Paradoxical State Research Articles

KMT5C leverages disorder to optimize cooperation with HP1 for heterochromatin retention.

A defining feature of constitutive heterochromatin compartments is the heterochromatin protein-1 (HP1) family, whose members display fast internal mobility and rapid exchange with the surrounding nucleoplasm. Here, we describe a paradoxical state for the lysine methyltransferase KMT5C characterized by rapid internal diffusion but minimal nucleoplasmic exchange. This retentive behavior is conferred by sparse sequence features that constitute two modules tethered by an intrinsically disordered linker. While both modules harbor variant HP1 interaction motifs, the first comprises adjacent sequences that increase affinity using avidity. The second motif increases HP1 effective concentration to further enhance affinity in a context-dependent manner, which is evident using distinct heterochromatin recruitment strategies and heterologous linkers with defined conformational ensembles. Despite the linker sequence being highly divergent, it is under evolutionary constraint for functional length, suggesting conformational buffering can support cooperativity between modules across distant orthologs. Overall, we show that KMT5C has evolved a robust tethering strategy that uses minimal sequence determinants to harness highly dynamic HP1 proteins for retention within heterochromatin compartments.

Gendered workplace as a double-loop social construct: the case of Japanese women professionals

Purpose This paper aims to critically examine the role of women in the Japanese workplace and discusses its implications for gender studies within the context of diversity, equity and inclusion in international business (IB). Employing a social constructivism approach, this paper moves beyond conventional economic typologies and specific cases to offer an integrative and socially embedded perspective for understanding gender dynamics in the Japanese workplace. Design/methodology/approach This viewpoint paper critiques existing research on Japanese women professionals, drawing on factual evidence and literature to propose a double-loop gendering framework. This framework explores the socially constructed phenomenon of women in the Japanese workplace at multiple levels, providing a holistic interpretation of gender dynamics. Findings We identify five macro-level environmental factors that influence female labour participation, leadership positions and entrepreneurship. These factors are mediated by career motivation, corporate culture and men’s attitudes towards gender equality. Distinguishing between first-loop gendering, which focuses on problem-solving for improved gender equality, and second-loop gendering, which examines the underlying assumptions of social norms, values and beliefs, offers insights into the challenges Japan faces in achieving female leadership and equality. Second-loop gendering may help explain the paradoxical state of Japan’s women professionals, characterized by slow progress in gender equality despite significant political and financial resources. Our analysis reveals complex, multi-level interactions and influences within this socially constructed phenomenon. Originality/value This viewpoint paper provides a critical analysis of gender studies in the Japanese context, offering potential avenues for IB explorations. The insights extend to future IB studies, international comparisons of gender equality and the management of gender diversity in multinational corporations (MNCs).

Innovation investment and performance: the moderating role of university collaborations

Purpose Considering the historical evolution of innovation dynamics, and its paradoxical state, and answering Nelson (2008) and Winter (2014), this paper aims to analyze the dynamics of innovation within the context of the Evolutionary Economic Theory. Specifically, this study looks to unravel the moderating influence of university cooperation on the relationship between innovation expenditure and innovation results. This study aims to provide valuable insights and evidence that can inform strategic decision-making for policymakers and businesses striving to foster innovation-driven economic growth in an ever-evolving global landscape. Design/methodology/approach The quantitative methodology adopted in this study involved harvesting data from the Latin American Innovation Survey (LAIS) database and cleaning it up using Python to ensure data integrity. Subsequently, SPSS, coupled with the PROCESS macro, was employed to conduct moderation analysis. This methodological approach enabled the examination of the intricate interplay between innovation expenditure, university cooperation and innovation outcomes within a large sample of firms, thereby easing a robust exploration of the hypothesis. Findings The research highlights the moderating role of university cooperation, showing that collaborative partnerships amplify the impact of innovation spending on innovation results, advancing the understanding of the impact of university-business collaborations. Additionally, the results revealed a positive relationship between innovation expenditure and innovation results, underscoring the significance of R&D investments. Practical implications This study highlights the role of university-industry collaborations in enhancing innovation investment outcomes in Latin America. It suggests that managers should proactively engage with universities to access advanced research and foster a culture of innovation. These partnerships can significantly boost a firm's competitive edge and innovation success, marking them as crucial in the rapidly evolving economic environment. Originality/value The originality of the paper relies on bridging theoretical concepts from the Evolutionary Economic Theory framework with empirical insights of the moderating role of university cooperation. It addresses a theoretical gap, with a new methodology and offers insights into the complex relationship between universities, businesses and innovation in a constantly changing economic environment, making it clearer how these connections can help boost innovation in practical ways.

