Co-governance Based on Abilities and Relations
The institutional arrangement of farmer cooperatives in the coastal areas of east China is characterized by a distinct shareholding from the very beginning. After describing some basic facts of institutional arrangement of farmer cooperatives in Zhejiang, the paper puts forward a framework from perspectives such as institutions, norms, trust and commitment for studying the residual control rights of cooperatives. The authors not only point out that the governance structures of farmer cooperatives in the coastal areas of China are the co-governance structure based on the abilities and relations, but also analyze the unique roles of abilities and relations in constructing the governance structure of farmer cooperative in China.
The Emergence of Non-Traditional Cooperative Structures: Public and Private Policy Issues
This paper examines new agricultural cooperative organizational models from an ownership rights perspective. We argue that new cooperative organizational models differ in the way ownership rights are assigned to the economic agents tied contractually to the firm - members, patrons, and investors. The paper proposes a typology of discrete organizational models, in which the traditional cooperative structure and the investor-oriented firm are characterized as polar forms. Five non-traditional models are described and analyzed with implications to both private and public policy.
An injectable and thermosensitive hydrogel: Promoting periodontal regeneration by controlled-release of aspirin and erythropoietin.
Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease induced by complex interactions between host immune system and plaque microorganism. Alveolar bone resorption caused by periodontitis is considered to be one of the main reasons for tooth loss in adults. To terminate the alveolar bone resorption, simultaneous anti-inflammation and periodontium regeneration is required, which has not appeared in the existing methods. In this study, chitosan (CS), β-sodium glycerophosphate (β-GP), and gelatin were used to prepare an injectable and thermosensitive hydrogel, which could continuously release aspirin and erythropoietin (EPO) to exert pharmacological effects of anti-inflammation and tissue regeneration, respectively. The releasing profile showed that aspirin and EPO could be continuously released from the hydrogels, which exhibited no toxicity both in vitro and in vivo, for at least 21 days. Immunohistochemistry staining and micro-CT analyses indicated that administration of CS/β-GP/gelatin hydrogels loaded with aspirin/EPO could terminate the inflammation and recover the height of the alveolar bone, which is further confirmed by histological observations. Our results suggested that CS/β-GP/gelatin hydrogels are easily prepared as drug-loading vectors with excellent biocompatibility, and the CS/β-GP/gelatin hydrogels loaded with aspirin/EPO are quite effective in anti-inflammation and periodontium regeneration, which provides a great potential candidate for periodontitis treatment in the dental clinic. Statement of Significance To terminate the alveolar bone resorption caused by periodontitis, simultaneous anti-inflammation and periodontium regeneration is required, which has not appeared in the existing methods. Here, (1) the chitosan (CS)/β-sodium glycerophosphate/gelatin hydrogels loaded with aspirin/erythropoietin (EPO) can form at body temperature in 5 min with excellent biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo; (2) The faster release of aspirin than EPO in the early stage is beneficial for anti-inflammation and provides a microenvironment for ensuring the regeneration function of EPO in the following step. In vivo experiments revealed that the hydrogels are effective in the control of inflammation and regeneration of the periodontium. These results indicate that our synthesized hydrogels have a great potential in the future clinical application.