Innovation capacity in the healthcare sector and historical anchors: examples from the UK,Switzerland and the US

Innovation is an integral part of economic development in developed economies. In the post 2008 period, a key policy agenda is that of sustainable development, which calls for innovation in all aspects of value-chains. In this paper, we focus on innovation from the biotech—pharma perspective to see whether or not this will lead to a sustainable future for the regions where there are clusters of firms in this sector. We examine data from a recently completed European Union study of innovation in the Healthcare sector from the UK and Switzerland, countries with an historical base in pharma, to understand how innovation pathways vary at the regional level in the broader life sciences, which incorporate biotech and more. Innovation in the healthcare sector in two regions, Oxfordshire in the UK and Zurich in Switzerland are compared. We contextualize our discussion by drawing on studies that focus on the sector in the US, specifically Boston. The analytical framework comprises three elements: innovation systems and national and regional economic development theories are the first two, followed by approaches which consider organizational or institutional activity. This framework is used to help explain and understand the complexity of how innovation is organized at the sub-national level. The overall context is that it is increasing becoming a condition for government financing of research that it has more immediate application in industry or have the possibility of commercialisation (e.g., translational research).     

The influence of parents and peers on choices made by adolescents

Hypothetical situations in which an adolescent was faced with a choice of two possible alternatives, one favored by parents and the other favored by peers, were read by ninth- and twelfth-graders. Subjects were asked to pick the alternative most likely to be chosen by the adolescent in each situation. Responses were analyzed for tendency to choose parent- or peer-approved alternatives. Boys in the ninth grade chose the parent-approved alternative more often than either ninth-grade girls or twelfth-grade boys. Girls' responses tended to remain stable over the same period.Received her Ph.D. in experimental child psychology from the University of Illinois, Champaign. Current research interest is cognitive and personality development in childhood and adolescence.     

Gender differences in patterns of adolescent sexual behavior

The findings of a questionnaire survey of sexual attitudes and behavior of a large nationwide sample of Israeli adolescents (N=5410) show clear gender differences in patterns of sexual behavior even among kibbutz adolescents who express very permissive attitudes toward premarital coitus and live under conditions which provide easy access to potential sexual partners. Permissive conditions increase rates of coitus among female adolescents, but this sexual experience occurs within the framework of an emotionally involving relationship. Kibbutz girls who report coital rates equal to those of kibbutz and nonkibbutz boys (about 40%) have their first coital relationship with a steady boyfriend with whom they are in love and continue having sexual relations with the same partner. This pattern is similar to that of nonkibbutz females, who report much lower rates of coitus (14%). Males do not necessarily have sexual relations in the context of an emotional relationship. The findings are interpreted in terms of pattern of sex-role socialization.This study was supported by the Israel Center for Demographic Studies and by the Ministry of Health.Research interests are socialization, parent-child interaction, and cross-cultural research.Presently working on Ph.D. in public health at University of California, Berkeley.Research interests are child development and personality.Research interests are clinical obstetrics and gynecology, contraception, sex education, and family planning.Research interests are chronic disease epidemiology and research methodology.     

Looking for Lela Simone: Singin’ in the Rain and microhistories of women’s sound work behind the scenes and below-the-line in Classical Hollywood Cinema

ABSTRACT

Despite her contribution to some of classical Hollywood’s most renowned musicals, the largely unknown Lela Simone exemplifies one of Hollywood’s ‘anonymous movie workers’ (Leo Rosten) working in the shadows of film history. As music co-ordinator for MGM’s Arthur Freed Unit (1944–1957), Simone’s exacting technical supervision of sound and music recording and post-production ensured films such as The Pirate (1948), On the Town (1949), An American in Paris (1951), Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and Gigi (1958) achieved perfect synchronisation and polished production values. Drawing on archival sources this article engages with the methodological and conceptual challenges of making visible the labour of women, like Simone, working below-the-line in technical roles. Taking Simone’s work on sound and music in the iconic ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ number as a case study, the article illustrates how a micro-historical focus can bring a previously invisible realm of women’s labour, and agency, into view.