PATENTS, R&D AND LAG EFFECTS: EVIDENCE FROM FLEXIBLE METHODS FOR COUNT PANEL DATA ON MANUFACTURING FIRMS

Hausman, Hall and Griliches (1984) and Hall, Griliches and Hausman (1986) investigated whether there was a lag in the patent-R&D relationship for the U.S. manufacturing sector using 1970¿s data. They found that there was little evidence of anything but contemporaneous movement of patents and R&D. We reexamine this important issue employing new longitudinal patent data at the firm level for the U.S. manufacturing sector from 1982 to 1992. To address unique features of the data, we estimate various distributed lag and dynamic multiplicative panel count data models. The paper also develops a new class of count panel data models based on series expansion of the distribution of individual effects. The empirical analyses show that, although results are somewhat sensitive to different estimation methods, the contemporaneous relationship between patenting and R&D expenditures continues to be rather strong, accounting for over 60% of the total R&D elasticity. Regarding the lag structure of the patents-R&D relationship, we do find a significant lag in all empirical specifications. Moreover, the estimated lag effects are higher than have previously been found, suggesting that the contribution of R&D history to current patenting has increased from the 1970¿s to the 1980¿s.Innovative activity, Patents and R&D, Individual effects, count panel data methods.

Mpemba Effect, Shechtman's Quasicrystals and Students' Exploring Activities

In the 1960s, Tanzanian student Erasto Mpemba and his teacher published an article with the title "Cool" in the journal Physics Education (Mpemba, E. B. - Osborne, D. G.: Cool?. In: Physics Education, vol.4, 1969, pp. 172-175.). In this article they claimed that hot water freezes faster than cold water. The article raised not only a wave of discussions, and other articles about this topic, but also a whole series of new experiments, which should verify this apparent thermodynamic absurdity and find an adequate explanation. Here we give a review with references to explanations and we bring some proposals for experimental student work in this area. We introduce Mpemba Effect not only as a paradoxical physics phenomenon, but we shall present a strong educational message that the Mpemba story brings to the teachers and their students. This message also creates a bridge between this phenomenon and the discovery for which the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded. It leads to critical adoption of traditional knowledge and encourages resilience in investigative exploration of new things

Promiscuity in the part-phosphorylative Entner–Doudoroff pathway of the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus

AbstractThe hyperthermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus metabolises glucose and galactose by a ‘promiscuous’ non-phosphorylative variant of the Entner–Doudoroff pathway, in which a series of enzymes have sufficient substrate promiscuity to permit the metabolism of both sugars. Recently, it has been proposed that the part-phosphorylative Entner–Doudoroff pathway occurs in parallel in S. solfataricus as an alternative route for glucose metabolism. In this report we demonstrate, by in vitro kinetic studies of d-2-keto-3-deoxygluconate (KDG) kinase and KDG aldolase, that the part-phosphorylative pathway in S. solfataricus is also promiscuous for the metabolism of both glucose and galactose

Radium-223 in combination with paclitaxel in cancer patients with bone metastases : safety results from an open-label, multicenter phase Ib study

Purpose Concomitant treatment with radium-223 and paclitaxel is a potential option for cancer patients with bone metastases; however, myelosuppression risk during coadministration is unknown. This phase Ib study in cancer patients with bone metastases evaluated the safety of radium-223 and paclitaxel. Methods Eligible patients had solid tumor malignancies with >= 2 bone metastases and were candidates for paclitaxel. Treatment included seven paclitaxel cycles (90 mg/m(2) per week intravenously per local standard of care; 3 weeks on/1 week off) plus six radium-223 cycles (55 kBq/kg intravenously; one injection every 4 weeks, starting at paclitaxel cycle 2). The primary end point was percentage of patients with grade 3/4 neutropenia or thrombocytopenia during coadministration of radium-223 and paclitaxel (cycles 2, 3) versus paclitaxel alone (cycle 1). Results Of 22 enrolled patients, 15 were treated (safety population), with 7 completing all six radium-223 cycles. Treated patients had primary cancers of breast (n = 7), prostate (n = 4), bladder (n = 1), non-small cell lung (n = 1), myxofibrosarcoma (n = 1), and neuroendocrine (n = 1). No patients discontinued treatment from toxicity of the combination. In the 13 patients who completed cycle 3, the rates of grade 3 neutropenia in cycles 2 and 3 were 31% and 8%, respectively, versus 23% in cycle 1; there were no cases of grade 4 neutropenia or grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia. Breast cancer subgroup safety results were similar to the overall safety population. Conclusion Radium-223 was tolerated when combined with weekly paclitaxel, with no clinically relevant additive toxicities. This combination should be explored further in patients with bone metastases.Peer reviewe

Competitive nationalism:state, class, and the forms of capital in devolved Scotland

Devolved government in Scotland actively reconstitutes the unequal conditions of social class reproduction. Recognition of state-led class reconstitution draws upon the social theory of Bourdieu. Our analysis of social class in devolved Scotland revisits theories that examine the state as a `power container'. A range of state-enabling powers regulate the legal, economic, social, and cultural containers of class relations as specific forms of what Bourdieu called economic, social, and cultural `capital'. The preconditions of class reproduction are structured in direct ways by the Scottish state as a wealth container but also, more indirectly, as a cultural container and a social container. Competitive nationalism in the devolved Scottish state enacts neoliberal policies as a class- specific worldview but, at the same time, discursively frames society as a panclass national fraternity in terms of distinctive Scottish values of welfare nationalism. Nationalism is able to express this ambiguity in symbolic ways in which the partisan language of social class cannot

