Value chains as a linking-pin framework for exploring governance and innovation in nano-involved sectors: illustrated for nanotechnologies and the food packaging sector

Consultable sur Internet : http://ejlt.org//article/view/104/180International audienceNanotechnology is often referred to as an entity in itself, a promising technoscience that may enable a vast array of products that will affect and change society. Looking beneath the umbrella-term of "nanotechnology" what is actually occurring with regards to the emergence of product/applications? And what does this mean for governance of emerging nano-involved product development and societal uptake?. The article argues that one must move beyond the broad umbrella term of nanotechnology to explore governance challenges. It posits that for exploring governance of nano-applications, a much ignored level of analysis - the industrial value chain - is a promising level of analysis in both identifying the current activities and potential impacts of nanotechnology and the modes of governance that are in play, how they evolve and how they could be shaped. Focusing on value chains is important for the near and mid-term in order to evaluate and characterise the smorgasbord of techno-scientific promises stemming from nanotechnology and the effects of broader sectoral changes on potential nano-enabled products that may reach citizen-consumers. As nanotechnology enters various parts of the agrifood sector, the emerging governance arrangements of nanotechnology meet incumbent (and still developing) governance regimes, consumer positions and actor arrangements. The paper further articulates this claim, closing with an outlook on what sort of approaches could be used for foresighting potential developments in nanotechnology, their impacts and potential frameworks for exploring and modulating nanotechnology governance

Research Impact Assessment: from ex post to real-time assessment

International audienceThis paper presents an ongoing research and development project to build research management tools based on real-time impactanalysis (the toolset is labelled ASIRPArt). The ambition is to use the lessons learned from ex post research impact assessment (RIA), building from the ASIRPA project which was launched in 2011. The ASIRPA approach is currently implemented on a routine base at the French public research organisation INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique). Therefore, the project draws on lessons learned from ex post RIA and the experience of researchers and actors involved in research programming. The aim of ASIRPArt is to design an approach and tools to help conduct research projects or programmes with the aim to amplify impacts. The challenge of the current project is to develop management tools based on a better understanding of the mechanisms that generate research impact. These tools will be coproduced with potential users. Given the uncertainty and complexity that characterise the transformation processes linked to research activities, we do not intend to design ballistic steering tools but to produce tools to foster learning processes, coordination and reflexivity of the actors involved. Our approach takes inspiration in different streams of literature

Forecasting Innovation Pathways (FIP) for new and emerging science and technologies

International audience"New" and "Emerging Science" and "Technologies" ("NESTs") have tremendous innovation potential. However this must be weighed against enormous uncertainties caused by many unknowns. The authors of this paper offer a framework to analyze NESTs to help ascertain likely innovation pathways.We have devised a 10-step framework based on extensive Future-oriented Technology Analyses ("FTA") experience, enriched by in-depth case analyses. In the paper, we describe our analytical activities in two case studies. The nanobiosensor experience is contrasted with that of deep brain stimulation in relative quantitative and qualitative emphases.We close the paper by reflecting on this systematic FTA framework for emerging science and technologies, for its intended goal, that is to support decision making

Penrose Limits and Non-local theories

We investigate Penrose limits of two classes of non-local theories, little string theories and non-commutative gauge theories. Penrose limits of the near-horizon geometry of NS5-branes help to shed some light on the high energy spectrum of little string theories. We attempt to understand renormalization group flow in these theories by considering Penrose limits wherein the null geodesic also has a radial component. In particular, we demonstrate that it is possible to construct a pp-wave spacetime which interpolates between the linear dilaton and the AdS regions for the Type IIA NS5-brane. Similar analysis is considered for the holographic dual geometry to non-commutative field theories.Comment: 27 pages, LaTeX; v2: added reference

