The story of the discovery of the platypus (Figure 1) teaches us much that is relevant to the nature of scientific evidence, orthodoxy, entrenched authority, the role of personalities in science, the slow overthrow of old mores, national rivalries, prejudices and priorities, the strictures of animal classification, what it takes to be described as a mammal, conservation, and extinction. A rivalry that pitted nation against nation, naturalist against naturalist, and professional against amateur endured for 85 years before the true nature of the platypus was revealed. Long after the evidence was wrested from Nature half a world away from where the debate raged, professional biologists continued to argue about this paradoxical creature. How did such a situation arise? The platypus, Ornithorhynchus anatinus, whose combination of avian, reptilian, and mammalian features so puzzled nineteenth century naturalists and continues to fascinate people to this day. Modified from Augie (1992). Platypuses—duckbills, watermoles, or duckmoles, as the European settlers of New South Wales called them—are found only in Australian freshwater lakes and streams. David Collins, who arrived with the First Fleet as Deputy Judge-Advocate, provided an early description in the second edition of An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales: The Kangaroo, the Dog, the Opossum, the Flying Squirrel, the common Rat, and the large Fox-Bat (if entitled to a place in this society), made up the whole catalogue of animals that were known at this time, with the exception which must now be made of an amphibious animal, of the mole species, one of which has been lately found on the banks of a lake near the Hawkesbury. In size it was considerably larger than the land mole. The eyes were very small. The forelegs, which were shorter than the hind, were observed at the feet, to be provided with four claws, and a membrane, or web, that spread considerably beyond them, while the feet of the hind legs were furnished, not only with this membrane or web, but with four long and sharp claws, that projected as much beyond the web, as the web projected beyond the claws of the fore feet. The tail of this animal was thick, short, and very fat; but the most extraordinary circumstance observed in its structure was, its having instead of the mouth of an animal [mammal], the upper and lower mandibles of a duck. By these it was enabled to supply itself with food, like that bird, in muddy places, or on the banks of the lakes, in which its webbed feet enabled it to swim, while on shore its long and sharp claws were employed in burrowing; nature thus providing for it in its double or amphibious character. These little animals have been frequently noticed rising to the surface of the water, and blowing like the turtle. (Collins 1802, p. 62) Captain John Hunter, the second governor of the new colony, watched an Aborigine spear a platypus in Yarramundi Lagoon near the Hawkesbury River just north of Sydney in 1797. The Aborigine sat patiently at water's edge for more than an hour, observing the animal as it came to the surface to breathe, before he attempted to spear it with his short wooden spear. Hunter's fine drawing of this animal accompanied Collins's description of this “amphibious animal, of the mole species” (Figure 2). A keen naturalist and fellow of the Royal Society, Hunter supplied many animals and plants to naturalists in England. Many saw his sketch and read Collins' description before specimens became available. The incomparable English wood engraver, Thomas Bewick, published another early representation in 1800 in his justly renowned A General History of Quadrupeds (Bewick 1800; Figure 3). Governor John Hunter's drawing of the amphibious animal of the mole kind, which was drawn in 1797 and included as an engraving in the second edition of David Collins' An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales (Collins 1802). Thomas Bewick's engraving of the amphibious animal, the last plate in the fourth edition of A General History of Quadrupeds (Bewick 1805). The platypus was given its scientific name, Platypus anatinus (flat-foot duck), in 1799 by George Shaw, a parson turned Keeper of the Department of Natural History of the Modern Curiosities of the British Museum. His description of the platypus was based on a single skin and accompanying sketch sent by Hunter to the Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1798. The skin of this original (type) specimen is still preserved in the British Museum. Shaw's description (Shaw 1799) was published in the tenth volume of an important natural history journal of the time, Naturalist's Miscellany—or, to give it its full, descriptive title: The Naturalist's Miscellany: or Coloured Figures of Natural Objects Drawn and Described Immediately from Nature— produced by Shaw and the illustrator Frederick P. Nodder as an outlet for all manner of discoveries from the natural world. Over 1000 different animals were illustrated in its pages between 1798 and 1882, including the kangaroo, black swan, and echidna from the Great South Land, now known as Australia. Shaw's description was remarkably accurate, based as it was on a dried skin with a desiccated and hardened “bill” so unlike the soft, flexible bill of the living animal. Although he thought it was a mammal, its exotic, even bizarre appearance mystified Shaw: Of all the Mammalia yet known it seems the most extra-ordinary in its conformation; exhibiting the perfect resemblance of the beak of a Duck engrafted on the head of a quadruped. So accurate is the similitude, that, at first view, it naturally excites the idea of some deceptive preparation by artificial means; the very epidermis, proportions, serratures, manner of opening, and other particulars is the beak of a shoveler, or other broad-billed species of duck, presenting themselves to the view; nor is it without the most minute and rigid examination that we can persuade ourselves of its being the real beak or snout of a quadruped. (Shaw 1799, p. 384) Three years later, the Göttingen anatomist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who is famous for his discoveries of mammoths and crinoids (an extinct class of echinoderms), described the platypus from a second skin sent by Hunter. Blumenbach named the animal Ornithorhynchus paradoxus (paradoxical bird-snout; Blumenbach 1803). The world now had two names for this exotic creature. Unknown to Shaw, however, the generic name Platypus had been used for a genus of beetles in 1793. Such are the strictures of the international rules of zoological nomenclature that Platypus had to be abandoned. However, Shaw's specific epithet stood. The platypus thus became Ornithorhynchus anatinus. It seems entirely appropriate that this animal, which so resembles a hybrid, should bear a hybrid name. Ornithorhynchus greatly puzzled and agitated naturalists of the day. Was it a mammal, as Shaw thought? Did it represent a new group of animals? Could it be a “missing link” between two well-known groups, especially between reptiles and mammals? Did it represent a new class of vertebrates, as the French anatomist Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire maintained? Or was it a hoax, as many suspected and as Shaw himself wondered, even as he wrote the initial description? Did the females lay eggs, as birds and many reptiles do? Or did they give birth to live young, as mammals do? The creature, with its fur, duck bill, and webbed feet, would have appeared even more paradoxical had it been known that it laid eggs and suckled its young. No animal was known to do that. Furthermore, no animal was supposed to do that. In the taxonomy established for European species by European naturalists, it was axiomatic that all milk-producing animals give birth to live young, and so, by definition, are mammals. Warm-blooded egg-laying animals were birds. Cold-blooded egg-laying animals were reptiles. There was no place in this scheme for the platypus. A hoax—the bill of a duck attached to the skin of a mole—would have been in