Structural Dichotomy Research Articles

Civilizational turn and metatheoretical reconfiguration in contemporary sociology

The article offers a reconstruction of contemporary sociological theory, which gives a central position to civilizational analysis. In the late 20th century, attempts to solve the agency-structure problem led to the formation of a new metatheoretical dilemma of “mutual constitution vs. analytical autonomy”, which overshadowed the traditional dilemma of individualism and holism. The constitutivist solution removed the agency/social structure dichotomy in the relational conception of power, while the autonomist solution mediated it by relying on the analytic conception of culture. The civilizational turn brings together these two lines of metatheoretical reconceptualization of sociological problematic, focusing on the relation of culture and power to each other. The model of the relationships between “dimensions” and “spheres” of social life developed within the sociological version of the civilizational approach combines the metatheoretical positions of analytical autonomy and mutual constitution.

The impact of inflation on SMEs: Evidence from a survey on Greek SMEs

Based on Kalecki’s theory of the dichotomy of market structure we focus on the different impacts of inflation on firms with asymmetric market power. Using a questionnaire survey, we measure the impact of the recent inflationary crisis on Greek SMEs’ performance and the strategies they adopted to survive. Our results indicate a dualism regarding the impact of inflation, between small and large firms and between exporting and non-exporting firms. Our findings suggest that high inflation reinforces market concentration trends, leading to an increase in regional disparities.

"Don't sow, grow offshoots!"

This paper considers the intersection of arts, culture, and entrepreneurship (ACE) through a novel lens, drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s dichotomy of arboreal and rhizomatic knowledge structures. First, existing literature reviews on cultural entrepreneurship and arts entrepreneurship are critically explored. This exploration highlights the predominance of arboreal (tree-like, hierarchical, and genealogical) thinking in current ACE research as well as in conventional practices of doing and presenting literature reviews. As a challenge to this norm, a rhizomatically inspired research agenda for the intersection of ACE is proposed. By discussing the challenges of doing research in a transdisciplinary and intersectional research context, the paper ultimately considers how scholars and practitioners can understand this complexity by embracing Deleuze and Guattari’s rhizomatic principles in future research.

Behavioral assays reveal mechanisms of supercolony formation in odorous house ants

The formation of expansive multi-nest and multi-queen supercolonies is perhaps the most important factor responsible for the ecological success of invasive ants. The odorous house ant, Tapinoma sessile, is a widespread ant native to North America. T. sessile is a challenging urban pest, but also serves as an interesting system to study ant social organization and invasion biology. This is due to its remarkable dichotomy in colony social and spatial structure between natural and urban environments. Natural colonies typically consist of a small number of workers, inhabit a single nest, and are monogyne whereas urban colonies show extreme polygyny and polydomy and form large supercolonies. The current study examined the extent to which T. sessile colonies from different habitats (natural vs. urban) and social structures (monogynous vs. polygynous) exhibit aggression toward alien conspecifics. Additionally, interactions between mutually aggressive colonies were examined in colony fusion experiments to assess the potential role of colony fusion as a mechanism leading to supercolony formation. Aggression assays demonstrated high levels of aggression in pairings involving workers from different urban colonies and workers from different natural colonies, but low aggression in pairings involving queens from different urban colonies. Colony merging tests demonstrated that urban T. sessile colonies are highly aggressive to each other, but capable of fusing under laboratory conditions when competing for limited nesting and food resources. Despite highly aggressive interactions and relatively high worker and queen mortality, all colony pairs merged in 3–5 days. Fusion occurred after most workers died and the survivors merged. This result suggests that the success of T. sessile in urban areas may be driven, at least in part, by successful colony mergers of unrelated colonies which may be determined by ecological constraints such as seasonal shortages in nest and/or food availability. In summary, two independent factors including the growth of a single colony and/or the merger of multiple colonies may be responsible for the evolution of supercolonies in invasive ants. Both processes may be happening simultaneously and may act synergistically to produce supercolonies.

