871 research outputs found

    Production and employment impacts of new technologies: analysis for biotechnology

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    Biotechnology is often regarded as a key technology with high potential for far-reaching social, environmental and economic impacts. Among others, the development and diffusion of biotechnology may have considerable economic effects on production and employment. This paper analyzes the economic impacts of different diffusion paths of biotechnology in some major application fields. Bottom-up technology information from literature, expert judgements and explicit scenario assumptions for various impact factors are combined and integrated in an input-output framework to calculate direct and indirect production and employment effects. The impact on net production and employment differs greatly between the different application sectors and depends on the respective importance of the various impact mechanisms. The indirect economic effects are rather high and exceed direct economic effects. These findings show the importance of a bottom-up approach as well as the consideration of indirect economic effects for appropriate analyses of the impact of biotechnology. --Economic impacts of technologies,employment effects,input-output model,biotechnology

    Is Germany moving on migration? : the new citizenship and immigration politics of the government by and the greens

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    The German coalition government by the Social Democrats and the Greens is preparing to introduce a second crucial reform concerning the immigrant population. After the 1999 reform of the nationality law, Germany is taking another step towards modelling a comprehensive and long expected organised immigration policy, concluding for the first time officially that Germany is not only a country of immigration, but to state that further immigration is needed. Yet, while citizenship politics in Germany is departing from old ethnic conceptions with the possibility for immigrant children to acquire citizenship by birth and a reduction of the requirements for naturalisation, policies for (labour) migration still remain in an attitude known from the past: immigrants are only “wanted” if they fit to the structural needs of the labour market and the economy. Thus, the planned immigration law is in danger to repeat the failure of former guest-worker policies when treating immigrants just as workers. German immigration policy seems to remain a purely selective mechanism in the global contest for the best qualified labour migrantsEl gobierno de coalición alemán de los socialdemócratas y los verdes se está preparando para introducir una segunda reforma crucial sobre la población inmigrante. Después de la reforma de la ley de nacionalidad de 1999, Alemania está dando un paso más hacia el modelado, largamente esperado, de una política de inmigración organizada e integral, concluyendo de esta manera, por primera vez oficialmente, que Alemania no es solo un país de inmigración, sino que además se afirma que se necesita más inmigración. Sin embargo, mientras que la política de ciudadanía en Alemania se aleja de viejas concepciones étnicas, con la posibilidad de que los niños inmigrantes adquieran la ciudadanía por nacimiento y una reducción de los requisitos de adaptación, las políticas laborales de emigración aún permanecen en una actitud conocida del pasado, ya que los inmigrantes solo son "requeridos", si se ajustan a las necesidades estructurales del mercado laboral y de la economía. Por lo tanto, la ley de inmigración planeada está en peligro de repetir el fracaso de las antiguas políticas de trabajadores extranjeros al tratar a los inmigrantes solamente como trabajadores. La política de inmigración alemana parece seguir siendo un mecanismo puramente selectivo en la competencia mundial para los trabajadores inmigrantes mejor cualificados

    Does Adoption Therapy Work?: Evaluating a Therapy Program for Adopted Children and Their Families

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    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the extent to which participation in an integrated therapeutic intervention for adopted children and their families related to positive psychological outcomes. Fifty children and their parents receiving adoption-competent therapy at a community mental health center specializing in the treatment of adoptive families were assessed prior to and at the conclusion of treatment on indices of child and family functioning. At post-test, children exhibited fewer emotional and behavioral problems than they did at pre-test. No differences in family functioning were found. Higher levels of therapist adherence to the treatment model were associated with fewer emotional problems, greater parental satisfaction with adoption, and greater satisfaction with treatment. Implications for practitioners, directions for future research, and the limitations of this study are discussed

    Production and employment impacts of new technologies : analysis for biotechnology

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    Biotechnology is often regarded as a key technology with high potential for far-reaching social, environmental and economic impacts. Among others, the development and diffusion of biotechnology may have considerable economic effects on production and employment. This paper analyzes the economic impacts of different diffusion paths of biotechnology in some major application fields. Bottom-up technology information from literature, expert judgements and explicit scenario assumptions for various impact factors are combined and integrated in an input-output framework to calculate direct and indirect production and employment effects. The impact on net production and employment differs greatly between the different application sectors and depends on the respective importance of the various impact mechanisms. The indirect economic effects are rather high and exceed direct economic effects. These findings show the importance of a bottom-up approach as well as the consideration of indirect economic effects for appropriate analyses of the impact of biotechnology

    Surface Functionalized Magnetic Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy Applications