keeping with a number of other bizarre animals fabricated and displayed as genuine in Britain and America in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Robert Knox, the Edinburgh anatomist whose name we now associate with body snatching and grave robbing (and possibly even murder) to obtain human cadavers for dissection, provided a rationale for suspicions that the platypus was a hoax in his account of the animal's anatomy: It is well known that the specimens of this extraordinary animal first brought to Europe were considered by many as impositions. They reached England by vessels which had navigated the Indian seas, a circumstance in itself sufficient to rouse the suspicions of the scientific naturalist, aware of the monstrous impostures which the artful Chinese had so frequently practised on European adventurers; in short, the scientific felt inclined to class this rare production of nature with eastern mermaids and other works of art; but these conjectures were immediately dispelled by an appeal to anatomy. (Knox 1823, p. 27) If not a hoax, then Ornithorhynchus was truly paradoxical. New findings only added to the paradox. In 1802, the surgeon and anatomist Sir Everard Home reported that the males had internal testes—like reptiles and unlike mammals—and that both males and females had a cloaca, a common opening for the alimentary, excretory, and reproductive tracts (Home 1802). Possession of a cloaca is a reptilian characteristic, more particularly a characteristic of reptiles that retain their eggs within the body, where the young hatch. Such a mixture of structures quickly established the notion of the platypus as a missing link between reptiles and mammals. Other European anatomists then set to work in the “platypus industry.” The great German anatomist Johann F. Meckel published four influential accounts, the first (Meckel 1823) on the nature of the spur and poison gland in males. In the second (Meckel 1824) he mentioned the existence of mammary glands, but he did not describe them until his detailed papers of a few years later (Meckel 1826, 1827). The secretion of milk in a live animal was described for the first time 6 years later by Lieutenant the Honorable Lauderdale Maule of the 39th Regiment of the British Army, which was stationed in New South Wales. According to Maule's description (Maule 1832a, 1832b), the mammary glands were not typical; fur covered the nipples, and the glands themselves were quite small, except during lactation. However, the presence of mammary glands—no matter how unusual or atypical—satisfied many naturalists that these animals must be mammals. The absence of wings and feathers meant that they were not birds, and their warm bloodedness and the presence of a diaphragm meant that they were not reptiles. Anatomical features suggesting egg laying were, however, consistent with the platypus not being a mammal. Certain bones found in the pectoral girdles, otherwise known only from of reptiles the platypus at the between reptiles and that made it a missing was the platypus a Or a with a It paradoxical. now in the and However, in the years after their these animals were in an of and had especially for Shaw, the first to a live included them with and in a group that called now known as the (Shaw 1799, Home thought that they to a new of mammals (Home 1802). Geoffroy for a class for the platypus and which he named of the single opening for and but he was about their to other mammals. and in a new the the German anatomist the between reptiles and mammals. the French anatomist and in the of at the Natural History a of the to Although Meckel the mammary glands, he was not that they were true mammalian mammary that the platypus a class by A would have these early at It was not until late in the nineteenth century that specimens of what were described as species of platypus were The Ornithorhynchus was described from a and lower by the of the years later it was to be a specimen of the living platypus, anatinus. A second Ornithorhynchus by the is now known to be a now the platypus is not described by and and is only by upper a of the lower and an described by is an early The of both species are to the found in living Modern do not have the and are by on both the upper and lower The most of a new species, from the has but is otherwise an In the debate the and of the platypus, national and were at as much to the nation whose the scientific world. Britain was against against against Although they that the was a mammal, and that the eggs within the body as in even at up to in the eggs were much larger than mammalian the English Geoffroy and that the eggs were as in birds and but that a and other that were true mammals that produced live young. saw that the to the paradoxical platypus lay in its a time after the discovery of mammary glands and milk laid eggs was to the The that all milk-producing animals give birth to live young was so entrenched that of egg laying by were not There are of egg production and birth to one of which have is in the are a and the young are not in an animals and mammals are suckled at mammary with large of are takes place the body of the and the young from the eggs after they are animals birds and reptiles. are within the body, and are from in the egg and not a The young within the body of the animals some and and four species of Although and some of the early in New South Wales were that laid eggs, the European scientific are the of by the evidence of and were even to be by or by provided by The Sydney to of that laid eggs with the that evidence must be and reported on by in the world has then all the scientific world and where they have not in scientific they came from the surgeon Sir John wrote in the of the Society of on is and in in the years later, P. to or with a which live in the of the and which lay In a to a John of that he had found two eggs in a in which he had a platypus These eggs were the size of a and were soft, and being without or to a the eggs before their be they the first platypus eggs to be Or were they the eggs of a in the by a to the other published of eggs that were to be from the platypus. Geoffroy published a description of a egg in only to that the egg was much large to have the The Australian of this egg with the of that is at to an Australian that the egg is that of the common It was not unusual for the settlers or even the to eggs of other species to them as platypus two eggs by one a the other a much to his George the first and of the Australian who had the of and the of their egg production in New South Wales and who was an important in the of in supplied the specimens on which based his papers on the of and of these papers and in to the Royal Society in thought that the to the of lay eggs live young would be to and a platypus during what was thought to be the and this he to By however, was that such of (and and in the name of would to their extinction. In the to his of animal and of a in pages of which are to the Figure A of the platypus by for the Society, plate in by George used on the of the Many of the Australian and birds are not only to that but even of rare and such has been the of that they are in a of in time, have been and the of be from their the Ornithorhynchus and the the and the like the and only in the pages of the The that what he has been to with to this important not be without to p. by the of the century the platypus was to extinction. by however, are what all considered the last of evidence for platypus with a that the were in their that laid eggs, he himself from examination of that they did not eggs that be to the “platypus only to be at the by an young The the of lay from in and years later was in to was a of who had while in the only after being of In his established the which became the zoological of the the first used the a the and of the Royal Society, and of from to to in to the of lay His was to and The of specimens were, of had for without In set up on the banks of the River in and the to work for and platypus of and many in the water, for the eggs of the of the