Structural Explanations Research Articles

Is there anything Left? The politics of social spending in new democracies

AbstractThe evolution of public social expenditures displays divergent patterns across non‐western countries. This exploratory article argues that in order to understand the domestic sources of this divergence, institutional and structural explanations should be complemented with an actor‐oriented perspective. Analyses of the role of party politics in non‐OECD democracies, through multivariate fixed‐effect regressions using data from 46 countries between 1995 and 2015, reveals a robust positive association between shifts towards Left party government and increases in total public social expenditures, also when controlling for structural and institutional factors. This association however seems potentially conditional on sufficient levels of economic growth. While indicating an impact of partisanship, further research is arguably needed regarding the origins, organization and policy outputs of parties in more recently democratized countries, as well as regarding the conditions under which the ideological orientation of parties in government are actually consequential.

Frequency-dependent sensitivity of AC elastocaloric effect measurements explored through analytical and numerical models.

We present a comprehensive study of the frequency-dependent sensitivity for measurements of the AC elastocaloric effect by applying both exactly soluble models and numerical methods to the oscillating heat flow problem. These models reproduce the finer details of the thermal transfer functions observed in experiments, considering here representative data for single-crystal Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2. Based on our results, we propose a set of practical guidelines for experimentalists using this technique. This work establishes a baseline against which the frequency response of the AC elastocaloric technique can be compared and provides intuitive explanations of the detailed structure observed in experiments.

Reconsidering the Nature and Role of Entrepreneurial Support Organizations

Entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs), such as incubators, accelerators, and maker spaces, have become ubiquitous. Despite their broad appeal and adoption, academic research on ESOs remains disjointed and questions of their efficacy remain unanswered. This panel symposium brings together a diverse group of scholars that have published in the area of ESOs to engage them in an interactive discussion on the nature and role of ESOs. Specifically, the panel, discussant, and audience will consider key aspects of the entrepreneurial support process, theoretical explanations of ESO structure and behavior, the measurement opportunities and challenges of ESOs, and new methodological approaches for understanding their actions and impact.

Creativity: The Interplay of Structural and Individual Characteristics

In this study, I examine creativity (i.e. experts’ consensus over novelty of production) as the result of interplay between individual background and structural properties. More precisely, I try to investigate whether and how network positions interact with individual focus to determine creativity. The findings of the study will indicate, for example, whether a filmmaker who can broker ideas of other film professionals is most creative when focused on a specific genre (Western) or role (directing). I contend that while network position reveals (or constrains) opportunities for enhancing creativity, individuals have agency in choosing types and aspects of production that would enable them to recognize and make use of those opportunities. As such, this study departs from purely structural explanations of creativity which posit a deterministic view. The context of the study is the American film industry with a focus on feature film titles distributed in the 90s and early 2000s

Seeing is achieving: religion, embodiment, and explanations of racial inequality in STEM

ABSTRACT Ample research demonstrates how religious commitments influence beliefs about racial inequality within US society without considering how individuals’ explanations of inequality might differ with relationship to different racialized structures and institutions. Here we focus on science, an institutional sector perceived to be in tension with religious institutions and marked by persistent disparities in racial representation. Drawing on focus groups with fourteen pastors from twelve different churches, as well as interviews with twenty congregants, we find that Black and Latinx Christians in our sample draw on both individualistic and structural explanations of STEM inequality. Individualistic attributions, however, were primarily seen as products of structural constraints. Discursively, respondents saw STEM inequality resulting from not “seeing” aspects of science that would promote engagement. These results complicate prior work on religious understandings of racial inequality while also providing guidance for interventions designed to promote racial equality in STEM fields in particular.

