Attitudes towards reproductive technologies for humans

Abstract

The aim of this exploratory study was to measure attitudes towards various applications of real and hypothetical reproductive technologies for humans, including prenatal gender selection. A total of 121 undergraduate university students completed a questionnaire measuring knowledge, interest, trust, risks and benefits, and attitudes towards reproductive technologies for humans. An exploratory factor analysis showed that participants rated the use of these technologies as unacceptable if it was for personal enhancement but acceptable for “medically useful” applications. Participants also reported not having a gender preference for their (hypothetical) unborn child, were they to use prenatal gender selection, an application very few approved of. Results failed to support a general desire to use prenatal gender selection or to hypothetically favour one gender over the other. Attitudes towards reproductive technologies cannot be simply summarised in a “pro or against” manner as they heavily depend on the context.     

Examining Reports and Policies on Cognitive Enhancement: Approaches,Rationale, and Recommendations

The phenomenon of cognitive enhancement is attracting attention in bioethics literature and beyond, in public policy. In response, three bodies—the British Medical Association (BMA); the Commission de l'éthique de la Science et de la technologie (CEST) du Québec; the American Academy of Neurology (AAN)—have produced reports and guidance on this topic. To gain insights into different public policy approaches, rationales, and recommendations on the topic, we analyzed these reports in depth. We found convergence on the definition (with the exception of the CEST) of cognitive enhancement. However, we noted a lack of critical reflection with respect to the underlying rationale for developing these reports, i.e., that cognitive enhancement practices are rampant and represent major social changes. As it currently stands, cognitive enhancement is constituted in a way that challenges the creation of coherent and effective policy recommendations. However, policy makers should not simply wait for definitional consensus and hope that on balance the benefits turn out to be greater than the risks. Some components of cognitive enhancement could be reduced down to clearly identified policy targets to be further examined. Then, if appropriate, policy should be created that is, amongst other criteria, beneficial to the majority of the population.     

Trust, confidence, procedural fairness, outcome fairness, moral conviction, and the acceptance of GM field experiments

In 2005, Swiss citizens endorsed a moratorium on gene technology, resulting in the prohibition of the commercial cultivation of genetically modified crops and the growth of genetically modified animals until 2013. However, scientific research was not affected by this moratorium, and in 2008, GMO field experiments were conducted that allowed us to examine the factors that influence their acceptance by the public. In this study, trust and confidence items were analyzed using principal component analysis. The analysis revealed the following three factors: "economy/health and environment" (value similarity based trust), "trust and honesty of industry and scientists" (value similarity based trust), and "competence" (confidence). The results of a regression analysis showed that all the three factors significantly influenced the acceptance of GM field experiments. Furthermore, risk communication scholars have suggested that fairness also plays an important role in the acceptance of environmental hazards. We, therefore, included measures for outcome fairness and procedural fairness in our model. However, the impact of fairness may be moderated by moral conviction. That is, fairness may be significant for people for whom GMO is not an important issue, but not for people for whom GMO is an important issue. The regression analysis showed that, in addition to the trust and confidence factors, moral conviction, outcome fairness, and procedural fairness were significant predictors. The results suggest that the influence of procedural fairness is even stronger for persons having high moral convictions compared with persons having low moral convictions.     

The reproduction of reproduction: theorizing reproductive (im)mobilities

ABSTRACT

Through a reading of the articles gathered in this special issue, this commentary seeks to assess how critical research on reproductive processes, spatialities, temporalities, and assemblages can push mobilities theory towards rethinking the politics of (im)mobilities, which can also give us a new lens on the reproduction of reproduction. It begins with questions of scale, and the power relations involved in the heterogeneous mobile embodiments and bodily entanglements of reproduction, including mobilities involved in fertility, assisted conception, surrogacy, abortion, egg freezing, or traveling to give birth. It then draws on process theories and relational ontologies within mobilities theory to think about multiple kinds of becoming as crucial to temporal processes of reproduction, involving both molar and molecular politics. Lastly, it elucidates the kinopolitics of reproduction and broadens the field of critical mobility studies to better take into account the material assemblages and affective entanglements of reproductive politics.     

