Motivating Employees in R&D

[Excerpt] A new medicine can take as long as 15 years to develop and may cost a pharmaceutical research company $1.3 billion or more from the laboratory to the pharmacy shelf. The research environment is very different from most other jobs for a host of reasons: the high degree of uncertainty in the research process, the accessibility of individual contributions, and the unpredictable impact of any given final product. As such, the practices employed by pharmaceutical companies to reward and recognize employees in research and development (R&D) functions must reflect these challenges. This report will highlight extrinsic and intrinsic motivators thought to drive innovative behavior. This report will also present additional factors that managers should consider in the design and allocation of rewards and recognition schemes. Lastly, the research offers the best practices of other companies in related industries

Monitoring of the piston ring-pack and cylinder liner interface in diesel engines through acoustic emission measurements

Investigation of novel condition monitoring systems for diesel engines has received much recent attention due to the increasing demands placed upon engine components and the limitations of conventional techniques. This thesis documents experimental research conducted to assess the monitoring capabilities of Acoustic Emission (AE) analysis. In particular it focuses on the possibility of monitoring the piston ring-pack and cylinder liner interface, a critical engine sub-system for which there are currently few practical monitoring options. A series of experiments were performed on large, two-stroke and small, four-stroke diesel engines. Tests under normal operating conditions developed a detailed understanding of typical AE generation in terms of both the source mechanisms and the characteristics of the resulting activity. This was supplemented by specific tests to investigate possible AE generation at the ring-pack/liner interface. For instance, for the small engines measures were taken to remove known AE sources in order to accentuate any activity originating at the interface whilst for the large engines the interfacial conditions were purposely deteriorated through the removal of the lubricating oil supply to one cylinder. Interpretation of the results was based mainly upon comparisons with published work encompassing both the expected ring-pack behaviour and AE generation from tribological processes. This provided a strong indication that the source of the ring-pack/liner AE activity was the boundary frictional losses. The ability to monitor this process may be of significant benefit to engine operators as it enhances the diagnostic information currently available and may be incorporated into predictive maintenance strategies. A further diagnostic technique considered was the possibility of using AE parameters combined with information of crankshaft speed fluctuations to evaluate engine balance and identify underperforming cylinders.EU Competitive and Sustainable Growth Programme, Project no: GRD2-2001-5001

Perinatal nicotine with or without early life influenza infection leads to lung dysfunction with age.

Obstructive Airway Diseases (OADs) affect millions of people worldwide, and are characterized by chronic inflammation and tissue remodeling in the lung. It has been proposed that the development of OAD is greatly influenced (and perhaps pre-determined) by early life events, such as maternal smoking or a viral infection. However, direct evidence of this is limited and the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Our laboratory previously developed a murine model of perinatal nicotine exposure, and reported that nicotine leads to airway remodeling and decreased pulmonary function in the offspring. We discovered these effects were mediated through the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). Similarly, respiratory viral infections during childhood, such as Influenza A Virus (IAV), have been implicated in the development of OADs in epidemiological and murine studies. We set out to investigate if perinatal nicotine and/or early life IAV infection could promote lung remodeling and long-term pulmonary dysfunction. We employed a previously established murine model for nicotine exposure and a newly developed model for early life IAV infection. Importantly, lung dysfunction was tested at 7-months of age, in which all other studies look at lung dysfunction at earlier times. v We show that both chronic nicotine exposure starting during embryogenesis and continuing until adulthood (but not transient exposure limited to the perinatal period) and early life IAV infection separately are capable of driving lung dysfunction with age. Interestingly, limited differences in lung dysfunction were discovered with chronic exposure and early life IAV infection alone, whereas major lung dysfunctional differences were discovered for transient perinatal nicotine exposure followed by early life IAV infection suggesting a potentiation effect. Abnormalities in lung function were accredited to increased peri-airway collagen deposition and enlarged alveolar structures; the latter appeared due to alveolar simplification during development but also perhaps destruction during aging. We discovered that α7 nAChRs partially mediated these changes. All together, we found that indeed these early life exposures resulted in abnormalities in lung structure and function that persisted into adulthood. This model of nicotine exposure and early life IAV infection in young mice provides a novel tool for studying the impact of these exposures in lung

An Experimental Approach to Comparing Trust in Pastoral and Non-Pastoral Australia

It is generally held that rural Australians are more cooperative in character than their urban counterparts. To explore one aspect of this notion, we conducted an experiment which compared trust and trustworthiness among a sample of Australian senior high school students which included students with both pastoral and non-pastoral backgrounds. While student behaviour is unlikely to mimic adult behaviour, any significant differences between pastoral and non-pastoral students would suggest differences do exist between the social norms that guide pastoral and non-pastoral communities. We repeated our experiment at three different schools containing students from both pastoral and non-pastoral backgrounds, allowing us to draw comparisons. In total 78 students participated. Our experiments were based on similar experiments that have been applied across a range of contexts internationally (trust game/investment game). We did not find evidence of differences between students with pastoral and non-pastoral backgrounds, either in the level of trust in others or in trustworthiness, though our methods probably have a bias towards this conclusion. Our results concurred with other studies in showing that social distance is an important determinant of the level of cooperation.rural urban relations, economic behaviour, culture, arid zones, semiarid zones, pastoral society

An Unobserved Components Approach to Separating Land from Structure in Property Prices: A Case Study for the City of Brisbane

The study develops a spatio-temporal model of hedonic pricing that explicitly separates the land and the structure components of property prices. This is illustrated with a dataset for Brisbane, Australia, constructed by combining commercial real estate, local government databases and GIS-based spatial analyzes. The land component of prices has increased from 42% in 2000 to 66% in 2010. This has implications for a broad range of planning and policy issues, including property tax rates, town planning, and options for climate adaptations.

