Home About us Contact
|
Home About us Contact | ||
|
|
||
Forefront
Selected AbstractsOrganizing for Continuous Innovation: On the Sustainability of Ambidextrous OrganizationsCREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2005Bart Van Looy Organizing for innovation does not present itself as a straightforward exercise. The complexities entailed when implementing an innovation strategy can be related directly to the multitude of objectives it comprises. Recently, several scholars have advanced the notions of semi- or quasi-structures and ambidextrous organizations to handle these multiple requirements. These organizational forms imply the simultaneous presence of different activities, exhibiting differences in technology and market maturation. As a consequence, financial returns will reflect this diversified resource allocation pattern. Moreover, as higher levels of complexity are being introduced; ambidextrous organizations will encounter additional, organizational, costs. Compared to organizations that focus on the most profitable part of the portfolio, ambidextrous organizations , ceteris paribus , tend to be inferior in terms of financial returns. Within this contribution we explore under which conditions ambidextrous organizations can outperform focused firms; considered a prerequisite for their sustainability. In order to do so, we develop an analytical framework depicting the differential value dynamics, focused and ambidextrous firms can enact. Our findings reveal the relevancy of adopting extended time frames as well as introducing interface management practices aimed at cross-fertilization. Finally, the synergetic potential of (underlying) technologies comes to the forefront as necessary in order for ambidextrous organizations to become sustainable. [source] "Let's Go to MY Museum": Inspiring Confident Learners and Museum Explorers at Children's MuseumsCURATOR THE MUSEUM JOURNAL, Issue 1 2007Carol Enseki Recent guests have arrived from as far away as Israel, Ecuador, Japan, and Australia, and as nearby as the Bronx. In the United States, children's museums represent one of the youngest and fastest growing cultural sectors. Our field was founded in 1899 with the opening of the Brooklyn Children's Museum. Anna Billings Gallup, an influential curator and director at the museum from 1902 to 1937, spoke widely about the value of bringing the child into the forefront of museum activities. In the United States, the field grew slowly but steadily to four children's museums in 1925 and to approximately 38 by 1975. In the last three decades, sparked by the groundbreaking work of Michael Spock at the Boston Children's Museum, the field has been energized by an extraordinary boom in new and expanding children's museums. Today there are approximately 350 worldwide. [source] Adverse Event Reporting: Lessons Learned from 4 Years of Florida Office DataDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 9 2005Brett Coldiron MD, FACP Background Patient safety regulations and medical error reporting systems have been at the forefront of current health care legislature. In 2000, Florida mandated that all physicians report, to a central collecting agency, all adverse events occurring in an office setting. Purpose To analyze the scope and incidence of adverse events and deaths resulting from office surgical procedures in Florida from 2000 to 2004. Methods We reviewed all reported adverse incidents (the death of a patient, serious injury, and subsequent hospital transfer) occurring in an office setting from March 1, 2000, through March 1, 2004, from the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. We determined physician board certification status, hospital privileges, and office accreditation via telephone follow-up and Internet searches. Results Of 286 reported office adverse events, 77 occurred in association with an office surgical procedure (19 deaths and 58 hospital transfers). There were seven complications and five deaths associated with the use of intravenous sedation or general anesthesia. There were no adverse events associated with the use of dilute local (tumescent) anesthesia. Liposuction and/or abdominoplasty under general anesthesia or intravenous sedation were the most common surgical procedures associated with a death or complication. Fifty-three percent of offices reporting an adverse incident were accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgical Facilities, or American Association for Ambulatory Health Care. Ninety-four percent of the involved physicians were board certified, and 97% had hospital privileges. Forty-two percent of the reported deaths were delayed by several hours to weeks after uneventful discharge or after hospital transfer. Conclusions Requiring physician board certification, physician hospital privileges, or office accreditation is not likely to reduce office adverse events. Restrictions on dilute local (tumescent) anesthesia for liposuction would not reduce adverse events and could increase adverse events if patients are shifted to riskier approaches. State and/or national legislation establishing adverse event reporting systems should be supported and should require the reporting of delayed deaths. [source] Recent advances in craniofacial morphogenesisDEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS, Issue 9 2006Yang Chai Abstract Craniofacial malformations are involved in three fourths of all congenital birth defects in humans, affecting the development of head, face, or neck. Tremendous