Cover Feature: Copper and Nickel Complexes of Oxamate−Phenol Containing Ligands: A Structural Dichotomy in Oxidized Species (Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 15/2023)

The Cover Feature shows a redox-active complex combining phenols and oxamato units. Two phenol units (Schiff base, aminophenol) and two metal ions (copper, nickel) were used, but, whatever the structure, the oxidation is ligand-centered, affording phenoxyl radical species. Hence the oxamato linker does not orientate the oxidation site towards the metal. Counter-intuitively, the Schiff base is easier to oxidize than the aminophenol derivative. Both copper complexes catalyze the oxidation of benzyl alcohol into benzaldehyde and benzoic acid, albeit with different time scales. More information can be found in the Research Article by O. Jarjayes, F. Thomas and co-workers.

Planned serendipity: exploring tourists’ on-site information behaviour

ABSTRACT The paper investigates tourist information behaviour on-site in light of the ubiquitous access to information afforded by smartphones. The study problematizes existing literature on information search behaviour and connects it with theories of unplanned behaviour. Through the concept of planned serendipity, the paper highlights how tourist information behaviour is a complex phenomenon that does not necessarily answer to a dichotomy between spontaneity and planning. The study employs a combination of Experience Sampling Method and semi-structured interviews, which allow the researcher to collect data both during and after the trip. Four themes are identified that challenge key assumptions in tourist information behaviour literature: (1) emergent and contingent plans, (2) cognitive effort on-site: iterative and specific search process, (3) tourist-centric orientation in time and space, (4) aiming for optimization. The paper concludes that tourists’ ‘phygital’ information environment both enables and constrains serendipity. The dichotomy of structure vs. serendipity is not sufficient to explain the role of serendipity in travel planning, where planned and unplanned behaviour coexist. The paper also contributes to the methodological landscape of research on tourist experiences and shows that everyday technologies like the smartphone can be harnessed to access the on-site stage, reducing recall bias and increasing ecological validity.

Copper and Nickel Complexes of Oxamate−Phenol Containing Ligands: A Structural Dichotomy in Oxidized Species

AbstractThe copper and nickel complexes of two tetradentate ligands derived from bis(aminophenol) and bis(phenol) architectures connected by an oxamate linker were isolated. Depending on the metal and ligand, the complex is isolated with either an intact (deprotonated) ligand (12−), one‐electron oxidized ligand (2−) or quinone form (3). Surprisingly, the Mannich base is easier to oxidize than the amidophenol derivatives. The complexes were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, cyclic voltammetry, UV‐Vis‐NIR and EPR spectroscopies. Complex 1 shows two reversible oxidation waves assigned to the successive iminosemiquinone/aminophenolate redox systems. Complex 2− shows an intense NIR feature, as well as an EPR signal at giso=2.043, consistent with a metallic contribution to the main ligand radical SOMO. Complex 3 shows the typical feature of an isolated Cu(II) complex. Spectro‐electrochemistry coupled to DFT calculations demonstrate a ligand‐centered oxidative redox chemistry for all the complexes.

New Dielis species and structural dichotomy of the mitochondrial cox2 gene in Scoliidae wasps

Some mitochondrial protein-coding genes of protists and land plants have split over the course of evolution into complementary genes whose products can form heteromeric complexes that likely substitute for the undivided proteins. One of these genes, cox2, has also been found to have split in animals, specifically in Scoliidae wasps (Hymenoptera: Apocrita) of the genus Dielis (Campsomerini), while maintaining the conventional structure in related Scolia (Scoliini). Here, a hitherto unrecognized Nearctic species of Dielis, D. tejensis, is described based on its phenotype and mtDNA. The mitogenome of D. tejensis sp. nov. differs from that of the sympatric sibling species Dielis plumipes fossulana by the reduced size of the cox2-dividing insert, which, however, still constitutes the fifth part of the mtDNA; an enlarged nad2-trnW intergenic region; the presence of two trnKttt paralogues; and other features. Both species of Dielis have a unique insertion of a threonine in COXIIA, predicted to be involved in COXIIA-COXIIB docking, and substitutions of two hydrophobic residues with redox-active cysteines around the CuA centre in COXIIB. Importantly, the analysis of mtDNA from another Campsomerini genus, Megacampsomeris, shows that its cox2 gene is also split. The presented data highlight evolutionary processes taking place in hymenopteran mitogenomes that do not fall within the mainstream of animal mitochondrion evolution.