to and very had from the In the second of had in but it was not until the that the laid eggs from the of In the an Ornithorhynchus whose first egg had been second egg was in a of appearance larger that of was at a to a p. A has of of the and and the first of as the head to The presence of an of such an in the of a platypus that before the eggs were the sent in the to a where it would the to of the of of the Sydney to it to the British at p. which has few for in to the of the British for the of in It the by the of platypus egg production was The four in the a of do lay eggs large of the is not A egg is what birds the egg just like a By one of of so common in scientific on one after the platypus with the of the South Australian found an in the of an the very that was read in the echidna egg to the Royal Society of South in If is on the of of then and the for the discovery of in If is on the of of the then has published his findings in not until Ornithorhynchus eggs now second place to the A little after his was read in a from to was to the Royal Society of New South Wales. has with The Platypus eggs were and should have been in New England by but is much more Platypus are quite to how they have not been The the are is the of the for They that it is the of the eggs having a of that to years in to the of and His were of a naturalist, to the of for the of the and only by as he described them in a to on the other from of the of animals he and an of to work to his In of he females from a single in an to eggs or In and employed to was not that in the of a few had the of platypus egg laying and (and the An echidna found by and it an egg from its sent another this time to in to that he had all There was no of this of platypus egg continued for some In his on the in the edition of the the renowned evidence, that not to be evidence that the eggs in this genus are In their on the platypus, however, and they wrote that established the that Platypus as well as is of the platypus is that live for like years and for their is one of a who is at years after is no that has an egg being did it is that he found a with an egg that he had The platypus from to on one to eggs eggs, in of are laid in a at the of a two quite different the banks of or a short used by both and a used by the to young. as long as and with first described by Maule in The Platypus in the banks of a where the is and and the and covered with or by the of the surface is the to a which the away from the a to and rising its a of some few from the edge this two a to the and in the which is a with and and more than from the water, or than two feet the surface of the of their were, with and (Maule 1832a, and the platypus as a link between and were what had in he like the platypus it is like the it its is quite but it is important to that the is well the egg is The tail the eggs to an with a of even the is much are their in this important in the for while fur the young a of some the in late Of of the platypus, has the double of the first work on the platypus based on a of and the first to animals in was no 6 a to the of and eggs by a animal in a single day. is more than half the animal's so much time the to so much time water, it is that in his David in as and the the Sir in he a famous at in In and what was until very the only platypus birth in the Australian Natural History in he was described as single most and influential naturalist in had a long with In late while was at one of four naturalists, the for near by the the River in which the Platypus the as it is called or the the for one It was all to no was not to a living Platypus or even a in Australia. saw only the of the Platypus of a duck), which the to in a made by the animals from one to The that he was the Platypus did not lay eggs, and that he had the young and his description of them with what from on the years and after he was not to a living by then of and at in as of of the British for the of to read It was reported that that it the of from a reptilian of with such a to human the of the platypus would to be felt in yet another of that is another much that is relevant to the nature of scientific evidence, orthodoxy, entrenched authority, the role of personalities in for in the preparation of this from the Natural and of and the of is
In continental Europe, the unemployment rate has risen continuously from a low level of below 3 percent in the early 1970s to more than 10 percent in the late 1990s. If those who are in governmental employment schemes and in early retirement are included, the unemployment rate runs as high as 20 percent in quite a few European countries, including France and Spain. The basic rule for a stable employment situation in an economy is: nominal wages should stay in line with labor productivity growth plus the increase in producer prices. In a situation of high unemployment, however, when the unemployed are to be integrated into the labor market, the productivity rule has to be modified: the increase in real wages should stay below the productivity growth rate until a satisfactory level of employment has been obtained. The most elegant approach to creating more employment is to improve labor productivity. If an economy succeeds in raising labor productivity, there is more scope for real wage increases or for more employment. We should, however, not overestimate the potential of an economy to increase labor productivity. If we want to integrate the unemployed, average labor productivity in the economy is likely to decrease. We should be realistic enough as to expect trends in Europe to be similar to those in the United States, where labor productivity per hour has increased by less than 1 percent per year since 1980. The task for Europe is to change the institutional setup of labor relations, to move wage formation closer to the market process, and to allow greater wage differentiation. It is unlikely that the "social partners", i.e., the trade unions and employers' associations, will be able to change the rule system sufficiently. Therefore, it is necessary to change the legal rules, especially those in favor of the unemployed, for instance, by introducing a legal right for each individual to enter the labor market at a wage of his or her choice. If continental Europe wants to reduce unemployment, it will have to change the impact of the welfare state. With respect to the level of benefits provided by unemployment and health insurance, a distinction should be made between large risks and small risks for the individual. Such a distinction between large and small risks would allow the costs of the social security system to be reduced, thus lowering the tax on labor. Insurance against large risks would be mandatory, small risk coverage would be optional. With respect to financing the welfare state, more choice should be given to the individual as concerns the insurance coverage that he/she desires. One serious issue concerning social welfare payments is determining the extent to which the level of social welfare benefits should be scaled down for those who are able to work in order to increase the incentive to work and the intensity of the search for work. A related issue is whether unemployment benefits should be reduced in their level or in the length of time they are paid in order to intensify the job search and reduce the reservation wage. • Shifting the employment issue to the EL) level would take attention away from the need to decentralize wage formation, i.e., to negotiate wages at the level of firms. It would be an incentive not to undertake the necessary steps to solve national unemployment problems and it would shift the financial burden to those countries that are successful in reducing unemployment. It would elevate the national labor market cartels to the EU level and it would blur the lines of responsibility. National governments would shift their responsibility to the EU level. This would be an extremely dangerous development for European integration because the European cause would become the scapegoat of failed national policies.
