Social security in theory and practice (I): Facts and political theories

166 countries have some kind of public old age pension. What economic forcescreate and sustain old age Social Security as a public program? We document some of the internationally and historically common features of Social Security programs including explicit and implicit taxes on labor supply, pay-as-you-go features, intergenerational redistribution, benefits which areincreasing functions of lifetime earnings and not means-tested. We partition theories of Social Security into three groups: "political", "efficiency" and "narrative" theories. We explore three political theories in this paper: the majority rational voting model (with its two versions: "the elderly as the leaders of a winning coalition with the poor" and the "once and for all election" model), the "time-intensive model of political competition" and the "taxpayer protection model". Each of the explanations is compared with the international and historical facts. A companion paper explores the "efficiency" and "narrative" theories, and derives implicationsof all the theories for replacing the typical pay-as-you-go system with a forced savings plan.

Annual Report of Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities 2007

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT The Highway Division of the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) engages in research and development for two reasons: first, to find workable solutions to the many problems that require more than ordinary, routine investigation; second, to identify and implement improved engineering and management practices. This report, entitled "Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY2008" is submitted in compliance with Sections 310.36 and 3 I2.3A, Code of Iowa, which direct the submission of a report of the Secondary Road Research Fund and the Street Research Fund respectively. It is a report of the status of research and development projects in progress on June 30, 2008; it is also a report on projects completed during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2007, and ending June 30, 2008. Detailed information on each of the research and development projects mentioned in this report is available in the Research and Technology Bureau in the Highway Division of the Iowa Department of Transportation. IOWA HIGHWAY RESEARCH BOARD In developing a progressive, continuing and coordinated program of research and development, the Highway Division is assisted by the Iowa Highway Research Board. This advisory group was established in 1949 by the Iowa State Highway Commission to respond to the research denoted in Section 310.36 of the Code of Iowa and now is denoted by 312.3A. The Research Board consists of 15 regular members: seven Iowa county engineers, four Iowa DOT engineers, one representative from Iowa State University, one from The University of Iowa, and two engineers employed by Iowa municipalities. Each regular member may have an alternate who will serve at the request of the regular member. The regular members and their alternates are appointed for a three-year term. The membership of the Research Board as of June 30, 2008, is listed in Table I. The Research Board held nine regular meetings during the period ofJuly 1, 2007, to June 30, 2008. Suggestions for research and development were reviewed at these meetings and recommendations were made by the Board.

Grinder's Group Mastery Theory : scientific research and its application to classroom teaching

Estudi centrat en el paper de la comunicació no verbal com a eina docent per a la gestió de l’aula, prenent com a referència el model de comunicació de Michael Grinder (Pentimento), basat en la Programació Neuro-lingüística (PNL). Aquest model s’analitza i es compara amb altres models i estudis sobre la comunicació no verbal, per establir-ne similituds i diferències. Per tal d’avaluar l’eficàcia de les tècniques de gestió de l’aula a través de la comunicació no verbal proposades per Grinder en un context educatiu real, s’inclouen i s’analitzen enregistraments de la implementació de diferents tècniques en un institut de secundària de Catalunya. Tota la informació recollida i analitzada permet valorar i ressaltar com és de significatiu tot allò que s’expressa més enllà del llenguatge, i per tant, com són d’importants i d’útils les habilitats comunicatives d’un professor en la seva tasca d’ensenyar.

Sagopilone (ZK-EPO, ZK 219477) for recurrent glioblastoma. A phase II multicenter trial by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) Brain Tumor Group.

