Transnational innovation networks aren’t all created equal: towards a classification system

This paper examines the growth of transnational networks of innovation and proposes a preliminary classificatory system of four distinct kinds of forces which give rise to social networks that facilitate knowledge flows, relationship building, and collaborative activities important to accessing global markets. The networks may form around a technology sector, be identity based, emerge from a government-led initiative, or be stimulated by a civic or philanthropic organization. Each has a different mode of organizing, financing, and meeting its objectives, as shown by examples presented in the paper. The proposed classification of these characteristics is intended to open a conversation within the social sciences and among policy makers about how better to understand the ways in which transnational networks get formed, operate and produce desired results.     

State Solicitors General,Appellate Expertise,and State Success Before the U.S. Supreme Court

This article examines how institutional design leads state governments to win their cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. We analyze whether states are more likely to prevail on the merits when they create a formal solicitor general office and have an attorney from that office argue their cases before the Court. We employ an analytical matching approach and find that attorneys from state solicitor general offices are significantly more likely to win their cases compared to other kinds of state attorneys. Accordingly, if states prioritize victory before the Court, they should consider creating state solicitor general offices and granting those solicitors general the authority to control their appellate litigation.     

Toxicological investigation of liquid petroleum gas explosion: human model for propane/ethyl mercaptan exposures

Four individuals died as the result of a propane explosion. As with many propane explosions, the question was raised as to the adequacy of the product's odorization after the autopsy studies had been conducted. In most cases, this question leads to litigation. Ethyl mercaptan is a widely used odorant for propane and was used in this instance. Three of the four victims had blood available at autopsy for study. Quantitative analyses of the victims' blood, obtained during autopsy, were performed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, without subjecting the samples to hydrolysis. These analyses determined the relative amounts of propane and ethyl mercaptan in the blood to be 90, 63, and 175 mL/m3 headspace, and 0.36, 0.34, and 0.77 microgram/L blood, respectively. Since mercaptans have been reported in human blood as products of metabolism, modeling studies were conducted to establish the validity of the autopsy data and to develop an autopsy toxicology protocol for investigating explosion deaths. When subjects were not exposed to an atmosphere containing ethyl mercaptan, dimethylsulfide was the only mercaptan detectable in their blood without severe hydrolysis prior to analysis. Metabolic ethyl mercaptan is sufficiently bound to be undetectable by the methods used without hydrolysis. Human subjects were exposed to a flammable mixture of air and propane odorized with ethyl mercaptan. The analyses of the blood from these subjects produced results which were comparable with those for the explosion victims, establishing that the question of odorant adequacy can be addressed at the autopsy of propane explosion victims. It is extremely important that the pathologist and toxicologist investigating gas explosion deaths recognize the valuable evidence existing in the victim's blood.     

The Reliability of Pattern Classification in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis—PART 2: Bloodstain Patterns on Fabric Surfaces,

This study was designed to produce the first baseline measure of the reliability of bloodstain pattern classifications on fabric surfaces. Experienced bloodstain pattern analysts classified bloodstain patterns on pairs of trousers that represented three fabric substrates. Patterns also varied in type (impact, cast‐off, expiration, satellite stains from dripped blood, and transfer) and extent. In addition, case summaries that accompanied each pattern contained contextual cues that either supported the correct answer (i.e., positive bias), were misleading toward an incorrect answer (i.e., negative bias), or contained no directional information (i.e., neutral). Overall, 23% percent of the resulting classifications were erroneous. The majority (51%) of errors resulted from analysts misclassifying satellite stains from dripped blood. Relative to the neutral information, the positive‐bias information increased correct classifications and decreased erroneous classifications, and the negative‐bias information decreased correct classifications and increased erroneous classifications. The implications of these findings for BPA are discussed.     

‘I Know My Rights,but Am I Better Off?’: Institutions and Disability in Uganda

Uganda is internationally recognised for both its legal and constitutional provisions for people with disabilities, and the presence of disabled persons’ organisations that provide informal advocacy and support. Using a unique dataset of 579 Ugandans with physical disabilities, we develop a conceptual framework on social capital to investigate the factors correlated with knowledge of formal institutions that target disability. In examining whether this knowledge results in higher incomes we find that gender matters. A woman’s education and membership of external networks are correlates of knowledge; higher levels of this knowledge are associated with substantially higher levels of income.     

The Bush Doctrine: The Foreign Policy of Republican Empire

The dominant narrative concerning the Bush Doctrine maintains that it is a dangerous innovation, an anomaly that violates the principles of sound policy as articulated by the Founders. According to the conventional wisdom, the Bush Doctrine represents the exploitation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, by a small group of ideologues—the “neoconservatives”—to gain control of national policy and lead the United States into the war in Iraq, a war that should never have been fought. But far from a being a neoconservative innovation, the Bush Doctrine is, in fact, well within the mainstream of U.S. foreign policy and very much in keeping with the vision of America's founding generation and the practice of the statesmen in the Early Republic. The Bush Doctrine is only the latest manifestation of the fact that U.S. national interest has always been concerned with more than simple security.