When Does Saving Power Save the Planet?

The computing industry accounts for 2% of the world's emissions. Power-efficient computing is a frequent topic of research, but saving power does not always save the environment. Jevons' paradox states that resource savings from increases in efficiency will be more than compensated for by increased demand by a process called rebound --- making these ineffective ways to decrease emissions. This is not the case for all applications within computing: applications whose demand is inelastic with respect to power consumption can have reduced power consumption. We analyze several large fields within computer science, including ML, the Internet and IoT, and provide directions on where power efficiency savings will help reduce carbon emissions. We present the economic tools needed to decide whether power-efficiency improvements are likely to result in reduced or increased emissions. We conclude that many problems in computer science do have characteristics of rebound, meaning that green energy is the only solution for many fields.

On Non-Occurrence of the Inspection Paradox

The well-known inspection paradox or waiting time paradox states that, in a renewal process, the inspection interval is stochastically larger than a common interarrival time having a distribution function F, where the inspection interval is given by the particular interarrival time containing the specified time point of process inspection. The inspection paradox may also be expressed in terms of expectations, where the order is strict, in general. A renewal process can be utilized to describe the arrivals of vehicles, customers, or claims, for example. As the inspection time may also be considered a random variable T with a left-continuous distribution function G independent of the renewal process, the question arises as to whether the inspection paradox inevitably occurs in this general situation, apart from in some marginal cases with respect to F and G. For a random inspection time T, it is seen that non-trivial choices lead to non-occurrence of the paradox. In this paper, a complete characterization of the non-occurrence of the inspection paradox is given with respect to G. Several examples and related assertions are shown, including the deterministic time situation.

Epistemological features of synthetic biology in the context of the typology of scientific rationality by V.S. Stepin

The article examines the epistemological role of synthetic biology in the context of the transformation of forms of scientific knowledge. The main focus is on technoscience and synthetic biology, the grounds for its use as a representative of the current stage of scientific knowledge development. The author defines synthetic biology, its goals, methods, and general status in the system of scientific knowledge, and also examines both the existing and possible epistemological usefulness of this scientific branch. Attention is paid to the logical justification of the paradoxical states of synthetic biology. The results reflect the possible forms in which the epistemological usefulness of the scientific direction will be most relevant.

Sustaining SME agility through knowledge coupling, business process digitization, and innovation during crisis

SMEs faced a paradoxical state due to Covid-19. They must layoff to cover costs and doing so challenges their survival owing to loss of knowledgeable workforce. We empirically develop a strategy allowing SMEs to retain their innovation and agility besides downsizing. Analyses of 306 Chinese manufacturing SMEs indicate that innovation positively mediates between knowledge coupling (business process digitization) and market capitalizing agility (MCA) during downsizing. In no-downsizing sample knowledge coupling leads to innovation (MCA), also innovation leads to MCA; whereas, BPD does not contribute to innovation and MCA. This study is among the earliest empirical examinations to establish agility in Chinese SMEs through mediation of innovation and moderation of downsizing.

Contemporary challenges of consumption: a Kafkaesque and critical marketing perspective

Abstract Purpose Markets are sites of collaboration as well as contestation between their various actors, including firms and consumers. In this respect, a narrative that consumers are more empowered than ever has been in vogue. Drawing from Kafka’s literature and philosophy and the paradigm of critical marketing, this paper argues for a broadened perspective. Design/methodology/approach Using a selective and exploratory-review approach, six dimensions of the state of today’s consumer emerge. These are subsequently assessed and developed as manifestations challenging the empowerment thesis. Findings The depiction of intense subjugation in Kafka’s fiction and the lack of agency his characters portray furnish narrative frames to view the paradoxical state of contemporary consumption. Specifically, consumer choice and sovereignty, service failures and recoveries, privacy concerns, the capitalist nexus, transformation in service provisioning modes, and frontline employees’ lowered stakes comprise six analytical frames of consumers’ lives that depict their paradoxical simultaneity of empowerment and entrapment. Originality/value The work contributes to critical marketing theory in particular and critical philosophy in general. Specifically, the proposed framework of consumption challenges depicted herein can serve as a mid-range theoretical taxonomy. The exemplar states highlighted reveal managerial and policy challenges.

