Reproduction of World War I portrait of Dr. Nathan Wolf of the 2nd Company of the 1st Landsturm Infantry Regiment Portraits Men

Dr. Nathan Wolf's medals: (bottom left) silver Wound Badge; Iron Cross 2nd Class; Iron Cross 1st Class; Zaehringer Loewe (Baden); (on right) Medal of the Turkish Crescent

International contact lens prescribing in 2014

Since the late 1990s, the International Contact Lens Prescribing Survey Consortium has prospectively gathered information about 285,000 contact lens fits from more than 50 countries. This article presents our 14th annual summary of current trends published in Contact Lens Spectrum. With only minor differences in the distribution of our surveys among markets, we have continued to adopt the same approach throughout the past 18 years. Through national coordinators, we approach contact lens prescribers in each country and ask them to record information about the first 10 patients whom they fit with contact lenses after receipt of our survey form. The information collected is generic, and respondents are weighted to reflect the volume of contact lens fits undertaken by each. For this 2014 report, we present information about 25,179 contact lens fits from 32 countries...

Audience members (including Max Rieser?); Second International Congress of the International Union for the Philosophy of Science; Zurich Portraits Groups Men

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Audience members (including Max Rieser?); 3rd International Congress of Aesthetics; Venice Portraits Groups

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International contact lens prescribing in 2015

We have been collecting data on worldwide contact lens prescribing habits for almost 20 years. Over this time period, we have amassed prospective information about 315,000 contact lens fits in 59 countries. This article marks our 15th report in Contact Lens Spectrum and features a breakdown of more than 23,000 contact lens fits in 34 markets. As in previous years, our international network of coordinators distributed survey forms to eyecare practitioners in their market who then recorded generic information about the first 10 patients fit with contact lenses after receipt. Information is gathered about patient age and gender; whether the contact lenses are prescribed as a new fit or a refit; contact lens material, design, and replacement frequency; number of intended days per week of use; wearing modality; and care system. Contact lens fits are weighted to reflect the number of fits undertaken by each eyecare practitioner. The study data were entered and processed at the University of Manchester and at the University of Waterloo.

Outdoor group portrait of attendees of the International Meeting of the World Union for Progressive Judaism; London.

Includes Rabbi Leo Baeck, E.L. Ehrlich of Basel, Herbert Strauss of Bern, and Rabbi Eugen Messinger of Bern

Naomi Block Manners Stern collection of Eleanor Roosevelt correspondence undated, 1941-1962, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1984, 2003

This collection is mainly composed of correspondence between Ms. Stern and Mrs. Roosevelt, spanning the years from their first acquaintance in 1941 to Mrs. Roosevelt's decease in 1962. Letters that hold particular interest concern Ms. Stern's experience at the Summer Student Leadership Institute, and the White House. Additional material in the collection encompasses articles, newsclippings, programs, press releases, and photographs. The articles and newsclippings folder contains information pertaining to Ms. Stern's college career, the first Summer Student Leadership Institute, Mrs. Roosevelt's talk at Community Day, National Youth Association, and a donation of an ambulance to the war effort by Hunter college students. Naomi Block Manners Stern personal folder contains an article Naomi Block wrote in her college magazine, "Echo," describing her perceptions of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill during her first visit at the White House. Also included is her graduation program, listing Mrs. Roosevelt as the main speaker, a commemoration of President Roosevelt in 1972 in which Ms. Stern took part, an article and press release describing Ms. Stern's career at Revlon, and a 2003 written summary of Ms. Stern's relationship with Mrs. Roosevelt. Photographs were taken by Naomi Block and others at the Summer Leadership Institute in 1941 portray identified fellow students, Mrs. Roosevelt, James Roosevelt, the Roosevelt home in Campobello, and Felix Frankfurter.

