Risk, balanced skills and entrepreneurship

This paper proposes that risk aversion encourages individuals to invest in balanced skill profiles, making them more likely to become entrepreneurs. By not taking this possible linkage into account, previous research has underestimated the impacts of both risk aversion and balanced skills on the likelihood individuals choose entrepreneurship. Data on Dutch university graduates provide an illustration supporting our contention. We raise the possibility that even risk-averse people might be suited to entrepreneurship; and it may also help explain why prior research has generated somewhat mixed evidence about the effects of risk aversion on selection into entrepreneurship

The graduation performance of technology business incubators in China's three tier cities: the role of incubator funding, technical support, and entrepreneurial mentoring

This study examines the effects of technology business incubator (TBI)’s funding, technical support and entrepreneurial mentoring on the graduation performance of new technology-based firms in China’s three tier cities. Using new dataset on all TBIs and incubated new technology-based firms from government surveys conducted over five consecutive years from 2009 to 2013 combined with archival and hand-collected data, we find the effects of incubator services on the early growth of new technology-based firms vary according to the local context. Technical support facilities and entrepreneurial mentoring from TBIs are found to have significantly and positively influenced the early development of the firms in the four most affluent tier 1 cities, whilst these effects become less pronounced for the tier 2 and tier 3 cities. These two services are also found to influence graduation performance in the government and university types of TBI respectively. Results support the notion that the effectiveness of an incubators services is shaped by the level of a city’s socio-economic development and that the city location of a TBI does impact the graduation performance of its incubatees

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Effectiveness of school food environment policies on children's dietary behaviors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: School food environment policies may be a critical tool to promote healthy diets in children, yet their effectiveness remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review and quantify the impact of school food environment policies on dietary habits, adiposity, and metabolic risk in children. METHODS: We systematically searched online databases for randomized or quasi-experimental interventions assessing effects of school food environment policies on children's dietary habits, adiposity, or metabolic risk factors. Data were extracted independently and in duplicate, and pooled using inverse-variance random-effects meta-analysis. Habitual (within+outside school) dietary intakes were the primary outcome. Heterogeneity was explored using meta-regression and subgroup analysis. Funnel plots, Begg's and Egger's test evaluated potential publication bias. RESULTS: From 6,636 abstracts, 91 interventions (55 in US/Canada, 36 in Europe/New Zealand) were included, on direct provision of healthful foods/beverages (N = 39 studies), competitive food/beverage standards (N = 29), and school meal standards (N = 39) (some interventions assessed multiple policies). Direct provision policies, which largely targeted fruits and vegetables, increased consumption of fruits by 0.27 servings/d (n = 15 estimates (95%CI: 0.17, 0.36)) and combined fruits and vegetables by 0.28 servings/d (n = 16 (0.17, 0.40)); with a slight impact on vegetables (n = 11; 0.04 (0.01, 0.08)), and no effects on total calories (n = 6; -56 kcal/d (-174, 62)). In interventions targeting water, habitual intake was unchanged (n = 3; 0.33 glasses/d (-0.27, 0.93)). Competitive food/beverage standards reduced sugar-sweetened beverage intake by 0.18 servings/d (n = 3 (-0.31, -0.05)); and unhealthy snacks by 0.17 servings/d (n = 2 (-0.22, -0.13)), without effects on total calories (n = 5; -79 kcal/d (-179, 21)). School meal standards (mainly lunch) increased fruit intake (n = 2; 0.76 servings/d (0.37, 1.16)) and reduced total fat (-1.49%energy; n = 6 (-2.42, -0.57)), saturated fat (n = 4; -0.93%energy (-1.15, -0.70)) and sodium (n = 4; -170 mg/d (-242, -98)); but not total calories (n = 8; -38 kcal/d (-137, 62)). In 17 studies evaluating adiposity, significant decreases were generally not identified; few studies assessed metabolic factors (blood lipids/glucose/pressure), with mixed findings. Significant sources of heterogeneity or publication bias were not identified. CONCLUSIONS: Specific school food environment policies can improve targeted dietary behaviors; effects on adiposity and metabolic risk require further investigation. These findings inform ongoing policy discussions and debates on best practices to improve childhood dietary habits and health

The StrongWomen–Healthy Hearts Program: Reducing Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Rural Sedentary, Overweight, and Obese Midlife and Older Women

Objectives. We tested a community-based intervention designed to reduce cardiovascular disease risk in sedentary midlife and older women who were overweight or obese