Evidence-based versus tinkerable knowledge as strategic assets: A new perspective on the interplay between innovation and application

Organization success depends, at least in part, on a firm's ability to wisely manage what it knows in order to capitalize on technical achievements, develop new products and services, realize the benefits of innovation, achieve effective scale economies, and continuously advance and control its operations. This paper departs from familiar approaches to categorizing knowledge resources to distinguish between knowledge resources that are appropriate to replicate ‘as is’ (evidence-based knowledge resources) and those that are best suited to contribute to innovation and creative activity (tinkerable knowledge resources). A set of criteria for classifying different types of knowledge flow mechanisms is also introduced. We propose a framework for determining effective fit between knowledge resources and the mechanisms used to move and apply those resources. We discuss the benefits of achieving fit and the liabilities of misfit and illustrate these ideas with examples drawn from a variety of sources. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for future research.     

Levels of urbanization in the world’s countries: testing consistency of estimates based on national definitions

Estimates of urbanization levels for all countries, as published in the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects, are not comparable across countries because they are based on national definitions of urbanization, which vary greatly across countries. We construct alternative estimates of urbanization that are comparable across countries, to use these estimates to point out definitional problems or outlying countries with interesting urban characteristics. The alternative estimates are constructed using variables that are associated with urbanization, as well as a categorical variable that summarizes the urban definition used in the country. We find that among the 181 countries included in the analysis, 21 % have a restrictive definition, and 31 % a generous definition of urbanization. In 2000, the difference between the alternative estimate and the UN estimate was more than 10 % for 67 countries. An examination of six countries with surprisingly low or high reported levels of urbanization, as compared the alternative estimates, highlights issues with the plausibility of the official estimate. We conclude that comparison of urbanization estimates across countries should be treated with care, given the wide range of definitions used. To produce more informative estimates of urbanization, several countries would need to clarify or rethink their definition of urban.     

Physiological Regulation and Fearfulness as Predictors of Young Children's Empathy‐related Reactions

Indices of physiological regulation (i.e., resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA] and RSA suppression) and observed fearfulness were tested as predictors of empathy‐related reactions to an unfamiliar person's simulated distress within and across 18 (T1, N = 247) and 30 (T2, N = 216) months of age. Controlling for T1 helping, high RSA suppression and low fearfulness at T1 predicted T2 helping. In a structural model, empathic concern was marginally positively related to resting RSA at both assessments whereas personal distress was related to RSA suppression within time (marginally positively at T1 and significantly negatively at T2). Fearfulness was associated with self‐oriented, distress‐related reactions within time. Comfort seeking (an index of personal distress) declined in mean level with age whereas helping increased, and both behaviors exhibited differential continuity (as did resting RSA). Individual, as well as developmental, differences in the types of reactions that young children exhibit when witnessing others' suffering and distress were discussed.     

电感耦合等离子体质谱检测食物中的有毒、主要和营养组分

描述了利用下一代电感耦合等离子体质谱来检测食物中有毒、主要和营养组分。阐述了如何利用仪器通用的单元模块来克服复杂谱图干扰,以及利用单元模块中的四极杆带宽的选择性衰减不用稀释样品来同时检测大量矿物质组分和痕量组分。得到的数据显示其与美国国家标准技术研究所(NIST)食物标准参考材料具有很好的相关性。     

The Use of Self-Instructional Units on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in a University Setting

Abstract

In an attempt to promote prevention of cardiovascular disease among college students, a study was conducted to determine whether an educational program originally designed to increase high school students' knowledge of cardiovascular disease would be effective with college students. The specific objectives of the study were to determine college students' baseline knowledge regarding primary and secondary risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, to ascertain their knowledge of the warning signs and appropriate emergency procedures for heart attack and stroke victims, and to evaluate the effectiveness of self-instructional units on the “Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Diseases, Parts I and II” and “Warning Signs and Emergency Procedures for Heart Attack and Stroke Victims.”

The results of the study found that the college students were not sufficiently aware of the risk factors of cardiovascular disease or the warning signs and emergency procedures for heart attack and stroke victims. The educational program effectively instructed these students in these areas, and the participants found the materials suitable for college curricula and expressed a desire for more of them.     