Industrial Removal Office records undated, 1899-1922

Contains Board of Directors minutes (1903, 1907), Executive Committee minutes (1907), Removal Committee minutes (1903-1917), Annual Reports (1910, 1913), Monthly Reports (1901-1919), Monthly Bulletins (1914-1915), studies of those removed, Bressler's "The Removal Work, Including Galveston," and several papers relating to the IRO and immigration. Financial papers include a budget (1914), comparative per capita cost figures (1909-1922), audits (1915-1918), receipts and expenditures (1918-1922), investment records, bank balances (1907-1922), removal work cash book (1904-1911), office expenses cash account (1903-1906), and the financial records of other agencies working with the IRO (1906). Includes also removal case records of first the Jewish Agricultural Society (1899-1900), and then of the IRO (1901-1922) when it took over its work, family reunion case records (1901-1904), and the follow-up records of persons removed to various cities (1903-1914). Contains also the correspondence of traveling agents' contacts throughout the U.S. from 1905-1914, among them Stanley Bero, Henry P. Goldstein, Philip Seman, and Morris D. Waldman.

Turing and the Trans-Pacific Partnership: Intellectual Property, Public Health, and Access to Essential Medicines

A recent controversy in the United States over drug pricing by Turing Pharmaceuticals AG has raised larger issues in respect of intellectual property, access to medicines, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). In August 2015, Turing Pharmaceuticals AG – a private biopharmaceutical company with offices in New York, the United States, and Zug, Switzerland - acquired the exclusive marketing rights to Daraprim in the United States from Impax Laboratories Incorporated. Martin Shkreli, Turing’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, maintained: “The acquisition of Daraprim and our toxoplasmosis research program are significant steps along Turing’s path of bringing novel medications to patients with serious disorders, some of whom often go undiagnosed and untreated.” He emphasised: “We intend to invest in the development of new drug candidates that we hope will yield an even better clinical profile, and also plan to launch an educational effort to help raise awareness and improve diagnosis for patients with toxoplasmosis.” In September 2015, there was much public controversy over the decision of Martin Shkreli to raise the price of a 62 year old drug, Daraprim, from $US13.50 to $US750 a pill. The drug is particularly useful in respect to the treatment and prevention of malaria, and in the treatment of infections in individuals with HIV/AIDS. Daraprim is listed on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) List of Essential Medicines. In the face of much criticism, Martin Shkreli has said that he will reduce the price of Daraprim. He observed: “We've agreed to lower the price on Daraprim to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit.” He maintained: “We think these changes will be welcomed.” However, he has been vague and ambiguous about the nature of the commitment. Notably, the lobby group, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhARMA), disassociated itself from the claims of Turing Pharmaceuticals. The group said: “PhRMA members have a long history of drug discovery and innovation that has led to increased longevity and improved lives for millions of patients.” The group noted: “Turing Pharmaceutical is not a member of PhRMA and we do not embrace either their recent actions or the conduct of their CEO.” The biotechnology peak body Biotechnology Industry Organization also sought to distance itself from Turing Pharmaceuticals. A hot topic: United States political debate about access to affordable medicines This controversy over Daraprim is unusual – given the age of drug concerned. Daraprim is not subject to patent protection. Nonetheless, there remains a monopoly in respect of the marketplace. Drug pricing is not an isolated problem. There have been many concerns about drug pricing – particularly in respect of essential medicines for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. This recent controversy is part of a larger debate about access to affordable medicines. The dispute raises larger issues about healthcare, consumer rights, competition policy, and trade. The Daraprim controversy has provided impetus for law reform in the US. US Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton commented: “Price gouging like this in this specialty drug market is outrageous.” In response to her comments, the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell sharply. Hillary Clinton has announced a prescription drug reform plan to protect consumers and promote innovation – while putting an end to profiteering. On her campaign site, she has emphasised that “affordable healthcare is a basic human right.” Her rival progressive candidate, Bernie Sanders, was also concerned about the price hike. He wrote a letter to Martin Shkreli, complaining about the price increase for the drug Daraprim. Sanders said: “The enormous, overnight price increase for Daraprim is just the latest in a long list of skyrocketing price increases for certain critical medications.” He has pushed for reforms to intellectual property to make medicines affordable. The TPP and intellectual property The Daraprim controversy and political debate raises further issues about the design of the TPP. The dispute highlights the dangers of extending the rights of pharmaceutical drug companies under intellectual property, investor-state dispute settlement, and drug administration. Recently, the civil society group Knowledge Ecology International published a leaked draft of the Intellectual Property Chapter of the TPP. Knowledge Ecology International Director, James Love, was concerned the text revealed that the US “continues to be the most aggressive supporter of expanded intellectual property rights for drug companies.” He was concerned that “the proposals contained in the TPP will harm consumers and in some cases block innovation.” James Love feared: “In countless ways, the Obama Administration has sought to expand and extend drug monopolies and raise drug prices.” He maintained: “The astonishing collection of proposals pandering to big drug companies make more difficult the task of ensuring access to drugs for the treatment of cancer and other diseases and conditions.” Love called for a different approach to intellectual property and trade: “Rather than focusing on more intellectual property rights for drug companies, and a death-inducing spiral of higher prices and access barriers, the trade agreement could seek new norms to expand the funding of medical research and development (R&D) as a public good, an area where the US has an admirable track record, such as the public funding of research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies.” In addition, there has been much concern about the Investment Chapter of the TPP. The investor-state dispute settlement regime would enable foreign investors to challenge government policy making, which affected their investments. In the context of healthcare, there is a worry that pharmaceutical drug companies will deploy their investor rights to challenge public health measures – such as, for instance, initiatives to curb drug pricing and profiteering. Such concerns are not merely theoretical. Eli Lilly has brought an investor action against the Canadian Government over the rejection of its drug patents under the investor-state dispute settlement regime of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Health Annex to the TPP also raises worries that pharmaceutical drug companies will able to object to regulatory procedures in respect of healthcare. It is disappointing that the TPP – in the leaks that we have seen – has only limited recognition of the importance of access to essential medicines. There is a need to ensure that there are proper safeguards to provide access to essential medicines – particularly in respect of HIV/AIDs, malaria, and tuberculosis. Moreover, there must be protection against drug profiteering and price gouging in any trade agreement. There should be strong measures against the abuse of intellectual property rights. The dispute over Turing Pharmaceuticals AG and Daraprim is an important cautionary warning in respect of some of the dangers present in the secret negotiations in respect of the TPP. There is a need to preserve consumer rights, competition policy, and public health in trade negotiations over an agreement covering the Pacific Rim.

