Critical Actor Research Articles

Introduction to the roundtable: a critical actor in the development of international political science

Introduction to the roundtable: a critical actor in the development of international political science

Understanding the role of self-organizations in disaster relief during COVID-19: A case study from the perspective of co-production

This article examines the role of self-organizations, the spontaneous emergence of order in natural and physical systems in disaster relief during the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan China. By investigating a selection of involved self-organizations, it adopts a co-production perspective by focusing on two cases during the process of delivering emergency responses with the government and citizens to combat the health crisis. Observations and case analysis have found that both government and citizen channel play a role in delivering disaster responses. In particular, self-organizations emerged in the process of delivering relief services are observed as a critical actor of change in terms of mobilizing resources and collaborating citizens to achieve personal safety and community resilience. First, government channels are primarily manifested in residential communities in obeying emergency orders and tasks. Second, citizen channels are practiced through the co-production of disaster responses mainly delivered by residents, nonprofit organizations and enterprises. The finding suggests that self-organizations in the co-production of disaster responses with the government and residents in Wuhan has been effective that eventually brought the health crisis under control. Policy implications generated from this health crisis may provide insightful lessons for government policy making and disaster management.

Sustainable Development and Canada’s Transitioning Energy Systems

An energy transition is unfolding in Canada and across the world. During this transition, countries are facing increasing demands for their energy systems to address economic, social, and environmental considerations, including providing affordable and reliable energy, reducing inequality, and producing fewer environmental impacts. First, we identify key themes from the academic literature related to energy transitions: the systems perspective; economic, social, and environmental considerations; collaboration and dialogue; and social innovation. Second, we focus on a case study of a critical actor in Canada’s energy transition, the Energy Futures Lab (EFL), a social innovation lab that is actively working on the energy transition in Canada. We interviewed members of the EFL design team to investigate and deepen our understanding of the key themes identified in the academic literature. Third, we discuss how our research results relate to innovation and governance in the energy transition in Canada, and we offer an Integrated Model of Sustainable Development (SD) to help manage the common affairs of the energy transition. Fourth, we offer a theoretical contribution, arguing that both the ends and the means should be considered in an energy transition. It is important to keep in mind the overarching objective, or end, of the energy transition (e.g., alignment with the sustainability principles) to create the energy system that the future requires of us. Finally, we offer a practical contribution to show that SD can help inform a collaborative approach, that promotes innovation and increases knowledge, in an effort to address complex sustainability challenges.

Transcriptomic and Genetic Analyses Identify the Krüppel-Like Factor Dar1 as a New Regulator of Tube-Shaped Long Tendon Development.

To ensure locomotion and body stability, the active role of muscle contractions relies on a stereotyped muscle pattern set in place during development. This muscle patterning requires a precise assembly of the muscle fibers with the skeleton via a specialized connective tissue, the tendon. Like in vertebrate limbs, Drosophila leg muscles make connections with specific long tendons that extend through different segments. During the leg disc development, cell precursors of long tendons rearrange and collectively migrate to form a tube-shaped structure. A specific developmental program underlies this unique feature of tendon-like cells in the Drosophila model. We provide for the first time a transcriptomic profile of leg tendon precursors through fluorescence-based cell sorting. From promising candidates, we identified the Krüppel-like factor Dar1 as a critical actor of leg tendon development. Specifically expressed in the leg tendon precursors, loss of dar1 disrupts actin-rich filopodia formation and tendon elongation. Our findings show that Dar1 acts downstream of Stripe and is required to set up the correct number of tendon progenitors.

Impact of critical mass on internal CSR: Moderating role of critical actor, position and culture

Practicing corporate social responsibility (CSR) helps organizations build sustainable business models. Drawing upon critical mass, human capital and institutional theories, we examine the direct r...

Japan-Southeast Asia Relations Amid US-China Competition in East Asia

Japan has emerged as a critical strategic actor in East Asia amidst intensifying US-China structural competition since 2010. Southeast Asia/ASEAN is an important dimension of Japan’s foreign policy expansion. This paper argues that Japan’s foreign policy is driven by the aim of becoming an alternative source of strategic stability in Southeast Asia/ASEAN as opposed to the United States and China. This is explained by analysing Japan’s foreign policy in regional balance of power and ASEAN-led multilateralism.