The note highlights the importance of \n sound intergovernmental fiscal relations, and proper \n regulation for successful sub-national borrowing, and \n illustrates the potential macroeconomic hazards of \n decentralizing borrowing powers, arguing that the impact of \n a possible moral hazard problem, namely, the access to \n financial markets by sub-national governments, may generate \n unplanned liabilities for central governments. Yet academia, \n and country experiences do not suggest adverse links between \n decentralized borrowing powers, and the central \n government's ability to maintain fiscal discipline, and \n macroeconomic stability. Rather the key seems to lie in the \n design of fiscal decentralization, particularly the \n regulatory framework under which borrowing powers are \n decentralized. The note outlines the reasons why \n sub-national governments require access to financial \n markets: to finance capital spending, and foster political \n accountability, which can be achieved through direct \n borrowing by central government, through a public financial \n intermediary, or, through direct borrowing. As per designing \n the regulatory framework, the note suggests better \n information systems, bankruptcy laws, and access to tax \n bases, in addition to separate fiscal/financial systems, and \n sound legislation to impose budget discipline, enabling \n access to capital markets to complement fiscal powers \n devolution to regional authorities.
This paper explains the evolution of the metropolitan organizations that have been established to oversee the development of Metro Manila, provides a survey of their responsibilities, authorities, organizational structure, financing, institutional relationships as well as briefly assess their strengths and weaknesses. It then discusses the major management challenges in Metro Manila at present and how they are being addressed under the current set-up. Under the present decentralized framework, governance of Metro Manila becomes more challenging as cities and municipalities that compose it have political legitimacy and significant powers and authorities relative to the Metropolitan organization. However, the paper has emphasized that with proper allocation of powers, authorities and financing, the metropolitan body can take on a more important role in terms of actual delivery of metro-wide services. While the present metropolitan body appears to have taken on more responsibilities in the delivery of services transcending local boundaries, still a large part of these metro-wide services still remain with the national government agencies. This is primarily explained by the fact that while the national government has continuously provided subsidies to the metropolitan body, it still allocates a sizeable portion of the budget for metro-wide services to the national government agencies. These agencies, being line departments, are inherently concerned with their own sectoral priorites rather than serving the needs of the metropolis per se. Consequently, the metropolitan body is left with very difficult task of having to orchestrate the sectoral programs of various national government agencies, including metro-wide services. This situation not only makes government effort almost intractable but also increases costs in terms of both manpower and financial costs. The advantage of metropolitan governance under a decentralized framework is that it allows the local government units within the metropolis to respond directly to the priority needs of their respective constituents by seeking creative means to deliver urban services. This is attested to by the innovative programs and projects some cities in Metro Manila have implemented which have been included in this paper under the discussion of models of good city governance.
This research attempted to gain an insight into the experiences and perspectives of staff in the Vocational Training Council (VTC) on the devolution initiative being implemented in its technical institutes. The research was developed from the conceptual framework of centralization and decentralization. It adopted a qualitative case-study approach to inductively understand human experience in context-specific settings. The data collection techniques consisted of documentary analysis, observations and in-depth semi-structured interviews to achieve the objectives of methodological triangulation. Before the introduction of the devolution initiative, the Technical Institutes Division Headquarters was the supervisor of the technical institutes. It was considered to stifle the initiatives of the technical institutes because of its strong controlling emphasis. The strategic and organizational review of the VTC conducted in 1996 acted as a catalyst to set off the changes. It appears that the main thrust of the devolution initiative is to achieve effectiveness and efficiency. Staff in general welcomed release from the management and control by the headquarters, but considered the pace of change to be too fast. There was a remarkable degree of concurrence among staff in focusing student learning outcomes as the key to change. Although the devolution initiative is a major cultural change in the VTC, the senior management have paid little attention to the organizational culture of the technical institutes. Since staff have not been consulted and empowered, most of them are indifferent, or even resistant, to this far-reaching change. The scope of decentralization with respect to the use of resources, participative decision-making and curriculum development is limited. Changing the organizational culture, flattening out the hierarchy, opening up opportunities for teachers to contribute meaningfully to the decision-making process, and fostering greater professional development, together with good management and adequate autonomous funding, are promising strategies to change the VTC towards a more entrepreneurial one.
We study the notion of meta-proofs, which, as the name indicates, are proofs about proofs. We employ the notion of meta-proofs to produce a highly efficient oblivous proof of correct exponentiation. It is minimum-knowledge independently of whether the input is valid or not, a property that does not hold for many other protocols (that are zero-knowledge only for valid inputs.) This has direct security implications to multiparty protocols, where the protocols we demonstrate — one interactive and one non-interactive — can be employed to obtain protocol robustness at a low cost. As a result of potential independent interest, we show how to turn any standard discrete log signature scheme into a scheme for proving equality of discrete logarithms. We demonstrate our method using the Schnorr signature scheme.
Usman Khalil, Owais Ahmed Malik, Wee-Hong Ong, Mueen Uddin
The concept of smart city architecture requires a comprehensive solution that can combine real-time response applications for cyber-physical systems. However, the architecture faces challenges that can obstruct the operations in terms of systems, processes, and data flow as far as the breach risk is concerned. Though the field has been researched with the existence of centralized and distributed architectures to support smart cities. Research gaps regarding security concerns, platform assistance, and resource management continue to persist. This research article presents a novel blockchain-based architecture that proposes expansion in the non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to cater to the expansion of IoT-enabled smart assets. It enables NFTs to employ fog computing for all users and smart devices connected to a fog node in a cyber-physical system. The proposed expansion suggested in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) for IoT assets representation in a cyber-physical system, provides devices and user identification and authentication functionality. The proposed NFT architecture has been designed to provide a smart city solution for cyber-physical systems that ensures robust security features (such as CIA) by introducing new attributes and functions for Owner, User, Fog, and IoT device/s authentication. The validation and rigor of the security services, efficiency, and latency have been achieved by deployments on private and public ledgers. The efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of the suggested functions and components have been evaluated in terms of evaluation cost and time complexity which resulted in promising results, obtained and validated on a testnet. The evaluation cost for the devised mint component was approximately 81%, and devised approve() was approximately 23% more efficient than other solutions.
Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has revolutionized the treatment of male infertility ( 8). Thanks to this technique, it is now possible to achieve fertilization and pregnancy when the number of spermatozoa in the ejaculate is extremely low. I therefore understand the enthusiasm of clinicians such as Dr Baker, whose practice puts them in a position from which they can appreciate the benefits brought by this technique to patients affected by the most severe forms of infertility. I also appreciate the value of the efforts made by different in vitro fertilization (IVF) groups, starting with that of Professor van Steirteghem and his collaborators, who are doing their best to develop the necessary follow-up of the children born after the ICSI procedure. My major concern is with the way in which assisted reproduction techniques generally emerge, including those that may develop in the wake of ICSI. These new microassisted human fertilization procedures are: testicular sperm extraction (TESE) to alleviate male factor infertility due to obstructive azoospermia ( 2) or due to azoospermia resulting from spermatogenetic maturation arrest ( 3; 5; 9); elongating and elongated spermatid injection (ELSI; 14) when spermatozoa are absent;␣round spermatid injection (ROSI; 13; 14) and round spermatid nuclei injection (ROSNI; 6; Sofikitis et al., 1995), when late spermatids are missing; and, very recently, secondary spermatocyte injection (SESI; 11) when spermatids are not available. These new techniques bypass the sperm selection processes that have evolved to regulate vertebrate fertilization (ICSI; 1), various steps of spermiogenesis (ROSI and ROSNI), the complete spermiogenetic process and the equatorial stage of division of meiotic cells (SESI). The first aspect that is deeply disturbing is that the development and use of these techniques were not originally published in the form of true scientific papers, i.e. papers that are peer-reviewed, that contain proof the assertions made (figures, pictures), and that provide all the information required for verification (detailed protocols). Instead, the first information on these revolutionary technologies was published in the form of press releases and short `letters to the Editor' of the Lancet (ELSI; 5; ICSI; 8) or of the New England Journal ofMedicine (ROSI; 13) or in the form of conference reports (ROSNI, SESI; 10, 11). These major distortions of the accepted method of scientific communication, concerning an issue as important as assisted reproduction which always receives tremendous media attention, raises the␣question of the responsibility of some of the clinicians in␣the IVF field. They also raise the question of the deontology of the editorial boards of some medical journals which seem to chase the scoop, rather than rigorously informing the scientific community on the conditions under which these human experiments were permitted (ethical committees?) and performed (reality, security, repeatability?) and how the outcome of these experiments is being followed up. There is another reason for disquiet. These new techniques are used to create human beings. However, in most cases they do not result from the logical extension of thorough animal experimentation designed to prepare the ground for the transfer to the clinical field, or of clearly planned and well-thought-out clinical decisions. Although I agree with Dr Baker that many important medical breakthroughs have developed fortuitously, in the field of reproduction it is striking that the fortuitousness is systematic, or almost. Instead, the emergence of the microinjection techniques has been presented as the consequence of an `accident' in the case of ICSI ( 8), or as totally opportunistic in the case of ROSI (Tesarick et al., 1995) and ELSI ( 5). SESI ( 11) was presented as the extrapolation of animal studies. In fact, these studies had only been performed using fertile animals, not animals affected by spermatogenic arrest, and were performed shortly before experimentation with human subjects, and by a single laboratory. There was therefore no opportunity for validation by the scientific community. As a consequence, not only do the practitioners of these techniques lack the minimum biological background that is always required before experimenting on human beings but, in most cases, no ethical approval was sought and therefore granted to develop these extremely audacious techniques. A further consequence is that the practitioners were and still are, de facto, unable to provide their patients with even the minimal information required for obtaining `informed consent', in particular when cells other than spermatozoa are used. Several arguments are often raised when the value of animal experimentation in assisted reproduction is discussed with IVF practitioners. The first is that several previous major advances in assisted reproduction technology were not preceded by any detailed animal studies (e.g. embryo freezing) and have not had any apparent negative consequence. This leads to the view that new technological jumps can be made in the absence of prior animal experimentation. Secondly, it is often said that, for technical reasons, it is not possible to develop animal models and/or that there is no adequate animal model. The third is that `scientists have not proved that these new techniques are dangerous'. Fourthly, animal experimentation is often presented as costly and time-consuming. This explains in turn why the few laboratories which are at the interface between the basic and clinical fields, and therefore have both the technical and intellectual skills, have not developed long-term animal experiments. The first of these arguments is akin to playing Russian roulette, and is an argument which is completely unacceptable in medical practice. It is also unclear whether enough time has elapsed or if the proper means are available to assess objectively all aspects of the possible consequences of the application of microinjection techniques on the progeny. There is no doubt that the techniques of microinjection of spermatozoa and, a fortiori, of other testicular cells, represents an increased risk to the offspring, because a significant proportion of the men requiring microinjection assistance are infertile for genetic reasons. Furthermore, because different steps of spermatogenesis are bypassed when immature germ cells are used, and because the identification of these cells cannot be accurate, additional and increasing risks are certainly taken with TESE, ELSI, ROSI, ROSNI and SESI. This should, a␣fortiori, lead to even more cautiousness (and modesty?) among IVF practitioners. Finally, the argument that no previous catastrophe has occurred in the field of assisted reproduction totally ignores the unprecedented social demand for safety in the fields of health and medicine resulting from the `contaminated blood scandal' and the other recent medical and scientific problems (e.g. contaminated pituitary extracts and the `mad cow' affairs). I remind those who pretend (or who used to pretend) that it is extremely difficult or impossible to set up animal models that this argument was raised in the past to justify, for example, 8) performing the first ICSI directly on a human being, before 7) succeeded in setting up ICSI in the mouse. This clearly shows that when a topic becomes `hot' enough, skills, time and money can be found to develop animal models. Furthermore, the assertion that `there is no adequate animal model' ignores the fact that animal experimentation is mandatory and extremely constraining for the pharmaceutical industry. Initially, when the first safety assessment guidelines were implemented for drugs, this occurred because of the catastrophic consequences of the thalidomide tragedy, and was not due to a consensus on the existence of an ideal animal model. For those who argue that the onus is on basic scientists to prove that these new technologies are dangerous, I would answer that technology should serve science, not dictate to science. Of course, when circumstances allow it one of the major roles of science is to provide the knowledge that allows understanding of how and why a given therapy works or does not work. Concerning the cost of programmes involving animal experimentation, it should be remembered that the health of human beings is at stake. Furthermore, if we consider the huge profits made by the `assisted reproduction industry', which includes the revenues of clinics, clinicians and industry (e.g. hormone manufacturers), then the absence of investment by these beneficiaries in basic and experimental research on assisted reproduction is striking. By contrast, note, for example, that the pharmaceutical industry invests an estimated 15–20% of its sales in research and development of new drugs. Finally, it is also important to note two major contradictions in the views of some of the pioneers of microinjection techniques: first, after