Now the real international fight begins for the Trans-Pacific Partnership

In Atlanta, the trade ministers of a dozen countries across the Pacific Rim announced that they had successfully reached a concluded agreement upon the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The debate over the TPP will now play out in legislatures across the Pacific Rim, where sentiment towards the deal is much more mixed. The ministers insisted: “After more than five years of intensive negotiations, we have come to an agreement that will support jobs, drive sustainable growth, foster inclusive development, and promote innovation across the Asia-Pacific region … The agreement achieves the goal we set forth of an ambitious, comprehensive, high standard and balanced agreement that will benefit our nation’s citizens … We expect this historic agreement to promote economic growth, support higher-paying jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our countries; and to promote transparency, good governance, and strong labor and environmental protections.” But there has been fierce criticism of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, because of both its secrecy and its substance. Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz has warned that the agreement is not about free trade, but about the protection of corporate monopolies. The intellectual property chapter provides for longer and stronger protection of intellectual property rights. The investment chapter provides foreign investors with the power to challenge governments under an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) regime. The environment chapter is weak and toothless, and seems to be little more than an exercise in greenwashing. The health annex — and many other parts of the agreement — strengthen the power of pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology developers. The text on state-owned enterprises raises concerns about public ownership of postal services, broadcasters and national broadband services.

Evaluating the effects of international exposure from networks ties and mimetic pressure on clustered SMEs in Brazil

Research on the internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has received increasing attention in recent years due to the important role they play in today’s economic environment. Internationalisation prompting, or awareness, is an already recognised phase of the innovation-related stages model (I-model). This phase of awareness is closely related to the international exposure that a firm may experience during the occasion when it realises its competitors are already internationalising. Although the literature has discussed the various forms in which international exposure may happen, there has been limited attention given to the extent of its effect on the internationalisation of clustered SMEs that behave according to the I-Model. This study will assess the applicability of the I-Model in a dynamic, competitive and co-operative setting of an industrial cluster. It also evaluates the impact (if any) of international exposure derived from networks and the mimetic pressure that these firms may experience due to their embeddedness in an industrial cluster. Results from this study will indicate the effectiveness of the improved adapted model that will provide a richer insight for both academic researchers and policy makers.