Advocacy Coalitions in Low Salience Policy Subsystems: Struggles Under a Smooth Surface

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 1135-1167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne S. Giordono
Author(s):  
Paúl Cisneros

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics. Please check back later for the full article. Paul Sabatier and Hank Jenkins Smith introduced the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) in the late 1980s, to refine the theoretical and methodological tools available for the study of the policy process. In the past two decades, the framework has grown in use outside the United States, and it is now applied to study a broad range of policy arenas in all continents. ACF scholars have created a core community that regularly synthetizes findings from applications of the framework, giving the ACF the form of a true research program. The ACF has three principal theoretical domains: advocacy coalitions, policy subsystems, and policy change. Expectations about the interactions between and within these domains are contained in 15 main hypotheses. The ACF posits that advocacy coalitions and policy subsystems are the most efficient way to organize actors interested in the policy process for empirical research. The policy subsystem is the main unit of analysis in the ACF, and there are four paths leading to policy change. The aspect that has received more attention in existing applications is the effect that external events have on policy change, and some areas in need of refinement include: policy-oriented learning, interactions across subsystems, the theoretical foundations to identification of belief systems, and how the interactions between beliefs and interests affect coalition behavior.


Author(s):  
B.V.V. Prasad ◽  
E. Marietta ◽  
J.W. Burns ◽  
M.K. Estes ◽  
W. Chiu

Rotaviruses are spherical, double-shelled particles. They have been identified as a major cause of infantile gastroenteritis worldwide. In our earlier studies we determined the three-dimensional structures of double-and single-shelled simian rotavirus embedded in vitreous ice using electron cryomicroscopy and image processing techniques to a resolution of 40Å. A distinctive feature of the rotavirus structure is the presence of 132 large channels spanning across both the shells at all 5- and 6-coordinated positions of a T=13ℓ icosahedral lattice. The outer shell has 60 spikes emanating from its relatively smooth surface. The inner shell, in contrast, exhibits a bristly surface made of 260 morphological units at all local and strict 3-fold axes (Fig.l).The outer shell of rotavirus is made up of two proteins, VP4 and VP7. VP7, a glycoprotein and a neutralization antigen, is the major component. VP4 has been implicated in several important functions such as cell penetration, hemagglutination, neutralization and virulence. From our earlier studies we had proposed that the spikes correspond to VP4 and the rest of the surface is composed of VP7. Our recent structural studies, using the same techniques, with monoclonal antibodies specific to VP4 have established that surface spikes are made up of VP4.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Sforza ◽  
Dennis C Hammond ◽  
Giovanni Botti ◽  
Per Hedén ◽  
Manuel Chacón Quirós ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Babon ◽  
Daniel McIntyre ◽  
Gae Y. Gowae ◽  
Caleb Gallemore ◽  
Rachel Carmenta ◽  
...  

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1578
Author(s):  
Luisa Euler ◽  
Li Guo ◽  
Nils-Krister Persson

Textile electrodes, also called textrodes, for biosignal monitoring as well as electrostimulation are central for the emerging research field of smart textiles. However, so far, only the general suitability of textrodes for those areas was investigated, while the influencing parameters on the contact impedance related to the electrode construction and external factors remain rather unknown. Therefore, in this work, six different knitted electrodes, applied both wet and dry, were compared regarding the influence of specific knitting construction parameters on the three-electrode contact impedance measured on a human forearm. Additionally, the influence of applying pressure was investigated in a two-electrode setup using a water-based agar dummy. Further, simulation of an equivalent circuit was used for quantitative evaluation. Indications were found that the preferred electrode construction to achieve the lowest contact impedance includes a square shaped electrode, knitted with a high yarn density and, in the case of dry electrodes, an uneven surface topography consisting of loops, while in wet condition a smooth surface is favorable. Wet electrodes are showing a greatly reduced contact impedance and are therefore to be preferred over dry ones; however, opportunities are seen for improving the electrode performance of dry electrodes by applying pressure to the system, thereby avoiding disadvantages of wet electrodes with fluid administration, drying-out of the electrolyte, and discomfort arising from a “wet feeling”.


e-Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-75
Author(s):  
Haoran Yun ◽  
Xingxiang Zhang

AbstractMicrospheres with phase change properties were fabricated by polymerization of hexadecyl acrylate (HA) and different cross-linking agents. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The results show that, the samples that added cross-linking agents have a smooth surface and the latent heat of them is different. The experiments show that all of the cross-linked copolymer shells can be made into temperature controlled release microspheres. These materials can be potentially applied in the field of thermal energy storage. β-tricalcium phosphate was encapsulated in microspheres to obtain one with a fast release effect. It will effectively promote bone conduction when these microspheres were implanted into a bone defect. This microsphere can be used for orthopedic implant or coating of instrument in the future.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antti Gronow ◽  
Maria Brockhaus ◽  
Monica Di Gregorio ◽  
Aasa Karimo ◽  
Tuomas Ylä-Anttila

AbstractPolicy learning can alter the perceptions of both the seriousness and the causes of a policy problem, thus also altering the perceived need to do something about the problem. This then allows for the informed weighing of different policy options. Taking a social network perspective, we argue that the role of social influence as a driver of policy learning has been overlooked in the literature. Network research has shown that normatively laden belief change is likely to occur through complex contagion—a process in which an actor receives social reinforcement from more than one contact in its social network. We test the applicability of this idea to policy learning using node-level network regression models on a unique longitudinal policy network survey dataset concerning the Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiative in Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. We find that network connections explain policy learning in Indonesia and Vietnam, where the policy subsystems are collaborative, but not in Brazil, where the level of conflict is higher and the subsystem is more established. The results suggest that policy learning is more likely to result from social influence and complex contagion in collaborative than in conflictual settings.


Soft Matter ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siqi Zheng ◽  
Sam Dillavou ◽  
John M. Kolinski

When a soft elastic body impacts upon a smooth solid surface, the intervening air fails to drain, deforming the impactor. High-speed imaging with the VFT reveal rich dynamics and sensitivity to the impactor's elastic properties and the impact velocity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 602-603 ◽  
pp. 902-905
Author(s):  
Yong Jun Shen ◽  
Chuan Bin Wang ◽  
Ling Li ◽  
Qiang Shen ◽  
Lian Meng Zhang

Sr-doped lanthanum manganite (La1-xSrxMnO3) is characteristic of thermochromic, which can act as a smart thermal control material used in the variable-emittance devices. In the present study, La1-xSrxMnO3 thin films were prepared on MgO(100) substrates by pulsed laser deposition, and the effect of Sr-doping (x = 0 ~ 0.4) on the structure and infrared emissivity was investigated. Single-phased La1-xSrxMnO3 films with (100)-orientation were obtained, which showed a dense texture with smooth surface. The ratio of Mn4+/Mn3+ in the films was increased with increasing Sr doping, leading to the enhancement in double-exchange interaction and electrical conductivity. As a result, the phase transition from metal to insulator was observed with the increasing of test temperature. For the La0.8Sr0.2MnO3 thin film, a large value of emittance (De = 0.28) was obtained, indicating good variable-emittance by appropriate Sr doping.


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