We consider how the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged European small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector, and draw suggests policy implications. The sudden onslaught of the pandemic has acted as an economic shock, and we consider how it is likely to affect different types of manufacturing SMEs. We distinguish between immediate effects, a result of the almost-simultaneous lockdowns across Europe and its major trading partners, and longer-term implications for both SMEs and the global value chains where they are inserted. In the shorter run, most SMEs have faced logistical challenges in addition to demand disruptions, although the severity has differed across firms and industries. We argue that in the longer-term, there will be different challenges and opportunities depending on the type of SME. Policy interventions will also need to be sensitive to the different types of SMEs, rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. The policy mix will need to shift from its initial focus on the survival of European SMEs in the short term, towards a more structural and longer-term approach based on promoting their renewal and growth through innovation, internationalization and networking.
Patients and relatives describe a great variety of stigma and discrimination experiences in all areas of life, including health care. Isolation and avoidance are common reactions to those experiences. Publicizing these stigma and discrimination experiences could help to reduce stigmatizing attitudes in society and result in healthier reactions from patients, favoring a better course of the illness.
Suicide and depression are associated with an increased density of ␣ 2 -adrenoceptors (radioligand receptor binding) in specific regions of the human brain. The function of these inhibitory receptors involves various regulatory proteins (G i coupling proteins and G proteincoupled receptor kinases, GRKs), which work in concert with the receptors. In this study we quantitated in parallel the levels of immunolabeled ␣ 2A -adrenoceptors and associated regulatory proteins in brains of suicide and depressed suicide victims. Specimens of the prefrontal cortex (Brodmann area 9) were collected from 51 suicide victims and 31 control subjects. Levels of ␣ 2A -adrenoceptors, G␣ i1/2 proteins, and GRK 2/3 were assessed by immunoblotting techniques by using specific polyclonal antisera and the immunoreactive proteins were quantitated by densitometry. Increased levels of ␣ 2A -adrenoceptors (31-40%), G␣ i1/2 proteins (42-63%), and membrane-associated GRK 2/3 (24 -32%) were found in the prefrontal cortex of suicide victims and antidepressantfree depressed suicide victims. There were significant correlations between the levels of GRK 2/3 (dependent variable) and those of ␣ 2A -adrenoceptors and G␣ i1/2 proteins (independent variables) in the same brain samples of suicide victims (r ϭ 0.56, p ϭ 0.008) and depressed suicide victims (r ϭ 0.54, p ϭ 0.041). Antemortem antidepressant treatment was associated with a significant reduction in the levels of G␣ i1/2 proteins (32%), but with modest decreases in the levels of ␣ 2A -adrenoceptors (6%) and GRK 2/3 (18%) in brains of depressed suicide victims. The increased levels in concert of ␣ 2A -adrenoceptors, G␣ i1/2 proteins, and GRK 2/3 in brains of depressed suicide victims support the existence of supersensitive ␣ 2A -adrenoceptors in subjects with major depression. Key Words: ␣ 2A -Adrenoceptors-G proteins-G protein-coupled receptor kinase-Human brain-Suicide-Depression.
Competition among countries and regions to attract the R&D activities of multinational enterprises has increased substantially during the last years, but the strategies used by governments in this competition remain largely unexplored. This paper proposes a taxonomy of the main policy instruments available to stimulate inward R&D-intensive FDI and presents the results of a comparative case-study of two European countries: Spain and Ireland. The main conclusion is that an efficient promotion of R&D-intensive FDI calls for a closer coordination between innovation policy and inward investment promotion, which are two policy areas that have traditionally operated rather independently from each other. In addition, inward investment agencies targeting R&D-intensive FDI are advised to reconfigure the scope of services they provide by placing more emphasis on after-care, since R&D-intensive FDI tends to be evolutionary rather than greenfield.Keywords: R&D, FDI, multinational enterprises. ResumenLa competición entre países y regiones por atraer las actividades de I+D de las empresas multinacionales ha aumentado sustancialmente durante los últimos años, pero no hay suficientes estudios sobre las estrategias utilizadas por los gobiernos en esta competición. Este artículo propone una taxonomía de los principales instrumentos políticos para estimular la IED intensiva en I+D y presenta los resultados de un estudio de caso comparativo de dos países europeos: España e Irlanda. La principal conclusión es que una promoción eficiente de la IED intensiva en I+D requiere una mayor coordinación entre las políticas de innovación y las políticas de atracción de la IED, que tradicionalmente han funcionado de forma independiente. Otra recomendación que emana de este estudio es que las agencias de promoción de inversiones que deseen priorizar la IED intensiva en I+D deberían reconfigurar la gama de servicios que prestan para pasar a centrarse en los servicios postinversión (o "after-care"), ya que la IED-intensiva en I+D tiende a ocurrir a través de un proceso evolutivo y no tanto a través de inversiones "greenfield".Palabras clave: I+D; IED; empresas multinacionales. AcknowledgmentsThanks are due to the Institute of International Integration Studies of Trinity College Dublin for hosting me as a visiting researcher while developing this paper, and especially to Frances Ruane who provided invaluable feedback and assistance. I am also grateful to Paloma Sánchez, my PhD supervisor at Universidad Autó-noma de Madrid, for her useful comments to an earlier draft of this paper. Thanks are also due to all the policy makers and business managers that agreed to be interviewed for this research, especially to
Major depression, opioid addiction, neurodegenerative diseases, and glial tumors are associated with disturbances of imidazoline receptors (IR) in the human brain. In depression, the level of a 45-kD IR protein (putative I1-IR) is increased in the brain of suicide victims (51%) and in platelets of depressed patients (40%). The density of platelet I1-IR ([125I]-p-iodoclonidine binding) is also increased in depression (135%). The 29/30-kD IR protein (putative I2B-IR) is downregulated (19%) in suicide victims in parallel with a reduction (40%) in the density of I2B-IR ([3H]idazoxan binding). Antidepressant drugs induce downregulation of 45-kD IR protein and I1-sites in platelets of depressed patients and upregulation of I2-sites in rat brain. The densities of I2B-IR and the related 29/30-kD IR protein are decreased (39% and 28%) in the brain of heroin addicts. The density of I2B-IR is increased in Alzheimer's disease (63%) and decreased in Huntington's disease (56%). Brain I2B-IR is not altered in Parkinson's disease. The level of I2-IR in glial tumors is increased (two-fivefold) in parallel with the abundance of the related 29/30-kD IR protein (39%), whereas the level of 45-kD IR protein is decreased (39%). The possible functional relevance of these findings in the context of the pathogenesis of these disorders remains to be elucidated.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.