The last ten turns: Behavior and sequencing in friends' and strangers' conversational findings

This study examined the verbal and nonverbal behaviors which characterize the ends of two-person face-to-face interactions. It was hypothesized that sequences of both verbal and nonverbal behavior would be present in conversational endings and that nonverbal behaviors would occur with different frequency in the middle and at the end of conversations. It was also predicted that both verbal and nonverbal behavior in conversational endings between friends and between strangers would differ. Ten dyads of friends and ten dyads of strangers, all female, were videotaped while in relatively unconstrained conversation. The content of verbal statements and the occurrence or nonoccurrence of 13 nonverbal behaviors in the ten middlemost and the ten last turns were analyzed. Results indicated that the seven verbal statement types formed a sequence of information, summary, question, verbalization, justification, continuity, and well-wishing. Six clusters of nonverbal behavior distinguished the ending phase from the middle phase; these behaviors were organized into a general sequential pattern, but the positions of several behaviors within the sequence were subject to variation. Finally, three clusters of nonverbal behaviors (more looking away, more grooming, less head nodding) distinguished conversation endings between friends from those between strangers.We are grateful to Helen McKenna and Peter Pamment for their help. We also appreciate the comments given by Dr. Judee, K. Burgoon, and an anonymous reviewer.     

Cryptosporidium Dose-Response Studies: Variation Between Hosts

The issue of variation is highly important in dose-response analysis: variation among genetically related pathogens infecting the same host, but also variation among hosts, in susceptibility to infection by the same pathogen. This latter issue is addressed here for the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum, the causative agent for many outbreaks of water-borne gastrointestinal illness. In human feeding studies, infectivity has been shown to be low in subjects with high preexisting anti-Cryptosporidium IgG-levels. Here we adapt the hit theory model of microbial infection to incorporate covariables, characterizing the immune status of the susceptible host. The probability of any single oocyst in the inoculum to cause infection appears to depend on preexisting IgG-levels. This does not necessarily imply direct protection by the humoral immune system; high IgG-levels may reflect a recent episode of infection/illness, and be an epi-phenomenon associated with other protective responses. The IgG-dependence of the dose-response relation can be easily applied in quantitative risk analysis. The distribution of anti-Cryptosporidium IgG levels in the general population is accessible by analyzing serum banks, which are maintained in many Western countries. Using such an approach provides first insights into the variation of susceptibility to infection in the general population.     

‘It is so unfair here…it is so biased’: Negotiating the politics of ethnic identification in ways of being Malaysian schoolgirls

In this paper, the notion of Malaysian identity is conceptualised within a framework of identity and difference, drawing on contemporary theorisations of ethnicity linked to the notion of difference. The notion of Malaysian is problematised as being linked to the interplay between nationalistic official and essentialistic labelling, present and historical social and political events, and experiences of daily living in Malaysia. The author draws on the narratives of 16-year-old Malaysian schoolgirls to illustrate the discourses of ethnicity these girls negotiate in their ways of being and knowing. Being Malaysian and more importantly being Malay, Chinese, Indian or Other is not a simple matter of government-imposed labelling. It is more complicated and negotiated. Ways of being and knowing in Malaysia are multiple, shifting and contradictory as each Malaysian has to negotiate with these labels in their daily lives. The author argues that the politics of ethnic identification in Malaysia are intertwined with the politics of difference, which in turn is linked to power and inequality.     

Healthy children in families affected by AIDS: Epidemiological and psychosocial considerations

Traditional means of conceptualizing the psychosocial impact of AIDS have emphasized infected individuals out of their natural context AIDS occurs not simply within hospitals but within families. A secondary morbidity occurs within a family system when one of its members is infected. Clinical experience suggests that non-infected children within families with AIDS are at significant risk for poor developmental outcomes as a consequence of the skewing of familial resources. Children living in families who have a member infected by HIV are impacted by isues such as stigma, isolation, abandonment, and death. This article explores the epidemiology of this child population and risk factors that render them vulnerable. Social workers are in a unique position to identify and serve these children in such diverse settings as schools, welfare agencies, and hospitals. Suggested interventions based on the developmental stage of the child are discussed as are implications for policy formation and program development.     

Mixed Messages in Risk Communication

The exchange of risk information between risk managers and affected parties is frequently hampered by differences in the understanding or interpretation of many words and phrases. Much of the terminology used by risk practitioners may have different "technical" and "colloquial" meanings, resulting in "mixed messages" in risk communication. Several words and concepts commonly used in risk management that may be resulting in these "mixed messages" are discussed. These include primary underlying concepts, such as the various meanings of the word "risk" itself, as well as the perplexity of the notions of "safety vs. zero risk" and "probability". The potential "mixed messages" of the derived concepts of "significant vs. nonsignificant", "negative vs. positive results", "conservative assumptions", "population vs. individual risk", "relative vs. absolute risk", and "association vs. causation" are shown to range from mild confusion to the completely opposite interpretation of these words and expressions. Suggested strategies for recognizing and mitigating the use of words and phrases which may create unnecessary confusion are presented.