"Still more a fixture than before": Poe and Melville Working in Close(d) Chambers

The label "a Poeish tale" was tagged to "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" since its serial publication in 1853. In 1969, James Colwell and Gary Spitzer offered a compelling comparison between the story of the copyist who resists both obeying the orders and abandoning the chambers of his legal employer, and the tale of the stubborn raven of ill-omen who harasses the "chamber door" of a studious subject in Poe's most famous narrative poem, "The Raven." This paper tracks Poe's poem as a possible subtext for Melville's Bartleby, analyzing what, in Melville, departs from Poe's solipsistic view of the poet as reader tortured in a cloistered, immanent world of his making, and instead takes as its focus the man of letters in an expanding marketplace, and his confrontation with the scrivener and the wall, or page, which neither his eyesight nor his report can interpret or illuminate. The essay describes three structural dichotomies in both works: the settings of the chamber and the office; the tone of the refrain and the formula; and the widening scope of "letters," from literature to law, which facilitates the fluctuation of signs. The analysis argues for the centrality of language and heuristic (in)capacity as crucial for Poe and Melville, both of them heralds of the Romantic crisis of literature where the human subject is left dwelling alone, reading obscure material (in "The Raven") or writing copies (in "Bartleby"), and shut off from words or referents outside or beyond the imagination.

Local structure in high-entropy transition metal diborides

Studies on high-entropy materials often speculate about the effects of lattice distortion and disorder on characteristics such as hardness, thermal expansion, and electronic properties. Notwithstanding the ongoing race to discover new compositions, investigations of the local structure at the atomic level remain sparse at best. Additionally, assessments of the homogeneity of the distribution of metals within the lattice sites are often restricted to techniques such as energy dispersive spectroscopy which might lead to an inaccurate picture of the bulk material. Herein, we report an extensive and systematic study of a class of emerging high-entropy ceramics that uses a combination of high-resolution synchrotron powder diffraction and extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. Our data are consistent with a random distribution of atoms with local strain around the d-metals sites, which describes the bulk structure of these materials. Moreover, a linear trend is observed between the average structure and the first-neighbour distances, regardless the number (from 3 to 5) and type (Ti, Zr, Nb, Hf, Ta, Mo, W) of metals that constitute the high-entropy ceramic, which suggests that any description of properties for such materials need to go beyond the simple dichotomy of long-range order and local structure.

The endoplasmic reticulum adopts two distinct tubule forms

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a versatile organelle with diverse functions. Through superresolution microscopy, we show that the peripheral ER in the mammalian cell adopts two distinct forms of tubules. Whereas an ultrathin form, R1, is consistently covered by ER-membrane curvature-promoting proteins, for example, Rtn4 in the native cell, in the second form, R2, Rtn4 and analogs are arranged into two parallel lines at a conserved separation of ∼105 nm over long ranges. The two tubule forms together account for ∼90% of the total tubule length in the cell, with either one being dominant in different cell types. The R1–R2 dichotomy and the final tubule geometry are both coregulated by Rtn4 (and analogs) and the ER sheet–maintaining protein Climp63, which, respectively, define the edge curvature and lumen height of the R2 tubules to generate a ribbon-like structure of well-defined width. Accordingly, the R2 tubule width correlates positively with the Climp63 intraluminal size. The R1 and R2 tubules undergo active remodeling at the second/subsecond timescales as they differently accommodate proteins, with the former effectively excluding ER-luminal proteins and ER-membrane proteins with large intraluminal domains. We thus uncover a dynamic structural dichotomy for ER tubules with intriguing functional implications.

A Pragmatic Assessment of the Polarity and Modality in J. P. Clark’s “Streamside Exchange”

Sociopragmatic and pragmalinguistic features as established by elements of Modality and Polarity usually constitute a crucial part to explication of the language of literary texts. In J.P. Clark’s poem, “Streamside Exchange”, the special application of transitivity as indicated by lexico-semantic features offers a peculiar reading which yields insightful meanings. At a superficial level of reading, there appears, as many scholars hold, an apparent simplicity of texture or wording. However, at a more informed examination of the poem, there is a display of compelling complexity especially at the levels beyond lexis or wording. The interactive session reflects a structural dichotomy between the interrogative MOOD of the child’s statement, which is polar in nature, and the response of the bird which displays a combination of declarative and imperative features. The study is mainly for a clearer understanding of underlying linguistic features in the short conversation between the child and the bird that feature as interlocutors. Moreover, the analysis is also in partial response to previous readings and rendition of the text, particularly the substitution of ‘shall’ with ‘has’ in latter versions of the poem which has shown remarkable accounts that appear less objective if reviewed from a purely linguistic approach.