The Imperial State of Iran, a Deal-Broker: Enabling the People’s Republic of China’s Asian Games Debut in the 1974 Tehran Asian Games

The former Imperial State of Iran was a critical actor and deal-broker in orchestrating the Asian Games Federation’s admission of the All-China Sports Federation and expulsion of the Republic of China Olympic Committee in 1973 and enabling China’s Asian Games debut in Tehran in September 1974. Notably, it achieved this disruptive and historic outcome largely through offering good offices and adhering to institutionalism. In particular, Iran convinced the IOC to retain its patronage to the AGF and facilitated fruitful negotiations between the People’s Republic of China and the international sport governing bodies to ensure the issuance of event permits. Despite the occasionally provocative statements of Iranian officials against the IOC and IFs while playing the role of communist China’s advocate, Tehran also managed to persuade Beijing to make seemingly small but actually critical comprises while interacting with international governing bodies. These compromises proved essential to China’s eventual rehabilitation in international sport.

Effects of COVID-19 induced pandemic on the production, trade, and income of smallholder vegetable growers in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

This study assessed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on production, trade and income of smallholder vegetables growers in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal. We made a scenario-based situation analysis of pre-COVID (January to March 2020) and COVID-19 pandemic induced lockdown (April to June 2020) situations. The study used a descriptive research design and employed multistage sampling techniques. One hundred forty-five vegetable growers were surveyed and six focus group discussions were carried out between May to July 2020 in the three municipalities- Chandragiri, Mahalaxmi and Changunarayan of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts respectively. The study showed that the income of smallholders' vegetable growers was decreased by 66.1 percent due to an increase in input price (16.9 percent), a decrease in output price (62.67 percent), and low farm productivity (9.3 percent) in comparison with the pre-COVID period. This paper has figured out the impact pathways that caused the income decline of vegetable growers. The primary constraints to smallholder producers were the absence of local aggregators followed by transportation barriers, limited market opening hours, and mobility obstruction and changed consumers' behavior due to lockdown. Majority of the farmers adjusted to the situations by selling their products at lower prices, free distribution to the local inhabitants, and composting and dumping the surpluses. The study concluded that this kind of analysis is necessary to develop resilient supply chains and extend appropriate support to the smallholder farmers who are critical actor to the supply chains.

Turkey’s Libya policy: militarization of regional policies and escalation dominance

Turkey’s militarized involvement rendered it a critical actor for the diplomacy involving the Libyan crisis. The quick dividends from Ankara’s application of hard-power assets had a dramatic impact on the course of the conflict in 2020, which surprised many observers. Despite the resolute rhetoric about further military action, an emboldened Turkey has refrained from further escalation, and appears to have settled for a de facto ceasefire regime since August 2020. This paper seeks to analyze the drivers of Turkey’s initial involvement in Libya, in a way that departs from its traditional foreign policy, a key component of which was non-interference in regional disputes. Moreover, it analyzes the reasons behind Turkey’s de-escalation and declining military involvement in the Libya crisis. This paper makes two interrelated arguments: first, Turkey’s Libya policy showcases the recent coercive turn in its Middle East policy, which has been an outcome of overlapping developments at the leadership, domestic, and regional levels. Second, the key concept for understanding different phases of Turkey’s Libya policy is escalation dominance. Changing patterns of escalation dominance shape the boundaries of Turkey’s military involvement in militarized regional crises in general and the Libyan crisis in particular.

Proteomic analysis of plasma proteins of high-flux haemodialysis and on-line haemodiafiltration patients reveals differences in transthyretin levels related with anaemia

A large proportion of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients under long-term haemodialysis, have persistent anaemia and require high doses of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO). However, the underlying mechanisms of renal anaemia have not been fully elucidated in these patients. In this study, we will be focusing on anaemia and plasma proteins in ESRD patients on high-flux haemodialysis (HF) and on-line haemodiafiltration (HDF), to investigate using two proteomic approaches if patients undergoing these treatments develop differences in their plasma protein composition and how this could be related to their anaemia. The demographic and biochemical data revealed that HDF patients had lower anaemia and much lower rhEPO requirements than HF patients. Regarding their plasma proteomes, HDF patients had increased levels of a protein highly similar to serotransferrin, trypsin-1 and immunoglobulin heavy constant chain alpha-1, and lower levels of alpha-1 antitrypsin, transthyretin, apolipoproteins E and C-III, and haptoglobin-related protein. Lower transthyretin levels in HDF patients were further confirmed by transthyretin-peptide quantification and western blot detection. Since ESRD patients have increased transthyretin, a protein that can aggregate and inhibit transferrin endocytosis and erythropoiesis, our finding that HDF patients have lower transthyretin and lower anaemia suggests that the decrease in transthyretin plasma levels would allow an increase in transferrin endocytosis, contributing to erythropoiesis. Thus, transthyretin could be a critical actor for anaemia in ESRD patients and a novel player for haemodialysis adequacy.

The NLRP3 Inflammasome as a Critical Actor in the Inflammaging Process.

