Kriptovalute su digitalni novac utemeljen na kriptografiji i decentraliziranom sustavu. Postoje samo u elektroničkom obliku kao jedinstveni digitalni novčići ("tokeni"). Iza njih ne stoji autoritet države niti ih je moguće svojevoljno proizvesti. Rad se fokusira na značajkama, postavkama, razvoju i svim međuodnosima važnih ekonomskih faktora koji utječu na kriptovalute. U prvom poglavlju navedena su obilježja kriptovaluta. Drugo poglavlje daje primjere i govori o primjeni kriptovaluta u svakodnevnom životu. U trećem poglavlju je raspravljano o trenutnim i budućim regulacijama najmoćnijih zemalja svijeta (G20) , kao i njihovoj zajedničkoj suradnji u želji za jedinstvenim i standardiziranim pravilima, a sve u svrhu što kvalitetnijeg nadzora nad kriptovalutama kako bi se spriječile malverzacije i zaštitili potrošači. Četvrto poglavlje govori o inicijalnoj ponudi kovanica, a peto poglavlje je namijenjeno sigurnosti kriptovaluta. Cilj istraživanja je utvrditi koliko je studentska populacija upoznata i usmjerena prema novim oblicima digitalnog novca, koje značajke kriptovaluta smatraju pozitivnima, a koje negativnima i u kojoj su mjeri investirali ili su spremni investirati dio svojih ulaganja u kriptovalute i sl. Metode istraživanja korištene u radu su kompilacija na temelju proučavanja postojeće literature o temi rada, prikupljanje i analiza podataka vezanih uz kriptovalute, ponajprije podataka vezanih uz cijene i tržišnu kapitalizaciju, anketiranje studenata Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci i metoda dedukcije putem koje su pokazane sve važne karakteristike i obilježja kriptovaluta. Na temelju provedene ankete u kojoj je sudjelovalo 90 studenata Ekonomskog fakulteta u Rijeci zaključak toga dijela istraživanja je da je mlada populacija dobro upoznata s kriptovalutama i njenim glavnim značajkama, ali i određenim nedostatkom informiranosti o tehnologiji (trećina studenata nije čula za pojam "blockchain") i nedovoljnoj odlučnosti oko investiranja i trgovanja u kriptovalute. Povrh toga, dokazan je i negativan utjecaj hakerskih napada i određenih kriminalnih radnji, kao i nestabilnost tržišne cijene na povjerenje studenata, ali i ukupne populacije vezane uz globalni financijski sustav u kriptovalute. Ishod istraživanja omogućio je da zaključimo kako su kriptovalute trenutno u ranoj fazi razvoja i nisu se dovoljno implementirale za široku primjenu u trgovini roba i usluga ili općenito kao sredstvo razmjene. Faktor koji je uključen u istraživanje kako bi opisao veličinu, odnosno obujam neke kriptovalute je tržišna kapitalizacija u dolarima. Temeljna ideja ovog rada je informirati čitatelja o pozitivnim i negativnim značajkama koje se se vežu uz kriptovalute. Na taj način čitatelji će biti bolje informirani i educirani o potencijalnom riziku ulaganja u kriptovalute, kao i većoj razini zaštite prilikom posjedovanja neke digitalne valute.
Blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a dynamic list of data records, hardened to prevent tampering and revision. It is the framework for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. \n \nA Blockchain learning tool would provide a secure and verifiable learning transaction ledger. Its decentralised nature would ensure a learner, rather than institution-centred record of achievements that would be difficult to tamper with, enabling parties, such as employers or learning institutions, to review with confidence. \n \nAs a mechanism for transferring credit, Blockchain might also be used to enable selected actions to be rewarded with tokens that can be then traded against future learning costs. \n \nWe will describe Blockchain Learning and invite colleagues to form a community to investigate its learning and teaching potential further.
The enforcement of outcomes in online dispute resolution (ODR) is a delicate problem. Since disputes arising out of e-commerce transactions are typically low in value, the traditional channels of coercive enforcement are often not a viable option. The article argues that the Bitcoin system can be used as a source of inspiration to devise new models of self-enforcement. The article describes the legal framework of ODR and argues that the goal of self-enforcement can be attained through the use of technology. It then describes the relevant features of the Bitcoin system, underlining its potential as a new forum for the expression of private autonomy. It then investigates the features of Bitcoin adjudication, before arguing that Bitcoin must be regarded as an original and self-contained system of dispute resolution, whose characteristics can be used to theorise new models of self-enforcement. Next, it compares four alternative models of self-enforcement, two of which take Bitcoin adjudication as an example. Finally, it puts forth recommendations for all actors involved in the implementation of self-enforcing ODR mechanisms and argues that different models should be left free to compete.
Vsaka valuta ima vzpone in padce, kar je odvisno od razmer na trgu, ki so tisti cas prisotne. Ljudje stremimo k napredku, se razvijamo, ucimo in nismo ustvarjeni, da bi stagnirali. Vsak dan prinese veliko novosti in od nasih potreb, zanimanja in odprtosti je odvisno kako bomo te novosti (ce sploh) sprejeli.
Bitcoin digitalna valuta je vsekakor novost in napredek v svetu digitalnega denarja. Morda lahko marsikoga spomni na prizor iz filma Matrica, v katerem Morfej vprasa Neota ce hoce vzeti modro tableto in tako oditi nazaj v svet, katerega pozna ali bo vzel rdeco tableto in videl svet tak kot je. Neo se je odlocil za rdeco tableto in zacel z raziskovanjem o clovestvu, hierarhiji, pravilih ipd. Bitcoin bi lahko povezali ravno s to rdeco tableto. Z obstojem te valute bodo vedno obstajali slabi dogodki,stvari, vendar se iz tega lahko izcimi se veliko dobrega in uporabnega. Bitcoin se lahko izoblikuje v financno trdnost in moc, potrebuje le se vec zaupanja ljudi v ta sistem (Palihipatiya, 2013).
Dandanes obstaja že precej digitalnih valut, ki so v uporabi, vendar je Bitcoin ena izmed bolj prepoznavnih. Njegove glavne lastnosti so decentraliziranost, anonimnost, P2P tehnologija, hitrost transakcij in majhni stroski. Ima že vrsto podpornikov (podjetij, trgovin), ki omogocajo placila z njimi, seznam pa se cedalje veca. Tudi v Sloveniji že imamo dve spletni trgovini, ki prav tako omogocata placilo s to valuto.
