Scientific Standards and the Regulation of Genetically Modified Insects

Experimental releases of genetically modified (GM) insects are reportedly being evaluated in various countries, including Brazil, the Cayman Islands (United Kingdom), France, Guatemala, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States of America, and Vietnam. GM mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) have already been released for field trials into inhabited areas in the Cayman Islands (2009–?), Malaysia (2010–2011), and Brazil (2011–2012). Here, we assess the regulatory process in the first three countries permitting releases (Malaysia, US, and the Cayman Islands) in terms of pre-release transparency and scientific quality. We find that, despite 14 US government–funded field trials over the last 9 years (on a moth pest of cotton), there has been no scientific publication of experimental data, and in only two instances have permit applications been published. The world's first environmental impact statement (EIS) on GM insects, produced by US authorities in 2008, is found to be scientifically deficient on the basis that (1) most consideration of environmental risk is too generic to be scientifically meaningful; (2) it relies on unpublished data to establish central scientific points; and (3) of the approximately 170 scientific publications cited, the endorsement of the majority of novel transgenic approaches is based on just two laboratory studies in only one of the four species covered by the document. We find that it is not possible to determine from documents publically available prior to the start of releases if obvious hazards of the particular GM mosquitoes released in Malaysia, the Cayman Islands, and Brazil received expert examination. Simple regulatory measures are proposed that would build public confidence and stimulate the independent experimental studies that environmental risk assessments require. Finally, a checklist is provided to assist the general public, journalists, and lawmakers in determining, from documents issued by regulators prior to the start of releases, whether permit approval is likely to have a scientifically high quality basi

Achieving Quality Services: A Checklist for Evaluating Your Agency

[Excerpt] In recent years, several trends have led state service systems to focus more directly on employment as an expected outcome of service delivery for many individuals who have traditionally experienced difficulty in successfully maintaining employment. These trends include welfare reform and the replacement of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) with the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program; the replacement of the Job Training Partnership Act by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the incorporation of the Rehabilitation Act as part of WIA; and the stated goal of the Presidential Task Force on Employment of People with Disabilities to extensively expand the employment participation rate of people with disabilities. These significant legislative mandates are sending a clear message to various public systems and service providers: the need to improve services to enhance employment outcomes for job seekers with disabilities. This assessment checklist was developed for agencies to evaluate the quality and responsiveness of their services and how well they accommodate for the needs of individuals with disabilities. While this checklist emphasizes the provision of supports to job seekers with disabilities, systems are also evaluated so that both lasting and beneficial changes can be made that improve employment supports for all job seekers

The Role of Transportation in Campus Emergency Planning, MTI Report 08-06

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina created the greatest natural disaster in American history. The states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama sustained significant damage, including 31 colleges and universities. Other institutions of higher education, most notably Louisiana State University (LSU), became resources to the disaster area. This is just one of the many examples of disaster impacts on institutions of higher education. The Federal Department of Homeland Security, under Homeland Security Presidential Directive–5, requires all public agencies that want to receive federal preparedness assistance to comply with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which includes the creation of an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). Universities, which may be victims or resources during disasters, must write NIMS–compliant emergency plans. While most university emergency plans address public safety and logistics management, few adequately address the transportation aspects of disaster response and recovery. This MTI report describes the value of integrating transportation infrastructure into the campus emergency plan, including planning for helicopter operations. It offers a list of materials that can be used to educate and inform campus leadership on campus emergency impacts, including books about the Katrina response by LSU and Tulane Hospital, contained in the report´s bibliography. It provides a complete set of Emergency Operations Plan checklists and organization charts updated to acknowledge lessons learned from Katrina, 9/11 and other wide–scale emergencies. Campus emergency planners can quickly update their existing emergency management documents by integrating selected annexes and elements, or create new NIMS–compliant plans by adapting the complete set of annexes to their university´s structures

Software maintenance in scientific and engineering environments: An introduction and guide

The purpose of software maintenance techniques is addressed. The aims of perfective, adaptive and corrective software maintenance are defined and discussed, especially in the NASA research environment. Areas requiring maintenance, and tools available for this, and suggestions for their use are made. Stress is placed on the organizational aspect of maintenance at both the individual and group level. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of various forms of documentation as the basis around which to organize. Finally, suggestions are given on how to proceed in the partial or complete absence of such documentation

Protecting and Promoting the Human Right to Respect for Family Life: Treaty-Based Reform and Domestic Advocacy