Background: Sagopilone (ZK 219477), a lipophylic and synthetic analog of epothilone B, that crosses the blood-brain barrier has demonstrated preclinical activity in glioma models.Patients and methods: Patients with first recurrence/progression of glioblastoma were eligible for this early phase II and pharmacokinetic study exploring single-agent sagopilone (16 mg/m(2) over 3 h every 21 days). Primary end point was a composite of either tumor response or being alive and progression free at 6 months. Overall survival, toxicity and safety and pharmacokinetics were secondary end points.Results: Thirty-eight (evaluable 37) patients were included. Treatment was well tolerated, and neuropathy occurred in 46% patients [mild (grade 1) : 32%]. No objective responses were seen. The progression-free survival (PFS) rate at 6 months was 6.7% [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3-18.7], the median PFS was just over 6 weeks, and the median overall survival was 7.6 months (95% CI 5.3-12.3), with a 1-year survival rate of 31.6% (95% CI 17.7-46.4). Maximum plasma concentrations were reached at the end of the 3-h infusion, with rapid declines within 30 min after termination.Conclusions: No evidence of relevant clinical antitumor activity against recurrent glioblastoma could be detected. Sagopilone was well tolerated, and moderate-to-severe peripheral neuropathy was observed in despite prolonged administration.

Annual Report of the Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY 2009

The Highway Division of the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) engages in research and development for two reasons: first, to find workable solutions to the many problems that require more than ordinary, routine investigation; and second, to identify and implement improved engineering and management practices. This report, entitled ―Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY2009‖ is submitted in compliance with Sections 310.36 and 312.3A, Code of Iowa, which direct the submission of a report of the Secondary Road Research Fund and the Street Research Fund, respectively. It is a report of the status of research and development projects in progress on June 30, 2009. It is also a report on projects completed during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008 and ending June 30, 2009. Detailed information on each of the research and development projects mentioned in this report is available from the Research and Technology Bureau, Highway Division, Iowa Department of Transportation. All approved reports are also online for viewing at: www.iowadot.gov/operationsresearch/reports.aspx.

Addressing elementary school teachers' professional stressors: Practical suggestions for schools and adminstrators

Purpose: Given the preponderance of education reform since the No Child Left Behind Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2001), reform efforts have shaped the nature of the work and culture in schools. The emphasis on standardized testing to determine schools' status and student performance, among other factors, has generated stress, particularly for teachers. Therefore, district and school administrators are encouraged to consider the contextual factors that contribute to teacher stress to address them and to retain high-performing teachers. Research Methods/Approach: Participants were recruited from two types of schools in order to test hypotheses related to directional responding as a function of working in a more challenging (high-priority) or less challenging (non-high-priority) school environment. We employed content analysis to analyze 64 suburban elementary school teachers' free-responses to a prompt regarding their stress as teachers. We cross-analyzed our findings through external auditing to bolster trustworthiness in the data and in the procedure. Findings: Teachers reported personal and contextual stressors. Herein, we reported concrete examples of the five categories of contextual stressors teachers identified: political and educational structures, instructional factors, student factors, parent and family factors, and school climate. We found directional qualities and overlapping relationships in the data, partially confirming our hypotheses. Implications for Research and Practice: We offer specific recommendations for practical ways in which school administrators might systemically address teacher stress based on the five categories of stressors reported by participants. We also suggest means of conducting action research to measure the effects of implemented suggestions.

Iowa's Leadership in Research and Development, 2010

Pentagon-classified navigation systems are designed and tested. Genetically-superior, drought resistant triple-stacked corn hybrids exponentially improve corn and soybean yields. Scientists discover a simple flower, the marigold, unlocks astonishing potential as a change agent to improve the world’s health. All achieved or discovered in Iowa, the common denominator among all of these extraordinary activities is the intensive research and development efforts involved in bringing them to market. For businesses heavily dependent on research and development, one of their strategic advantages of conducting that world-changing research in Iowa is the state’s Research Activities Credit, commonly referred to as the Research and Development tax credit. Whether a company’s specific strategy is planting a stake into emerging markets, expanding its market leadership position, or paving technological inroads to gain market share, the success of those efforts is largely dependent on the company’s preceding work in research and development. Iowa recognizes how significant these resulting innovations are to long-term business growth and stability. Even though the federal research credits have fluctuated with intermittent expiration dates and reinstatement periods, Iowa has remained consistent in its support for the Research Activities Credit over theyears.