制造业投入服务化是否促进了企业数字化转型？

企业数字化转型是企业提高市场竞争力的重要途径,而制造业投入服务化是中国经济转型升级高质量发展的重要方式。使用中国A股上市公司和中国投入产出表数据,考察了2006—2019年制造业投入服务化对企业数字化转型的影响及其机制。研究表明,中国制造业投入服务化对企业数字化转型有显著的促进作用,且通过技术创新和人力资本积累促进了企业数字化转型。异质性分析发现,制造业投入服务化对民营企业和东部地区企业数字化转型的促进作用更大。进一步研究发现,制造业投入服务化对底层技术和应用技术的数字化转型都有显著的促进效应。因此,为充分发挥制造业投入服务化对企业数字化转型的促进作用,中央和地方政府应引导和促进服务业与制造业深度融合发展,制定相关政策为科学研究、技术创新和人才培养创造良好氛围和有利条件。     

地方政府建设低碳城市研究——以常州市为例

发展低碳经济是落实科学发展观、加快经济发展方式转变、提高城市环境质量和加快生态城市建设的迫切要求。政府通过采取确定城市发展定位、制定生态城市规划、优化产业结构、加快低碳技术开发与应用等措施,采取大力开展低碳宣传,提高公众的节约意识,引导低碳社会生活方式,积极植树造林发挥碳汇潜力等手段来发展低碳经济,建设低碳城市。     

Overcoming pandemic challenges through product innovation: The role of digital technologies and servitization

The fast-changing scenario related to the COVID-19 pandemic calls for firms to rapidly redefine and innovate their strategies to sustain their businesses, with research emphasizing the key roles of digital technologies and servitization. We aim to enrich the theoretical debate on this matter by assessing how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) achieve product innovation under time constraints by leveraging two specific technology groups (information and communication technologies [ICT] and Industry 4.0 data-processing technologies) and servitization. The research is based on a mixed-method approach consisting of an original survey completed by 257 Italian SMEs (grounded on a previous qualitative study about such SMEs' behaviors during the first Italian lockdown), followed by in-depth interviews with the owners and/or managers of the eight SMEs that participated in the survey. The results show a positive relationship between the increased use of digital technologies (ICT and Industry 4.0 data-processing technologies) during the pandemic with servitization and, in turn, with product innovation. Specifically, the increased use of ICT during the pandemic had a direct positive effect on product innovation, while Industry 4.0 data-processing technologies affected product innovation only through the full mediation of servitization. The qualitative study allowed us to highlight how the different kinds of digital technologies supported SMEs’ innovation (servitization and product innovation) during the pandemic. The theoretical and practical contributions of this study are discussed.     

Advanced Networked Technologies in the U.K. Voluntary Sector

Advanced networked technologies have the potential to support deep strategic and operational transformation within voluntary organizations as they seek to respond to shifts in the social, economic, and political spheres in which they operate. Evidence form our study of U.K. voluntary organizations demonstrates relatively low uptake of the core networking technologies and applications essential to support such transformation. Friends of the Earth and The Samaritans are exceptions to this trend. Case studies of these organizations demonstrate that they are using advanced networked technologies to reconfigure key information flows and relationships, in support of enhanced campaigning and more effective user services. The extent to which these organizations are able to exploit the transformational potential that the technologies present is tempered by historically institutionalized relationships and values by which they are characterized.     

中国企业建设自主知名品牌的技术准备

中国是全球生产加工中低端产品最大国家之一,其产品制造蕴涵极大产业经济发展潜力。释放其这种潜力的重要工具,是中国企业拥有更多自主知识产权产品和知名品牌。成熟品牌由自主核心技术与相应品牌权益组成,并衍生出品牌消费权益,最终拥有特定品牌资产。品牌已经形成专门的经营管理技术,创建自主知名品牌的中国企业必须做好产品个性研发、产品商品化孵化、品牌营销权益的设计与市场推广诸环节的技术准备。更重要的是,创建自主知名品牌的企业必须引导目标消费族群认同、保有品牌特定的消费权益,并转化为消费者参与其间的品牌文化。     

Crossing borders with social media: Online social networks and FDI

Social media is embedded in today's internationalization strategy. Companies extend their reach into foreign countries by posting and tweeting. Firms also enhance their mobile capabilities in foreign markets (e.g., knowledge and reputation) through user-generated content in online social networks. Levering on the capabilities-based theory of the multinational enterprise, this paper builds upon a resource-based, industry/network-based, and institution-based view framework. The study provides a comprehensive conceptual and empirical model to explain the effect of social networks on foreign direct investment. Empirical analysis in a global panel dataset of >4500 multinational enterprises suggests that online social networks' activity stimulates foreign capital expenditure and new affiliates. In addition, the article explores the relevance of customer capabilities along with sectoral and institutional moderating effects.