Since Klaus Schwab and the World Economic Forum declared the arrival of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there has been much discussion about it. However, there is no commonly agreed-upon definition of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Therefore, we attempted to answer the following four research questions. "What is the definition of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?", "How can we respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution in terms of institutions?", "How can we respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution in terms of technology?", "How can we respond to the Fourth Industrial Revolution in terms of firm innovation and start-up strategy?" Brainstorming was conducted by 11 scholars from several countries to answer these four research questions. Therefore, this research is not the end product of four research questions, but a kind of advanced template to answer the four research questions for continuing research.

Culture, in its various forms, has always been a critical driver of innovation. This paper focuses on generating some insights into the role of “culture for open innovation dynamics”. First, because the requirement to understand culture, which can control open innovation complexity, has been augmented, we want to answer the following research question in this study: How can we define or organize “culture for open innovation dynamics”, which can motivate open innovation dynamics, and control open innovation complexity? Second, we propose a concept model of culture for open innovation dynamics by reviewing the literature on the culture of firms in terms of their traits, organization, static innovation, and dynamic aspects regarding their innovation in entrepreneurship, and we validate said model through an indirect social experiment using the research results of 23 Special Issue papers. Third, the concept model of culture for open innovation dynamics is explained as the interaction between three different entrepreneurship dimensions: Entrepreneurship of novice entrepreneurs, intrapreneurship of employees of an existing firm, and organizational entrepreneurship by the firm itself. According to the balance of three sub-entrepreneurship types, culture for open innovation dynamics can have different aspects, namely, entrepreneurship leading culture for open innovation dynamics, intrapreneurship leading culture for open innovation dynamics, or organizational entrepreneurship leading culture for open innovation dynamics. This paper helps organizations and entrepreneurs to better understand the role that culture plays in boosting open innovation dynamics.

Intervertebral discs (IVDs) are complex structures that consist of three parts, namely, nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus and cartilage endplates. With aging, IVDs gradually degenerate as a consequence of many factors, such as microenvironment changes and cell death. Human clinical trial and animal model studies have documented that cell death, particularly apoptosis and autophagy, significantly contribute to IVD degeneration. The mechanisms underlying this phenomenon include the activation of apoptotic pathways and the regulation of autophagy in response to nutrient deprivation and multiple stresses. In this review, we briefly summarize recent progress in understanding the function and regulation of apoptosis and autophagy signaling pathways. In particular, we focus on studies that reveal the functional mechanisms of these pathways in IVD degeneration.