In response to the growing critique of decentralized and participatory approaches to development, the article develops a theoretical framework for analyzing the relationship between community-based planning and poverty. Building on contributions from research on collective action, social capital, and social movements, the framework identifies a series of variables that are theorized to affect a community's capacity to alleviate poverty. Using this framework, three community-level case studies in Oaxaca, Mexico are analyzed. All three communities are characterized by a decline in subsistence agriculture, increasing out-migration, and the use of remittances to finance community-based planning projects. The article documents each community's capacity to alleviate the material manifestations of poverty. It concludes that only the community with the strongest capacity for community-level collective action was capable of planning independent of the state, and thus in a position to take incipient steps toward addressing poverty's structural causes. The findings call into question the often assumed desirability of collaborative planning and support the need for a more nuanced understanding of the strengths and limitations of distinct forms of community-based planning interpreted within broader socio-political contexts.
Ulrike Neumann, Anja Hagen, Matthias P. Schönermark
Because great interest in an efficient range of effective medicinal innovations and achievements has arisen, many countries have introduced procedures to regulate the adoption of innovative non-medicinal technologies into the benefit catalogue of solidly financed health care insurances. With this as a background, this report will describe procedures for the adoption of innovative non-medicinal technologies by solidly financed health care insurances in Germany, England, Australia and Switzerland. This report was commissioned by the German Agency for Health Technology Assessment at the German Institute for Medical Documentation and Information.In order to find the relevant literature and information, systematic literature research, a hand search and a written survey were carried out. All the selected documents (chosen according to defined criteria for inclusion and exclusion) were qualitatively evaluated, summarized and presented on a chart using a framework developed for this purpose. All the countries in this report require that some innovative non-medicinal technologies undergo evaluation by a central governing body. This evaluation is a prerequisite for adoption into the benefit catalogue. The process of evaluation can differ (e. g. the people and institutions concerned, the division of the synthesis of evidence and overall evaluation, processing the evidence). Similarities do exist, such as the size and composition of the governing bodies or the overreaching criteria according to which institutions must make their recommendations. This is how all the countries examined in this report determine how the benefits and effectiveness of the innovations, as well as their cost-effectiveness, can be chosen as criteria for the evaluation. Furthermore, there are many criteria which differ from country to country (social and ethical aspects, possible effects on the health system, etc.) and which are also relevant to an evaluation. The preferred types of clinical studies for these evaluations are randomized controlled trials. However, all institutions do allow for other types of evidence (e. g. expert opinion) when no other study types of a higher evidence level are available. In addition, all the countries are willing to allow unpublished or confidential information (e. g. from manufacturers) to be included in an evaluation. It is important to remember that the decisions made by the central governing bodies do not necessarily become conditions for the introduction of innovative non-medicinal technologies. There is a host of other requirements which determine how these innovations can be introduced. This means that a large number of non-medicinal technologies make it into the medical care system via these other decision-making processes. Often, these innovations are unevaluated and differ from region to region. Every country has established a system of observation and registration for medicinal products. These systems are meant to document any incidents with the innovations and to confer responsibility on certain organizations. All in all, no country has a central authority which systematically investigates the effects of newly introduced innovative non-medicinal technologies on medical care in general. However, Australia and England both carry out a review of innovations in some areas (e. g. by means of special commissions). In principle, the starting point for improving regulations of innovative non-medicinal technologies lies in the extension of transparency, the shortening of decision-making time (especially the central decision-making processes), the further development of evaluation methods, more flexibility and increased capacity in the governing bodies' decision-making processes and also, if needed, in the creation of a single authority to act as contact for people who are interested in introducing an innovation into the benefit catalogue.More research is required, especially in the area of decentralized decision-makers and how they actually decide whether or not to introduce innovative technologies into the core care system (methods, criteria, etc.). In view of this, it would also be interesting to see how the application of innovations actually happens in practice once their adoption has been approved by the corresponding governing bodies.