As a consequence of the considerable increase in the human lifespan over the last century, we are experiencing the appearance and impact of new age-related diseases. The causal relationships between aging and an enhanced susceptibility of suffering from a broad spectrum of diseases need to be better understood. However, one specific shared feature seems to be of capital relevance for most of these conditions: the low-grade chronic inflammatory state inherently associated with aging, i.e., inflammaging. Here, we review the molecular and cellular mechanisms that link aging and inflammaging, focusing on the role of the innate immunity and more concretely on the nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome, as well as how the chronic activation of this inflammasome has a detrimental effect on different age-related disorders.

Of Retinoids and Organotins: The Evolution of the Retinoid X Receptor in Metazoa.

Nuclear receptors (NRs) are transcription factors accomplishing a multiplicity of functions, essential for organismal homeostasis. Among their numerous members, the retinoid X receptor (RXR) is a central player of the endocrine system, with a singular ability to operate as a homodimer or a heterodimer with other NRs. Additionally, RXR has been found to be a critical actor in various processes of endocrine disruption resulting from the exposure to a known class of xenobiotics termed organotins (e.g., tributyltin (TBT)), including imposex in gastropod molluscs and lipid perturbation across different metazoan lineages. Thus, given its prominent physiological and endocrine role, RXR is present in the genomes of most extant metazoan species examined to date. Here, we expand on the phylogenetic distribution of RXR across the metazoan tree of life by exploring multiple next-generation sequencing projects of protostome lineages. By addressing amino acid residue conservation in combination with cell-based functional assays, we show that RXR induction by 9-cis retinoic acid (9cisRA) and TBT is conserved in more phyla than previously described. Yet, our results highlight distinct activation efficacies and alternative modes of RXR exploitation by the organotin TBT, emphasizing the need for broader species sampling to clarify the mechanistic activation of RXR.

Unpacking the complexity of community microgrids: A review of institutions’ roles for development of microgrids

Community microgrids implemented in existing electricity grids can meet both development targets set out in the Paris agreement: 1. mitigate greenhouse gas emissions through increased implementation of renewable energy sources, and 2. to adapt to climate related disturbances and risk of catastrophes. Community microgrids are, however, complex to implement and institutional change is needed to reach their full potential. The purpose of this article is to review existing literature and analyze institutional developments influencing the growth of community microgrids. The literature describes a concentration of microgrid activities in specific regions: USA, EU, Asia and Australia. Varying reasons for implementing community microgrids were found in the different regions but similar institutional developments occurred, albeit with differing emphasis due to contextual specificities. Formal directions do however influence informal institutions even though their aims differ. Power utilities stand out as a critical actor and both formal and informal institutions put pressure on utilities to update their traditional business models. This article illustrates how informal and formal institutions play a significant role in the growth of community microgrids in existing electricity grids and provide interesting examples which can be utilized by policymakers. Microgrid development is still in a formative phase and further institutional change in the form of updated regulations is needed.

Remarks by Lorraine Smith-van Lin

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has come a long way since 1998 when the Rome Statute was first signed. Established as the only independent, permanent international court with jurisdiction over persons for the most serious crimes of international concern as well as a reparative mandate, the Court is a critical actor in the global fight against impunity for grave crimes. The Court's complementary jurisdiction gives primacy to states, limiting its intervention to demonstrated instances of inability or unwillingness by states to genuinely investigate and prosecute.

Association of SHI coverage and level of healthcare utilization and costs in the Philippines: a 10-year pooled analysis.

The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), which manages the Philippine national health insurance program, is a critical actor in the country's strategy for universal health coverage. Over the past decade, PhilHealth has passed significant coverage, benefits and payment reforms to contain costs and improve the affordability care for high-cost diseases, inpatient care and select outpatient services. We studied the association of PhilHealth with health care utilization and health care costs using three rounds of the Philippine Demographic and Health Survey with data on individual outpatient and inpatient visits from 2008 to 2017. PhilHealth membership was associated with 42% greater odds of outpatient utilization and 47-100% greater odds inpatient utilization depending on survey year. Depending on facility type, use of PhilHealth to pay for care was associated with higher average health care costs of 244-865% for outpatient care and 135-206% for inpatient care. PhilHealth has likely decreased barriers to health care utilization but may have inadvertently driven up health care costs in the country. Results align with past studies that suggest that reforms in the prior decade have done little to contain health care costs for Filipinos.