having claimed that animal studies are not really relevant to human trials, they now want to use, or more accurately abuse, the few existing data arising from animal experimentation (e.g. SUZI and ICSI performed in normal animals, not in animals with spermatogenic arrest, and data on genomic imprinting) to justify in retrospect the experimentation performed in humans (see 4); secondly, while advocating caution in the use of microinjection procedures with immature germ cells ( 12), they themselves diffuse these techniques worldwide, including to countries where, a priori, there is very little chance that there will be follow-up studies, for example. Readers of this paper may believe that I am hostile to the development of the technology of assisted reproduction, but this is not the case. My goal is to highlight the singularity of the emergence of the most recent IVF technologies and some universal principles of science and medicine. One of these principles is that animal studies must always precede action on human subjects, and should always be verified before being applied. Being a reproductive biologist, the increasing rift between basic science and technology in the domain of assisted reproduction is a matter of great frustration and anxiety to me. As a simple citizen, I remember that 40 years ago, Hannah Arendt wrote that `if knowledge [in the modern meaning of know-how] and thought separate irretrievably, we will become the playthings and slaves, not so much of our machines, but of our practical knowledge'. I thank Professors M. C. Orgebin-Christ and G. Waites, as well as Professor Kamal Zaki for giving me the opportunity to present the ideas summarized in this article before the participants of the VIth International Congress of Andrology in Salzburg (25–29 May 1997) and the 10th Annual Congress of Andrology in Cairo (17–18 December 1997).
Open access
Sperm and Testicular Function
Reproductive Biology and Fertility
Genetic and Clinical Aspects of Sex Determination and Chromosomal Abnormalities
The current economic problems in Southeast Asia can be attributed not to too much reliance on financial markets, but to too little . Like the U.S. economy a century ago, the emerging Asian economies do not have welldeveloped capital markets and so remain heavily dependent on their banking systems to finance growth. For all its benefits, banking is “not only basically 19th‐century technology, but disaster‐prone technology.” The extreme maturity (and, in some cases, currency) mismatch on banks' balance sheets plus the first‐come, first‐served nature of the deposit obligations mean that banks are inherently vulnerable to massive runs by depositors—and that their economies are subjected to periodic credit crunches. And, as the author says, “in the summer of 1997 a banking‐driven disaster struck in East Asia, just as it had struck so many times before in U.S. history.” In this century, In this century, the U.S. economy has steadily reduced its dependence on banks by developing “dispersed and decentralized” financial markets. In so doing, it has increased the efficiency of the U.S. capital allocation process and reduced its susceptibility to the credit crunches that have occurred throughout U.S. history. By contrast, Japan has not reduced its economy's dependence on banks, and its efforts to deal with its banking problems have served only to destabilize itself as well as its neighbors. Developing countries in Southeast Asia and elsewhere are urged not to follow the Japanese example, but to take measures aimed at developing financial markets and institutions that will either substitute for or complement bank products and services.
This dissertation starts from the presupposition that Mental Health, Primary Care and their articulations are propositions originated specific historical contexts and social conditions, implying necessarily in a translation when their assimilation occurs in Brazil and the state of São Paulo.The investigation developed along two lines: the building of the Mental Health field and its links with health and Primary Care in general and the articulation of Mental Health and Primary Care in the state of São Paulo.The study concludes that Mental Health emerges in historical conditions which favor public policies of social inclusion, through the extension of care, In this way it integrates hygiene and therapeutic propositions, and continues to exert a normative social hygiene.The integration of preventive and medical practices, taken as part of specific levels of prevention, makes possible the articulation of Mental Health to Primary Care and public health services.In the state of São Paulo, Mental Health in Primary Care emerges in the context of political redemocratization in 1982, as part of the implementation of specific forms of financing health care ("Ações Integradas de Saúde -AIS"), the decentralization of the governmental programs and the importance of Primary Care as a political banner.This implementation occurs in specific conditions in the state of São Paulo, with the inclusion of multiprofessional mental health teams in public primary health care services, as an experience of psychiatric reform.
Local governments (LGs) are seen as producers of the local public good ('the good'). An authoritarian country is one in which the government decides if the good should be produced and how much to tax to finance it, as versus a democracy in which voters decide. This paper identifies conditions under which it is more efficient for a non-democratic government to delegate to the LGs the authority to 1) decide whether or not to produce the good and2) Collect tax to finance it if the good is produced. Two conditions are identified First, when the net benefit of producing the good is sufficiently small so that, compared with the benefit, inducing LGs effort under the centralized system is too costly (a moral hazard problem). Second, when the net benefit of the is higher in a locale with a higher production cost parameters, making it difficult for the center to induce the LGs to truthfully reveal the cost parameter (an adverse selection problem). These results are consistent with the experience of China in the past several decades, where "too small to be worth bothering" and "too diversified and complicated local conditions for the center to know" have been the two most prominent official arguments made by the communist government itself for decentralization
BACKGROUND: Changing patterns of patient referral, decreasing payments for service provision, confusing network participation and reimbursement, as well as challenges to autonomous clinical decision-making jeopardize the traditional role of the oncologist in delivering cancer care. The cancer patient also may be at risk with unproven cancer delivery systems that displace the oncologist as decision-maker and care provider. The authors have constructed a model that preserves the oncologist's clinical and financial autonomy while meeting marketplace demands for improved access, decreasing costs and preserved quality of care. METHODS: During a 4-year period, a group of private practice medical oncologists initiated a formal business plan to evaluate marketplace needs, then designed and implemented a novel cancer care delivery model. The model required reconfiguring the practice into an integrated Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations-certified cancer service corporation, providing medical, radiation, and gynecologic oncology. Palliative care, pain management, psychologic, and nutritional services were instituted as well as the vertical integration of home health and hospice care. Clinical pathways and treatment protocols were designed to enhance patient care and facilitate cost-of-care projections in designated populations using a cancer incidence forecasting model. Outcomes analysis are performed as part of ongoing continuous quality improvement, which continues to change this health care delivery system. RESULTS: In the 3 years since implementation of the model, the practice has increased from 16 to 24 physicians, and the number of offices has increased from 12 to 17. Patient encounters, both new and established, have doubled. Cost of services, specifically hospitalization, have been reduced by 50%. Clinical research referrals have increased 300%. Physician compensation has improved >20%. CONCLUSIONS: The model created a low cost, high value provider not burdened by allocated overhead. Decentralized care enhanced community access, which improved patient compliance, enhanced patient satisfaction, decreased hospitalization, and thereby decreased cost. The horizontal structure permited the flexibility for varied purchaser products and politically sensitive physician and hospital provider panels. Consensus-based protocol and pathway determination achieved maximum physician participation, which preserved clinical and financial autonomy, decreased variance, and facilitated clinical research.