Modeling Large Vessel Occlusion Stroke for the Evaluation of Endovascular Therapy According to Thrombus Composition.

More than 40% of endovascular therapy (EVT) fail to achieve complete reperfusion of the territory of the occluded artery in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Understanding factors influencing EVT could help overcome its limitations. Our objective was to study the impact of thrombus cell composition on EVT procedures, using a simulation system for modeling thrombus-induced large vessel occlusion (LVO) in flow conditions. In an open comparative trial, we analyzed the behavior of size-standardized platelet-rich and red blood cells (RBC)-rich thrombi during simulated stent retriever-mediated EVT procedures. Sixteen simulated EVT procedures were performed (8 RBC- vs. 8 platelet-rich thrombi). Platelet-rich thrombi were associated with a higher number of stent retriever passes (p = 0.03) and a longer procedure duration (p = 0.02) compared to RBC-rich thrombi. Conversely, RBC-rich thrombi released more embolic fragments than platelet-rich thrombi (p = 0.004). Both RBC-rich and platelet-rich thrombi underwent drastic compaction after being injected into the in vitro circulation model, and histologic analyses showed that these EVT-retrieved thrombi displayed features comparable to those previously observed in thrombi from patients with AIS patients having LVO, including a marked structural dichotomy between RBC- and platelet-rich areas. Our results show that the injection of in vitro-produced thrombi in artificial cerebrovascular arterial networks is suitable for testing recanalization efficacy and the risk of embolization of EVT devices and strategies in association with thrombus cell composition.

Some structural and residual properties of 2-semilattices

To each 2-semilattice, one can associate a digraph and a partial order. We analyze these two structures working toward two main goals: One goal is to give a structural dichotomy on minimal congruences of 2-semilattices. From this, we are able to deduce information about the tame-congruence-theoretic types that occur in 2-semilattices. In particular, we show that the type of a finite simple 2-semilattice is always either 3 or 5 and can be deduced immediately from its associated digraph. The other goal is to introduce and explore a property that some 2-semilattices have which we have named the “component-semilattice property”. We show that this property must hold in every algebra in a variety of 2-semilattices that is both locally finite and residually small. Hence, a finite 2-semilattice that lacks this property generates a residually large variety.

A State of Emergency, a State of Transition: How the Covid‐19 Pandemic May Help Reconcile Historicism and the Anthropology of Crisis

The incongruence between Bourdieu's historical sociology and the ahistorical structuralist theories of Levi‐Strauss’ students has often contributed to a complete disregard for the historical significance of cultural meaning on the one hand and the role of structural dichotomies (i.e. us vs them) and the phenomenon of the myth on the other. The crisis events of the 2020 Global Covid‐19 Pandemic offer a unique opportunity for anthropologists to reconcile historicism with theories of ahistorical (or exceptional) phenomenon. In particular, the linguistic coding of the pandemic as a “crisis” reveals a two‐fold, cultural understanding of the term. Crises entail some repetitive structural element (such that we recognize a given event or state as a crisis) but the structure repeated is, in fact, a sudden, novel change in the field of practice experienced as an “unprecedented time.” Comparingcontemporary circumstances to other events coded as crises in the United States, I argue that the (perceived) catalyst of the ongoing rupture in social and economic order is best understood through Douglas’ lens of pollution: an external threat to the structural dichotomies and myths that define the boundaries of the social body. What emerges from considering repetition and rupture at once is a new understanding of crisis as a reoccurring phenomenon characterized by an incongruence between doxa and habitus—a state of liminality wherein the previously accepted myths, symbols, and dichotomies at the foundation of citizens’ habitus and society's structures are suspended. This incongruence is resolvable by two mechanisms: either crisis‐era praxis is integrated into habitus (providing the practical basis for anewsetofmyths, structures, anddoxa), or the suspended schemata are reintegrated in a way that account for the expansion of what is considered possible according to pre‐crisis doxa. In this way, a symbolic purification of the social body is enacted by the application of new or extant myths to changes within a field during the crisis‐era. Bourdieu's historicism can thus be applied to the anthropology of crisis alongside structuralist theories by treating crisis as a kind of transitional state of social doxa, not via inductive reasoning or extrapolation from historical phenomenon.

