Fostering and managing innovation in the forest service

This article discusses innovation and recommends ways the USDA-Forest Service can foster and manage the process. It is based on an analysis of field observations, a broad literature survey, and discussions with nearly 200 Forest Service people and some outside innovation-management professionals. The recommendations, although couched mainly in Forest Service terms, are general and can be adapted to virtually any organization.     

Center for Biological Diversity v U. S. Forest Service: A New Type of Claim or Just Another Step in the Chain of Causation?1

Abstract

This article discusses what it means to “contribute” to waste disposal as that term is used in section 7002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. More specifically, the article examines whether the US Forest Service can violate section 7002 by not regulating hunting. Among the issues addressed are whether one can contribute to waste disposal passively, whether one can contribute to waste disposal without taking any action that addresses waste disposal and the extent to which the statutory term “contribute” is analogous to the common law concept of causation.     

Labour Law in a Service World

Drawing on the genealogy of the theoretical thought about services in economic and geographical economic literature, I argue in this article that in today's Service World it is highly important to develop an integrated approach that sees both consumption and production as impacting work relationships within legal thought. The current structure of labour law, which is based on the Fordist model of employment, is centred mainly on the production side, thus creating an incongruity between labour law and services. I propose thinking about work relations through a new framework –‘the nexus of service work’– that incorporates consumerism into the legal thought of work relationships, detaching it from the Fordist model of employment to achieve a more attuned approach to today's Service World.     

The postmortem fate of Pat Gregory: a disinterred Native American

In late June 1990, the Mono County Sheriffs Department in Bridgeport, CA contacted the Physical Anthropology Human Identification Laboratory (PAHIL) at California State University, Chico to seek assistance in the identification of a recently discovered skull. To assist with possible identification, the cranium received a classic physical anthropological/morphological analysis to suggest the decedent's sex, age at death, ancestral affiliation, and uniqueness. It was concluded the cranium was that of an older male, and someone with mixed ancestry, probably Native American/White. Suggested uniquenesses were an eroded and greasy texture, with adhering white sand, evidence of healed antemortem nasal fractures, and a bifid left occipital condyle. The cranium was confiscated from a man suspected of vandalizing a Native American cemetery just south of the community of Lee Vining. The cemetery was established in the mid-1800's by local Native American tribes. Although ownership of the land was disputed by the US Forest Service (the Inyo National Forest), and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), county authorities claimed that because the incident involved the desecration of a cemetery and human remains, it was a legal issue, and therefore, the Sheriff's Department had jurisdiction over the case if not the land. The suspect pled guilty to the possession of Native American remains but claimed not to have desecrated a grave. Over the next year and a half, members of the Native American community representing various tribes sought the return of the cranium, while also seeking assurance that it belonged to the vandalized grave. While county, US Forest Service, and LADWP officials continued to argue over whom had jurisdiction of the remains the superior court judge ordered the county to pay for any analysis necessary to determine if the cranium belonged to the decedent in question. This report addresses the conclusions of that analysis and the disposition of the case. Furthermore, the report addresses the forensic value to Native Americans of the continued study of a wide variety of human skeletal remains.     

Using a cognitive analytic approach to formulate a complex sexual and violent offender to inform multi-agency working: developing a shared understanding

Abstract

Cognitive Analytic Therapy (CAT) is a collaborative time-limited psychotherapy developed by Ryle. The approach aims to formulate how early experiences influence the development of unhelpful patterns that maintain a person's current difficult experiences. Within the UK, forensic services personnel are increasing their uses of CAT approaches within contextual, i.e. treatment teams, settings. Offending behaviour is relational (perpetrator to victim), and CAT is a relational model. Within the context of National Health Service consultation service (Serious Offender Liaison Service) working with the Police and Criminal Justice Social Work to assess, formulate and give advice regarding working with serious sexual and violent offenders, often with personality disorders, a case example is presented. The paper suggests that utilising a relational model, such as CAT, and applying one of the main the tools of this approach, through diagrammatic representations (maps) of the formulation, can enable agencies working with an individual to share a common formulation and language.     

P2P服务提供者侵权责任问题研究

P2P技术自1999年诞生以来,由于其技术的本质特性不可避免地存在着许多法律上的问题,在学术界和司法界也存在过争议,这在很长一段时间使得人们对于P2P很难给予一个准确和公平的判断,从而导致对P2P服务提供者是否侵权以及如何认定侵权模棱两可。随着P2P技术的不断发展,人们对其技术的认识也日渐清晰,对其服务提供者承担责任问题也在司法实践中日渐成熟。结合中美典型案例分析P2P网络服务提供者在P2P技术的不同发展阶段承担侵权责任的问题,以期为将来P2P技术不断深入发展,司法实践中如何认定网络服务提供者的侵权责任提供借鉴。     

A technology network for economic development

A technology delivery system designed to provide small and medium-sized businesses with improved access to technological resources for enhancing their productivity and competitiveness has been tested under controlled conditions in the southeastern United States. The demonstration project involved federal research laboratories, state universities, National Information Service and Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and technology users in the private sector. The results of the 18 month project are reported and assessed to identify the conditions for the establishment of a national technology network for small and medium sized firms.     