Menim, da ima Bitcoin svetlo prihodnost v kolikor se bo uspesno branil pred raznimi zlorabami, pranjem denarja ipd. Vendar moramo vedeti tudi, da žal to valuto izkoriscajo tudi tisti, ki preko nje poslujejo ilegalno, s preprodajo orožja, drog, prostitucijo ipd. Ker je valuta decentralizirana in omogoca anonimno uporabo, organi pregona ne morejo storiti nicesar, da bi to preprecili. Samo predvideva se lahko v kaksnem obsegu se to danes izkorisca.
SILVEIRA, Alexandre Marques Albano da. Prova de conhecimento nulo baseada em isomorfismo de subgrafos. 2016. 71 f. - Dissertação - Universidade Federal do Ceará, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Elétrica e da Computação, Sobral, 2016.
This research aims to understand the effect of policy implementation through Law No. 18 of /997 to the performance of local government finance. The case study is Pemalang regency. Contrary to the assumed policy goals, this research shovrs that during 2 years of its implementation in Pemalang the local original income (PAD) has virtually decreased. Although the nominal budget of the local government has increased, the PAD has contributed less. In effect, the policy has resulted in the decline of local government income from local taxation and charges, the overall fiscal effort and the degree of fiscal decentralization. It is recommended that the current policy problem should be addressed by determining the target of local taxes and charges with the real local potentials. The local government has to focus on the effective and efficient taxes that are linked to the local development budgets and the local gross domestic product.
Nesta obra, o autor desenvolve um estudo econômico e histórico da origem do Bitcoin e de seu valor enquanto moeda. Em sua argumentação, o autor explora a relação entre a moeda digital Bitcoin e a Economia Austríaca, discutindo, em particular, o Teorema da Regressão de Ludwig von Mises e sua conexão com a evolução do mercado monetário, bem como a abordagem evolutiva seminal de Carl Menger.
Article Measurement index of fiscal decentralization and the revaluation of the economic growth effect was published on December 1, 2015 in the journal China Finance and Economic Review (volume 4, issue 4).
<p class="Bodytext50"><em>Regional autonomy that has long been the aspiration of the people had been executed after successfully fought for reform. After implemented, which should be considered is whether the regional autonomy that has been running for 4 yaers really can fullfil people's needs and create welfare for the people. We all know that the purpose of the existence of local government is creating public service. Public services must be created with the creative way through many aspect include regional financial management strategies. By using four independent variables: financing ability, mobilize funds ability, regional government independence, level of fiscal decentralization, and the level of flaypa per effect, researcher tested the role of regional autonomy by linking it to the influence of these four independent variables on the variable of public service expenditure allocation. By using a chow test resulted in a finding that the local government system and the personnel in the four years of implementation of regional autonomy tend looks not ready in achieving the vision of regional autonomy. Anotherfinding is that in general, regional autonomy has a role in improving the influence of financial management aspects on the allocation of expenditure on public services.</em>
Ángel Gomez-Sacristan, Miguel A. Rodríguez-Hernández, V. Sempere
The concept of Smart-Hospital is generally associated with a comprehensive care model capable of responding to the needs of health institutions, companies and patients in an optimum way in terms of economic, operative and environmental aspects aiming the improvement of care quality and sustainable use of resources. In this context, a Smart-Hospital is a technological and hyper-connected hospital in terms of telecommunications. Ahuge range of systems and devices generate information of a heterogeneous nature. In many cases, for reasons of efficiency and availability, this information is stored and processed in architectures external to the hospital itself. Centralized services housed in Cloud architectures or telemedicine / tele-assistance services are proof of this. Guaranteeing an adequate level of quality of service is a complex task when approached from an analytical point of view due to the large number of sources and their heterogeneous nature. The use of simulation tools allows this task to be undertaken and using different hypotheses in less time and at a reasonable cost. This article presents the results obtained, in terms of quality of communications, for a Smart-Hospital with an arbitrary collection of heterogeneous services connected by Metro-Ethernet access. The results obtained: loss of information, delays and jitter will be used to outline the capacities to be contracted from the telecommunications supplier.
The study analyzes the "International Law and the constitution of Mozambique: Consensus and dissent in the light of the Global Legal pluralism". This reflective analysis will converge in the problem of the internationalization of law in contemporary society, i.e., the interaction between International Law and the Constitutional Law in the light of the global legal pluralism. After reflecting on past political, economic and social changes, it is concluded that, on the one hand, constitutionalism is neither limited nor satisfied only with the structure of the state legal space (national) and its legal order. On the other hand, International Law is no longer limited to issues related to global international policy. The phenomenon of emerging globalization has created a challenge to the international law as to the idea of a pluralist synchronization and polycentric notion of Law that could respect the legal diversity or legal specificity, within the global Legal Pluralism. The older idea of International Law entered into crisis for not having achieved the unity and cohesion within the global legal system. This crisis driven by the polycentric force of globalization dictated the diversification and the expansion of international law. This diversification has imposed the constitution and strengthening of various autonomous international legal regimes, the multiplication of organs of international conflicts resolution and the emergence of a new normative configuration. With the emergence of new instances of international and global legal production, the debate on the internationalization of Law imposes itself as an urgent need, in the framework of the globalization process and the global legal pluralism. The great debate today, on this theme, departed from general International Law and is set in the context of the new global international legal order. The debate on the internationalization of law took two aspects: one on the protagonism of new instances of autonomous global and international legal production and its influence in the construction of the global international legal order. Another aspect is that of regional economic and political blocks and of organizations and institutions of humanitarian aid and development, under the same prism. This debate brings back the old or new problem of interaction between International Law and the Constitutional Law in the new global international legal order, i.e., the problem of internationalization of national law. In fact, some international rules emanating from autonomous international legal production organs, within the framework of hegemonic globalization, are imposed directly to citizens and States, sometimes without knowledge of such rules, or of its existence. The action of these organs or agents can be considered as a latching and destructive phenomenon within the national legal orders? These rules are imposed on citizens and States not only as strategies or means of operationalization of flows, for the success of the process of globalization and economic development, but also, sometimes, for unclear purposes and within wide range economic interests. With the introduction of the new international legal regimes, the relationship with National Law has decentralized, thus creating a polycentrism, where each regime seeks to draw to itself the protagonism. This phenomenon has created conflicts within National Law and between the various legal systems. It is noted that each legal regime has its specific rules of internationalization of law. The National Law, in the face of this diversity, must meet several distinct rules and sometimes contradictory. There are times when the same matter is subject to various internationalizations by different legal regimes and through distinct rules to that effect. The proliferation of various regimes and agents in the internationalization of Law has weakened the policies and measures of protection and rule production in peripheral States because of the overlap and complexity of the phenomenon. In this new global legal order, unfortunately, we are witnessing the phenomenon of international legislative hegemony led by the major powers with regard to the demands of globalisation. This unusual phenomenon, lived in the global society, is translated into anti-constitutional and anti-democratic practices in the creation and internationalization of law in peripheral countries. The study starts from the analysis of the relationship between international law and the constitution of Mozambique and returns to the debate on the problem of the relationship between International and National Law, in the framework of the new global international legal order.