The association between number of steps and the ambulatory blood pressure during leisure vs. work hours among cleaners

PurposeThe physical activity paradox states occupational physical activity (OPA) to be hazardous and leisure time physical activity (LTPA) to be beneficial for health. Yet, the acute effects of OPA and LTPA on cardiovascular risk factors are sparsely investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects on ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) from steps/hour during work and leisure time among cleaners.MethodsData were obtained from a cluster randomized worksite intervention among 91 cleaners in Denmark and included a questionnaire, objective physical measurements, ABP (measured across 24 h), and steps/hour (measured during work and leisure time). A preliminary linear regression analysis was conducted as a mixed model including random intercept and slope, allowing for both within- and between-participant variability. We adjusted for sex, age, job seniority, medication use, smoking, self-reported fitness and BMI. Changes in ABP (mmHg) were estimated per 100 steps/hour.ResultsThe number of steps taken was not associated with ABP during either work or leisure. Moreover, the ABP did not seem to differ between exposure to steps taken during work (systolic − 0.42 mmHg, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): − 1.10–0.25, diastolic − 0.03 mmHg, 95% CI, − 0.45–0.39) and leisure time (systolic -0.47 mmHg, 95% CI, − 1.66–0.72, diastolic 0.25 mmHg, 95% CI, − 0.46–0.97).ConclusionOur findings show no significant association between steps/hour and ABP and no contrasting effects between work and leisure time. These mechanisms fostering the divergent results need to be further investigated to improve the understanding of the physical activity paradox.

L'ennui ouvrier dans la pensée de Simone Weil. Cohérence du matériel et du spirituel

This paper focuses on one aspect of Weil's philosophy of labor, which has not been studied until now: the problem of boredom. In a 1938 article, she defines boredom as the main source of suffering for factory-workers. But shouldn't boredom rather occur during leisure-time, when one has nothing to do? In fact, factory work can lead to boredom, despite its frenetic rhythm and the deep concentration it implies. According Weil, boredom in factory has two main causes: monotony, and the fact that, while working, the workers lose the control over their own time. This correlation of boredom with certain conditions of work is nowadays still relevant, and it concerns modern life not only in the working sphere. It implies a critical approach to the conditions of production in the capitalist era. But it also helps to describe the paradoxical state in which, while being active, one suffers from weariness. At last, it shows the relevance of an exploration of the various aspects of modern alienation through the problematic of time. The interest in the problem of boredom therefore allows to explore two complementary sides of Weil's thought: materialism and religious inspiration.

Chinese Feminists Face Paradoxical State Policies

Struggles for women’s rights, and the state’s responses, have shifted over the history of the People’s Republic of China. In an initial period of socialist state feminism, the Chinese Communist Party celebrated “women’s liberation” and offered child-friendly services to facilitate women’s entry into the workforce. During the era of post-socialist economic modernization, services were curtailed, shifting family responsibilities back to women and reinforcing patriarchal norms. Most recently, a form of made-in-China feminism has emerged, characterized by everyday resistance to prevailing gender expectations. Now, the state is suppressing feminist activists while adopting some of their proposals into law and policy.

Paradoxical Connections in Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone

The paper examines different types of paradoxical connections in Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone with respect to contemporary characteristics of American theatre. It is so clear that the play has a smooth transformation or connection between paradoxical states or situations. The transformation happens due to spatial, and temporal conditions, and different humankind values. The play is full of different types of connections due to social ties, contradictive life situations, death and life, the whole and the parts, the spatial and the temporal transformation, truth and lies, happiness and misfortune, fancy and facts, and humanity with technology. The study is qualitative depending on the study of the cases within the play that are contradicting each other, yet they serve in deepening the meaning and the understanding of the cases. The paradoxical issues to be studied in a comparative way, these comparative situations serve higher thematic issues in a philosophical dimension in very carefully woven relations between the characters and situational environment as well. The common sense that the play made is to accept the philosophy of black and white as positive paradoxical relation, that the black helps to see the pure white and vice versa. Common unanswered questions are to be presented in a rhetorical and philosophical manner; targeting these questions is the way of being closer to a bunch of truths about the complicated fabric relationships which link the characters all together.