Buying Time: Capitalist Temporalities in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

In November 2017, Nintendo released Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Nintendo 2017) for iOS and Android devices. At first blush, the game is much like previous instalments in the series. The player character finds themselves as a new denizen of a rural space populated by sentient animals that all have wants and offer rewards for those that satisfy those wants. However, the conversion of Animal Crossing from console game to mobile game was not without its major changes. A free-to-play game par excellence, Pocket Camp introduces Leaf Tokens, a separate currency from bells which can be bought with real money. Leaf Tokens can be used to buy certain in-game objects but, for the most part, are used to eliminate instances of waiting in the game, which stands in direct opposition to the series’ apparent valorization of slower, simpler living. Through a discussion of this translation of Animal Crossing’s mechanics and values into the mobile game genre, Pocket Camp is shown to gamify the capitalist monetization of time. In the face of this reality, the paper concludes examining the role of the player as a critical actor within this system and suggests that, far from being a passive victim of the game’s capitalist logics, one might engage with the game in subversive ways that articulate a virtual refusal of virtual labour and an instance of what the author has taken to calling radical slowness.

Farnesoid X receptor alpha (FXRα) is a critical actor of the development and pathologies of the male reproductive system.

The farnesoid-X-receptorα (FXRα; NR1H4) is one of themain bile acid (BA) receptors. During the last decades, through the use of pharmalogical approaches and transgenic mouse models, it has been demonstrated that the nuclear receptor FXRα controls numerous physiological functions such as glucose or energy metabolisms. It is also involved in the etiology or the development of several pathologies. Here, we will review the unexpected roles of FXRα on the male reproductive tract. FXRα has been demonstrated to play functions in the regulation of testicular and prostate homeostasis. Even though additional studies are needed to confirm these findings in humans, the reviewed reports open new field of research to better define the effects of bile acid-FXRα signaling pathways on fertility disorders and cancers.

Re-gendering the UK House of Commons: The Academic Critical Actor and Her ‘Feminist in Residence’

Parliaments are everywhere highly masculinized institutions, created by and for men. Yet they are not unchanging institutions. The UK has just undergone an Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Gender Sensitive Parliament’s audit. This was one of the recommendations of the 2016 The Good Parliament Report. With its 43 recommendations, The Good Parliament Report was a blueprint for a diversity sensitive House of Commons. Since then, and through the newly established Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion, Westminster has addressed some of its diversity insensitivities. This article reflects back on the author’s secondment to Parliament and how her relationship with a feminist official was critical to the success of Report and indeed the day-to-day practice of seeking to be an impactful academic change actor.

Scrutinising the Socio-Demographic Pattern of Parenting Practices and Parenting Styles in Upholding Child’s Protection and Privacy to Address Paedophilia Issue

Paedophilia issue has become a global issue around the world, including Malaysia. In today’s era of globalisation and modernisation, the seriousness of paedophilia issue is undeniable. As the closest persons to children, parents have been recognised as the critical actor that contributes to children’s protection and security. However, research related to “parenting practices” and “parenting styles” specifically to address the paedophilia issue remains limited in Malaysian context. Thus, a doctoral research, conducted by one of the authors, aimed to fill the gap. Based on the findings, this paper presents the socio-demographic and sociocultural pattern of Malaysian parents in upholding child protection and privacy to prevent paedophilia issue. A survey involving 900 parents representing the equal number of genders (male and female) and ethnicities (Malays, Chinese and Indian) was undertaken. Based on the statistical analysis, there were two key findings highlighted in this paper, which were: (1) the socio-demographic pattern revealed that female parents have higher interest in upholding the child protection and privacy, as compared to male parents; and (2) the socio-cultural pattern showed that Indian parents have high commitment in upholding the child protection and privacy, followed by Malay and Chinese parents. Although every parent has different approaches in upholding their children’s protection and privacy; however, this paper argued that the socio-demographic and socio-cultural aspects are among the main indicators influencing parenting practices and parenting styles in Malaysia.

Human Resources Development Policy as a Strategy for Improving Public Organizational Performance

The purpose of this research was to analyze organizational performance improvement strategies in the Center for Testing the Implementation of New Fisheries Products (BBP2HP). The research was conducted using AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) method with Expert Choice software to analyze the structure and the main strategy alternatives. The analysis was based on primary data obtained through interviews with 11 experts. Research results showed that human resource development policy was the most crucial strategy in improving BBP2HP organizational performance with training and development as an integral part of the strategy. The results also showed that the factor of leadership was of most importance in ensuring that the strategy of improving organizational performance. In that regard, leadership qualities of BBP2HP head was identified as the most critical and influential actor in improving BBP2HP organizational performance Meanwhile, providing excellent services was identified as the top priority that BBP2HP must pursue in improving its organizational performance as public service unit. The implications of this study are public organizations should implement training and development in accordance with the needs of the organization; and the pivotal role that leadership plays in the strategic management of the organization in empowering and directing organizational resources towards achieving organizational goals in as effective and efficient a manner.