Entrepreneurial Experiments in Science Policy: Analizing the Human Genome Project

We re-conceptualize the role of science policy makers, envisioning and illustrating their move from being simple investors in scientific projects to entrepreneurs who create the conditions for entrepreneurial experiments and initiate them. We argue that reframing science policy around the notion of conducting entrepreneurial experiments – experiments that increase the diversity of technical, organizational and institutional arrangements in which scientific research is conducted – can provide policy makers with a wider repertoire of effective interventions. To illustrate the power of this approach, we analyze the Human Genome Project (HGP) as a set of successful, entrepreneurial experiments in organizational and institutional innovation. While not designed as such, the HGP was an experiment in funding a science project across a variety of organizational settings, including seven public and one private (Celera) research centers. We assess the major characteristics and differences between these organizational choices, using a mix of qualitative and econometric analyses to examine their impact on scientific progress. The planning and direction of the Human Genome Project show that policy makers can use the levers of entrepreneurial experimentation to transform scientific progress, much as entrepreneurs have transformed economic progress.Entrepreneurial Experiments; Science Policy; Human Genome Project

Desprezando a democracia na política educacional: Sistemas de responsabilização do cartão de relatório da escola A-F

Sixteen states have adopted school report card accountability systems that assign A-F letter grades to schools. Other states are now engaged in deliberation about whether they, too, should adopt such systems. This paper examines A-F accountability systems with respect to three kinds of validity. First, it examines whether or not these accountability systems are valid as a measure, that is, do these systems validly measure school quality? Second, it examines whether or not they are valid as a policy instrument. or, how far do A-F accountability systems fulfill the stated aims of their proponents—empowering parents, providing “simple” and “common sense” measures of educational quality, and so on? Finally, it examines whether or not A-F systems are valid as a democratic framework:, how well do these systems align with the broader goals of educating students for democratic citizenship and of incorporating parents and community members in democratic deliberation about policies for their public schools? The paper concludes that A-F accountability systems are invalid along each of these lines, and provides recommendations for democratically developing and implementing criteria for school assessment.Dieciséis estados han adoptado sistemas de rendición de cuentas de tarjetas de calificaciones escolares que asignan calificaciones de letra A-F a las escuelas. Otros estados ahora están involucrados en la deliberación sobre si ellos también deberían adoptar tales sistemas. Este documento examina los sistemas de rendición de cuentas de A-F con respecto a tres tipos de validez. Primero, examina si estos sistemas de rendición de cuentas son válidos como medida, es decir, ¿estos sistemas valen válidamente la calidad de la escuela? En segundo lugar, examina si son o no válidos como un instrumento de política. o, ¿hasta qué punto los sistemas de rendición de cuentas de A-F cumplen los objetivos declarados de sus defensores -apoderando a los padres, proporcionando medidas "simples" y de "sentido común" de calidad educativa, etc.? Finalmente, examina si los sistemas A-F son válidos como marco democrático: ¿qué tan bien se alinean estos sistemas con los objetivos más amplios de educar a los estudiantes para una ciudadanía democrática y de incorporar a padres y miembros de la comunidad en una deliberación democrática sobre las políticas para sus escuelas públicas? El documento concluye que los sistemas de rendición de cuentas A-F no son válidos a lo largo de cada una de estas líneas y ofrece recomendaciones para desarrollar y aplicar criterios democráticamente para la evaluación escolar.Dezesseis estados adotaram sistemas de responsabilidade de cartões de nível escolar que atribuem notas de grau A-F às escolas. Outros estados estão agora envolvidos na deliberação sobre se eles também devem adotar tais sistemas. Este artigo examina os sistemas de responsabilização da A-F em relação a três tipos de validade. Em primeiro lugar, examina se esses sistemas de prestação de contas são válidos como medida, ou seja, esses sistemas são válidos para a qualidade da escola? Em segundo lugar, ele examina se eles são ou não válidos como uma ferramenta de política. ou, em que medida os sistemas de responsabilização da A-F atendem aos objetivos declarados de seus defensores - capacitando os pais fornecendo medidas "simples" e de "senso comum" de qualidade educacional, etc.? Finalmente, examina se os sistemas AF são válidos como um quadro democrático: quão bem esses sistemas se alinham com os objetivos mais amplos de educar estudantes para a cidadania democrática e incorporar os pais e membros da comunidade em uma deliberação democrática sobre as políticas para as escolas públicas? O documento conclui que os sistemas de responsabilização da A-F não são válidos ao longo de cada uma dessas linhas e fornece recomendações para desenvolver e aplicar critérios de forma democrática para avaliação escolar

Small Business Performance in the Regulated Economy

This paper studies the various effects of federal regulation on small business firms.https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mlw_papers/1186/thumbnail.jp

