Modelling leadership and institutional factors in endogenous regional development.

Theories and approaches to endogenous growth and regional development tend to neglect or at best underplay the role of leadership and the way institutional factors are considered is usually simplistic. This paper builds on work the authors have been developing over the last year or so to develop a model framework of regional economic development that explicitly incorporates leadership and institutional factors along with the consideration of resource endowments and market fit and of entrepreneurship. An approach to operationalizing the model is proposed.

Institutions, Regulations and Sustainable Transport: A Cross-national Perspective

This paper examines institutional and regulatory aspects of sustainable transport from a cross-national perspective. While institutions appear to play an important role in the economic success of many countries, it is not so clear that they also support sustainable development. A number of examples of the role of institutions in transport are discussed. Particular attention is focused among others on the themes of institutions and technological change, institutions and the organization of production, and territorial aspects of institutions. Regulatory trends are also reviewed including devolution patterns and the growing importance of supra-national organizations. © 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd

Hair Transplantation in Advanced Male Pattern Alopecia: The Role of Incisional Slit Grafting

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/98796/1/j.1524-4725.1991.tb03654.x.pd

Governing Technological Entrepreneurship in China and the West

What is the real driver of China's technological entrepreneurship? Are the United States' science parks the most efficient model for achieving a successful government policy regarding high-technology research, development, and commercialization? This essay sheds light on the important role that central governments play and highlights limitations within each system. It also looks to the future, considering the newly evolving governance model for China's innovation strategy. © 2009 The American Society for Public Administration

A New Method for Assessing the Resiliency of Large, Complex Networks

Designing resilient and reliable networks is a principle concern of planners and private firms. Traffic congestion whether recurring or as the result of some aperiodic event is extremely costly. This paper describes an alternative process and a model for analyzing the resiliency of networks that address some of the shortcomings of more traditional approaches – e.g., the four-step modeling process used in transportation planning. It should be noted that the authors do not view this as a replacement to current approaches but rather as a complementary tool designed to augment analysis capabilities. The process that is described in this paper for analyzing the resiliency of a network involves at least three steps: 1. assessment or identification of important nodes and links according to different criteria 2. verification of critical nodes and links based on failure simulations and 3. consequence. Raster analysis, graph-theory principles and GIS are used to develop a model for carrying out each of these steps. The methods are demonstrated using two, large interdependent networks for a metropolitan area in the United States.

Technology induced economic growth in the United States: Empirical testing using spatial-temporal estimation procedures

The economies of the world have been undergoing a major technical transformation for at least the last two decades. This transformation has not unfolded uniformly with significant variation occurring at the regional and sectoral levels. The paper examines the pace and geographical patterns of technological expansion in U.S. metropolitan regions for the period 1988-1995. The objective of this paper is to examine the existence of technology related spatial linkages in selected clusters of metropolitan areas in the United States. The hypothesis being tested is that the growth of technology intensive activities in a particular region is related to levels of technology intensive activitiesin adjoining regions, in addition to other important factors like network infrastructure and human capital. A spatial-temporal explanatory model is formulated and tested to identify and measure the strength of factors responsible for technology intensive activities at the metropolitan level. (This paper is part of ongoing research on understanding the determinants of technology intensive activities in the United States

A Randomized, Controlled Trial of Meditation for Work Stress, Anxiety and Depressed Mood in Full-Time Workers

Objective. To assess the effect of meditation on work stress, anxiety and mood in full-time workers. Methods. 178 adult workers participated in an 8-week, 3-arm randomized controlled trial comparing a “mental silence” approach to meditation (n = 59) to a “relaxation” active control (n = 56) and a wait-list control (n = 63). Participants were assessed before and after using Psychological Strain Questionnaire (PSQ), a subscale of the larger Occupational Stress Inventory (OSI), the State component of the State/Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults (STAI), and the depression-dejection (DD) subscale of the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Results. There was a significant improvement for the meditation group compared to both the relaxation control and the wait-list groups the PSQ (P = .026), and DD (P = .019). Conclusions. Mental silence-orientated meditation, in this case Sahaja Yoga meditation, is a safe and effective strategy for dealing with work stress and depressive feelings. The findings suggest that “thought reduction” or “mental silence” may have specific effects relevant to work stress and hence occupational health