The study analyzes the "International Law and the constitution of Mozambique: Consensus and dissent in the light of the Global Legal pluralism". This reflective analysis will converge in the problem of the internationalization of law in contemporary society, i.e., the interaction between International Law and the Constitutional Law in the light of the global legal pluralism. After reflecting on past political, economic and social changes, it is concluded that, on the one hand, constitutionalism is neither limited nor satisfied only with the structure of the state legal space (national) and its legal order. On the other hand, International Law is no longer limited to issues related to global international policy. The phenomenon of emerging globalization has created a challenge to the international law as to the idea of a pluralist synchronization and polycentric notion of Law that could respect the legal diversity or legal specificity, within the global Legal Pluralism. The older idea of International Law entered into crisis for not having achieved the unity and cohesion within the global legal system. This crisis driven by the polycentric force of globalization dictated the diversification and the expansion of international law. This diversification has imposed the constitution and strengthening of various autonomous international legal regimes, the multiplication of organs of international conflicts resolution and the emergence of a new normative configuration. With the emergence of new instances of international and global legal production, the debate on the internationalization of Law imposes itself as an urgent need, in the framework of the globalization process and the global legal pluralism. The great debate today, on this theme, departed from general International Law and is set in the context of the new global international legal order. The debate on the internationalization of law took two aspects: one on the protagonism of new instances of autonomous global and international legal production and its influence in the construction of the global international legal order. Another aspect is that of regional economic and political blocks and of organizations and institutions of humanitarian aid and development, under the same prism. This debate brings back the old or new problem of interaction between International Law and the Constitutional Law in the new global international legal order, i.e., the problem of internationalization of national law. In fact, some international rules emanating from autonomous international legal production organs, within the framework of hegemonic globalization, are imposed directly to citizens and States, sometimes without knowledge of such rules, or of its existence. The action of these organs or agents can be considered as a latching and destructive phenomenon within the national legal orders? These rules are imposed on citizens and States not only as strategies or means of operationalization of flows, for the success of the process of globalization and economic development, but also, sometimes, for unclear purposes and within wide range economic interests. With the introduction of the new international legal regimes, the relationship with National Law has decentralized, thus creating a polycentrism, where each regime seeks to draw to itself the protagonism. This phenomenon has created conflicts within National Law and between the various legal systems. It is noted that each legal regime has its specific rules of internationalization of law. The National Law, in the face of this diversity, must meet several distinct rules and sometimes contradictory. There are times when the same matter is subject to various internationalizations by different legal regimes and through distinct rules to that effect. The proliferation of various regimes and agents in the internationalization of Law has weakened the policies and measures of protection and rule production in peripheral States because of the overlap and complexity of the phenomenon. In this new global legal order, unfortunately, we are witnessing the phenomenon of international legislative hegemony led by the major powers with regard to the demands of globalisation. This unusual phenomenon, lived in the global society, is translated into anti-constitutional and anti-democratic practices in the creation and internationalization of law in peripheral countries. The study starts from the analysis of the relationship between international law and the constitution of Mozambique and returns to the debate on the problem of the relationship between International and National Law, in the framework of the new global international legal order.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are offering new avenues for economic empowerment to individuals around the world. However, they also provide a powerful tool that facilitates criminal activities such as human trafficking and illegal weapons sales that cause great harm to individuals and communities. Cryptocurrency advocates have argued that the ethical dimensions of cryptocurrency are not qualitatively new, insofar as money has always been understood as a passive instrument that lacks ethical values and can be used for good or ill purposes. In this paper, we challenge such a presumption that money must be 'value-neutral.' Building on advances in artificial intelligence, cryptography, and machine ethics, we argue that it is possible to design artificially intelligent cryptocurrencies that are not ethically neutral but which autonomously regulate their own use in a way that reflects the ethical values of particular human beingsor even entire human societies. We propose a technological framework for such cryptocurrencies and then analyse the legal, ethical, and economic implications of their use. Finally, we suggest that the development of cryptocurrencies possessing ethical as well as monetary value can provide human beings with a new economic means of positively influencing the ethos and values of their societies.
There are over 275 virtual currencies in existence today. One of these currencies is Bitcoin, the largest andmost recognised virtual currency in the world. With its exponential growth over recent years, Bitcoin isbringing a degree of permanence for, and dependability on virtual currencies that can no longer be ignored byregulators. While an increase in international regulatory activity over the past 12 months suggests that somegovernments understand this, Australian regulators appear reluctant to act. In addition to examining Bitcoin’soperational system in detail, this article examines the affect that Bitcoin is having on two key features of thefinancial system: (1) the money laundering and illicit finance supply system; and (2) the payment system. Bycomparing the effectiveness of the response measures enacted by Australian and international regulators inCanada, Singapore, the United States, and the United Kingdom, this article demonstrates that even thoughAustralia’s current payment system policy is capable of addressing the threats posed by virtual currencies, thecurrent money laundering and terrorist financing regulations fail to satisfy Australia’s international obligations,and stifle the legitimate use and development of virtual currencies in Australia.
BACKGROUND: Robust health systems are required for the promotion of child and adolescent mental health (CAMH). In low and middle income countries such as Uganda neuropsychiatric illness in childhood and adolescence represent 15-30 % of all loss in disability-adjusted life years. In spite of this burden, service systems in these countries are weak. The objective of our assessment was to explore strengths and weaknesses of CAMH systems at national and district level in Uganda from a management perspective. METHODS: Seven key informant interviews were conducted during July to October 2014 in Kampala and Mbale district, Eastern Uganda representing the national and district level, respectively. The key informants selected were all public officials responsible for supervision of CAMH services at the two levels. The interview guide included the following CAMH domains based on the WHO Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS): policy and legislation, financing, service delivery, health workforce, medicines and health information management. Inductive thematic analysis was applied in which the text in data transcripts was reduced to thematic codes. Patterns were then identified in the relations among the codes. RESULTS: Eleven themes emerged from the six domains of enquiry in the WHO-AIMS. A CAMH policy has been drafted to complement the national mental health policy, however district managers did not know about it. All managers at the district level cited inadequate national mental health policies. The existing laws were considered sufficient for the promotion of CAMH, however CAMH financing and services were noted by all as inadequate. CAMH services were noted to be absent at lower health centers and lacked integration with other health sector services. Insufficient CAMH workforce was widely reported, and was noted to affect medicines availability. Lastly, unlike national level managers, lower level managers considered the health management information system as being insufficient for service planning. CONCLUSION: Managers at national and district level agree that most components of the CAMH system in Uganda are weak; but perceptions about CAMH policy and health information systems were divergent.
