The Arrested Development of Golden Rice: the Scientific and Social Challenges of a Transgenic Biofortified Crop

Since its initiation to reduce the global public health crisis of vitamin A deficiency (VAD), the Golden Rice (GR) Project has met with both successes and challenges. After 16 years of its scientific breakthrough in 2000 with the GR prototype to produce β-carotene in rice grain, it has yet to be released. As the first biofortified crop developed with transgenic technologies designed to reduce the micronutrient deficiency, GR has met controversy and even academic scandal. This review updates the science and situates GR in its political, regulatory and economic contexts. In doing so, peer-reviewed journal articles on GR and VAD were studied, specific data were cited from well-recognized organizations, and both the science and regulatory issues were checked through personal communications. This review aims not only to update and provide evidence-based analysis of GR, but also to facilitate broader social conversations on transgenic crops

Predicting Volunteers' Intention to Return: An Examination of Brand Personality, Prestige, and Identification of Sporting Events

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among four variables: brand personality traits, prestige of a sporting event, brand identification, and individuals' intention to return to volunteer for future sporting events. Five personality traits were included in the study: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. A proposed conceptual model was developed and tested with a sample of volunteers at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Two hundred twenty-four individuals participated in a self-administered questionnaire during the event. Results from structural equation model analysis showed that three brand personality dimensions—sincerity, competence, and sophistication—were associated with individuals' prestige of the sporting event. Furthermore, event prestige positively influenced brand identification, which had a positive impact on volunteers' intention to return for volunteering

"How can artists survive as artists?” : a comparative study of the status of artists and cultural policy supporting artists in Finland and South Korea

Living as a professional artist requires multiple roles such as a businessman, a social media specialist, a financial expert, an entrepreneur, as well as artists contributing creativity through their artworks. The welfare system for artists in South Korea was suddenly legislated after one screenwriter, Goeun Choi’s death in 2011. However, the law was legislated in a short time, thus, it contains limitations and requires improvements. Furthermore, the two previous Korean governments made ‘Blacklist’ for artists and organizations who were unsupportive for those governments and gave disadvantages deliberately towards artists who were in this ‘Blacklist’. This research investigates to compare the status of professional artists in South Korea and Finland by interviewing artists in both countries. The goal of this thesis is to find out and suggest the direction of cultural policy supporting artists in South Korea through comparison with Finland. I interviewed ten professional artists (five professional artists in each country) by using a semi-structured interview. The interviews were conducted in English for Finnish artists, and in Korean for Korean artists. The collected data from Korean artists were translated into English. According to the results, the deviation of income for Korean professional artists was greater than Finnish professional artists. The grant was an important source of income for Finnish artists which means that Finnish artists were more dependent on the grant and they had more stable income with less deviation of income rather than Korean artists. Korean artists were not aware of grant or support project from the government with lack of information and mistrust towards the government. Meanwhile, Finnish artists were sharing information about grant through communities and organizations and they had trust in the process of grant system from the government. Artists in both countries pointed out the business-minded attitude towards short-term and visible outcome from both governments. Also, they suggested that the government appreciate art and artists

The language of magic in Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin’s food still lifes

In this thesis, I interpret Chardin's still lifes of fresh fruit and baked goods from the 1750s and 1760s as statements on the art of painting. In doing so, I propose a new approach to still life paintings as works of art that merit attention not only for their display of the artist's pictorial technique but also for the cultural and aesthetic significance of their subject matters. I explore the implications of eighteenth-century art critics' evocation of magic in their praise of Chardin's still lifes through close visual analysis of these paintings and investigations of nouvelle cuisine and eighteenth-century aesthetic theories. The painted objects and technique in these works closely correspond to the eighteenth-century concept of natural magic as creating extraordinary effects through an intense study of nature. As artificial constructions, these works and the nouvelle cuisine they evoke also visualize the contemporary notion of truth in illusion

Exit Strategy for Aid Programs: Planning Exit before Entering

As aid interventions by nature are temporary, they will eventually be withdrawn. Reasons and circumstances of withdrawals vary since withdrawals can be part of a strategic approach to long-term sustainability, a change in organizational priorities, or a political decision made at a higher level. A growing international demand for effective and sustainable outcomes of aid programs emphasizes a proper exit and exit strategy. However, a successful exit takes a well-planned strategy at early stages of aid programs and significant amounts of resources. This study reviews approaches to exit and exit strategies at a program level, and common elements of a viable exit strategy including setting an exit timeline, establishing specific criteria and indicators, identifying key actors, and building a monitoring and evaluation system. These elements need to be guided by transparency, inclusion, predictability, obligation, and flexibility.