Open access scholarly publishing and the problem of networks and intermediaries in the academic commons

Der Vortrag wurde am 5th Frankfurt Scientific Symposium gehalten (22-23 Oktober 2005)

The Tuition Dilemma and the Politics of "Mass" Higher Education

The prospect of tuition fee increases for public sector universities has attracted an enormous amount of attention in recent years as governments in all industrialized countries have responded to the converging pressures of increased demands for higher education and rising costs of competing areas of social spending. I show that this dilemma is fast approaching a critical point in both Canada and the UK. As contemporary society become "knowledge societies," postsecondary systems become "complex," requiring a sensitive political blending of different institutional goals, such as accessibility, diversity of mission, critical thought, relevance, and social usefulness. This article draws upon the policy model of income contingent repayment (ICR) as a touchstone for debates and larger proposals about addressing the future of higher education reform. My hope is to show the partial shortcomings of the traditional alternatives: reliance on state-provided subsidy on the one hand and deregulated and flexible fees on the other. I then argue that changes in the social and political meaning of participation in higher education might warrant taking a second look at the "smart funding" approach represented by ICR proposals.La possibilité d'augmentation des frais de scolarité dans les universités du secteur public a attiré beaucoup d ' attention ces dernières années. Pendant ce temps, les gouvernements des pays industrialisés répondaient aux pressions convergentes suscitées par les demandes accrues d'un enseignement plus élevé et par les coûts croissants de domaines économiquement concurrents. Cette étude montre que ce dilemme devient rapidement critique au Canada et au Royaume-Uni. Alors que la société contemporaine développe ses connaissances, les systèmes post-secondaires deviennent plus complexes, exigeant que l'onsache ménager les sensibilités et prendre en considération de nombreux objectifs institutionnels tels que l'accessibilité et la diversité de la mission. Cet article utilise le modèle du remboursement des revenus contingents (ICR) comme base d'argumentation pour traiter de la réforme de l'enseignement supérieur. Tout d'abord, j'essaie de montrer les imperfections partielles des alternatives traditionnelles : les subventions gouvernementales d'une part et de l'autre, la dérégulation et la flexibilité des frais. Ensuite, je discute de l'idée selon laquelle les changements politiques et sociaux sur le plan de l'éducation supérieure pourraient justifier un second coup d'oeil sur les propositions du ICR (approche smart funding)

Variation in use of procurement biopsies and its implications for discard of deceased donor kidneys recovered for transplantation

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150616/1/ajt15325.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/150616/2/ajt15325_am.pd

Targeting cancer metabolism: a therapeutic window opens

Genetic events in cancer activate signalling pathways that alter cell metabolism. Clinical evidence has linked cell metabolism with cancer outcomes. Together, these observations have raised interest in targeting metabolic enzymes for cancer therapy, but they have also raised concerns that these therapies would have unacceptable effects on normal cells. However, some of the first cancer therapies that were developed target the specific metabolic needs of cancer cells and remain effective agents in the clinic today. Research into how changes in cell metabolism promote tumour growth has accelerated in recent years. This has refocused efforts to target metabolic dependencies of cancer cells as a selective anticancer strategy.Burroughs Wellcome FundSmith Family FoundationStarr Cancer ConsortiumDamon Runyon Cancer Research FoundationNational Institutes of Health (U.S.

Correlation of gene expression and protein production rate - a system wide study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Growth rate is a major determinant of intracellular function. However its effects can only be properly dissected with technically demanding chemostat cultivations in which it can be controlled. Recent work on <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae </it>chemostat cultivations provided the first analysis on genome wide effects of growth rate. In this work we study the filamentous fungus <it>Trichoderma reesei </it>(<it>Hypocrea jecorina</it>) that is an industrial protein production host known for its exceptional protein secretion capability. Interestingly, it exhibits a low growth rate protein production phenotype.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have used transcriptomics and proteomics to study the effect of growth rate and cell density on protein production in chemostat cultivations of <it>T. reesei</it>. Use of chemostat allowed control of growth rate and exact estimation of the extracellular specific protein production rate (SPPR). We find that major biosynthetic activities are all negatively correlated with SPPR. We also find that expression of many genes of secreted proteins and secondary metabolism, as well as various lineage specific, mostly unknown genes are positively correlated with SPPR. Finally, we enumerate possible regulators and regulatory mechanisms, arising from the data, for this response.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Based on these results it appears that in low growth rate protein production energy is very efficiently used primarly for protein production. Also, we propose that flux through early glycolysis or the TCA cycle is a more fundamental determining factor than growth rate for low growth rate protein production and we propose a novel eukaryotic response to this i.e. the lineage specific response (LSR).</p