Open access
Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life
Η διατριβή αυτή ασχολείται με την προδιαγραφή και υλοποίηση πρωτοκόλλων ασφάλειας με απαιτήσεις διασφάλισης ιδιωτικότητας, όπως για παράδειγμα τα πρωτόκολλα ηλεκτρονικών μετρητών, ηλεκτρονικής ψηφοφορίας και επιλεκτικής αποκάλυψης δεδομένων. Ο στόχος, όσον αφορά την προδιαγραφή τους, είναι αυτή να γίνει με τυπική μέθοδο (formal method), και, όσον αφορά την υλοποίησή τους, να βασίζεται στην προδιαγραφή τους και να διασφαλίζει τις περί ιδιωτικότητας απαιτήσεις. Το υπάρχον ερευνητικό έργο στη διεθνή βιβλιογραφία σε τυπικές μεθόδους δεν καλύπτει επαρκώς τα πρωτόκολλα ασφάλειας με απαιτήσεις διασφάλισης ιδιωτικότητας όσο άλλων ειδών πρωτόκολλα ασφάλειας, όπως τα πρωτόκολλα αυθεντικοποίησης. Στην παρούσα διατριβή υποστηρίζεται ότι οι λόγοι για αυτή την ανεπάρκεια μελέτης είναι οι εξής: Πρώτον, ότι τα πρωτόκολλα με απαιτήσεις διασφάλισης ιδιωτικότητας βασίζονται σε πιο εξειδικευμένη κρυπτογραφία, όπως η δέσμευση (commitment), η τυφλή υπογραφή (blind signature), η απόδειξη μηδενικής γνώσης (zero-knowledge proof), η ομομορφική κρυπτογραφία (homomorphic encryption), το mix του Chaum και το onion routing. Δεύτερον, ότι είναι απαραίτητη η διαφοροποίηση στη μοντελοποίηση της κλασικής κρυπτογραφίας (συμμετρική και ασύμμετρη κρυπτογράφηση και ψηφιακές υπογραφές) που τα πρωτόκολλα αυτά χρησιμοποιούν από κοινού με τα υπόλοιπα πρωτόκολλα. Η διατριβή αυτή χρησιμοποιεί ως βάση τη γλώσσα προδιαγραφής πρωτοκόλλων Typed MSR [14, 15], καθώς και την προηγούμενη εργασία μας στην ίδια [10, 7, 9, 8, 6] ερευνητική κατεύθυνση και στοχεύει με τροποποιήσεις και προσθήκες να την μετατρέψει σε κατάλληλη, αφενός για την προδιαγραφή πρωτοκόλλων με απαιτήσεις διασφάλισης ιδιωτικότητας, αφετέρου για την προδιαγραφή ενός κατά Dolev-Yao επιτιθέμενου [19] σχεδιασμένου για επίθεση σε πρωτόκολλα τέτοιου είδους. Επιπλέον, χρησιμοποιεί ως βάση τη γλώσσα Jif [30, 31, 29], καθώς και την προηγούμενη εργασία μας [6] στην ίδια ερευνητική κατεύθυνση και στοχεύει να επιδείξει πως η γλώσσα αυτή, που διαθέτει σύστημα τύπων για απαιτήσεις ασφάλειας, μπορεί να χρησιμοποιηθεί με τέτοιον τρόπο ώστε οι αδυναμίες στην υλοποίηση πρωτοκόλλων ασφαλείας όσον αφορά τη συνδεσιμότητα (linkability) να μπορούν να ανιχνευτούν με ένα συνδυασμό στατικών και δυναμικών (runtime) ελέγχων. Τα βασικά συμπεράσματα της διατριβής αυτής είναι τα ακόλουθα: 1. Προκειμένου η Typed MSR να είναι κατάλληλη για την προδιαγραφή πρωτοκόλλων ασφάλειας με απαιτήσεις ιδιωτικότητας, δεν θα πρέπει να μοντελοποιεί τη συμμετρική και την ασύμμετρη κρυπτογράφηση ως αιτιοκρατική. Μια τέτοια απλούστευση μπορεί να μη δημιουργεί προβλήματα στη μοντελοποίηση άλλων πρωτοκόλλων, αλλά οδηγεί σε ανύπαρκτες αδυναμίες διασύνδεσης στα πρωτόκολλα που μελετούμε στην παρούσα διατριβή. 2. Μπορούμε να κατασκευάσουμε υψηλού επιπέδου μοντελοποιήσεις για κρυπτογραφία πιο σύνθετη από την κλασική, όπως είναι η δέσμευση, η τυφλή υπογραφή, η απόδειξη μηδενικής γνώσης και η ομομορφική κρυπτογραφία. 3. Η χρήση μη διαδραστικών μοντελοποιήσεων για τις αποδείξεις μηδενικής γνώσης οδηγεί στην απλοποίηση τόσο της προδιαγραφής των πρωτοκόλλων, όσο και της μετατροπής αυτής σε υλοποίησή τους. 4. Με βάση τις προαναφερθείσες αλλαγές και προσθήκες, η Typed MSR γίνεται κατάλληλη για την προδιαγραφή πρωτοκόλλων ασφάλειας με απαιτήσεις ιδιωτικότητας, όπως δείχνει η προδιαγραφή των δύο πρωτοκόλλων ηλεκτρονικής ψηφοφορίας που περιέχονται στην παρούσα διατριβή. 5. Ένα απλό σύστημα τύπων, που χρησιμοποιείται παράλληλα με το σύστημα τύπων της Typed MSR, αποτρέπει συγκεκριμένες εσφαλμένες χρήσεις της κρυπτογραφίας που μπορεί να οδηγήσουν σε αδυναμίες συνδεσιμότητας, καθώς και να παρακολουθήσει την απειλή συνδεσιμότητας που προκύπτει από κάθε πιθανή χρήση της κρυπτογραφίας. 6. Είναι απαραίτητη η ενημέρωση του εκφρασμένου σε Typed MSR μοντέλου του κατά Dolev-Yao επιτιθέμενου με βάση τα παραπάνω, ώστε να μπορεί πλέον να επιτεθεί στα πρωτόκολλα τα οποία μελετάμε. 7. Η ενημερωμένη αυτή έκδοση του κατά Dolev-Yao επιτιθέμενου δημιουργεί ένα τυπικό (formal) περιβάλλον, στο οποίο μπορούν να εκφραστούν αδυναμίες διασύνδεσης των πρωτοκόλλων. 8. Τα παραπάνω μπορούν να αποτελέσουν τη βάση για τη χρήση της γλώσσας Jif με τέτοιο τρόπο, ώστε οι αδυναμίες στην υλοποίηση πρωτοκόλλων ασφαλείας όσον αφορά τη συνδεσιμότητα να μπορούν να ανιχνευτούν με ένα συνδυασμό στατικών και δυναμικών ελέγχων. 9. Η συνδεσιμότητα δεν είναι δυνατό να ελεγχθεί στατικά στη γενική περίπτωση, αλλά μπορεί να ελέγχεται δυναμικά κατά την εκτέλεση των πρωτοκόλλων. 10. Οι κανόνες της Typed MSR με τους οποίους παράγονται τα καινούρια μηνύματα τα οποία μπορεί να σχηματίσει ο κατά Dolev-Yao επιτιθέμενος από ένα σύνολο γνωστών μηνυμάτων χωρίζονται σε δύο κατηγορίες, ανάλογα με το αν χρησιμοποιούνται στη φάση αποδόμησης των γνωστών μηνυμάτων ή στη φάση κατασκευής των καινούριων. Συγκεκριμένα μηνύματα που βασίζονται στην κρυπτογραφία της διατριβής αυτής δεν μπορούν όμως να χωριστούν σε μία από τις δύο κατηγορίες, καθώς είναι ωφέλιμη η χρήση τους και στις δύο αυτές φάσεις.
