Implementation and evaluation of linked parenting models in a large urban child welfare system

During the past decade, there have been increased efforts to implement evidence-based practices into child welfare systems to improve outcomes for children in foster care and their families. In this paper, the implementation and evaluation of a policy-driven large system-initiated reform is described. Over 250 caseworkers and supervisors were trained and supported to implement two evidence-based parent focused interventions in five private agencies serving over 2,000 children and families. At the request of child welfare system leaders, a third intervention was developed and implemented to train the social work workforce to use evidence-based principles in everyday interactions with caregivers (including foster, relative, adoptive, and biological parents). In this paper, we describe the policy context and the targeted outcomes of the reform. We discuss the theory of the interventions and the logistics of how they were linked to create consistency and synergy. Training and ongoing consultation strategies used are described as are some of the barriers and opportunities that arose during the implementation. The strategy for creating a path to sustainability is also discussed. The reform effort was evaluated using both qualitative and quantitative methods; the evaluation design, research questions and preliminary results are provided.     

Commercialization of disruptive innovations: Literature review and proposal for a process framework

The challenges of disruptive innovations have gained significant attention from both academics and practitioners, commercialization being one of the most critical phases. At the same time, however, it is the less studied area of disruptive innovation. Therefore, this article examined scholarly papers on the commercialization of disruptive innovations through a multidisciplinary systematic literature review. It resulted in the analysis of 64 high-quality peer-reviewed academic articles. The analysis highlighted the commercialization models and main constructs that are affecting the commercialization process: market orientation, market learning, user's involvement, market configuration, adoption networks and stakeholders, and innovation transference. The study evidences how commercialization has evolved from a later stage in innovation to influence even the early phases of innovation, characterized in turn by exploration, learning and ecosystem creation activities. Additionally, the analysis led to a proposition that established an integrated commercialization model for high uncertainty innovations. The model has three phases: 1) Concept/value proposition validation, 2) Business model validation & Market creation, and 3) Creating sales in the majority market. Lastly, the article contributes to a better understanding of commercialization processes in high uncertainty innovations, bridging also the academic-practitioner divide.     

The impacts of an early mathematics curriculum on oral language and literacy

Competence in early mathematics is crucial for later school success. Although research indicates that early mathematics curricula improve children's mathematics skill, such curricula's impacts on oral language and early literacy skills are not known. This project is the first to investigate the effects of an intensive pre-kindergarten mathematics curriculum, Building Blocks, on the oral language and letter recognition of children participating in a large-scale cluster randomized trial project. Results showed no evidence that children who were taught mathematics using the curriculum performed differently than control children who received the typical district mathematics instruction on measures of letter recognition, and on two of the oral language (story retell) subtests, sentence length and inferential reasoning (emotive content). However, children in the Building Blocks group outperformed children in the control group on four oral language subtests: ability to recall key words, use of complex utterances, willingness to reproduce narratives independently, and inferential reasoning (practical content).     

Scale-up of rifamycin B fermentation with Amycolatoposis mediterranei

Study of the effect of dissolved oxygen and shear stress on rifamycin B fermentation with A. mediterranei XC 9-25 showed that rifamycin B fermentation with Amycolatoposis mediterranei XC 9-25 needs high dissolved oxygen and is not very sensitive to shearing stress. The scale-up of rifamycin B fermentation withA. mediterranei XC 9-25 from a shaking flask to a 15 L fermentor was realized by controlling the dissolved oxygen to above 25％ of saturation in the fermentation process, and the potency of rifamycin B fermentation in the 15 L fermentor reached 10 g/L after 6-day batch fermentation.By continuously feeding glucose and ammonia in the fermentation process, the potency of rifamycin B fermentaion in the 15 L fermentor reached 18.67 g/L, which was 86.65％ higher than that of batch fermentation. Based on the scale-up principle of constantly aerated agitation power per unit volume, the scale-up ofrifamycin B fed-batch fermentation with continuous feed from a 15 L fermentor to a 7 m3 fermentor and further to a 60 m3 fermentor was realized successfully. The potency of rifamycin B fermentation in the 7 m3 fermentor and in the 60 m3 fermentor reached 17.25 g/L and 19.11 g/L, respectively.     

Scale-up of rifamycin B fermentation with Amycolatoposis mediterranei

Study of the effect of dissolved oxygen and shear stress on rifamycin B fermentation with A. mediterranei XC 9–25 showed that rifamycin B fermentation with Amycolatoposis mediterranei XC 9–25 needs high dissolved oxygen and is not very sensitive to shearing stress. The scale-up of rifamycin B fermentation with A. mediterranei XC 9–25 from a shaking flask to a 15 L fermentor was realized by controlling the dissolved oxygen to above 25% of saturation in the fermentation process, and the potency of rifamycin B fermentation in the 15 L fermentor reached 10 g/L after 6-day batch fermentation. By continuously feeding glucose and ammonia in the fermentation process, the potency of rifamycin B fermentation in the 15 L fermentor reached 18.67 g/L, which was 86.65% higher than that of batch fermentation. Based on the scale-up principle of constantly aerated agitation power per unit volume, the scale-up of rifamycin B fed-batch fermentation with continuous feed from a 15 L fermentor to a 7 m³ fermentor and further to a 60 m³ fermentor was realized successfully. The potency of rifamycin B fermentation in the 7 m³ fermentor and in the 60 m³ fermentor reached 17.25 g/L and 19.11 g/L, respectively.     

Scale-up of rifamycin B fermentation with Amycolatoposis mediterranei

Study of the effect of dissolved oxygen and shear stress on rifamycin B fermentation with A. mediterranei XC 9-25 showed that rifamycin B fermentation with Amycolatoposis mediterranei XC 9-25 needs high dissolved oxygen and is not very sensitive to shearing stress. The scale-up of rifamycin B fermentation with A mediterranei XC 9-25 from a shaking flask to a 15 L fermentor was realized by controlling the dissolved oxygen to above 25% of saturation in the fermentation process, and the potency of rifamycin B fermentation in the 15 L fermentor reached 10 g/L after 6-day batch fermentation. By continuously feeding glucose and ammonia in the fermentation process, the potency of rifamycin B fermentaion in the 15 L fermentor reached 18.67 g/L, which was 86.65% higher than that of batch fermentation. Based on the scale-up principle of constantly aerated agitation power per unit volume, the scale-up of rifamycin B fed-batch fermentation with continuous feed from a 15 L fermentor to a 7 m3 fermentor and further to