A STRUCTURAL DICHOTOMY IN THE ENUMERATION DEGREES

AbstractWe give several new characterizations of the continuous enumeration degrees. The main one proves that an enumeration degree is continuous if and only if it is not half of a nontrivial relativized $\mathcal {K}$ -pair. This leads to a structural dichotomy in the enumeration degrees.

Two-Electron Oxidative Atom Transfer at a Homoleptic, Tetravalent Uranium Complex.

A tetrahomoleptic, pseudotetrahedral U4+ imidophosphorane complex, [U(NP(pip)3)4], 1-U(PN), is reported. This complex can be oxidized by two electrons with either mesityl azide or nitrous oxide. This two-electron atom/group transfer oxidation is the first example observed at a homoleptic, tetravalent uranium complex. The mesityl imido compound [U(NMes)(NP(pip)3)4], 2-U(PN)NMes, exhibits a unique square pyramidal geometry in contrast to the expected trigonal bipyramidal geometry of the oxo complex [U(O)(NP(pip)3)4], 2-U(PN)O. The bonding driving the structural dichotomy of these structures and the absence of a structurally observable inverse trans-influence in 2-U(PN)NMes were examined by DFT and natural bonding orbital analysis.

Gender Dichotomy of Board Members and Ownership Structure in Dividend Payout: A review

The purpose of the paper is to examine the effect between gender dichotomy and dividend payout. The objective of the paper is to provide adequate support for research through rigorous reviews of the literature on board dichotomy relative to gender and dividend payout. Board dichotomy of board members relative to gender seems to have a positive association with dividend payout. Ownership structure, especially institutional ownership, seems to have an association with dividend payout compared to other variables of ownership structure. The two corporate governance components have a monitoring role, can be a substitute or a tool for corporate governance improvement, and a signal to investors on dividend payout.Keywords: corporate environment; board composition; gender; dividend payouteISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v5i13.1954

FttA is a CPSF73 homologue that terminates transcription in Archaea.

Regulated gene expression is achieved in large part by controlling the activities of essential, multi-subunit RNA polymerase transcription elongation complexes (TECs). The extreme stability required of TECs to processively transcribe large genomic regions necessitates robust mechanisms to terminate transcription. Efficient transcription termination is particularly critical for gene-dense bacterial and archaeal genomes1-3 wherein continued transcription would necessarily transcribe immediately adjacent genes, result in conflicts between the transcription and replication apparatuses4-6 and the coupling of transcription and translation7,8 would permit loading of ribosomes onto aberrant transcripts. Only select sequences or transcription termination factors can disrupt the otherwise extremely stable TEC and we demonstrate that one of the last universally conserved archaeal proteins with unknown biological function is the Factor that terminates transcription in Archaea (FttA). FttA resolves the dichotomy of a prokaryotic gene structure (operons and polarity) and eukaryotic molecular homology (general transcription apparatus) observed in Archaea. This missing-link between prokaryotic and eukaryotic transcription regulation provides the most parsimonious link to the evolution of the processing activities involved in RNA 3’-end formation in Eukarya.

From Mineralogy to Crystal Engineering: Potential for Polymorphism in the Metal–Organic Framework Mineral Zhemchuzhnikovite and Its Synthetic Analogues

Using real-time X-ray powder diffraction monitoring of thermal dehydration and room-temperature, high-humidity rehydration, we reveal a polymorph of the naturally occurring oxalate metal–organic framework mineral zhemchuzhnikovite. Analysis by powder X-ray diffraction indicates that this new form of iron- and aluminum-based zhemchuzhnikovite is isostructural to the related iron-based organic mineral stepanovite, which was subsequently confirmed through structural analysis of a single crystal grown by way of pseudoseeding. Analogous studies of related artificial frameworks based on aluminum and gallium indicate that such structural dichotomy may also exist for other oxalate metal–organic frameworks.