Challenging Industry to Innovate! How the Government Can Apply Transparency, Collaboration, Unencumbered Communication, and Dynamic Engagement Through Challenge-Based Acquisition

Symposium PresentationApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Challenging Industry to Innovate! How the Government Can Apply Transparency, Collaboration, Unencumbered Communication, and Dynamic Engagement Through Challenge-Based Acquisition

Excerpt from the Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual Acquisition Research SymposiumThe Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Telecommunications Advanced Research and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing Systems (TARDyS3) program demanded new ideas and novel approaches for sharing electromagnetic spectrum between the Department of Defense and commercial industry. To solve this problem, DISA created an acquisition structure that focused on building transparency, collaborating, and actively communicating with industry across the entire acquisition. This focus on dynamically engaging vendors and encouraging innovation allowed DISA to rapidly deploy high-quality and user-approved capabilities. Dynamic engagement involves a two-way exchange of ideas, listening to industry by seeking input, and conveying the government’s ideas and motivations to potential vendors, while innovation centricity consists of encouraging vendors to solve problems with unique solutions, providing a framework for future acquisitions. Dynamic engagement, coupled with innovation centricity, powerfully engages the vendor community to solve hard problems. Combining innovation with communication creates a vendor community that is motivated to meet the government’s needs, and it accelerates risk mitigation. Furthermore, it can improve product quality and shortens delivery time lines at a reasonable price. For these reasons, future programs should consider incorporating dynamic engagement and innovation-centric approaches at the core of their acquisition strategies.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Promoting novelty, rigor, and style in energy social science: towards codes of practice for appropriate methods and research design

A series of weaknesses in creativity, research design, and quality of writing continue to handicap energy social science. Many studies ask uninteresting research questions, make only marginal contributions, and lack innovative methods or application to theory. Many studies also have no explicit research design, lack rigor, or suffer from mangled structure and poor quality of writing. To help remedy these shortcomings, this Review offers suggestions for how to construct research questions; thoughtfully engage with concepts; state objectives; and appropriately select research methods. Then, the Review offers suggestions for enhancing theoretical, methodological, and empirical novelty. In terms of rigor, codes of practice are presented across seven method categories: experiments, literature reviews, data collection, data analysis, quantitative energy modeling, qualitative analysis, and case studies. We also recommend that researchers beware of hierarchies of evidence utilized in some disciplines, and that researchers place more emphasis on balance and appropriateness in research design. In terms of style, we offer tips regarding macro and microstructure and analysis, as well as coherent writing. Our hope is that this Review will inspire more interesting, robust, multi-method, comparative, interdisciplinary and impactful research that will accelerate the contribution that energy social science can make to both theory and practice

Issues in Research on the Young Chronically III Child

A major goal of research on chronic illness in children is to determine how the illness interacts with developmental processes. The child must be studied within the context of the family, the school, and the health care system. Problems in research include the use of appropriate control groups and matching on control variables. The generic, or cross-categorical, approach has led to the identification of factors affecting children regardless of particular illness. Adjustment to school depends on coordination of the family and health professionals with personnel within the school.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68724/2/10.1177_027112148600500406.pd

Long-Term Outcomes with Subcutaneous C1-Inhibitor Replacement Therapy for Prevention of Hereditary Angioedema Attacks

Background For the prevention of attacks of hereditary angioedema (HAE), the efficacy and safety of subcutaneous human C1-esterase inhibitor (C1-INH[SC]; HAEGARDA, CSL Behring) was established in the 16-week Clinical Study for Optimal Management of Preventing Angioedema with Low-Volume Subcutaneous C1-Inhibitor Replacement Therapy (COMPACT). Objective To assess the long-term safety, occurrence of angioedema attacks, and use of rescue medication with C1-INH(SC). Methods Open-label, randomized, parallel-arm extension of COMPACT across 11 countries. Patients with frequent angioedema attacks, either study treatment-naive or who had completed COMPACT, were randomly assigned (1:1) to 40 IU/kg or 60 IU/kg C1-INH(SC) twice per week, with conditional uptitration to optimize prophylaxis (ClinicalTrials.gov registration no. NCT02316353). Results A total of 126 patients with a monthly attack rate of 4.3 in 3 months before entry in COMPACT were enrolled and treated for a mean of 1.5 years; 44 patients (34.9%) had more than 2 years of exposure. Mean steady-state C1-INH functional activity increased to 66.6% with 60 IU/kg. Incidence of adverse events was low and similar in both dose groups (11.3 and 8.5 events per patient-year for 40 IU/kg and 60 IU/kg, respectively). For 40 IU/kg and 60 IU/kg, median annualized attack rates were 1.3 and 1.0, respectively, and median rescue medication use was 0.2 and 0.0 times per year, respectively. Of 23 patients receiving 60 IU/kg for more than 2 years, 19 (83%) were attack-free during months 25 to 30 of treatment. Conclusions In patients with frequent HAE attacks, long-term replacement therapy with C1-INH(SC) is safe and exhibits a substantial and sustained prophylactic effect, with the vast majority of patients becoming free from debilitating disease symptoms

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Rapid carotid screening by duplex: a prospective single centre assessment

ObjectiveA novel carotid quick scan (CQS) protocol was developed to rapidly screen for carotid atherosclerosis greater than 50% stenosis in a vascular outpatient setting. This study assessed accuracy and time saved.Material & MethodsThe CQS was developed by consensus agreement between vascular surgeons and accredited clinical vascular scientists through a modified Delphi technique. The protocol comprised a rapid B-mode then colour flow transverse sweep of the common and internal carotid arteries, with internal carotid artery velocity assessment. One hundred outpatients attending with peripheral artery disease or abdominal aortic aneurysm were recruited. CQS sensitivity, specificity and accuracy was assessed against a conventional full carotid duplex study, performed to UK and ESVS guidelines.ResultsTwenty four percent of patients (n = 100) had >50% carotid NASCET stenosis. CQS achieved an excellent accuracy of 96.5% in detecting >50% stenosis when compared to full duplex; Cohen’s ƙ = .88, (95%CI .79-.97; P < .001), sensitivity 91.4%, specificity 97.6%, positive predictive value (PPV) 88.9% and negative predictive value (NPV) 98.2%. Median (IQR) time to complete the CQS was 13 sec (±12) per side, compared to 151 sec (±78) per side for the full carotid duplex. In the presence of >50% carotid disease, median CQS time was 25 sec (±31) per side compared to 214 (±104) by full scan.ConclusionCQS as a carotid screening tool is rapid, accurate and acceptable to the population and workforce. It would be simple to roll out in all vascular laboratories to reduce the time and cost burden of excluding significant carotid disease in any group