Inward international licensing by US-based firms: Trends and implications

This paper reviews US statistics on international transactions in royalties and license fees to provide insights into the inward international licensing of technology by US-based firms. The data and their limitations are described. Trends in the data suggest that a change is occurring in the balance between outward and inward licensing of technology by US-based firms. The statistics are consistent with the idea that such firms have a diminishing technological lead and that technology importing, in addition to technology exporting, is becoming important to them. The new situation raises issues for corporate strategy and technology management, as well as for government policy. Mary Ellen Mogee is president of Mogee Research & Analysis Associates, a consulting firm in Great Falls, VA. She established the firm in 1985, after 15 years in policy-analysis positions at the National Science Foundation, the Congressional Research Service, the National Bureau of Standards, and the Patent and Trademark Office. She also teaches in the Management of Science, Technology, and Innovation program in the School of Business and Public Management at the George Washington University. Mogee received her Ph.D. in political science and an MA in science, technology, and public policy from George Washington University.     

Technology Transfer: A Contextual Approach

A corporation views effective technology transfer as a necessary element for successful operations. Politicians and Government agencies view technology transfer as critical to a competitive domestic economy. This paper compares and contrasts the technology transfer motives and methods of a corporation and a Government research and technology agency to analyze differences. The analysis reveals that the context, or environment, and the motives of the particular organizational level both reflect the method of technology transfer employed. Motives are not necessarily homogenous across organization levels. Therefore, the successful implementation of technology transfer depends upon creating an environment that will capitalize on the motives that exist at each level, and taking an approach that reflects those motives. The Government approach is to broadcast available technology, whereas that of the corporation is to control its release by targeting recipients. For more effective technology transfer, the Government approach should be augmented by a second stage that considers the individual employee's motivation. Therefore, on the basis of the findings, a two-stage approach to successful Government technology transfer is recommended.     

The transfer of public science to patented technology: A case study in agricultural science

One of the most difficult challenges in technology transfer is to measure the movement of knowledge from basic scientific research to industrial technology. This paper will report on a study of the linkage between science supported by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and patented technology. This study traced the citations from U.S. patents issued in 1987–88 and 1993–94 to scientific research papers linked to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The number of patent citations to ARS papers, and to other USDA-supported papers has increased fourfold over the six-year period. A distinct difference also exists between the patent-cited ARS papers and patent-cited extramural USDA-supported papers: ARS papers are in more agriculturally related journals, while the extramural papers were in more basic and biomedical journals. USDA-supported papers were overwhelmingly cited by U.S.-invented patents (in a patent system in which half the patents are foreign-invented). In the primary field of ARS papers (Biology), they are cited much more often by patents than Biology papers from any other publishing organization. Since the publishing organizations and support sources of all the papers cited in these patents have now been identified, we can study the transfer of scientific results to patented technology by institution, by agency, or by any other category of patent or paper holder. The authors thank the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agricultural, especially Dr. Richard Parry, for this paper' use of the study performed for them by CHI Research, Inc. (Grant number 59-0790-6-054)     

Establishment of the permanent certification program for health information technology. Final rule

This final rule establishes a permanent certification program for the purpose of certifying health information technology (HIT). This final rule is issued pursuant to the authority granted to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (the National Coordinator) by section 3001(c)(5) of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), as added by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act. The permanent certification program will eventually replace the temporary certification program that was previously established by a final rule. The National Coordinator will use the permanent certification program to authorize organizations to certify electronic health record (EHR) technology, such as Complete EHRs and/or EHR Modules. The permanent certification program could also be expanded to include the certification of other types of HIT.     

Establishment of a Medical Implant Communications Service in the 402-405 MHz band. Federal Communications Commission. Final rule

This document establishes a Medical Implant Communications Service (MICS) operating in the 402-405 MHz band. MICS operations will consist of high-speed, ultra-low power, non-voice transmissions to and from implanted medical devices such as cardiac pacemakers and defibrillators. The rules will allow use of newly-developed, life-saving medical technology without harming other users of the frequency band.     