This dissertation examines why and how jurisdictions choose to finance their roads. The systematic causes of revenue choice are explored qualitatively by examining the history of turnpikes. The question is approached analytically by employing game theory to model revenue choice on a long road. The road is covered by a series of jurisdictions seeking to maximize local welfare. Jurisdictions are responsible for building and maintaining the local network. Complexity arises because local network users may not be local residents, and local residents may use non-local networks. Key factors posited to explain the choice of revenue mechanism include the length of trips using the road, the size of the governing jurisdiction, the degree of excludability, and the transaction costs of toll collection. These factors dictate the size and scope of the free rider problem. It is hypothesized that smaller jurisdictions and lower collection costs favor tolling policies over taxes.The analytical model is operationalized by assuming jurisdictions have two decisions: the strategic decision to tax or toll, and the tactical decision of setting the rate of tax or toll. Models of user demand as a function of trip distance and monetary cost and of network costs as a function of traffic flow and the number of toll collections are specified. The values of the constants and coefficients of the model are developed from recent cost literature and the estimation of a model of collection costs from California Toll Bridge data.The model is applied to evaluate the dissertation's hypotheses. The application evaluates the welfare implications of a jurisdiction and its neighbors imposing general tax, cordon toll, odometer tax, or perfect toll policies. Sensitivity tests of the model under alternative behavioral assumptions, and with varying model coefficients are conducted. Finally, policy implications from the analysis are drawn. The general trends which bode well for road pricing (electronic toll collection (ETC), decentralization, advanced infrastructure, privatization, and federal rules) are established. Possible scenarios for three cases are presented: deploying ETC and building new toll roads, and converting free roads.
Through analyzing the softness and hardness of budgeting constraints in research and development (R&D) investment under different institutions, we develop a theory of optimal R&D financing. Our theory not only provides a clear comparison of investment efficiency between centralized economies and market economies but also extends the analysis of soft budget constraints to firms in market economy. Based on this theory, we characterize optimal choices of R&D project financing in centralized and decentralized economies. Our results explain why some projects are financed internally by a large firm but others are cofinanced externally by several firms. We also explain what makes a centralized economy inefficient in R&D.
<p>This paper presents the first efficient statistical zero-knowledge protocols to prove statements such as:<br />A committed number is a pseudo-prime.<br />A committed (or revealed) number is the product of two safe primes, i.e., primes p and q such that (p - 1)=2 and (q - 1)=2 are primes as well.<br />A given value is of large order modulo a composite number that consists of two safe prime factors.</p><p>So far, no methods other than inefficient circuit-based proofs are known for proving such properties. Proving the second property is for instance necessary in many recent cryptographic schemes that rely on both the hardness of computing discrete logarithms and of difficulty computing roots modulo a composite.<br />The main building blocks of our protocols are statistical zero-knowledge proofs that are of independent interest. Mainly, we show how to prove the correct computation of a modular addition, a modular multiplication, or a modular exponentiation, where all values including the modulus are committed but not<br />publicly known. Apart from the validity of the computation, no other information about the modulus (e.g., a generator which order equals the modulus) or any other operand is given. Our technique can be generalized to prove in zeroknowledge<br />that any multivariate polynomial equation modulo a certain modulus is satisfied, where only commitments to the variables of the polynomial and a commitment to the modulus must be known. This improves previous results,<br />where the modulus is publicly known.<br />We show how a prover can use these building blocks to convince a verifier that a committed number is prime. This finally leads to efficient protocols for proving that a committed (or revealed) number is the product of two safe primes. As a consequence, it can be shown that a given value is of large order modulo a<br />given number that is a product of two safe primes.</p><p> </p><p>Keywords. RSA-based protocols, zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge, primality tests.</p>
While industrialists are discovering the hidden costs of minimal compliance with environmental regulation, environmentalists assert that EPA regulations contain too many loopholes. Since government regulation pleases neither environmentalists nor the regulated industries, we have to think in new directions. Can financing alternative technology be superior to monitoring pollution? Can local communities play a role in creating cohesion out of decentralization? What are the best new strategies both on the level of local communities and alternative technologies?