progress in the study of craniofacial development has been made that places this field at the forefront of biomedical research. A concerted effort among evolutionary and developmental biologists, human geneticists, and tissue engineers has revealed important information on the molecular mechanisms that are crucial for the patterning and formation of craniofacial structures. Here, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of evo,devo as it relates to craniofacial morphogenesis, fate determination of cranial neural crest cells, and specific signaling pathways in regulating tissue,tissue interactions during patterning of craniofacial apparatus and the morphogenesis of tooth, mandible, and palate. Together, these findings will be beneficial for the understanding, treatment, and prevention of human congenital malformations and establish the foundation for craniofacial tissue regeneration. Developmental Dynamics 235:2353,2375, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Gene therapy and enhancement for diabetes (and other diseases): the multiplicity of considerationsDIABETES/METABOLISM: RESEARCH AND REVIEWS, Issue 7 2010Marta Bertolaso Abstract Gene therapy has reached the forefront of studies and research over the last 30 years because of its potential for curing, treating, and preventing diseases associated with DNA mutations. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are two examples of very common polygenic and multifactorial diseases. The huge amount of scientific literature on this topic reflects a growing general interest in the possibilities of altering our genetic heritage and thus controlling the onset of diseases associated with mutations and relative risk factors. We have focussed on the new treatment opportunities and possibility of enhancing an individual's health, physical well-being, and even an individual's behaviour through technologies specially designed for therapeutic purposes, which have been presented in literature. This historical perspective shows how this type of research, however, was immediately subjected to an ethical evaluation, especially regarding the decoding of the human genome and the questions raised by the alteration of our genetic heritage through new biotechnologies. Moreover, understanding the limitations of gene therapy protocol experiments and the multifactorial nature of many diseases, which have a genetic base, also contributes to these considerations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Mesenchymal stem cell therapy in equine musculoskeletal disease: scientific fact or clinical fiction?EQUINE VETERINARY JOURNAL, Issue 2 2007S. E. TAYLOR Summary The goal in the therapeutic use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in musculoskeletal disease is to harness the regenerative nature of these cells focussing on their potential to grow new tissues and organs to replace damaged or diseased tissue. Laboratory isolation of MSCs is now well established and has recently been demonstrated for equine MSCs. Stem cell science has attracted considerable interest in both the scientific and clinical communities because of its potential to regenerate tissues. Research into the use of MSCs in tissue regeneration in general reflects human medical needs, however, the nature, prevalence and prognosis of superficial digital flexor tendonitis has put equine veterinary science at the forefront of tendon regeneration research. Much has been investigated and learnt but it must be appreciated that in spite of this, the field is still relatively young and both communities must prepare themselves for considerable time and effort to develop the technology into a highly efficient treatments. The promise of functional tissue engineering to replace old parts with new fully justifies the interest. At present, however, it is important to balance the understanding of our current limitations with a desire to progress the technology. [source] Cooperative forms of governance: Problems of democratic accountability in complex environmentsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2003YANNIS PAPADOPOULOS Various schools of research in public policy (the literature on ,governance' and its continental counterparts) are converging to focus on the growth of policy styles based on cooperation and partnership in networks, instead of on vertical control by the state. This article focuses on issues of democratic accountability and responsiveness with these governance arrangements. It argues that until recently the legitimacy of governance networks was not at the forefront of theoretical developments, even though the ,democratic deficit' of governance is problematic both for normative and for pragmatic reasons. There is now increased sensitivity to this problem, but the remedies presented in the literature are unsatisfactory, and critiques of governance presuppose a somewhat idealised image of representative democracy in terms of accountability or responsiveness of decision-makers. They also fail to offer adequate solutions to some of the central legitimacy problems of policy-making in complex societies. [source] The whole epidermis as the forefront of the sensory systemEXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 8 2007Nicholas Boulais No abstract is available for this article. [source] Epidermal keratinocytes as the forefront of the sensory systemEXPERIMENTAL DERMATOLOGY, Issue 3 2007Mitsuhiro Denda Abstract, Various sensors that respond to physical or chemical environmental