Democratising Healthcare in India: Opportunities and Challenges

India is in a state of distinctive paradox. On one side, it is ranked the fifth largest economy in the world with the aim to be among the top three by 2030, while on the other hand, the country’s equally important health sector lags and is ranked 145 among 195 countries on the Healthcare Access and Quality Index (HAQ; GBD 2016 Healthcare Access and Quality Collaborators, 2018). Despite significant thrust on healthcare and reforms over the last decade that have positively impacted life expectancy, helped lower infant mortality rate and provided better health coverage due to government initiatives like Ayushman Bharat and the National Health Mission, healthcare in India still faces critical challenges and is crippled with many deficiencies around health quality, accessibility, affordability and safety. This perspective article explores the opportunities and challenges in healthcare delivery in India and why it is imperative to implement a framework for connecting all the stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem to facilitate equitable access to quality and affordable healthcare. The article also reflects on models of collaboration, connected health and coopetition to strengthen and streamline the healthcare sector for improved outcomes.

Effective, but underused: lessons learned implementing contingency management in real-world practice settings in the United States

Despite being one of the most effective adjunctive behavioral interventions in combination with medication for opioid use disorder, contingency management (CM) is one of the least available interventions in opioid treatment programs. This paradoxical state of affairs is perhaps the greatest example of the research-to-practice gap in the behavioral health field. Implementation science, a discipline that aims to identify replicable methods that can be used across settings and populations to bridge the gap between research and practice, can potentially help. Based on our team's experience implementing CM in opioid treatment programs, we detail five key lessons for researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and others seeking to implement and sustain CM in real-world settings. First, multiple barriers to CM implementation exist at both the counselor- and organization-levels, requiring multi-level solutions. Second, one-shot CM training alone is not sufficient for successful implementation: ongoing support is essential to achieve levels of intervention fidelity that will benefit patients. Third, assessing an organization's capacity for implementation prior to support provision can prevent costly mistakes. Fourth, implementors should plan for high staff turnover rates and expect the unexpected by developing detailed contingency plans. Finally, implementors should remember that the goal is to implement evidence-based CM and not simply incentives. We encourage colleagues to consider these lessons to increase the likelihood that CM can be implemented and sustained in a manner that improves the quality of care in opioid treatment programs.

An inexplicably good argument for causal finitism

Causal finitism, the view that the causal history of any event must be finite, has garnered much philosophical interest recently—especially because of its applicability to the Kalām cosmological argument. The most prominent argument for causal finitism is the Grim Reaper argument, which attempts to show that, if infinite causal histories are possible, then other paradoxical states of affairs must also be possible. However, this style of argument has been criticized on the grounds of (i) relying on controversial modal principles, and (ii) providing a false diagnosis of the paradoxes involved. In this paper, I develop a new kind of Grim Reaper argument immune to these criticisms. I show that, by using insights from the literature on time travel, causal finitists should instead argue that infinite causal histories are problematically inexplicable, as they entail the possibility of unexplained foiling mechanisms. The fruits of this paper are that (i) a novel supporting argument for the Kalām is developed, and (ii) along the way of building this argument, it is shown that the literatures on time travel and causal finitism are deeply and intimately connected.

Wide-spread brain activation and reduced CSF flow during avian REM sleep

Mammalian sleep has been implicated in maintaining a healthy extracellular environment in the brain. During wakefulness, neuronal activity leads to the accumulation of toxic proteins, which the glymphatic system is thought to clear by flushing cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) through the brain. In mice, this process occurs during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. In humans, ventricular CSF flow has also been shown to increase during NREM sleep, as visualized using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The link between sleep and CSF flow has not been studied in birds before. Using fMRI of naturally sleeping pigeons, we show that REM sleep, a paradoxical state with wake-like brain activity, is accompanied by the activation of brain regions involved in processing visual information, including optic flow during flight. We further demonstrate that ventricular CSF flow increases during NREM sleep, relative to wakefulness, but drops sharply during REM sleep. Consequently, functions linked to brain activation during REM sleep might come at the expense of waste clearance during NREM sleep.