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    Despite recent advances, cancer remains the second leading cause of deaths in the United States. Magnetic nanoparticles have found various applications in cancer research as drug delivery platforms, enhanced contrast agents for improved diagnostic imaging, and the delivery of thermal energy as standalone therapy. Iron oxide nanoparticles absorb the energy from an alternating magnetic field and convert it into heat through Brownian and Neel relaxations. To better utilize magnetic nanoparticles for cancer therapy, surface functionalization is essential for such factors as decreasing cytotoxicity of healthy tissue, extending circulation time, specific targeting of cancer cells, and manage the controlled delivery of therapeutics. In the first study, iron oxide nanoparticles were coated with a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) based polymer shell. The PEG coating was selected to prevent protein adsorption and thus improve circulation time and minimize host response to the nanoparticles. Thermal therapy application feasibility was demonstrated in vitro with a thermoablation study on lung carcinoma cells. Building on the thermal therapy demonstration with iron oxide nanoparticles, the second area of work focused on intracellular delivery. Nanoparticles can be appropriately tailored to enter the cell and deliver energy on the nanoscale eliminating individual cancer cells. The underlying mechanism of action is still under study, and we were interested in determining the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) catalytically generated from the surface of iron oxide nanoparticles in this measured cytotoxicity. When exposed to an AMF, the nanoscale heating effects are capable of enhancing the Fenton-like generation of ROS determined through a methylene blue degradation assay. To deliver this enhanced ROS effect to cells, monosaccharide coated nanoparticles were developed and successfully internalized by colon cancer cell lines. Upon AMF exposure, there was a measured increase in cellular ROS and apoptosis that was attributed to lysosomal disruption since the surface functionalization selected inhibited the Fenton-like surface chemistry. To overcome this surface inhibition, a biodegradable poly(β-amino ester) (PBAE) polymer coating was synthesized to deliver bare iron oxide to intracellular components. Delivering enhanced ROS to cancer cells is a promising new route of therapy that deserves future studies

    From the top down and the bottom up: the contemporary practice and choice of midwifery in Louisiana

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    This research examines the contemporary practice of midwifery in Louisiana, a state that very early on had progressive legislation, yet remains a tough place for a midwife to practice. What, then, are the social forces that affect the ability to practice midwifery in Louisiana? I try to answer that question by examining the narratives of midwives and their clients, and evaluating the options these women have access to in this state. The narratives provide opportunities to observe the authoritarian knowledge of biomedicine in our society, and apply Foucault’s theory of power/knowledge. I describe that although Louisiana’s regulation of the practice was progressive when written, the regulation alone cannot guarantee access to midwifery. I also deconstruct the meaning of choice, a phenomenon that involves not merely the existence of alternatives, but real ways of accessing them equally. Efforts to employ midwives and have a home birth are often thwarted by biomedicine, law, private insurance, and Medicaid. Additionally, the social sanctions against midwifery clients can be painful. This research demonstrates that an out-of-hospital birth, while legal, is not easily available or practiced by women in Louisiana. Using anthropological skills to understand the complexity of choice for midwives and their clients in Louisiana also offers me the opportunity to consider how the social forces shaping that choice might better work with midwifery. Working as an applied anthropologist provides the chance to engage in change with the community. Making this research available to women who consider this choice or have already struggled to make it is a first and crucial step in that engagement

    Early termination of vocational training: dropout or stopout?

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    This paper studies the factors that influence the beginning of either a new vocational training in another occupation (stopout) or the stop of vocational training altogether after an early termination (dropout of the vocational system). One influencing factor is the amount of the human capital acquired which is determined by the duration of (early terminated) vocational training. To analyse this for the German case, we use data (Ausbildungspanel Saarland) which contains detailed information about apprenticeship careers and their labour market outcomes for all apprentices between 1999 and 2002 in Saarland (a German federal state). 72 per cent of the premature terminations analysed here are stop outs. The estimations of robust logit-models show that early premature terminations and an above-average apprenticeship wage in the training occupation are more likely to lead to an apprenticeship stopout. Stopouts who terminate their contracts early on in the apprenticeship process are more likely to change their occupation.Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht für Deutschland, welche Faktoren die Entscheidung beeinflussen nach einer vorzeitigen Vertragslösung, die Ausbildung in einem anderen Bereich fortzusetzen, also nur zu unterbrechen, oder aber ganz aus dem Ausbildungssystem auszuscheiden, also abzubrechen. Ein wichtiger Faktor ist die Höhe des erworbenen Humankapitals, die von der Dauer der (gelösten) Ausbildung bestimmt wird. Für die Untersuchung nutzen wir einen Datensatz, der detaillierte Informationen zum Ausbildungs- sowie zum weiteren Erwerbsverlauf für die Ausbildungskohorten zwischen 1999 und 2002 im Saarland enthält. 72 Prozent der Personen mit einer vorzeitigen Vertragslösung beginnt erneut eine Ausbildung, sind also Unterbrecher. Logitschätzungen zeigen, dass frühe Vertragslösungen und Ausbildungsvergütungen, die über dem Durchschnitt im Ausbildungsberuf liegen, mit einer höheren Wahrscheinlichkeit nur zu einer Unterbrechung der Ausbildung führen. Darüber hinaus werden Ausbildungen eher in anderen Berufen begonnen, wenn der Vertrag zu einem sehr frühen Zeitpunkt der Ausbildung gelöst wurde.Aktualisierte Fassung vom 27.2.201