factors have been identified in the peripheral nervous system. Some of them, which respond to mechanical stress, osmotic pressure, temperature and chemical stimuli (such as pH), are also expressed in epidermal keratinocytes. Neurotransmitters and their receptors, as well as receptors that regulate the neuroendocrine system of the skin, are also present in keratinocytes. Thus, broadly speaking, epidermal keratinocytes appear to be equipped with sensing systems similar to those of the peripheral and central nervous systems. It had long been considered that only nerve C-terminals in the epidermis play a role in skin surface perception. However, building on earlier work on skin receptors and new findings introduced here, we present in this review a novel hypothesis of skin sensory perception, i.e. first, keratinocytes recognize various environmental factors, and then the information is processed and conveyed to the nervous system. [source] Feeding signals to the hungry mindEXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 8 2009Nina Balthasar Obesity, due to its associated co-morbidities, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, is at the forefront of today's health care concerns. Our need for novel, multifaceted approaches to tackle the global increase of waistlines is urgent, and understanding the physiological processes underlying our vulnerability to weight gain is an important one of them. Evidence for considerable heritability of body weight indicates genetic influences in the susceptibility to our obesogenic environment. Here, we will focus on neurons in brain structures such as the hypothalamus, which sense the body's metabolic state and, through an intricate cascade of events, elicit an appropriate response. We will explore the use of genetically modified mouse models in the investigation of physiological functions of genes and pathways in neuronal regulation of metabolic balance. Use of these techniques allows us to make manipulations at the molecular level (e.g. in the neuronal metabolic sensing mechanism) and combine this with systems-level physiological analysis (e.g. body weight). Recent technological advances also enable the investigation of the contributions of genes to the co-morbidities of obesity, such as obesity-induced hypertension. Reviewing examples of improvements as well as large gaps in our knowledge, this lecture aims to incite interest in whole body physiological research. [source] Risk and control of waterborne cryptosporidiosisFEMS MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, Issue 2 2002Joan B. Rose Abstract Cryptosporidium remains at the forefront of studies on waterborne disease transmission and abatement. The impact of environmental land use patterns which contribute animal and human waste, climatic precipitation leading to a strong association with outbreaks, and community infrastructure and water treatment are now recognized as contributing factors in the potential for waterborne spread of the protozoan. Advances in detection methodologies, including the ability to genotype various strains of this organism, have shown that human wastes are often the source of the contamination and cell culture techniques have allowed insight into the viability of the oocyst populations. Currently water treatment has focused on UV and ozone disinfection as most promising for the inactivation of this protozoan pathogen. [source] The ,New Woman' and the Politics of Love, Marriage and Divorce in Colonial KoreaGENDER & HISTORY, Issue 2 2005Theodore Jun Yoo This study seeks to explore the changing discursive forces that competed to define Korean women's identity and roles within the context of the new spaces created by colonialism and modernity. It argues that a small coterie of literate women seized the initiative to enhance their education, define the politics of physical aesthetics and con-tribute to the debate about the changing gender roles and expectations in Korean society all under the guise of 'Westernisation' and progress. The emergence of these 'new women' challenged traditional notions of Korean womanhood and brought the 'woman question' to the forefront of public discourse. [source] Democratic place,making and multiculturalismGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES B: HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, Issue 1 2002J. Nicholas Entrikin Multiculturalism has become a defining characteristic of late modern societies. For some, multiculturalism is at the forefront of democratizing processes, and for others, it undermines the possibility of democratic political community. Normative political theory offers several models of the democratic, and these models differ significantly in terms of the role given to culture. These models also suggest ideal geographies that become evident when considering democratic political community formation and multiculturalism as a form of place,making. [source] Colonial Networks, Australian Humanitarianism and the History WarsGEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH, Issue 3 2006ALAN LESTER Abstract The ,History Wars' have brought contests among Britons over the colonisation of Aboriginal land and people to the forefront of public consciousness in Australia. These contests, however, were the result of trajectories that criss-crossed British imperial spaces, connecting Australia with other settler colonies and the British metropole. A number of historians and historical geographers have recently employed the notion of the