High volume fabrication of laser targets using MEMS techniques

The latest techniques for the fabrication of high power laser targets, using processes developed for the manufacture of Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) devices are discussed. These laser targets are designed to meet the needs of the increased shot numbers that are available in the latest design of laser facilities. Traditionally laser targets have been fabricated using conventional machining or coarse etching processes and have been produced in quantities of 10s to low 100s. Such targets can be used for high complexity experiments such as Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) studies and can have many complex components that need assembling and characterisation with high precision. Using the techniques that are common to MEMS devices and integrating these with an existing target fabrication capability we are able to manufacture and deliver targets to these systems. It also enables us to manufacture novel targets that have not been possible using other techniques. In addition, developments in the positioning systems that are required to deliver these targets to the laser focus are also required and a system to deliver the target to a focus of an F2 beam at 0.1Hz is discussed

Structure and stability of steady porous medium convection at large Rayleigh number

A systematic investigation of unstable steady-state solutions of the Darcy–Oberbeck–Boussinesq equations at large values of the Rayleigh number Ra is performed to gain insight into two-dimensional porous medium convection in domains of varying aspect-ratio L. The steady convective states are shown to transport less heat than the statistically steady ‘turbulent’ flow realised at the same parameter values: the Nusselt number Nu∼Ra for turbulent porous medium convection, while Nu∼Ra 0.6 for the maximum heat-transporting steady solutions. A key finding is that the lateral scale of the heat-flux-maximising solutions shrinks roughly as L∼Ra−0.5, reminiscent of the decrease of the mean inter-plume spacing observed in turbulent porous medium convection as the thermal forcing is increased. A spatial Floquet analysis is performed to investigate the linear stability of the fully nonlinear steady convective states, extending a recent study by Hewitt et al. (J. Fluid Mech.737, 2013) by treating a base convective state – and secondary stability modes – that satisfy appropriate boundary conditions along plane parallel walls. As in that study, a bulk instability mode is found for sufficiently small aspect-ratio base states. However, the growth rate of this bulk mode is shown to be significantly reduced by the presence of the walls. Beyond a certain critical Ra-dependent aspect-ratio, the base state is most strongly unstable to a secondary mode that is localised near the heated and cooled walls. Direct numerical simulations, strategically initialised to investigate the fully nonlinear evolution of the most dangerous secondary instability modes, suggest that the (long time) mean inter-plume spacing in statistically-steady porous medium convection results from a balance between the competing effects of these two types of instability

Counter-propagating radiative shock experiments on the Orion laser and the formation of radiative precursors

We present results from new experiments to study the dynamics of radiative shocks, reverse shocks and radiative precursors. Laser ablation of a solid piston by the Orion high-power laser at AWE Aldermaston UK was used to drive radiative shocks into a gas cell initially pressurised between $0.1$ and $1.0 \ bar with different noble gases. Shocks propagated at {80 \pm 10 \ km/s} and experienced strong radiative cooling resulting in post-shock compressions of { \times 25 \pm 2}. A combination of X-ray backlighting, optical self-emission streak imaging and interferometry (multi-frame and streak imaging) were used to simultaneously study both the shock front and the radiative precursor. These experiments present a new configuration to produce counter-propagating radiative shocks, allowing for the study of reverse shocks and providing a unique platform for numerical validation. In addition, the radiative shocks were able to expand freely into a large gas volume without being confined by the walls of the gas cell. This allows for 3-D effects of the shocks to be studied which, in principle, could lead to a more direct comparison to astrophysical phenomena. By maintaining a constant mass density between different gas fills the shocks evolved with similar hydrodynamics but the radiative precursor was found to extend significantly further in higher atomic number gases (\sim$$4$ times further in xenon than neon). Finally, 1-D and 2-D radiative-hydrodynamic simulations are presented showing good agreement with the experimental data.Comment: HEDLA 2016 conference proceeding

Are we over-treating with checkpoint inhibitors?

Anti-PD-1 antibodies offer potentially life-saving treatment for some cancer patients, but their chronic administration generates high and ever-increasing costs. Despite licensing for long-term use, optimal treatment duration is unknown. We challenge the need for long-term treatment duration, using evidence from melanoma research, both published and in process

Informing investment to reduce inequalities: a modelling approach

Background: Reducing health inequalities is an important policy objective but there is limited quantitative information about the impact of specific interventions. Objectives: To provide estimates of the impact of a range of interventions on health and health inequalities. Materials and methods: Literature reviews were conducted to identify the best evidence linking interventions to mortality and hospital admissions. We examined interventions across the determinants of health: a ‘living wage’; changes to benefits, taxation and employment; active travel; tobacco taxation; smoking cessation, alcohol brief interventions, and weight management services. A model was developed to estimate mortality and years of life lost (YLL) in intervention and comparison populations over a 20-year time period following interventions delivered only in the first year. We estimated changes in inequalities using the relative index of inequality (RII). Results: Introduction of a ‘living wage’ generated the largest beneficial health impact, with modest reductions in health inequalities. Benefits increases had modest positive impacts on health and health inequalities. Income tax increases had negative impacts on population health but reduced inequalities, while council tax increases worsened both health and health inequalities. Active travel increases had minimally positive effects on population health but widened health inequalities. Increases in employment reduced inequalities only when targeted to the most deprived groups. Tobacco taxation had modestly positive impacts on health but little impact on health inequalities. Alcohol brief interventions had modestly positive impacts on health and health inequalities only when strongly socially targeted, while smoking cessation and weight-reduction programmes had minimal impacts on health and health inequalities even when socially targeted. Conclusions: Interventions have markedly different effects on mortality, hospitalisations and inequalities. The most effective (and likely cost-effective) interventions for reducing inequalities were regulatory and tax options. Interventions focused on individual agency were much less likely to impact on inequalities, even when targeted at the most deprived communities