PREPARATION CHOLESTEROL AND EFFECTS OF CHOLESTEROL PARADOX: A REVIEW

Cholesterol is the most significant sterol in mammals, which contributes to preserving plasma membrane fluidity and serves as a precursor of oxysterols, bile acids, and steroid hormones. Plasma membranes contain large amounts of cholesterol, which interacts with other molecules in the membrane in various ways. Cholesterol, one of the most significant structural elements, is regarded as a lipid-type molecule. It plays a crucial role in life, primarily in cell membranes and as a precursor to the biosynthesis of numerous steroid hormones in cell membranes. Cholesterol absorption is linked to recurrent cardiovascular events, and patients with higher cholesterol absorption experienced less of a statin's favourable effects. One of the essential and prevalent conditions that affect people's health worldwide is coronary artery disease (CAD), and its incidence has grown over time. The best predictor and moderator of coronary artery disease is the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol plasma level. Higher than lower HDL cholesterol levels were associated with a lower risk of major cardiovascular events. Contrarily in cholesterol paradox states, individuals with advanced HF often have low cholesterol, associated with a poor prognosis and hypercholesterolemia, a key risk factor for CAD. On average, patients with a total cholesterol level of 232 mg/dl had a 25% higher survival rate than those with a total cholesterol level of 193 mg/dl who were suffering from heart failure. A total cholesterol level under 200 mg/dl is generally preferred.

Solutions to the Knower Paradox in the Light of Haack’s Criteria

The knower paradox states that the statement ‘We know that this statement is false’ leads to inconsistency. This article presents a fresh look at this paradox and some well-known solutions from the literature. Paul Égré discusses three possible solutions that modal provability logic provides for the paradox by surveying and comparing three different provability interpretations of modality, originally described by Skyrms, Anderson, and Solovay. In this article, some background is explained to clarify Égré’s solutions, all three of which hinge on intricacies of provability logic and its arithmetical interpretations. To check whether Égré’s solutions are satisfactory, we use the criteria for solutions to paradoxes defined by Susan Haack and we propose some refinements of them. This article aims to describe to what extent the knower paradox can be solved using provability logic and to what extent the solutions proposed in the literature satisfy Haack’s criteria. Finally, the article offers some reflections on the relation between knowledge, proof, and provability, as inspired by the knower paradox and its solutions.

Feeling-as-Capture

This paper considers Dionne Brand’s A Map to the Door of No Return: Notes to Belonging, arguing that the text theorizes the gulf between Blackness and the World as rooted in the question of affective experience. I read Brand’s deployment of the concept-metaphor of “the Door” and its attendant “tear in the world” as indexing the chasm from which Black feeling outside of and against “the World” as relational container irrupts. Brand’s text reveals that rather than offering an escape from meaning-as-capture, when considered from the position of Blackness, feeling is capture, and it is this seemingly paradoxical state of things that renders Black affect aporetic. Feeling-as-capture is antithetical to dominant theorizations which posit that the ontology of affect is escape. By theorizing capture as endemic to Blackness and therefore at the root of Black sensorial experience, Brand locates a rift in the very structure of affect.

Modernisation and the paradox of right and rights

The research behind this paper has been directed towards identifying the governance mechanisms focused on the protection of the human rights, being accompanied by studies that have defined states and processes occurring in societies that are increasingly interconnected. Several stages are shown when referring to these studies: identification of the demands made by citizens towards institutions and authorities; definition of the government’s perspective on the issues of the citizens and the society; determination of solutions so that in the Republic of Moldova the transition to a modernized society occurs, in which rights and freedoms are protected. As a result, there have been identified several problems not only of conjunctural nature (such as the pandemic crisis and the war in the region, presented in the paper as a case study), which constitute impediments to the development of the Republic of Moldova, but also deeper problems rooted in society, such as lack of trust, lack of will, lack of integrity, lack of efficiency of legal institutions etc. All these have generated a paradoxical state of law and legal institutions. Thus, the article examines the combined analysis of the modernization-crisis-law concepts through theoretical and methodological incursions that make the individual-collective connection, highlighting the way modernization is seen in the Republic of Moldova and indicating the need to review the role of law in the society.