R&D spillovers, patents and the incentives to innovate in Japan and the United States

National surveys of R&D labs across the manufacturing sectors in the US and Japan show that intraindustry R&D knowledge flows and spillovers are greater in Japan than in the US and the appropriability of rents due to innovation less. Patents in particular are observed to play a more central role in diffusing information across rivals in Japan, and appear to be a key reason for greater intraindustry R&D spillovers there, suggesting that patent policy can importantly affect information flows. Uses of patents differ between the two nations, with strategic uses of patents, particularly for negotiations, being more common in Japan.     

Victim, perpetrator, family, and incident characteristics of infant and child homicide in the United States Air Force

OBJECTIVE: The present study describes factors related to fatal abuse in three age groups in the United States Air Force (USAF). METHOD: Records from 32 substantiated cases of fatal child abuse in the USAF were independently reviewed for 60 predefined factors. RESULTS: Males were over-represented in young child victims (between 1 year and 4 years of age) and child victims (between 4 years and 15 years of age) but not in infant victims (between 24 hours and 1 year of age). African-American infant victims and perpetrators were over-represented. Younger victims were more likely to have been previously physically abused by the perpetrator. Perpetrators were predominantly male and the biological fathers of the victims. Infant and young child perpetrators reported childhood abuse histories, while child perpetrators reported the highest frequency of mental health contact. Victims' families reported significant life stressors. Families of young child victims were more likely divorced, separated, or single. Incidents with infants and young children tended to occur without witnesses; incidents with child victims tended to have the victim's sibling(s) and/or mother present. Fatal incidents were more frequent on the weekend, in the home, and initiated by some family disturbance. CONCLUSIONS: Differences among groups in factors related to infant and child homicide across age groups may assist in the development of more tailored abuse prevention efforts and may also guide future investigations.     

Label-free isolation of a prostate cancer cell among blood cells and the single-cell measurement of drug accumulation using an integrated microfluidic chip

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are found in the blood of patients with cancer. Although these cells are rare, they can provide useful information for chemotherapy. However, isolation of these rare cells from blood is technically challenging because they are small in numbers. An integrated microfluidic chip, dubbed CTC chip, was designed and fabricated for conducting tumor cell isolation. As CTCs usually show multidrug resistance (MDR), the effect of MDR inhibitors on chemotherapeutic drug accumulation in the isolated single tumor cell is measured. As a model of CTC isolation, human prostate cancer cells were mixed with mouse blood cells and the label-free isolation of the tumor cells was conducted based on cell size difference. The major advantages of the CTC chip are the ability for fast cell isolation, followed by multiple rounds of single-cell measurements, suggesting a potential assay for detecting the drug responses based on the liquid biopsy of cancer patients.     

Thyroid hormone levels and psychological symptoms in sexually abused adolescent girls

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationships between psychological symptoms and thyroid hormone levels in adolescent girls who had experienced the traumatic stress of sexual abuse. METHOD: The study design was cross-sectional/correlational. Subjects (N=22; age range=12-18 years) had their blood drawn, and they completed 2 psychological tests (depression and general distress/posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]). A pediatrician completed a sexual abuse questionnaire after reviewing law enforcement and Child Protective Services reports and conducting forensic interviews and medical examinations. RESULTS: Girls' average free T4, total T4, free T3, total T3, and TSH levels were within age-specific laboratory reference range limits, as were most individual concentrations. The strongest correlations (p<.05) were between free T3 and PTSD total score (-.50), PTSD-avoidance/numbing (-.49), and general distress (-.48); and between total T3 and depression (-.46), general distress (-.45), and PTSD-arousal (-.44). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support one of the two contemporary models of the relationships between thyroid hormones (i.e., free and total T3) and psychological symptoms (i.e., depression, general distress, and PTSD)--one of "shutting down" (vs. "activation") in the face of trauma.     

Student engagement in the educational interface: understanding the mechanisms of student success

Student success and retention continue to be of concern for higher education institutions. Wider participation, combined with lower completion rates for non-traditional students, highlights the need for new ways of understanding the student experience to ground policy and practice. This article provides this insight by drawing together a number of key constructs to refine a recent framework of student engagement. We argue that the transition metaphor, focusing on the first year, is limited because it depicts differences between students and institutions as both transient and temporal. Instead, we use a cultural lens to introduce the educational interface as a metaphor for the individual psychosocial space within which institutional and student factors combine and student engagement in learning occurs. Incorporating the interface into the existing framework of student engagement makes three contributions to our understanding of the student experience. First, the educational interface is a tangible way of representing the complex interactions between students and institutions, and how those interactions influence engagement. Second, the refined framework highlights four specific psychosocial constructs: self-efficacy, emotions, belonging and well-being, which, we contend, are critical mechanisms for mediating the interactions between student and institutional characteristics and student engagement and success. Finally, the refined framework helps to explain why some students with demographic characteristics associated with lower completion rates are retained and do go on to successfully complete their studies, while similar others do not. These three contributions, the interface, the key constructs within it being mediating mechanisms and their explanatory utility, provide focus for the design and implementation of curricula and co-curricular initiatives aimed at enhancing student success and retention, and importantly to evaluate the impact of these interventions.     

Optimization of Maximal Rate of Heart Rate Increase Assessment in Runners

Purpose: Correlations between fatigue-induced changes in exercise performance and maximal rate of heart rate (HR) increase (rHRI) may be affected by exercise intensity during assessment. This study evaluated the sensitivity of rHRI for tracking performance when assessed at varying exercise intensities. Method: Performance (time to complete a 5-km treadmill time-trial [5TTT]) and rHRI were assessed in 15 male runners following 1 week of light training, 2 weeks of heavy training (HT), and a 10-day taper (T). Maximal rate of HR increase (measured in bpm·s^?1) was the first derivative maximum of a sigmoidal curve fit to HR data recorded during 5 min of running at 8 km·h^?1 (rHRI_8km·h^?1), and during subsequent transition to 13 km·h^?1 (rHRI_{8–13km·h^?1}) for a further 5 min. Results: Time to complete a 5-km treadmill time-trial was likely slower following HT (effect size ± 90% confidence interval = 0.16 ± 0.06), and almost certainly faster following T (–0.34 ± 0.08). Maximal rate of HR increase during 5 min of running at 8 km·h^?1 and rHRI_{8–13km·h^?1} were unchanged following HT and likely increased following T (0.77 ± 0.45 and 0.66 ± 0.62, respectively). A moderate within-individual correlation was found between 5TTT and rHRI_8km·h^?1 (r value ± 90% confidence interval = –.35 ± .32). However, in a subgroup of athletes (n = 7) who were almost certainly slower to complete the 5TTT (4.22 ± 0.88), larger correlations were found between the 5TTT and rHRI_8km·h^?1 (r = –.84 ± .22) and rHRI_{8–13km·h^?1} (r = –.52 ± .41). Steady-state HR during rHRI assessment in this group was very likely greater than in the faster subgroup (≥ 1.34 ± 0.86). Conclusion(s): The 5TTT performance was tracked by both rHRI_8km·h^?1 and rHRI_{8–13km·h^?1}. Correlations between rHRI and performance were stronger in a subgroup of athletes who exhibited a slower 5TTT. Individualized workloads during rHRI assessment may be required to account for varying levels of physical conditioning.