The University Student in a Reflexive Society: Consequences of Consumerism and Competition

In what follows I argue that, with the transformation from elite to mass university systems, the consumer role is ascendant, especially as higher education systems become more institutionally diverse, complex, inclusive and expansive. In this environment, students and their patrons (parents, governments, etc.) demand more responsive and flexible institutional forms, which some sociologists have argued reflects the advent of an increasingly reflexive society. In the case of universities, the result of social reflexivity is an inevitable blurring of some important boundaries, especially those between the external and internal values of the academic culture. In this context it is not surprising that students are more directly and exclusively focused on the utilitarian value of education, and its role as a gateway to occupational opportunities and social prestige. However, I propose that student consumerism need not be a threat to academic communities, especially in a public university system like that of Canadas. In particular, wise government policies concerning student financing and institutional competition can help to avoid some of the crises emerging in market-oriented systems like that of the United States

The Making of a Policy Regime: Canada's Student Finance System since 1994

This paper examines the pattern of decision-making, lobbying, and influence that led to the landmark series of federal student assistance policies introduced by Jean Chrétien’s Liberal government in the late 1990s. The package of new initiatives—dubbed the Canada Opportunities Strategy—not only partially reversed an earlier period of fiscal restraint but also brought a new emphasis on direct forms of student assistance such as grants, bursaries, and tax credits. However, programs such as the Canada Millennium Bursaries and the Canada Education Savings Grants, despite their focused approach and innovative structure, came to be regarded as weak policy tools when measured against their ostensible goals of widening access to post-secondary education and efficiently targeting student assistance on the basis of need. The new policy regime also failed to fulfil nearly two decades of previous efforts by policy-makers to transform Canada’s student debt program into a systematic income-contingent loan program. We offer explanations of this pattern of policy inconsistency and incoherence by examining the awkward challenges of intergovernmental relations in the Canadian federal system as well as the fragmentation and competing goals now evident in student assistance policy networks. We contrast the student finance policy regime with the arguably more coherent set of research and innovation policies established by the federal government during the same period. We use policy network analysis as our theoretical framework, and we use data from our extensive interviews with higher education stakeholders and policy-makers to provide empirical support. &nbsp;Cet article analyse les processus décisionnels, les actions des groupes de pression et leur influence qui ont mené à une série de dispositifs législatifs quant à l’aide financière aux étudiants introduits par legouvernement libéral de Jean Chrétien à la fin des années 1990. Cet ensemble d’initiatives appelé « la stratégie canadienne pour l’égalité des chances » a non seulement mis fin (partiellement) à une période de restriction fiscale, mais a également conduit à une aide directe aux étudiants sous forme de subventions, de bourses et de crédits d’impôt. Malgré leurs approches ciblées et leurs structures innovatrices, des programmes tels que les Bourses canadiennes du millénaire et la Subvention canadienne pour l’épargne-études furent considérées comme des moyens peu efficaces face aux objectifs ambitieux d’élargir l’accès à l’éducation postsecondaire et à fournir une aide adéquate basée sur les besoins financiers des étudiants. De plus, ce nouveau régime a été incapable de mener à terme d’anciennes politiques entreprises près de vingt ans plus tôt visant à transformer le programme canadien de dette étudiante en programme de prêts conditionnels aux revenus.Nous expliquons l’inconsistance et la contradiction de cette politique par l’analyse de l’effroyable défi que présentent les relations intergouvernementales dans le système fédéral canadien ainsi que la diversité et la compétitivité des objectifs dans les réseaux d’assistance aux étudiants. Nous mettons en opposition le système d’aide financière aux étudiants avec une autre politique plus cohérente portant celle-ci sur la recherche et l’innovation établie par le gouvernement fédéral durant la même période. Notre cadre théorique s’appuie sur les outils d’analyse des politiques publiques, ainsi que les données provenant d’une longue série d’entretiens avec les parties concernées par l’éducation postsecondaire et des personnes responsables de politiques publiques afin de profiter de leur perspective empirique