Extension services and intermediaries: Brokering federal technologies to smaller firms

Extension services and other organizations that assist small and medium-size firms can play an important role in brokering technology from federal laboratories and other R&D sources. They can help the firms identify and define their technology needs and can help interpret and apply federal-laboratory technologies to meet those needs. These are some of the conclusions of a recent Federal Laboratory Consortium project, designed and managed by INNOVATION ASSOCIATES and overseen by the National Association of Management and Technical Assistance Centers. Major recommendations resulting from the project include: a re-examination by Congress of the federal technology-transfer structure to eliminate redundancies and fill gaps; funding extension services to facilitate hiring of dedicated technology-transfer staff; and providing additional incentives and creating informal mechanisms that encourage federal laboratories to work with small firms. The author also recommends that extension services view relationships with federal laboratories as long-term development rather than short-term “fix-its,” provide proactive and continuous follow-up of small firms working with federal laboratories, and act as an advocate on behalf of small firms. The following article discusses the project and its findings. Observations, issues, and recommendations are found at the end of the article.     

Nostalgia for America's village past: Staged symbolic communities

Conclusion Staged Symbolic Communities have become important cultural forms in contemporary America. Assimulacrums of community, they offer a vision of the organic community with which few contemporary communities can compete. They offer an outlet from the work organization of mass bureaucratic society enabling the tourist visitor to feel both relaxed and in control.Visitors to SSCs take away more than souvenirs and decorating ideas. They also carry lessons regarding identity, history, and community. The Williamsburg effect involves more than paint colors and the attractive presentation of historic villages. It is now the leading architectural model for new communities, the colonial town replacing suburban sprawl (Mohney and Easterling 1989). We have yet to see whether this model will indeed prove the radicalism of tradition (Calhoun 1983), resulting in the restoration of community structure and affective ties, or whether the step backward suggested by SSCs is simply and only that.This paper was first presented at the 1990 SSSI Stone Symposium, St. Petersburg, FL. I should like to thank David Bouchier for helpful comments on an earlier version.     

Patients' rights to complain in Finnish psychiatric care: An overview

Cuts in resources for Finnish psychiatric care may jeopardize the realization of patients' rights in mental health settings. The right to complain is a basic right of all patients in Finland, and is especially important to patients treated involuntarily and also to those who have experienced coercive treatment methods during their hospitalizations. In Finland, a patient's right to complain is guaranteed by law, both in legislation and in national quality recommendations. The complaint process in Finland is very complex, and there are several ways to make a complaint that are not always familiar to patients with severe illnesses. Psychiatric patients may have cognitive impairments that make the formulation of a complaint difficult. Despite help from the patient ombudsman, unbalanced power structures in psychiatric hospitals, insufficient information and long evaluation of appeals makes the complaint process very demanding for psychiatric patients.     

Biological and DNA evidence in 1000 sexual assault cases

Using a Filemaker-based database (DNA Pro-FILES, Synchrone Infosystème Inc.), we have conducted a large-scale study on 1000 sexual assault (SA) cases where a standardized kit was submitted to our laboratory alone or with other types of exhibits. We looked at the likelihood of obtaining good quality DNA evidence, allegedly from the assailant, according to a number of parameters.The overall proportion of SA cases with DNA evidence is nearly 50%. A little more than 30% of SA kits provided DNA evidence while for 16% of cases DNA evidence could be obtained only from other exhibits.The likelihood of obtaining DNA evidence is approximately 50% in teenager and adult SA cases, but much lower for children 10 years old or younger (15%). In children cases, profiles were found mostly on clothing or skin swabs.The likelihood of obtaining DNA evidence from vaginal swabs remains good for up to 3 days after the assault (from 35% on the first day to 23% on the third day). A DNA profile was obtained from approximately 22% of anal/rectal swabs and 41% of skin swabs taken less than 1 day after the assault. Less than 10% of oral washes provided DNA evidence, all having been collected within 24 h of the assault.We found that in bodily samples, a negative result for acid phosphate (AP) is a poor predictor of the likelihood of obtaining good quality DNA evidence. Approximately 15% of vaginal swabs and 8% of anal swabs negative for AP nevertheless provided good quality DNA evidence.