Development of models for the study of the molecular mechanisms of host restriction and adaptation of hantaviruses.

Hantaviruses, family Bunyaviridae, are present throughout the globe in a variety of mouse, rat, mole, vole, shrew, or bat species. Hantaviruses persist for the lifetime of the animal reservoir, while causing no signs or symptoms of disease. Only the rodent-borne hantaviruses cause disease in humans. In contrast, a “spillover” infection of a hantavirus into a nonreservoir rodent species results in an asymptomatic acute infection. We and others in the field are interested in understanding the biology of these virus-host interactions and mechanisms that underlie these three very different outcomes. The second chapter of my thesis focused on probing the intrahost viral population structure of the Hantaan virus (HTNV), an Old World hantavirus, in the suckling mouse model in the presence and absence of ribavirin. This model represents a lethal disease outcome in a nonreservoir species. These studies show, for the first time, two distinct evolutionary trajectories for HTNV within this lethal mouse model of disease in the presence and absence of ribavirin, as well as evidence for positive selection not previously observed in vitro. In the ribavirin-treated vRNA population, analyses of rates of nonsynonymous (dN) and synonymous (dS) substitutions in the S-segment revealed a positive selection for codons within the HTNV N protein gene, while untreated, HTNV-infected mice showed purifying selection. The third chapter of my thesis focused on development of a physiologically relevant, in vitro model of the hantavirus-rodent reservoir interaction; specifically, the deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus) and Sin Nombre virus. As the primary target of hantaviral infection is the vascular endothelium, a primary lung microvascular endothelial cell (L-MVEC) culture system was established. Culture conditions were established and optimized for passage and infection. Future research will use this model to probe viral determinants and mechanisms that promote persistence and identify host responses that pose barriers to virus adaptation

Approximating Difference Game Open-Loop Steady States Using Reiterative Genetic Algorithms

This paper approximates open-loop steady states from a difference game using reiterative runs of a genetic algorithm. Each iteration uses the state variable steady state approximation from the previous run as its starting point. The results show that in solving complex games, using a reiterative approach may be more efficient than increasing the duration of the game

Forest Property Rights Enforcement in Lao PDR: A Steady State Analysis Using Genetic Algorithms

A major cause of deforestation in Lao PDR is associated with commercial timber harvesting. While there exists a legal timber industry, timber harvesting in Laos is often illegal. Little information is available regarding the illegal Lao timber industry. However, it would appear that both illegal and legal timber harvesting is often carried out by the same agents. This paper analyses government forestry property rights enforcement and logging by a commercial contract logger who is assumed to log not only quota levels, but also additional quantities of illegally harvested timber. The model is analyses as a two-player difference game played over infinite time. The game is hard to solve analytically, therefore a genetic algorithm is used to approximate numerical steady states. Results from the model indicate that more efficient forest property rights enforcement, improved contract tenure security and a greater flow of any monetary penalties (or bribes) to the central government will all act to increase the steady state level of forest stock in Laos

Investigating Disparities in High School Athletes’ Attitude Toward Concussion and Predictors of Continuing Play

Objective: Studies related to attitudes of concussion have been growing in athletic populations. While racial and socioeconomic disparities exist in knowledge and awareness of concussion, it remains unclear the effect of disparities on attitudes of concussion and reporting behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine racial and socioeconomic disparities on attitudes towards concussion and the decision to remain in play with a suspected concussion. Design: This cross-sectional study included 577 athletes between the ages of 13-19 (16.0 ± 1.2) years from 14 high schools. Participants completed a knowledge and attitudes instrument assessing general attitudes of concussion using 7 Likert-scale attitude questions followed by 2 additional questions assessing the decision to continue play while symptomatic. Differences in attitudes of concussion between race and socioeconomic school type were examined using independent t-tests. A multivariable linear regression model was utilized to determine which demographic factors were associated with athletes’ attitude scores. Multivariable logistic regression models were utilized to determine what demographic variables were associated with athletes’ continuation of play in a practice or a game. Results: Differences in attitude scores between race were observed, with black athletes demonstrating lower scores than white athletes (pp=.04) and sex (OR: 0.59, 95% CI [0.36,0.96], p=.03) were, with females less likely to remain in a practice than males. Further, race and socioeconomic school type were not significantly associated with remaining in a game; however, attitude (OR: 0.97, 95% CI [0.95,0.99], p=.01) and sex (OR: 0.56 95% CI [0.35,0.90], p=.02) were, with females less likely to remain in a game than males. Conclusions: Disparities exist between race and socioeconomic school type on attitude of concussion. Black athletes and athletes attending Title I high schools had poorer attitude scores compared to white athletes and athletes attending non-Title I schools. Race was significantly associated with lower concussion attitude scores. The poorer, yet moderate concussion attitude scores suggest concussion education efforts be concentrated towards closing the disparity gap. Further, addressing concussion attitudes would likely also help to shift athletes’ decisions to remain in a practice or game while symptomatic