Open access
Mental Health Treatment and Access
Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
Bitcoin’s popularity increased as its value increased and people became excited about the prospect of a trustless, decentralized currency that could be used on the Internet. Within the last two years, however, people and organizations began exploiting the potential of the block chain that powers the bitcoin network. These people realized that the block chain — a transparent public ledger that cannot be altered — can be used for more than digital currency. One such organization calls itself Ethereum and its developers plan to use block chains to allow decentralized autonomous applications to operate free of government censorship or corruption. While such a network would have a profound effect on society — allowing trustless voting, uncensored social networking and the like — its impact on copyrights could be devastating. This paper argues that the emerging, decentralized Internet (also known as Web 3.0) will be the straw that breaks the copyright owner’s back. This paper argues that, with block chain technology and decentralized applications, those buying and selling unauthorized copies of copyrighted material cannot be subject to court injunctions; making enforcement of copyrights nearly impossible on a decentralized Internet. This paper then proposes that copyright holders get out in front of the problem by embracing a decentralized Internet. This can only be done by drastically reducing the price of copyright licenses. In other words, by offering cheap licenses at the dawn of Web 3.0, copyright holders can instill a sense that it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to the ongoing struggle between technology and copyrights.
<p>The password which is a more secure and valuable data should be highly protected from eavesdropper. This paper presents how password required for authentication of members of group communication is securely delivered by the source or initiator of the group. The password delivery uses zero knowledge proof and sent to the group member in an encrypted format using cipher block mode encryption. The password delivered is a One Time Password which can be used for certain amount of time in order to ensure a highly secure communication environment among the group.</p>
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic payment system that operates as an independent currency. This paper is a philosophical investigation of the ontological constitution of Bitcoin. Using Slavoj Žižek’s ontological triad of the real, the symbolic and the imaginary, the paper distinguishes between three ideal typical theories of money: commodity theory, fiat theory, and credit theory. The constitution of Bitcoin is analysed by comparing the currency to each of these ideal types. It is argued that Bitcoin is commodity money without gold, fiat money without a state, and credit money without debt. In conclusion, it is suggested that Bitcoin poses an ideological challenge to conventional forms of money in so far as it not only provokes sedimented beliefs about money but also exposes the forms of exploitation, risk and even violence inherent in the existing system of state authorized credit money.
We investigate the mean number of real zeros over an interval $[a,b]$ of a random trigonometric polynomial of the form $\sum_{k=1}^n a_k \cos(kt)+b_k \sin(kt)$ where the coefficients are i.i.d. random variables. Under mild assumptions on the law of the entries, we prove that this mean number is asymptotically equivalent to $\frac{n(b-a)}{π\sqrt{3}}$ as $n$ goes to infinity, as in the known case of standard Gaussian coefficients. Our principal requirement is a new Cramer type condition on the characteristic function of the entries which does not only hold for all continuous distributions but also for discrete ones in a generic sense. To our knowledge, this constitutes the first universality result concerning the mean number of zeros of random trigonometric polynomials. Besides, this is also the first time that one makes use of the celebrated Kac-Rice formula not only for continuous random variables as it was the case so far, but also for discrete ones. Beyond the proof of a non asymptotic version of Kac-Rice formula, our strategy consists in using suitable small ball estimates and Edgeworth expansions for the Kolmogorov metric under our new weak Cramer condition, which both constitute important byproducts of our approach.
The first Constituent Assembly (CA) was dissolved without producing the constitution. The Constitution of Nepal as Federal Democratic Republic was promulgated on September 20, 2015 by the second CA. The primary objective of this study is to review the modality presented in the new constitution on the natural resources, economic rights and revenue allocation and recommend some amendments. The study finds that the fiscal decentralization initiatives have not been successful in minimizing the political, social, economic, regional and ethnic inequalities inherent for nearly 240 years of a unitary system of governance in Nepal. The study recommends: VAT and income taxes will have to be collected concurrently at both the central and sub-national levels. Other taxes including excise duties will have to be collected by the sub-national governments which will support the expenditure responsibilities of the sub-national governments adequately in federal Nepal. Intergovernmental transfer modality has to be included in the constitution. A Federal Finance Commission (FFC) and the National Planning Commission will have to be constituted at the central level to make national level development plans and to make recommendations for additional grants and loans. A State Planning Commission (SPC) and a State Finance Commission can be established in each state to prepare state development plans and to deal with the transfers to be made to local bodies.