VIBRATION OF STEEL BEAM CONCRETE SLAB FLOOR SYSTEMS

This report deals with the research to date (April, 1968) conducted on the vibration of steel beam-concrete slab floor systems

Community Radio Development and Public Funding for Programme Production: Options for Policy

This paper originates in a wider research project funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s media research scheme.1 The project arose out of collaboration between community media practitioners and academics. The project sought to provide a comparative analysis of national ‘programme production schemes’ which are open to the community radio sector in other states. A key context for that research was the legislative requirement that the programme production scheme run by the BAI pay attention to the ‘the developmental needs of community broadcasters’. An additional context for the research was the criticism from within the sector that the BAI’s scheme was insufficiently attentive to the particular dynamics of community radio production. The key research objective that thus arose was to evaluate the ways in which other states link developmental goals to programme production funding for the community radion sector. In order to answer this question we evaluated the literature on ‘development’ of the sector and analysed the production schemes of five other states (Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, New Zealand) through a combination of interviews and document analysis. The present article will provide a review of the findings from that larger research project. Its key aim is to provide an evaluation of the ‘developmental’ aspects of the production schemes in those five other states and consider their relevance to the Irish scheme. To do that, we first present an overview of community radio in Ireland and the operation of the Sound and Vision production scheme. We then undertake a review of the literature on development of community media and the role of public policy therein. Following that we will present our key findings from the research into the developmental aspects of programme production schemes offering tentative suggestions for their adaptation in the Irish context

A New Social Contract for the American Workplace: From Paternalism to Partnering

As American business struggles to cope with global competition, technological breakthroughs, and various forms of deregulation, the workplace is being thrown into turmoil. Against this backdrop, 1994 is also on pace to set a record for publicly announced downsizings, most of them justified under the banner of restructuring. This study is the first comprehensive look at this evolving picture.https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mlw_papers/1164/thumbnail.jp

Recent Changes in Farm Structure: A Canada-U.S. Comparison

Following a series of bilateral and multilateral agreements, the past two decades have seen increased trade and investment liberalization between Canada and the United States in the agri-food sector. Changes in trade policy are one of several paths by which farm structure can change. This increased liberalization, together with the largest drop in Canadian farm numbers recorded by the Census of Agriculture in thirty years, has provided the impetus to review some aspects of farm structure. In particular, this article presents the latest Canadian and U.S. data on the number of farms by sales class, the concentration of sales and other production-related variables, and the distribution of income and receipts. We explore whether significant changes in the latter two elements of farm structure have occurred during this period of trade and investment liberalization.Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, International Relations/Trade,

Use of Different Types and Amounts of Dietary Fats to Redesign Pork

Title: Use of different types and amounts of dietary fats to redesign pork. Background: Using high energy fat-supplemented diets in pork production can offer several economic advantages to producers when fat sources are cost effectively priced. Because of a decreased heat increment, dietary fat supplementation allows a greater proportion of dietary calories to be available for tissue synthesis when pigs are maintained at or above the thermo neutral zone. Previous research has indicated that diets that have increasing dietary saturated fatty acids (SFA) cause hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis development, and greater coronary heart disease risk in humans. When dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are substituted for saturated fatty acids (SFA), decreased blood cholesterol concentration occurs. This information has caused the consumer to question the consumption of meat products, such as pork, which are perceived as being rich in SFAs. The objective of this study was to alter the polyunsaturated (PUFA) to saturated fatty acid (SFA) ratio in pork for better human nutrition. Methods and findings: Pigs were fed either choice white grease or soybean oil at 10, 20, 30, or 40% of total dietary calories. All diets were based on corn and soybean meal. The study used 54 pigs with six pigs per treatment. Initial and slaughter weights were 54 and 110 kg, respectively. Skeletal muscle samples were taken from the longissimus dorsi, biceps femoris, and triceps brachii muscles. Adipose tissue samples were taken from the outer, middle, and inner 10th rib backfat layers, perirenal adipose tissue, and an inter muscular adipose deposit within the ham. Total lipids were extracted; fatty acid methyl esters were formed by trans esterification and quantified by gas chromatography. Adding choice white grease or soybean oil to diets fed growing swine did not alter animal growth rates. The PUFA from the outer 10th rib backfat layer showed linear increases (P \u3c 0.05) when pigs were fed diets with increasingly greater soybean oil content, whereas the backfat from pigs fed diets containing greater choice white grease contents resulted in a linear increase (P \u3c 0.05) of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). Including soybean oil in the low-fat control diet at 30 and 40% increased the PUFA to SFA ratios (P:S) to 0.9 and 1.26 (P \u3c 0.05), respectively, in longissimus muscle. The MUFA content in the longissimus muscle was decreased by 30% (P \u3c 0.05) with the 40% soybean oil diet. Myristate, palmitate, and total SFA in longiIIssimus muscle decreased 27 (P \u3c 0.05), 30 (P \u3c 0.05), and 29% (P \u3c 0.05), respectively, with the 40% soybean oil diet. Conclusions: Including choice white grease in the diet had minimal effects on the unsaturated to SFA muscular lipid ratios. In conclusion, high fat diets rich in unsaturated fatty acids can be used effectively to redesign pork for consumers wanting to decrease their consumption of saturated fatty acids

Relationship of serum prolactin with severity of drug use and treatment outcome in cocaine dependence.