The Service Conception: Just One Simple Question

It is crystal clear that the Service Conception includes at least three conditions, what I shall call: the ‘normal justification condition’, the ‘independence condition’ and the ‘dependence condition’. The overarching rationale of these conditions is that they ensure that authority is only justified when it provides the best means for the subject to conform to the reasons for action that she actually has. However, it is difficult to clarify whether Raz implicitly presupposes a fourth necessary condition. This condition might be called a ‘reliable belief condition’, that is, that the putative subject must reliably believe that the putative authority-agent satisfies the Service Conception (or more precisely, its other three conditions). In sum, the purpose of this paper is to pose Joseph Raz one simple question: is it a necessary condition of your Service Conception, that the subject believes that the authority-agent satisfies the Service Conception? As a matter of interpretation, different parts of Raz’s work appear to lead in entirely opposite directions: some parts clearly support the reliable belief condition, others do not. Regardless of Raz’s ultimate answer, however, the question reveals a broader inconsistency. Only if the Service Conception does include the belief condition will it support Raz’s claim that authority is consistent with one’s rational ‘self-reliance’, that is, acting upon one’s own judgement (including, as to who has authority). Only if the Service Conception does not include the belief condition will it support Raz’s perfectionist account of government. It seems Raz must choose between one or other.     

Establishing the most appropriate databases for addressing source level propositions.

Previous papers in Science & Justice have described the work of the Case Assessment and Interpretation (CAI) project that has been running for several years within the Forensic Science Service (FSS). The principles of the CAI model, which have developed through casework, are the foundation of a balanced, robust and logical approach to interpretation. The question arises frequently as to what is the most appropriate database that should be available to assist in assigning a value to a given probability. In this paper we present a set of guidelines in the form of flowcharts and explore them within the context of a range of case examples.     

‘Blue walls,’ ‘grey areas’ and ‘cleanups’: Issues in the control of police corruption in England and Wales

This paper examines issues concerned with police corruption and its control in England and Wales. The topic of defining police corruption is addressed, some current areas of risk are described and anti-corruption strategies, particularly those pursued by the London Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), are examined. What appears qualitatively and quantitatively different in the approach of services such as the MPS and Merseyside Police is the use of an adequately resourced, dedicated anti-corruption unit. This strategy has been buttressed by preventative measures involving management/administration and ethics/training. Dedicated units have been controversial, and preventative measures raise questions concerning evaluation. Nevertheless the approach to corruption bears comparison with that adopted by other major police services in other jurisdictions and represents a break with previous and unsuccessful efforts at corruption control in major police forces in England and Wales.     

Prosecution decisions in cases of domestic violence involving children

Increasing attention is being paid to the problem of children as the secondary victims of domestic violence. It is now well documented that children suffer as a result of domestic violence. However, it has yet to be shown how, if at all, the presence of children as direct or indirect victims influences the decision-making of the police and prosecutors in those cases of domestic violence which enter the criminal justice process. The findings of an empirical study of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that shed light on this issue are discussed in this article. The research, which combined an analysis of case files with observations and discussions with prosecutors, suggests important differences between the approach of the police and CPS lawyers.     

Medical Area Body Network. Final rule

This document expands the Commission's Medical Device Radiocommunications Service (MedRadio) rules to permit the development of new Medical Body Area Network (MBAN) devices in the 2360-2400 MHz band. The MBAN technology will provide a flexible platform for the wireless networking of multiple body transmitters used for the purpose of measuring and recording physiological parameters and other patient information or for performing diagnostic or therapeutic functions, primarily in health care facilities. This platform will enhance patient safety, care and comfort by reducing the need to physically connect sensors to essential monitoring equipment by cables and wires. This decision is the latest in a series of actions to expand the spectrum available for wireless medical use. The Commission finds that the risk of increased interference is minimal and is greatly outweighed by the benefits of the MBAN rules.     

Mini-STRs: A powerful tool to identify genetic profiles in samples with small amounts of DNA

Degraded human remains and crime scene evidences with small amounts of DNA typically reveal incomplete or null genetic profiles when using standard (large) STR amplicons. The technology of mini-STRs, using reduced-size STR amplicons, can help to recover information from these samples. In our Forensic Genetic Service several genetic profiles were obtained or completed using MiniFiler kit (Applied Biosystems) increasing the success rate in sample typing. In all studied cases no inconsistencies were found between profiles obtained with MiniFiler and Identifiler, suggesting that this mini-STR kit can be used to include low copy number (LCN) evidence profiles in STR databases.     

论网络服务提供者的版权侵权责任

网络版权侵权现象目前发生得非常普遍，针对这一问题，我国进行了相关的专门立法活动。但是，如何从根本上理清网络服务提供者的侵权责任，仍是一个非常值得研究的问题。笔者对网络服务提供者的概念和范围重新加以梳理，根据网络版权法律关系的要求，辩明了各种网络服务提供者的基本属性，明确了网络服务提供者的法律地位，并为实现网络版权侵权责任的明晰化，创见性地将网络服务提供者划分为网络技术服务提供者和网络作品传播者，分别阐述其应该各自承担的版权侵权责任。