Reconstructing Africa's war damaged economies is an urgent task. This is especially so in a group of countries - Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique - which must also complete their economic and political transition from state socialism. Somalia, which shares their common history, must eventually be rebuilt. All of these countries must address their deep problems of underdevelopment and poverty. The challenges are therefore three-fold: to overcome underdevelopment, to make the transition from state socialism, and to reconstruct economies and societies. Socialism was influential across post-independence Africa. But UTR countries drew more explicitly on Marxism-Leninism and the Soviet development model. With the aim of accelerating growth, enterprises and property were nationalized and controls were established. But the result was a fatal over-centralization of political and economic power, and a slide into conflict exacerbated and fuelled by the politics of the cold war. Somalia collapsed into a turmoil from which it is yet to recover. Mozambique has made the most progress and, until their border war this year, Eritrea and Ethiopia were both moving forward. Angola faces urgent reconstruction problems but progress had been slow, and a return to outright war cannot be ruled out. Guinea-Bissau was knocked off course by a military revolt in 1998. Progress has therefore been tentative in the UTR group, and their future prospects depend on them finding political settlements that can secure their prospects for economic development. War, and the uncertainty associated with it, distorts economies; investments with long- term returns, mainly in production activities such as agriculture and manufacturing, are cut back, and the economy becomes dominated by activities with short-term returns, such as commerce in cities and safe areas. Natural resource sectors may continue to operate, however, when protected by their location (for example offshore oil and gas) and when combatants seek to preserve them as the 'prize' for capturing the state. Past failure to achieve broad-based growth contributed to conflict. This implies that reconstruction cannot simply entail the recreation of the pre-conflict economy. Policies, public expenditures, and institutions must be changed, often fundamentally. For this reason the agendas of reconstruction and economic reform (transition) cross over. Well- designed reforms can contribute to reconstruction and vice versa. But too often there is a mismatch between the reform and reconstruction programmes, and the ground for broad-based development is not secured. Aid is important, but success ultimately depends on the actions of three national actors: communities, entrepreneurs, and states. However, communities are impoverished, private sectors are underdeveloped, and state capacities are weak. For communities, the main challenges are to deal with the immediate post-war humanitarian and security problems and, equally important, accelerate programmes for longer-term poverty reduction. Regarding the first of these, the tasks are to resettle displaced populations, disarm and demobilize ex-combatants and assist their reintegration, reduce the level of violence (by filling the security gap and decommissioning weapons), remove land mines which disrupt community livelihoods, and protect food security while phasing out food aid and increasing targeted support. Regarding longer-term poverty reduction, the future pattern of growth is determined by (i) the distribution of human and social capital, access and control over natural capital (including land tenure) and access to physical infrastructure (ii) the policy framework which determines the returns to household investments and (iii) the quality of institutions, including the legal framework. State socialism and conflict altered every aspect of the pattern of growth, and transition and reconstruction alters it again. Focusing public policy more effectively on poverty reduction, in particular on core services of most benefit to the poor, is therefore an urgent task. To support this, the relationship between donors and governments should be changed in order to focus more on monitoring social outputs and less on unworkable policy conditionalities (and to direct aid to governments committed to poverty reduction). More investment in collecting social data is needed to understand the impact of reconstruction and transition on communities. Turning to the second key actor, entrepreneurs, we can see that a new private sector is being created in UTR countries following decontrol and privatization. Overcoming investor uncertainty is a key task; this can persist and limit investment despite a fall in actual country risks. Angola and Mozambique are so far the largest recipients of foreign investment in UTR countries. But the impact of Mozambique's large investment programme is virtually unknown, while foreign investment in Angola is confined to the oil sector, which has few links to the rest of the economy. Privatization is proceeding at different speeds across UTR countries. Privatization in the financial sector is especially important; reconstruction requires a financial sector capable of mobilizing and intermediating savings into private investment. Recapitalizing the banking sector is expensive, and requires private capital, which implies privatization. Political influence can create unsound banks and better financial regulation is needed. But the phenomenon of 'straddling', in which political leaders invest in commercial enterprises, endangers the independence of financial regulation, and can distort the privatization process. Privatization in the agricultural sector has seen the non- transparent privatizations of state farms and the denial of community rights and some inconsistencies between privatization and agricultural policy reform. Encouraging more private investment in agricultural marketing is especially important for food security and rural poverty reduction. The third national actor is the state. A developmental state must be constructed. This is a set of democratically accountable institutions capable of effective policy design and implementation. If this is successful, the new state will look very different to the old state, but it is unlikely to be 'minimal'. The onus is therefore on democratic governments to prove that they provide value for money to communities and entrepreneurs. The new state agenda will remain a wish list unless it is properly financed, which it is not at present. Reconstruction expenditures are high, revenues are low (war reduced tax bases) and distorted (over dependence on trade taxes). Countries are severely indebted; almost all Africa's conflict/post-conflict countries are classified as 'Heavily Indebted Poor Countries' (HIPCs). The fiscal peace dividend is small (at least in the early years) and the high level of insecurity in Africa keeps military budgets high. Budgetary institutions are weak at mobilizing revenues and allocating them to priorities, and non-transparency and the improper use of public funds must be reduced. As a result of these problems, and the sheer scale of reconstruction expenditures, fiscal deficits before grants are very high. Nobody seriously questions the principle of fiscal prudence but the IMF's fiscal policy conditionality may be over-restrictive; certainly many other donor agencies believe that this is the case. This leaves many investments with high social returns on the shelf, implying slower growth and poverty reduction. A much longer time frame is therefore necessary to evaluate fiscal policy in an economy under reconstruction. The IMF's caution in part arises from the observation that real aid flows are in decline, and it therefore advises governments to move to a fiscal position in which any downturn in aid will not affect their recurrent, as opposed to their capital, spending. However, it is still possible for aid flows to individual countries to maintain their present levels or rise, and this is in fact the way the donor community is moving in seeking to redirect aid to countries committed to broad-based development. The IMF's fiscal policy conditionality, when it is over-restrictive, works against the new aid paradigm. Moreover, over-tight fiscal policy can lead to the use of distorting taxes that undermine reconstruction, it can work against improvements in budgeting, and it may be incompatible with democratization. The paper only touches on some of the major challenges facing the UTR group of countries. Decentralizing political and economic power, minimizing macro-economic shocks, and preventing conflict through broad-based development are all crucial. This requires hard choices over resource allocations and public policy. But these choices are a great deal easier to make than those involved in ending a conflict and initiating reconstruction. Ex ante action - good economic policy - is always better and cheaper than ex post crisis management.
This paper is one of eight case studies in the health sector conducted under the project "Population and Urbanization: Managing the Urbanization Process Under the decentralized Governance Framework" jointly undertaken by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, National Economic and Development Authority and Development Academy of the Philippines. This paper is a case study on Cotabato City recommended by NEDA-Region XII as a model city for health. The city has come up with the Special Project on Health and Sanitation that won a silver Award in the 1997 Health and Management Information System Contest.