Claiming crisis: narratives of tension and insurance in rural India

ABSTRACT This article discusses local expressions of crisis in Beed district, central Maharashtra. Both in public and academic discourse crisis has become the term of choice for the many structural deficiencies which make agriculture an increasingly precarious livelihood in India. While most voices subscribe to the explanation that the current state of distress can be attributed to the unprofitability of agriculture, a wide range of structural explanations are suggested as to why this might be the case. Consequently, in some debates agricultural crisis runs the risk of moving the experiences, agency and postionalities of those imagined to be living through its consequences to the background. This paper counterbalances such causal explanations by empirically delving into the imaginaries of agricultural crisis as they are articulated, negotiated and employed by farmers in Maharashtra. Based on twelve months of ethnographic research, the paper examines how ideas of crisis are entangled with colloquial understandings by taking experiences of ‘tension’, an Anglicised term used to express feelings akin to stress, as object of inquiry. I argue that by claiming crisis through invoking feelings of tension farmers mobilise a plurality of meanings, narratives and moral evaluations about what is wrong with agriculture in this part of India.

Potential Application of Nanocellulose for Filaments Production: A Review

Some researchers have reported the successful experiments to produce nanocellulose-based filaments by several spinning methods, including wet spinning and dry spinning. The addition of nanocellulose to the composites was found to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of produced filaments or continuous fibers. However, there are several parameters of spinning that needs to be considered to achieve better quality of filaments, including high aspect ratio of nanocellulose, low viscosity of dope (low solid content), high shear rate in the spinneret, and high draw ratio. This review article focuses on brief explanation of cellulose structure and how to isolate nanocellulose, nanocellulose-based filaments by wet spinning and dry spinning methods, characteristics of wet and dry spun fibers, as well as parameters that affect spinning process. For example, the strength of filament was attributed to the aspect ratio or slenderness and crystallinity of nanocellulose. Further details of the potential application of nanocellulose for filament production is presented here as the reference for application in textile, medical, and other fields.

Theoretical DFT study of Cannizzaro reaction mechanism: A mini perspective

In regards to the Cannizzaro reaction and its peculiar mechanism, some researchers have presented a free radical mechanism for the Cannizzaro reaction, while others have found that it is feasible through an ionic mechanism, but the actual mechanism has not been finalized yet. The researchers have given the proof of both the mechanisms through their papers published. Actually, Cannizzaro reaction may occur through both mechanisms depending on both molecular structure and different conditions which are yet to be explained. Recently published papers describe that free radical mechanism occurs only in a heterogeneous medium, while an ionic mechanism occurs in a homogeneous medium. We revealed no explanation of the molecular structure-based reason, responsible for a radical or an ionic mechanism. The present paper reviews not only homogeneous/heterogeneous medium conditions but also molecular structure-based facts, which may be responsible for the Cannizzaro reaction to occur through the radical or ionic mechanism, and that may be acceptable to the scientific society. Besides, Density Functional Theory study using Gaussian software was also involved in the explanation of the molecular structure, responsible for one of the two mechanisms. Also, the present paper specifies all points related to future perspectives on which additional studies are required to understand the actual mechanism with a definite molecular structure in the different reaction media.

Migrant status and risk of compulsory admission at first diagnosis of psychotic disorder: a population-based cohort study in Sweden.

Minority ethnic and migrant groups face an elevated risk of compulsory admission for mental illness. There are overlapping cultural, socio-demographic, and structural explanations for this risk that require further investigation. By linking Swedish national register data, we established a cohort of persons first diagnosed with a psychotic disorder between 2001 and 2016. We used multilevel mixed-effects logistic modelling to investigate variation in compulsory admission at first diagnosis of psychosis across migrant and Swedish-born groups with individual and neighbourhood-level covariates. Our cohort included 12 000 individuals, with 1298 (10.8%) admitted compulsorily. In an unadjusted model, being a migrant [odds ratio (OR) 1.48; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.26-1.73] or child of a migrant (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.10-1.47) increased risk of compulsory admission. However after multivariable modelling, region-of-origin provided a better fit to the data than migrant status; excess risk of compulsory admission was elevated for individuals from sub-Saharan African (OR 1.94; 95% CI 1.51-2.49), Middle Eastern and North African (OR 1.46; 95% CI 1.17-1.81), non-Nordic European (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.01-1.61), and mixed Swedish-Nordic backgrounds (OR 1.33; 95% CI 1.03-1.72). Risk of compulsory admission was greater in more densely populated neighbourhoods [OR per standard deviation (s.d.) increase in the exposure: 1.12, 95% CI 1.06-1.18], an effect that appeared to be driven by own-region migrant density (OR per s.d. increase in exposure: 1.12; 95% CI 1.02-1.24). Inequalities in the risk of compulsory admission by migrant status, region-of-origin, urban living and own-region migrant density highlight discernible factors which raise barriers to equitable care and provide potential targets for intervention.