network to highlight the interconnected geographies of the British Empire. This paper begins by examining the utility of such a re-conceptualisation. It then fleshes out empirically the networked nature of early nineteenth century humanitarianism in colonial New South Wales. Both the relatively progressive potential of this humanitarian network, and its complicity in an ethnocentric politics of assimilationism are analysed. Settler networks, developed as a counter to humanitarian influence in the colony, are also examined more briefly. This account of contested networks demonstrates that they were never simply about communication, but always, fundamentally, about the organisation and contestation of dispossessive trajectories that linked diverse colonial and metropolitan sites. The paper concludes by noting some of the implications of such a networked analysis of dispossession and assimilation for Australia's ,History Wars'. [source] Gravity gradiometer systems , advances and challengesGEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTING, Issue 4 2009Daniel DiFrancesco ABSTRACT The past few years have witnessed significant advances and unparalleled interest in gravity gradiometer instrument technology as well as new deployment scenarios for various applications. Gravity gradiometry is now routinely considered as a viable component for resource exploration activities as well as being deployed for global information gathering. Since the introduction of the torsion balance in the 1890s, it has been recognized that gravity gradient information is valuable , yet difficult and time-consuming to obtain. The recent acceptance and routine use of airborne gravity gradiometry for exploration has inspired many new technology developments. This paper summarizes advances in gravity gradient sensor development and also looks at deployment scenarios and gradiometer systems that have been successfully fielded. With projected improved system performance on the horizon, new challenges will also come to the forefront. Included in these challenges are aspects of instrument and system intrinsic noise, vehicle dynamic noise, terrain noise, geologic noise and other noise sources. Each of these aspects is briefly reviewed herein and recommendations for improvements presented. [source] The labour market for nursing: a review of the labour supply literatureHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 6 2003Emanuela Antonazzo Abstract The need to ensure adequate numbers of motivated health professionals is at the forefront of the modernisation of the UK NHS. The aim of this paper is to assess current understanding of the labour supply behaviour of nurses, and to propose an agenda for further research. In particular, the paper reviews American and British economics literature that focuses on empirical econometric studies based on the classical static labour supply model. American research could be classified into first generation, second generation and recent empirical evidence. Advances in methods mirror those in the general labour economics literature, and include the use of limited dependent variable models and the treatment of sample selection issues. However, there is considerable variation in results, which depends on the methods used, particularly on the effect of wages. Only one study was found that used UK data, although other studies examined the determinants of turnover, quit rates and job satisfaction. The agenda for further empirical research includes the analysis of discontinuities in the labour supply function, the relative importance of pecuniary and non-pecuniary job characteristics, and the application of dynamic and family labour supply models to nursing research. Such research is crucial to the development of evidence-based policies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Behaviors of micro-layer in micro-channel boiling system applying laser extinction methodHEAT TRANSFER - ASIAN RESEARCH (FORMERLY HEAT TRANSFER-JAPANESE RESEARCH), Issue 1 2006Yoshio Utaka Abstract To elucidate the mechanism and characteristics of boiling heat transfer in a micro-channel vaporizer, the experimental investigation of the micro-layer thickness that formed between the heating surface and vapor generated was important. The micro-layer thickness was measured applying the laser extinction method for channel gap sizes of 0.5, 0.3, and 0.15 mm. It was clarified that the gap size, the rate of bubble growth, and the distance from the incipient bubble site have an effect on the micro-layer thickness in a micro-channel boiling system. The initial micro-layer thickness grew with an increase of the velocity of bubble forefront to moderate the value of the velocity. In the region of greater velocity, the thickness was constant for each gap. The distributions of the initial thickness of micro-layer on the heat transfer surface were shown. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 35(1): 35,46, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.20096 [source] Recent Progress on Silica Coating of Nanoparticles and Related NanomaterialsADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 11 2010Andrés Guerrero-Martínez Abstract In recent years, new strategies for silica coating of inorganic nanoparticles and organic nanomaterials, which differ from the classical methodologies, have emerged at the forefront of materials science. Silica as a coating material promises an unparalleled opportunity for enhancement of colloidal properties and functions by using core,shell rational designs and profiting from its synthetic versatility. This contribution provides a brief overview of recent progress in the synthesis of silica-coated nanomaterials and their significant impact in different areas such as spectroscopy, magnetism, catalysis, and biology. [source] Floodplain friction parameterization in two-dimensional river flood models using vegetation heights derived from airborne scanning laser altimetryHYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES, Issue 9 2003David C. Mason Abstract Two-dimensional (2-D) hydraulic models are currently at the forefront of research into river flood inundation prediction. Airborne scanning laser altimetry is an important new data source that can provide such models with spatially distributed floodplain topography together with vegetation heights for parameterization of model friction. The paper investigates how vegetation height data can be used to realize the currently unexploited potential of 2-D flood models to specify a friction factor at each node of the finite element model mesh. The only vegetation attribute required in the estimation of floodplain node friction factors is vegetation height. Different sets of flow resistance equations are used to model channel sediment, short vegetation, and tall and intermediate vegetation. The scheme was tested in a modelling study of a flood event that occurred on the River Severn, UK, in October 1998. A synthetic aperture radar image acquired during the flood provided an observed flood extent against which to validate the predicted extent. The modelled flood extent using variable friction was found to agree with the observed extent almost everywhere within the model domain. The variable-friction model has the considerable advantage that it makes unnecessary the unphysical fitting of floodplain and channel friction factors required in the traditional approach to model calibration. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Evaluating the Effectiveness of Auditing in Local Municipalities using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP): A General Model and the Israeli ExampleINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AUDITING, Issue 3 2007Shlomo Mizrahi This paper suggests a method for evaluating the effectiveness of auditing, and more specifically, develops measurement tools for evaluating the effectiveness of auditing in local municipalities. Auditing effectiveness is defined basically as the number and scope of deficiencies corrected following the auditing process. Given the relatively scant literature about the measurement of auditing effectiveness in the public sector, this study attempts to bring the issue to the forefront and provide systematic tools for such a measurement. The method suggested in this paper is based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodology, which is usually used for grading multi-criteria alternatives where a subjective (expert) comparison between alternatives is required. In our context, this methodology helps rank the relative importance of each deficiency in the auditing report by assigning weights to each deficiency. Applying this method to auditing in local municipalities, the paper develops measurement tools for evaluating their effectiveness based on questionnaires distributed among experts and illustrates their applicability in three local municipalities in Israel. [source] The potential power of social policy programmes: income redistribution, economic resources and healthINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 2010Olle Lundberg Lundberg O, Fritzell J, Ĺberg Yngwe M, Kölegĺrd ML. The potential power of social policy programmes: income redistribution, economic resources and health Int J Soc Welfare 2010: ,,: ,,,,,© 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. This Supplement includes a number of articles dealing with the role of social policy schemes for public health across the life course. As a key social determinant of health, poverty and its consequences have historically been at the forefront of the public health discussion. But also in rich countries today, economic resources are likely to be important for health and survival, both on an individual and an aggregate level. This introductory article serves as a background for the more specific analyses that follow. The focus is on why income and income inequality could have an effect on individual and population health. We discuss relationships between the individual and population levels and between income and health, and some of the possible mechanisms involved. We also present arguments for why welfare state institutions may matter. [source] Chipping Away at the Fortress: Unions, Immigration and the Transnational Labour MarketINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 2 2000Gamze Avci Conventional wisdom holds that in liberal industrialized countries, times of economic recession and high unemployment create pressures for restrictive immigration legislation, proposals which will be supported by trade unions as a means of safeguarding their interests. Drawing on a case study of British trade union opposition to the 1996 Asylum and Immigration Act, this article argues that trade unions, which traditional interpretation suggests support such protectionist measures, are actually at the forefront of opposition to them. We suggest that the increased transnationalization of labour markets, combined with the particular nature of the legislative