Ryan T. Gill, Andrea L. Halweg‐Edwards, Aaron Clauset, Sam F. Way
An open question in biotechnology concerns the extent to which rapid advancements in DNA reading and writing technologies will shift current paradigms in the engineering of biological systems. The prevailing paradigms involve an ad hoc combination of forward engineering via serial testing of specific hypotheses and reverse engineering via random exploration of phenotypic landscapes. Combining these approaches have proven successful in many cases; however, more concerted and comprehensive approaches that leverage computational resources for experimental design visualization, modeling, and optimization at systems-level are desired. Unfortunately, we have not yet entered an era in which biological simulations can accurately predict the behavior of designed systems. Against the backdrop of increasingly affordable synthetic DNA and high-throughput testing capabilities, it is reasonable to speculate that the biological design-build-test cycle may be optimized by directly synthesizing and testing thousands of designs iteratively (Fig. 1). That is, the promise of advances in DNA synthesis and sequencing is the ability to construct and test >10,000 variants of proteins, pathways, and ultimately genomes for low cost and on laboratory timescales. This capability enables the adoption of “weak” hypothesis approaches that allow the parallel testing of >10,000 genotype-phenotype hypotheses in machine learning driven strategies for searching combinatorial genome space. In this manner, systems biology datasets for thousands of variants can be leveraged to improve computational models, driving forward engineering via a “synthesis aided design” paradigm. The same strong to weak hypothesis paradigm shift began to happen in computer science almost 50 years ago. As described by Bradley Efron in a 1979 article regarding the “unthinkable” impact that automated computation would have on the state of statistical modeling, the “unthinkable” mentioned in the title is simply the thought that one might be willing to perform 500,000 numerical operations in the analysis of 16 data points. Or one might be willing to perform a billion operations to analyze 500 numbers. Such statements would have seemed insane 30 years ago, when a slow and noisy fifty pound desk calculator that added, subtracted, multiplied, and divided was the most sophisticated computational aid available to most scientists. Most of the statistical theory in common use was developed under the constraint of slow and expensive computation. Now computation is fast and cheap. It is not surprising that new theory is being developed, which takes advantage of the high-speed computer (Efron, 1979). This sentiment neatly describes the shift in experimental design strategies occurring today in biotechnology as we move from slow and expensive DNA synthesis to fast and cheap genome engineering. The first wave of reports demonstrating data-driven experimental design and testing of biological processes happened quite predictably at the level of short peptides (Hellberg et al., 1987). A range of 10–100 sequence variants were taken through at least two rounds of a design-build-test cycle using partial least squares and regression-based modeling, respectively, demonstrating the utility of active learning approaches in building predictive models for biological engineering problems (Mee et al., 1997; Norinder et al., 1997). Following the first wave of knowledge-based algorithm implementations in the 1990s, several reports demonstrated the feasibility of rapidly evolving proteins based on technological achievements in mutagenesis techniques, like DNA shuffling (Stemmer, 1994), as well as high-throughput screening methodologies, including phage display, automated sorting devices, and plate-based assays (Chaparro-Riggers et al., 2007; Crameri et al., 1996; Olsen et al., 2000; Zhang et al., 2002). Although many prior demonstrations of peptide to protein scale directed evolution exist, it was not until a seminal report by Fox et al. that machine learning concepts were extended to protein engineering in a way that allowed testing 1000s of “weak” sequence-function hypotheses on a laboratory timescale, ∼1 month per cycle (Fox et al., 2007). Briefly, several libraries of halohydrin dehalogenase, which plays a pivotal role in biosynthesis of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor, were generated using a combination of rational and random mutagenesis strategies and quantitatively assessed on an individual basis. Importantly, the sequence-activity profiles for a broad range of activities were used to retrain a partial-least squares model correlating mutations with enzyme activity. Ultimately, the group discovered a sequence variant with 4,000-fold activity increase over wild-type. Continued advances in DNA synthesis now enable this same data-driven approach to be pursued in a completely rational manner, where at each stage the enzyme libraries can be synthesized according to whatever search algorithm is desired. More recently data-driven approaches have begun to surface at the scale of whole operons, inspiring the establishment of institutes like the Broad Foundry, where 1000s of pathway-scale constructs can be automatically built and arrayed for specific testing. Notably, constructing computational models with strong predictive power of pathway-level mutational effects can be hindered by the complexity of native regulatory networks as well as a lack of a priori knowledge about mutant-activity relationships. Alternatively, it is now possible to simply construct and test on the order of 10,000 alternative designs, and in this manner identify optimal designs in a “synthesis aided design” approach. Specifically, Smanski et al. refactored the Klebsiella oxytoca nitrogen fixation gene cluster without changing its function by (i) removing all non-coding DNA and regulatory elements, (ii) recoding each essential gene in the operon to remove any internal regulatory features including those yet to be discovered, and (iii) placing recoded genes into artificial operons whose expression levels are controlled by well characterized ribosome binding sites and spacer sequences (Smanski et al., 2014; Temme et al., 2012). Although the refactored cluster only retained 7% activity when expressed in E. coli with respect to the wild-type operon in its native host, this synthetic operon was able to serve as a foundation for applying active learning for iterative optimization. In fact, the most recent reports from this group have revealed the rapid assembly of tens of thousands of designs and optimal variants performing at close to 70% of wild-type activity. A series of reports suggest that we will soon see the “weak” hypothesis approach demonstrated at the genome-scale. Wang and coworkers reported the multiplex automated genome engineering (MAGE) approach as a rapid method for constructing billions of combinatorial mutants spanning a targeted set of genes (Wang et al., 2009). The application of MAGE in many ways parallels the application of ProSAR described above with two key caveats. First, the size of combinatorial genome space requires that the initial search strategy was limited to a small number of pre-selected genes (27 in the case of Wang et al.) relative to the size of genome. Second, the ability to specifically test large numbers of individual MAGE mutants was not possible in the absence of whole-genome (or extremely long-read length) sequencing. The result was a very sparse mapping of genotype to phenotype relationships relative to what could be accomplished at either the protein or pathway levels as described above. In this manner, MAGE and several excellent follow up studies provided a set of impressive examples of how to rapidly and comprehensively construct combinatorial genome libraries, but several additional technologies were required to fully prove out weak-hypothesis driven genome engineering. The Trackable Multiplex Recombineering (TRMR) method (Warner et al., 2010) from our own group was developed to address the first caveat above. In TRMR, barcoded promoter mutants spanning the entire genome were constructed and then applied to map the effect of changes to an individual gene expression level onto a trait of interest. This approach could then be applied to find the smaller set of target genes required for combinatorial library generation via MAGE. We demonstrated precisely such an approach (Sandoval et al., 2012) in the engineering of cellulosic hydrolysate tolerance into E. coli. Although tolerance was improved, the study highlighted key technology limitations, such as the unpredictable efficiency of ssDNA recombineering (Reynolds and Gill, 2015), and emphasized the need to be able to track combinatorial mutants at much greater depth as described above. We recently reported an approach for addressing the latter of these issues by employing emulsion linking PCR to deeply characterize MAGE libraries (Zeitoun et al., 2015). In particular, we characterized population diversity in 4 out of 27 RBS sites across the E. coli genome that were combinatorially varied using MAGE, searching on the order of 105–106 genotypes, representing four orders of magnitude greater tracking-depth than previously possible. With respect to efficiency, the advent and broad applicability of CRISPR technologies could not have come at a better time (Doudna and Charpentier, 2014). CRISPR allows selection for specific genome modifications simply via the inclusion of a guide RNA targeting the CRISPR nuclease machinery to the wild-type sequence (Jiang et al., 2013, 2015). CRISPR