Mobilizing solidarity in factory occupations: Activist responses to multinational plant closures

Factory occupations are rare and sporadic events which shed light on the processes associated with the collective mobilization of workers’ power. This article utilizes Kelly’s agential and Atzeni’s structural explanations of worker mobilization to examine two disputes which took place during Britain’s long experience of deindustrialization: the occupations of Caterpillar’s tractor factory in Uddingston, Scotland, during 1987 and Vestas’ wind turbine plant on the Isle of Wight during 2009. Each occupation shared the context of multinational divestment and collective workforce grievance based on a common perception that their plant was economically viable and vital to the local economy. However, contrasting sources of leadership mobilized this sentiment in each case: union stewards from within Caterpillar, socialist activists from outside at Vestas. The article concludes that an effective explanation of occupations must synthesize structural and agential factors, emphasizing the coalescing role of activist networks and workers’ perceptions of their labour’s social utility.

Molecular characterization of Cardinium, Rickettsia, Spiroplasma and Wolbachia in mite species from citrus orchards.

Tetranychidae spider mites are considered key citrus pests in some production areas, especially Tetranychus urticae Koch. Over the past decades, pesticide overuse seems to have promoted T. urticae population selection in citrus orchards. However, the microbiota has also been pointed out as a plausible explanation for population structure or plant host specialisation observed in several arthropod species. In this work, we have determined the incidence of Cardinium, Rickettsia, Spiroplasma and Wolbachia as representatives of major distorter bacteria genera in Aplonobia histricina (Berlese), Eutetranychus banksi (McGregor), Eutetranychus orientalis (Klein), Panonychus citri (McGregor), Tetranychus evansi Baker and Pritchard, Tetranychus turkestani Ugarov and Nikolskii, and T. urticae populations from Spanish citrus orchards. Only Wolbachia was detected by PCR. The multilocus alignment approach and phylogenetic inference indicated that all detected Wolbachia belong to supergroup B. The deep analysis of each 16S rDNA, ftsZ and wsp gene sequences allowed identifying several phylogenetically different Wolbachia sequences. It probably indicates the presence of several different races or strains, all of them belonging to supergroup B. The wsp sequence typing analysis unveiled the presence of the two already identified alleles (61 and 370) and allowed to contribute with five new alleles, supporting the presence of different but related B-races in the studied mite populations. The results are discussed and related to T. urticae population structure, previously observed in Spanish citrus orchards.

Understanding Inequality: Mexican Americans’ Stratification Beliefs

How people understand ethnoracial inequality, or their stratification beliefs, is an important concern for social scientists. Stratification beliefs can be highly influential in the development of individuals’ political attitudes and support for social policies. Despite this, research on stratification beliefs is limited in a number of ways. First, whereas much attention has been given to Whites’, and to some degree Blacks’, stratification beliefs, the attitudes of those in the “racial middle” have been largely neglected, despite their growing demographic presence. Second, much of the literature on stratification beliefs has focused on whether individuals adopt cultural or structural explanations for ethnoracial inequality, with less understanding of how people use a combination of these explanations to interpret inequality. Finally, theoretical and empirical knowledge of stratification beliefs is based largely on survey data. In an attempt to address these gaps, this research draws on interview and supplemental survey data from 70 Mexican Americans to provide an in-depth exploration of their stratification beliefs. The authors pay particular attention to respondents’ use of mixed explanatory modes, illustrating how they draw on cultural and structural discourses to make sense of the world around them. Ultimately, the authors argue that scholars need to pay attention to the interconnections among ideology, everyday experiences, and identity to understand the complexities of stratification beliefs.