RATIONALE: Alteration in serum prolactin (PRL) levels may reflect changes in central dopamine activity, which modulates the behavioral effects of cocaine. Therefore, serum PRL may have a potential role as a biological marker of drug severity and treatment outcome in cocaine dependence. OBJECTIVE: We investigated whether serum PRL levels differed between cocaine-dependent (CD) subjects and controls, and whether PRL levels were associated with severity of drug use and treatment outcome in CD subjects. METHODS: Basal PRL concentrations were assayed in 141 African-American (AA) CD patients attending an outpatient treatment program and 60 AA controls. Severity of drug use was assessed using the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). Measures of abstinence and retention during 12 weeks of treatment and at 6-month follow-up were employed as outcome variables. RESULTS: The basal PRL (ng/ml) in CD patients (9.28+/-4.13) was significantly higher than controls (7.33+/-2.94) (t=3.77, P\u3c0.01). At baseline, PRL was positively correlated with ASI-drug (r=0.38, P\u3c0.01), ASI-alcohol (r=0.19, P\u3c0.05), and ASI-psychological (r=0.25, P\u3c0.01) composite scores, and with the quantity of cocaine use (r=0.18, P\u3c0.05). However, PRL levels were not significantly associated with number of negative urine screens, days in treatment, number of sessions attended, dropout rate or changes in ASI scores during treatment and at follow-up. Also, basal PRL did not significantly contribute toward the variance in predicting any of the outcome measures. CONCLUSION: Although cocaine use seems to influence PRL levels, it does not appear that PRL is a predictor of treatment outcome in cocaine dependence

The nucleoprotein of calf thymus glands: the reaction of mannose with glucosamine hydrochloride

Part One Preparations of nucleoprotein having reproducible characteristics were obtained from calf thymus glands by a mild extraction procedure. A preliminary examination of the dissociation of the complex was made and its physico-chemical behaviour was investigated in relation to that of its nueleic acid component. The nucleoprotein was highly aggregated in solution at low ionic strength, but at high ionic strength a weight-average molecular weight lower than that of nucleic acid itself provided additional evidence for the dissociation of the nucleoprotein. Spectrophotometric studies showed that the nucleoprotein was denatured by heat and by alkali in a similar manner to nucleic acid, although denaturation by heat was slightly retarded. The spectrophotometric titration behaviour of the two substances was almost identical, but their potentiometric titration curves differed significantly. Nucleoprotein solutions exhibited the features of nucleic acid devolving from its unique helical structure, indicating that this structure is retained by the nucleic acid within the complex. Part Two A general reaction has been discovered between amino sugars and aldoses for which the essential requirements are a free amino group and an aldehyde group. Three compounds (A, B and C) were separated by ion- exchange chromatography from a mixture obtained by heating D-mannose with D-glucosamine hydrochloride. Compound B was identified as 5-hydroxymethyl furfuraldehyde (HMF) from its ultra-violet absorption spectrum, chromatographic behaviour, and distribution coefficients between two different solvent systems, and was characterised as its 2:4-dinitrophenylhydrazone. Compound A was very unstable and was hydrolysed by cold water to mannose (characterised as its p-nitranilide) and glucosamine (characterised as its carbobenzoxy derivative). On heating in aqueous solution, the hydrolysis was accompanied by degradation to HMF (characterised in the same way as compound B), and the formation of melanoidins. The HMF isolated from the reaction mixture was shown to arise from compound A and C14-HMF was obtained when the condensation was effected with a mixture containing C-mannose and glucosamine hydrochloride, showing that the HMF originated in the mannose moiety of compound A. From these and other experiments, the structure N-mannosyl-glucosamine was assigned to compound A. Compound C was stable in aqueous solution, and hydrolysis with acid gave equimolecular quantities of mannose and glucosamine hydrochloride, but was not accompanied by a browning reaction. On the basis of periodate oxidation experiments, its behaviour in the Elson-Morgan reaction, and a number of other colour tests, compound C was provisionally assigned the structure 6-O-α-D-mannosyl-Z-amino-2-deoxy-D-glucose. Certain aldehydes were found to behave as bases on a sulphonated polystyrene resin. This interesting discovery may provide the basis of a new method for the separation and analysis of aldehyde mixtures