has been employed to increase the efficiency of ssDNA recombineering to 95% or greater (Findlay et al., 2014; Fu et al., 2014; Pines et al., 2015). In combination, these technologies provide the remaining pieces for realization of highly efficient genome engineering and optimization via a “weak” hypothesis driven strategy. What do these advances hold for the future of genome scale engineering? We are already seeing a rapid increase in the use of such technologies to demonstrate weak-hypothesis driven strain engineering (Cress et al., 2015; Li et al., 2015; Ronda et al., 2015; Salis et al., 2009) and the codification of this approach in the launching of several new bio-foundries (e.g., Zymergen, Synthetic Genomics, GingoBioworks, Copenhagen, Munich, Amyris, NYU, Edinburgh). These biofoundries operate at rates approximately 100× over the prior state of the art. Given the history of disruption of such machine-learning/weak-hypothesis approaches in parallel fields, we expect that the ship has sailed in terms of questioning this paradigm shift. Rather, the more relevant question is how we will most effectively take advantage of such a shift in the advancement of the field in general? Where are the most obvious application areas, both from a technology (protein or pathway or genome) and a product (antibodies, small molecules, etc.) perspective? How can we use the technology to develop the understanding of design rules required for construction of predictable models and what form will such models take (computational, biological, or both)? How do we restructure our workforce to address the increasing need for computational design and data analysis and reduced need for molecular cloning? Answers to these questions are not obvious, but the need to answer them is clear. We expect many answers will arise through large ongoing efforts from both the public and private sectors (see DARPA Living Foundries or recent financings of startups such as Twist, Gingko Bioworks, and Zymergen). Although centralized efforts are often effective, the community should continue to build upon decentralized efforts (e.g., iGEM, Foldit) that not only can provide a different perspective to such challenges but also help to disseminate technology and build a workforce. Doing so will require sustained support from funding agencies with missions tied to long-term impact as well as new ways of thinking about and judging the impact of innovations in this space. Ryan T. Gill, Andrea L. Halweg-Edwards Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering University of Colorado, Boulder Boulder, CO Aaron Clauset, Sam F. Way Department of Computer Science University of Colorado, Boulder Boulder, CO
Although researchers have acknowledged the issue of commercial viability previously, it is only recently that they have laid emphasis on addressing the relative importance of commercial viability to catalyze the dissemination of decentralized sustainable energy systems to rural consumers in developing countries. A business enterprise is said to be commercially viable if its revenues are > costs. Here in this thesis these business enterprises or promoters of efforts are called as renewable energy companies (REC’s). Moreover researchers have failed to acknowledge or address the role of revenues even after acknowledging the merits of a market driven approach as opposed to donor driven approach. Given such a high relevance of revenues in a market approach to operate successfully and a lack of focus on the same by researchers, in this thesis we will analyze the practical issue of commercial viability of Indian REC’s through the lens of revenue model, while also addressing the literature gap on revenue drivers or revenue model components by exploring various relevant revenue drivers of commercially viable REC’s. This study takes an exploratory case study approach to enlist all the relevant revenue driver or revenue model components that are relevant for REC’s to attain commercial viability. This thesis primarily consists of three subsequent phases: first phase: theoretical gap identification. Second phase: identification of types and components of a revenue model and third phase: building a revenue driver – commercial viability framework. The aim of the first phase was to narrow in on the literate gap and also present relevant background literature. The first phase yielded the literature gap on revenue model components in addressing the practical issue of commercial viability. The aim of the second phase was to identify revenue model types and components. The result of which was that two types of revenue models namely: ownership and service revenue models was discovered. Most importantly six potential revenue drivers were also discovered. They are: consumer trust, pricing strategy, willingness to pay, flexibility of payments, number of users and revenue sharing. These six revenue drivers were derived on the premise that they would increase revenues such that REC’s attain commercial viability. This made up our initial conceptual model. Next, the aim of the third phase was to build a framework on revenue drivers or revenue model components – commercial viability of Indian REC’s. In order to do so firstly we analyzed cases where the initial conceptual model is leveraged into a more relevant context of Indian REC’s. The case studies were based on SIMPA Networks, Onergy, Rural Spark and MeraGao Power (MGP). All of these cases primarily are Indian companies exclusively catering to the Indian rural market otherwise also known as REC’s or Indian REC’s. The results of this section yielded us a relevant set of 12 revenue drivers i.e. six more in comparison to the initial set of 6 revenue drivers. They are consumer trust, supplier trust, pricing strategies, willingness to pay, flexibility of payments, number of users, revenue sharing, consumer financing, size of payments, service customization, after sales service/maintenance and discounts. Secondly, a cross case analysis was performed wherein findings from each case are pitched against each other to find the similarities and differences. The result of this section was firstly that, any sort of generalizations based on the type of revenue models was hard to come by and most importantly the type of revenue model only signified its affect on the source of financing and could play no role in explaining how and why commercial viability was being achieved. Moreover it also led to an inference that service revenue model poses more risk than ownership revenue model but however commercial viability was achieved by adopting both types of revenue model, which was quite the contrary to the outcome of literature survey. Secondly, list of revenue drivers was further narrowed to 10 from the previous list of 12. Basically willingness to pay was eliminated because it was already being considered in pricing strategies and number of users was also removed because it affected the commercial viability of REC’s in terms of both costs and revenues whereas the others only impacted only revenues. The final set of relevant revenue drivers are: consumer trust, supplier trust, pricing strategies, flexibility of payments, size of payments, revenue sharing, consumer financing, service customization, after sales service/maintenance and discounts. Lastly, a set of three factors was identified that actually contributed to the increase in revenues such that revenues were > costs. Or in other words served as a link between revenue drivers and commercial viability. They are namely: rate of adoption, recoupment of costs (regular payments) and retention. It is these afore mentioned revenue drivers that impact the three factors, which subsequently drive or increase revenues such that commercial viability can be attained. The ownership revenue model primarily derives its revenues from only the adoption factor, which subsequently brings in revenues to attain commercial viability. That said the adoption of DSE’s by the rural consumers is contingent or dependent on revenue drivers like consumer financing and size of payments among others. The revenues of REC’s employing service revenue model primarily depended on all the three factors like rate of adoption, recoupment of costs and retention. More specifically the revenue drivers should be conducive to rural customers such that they firstly adopt the product and/or service and most importantly make regular payments, which translates to revenues while retaining the existing customers. Moreover the retention factor only applies to REC’s that adopt a service revenue model with only a service platform like MGP unlike other REC’s, which adopt a only a product platform like Onergy or both product and service platform like in the case of SIMPA and Rural spark. In the backdrop of afore mentioned scientific implications several managerial implications can also be derived. Among many the key take away for incumbent managers and future potential entrants will be to look at each of the revenue drivers and adopt them carefully such that commercial viability can be attained contingent on the his/her appetite for risk and most of all focus less on the type of revenue model because that is not going to help achieve commercial viability. Future research should be aimed at firstly developing a more elaborate revenue driver- commercial viability framework. After which each of the revenue driver’s true affects on each of the factors should be quantitatively determined. This further helps to gain greater generalizability. That said the key limitation of this thesis is that it focuses only on one country i.e. India among other developing countries.
