Reviewing patent policy: an exercise in futility?

In 1984, Don Lamberton wrote a two-page disclaimer to a review of the Australian patent system, pointing out that there was nothing economic about the review and that it simply pandered to special interest groups. Some 30 years later, the Productivity Commission has been given a shorter time frame (one year) and a broader remit (all intellectual property). This paper reviews the issues addressed in the Industrial Property Advisory Committee (IPAC) review of 1984. Since it was completed, substantially more empirical evidence has become available, while room for policy improvement has been curtailed by international trade treaties. While the Productivity Commission will take a sound economic approach, the breadth of its remit may prevent full appreciation of the critical issues in patent policy. This paper considers the options remaining to the Commission to recommend improvements in the national interest. Whether these will be taken up depends on the priority given to the interests of small but powerful lobby groups.     

Differential contribution of specific working memory components to mathematics achievement in 2nd and 3rd graders

The contribution of the three core components of working memory (WM) to the development of mathematical skills in young children is poorly understood. The relation between specific WM components and Numerical Operations, which emphasize computation and fact retrieval, and Mathematical Reasoning, which emphasizes verbal problem solving abilities in 48 2nd and 50 3rd graders was assessed using standardized WM and mathematical achievement measures. For 2nd graders, the central executive and phonological components predicted Mathematical Reasoning skills; whereas the visuo-spatial component predicted both Mathematical Reasoning and Numerical Operations skills in 3rd graders. This pattern suggests that the central executive and phonological loop facilitate performance during early stages of mathematical learning whereas visuo-spatial representations play an increasingly important role during later stages. We propose that these changes reflect a shift from prefrontal to parietal cortical functions during mathematical skill acquisition. Implications for learning and individual differences are discussed.     

Anger Management Using a Cognitive‐behavioural Approach for Children with Special Education Needs: A literature review and meta‐analysis

This review examines the use of a cognitive‐behavioural approach to anger management in children with special needs in community settings. Eighteen experimental studies involving a total of 408 children were located. The participants were mainly of high school age, with an IQ above 80, and with behavioural or emotional disorders. A moderate effect was observed for improvement in the three dimensions of anger: behaviour, cognition and emotion – although conclusions need to be very tentative. The interventions employed varied greatly in their characteristics and there were concerns about the quality of many studies. Further research is needed to investigate the interaction between intervention features and participant characteristics.     

Another failure to replicate Lynn's estimate of the average IQ of sub-Saharan Africans

In his comment on our literature review of data on the performance of sub-Saharan Africans on Raven's Progressive Matrices, Lynn (this issue) criticized our selection of samples of primary and secondary school students. On the basis of the samples he deemed representative, Lynn concluded that the average IQ of sub-Saharan Africans stands at 67 when compared to UK norms after a correction of the Flynn Effect. We criticize his methods for being unsystematic. Here we select only those samples that were based on stratified or clustered random sampling and were deemed representative by the original authors. We again fail to replicate Lynn's low estimate of the average IQ of Africans. We argue that these scores are hard to interpret in terms of latent cognitive variables such as g because of the psychometric incomparability we established and because the Flynn Effect has yet to take hold in sub-Saharan Africa.     

A model for using a concept inventory as a tool for students' assessment and faculty professional development

This essay describes how the use of a concept inventory has enhanced professional development and curriculum reform efforts of a faculty teaching community. The Host Pathogen Interactions (HPI) teaching team is composed of research and teaching faculty with expertise in HPI who share the goal of improving the learning experience of students in nine linked undergraduate microbiology courses. To support evidence-based curriculum reform, we administered our HPI Concept Inventory as a pre- and postsurvey to approximately 400 students each year since 2006. The resulting data include student scores as well as their open-ended explanations for distractor choices. The data have enabled us to address curriculum reform goals of 1) reconciling student learning with our expectations, 2) correlating student learning with background variables, 3) understanding student learning across institutions, 4) measuring the effect of teaching techniques on student learning, and 5) demonstrating how our courses collectively form a learning progression. The analysis of the concept inventory data has anchored and deepened the team's discussions of student learning. Reading and discussing students' responses revealed the gap between our understanding and the students' understanding. We provide evidence to support the concept inventory as a tool for assessing student understanding of HPI concepts and faculty development.     

Spatial integration with rats

Rats were trained to find the hidden platform in a Morris pool, whose location was defined by reference to a small number of landmarks around the circumference of the pool. In each of three experiments, an experimental group was trained on alternate trials with two different subsets of three of the available landmarks, with the two subsets sharing one landmark in common. When tested with landmarks drawn from both of their training configurations, but without the landmark common to the two sets, they had no difficulty in locating the platform. In Experiment 1, they performed at least as well as a group trained with all the available landmarks present on every trial. In Experiment 2, they performed significantly better than a group trained with two different subsets of landmarks that shared no one landmark in common.     

Evaluation of genetic potential of the polyvoltine silkworm （Bombyx mori L.） germplasm and identification of parents for breeding programme

In the present study, polyvoltine germplasm stock ofAndhra Pradesh State Sericulture Research and Development, Institute （APSSRDI） was evaluated for its performance based on quantitative and qualitative traits. Twenty-one oval and 10 peanut cocoon shaped lines were reared in different seasons of the year. Since the polyvoltines are non-diapausing, six generations were reared and evaluated for various economically important traits based on evaluation index and sub-ordinate function statistical methods. Ten top ranked lines obtained by using both the methods were identified as potential parental strains. Among oval lines, APMI4, APMI 1, APMIS, APMW9, and APMI9, and among peanut lines APMD5, APMDI, APMD3, APMD9 and APMD8 were selected as base material. The identified high yielding lines will be used in various breeding programmes as initial parents for the synthesis of superior polyvoltine breeds/hybrids.     

The essence of information: Philosophical notes

The information approach is practiced to study the Macrocosm (physical reality), biosphere, Microcosm (psychic reality), social reality, spiritual reality, and the technosphere. The ways in which scientists of different specialties understand information are characterized in detail. The interrelations between types of realities and types of information are revealed.     

Personalized context-oriented support for interactions between production networks members

An approach to information support for interactions between production networks members is proposed based on the use of a context-oriented knowledge management system. The use of context makes it possible to provide the production network members with currently relevant knowledge. Managing the profiles of members and users enables the personalization of information support for members in the knowledge management system and allows using them as sources of knowledge.     

Open access to scientific knowledge. Who receives dividends?

Open access to scientific knowledge is considered as a new neo-liberal project in the globalized world. The advantages and disadvantages that members of the open access obtain are described. Open access greatly facilitates monitoring, analysis, and control of scientific research by global institutions and transnational corporations, and enables them to identify promising branches of knowledge on the periphery of the global science system that are obtained outside of the “mainstream” and use them for their interests. The link between open access to scientific knowledge and knowledge feudalism is developed.