response, had led unions to adopt this apparently paradoxical position. [source] Gender Matters: Ethnographers Bring Gender from the Periphery toward the Core of Migration StudiesINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION REVIEW, Issue 1 2006Sarah J. Mahler Ethnographers from anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines have been at the forefront of efforts to bring gender into scholarship on international and transnational migration. This article traces the long and often arduous history of these scholars' efforts, arguing that though gender is now less rarely treated merely as a variable in social science writing on migration, it is still not viewed by most researchers in the field as a key constitutive element of migrations. The article highlights critical advances in the labor to engender migration studies, identifies under-researched topics, and argues that there have been opportunities when, had gender been construed as a critical force shaping migrations, the course of research likely would have shifted. The main example developed is the inattention paid to how gendered recruitment practices structure migrations , the fact that gender sways recruiters' conceptions of appropriate employment niches for men versus women. [source] Nurses in the forefront of tuberculosis prevention, care and treatmentINTERNATIONAL NURSING REVIEW, Issue 4 2006Health Policy, International Council of Nurses Dr, Nursing, Tesfamicael Ghebrehiwet Consultant No abstract is available for this article. [source] Revamping Pentecostal Evangelism: Appropriating Walter J. Hollenweger's Radical ProposalINTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MISSION, Issue 382-383 2007Tony Richie As the Christian Church endeavours to be faithful to its evangelistic mission, increasingly intense problems arise in international contexts of cultural diversity and religious plurality. Pentecostal, noted for "aggressive evangelism", are frequently at the forefront of such negative encounters. Walter J. Hollenweger offers Pentecostals a complementary paradigm of "dialogical evangelism" that is sensitive to this situation without stilling the voice of evangelism. The present project overviews Hollenweger's "radical proposal" and traditional Pentecostal evangelism and its current trends before assessing their compatibility or contradictoriness and exploring possible appropriation. [source] Karl Pearson and the Establishment of Mathematical StatisticsINTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL REVIEW, Issue 1 2009M. Eileen Magnello Summary At the end of the nineteenth century, the content and practice of statistics underwent a series of transitions that led to its emergence as a highly specialised mathematical discipline. These intellectual and later institutional changes were, in part, brought about by a mathematical-statistical translation of Charles Darwin's redefinition of the biological species as something that could be viewed in terms of populations. Karl Pearson and W.F.R. Weldon's mathematical reconceptualisation of Darwinian biological variation and "statistical" population of species in the 1890s provided the framework within which a major paradigmatic shift occurred in statistical techniques and theory. Weldon's work on the shore crab in Naples and Plymouth from 1892 to 1895 not only brought them into the forefront of ideas of speciation and provided the impetus to Pearson's earliest statistical innovations, but it also led to Pearson shifting his professional interests from having had an established career as a mathematical physicist to developing one as a biometrician. The innovative statistical work Pearson undertook with Weldon in 1892 and later with Francis Galton in 1894 enabled him to lay the foundations of modern mathematical statistics. While Pearson's diverse publications, his establishment of four laboratories and the creation of new academic departments underscore the plurality of his work, the main focus of his life-long career was in the establishment and promulgation of his statistical methodology. [source] The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World,JOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 1 2009Amar Bhidé Many observers have warned that the next stage of globalization,the offshoring of research and development to China and India,threatens the foundations of Western prosperity. But in this article, the author explains why the doomsayers are likely to be wrong. Using extensive field studies on venture capital-backed businesses to examine how technology is really used to create value in modern economies, this article explains how and why scientific advances abroad generally contribute to prosperity at home, and why trying to maintain the U.S. lead by subsidizing more research or training more scientists is likely to do more harm than good. When breakthrough ideas have no borders, a nation's capacity to exploit cutting-edge research regardless of where it originates is the key to its economic competitiveness. "Venturesome consumption",that is, the willingness and ability of businesses and consumers to use products and technologies derived from scientific research in the most effective ways,is far more important than having a share of the research. And for this reason, well-developed and "venturesome" economies like the U.S. benefit disproportionately from scientific innovations abroad. To cite just one example discussed at length in this article, the success of Apple's iPod owes much to