‘Genetic testing can reveal crucial information to guide your training and nutrition strategies based on predispositions built into your DNA. Genetic testing identifies the ideal nutrition, training and recovery strategies for you and helps explain why athletes given the same training and nutrition plans respond differently. In short gene testing provides the ultimate in personalized nutrition and training guidance…’1 Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing has been in the news in recent years, especially since November 2013, when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shut down 23andMe, one of several firms that offered people general health information based on their genetic test results.2 Much attention has been paid to the accuracy of these tests in predicting future risk of disease. This is understandable as the first wave of DTC companies, including 23andMe, eventually focused on providing genetic information of this nature. And much of the existing literature on the possible harms and benefits of DTC testing is largely an analysis of disease-oriented testing.3 But it should not be forgotten that many other DTC genetic testing products are being marketed throughout the world that are not focused on disease risk but instead offer information—of varying degrees of scientific legitimacy—relevant to things like fitness, diet, and athletic ability. In addition, non-traditional providers, such as homeopaths,4 naturopaths,5 and chiropractors,6 increasingly are offering genetic tests for the purpose of providing health and lifestyle advice. It seems inevitable that, unless the regulatory environment changes, this trend will continue, with genetic testing being offered to the public for an ever-increasing range of reasons not directly related to disease. In this paper, we map the policy issues associated with the marketing and use of genetic testing products outside of the context of disease risk. We focus on companies and providers that offer testing for a wide range of genetic traits, and consider the potential implications of offering these products for use in children and adolescents. While the size of the market for these services remains unknown, it is probably still relatively small.7 Nonetheless, an analysis of genetic testing in this broader context provides an opportunity to consider issues that are likely to increase in significance as genetic testing technologies become more affordable and as the idea of genetic testing becomes more socially acceptable.8 For example, the present analysis affords an opportunity to consider the possible harms, if any, and available policy options for regulating genetic testing services not focused on disease risk and that reside on the margins of credibility. As we will see, some tests are being marketed for purposes that are clearly scientifically absurd (eg for targeting homeopathic therapies and naturopathic detoxification regimens)9 while others have more scientific plausibility, at least theoretically (eg testing for genes related to obesity and athletic characteristics like sprinting ability). Obviously, not all of these services will raise the same issues. But what they do have in common is the provision of genetic information. Are most of these companies and providers simply leveraging the excitement surrounding genetics to market services with unproven utility that are largely harmless? Is there something about genetic testing, as opposed to other forms of equally predictive information, which justifies heightened regulatory oversight? Looking at these, and other,10 issues through the lens of children and adolescents highlight potential policy challenges that may be especially problematic.11 While one could argue that legally competent adults should have the right to choose whatever service they have an interest in (however useless), this may not be the case in the context of children and adolescents who lack legal capacity and may be particularly vulnerable to DTC industry marketing strategies. We will examine whether, in the context of genetic testing services that have little scientific data to support their purported uses, any regulatory or policy response is appropriate and the potential forms such a response could take. Numerous policy guidelines have addressed the genetic testing of minors in the clinical context. Most of these guidelines were crafted in response to the availability of disease and predisposition testing. If a minor is suspected of having a condition where obtaining genetic information is considered clinically useful—be it for diagnostic or treatment purposes—testing is, in general, viewed as an appropriate course of action.12 However, many existing guidelines have stressed that predictive and pre-symptomatic genetic testing during childhood or adolescence should only be performed for conditions for which preventive or therapeutic actions could and should be initiated.13 The underlying rationale is that minors should benefit directly from testing. In the absence of obvious health benefits, support for genetic testing of minors erodes, largely because of the belief that individuals should be able to make autonomous decisions about genetic testing when competent adults and that testing may have an unknown psychosocial impact.14 Given these concerns, it is not a surprise that most clinical guidelines and position papers are also critical of DTC genetic testing companies that test minors. The most recent guideline on the testing of minors was published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. In their statement, both societies ‘strongly discourage the use of direct-to-consumer and home kit genetic testing of children because of the lack of oversight on test content, accuracy, and interpretation’.15 In the technical report supporting the recommendation, Ross et al. refer to the risks of inaccurate results, inaccurate interpretations, potentially harmful interventions, issues of privacy, self-determination, and (non-) disclosure, as well as to the importance of professional involvement in any type of genetic testing on minors.16 Similar and additional concerns have been raised in other guidelines and position papers on DTC genetic testing,17 including the European Academies of Science Advisory Council, the Federation of European Academies of Medicine, and the European Society of Human Genetics.18 Existing policy documents, however, also note that not all concerns apply equally to all types of tests. The UK Human Genetics Commission, for example, acknowledged the importance of considering both the type of test provided and the impact of that test. In situations where tests could have a ‘significant or potentially detrimental impact on consumers’ appropriate support and professional advice is more important than in situations where testing might not create that type of impact.19 This also has consequences for genetic testing in minors, where the Human Genetics Commission would limit genetic testing in children for diagnostic tests, pre-symptomatic tests, carrier tests, susceptibility tests, and pharmacogenomics tests, but is not against allowing nutrigenomic tests and lifestyle/behavioral tests that have not been evaluated as ‘high impact’.20 Similarly, the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists described rather clearly that their statement applies to ‘medically significant genetic testing’ and stated in this line that ‘professional guidelines related to the practice of medical genetics should be adhered to, particularly with respect to genetic testing of children’.21 This distinction between ‘medically significant’ genetic tests on one hand and lifestyle-oriented, recreational, or informational types of genetic tests on the other hand creates room for a policy debate. Do these latter types of services that are aimed at issues not tied directly to health—such as athletic ability—or do not relate to something of immediate clinical relevance—such as diet—but that are often based on less-than-robust science, give rise to similar potential harms as ‘medically significant’ tests? Are the potential harms significant enough to trigger regulatory oversight? Most policy debates have focused on tests pertaining to predisposition to disease offered by DTC companies such as 23andMe and there has been little attention, at least from a policy perspective, on these more lifestyle-oriented genetic testing services. Indeed, many of the policy responses, such as those by professional societies, seem to assume, without much, if any, discussion, that there is potential for real clinical or health relevance, which requires oversight. Below we review in greater detail some of these ‘lifestyle’ types of tests and the potential policy issues they raise, especially when made available for use in children and adolescents. Companies throughout the world offer genetic testing for the purpose of assessing athletic ability. Atlas Sports Genetics, for example, provides a testing service that promises to ‘show athletes, trainers and interested individuals where their genetic advantage lies’.22 A UK company, DNA Fit, provides a test that will allow you to ‘explore your natural ability’.23 And Gonidio promises to ‘Identify your athletic strengths and weaknesses!’ and allows consumers to ‘Choose a sport that suits you!’24 The premise behind these companies is straightforward: get your genes tested and uncover your specific athletic potential (or lack thereof). We know of no evidence about how many minors (or their parents) are using these services.25 Indeed, an analysis of the marketing strategies of these companies found that they generally do not explicitly market their services to parents and kids,26 although some companies do specifically market to parents, encouraging them to test their children in order to discover their ‘inborn talents’, including—among other things—athletic abilities.27 Additionally, there have been reports of plans to use the technology on children in order to facilitate ‘sports selection at the molecular genetic level’.28 That said, it seems reasonable to assume that there is a potential market in this area.29 Many families invest huge sums in the sport activities of their children. They pay for expensive lessons and training programs, all in the hope of boosting their children's athletic careers. The cost to have one child play high-caliber minor hockey in Canada ranges from $8000 to $15,000 per year.30 The cost of having a child train as an aspiring Olympian can be even more significant. It has been estimated that competitive gymnastics, for example, averages about $15,000 per year.31 Sport is often a family commitment and the pressure to perform can come from the parents.32 Given this context, there seems a real possibility that some parents will want to maximize their child's odds at achieving athletic success through genetic testing.33 In addition, abundant evidence shows that adolescents will often go to great lengths to gain a competitive edge in their chosen sport. Given that a significant portion of teenagers are willing to take illegal performance enhancing drugs,34 getting a genetic test seems well within the scope of strategies some teenagers may pursue. Finally, for many of the sports associated with the athletic DTC genetic testing, such as American football and sprinting, testing at a relatively if the are to be as by the associated to and focus an athletic For these as a is for example, football as As one the child the it is to get a other Indeed, the idea of we are to sports or seems a largely aimed at individuals at the of their athletic careers. while these companies may not all their marketing at (or their this is the that should be most interested in using these services. The performance of these tests, if any, is from these DTC genetic testing services The existing evidence on at be described as is no that genes play an important in athletic as and been with many between and or even have not been The between genes and future athletic performance is from Indeed, most that athletic success from a of and a of other (eg the to have been raised in a As a these tests are to a given child or will into an sports Most of the scientific literature on the of the testing technology as a to future Indeed, as in a recent review of the science, genes are associated with athletic and are enough to their use in predicting athletic It is also that in many an and to test a child sprinting is to As with all it seems a to that genetic testing should be to the athletic future of children and adolescents. of the behind personalized is that genetic testing can be to in order to maximize health DTC genetic testing services are marketed as a to things like diet, and Indeed, the idea of personalized lifestyle advice is to most DTC genetic services and all DTC genetic testing companies and providers offering these types of tests the idea that their service can be to specific to from tests for disease these genetic tests are being offered for a wide range of including diet, and In the context of tests being marketed directly for use in children and additional tested for to general general for to and the child is a or In to being marketed directly to genetic testing services are also being offered by a range of health such as and Indeed, some DTC companies market their testing services to providers, encouraging them to make genetic testing of their It is no that these that likely has little or no training in the services as an important of an to health and as a to lifestyle naturopathic for example, that genetic testing service will you to your genetic using specific lifestyle and it is how the genetic testing market is for these type of services or how many children and adolescents are being But it is that there are some in both the and about testing children for a genetic predisposition to And on has found that most testing children and would like an obesity test to be Given that some parents will go to great lengths to the health of their it seems reasonable to that children and adolescents are being or will be tested for the purpose of lifestyle and health companies are offering genetic testing services for obesity predisposition that are directly for use in and testing be considered for children who are the of these tests information that will Is a personalized more the significant for personalized there is little evidence to support the idea that a personalized and is any than general health and lifestyle be it in the context of nutrition, or the being tested are the most scientifically genetic tests are from being predictive for example, a future risk of The being made on the of these tests by many companies not only lack evidence but in some are scientifically For example, one that the testing will reveal if you more that we can use genetic testing to the of a homeopathic which has no in there is no evidence that people use this information to make Indeed, the available evidence that genetic risk information not to This evidence largely from of however, and it is children will be more or parents may be more for when it in their children's than their Given the scientific or predictive of many of these testing services and the lack of any evidence of health what are the harms of testing children and adolescents in this context and are they significant enough to a policy about or harms to children that could from genetic testing. In the context of tests, it is possible that parents these tests to use on their children could have about the and of these tests which could to harmful For example, testing children for obesity or their to might to if parents their children's or them to and adolescents who testing on their may also these types of and about their genetic information and the significance (or lack of their genetic test is also the possibility that children or adolescents might forms of from parents, and others based on the belief that the information is more than it by parents or children for discourage parents from supporting and children from a sports interest if the genetic test not specific and could by sports It is also possible that children or parents could make decisions about the children based on about the of these tests. This could to or in children genetic to with their (or their existing or While how people to genetic information predisposition for disease that this information generally not have a significant on (eg it not in significant or it is this to the impact on children of genetic testing for athletic or This may be particularly to as the impact of testing on the impact of and be more and than what is in most of Indeed, evidence is to how children and their parents and respond to genetic testing more The to which decisions the of DTC genetic testing of children can be by as opposed to about potential is to debate. 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If an genetic information in and of of lack of clinical relevance, is something that only autonomous individuals should have to and all forms of athletic and genetic testing of children by parents should be However, unless something about genetic information is more it is to why a genetic of a child's sprinting for example, should be while as the child while which is likely a more predictive should In the clinical genetic testing context, at is the child's to or not to discover or genetic of future health In the context of an athletic or genetic test that not any clinically or health information, the impact of the information will if that It is also important to consider the of the child or who to genetic testing and the potential for to with a child's right to know or information. the to athletic and genetic testing be like a medical where a child or has to a of capacity to be able to should these tests be like any other and if should there be for as is the case with and on the to these products because there are health risks and harms associated with their In the case of DTC genetic tests where of remains it is children and adolescents should be from these testing services if they it be for example, to a policy that would a child or a child's from on a or a The lack of any benefit for these types of athletic and tests that for to parents or children and adolescents the of providing information is Many of these companies seem to be simply leveraging the excitement surrounding genetics to market in to genetics to the scientific of the even when it if it is an genetic a this to the importance of information, the to the marketing of these tests, and the of parents and consumers about the and utility of these tests. 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However, it is in such a is given the lack of evidence of may also be a for health and regulatory to these genetic tests. 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In addition, it may be to aimed at or the general public about the lack of scientific and of many of these tests. is evidence that consumers of DTC genetic testing health providers about test However, it is consumers of athletic and types of genetic tests would be equally likely to their providers about these of test results, which may limit the of this In addition, there may be in providing information to parents these tests for their children or to children and adolescents who may be considering genetic testing. Finally, future should focus on of the more and benefits and harms of athletic and genetic testing of children and adolescents. would impact on of and of and The lack of evidence of the benefits and harms of these services the for to guide policy The would like to the support for this provided by the and the as well as the Canadian of and through their support of We would also like to and all the of the for their an and a in of this no in the decisions about this