    Advances in Plant Tolerance to Biotic Stresses

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    Plants being sessile in nature encounter numerous biotic agents, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, insects, nematodes and protists. A great number of publications indicate that biotic agents significantly reduce crop productivity, although there are some biotic agents that symbiotically or synergistically co-exist with plants. Nonetheless, scientists have made significant advances in understanding the plant defence mechanisms expressed against biotic stresses. These mechanisms range from anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, genetics, development and evolution to their associated molecular dynamics. Using model plants, e.g., Arabidopsis and rice, efforts to understand these mechanisms have led to the identification of representative candidate genes, quantitative trait loci (QTLs), proteins and metabolites associated with plant defences against biotic stresses. However, there are drawbacks and insufficiencies in precisely deciphering and deploying these mechanisms, including only modest adaptability of some identified genes or QTLs to changing stress factors. Thus, more systematic efforts are needed to explore and expand the development of biotic stress resistant germplasm. In this chapter, we provided a comprehensive overview and discussed plant defence mechanisms involving molecular and cellular adaptation to biotic stresses. The latest achievements and perspective on plant molecular responses to biotic stresses, including gene expression, and targeted functional analyses of the genes expressed against biotic stresses have been presented and discussed

    Advances in Plant Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses

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    During the last 50 years, it has been shown that abiotic stresses influence plant growth and crop production greatly, and crop yields have evidently stagnated or decreased in economically important crops, where only high inputs assure high yields. The recent manifesting effects of climate change are considered to have aggravated the negative effects of abiotic stresses on plant productivity. On the other hand, the complexity of plant mechanisms controlling important traits and the limited availability of germplasm for tolerance to certain stresses have restricted genetic advances in major crops for increased yields or for improved other traits. However, some level of success has been achieved in understanding crop tolerance to abiotic stresses; for instance, identification of abscisic acid (ABA) receptors (e.g., ABA-responsive element (ABRE) binding protein/ABRE binding factor (AREB/ABF) transcription factors), and other regulons (e.g., WRKYs, MYB/MYCs, NACs, HSFs, bZIPs and nuclear factor-Y (NF-Y)), has shown potential promise to improve plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. Apart from these major regulons, studies on the post-transcriptional regulation of stress-responsive genes have provided additional opportunities for addressing the molecular basis of cellular stress responses in plants. This chapter focuses on the progress in the study of plant tolerance to abiotic stresses, and describes the major tolerance pathways and implicated signaling factors that have been identified, so far. To link basic and applied research, genes and proteins that play functional roles in mitigating abiotic stress damage are summarized and discussed

    The Influence of Redundancy, Analogies, and Field Dependency Upon Learning of Scientific Material From Audiotapes.

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    The problems investigated in this study were: (1) Does the use of redundancy and analogies to emphasize the main verbal scientific concepts of an instructional unit facilitate comparable learning for field independent (FI), intermediate cognitive style (ICS), and field dependent (FD) undergraduate college students? (2) Are there differences in the aural, visual, and preferred sense recall of FI, ICS, and FD undergraduate college students? The population consisted of undergraduate education students at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge during the Spring Semester, 1981. The sample was all students enrolled in six sections of two media courses. Instruments used were the Hidden Figures Test (HFT) to measure field dependency, a slide-tape test to identify sense recall and preference, and two multiple choice tests to measure concept acquisition. The procedure entailed three periods: first, to measure field dependency and aural vs. visual recall and preference; second, to present an audiotape using redundancy and a nine-question test; third, (one week later) to present an audiotape using analogies and a nine question test. The design of the study was randomized completely with post-tests only. These hypotheses were tested using one way Analysis of Variance; there are no significant differences in: (1) information acquisition by FI, ICS, and FD subjects when redundancy is used in instruction, (2) information acquisition by FI, ICS, and FD subjects when analogies are used in instruction, (3) aural recall of the FI, ICS, and FD subjects, (4) visual recall of the FI, ICS, and FD subjects, (5) preferred sense recall of the FI, ICS, and FD subjects, were tested using one way Analysis of the Variance. None of the F values of the ANOVAs were significant at the .05 level. All the null hypotheses were accepted. The conclusions were: (1) the amount of information acquired by the FI, ICS, and FD subjects was comparable, (2) There was no trend in the auditory, visual and preferred sense recall for the three groups. Since the findings failed to demonstrate the variance between FI and FD subjects established by previous research, the results were interpreted as reflecting the effectiveness of redundancy and analogies in assisting all learners in identifying and acquiring the relevant aspects of the material
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