Annual Report of the Iowa Highway Research Board – Research and Development Activities FY 2010

This report, entitled “Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY 2010” is submitted in compliance with Sections 301.35 and 312.3A, Code of Iowa, which direct the submission of a report of the Secondary Road Research Fund and the Street Research Fund, respectively. T is a report of the status of research and development projects in progress on June 20, 2010. It is also a report on projects completed during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2009, and ending June 30, 2010. Detailed information on each of the research and development projects mentioned in this report is available from the Research and Technology Bureau, Highway Division, Iowa Department of Transportation. All approved reports are also online for viewing at www.iowadot.gov/operationsresearch/reports.aspx

Annual Report of the Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY 2010

The Highway Division of the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) engages in research and development for two reasons: first, to find workable solutions to the many problems that require more than ordinary, routine investigation; and second, to identify and implement improved engineering and management practices. This report, entitled ―Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY2009‖ is submitted in compliance with Sections 310.36 and 312.3A, Code of Iowa, which direct the submission of a report of the Secondary Road Research Fund and the Street Research Fund, respectively.

Recherche-action et gouvernance clinique: l'exemple du projet "psychiatrie et migrants" du CHUV [Action research and clinical governance: the example of the project "psychiatry and migrants" at the Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois]

Action research is a useful instrument for the organization health care and the clinical governance of psychiatric institutions. What this type of research offers can be illustrated by the cohort study of migrant patients without health insurance who consulted the Department of Psychiatry of the Vaudois university medical center (CHUV) in 2008. While giving greater visibilty to the psychological suffering and social distress of these patients, the study also enabled the authors to determine which clinical procedures were actually offered to these patients and the amount these procedures cost the department. The small number of cases that were identified as well as their uneven distribution amongst the different services of the department suggest that considerable efforts must still be made to improve access for this population to public psychiatric services.

Integrated environmental research and networking of economy and information in rural areas of Finland

Selostus: Kestävän kehityksen integroidun tutkimuksen ja verkostotalouden teorian tutkimusmenetelmälliset ongelmat

Controlled expression of recombinant proteins in Physcomitrella patens by a conditional heat-shock promoter: a tool for plant research and biotechnology.

The ability to express tightly controlled amounts of endogenous and recombinant proteins in plant cells is an essential tool for research and biotechnology. Here, the inducibility of the soybean heat-shock Gmhsp17.3B promoter was addressed in the moss Physcomitrella patens, using beta-glucuronidase (GUS) and an F-actin marker (GFP-talin) as reporter proteins. In stably transformed moss lines, Gmhsp17.3B-driven GUS expression was extremely low at 25 degrees C. In contrast, a short non-damaging heat-treatment at 38 degrees C rapidly induced reporter expression over three orders of magnitude, enabling GUS accumulation and the labelling of F-actin cytoskeleton in all cell types and tissues. Induction levels were tightly proportional to the temperature and duration of the heat treatment, allowing fine-tuning of protein expression. Repeated heating/cooling cycles led to the massive GUS accumulation, up to 2.3% of the total soluble proteins. The anti-inflammatory drug acetyl salicylic acid (ASA) and the membrane-fluidiser benzyl alcohol (BA) also induced GUS expression at 25 degrees C, allowing the production of recombinant proteins without heat-treatment. The Gmhsp17.3B promoter thus provides a reliable versatile conditional promoter for the controlled expression of recombinant proteins in the moss P. patens.

Annual Report of Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY 2011, December 2011

The Highway Division of the Iowa DOT engages in research and development for two reasons: first, to find workable solutions to the many problems that require more than ordinary, routine investigation; and second, to identify and implement improved engineering and management practices. This report, entitled ―Iowa Highway Research Board Research and Development Activities FY2011‖ is submitted in compliance with Sections 310.36 and 312.3A, Code of Iowa, which direct the submission of a report of the Secondary Road Research Fund and the Street Research Fund, respectively. It is a report of the status of research and development projects in progress on June 30, 2011. It is also a report on projects completed during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2010 and ending June 30, 2011. Detailed information on each of the research and development projects mentioned in this report is available from the Research and Technology Bureau, Highway Division, Iowa Department of Transportation. All approved reports are also online for viewing at: www.iowadot.gov/operationsresearch/reports.aspx.