Discovery and Development.

Phage display technology has played a key role in the remarkable progress of discovering and optimizing antibodies for diverse applications, particularly antibody-based drugs. This technology was initially developed by George Smith in the mid-1980s and applied by John McCafferty and Gregory Winter to antibody engineering at the beginning of 1990s. Here, we compare nine phage display antibody libraries published in the last decade, which represent the state of the art in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies using phage display. We first discuss the quality of the libraries and the diverse types of antibody repertoires used as substrates to build the libraries, i.e., naïve, synthetic, and semisynthetic. Second, we review the performance of the libraries in terms of the number of positive clones per panning, hit rate, affinity, and developability of the selected antibodies. Finally, we highlight current opportunities and challenges pertaining to phage display platforms and related display technologies.

Can Vision 2020 be Far Away? Malaysia's Transformation Problems to a High‐income Economy

AbstractAt the beginning of 1990s, the then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad set the goal that Malaysia in 2020 should become a high‐income economy and a vigorous and economically just middle class society. We are not far away from 2020. We therefore raise the question whether Malaysia is close to or far away of becoming a high‐income economy with this economic trap issue in the article. Instead, we focus on income inequality as an inroad to economy seen from an OECD country level perspective. In our examination of this question, we first discus different strands in the debate on transformation from middle‐income to high‐income economies. The debate has focused on the middle‐income trap issue especially from an economic perspective. It is an interesting and fruitful input to the transformation debate, particularly the question whether lack of industrial upgrading and deepening keeps middle‐income economies back from becoming high‐income economies. We do not deal so much with Malaysia's transformation problems. From our point of view, income inequality (high Gini coefficient) is an important but often neglected element in the mosaic to explain Malaysia's transformation problems both in a domestic and global policy perspective. We examine income inequality and transformation to a high‐income economy from different angles. We look into the business structure; income distribution compared with high‐income economies; household income distribution, consumption, lifestyle and the middle class; education and tax system as lever or barrier for reducing income inequality; old and new political coalitions as drivers for maintenance or change of income inequality. Through this analysis, we seek at the same time to highlight whether Malaysia is close to become a vigorous and economically just middle class society.