Clanism

• The objectives of this paper are: (1) to present and develop clanism as an indigenous management concept in Central Asia, and (2) to analyze the effect of clanism on a specific management function—human resource management (HRM)—in the concrete context of Kazakhstan.
• This exploratory study employs a qualitative research. The data indicate that the degree to which clanism affects HRM practices depends, to a great extent, on the type of company. Clanism’s effect is strong in state-owned companies and moderate in privately held companies, while it is weak in the subsidiaries of multinational companies. Furthermore, the influx of western MNCs has influenced Kazakhstani HRM in general and lessened the influence of clanism on HRM. However, some characteristics of the local labor market may strengthen the effect of clanism on HRM practices.
• The paper proposes a definition of clanism; discusses the reasons for clanism’s existence; investigates how clanism differs from other indigenous concepts, such as blat and guanxi; and analyzes how clanism affects HRM practices in Kazakhstan, a country that is strategically important for international management.

     

Shooting Blind

Abstract

These two works, both of which deal with photography by visually impaired artists, explore relationships between sight and meaning, light and darkness, truth and trust, seeing and being seen, and, beneath all these, the relationship — in terms of photography — between the sighted and the blind. These issues lie at the heart of photography itself, and in some ways the emphasis on blindness only makes them that much clearer and more fundamental. There is also a definitional strangeness in the idea of photography by the visually impaired that in and of itself makes the works attractive and intellectually engaging. The idea of seeing into a sightless world, or into sightless interpretations of the visual, excites the mind and begins to open doors to understanding.Abstract     

前言

设施行业在过渡到信息时代的过程中,将面临巨大挑战。这种转化将打破我们习惯已久的工作方式。我们所有的业务过程都需要重新被检验,而且多数情况下要进行改变,进而从他人提供的数据中获益。我们的业务定会受益于来源权威且连接可靠的信息,进而保存为可用的格式。这样,信息可以流通到需要它的人们那里,而不需要他们重新收集、解密这些信息。设施行业已经开始向前走了。然而,今天我们所采取的BIM实施的步骤,是完全各行其事的。每个人都有不同的经     

场所的复杂性——对天津的跨文化解读

分析天津的新城市图景,解读隐含在天津现代城市视觉文化中的中西对话,通过关于视觉与时间的观念来思考场所的复杂性问题。对天津而言,＂现代性＂是一个复杂的概念,其独特的城市视觉文化是跨文化交流过程的产物。19世纪天津的城市景观超越了国界,多种异域文化并存。每个殖民国家都拥有自己的特定（西方的）视觉认同,并移植到这一东方语境中。这种视觉认同如今被视为这座城市全球化的起点。当下天津城市发展的策略,一方面是更新这些＂移植＂空间,另一方面力图提升作为一个国际都市的现代特征。那些欧洲古典建筑的美学特征在新的城市语境中再现生机。这种新的城市视觉文化是天津作为一个国际都市的明确标识,并且是在经济层面和象征意义上加以运作的一种资源,跨文化交流的过程藉此得以完成。     

Non-toxic poly(ethylene terephthalate)/clay nanocomposites with enhanced barrier properties

Motivated by the technological need for poly(ethylene terephthalate) materials with improved barrier properties together with the requirement for sustainability this study focuses on an eco-friendly sulfonated polyester as clay compatibilizer to facilitate polymer mixing during melt compounding. We demonstrate that the nanocomposites based on sulfonated polyester are a reliable alternative to their imidazolium counterparts, exhibiting enhanced properties (water vapor and UV transmission), without sacrificing the excellent transparency, clarity and mechanical strength of the matrix.     

Antioxidant activity of white and black sesame seeds and their hull fractions

The total phenolic content (TPC), total antioxidant status (TAS), free radical scavenging capacity, inhibition of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and metal chelating capacity of extracts of whole black and whole white sesame seeds and their hull fractions in 80% aqueous ethanol were investigated. The TPC of whole black sesame seeds and hull extracts were 29.9 ± 0.6 and 146.6 ± 0.6 mg catechin equivalents/g crude ethanolic extract, respectively. The corresponding values for white sesame were 10.6 ± 1.6 and 29.7 ± 0.9 mg catechin equivalents/g crude ethanolic extract. The TAS as determined by Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity assay and expressed as Trolox equivalents was highest for black sesame hulls (65.9 ± 1.7) while white seeds showed the lowest (4.4 ± 0.6). Free radical scavenging capacity of sesame extracts (5–40 μg/mL) was measured using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical. The highest scavenging capacity was obtained at 40 μg/mL and was 94.9 ± 0.8, 25.1 ± 0.4, 14.4 ± 0.9 and 2.5 ± 0.4 for black sesame hulls, black sesame seeds, white sesame hulls and white sesame seeds, respectively. Inhibition of LDL oxidation at 100 ppm level was highest for black sesame hulls (96.7%) followed by those for white sesame hulls (84.6%), black sesame (78.4%) and white sesame seeds (57.3%). Sesame products displayed good ferrous ion chelating capacities, which ranged from 12% to 46% and 17% to 62% at 50 and 100 ppm levels, respectively. Results demonstrated considerable antioxidant activity of sesame products tested especially black sesame hulls.     

Gold-silver alloy nanoshells: a new candidate for nanotherapeutics and diagnostics

We have developed novel gold-silver alloy nanoshells as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dual T₁ (positive) and T₂ (negative) contrast agents as an alternative to typical gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agents. Specifically, we have doped iron oxide nanoparticles with Gd ions and sequestered the ions within the core by coating the nanoparticles with an alloy of gold and silver. Thus, these nanoparticles are very innovative and have the potential to overcome toxicities related to renal clearance of contrast agents such as nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. The morphology of the attained nanoparticles was characterized by XRD which demonstrated the successful incorporation of Gd(III) ions into the structure of the magnetite, with no major alterations of the spinel structure, as well as the growth of the gold-silver alloy shells. This was supported by TEM, ICP-AES, and SEM/EDS data. The nanoshells showed a saturation magnetization of 38 emu/g because of the presence of Gd ions within the crystalline structure with r₁ and r₂ values of 0.0119 and 0.9229 mL mg^-1 s^-1, respectively (Au:Ag alloy = 1:1). T₁- and T₂-weighted images of the nanoshells showed that these agents can both increase the surrounding water proton signals in the T₁-weighted image and reduce the signal in T₂-weighted images. The as-synthesized nanoparticles exhibited strong absorption in the range of 600-800 nm, their optical properties being strongly dependent upon the thickness of the gold-silver alloy shell. Thus, these nanoshells have the potential to be utilized for tumor cell ablation because of their absorption as well as an imaging agent.