Sexual harassment and abuse in sport: The research context

This special issue of the Journal of Sexual Aggression draws on the contributions to a Symposium on ‘Sexual Harassment in Sport – Challenges for Sport Psychology in the New Millennium’, held at the Xth Congress of the International Society for Sport Psychology, Skiathos, Greece from May 28th to June 2nd 2001. The symposium, which was organised by the authors of this editorial, was intended to move forward the international research agenda on sexual harassment and abuse in sport and to examine professional practice issues for sport psychologists. It was clear from the attendance of over 60 delegates at that symposium that international interest in this subject is growing. Further evidence of this came from the attendance of 26 members states – from Azerbaijan to Sweden - at a Council of Europe seminar on The Protection of Children, Young People and Women in Sport, held in Helsinki in September 2001

Comparison of the CDC Backpack aspirator and the Prokopack aspirator for sampling indoor- and outdoor-resting mosquitoes in southern Tanzania.

BACKGROUND\ud \ud Resting mosquitoes can easily be collected using an aspirating device. The most commonly used mechanical aspirator is the CDC Backpack aspirator. Recently, a simple, and low-cost aspirator called the Prokopack has been devised and proved to have comparable performance. The following study evaluates the Prokopack aspirator compared to the CDC backpack aspirator when sampling resting mosquitoes in rural Tanzania.\ud \ud METHODS\ud \ud Mosquitoes were sampled in- and outdoors of 48 typical rural African households using both aspirators. The aspirators were rotated between collectors and households in a randomized, Latin Square design. Outdoor collections were performed using artificial resting places (large barrel and car tyre), underneath the outdoor kitchen (kibanda) roof and from a drop-net. Data were analysed with generalized linear models.\ud \ud RESULTS\ud \ud The number of mosquitoes collected using the CDC Backpack and the Prokopack aspirator were not significantly different both in- and outdoors (indoors p = 0.735; large barrel p = 0.867; car tyre p = 0.418; kibanda p = 0.519). The Prokopack was superior for sampling of drop-nets due to its smaller size. The number mosquitoes collected per technician was more consistent when using the Prokopack aspirator. The Prokopack was more user-friendly: technicians preferred using the it over the CDC backpack aspirator as it weighs considerably less, retains its charge for longer and is easier to manoeuvre.\ud \ud CONCLUSIONS\ud \ud The Prokopack proved in the field to be more advantageous than the CDC Backpack aspirator. It can be self assembled using simple, low-cost and easily attainable materials. This device is a useful tool for researchers or vector-control surveillance programs operating in rural Africa, as it is far simpler and quicker than traditional means of sampling resting mosquitoes. Further longitudinal evaluations of the Prokopack aspirator versus the gold standard pyrethrum spray catch for indoor resting catches are recommended

A systematic review of strategies to recruit and retain primary care doctors

Background There is a workforce crisis in primary care. Previous research has looked at the reasons underlying recruitment and retention problems, but little research has looked at what works to improve recruitment and retention. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate interventions and strategies used to recruit and retain primary care doctors internationally. Methods A systematic review was undertaken. MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL and grey literature were searched from inception to January 2015.Articles assessing interventions aimed at recruiting or retaining doctors in high income countries, applicable to primary care doctors were included. No restrictions on language or year of publication. The first author screened all titles and abstracts and a second author screened 20%. Data extraction was carried out by one author and checked by a second. Meta-analysis was not possible due to heterogeneity. Results 51 studies assessing 42 interventions were retrieved. Interventions were categorised into thirteen groups: financial incentives (n=11), recruiting rural students (n=6), international recruitment (n=4), rural or primary care focused undergraduate placements (n=3), rural or underserved postgraduate training (n=3), well-being or peer support initiatives (n=3), marketing (n=2), mixed interventions (n=5), support for professional development or research (n=5), retainer schemes (n=4), re-entry schemes (n=1), specialised recruiters or case managers (n=2) and delayed partnerships (n=2). Studies were of low methodological quality with no RCTs and only 15 studies with a comparison group. Weak evidence supported the use of postgraduate placements in underserved areas, undergraduate rural placements and recruiting students to medical school from rural areas. There was mixed evidence about financial incentives. A marketing campaign was associated with lower recruitment. Conclusions This is the first systematic review of interventions to improve recruitment and retention of primary care doctors. Although the evidence base for recruiting and care doctors is weak and more high quality research is needed, this review found evidence to support undergraduate and postgraduate placements in underserved areas, and selective recruitment of medical students. Other initiatives covered may have potential to improve recruitment and retention of primary care practitioners, but their effectiveness has not been established

