The Decline of Bigotry in America

Though prejudice and discrimination exist in America, it has been steadily declining and measurably so. From our very beginnings, there has been a diversity, accretion, succession, and simultaneity of racial, religious, ethnic, and gender victims and victimizers. Fortunately, there has also been a process of meliorism, epitomized by the presidential election of a black American of mixed racial parents—Barack Hussein Obama. Regardless of their group identity, today’s generation of Americans has less victims or victimizers and has more social, political, and economic opportunities than their parents. grandparents, and predecessors had.     

A road map for universal coverage: finding a pass through the financial mountains

Government already pays for more than half of U.S. health care costs, and nearly all universal health insurance proposals assume continued government involvement through tax subsidies and other means. The question of what specific taxes could be used to finance universal coverage is, however, seldom carefully examined, in part due to efforts by health care reform proponents to downplay tax issues. In this article we undertake such an examination. We argue that the challenges of relying on taxes for universal coverage are even greater than is generally appreciated, but that they can nevertheless be met. A proposal to fund a universal health insurance voucher system with a value-added tax illustrates issues that would arise for tax-financed plans in general and provides a broad framework for a bipartisan approach to universal coverage. We discuss significant problems that such an approach would face and suggest solutions. We outline a long-term political and legislative strategy for enacting universal coverage that draws upon precedents set by comparable legislative initiatives, including tax reform and Medicare. The results are an improved understanding of the relationship between systemic health care finance reform and taxation and a politically realistic plan for universal coverage that employs undisguised taxes.     

Mapping the nanotechnology enterprise: a multi-indicator analysis of emerging nanodistricts in the US South

Nanotechnology has attracted significant research, funding, and policy activity in recent years in the US and many other countries. Of particular interest are the locational characteristics of this emerging technology. This study examines the emergence of nanotechnology in the US South to explore questions of regional standing and spatial trajectory, using an exploratory multi-indicator approach. Our research employs an array of 10 indicators of knowledge generation, human capital, R&D funding, and patenting, to uncover developments, clusters, and linkages in nanotechnology emergence. Results indicate that although there is nanotechnology activity in every state in the US South, this activity agglomerates in a few locations. One emerging nanodistrict (North Carolina’s Research Triangle) has prior strengths in high technology research and commercialization, especially based on biotechnology; but other districts (e.g., Oak Ridge Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia) that have strengths in certain aspects of the nanotechnology research ecosystem have weaknesses in commercialization. The study illustrates how multi-indicator approaches can be developed from existing databases, using customized search techniques, and how the insights from multi-indicator measurement can be used to provide insights for research and innovation policy.

Mitochondrial DNA control region variation in a population sample from Hong Kong, China

Entire mitochondrial control region sequences were generated from 377 unrelated individuals from urban Hong Kong. In line with other control region datasets from China, the sample from Hong Kong exhibited significant genetic diversity that was reflected in a random match probability of 0.19% and a mean pairwise difference of 13.14. A total of 305 haplotypes were identified, of which 262 were unique. These sequences will be made publicly available to serve as forensic mtDNA reference data for China.     

Forensic Analysis of Explosives Using Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS)—Part 2: Forensic Inter-Laboratory Trial: Bulk Carbon and Nitrogen Stable Isotopes in a Range of Chemical Compounds (Australia and New Zealand)

Abstract:  Comparability of data over time and between laboratories is a key issue for consideration in the development of global databases, and more broadly for quality assurance in general. One mechanism that can be utilized for evaluating traceability is an inter-laboratory trial. This paper addresses an inter-laboratory trial conducted across a number of Australian and New Zealand isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) laboratories. The main objective of this trial was to determine whether IRMS laboratories in these countries would record comparable values for the distributed samples. Four carbon containing and four nitrogen containing compounds were distributed to seven laboratories in Australia and one in New Zealand. The laboratories were requested to analyze the samples using their standard procedures. The data from each laboratory was evaluated collectively using International Standard ISO 13528 ( Statistical methods for use in proficiency testing by inter-laboratory comparisons ). "Warning signals" were raised against one participant in this trial. "Action signals" requiring corrective action were raised against four participants. These participants reviewed the data and possible sources for the discrepancies. This inter-laboratory trial was successful in providing an initial snapshot of the potential for traceability between the participating laboratories. The statistical methods described in this article could be used as a model for others needing to evaluate stable isotope results derived from multiple laboratories, e.g., inter-laboratory trials/proficiency testing. Ongoing trials will be conducted to improve traceability across the Australian and New Zealand IRMS community.     

ENERGY LAW IN SUPPORT OF THE LOW-CARBON TRANSITION: LESSONS FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM AND CHINA

Law is an important tool for national governments to promote the transition to a low carbon energy sector. However, law is the servant of national politics and policies and is embedded in a wider institutional environment, both nationally and internationally. This comparative analysis of the United Kingdom (UK) and China shows that, although national law plays a role in supporting the transition to a low-carbon energy system, the nature of the law and the role it plays depends greatly on the wider institutional environment. The UK is a parliamentary democracy and a liberal market economy. Therefore, the laws passed by the legislature form a critical part of the framework for the low-carbon transition. In contrast, the authority of the executive in China allows the executive to govern the energy sector through decrees and regulations, and diminishes the role of law passed by the legislature. Energy law and policy in both the UK and China are formulated in the light of the prevailing energy policy paradigm: the market-oriented regulatory state paradigm in the UK and a state-centered paradigm in China. Together, these differences explain the contrasting experiences in promoting the low-carbon transition, in general, and the deployment of renewable energy in particular.