This article examines the right to respect for family life in international law, focusing on its underlying principles and explicit protections. The article identifies these legal norms so that drafters of international treaties, specifically the International Migrants Bill of Rights, and United States legal practitioners representing immigrant children can incorporate the right to respect for family life into their drafting and advocacy, thereby protecting and promoting this critical human right. To encourage both high-level, international treaty-based reform and the grassroots domestic advocacy necessary to comprehensively protect and promote this right, this article provides specific ideas for incorporating the right to respect for family life into (1) the International Migrants Bill of Rights and (2) the United States immigration advocacy process. Section II identifies the principles that underlie the right to respect for family life, especially as it relates to children: (1) that family is the natural and fundamental unit of society and (2) that maintaining the family unit is in the best interests of the child. It also discusses the individuals to whom the right to respect for family life typically attaches. Section III discusses examples of how courts and U.N. expert bodies, including the European Court of Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Committee, apply the right to respect for family life in child and family immigration contexts. Section IV analyzes the themes and reasoning in this case law. Section V discusses specific ideas for further integrating the right to respect for family life into the current version of the International Migrants Bill of Rights. Section VI identifies ways in which United States-based advocates can incorporate the right to respect for family life into their advocacy efforts. Section VII provides a brief conclusion

Zoning for Solar Energy: Resource Guide

This document is designed to help New York State localities amend zoning and other land use regulations to permit the development of solar energy systems in their jurisdictions. While it applies to many types of solar energy systems, this resource guide focuses primarily on solar electric or photovoltaic (PV) systems. It begins by describing the local government’s role in land use planning and regulation. It then discusses the importance of defining all solar energy systems that a community wants to allow in existing zoning districts and shows how to incorporate those definitions in the zoning ordinance. Next, the guide explains how a municipality can amend zoning to permit these systems either as principal, secondary, accessory, or specially permitted land uses in existing zoning districts, as well as how to exempt certain systems from zoning altogether. The resource then explains how relevant bulk and area requirements must be amended to accommodate permitted solar energy systems. Subsequently, the guide discusses how to amend site plan requirements to include standards for solar energy systems, examines how local governments can modify environmental impact review under SEQRA, and considers the role of other local boards in streamlining the approval process for solar energy systems. Beyond permitting solar energy systems, the guide discusses ways to amend land use laws to either require or encourage them. Throughout, this document provides helpful resources and examples that communities can use when regulating to allow, encourage, or require various solar energy systems. Although land use terminology may vary by regional and jurisdictional practice, the examples generally represent approaches discussed throughout the guide. The examples are intended to be illustrative samples and are not intended to be an endorsement of the content

Development of preliminary design concept for multifunction display and control system for Orbiter crew station. Task 3: Concept analysis

The access schema developed to access both individual switch functions as well as automated or semiautomated procedures for the orbital maneuvering system and electrical power and distribution and control system discussed and the operation of the system is described. Feasibility tests and analyses used to define display parameters and to select applicable hardware choices for use in such a system are presented and the results are discussed

Quality interoperability within digital libraries: the DL.org perspective

Quality is the most dynamic aspect of DLs, and becomes even more complex with respect to interoperability. This paper formalizes the research motivations and hypotheses on quality interoperability conducted by the Quality Working Group within the EU-funded project DL.org (<a href="http://www.dlorg.eu">http://www.dlorg.eu/</a>). After providing a multi-level interoperability framework – adopted by DL.org - the authors illustrate key-research points and approaches on the way to the interoperability of DLs quality, grounding them in the DELOS Reference Model. By applying the DELOS Reference Model Quality Concept Map to their interoperability motivating scenario, the authors subsequently present the two main research outcomes of their investigation - the Quality Core Model and the Quality Interoperability Survey

A research protocol for developing a Point-Of-Care Key Evidence Tool 'POCKET': a checklist for multidimensional evidence reporting on point-of-care in vitro diagnostics.

INTRODUCTION: Point-of-care in vitro diagnostics (POC-IVD) are increasingly becoming widespread as an acceptable means of providing rapid diagnostic results to facilitate decision-making in many clinical pathways. Evidence in utility, usability and cost-effectiveness is currently provided in a fragmented and detached manner that is fraught with methodological challenges given the disruptive nature these tests have on the clinical pathway. The Point-of-care Key Evidence Tool (POCKET) checklist aims to provide an integrated evidence-based framework that incorporates all required evidence to guide the evaluation of POC-IVD to meet the needs of policy and decisionmakers in the National Health Service (NHS). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A multimethod approach will be applied in order to develop the POCKET. A thorough literature review has formed the basis of a robust Delphi process and validation study. Semistructured interviews are being undertaken with POC-IVD stakeholders, including industry, regulators, commissioners, clinicians and patients to understand what evidence is required to facilitate decision-making. Emergent themes will be translated into a series of statements to form a survey questionnaire that aims to reach a consensus in each stakeholder group to what needs to be included in the tool. Results will be presented to a workshop to discuss the statements brought forward and the optimal format for the tool. Once assembled, the tool will be field-tested through case studies to ensure validity and usability and inform refinement, if required. The final version will be published online with a call for comments. Limitations include unpredictable sample representation, development of compromise position rather than consensus, and absence of blinding in validation exercise. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The Imperial College Joint Research Compliance Office and the Imperial College Hospitals NHS Trust R&D department have approved the protocol. The checklist tool will be disseminated through a PhD thesis, a website, peer-reviewed publication, academic conferences and formal presentations