A Knife to a Gunfight: Endogenous Development Through Leader as Contradictory Policy Prescription

Abstract By now a preferred EU instrument aimed at stirring rural development, LEADER initially constituted an alleged departure from the top-down productivist agenda of the CAP towards locally-led development. The exogenous-endogenous explanatory model legitimized the adoption of economistic assumptions into EU rural development policy. As the CAP policy genealogy conveys, agricultural policies occurred at the intersection of internal and external factors, whereas the endogenous framework evicts structural explanations for territorial marginalization. A case study from North-western Romania provides details on the implementation of the endogenous agenda from the perspective of public actors. Rather than inducing an alleged alternative development model, LEADER acts as adjuvant to other policies and, overall, as a pedagogical exercise in uneven development.

“Training for peace” – a universal practise? How micro processes are impacting the likelihood of an EU–India cooperation in peacekeeping

ABSTRACT Why have the EU and India been unable to explore the common potential of their partnership in peacekeeping training? Drawing upon the literature of practice theories and the concept of community of practices, as well as semi-structured interviews with policy-makers and peacekeeping trainers from India and the EU, policy documents and participant observation, the article explores the complementarity of structures of the EU’s and India’s training communities and discusses the implicit knowledge which is guiding the practices of actors. Thereby, the article moves away from offering structural explanations, such as diverging strategic interests, which have dominated the literature on the EU’s external relations with Asia. Comparing the practice communities, the article finds substantial divergence in the material and ideational structure of training institutes. Moreover, the article illustrates that the disposition of actors in the Indian training community is characterised by the unspoken understanding that India’s training philosophy is more compatible with other countries from the Global South. While both structures, as well as dispositions of actors are unfavourable vis-à-vis an EU–India partnership in peacekeeping training, the article concludes that by addressing familiarity gaps among training communities, divergences in structures and dispositions can be overcome.

Self-Assembling Behavior of pH-Responsive Peptide A6K without End-Capping.

A short self-assembly peptide A6K (H2N−AAAAAAK−OH) with unmodified N− and C−terminus was designed, and the charge distribution model of this short peptide at different pH was established by computer simulation. The pH of the solution was adjusted according to the model and the corresponding self-assembled structure was observed using a transmission electron microscope (TEM). As the pH changes, the peptide will assemble into blocks or nanoribbons, which indicates that the A6K peptide is a pH-responsive peptide. Circular dichroism (CD) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation showed that the block structure was formed by random coils, while the increase in β-turn content contributes to the formation of intact nanoribbons. A reasonable explanation of the self-assembling structure was made according to the electrostatic distribution model and the effect of electrostatic interaction on self-assembly was investigated. This study laid the foundation for further design of nanomaterials based on pH-responsive peptides.

Beyond Cultural and Structural Explanations of Regional Underdevelopment: Identity and Dispossession in Appalachia

AbstractThis article brings together education, rural sociology, and political economic perspectives to examine the role of Appalachia in ongoing conversations about civic polity and dynamics of social, economic, and spatial exclusions. First, we explore how the imaginaries of the Appalachian region (and American rurality more generally) reflect the marginalization of those spaces in the context of a deepening rural-urban divide where both are framed as “other”—the former as a socially, culturally, and economically marginal space, with the latter as a realm of the liberal and cosmopolitan elite. We discuss how social and political phenomena are embedded in historical material relations, and how patterns of economic accumulation and inequality reinforce and are reinforced by relations of power. Last, we consider how enduring narratives become fixed in terms of polarization and “identities of dispossession.” We conclude with recommendations for effective strategies to resist these polarized and rigid conceptions by exploring critical pedagogies that invite opportunities to engage in social action that serve to sustain health, economy, and education in Appalachia, and within rural America more broadly.