technologies that were developed largely in Asia and Europe. The proven ability of the United States to remain at the forefront of the global "innovation game" reflects the contributions of many players,not just a few brilliant scientists and engineers, but literally millions of U.S. entrepreneurs, managers, financiers, salespersons, and, to a very large degree, U.S. consumers. As long as their venturesome spirit remains alive and well, advances abroad should not be feared but welcomed. [source] New Hope and Help for Forgotten YouthJOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIC NURSING, Issue 2 2009APRN/PMH, Rita Gill MS TOPIC: Juvenile sex offender treatment programs have been at the forefront of discussion among some policy-makers and certainly those who provide treatment for these youth. While the research in this area supports the use of community-based treatment strategies, clinicians with strong training background are rare. PURPOSE: There is a need for a certificate training program to develop clinicians who are specifically trained to treat juvenile sex offenders. Through a unique academic/community initiative providing a multimodal approach to treatment, a collaborative 2-day national conference related to treatment of juvenile sex offenders was established. The program core was a 9-month clinical treatment certificate training program. This article describes the community program, and outlines in detail its purpose, goals, trainee requirements, conceptual areas for competency development, and the content areas. CONCLUSIONS: The Mental Health Policy Institute for Leadership and Training of Baltimore and the School of Nursing of the University Maryland jointly recognized a need to address the quality and efficacy of community-based treatment and expand the number of trained clinicians to work with sex offending youth. As a result of positive program evaluations, this community program will be provided annually. [source] Literature review: should antipyretic therapies routinely be administered to patient fever?JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 17-18 2010Jane V Carey Aims and objectives., To determine whether the practices of routinely treating fever with antipyretic medications or physical cooling methods are supported by the literature. Background., Fever is one of the commonest symptoms presented to caregivers. Previous research suggests that treating fever with antipyretic medications or physical cooling methods is often routine practice. This article considers that fever and the febrile response may have been preserved through evolution because of its advantage for host defences and that fever may have an adaptive value. It is questioned whether the administration of antipyretic therapies could prolong the duration of illness, as interventions to lower body temperature are acting against the body's natural response to infection. Design., Literature review. Method., Electronic databases and the Internet were searched, supplemented by citation tracking. Articles were eligible if the participants studied had received pharmacological or physical cooling interventions to reduce their body temperature during fever. The interventions were evaluated in regard to whether they prolonged duration of illness. Results., Results were inconsistent. None of the studies found that antipyretic therapies reduced duration of illness in patients with fever. Evidence suggests that antipyretic therapies do not reduce the duration of illness, but can prolong it. Conclusions., The evidence on which to base recommendations for practice is weak but does not support the current practice of administering antipyretic therapies routinely to patients with fever. Physical cooling methods alone should never be used. Nurses should assess patients with fever on an individualised basis and use antipyretic therapies selectively. Relevance to clinical practice., The administration of antipyretics to patients with fever is an important issue, and nurses are at the forefront of decision-making. Evidence-based care delivery is expected by the NMC. A protocol to assist decision-making when caring for patients with pyrexia is suggested. [source] The role of power in wellness, oppression, and liberation: the promise of psychopolitical validity,JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 2 2008Isaac Prilleltensky The power to promote wellness, resist oppression, and foster liberation is grounded in psychological and political dynamics. Hitherto, these two sources of power have been treated in isolation, both for descriptive and prescriptive purposes. As a result, we lack an integrative theory that explains the role of power in promoting human welfare and preventing suffering, and we lack a framework for combining psychological and political power for the purpose of social change. In this article, the author puts forth a psychopolitical conceptualization of power, wellness, oppression, and liberation. Furthermore, he introduces the concept of psychopolitical validity, which is designed to help community psychologists to put power issues at the forefront of research and action. Two types of psychopolitical validity are introduced: type I,epistemic, and type II,transformative. Whereas the former demands that psychological and political power be incorporated into community psychology studies; the latter requires that interventions move beyond ameliorative efforts and towards structural change. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||