Bacterial and metabolic phenotypes associated with inadequate response to ursodeoxycholic acid treatment in primary biliary cholangitis

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) as first-line treatment. Poor response to UDCA is associated with a higher risk of progressing to cirrhosis, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. UDCA modulates the composition of primary and bacterial-derived bile acids (BAs). We characterized the phenotypic response to UDCA based on BA and bacterial profiles of PBC patients treated with UDCA. Patients from the UK-PBC cohort (n = 419) treated with UDCA for a minimum of 12-months were assessed using the Barcelona dynamic response criteria. BAs from serum, urine, and feces were analyzed using Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry and fecal bacterial composition measured using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We identified 191 non-responders, 212 responders, and a subgroup of responders with persistently elevated liver biomarkers (n = 16). Responders had higher fecal secondary and tertiary BAs than non-responders and lower urinary bile acid abundances, with the exception of 12-dehydrocholic acid, which was higher in responders. The sub-group of responders with poor liver function showed lower alpha-diversity evenness, lower abundance of fecal secondary and tertiary BAs than the other groups and lower levels of phyla with BA-deconjugation capacity (Actinobacteriota/Actinomycetota, Desulfobacterota, Verrucomicrobiota) compared to responders. UDCA dynamic response was associated with an increased capacity to generate oxo-/epimerized secondary BAs. 12-dehydrocholic acid is a potential biomarker of treatment response. Lower alpha-diversity and lower abundance of bacteria with BA deconjugation capacity might be associated with an incomplete response to treatment in some patients

EXIT-chart aided hybrid multiuser detector design for frequency-domain-spread chip-interleaved MC-CDMA

With the advent of EXtrinsic Information Transfer (EXIT) charts, we are capable of analyzing, predicting and visually comparing the convergence behaviours of different turbo Multi-User Detectector (MUD)s. The different MUDs have diverse EXIT characteristics and hence their superposition allows us to create a combined EXIT curve, which closely matches that of the channel decoder. Hence a near-capacity operation is facilitated by combining the benifits of different MUDs and therefore to create a superior MUD. Thus in this contribution, we propose a novel hybrid MUD combining scheme, which combines the advantages of a high performance and low complexity in form of an advanced hybrid MUD solution. The transmitted bits are unknown at the receiver, hence it is not feasible to directly evaluate the mutual information gain of the iterative MUD in consecutive iterations, hence we propose a realistic algorithm for estimating this mutual information gain, which is then used for activating the most appropriate constituent MUD as and when it is necessary. The constituent MUDs are the Matched Filter (MF) based Soft Interference Cancellation (SoIC) and the optimum Bayesian MUDs, which are invoked in the scenario of Frequency-Domain-Spread Chip-Interleaved (FDSCI) Multiple Carrier Code Division Multiple Access (MC-CDMA). The resultant hybrid MUD is capable of outperforming both the MF-SoIC and Bayesian turbo MUDs in the terms of the attainable complexity and Bit-Error-Rate (BER) performance

Catalog of Radio Galaxies with z>0.3. I:Construction of the Sample

The procedure of the construction of a sample of distant ($z>0.3$) radio galaxies using NED, SDSS, and CATS databases for further application in statistical tests is described. The sample is assumed to be cleaned from objects with quasar properties. Primary statistical analysis of the list is performed and the regression dependence of the spectral index on redshift is found.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, 2 table