A Study on Domestic Politics and International Relations

A significant and growing literature on international relations (IR) argues that domestic politics is typically an important part of the explanation for states’ foreign policies, and seeks to understand its influence more precisely. I argue that what constitutes a “domestic-political” explanation of a state’s foreign policy choices has not been clearly elaborated. What counts as a domestic-political explanation is defined by opposition to systemic or structural explanations. But these may be specified in several different ways—I spell out two—each of which implies a different concept of domestic political explanations. If a systemic IR theory pictures states as unitary, rational actors, then a domestic-political explanation is one in which domestic political interactions in at least one state yield a suboptimal foreign policy relative to some normative standard. Or, if a systemic IR theory pictures states as unitary, rational actors and also requires that attributes of particular states not enter the explanation, then a domestic-political explanation is any one that involves state characteristics other than relative power. Implications of each approach are developed, and examples from the literature are provided. I also address the question of whether there is a sharp distinction between a “systemic theory of international politics” and a “theory of foreign policy,” arguing that there is an important and natural sense in which they are the same.

A voter-centric explanation of the success of ideological candidates for the U.S. house

In recent years, ideological candidates for the U.S. House have become increasingly successful, to the point where their chances of being elected are indistinguishable from moderates. However, scholars have still not uncovered exactly why this is happening. Using survey data from the American National Election Studies, I find that voter-centric explanations of vote choice – a voter's partisanship, ideology, and presidential approval rating – have increasingly predicted their vote choice in U.S. House elections from 1980 to 2016. Using data on candidate ideology, I find that candidate ideology is an increasingly poor predictor of individual vote choice over time. Original experimental data supports these claims, finding only a small electoral advantage for moderates, compared to ideologues of their own party, and evidence suggesting that, at least among Democrats, ideological candidates are rated more favorably than moderates. Taken together, these results suggest that the increased electoral success of ideological candidates can be attributed to changes in voters' decision calculus, rather than structural or candidate-centric explanations.

Effective nuclear magnetic field under Zeeman splitting conditions

The concept of an effective nuclear magnetic field under Zeeman splitting conditions, also called the truncated field is presented. It provides an alternative description of nuclear magnetism of the polarized spin systems and gives a clear geometrical picture of internuclear interactions showing and elucidating their anisotropic character. This simple approach gives results entirely consistent with the conventional tensorial formalism, which appears to be a direct consequence of the truncated field symmetry. Although, the model entirely relies on classical electromagnetism, it provides an elegant explanation of the dipolar Hamiltonian structure and thus it can be easily adapted to the theory of nuclear magnetic resonance.

Ownership Structure of Franchise Chains: Trade-Off Between Adaptation and Control

This study provides a new explanation of the ownership structure of franchise firms by highlighting a trade-off between adaptation and control under increasing uncertainty. Franchise chains are formed to reduce transaction costs by combining franchisee outlets as an adaptation mechanism and company-owned outlets as a control mechanism. We argue that under low to moderate uncertainty, franchisors prioritize local responsiveness to profit opportunities by operating a lower proportion of company-owned outlets (PCO); by contrast, under high environmental uncertainty, franchisors prefer more central control through a higher PCO to coordinate interdependent local market outlets better. Hence, the franchisor must find an optimal PCO by balancing the PCO decreasing effect of higher local adaptation with the PCO increasing effect of higher central coordination under increasing uncertainty. Therefore, we posit a U-shaped relationship between the PCO and environmental uncertainty. Data from German and Swiss franchise systems provide support for the study’s hypotheses.