One of the most fascinating advancements in public economics in the past decade is the emergence of second generation of decentralization.Not like the early generation following Charles Tiebout in 1956,the new development of federalism focuses not on public finance,but on the role of incentives and behavior of local officials in preserving the markets,enhancing regional competition and fostering economic growth.In the context of evolution of central-local relationship in China,and of decentralization during post-1978 era,this paper attempts to construct a Chinese story of economic transition and growth by tracing and outlining the theoretical and empirical elaboration of fiscal decentralization,Chinese style.
INTRODUCTION American state and local governmental fiscal institutions present a contrast. Many scholars regard these institutions as dysfunctional: balanced-budget provisions do not produce balanced budgets; debt restrictions do not restrict debt issue; tax and expenditure limitations limit neither taxes nor expenditures; and budget stabilization funds fail to provide budget stabilization. Richard Briffault, for example, concludes “state constitutional debt restrictions have been circumvented by new and creative financing devices that tend to drive up the cost of borrowing, encourage the fragmentation of state governments, and facilitate the evasion of balanced budget requirements.” In contrast, American state and local governments are quite responsible by any reasonable measure of fiscal probity. They borrow large amounts of funds and rarely fail to service or repay their debts. The vast majority of state and local debt is issued to finance infrastructure investments, and American infrastructure is in many respects the best in the world. The decentralized structure of American government, while far from perfect, often is held up as a system of how to constrain the powers of government through the institutional mechanism of federalism. We resolve the apparent contradiction of these two views by looking deeper into the effect of fiscal rules on the structure of American governments. The structure of American state and local governments has changed frequently, if episodically, since 1776. We argue that scholars have failed to appreciate the degree to which fiscal issues have shaped the structure of American state and local government.
Zero-knowledge proof system is an important protocol that can be used as a basic block for construction of other more complex cryptographic protocols. Quantum zero-knowledge protocols have been proposed but, since their implementation requires advanced quantum technology devices, experimental implementation of zero-knowledge protocols have not being reported. In this work, we present a quantum zero-knowledge protocol based on a quantum bit commitment protocol that can be implemented with today technology. Hence, our quantum zero-knowledge protocol can be readily implemented.
Roderick A.F. MacLeod, Wilhelm G. Dirks, Hans G. Drexler
The key role played by continuous cell lines in biomedical research is often taken for granted: on the Highwire Press server, ‘HeLa’ as keyword currently scores over 0.5 Mio bibliographic hits compared to just 1.26 Mio for ‘cancer’ alone (http://highwire.stanford.edu/). Although peerlessly cited, HeLa (cervical carcinoma) is only one of roughly 104 cancer cell lines. Keeping track of these is scarcely practicable, and the chronic problem of cell line cross-contamination (CLCC)1, 2—first signalled 3 decades ago for HeLa,3 one of few human cancer cell line then available—is now a major issue. Research using cancer cell lines covers all areas, whether as models for specific diseases, as illustrated by the early development of imatinib using the K-562 chronic myeloid leukemia model,4 or for eukaryotic cells, as with the first demonstration of RNA-interference in vertebrates which was performed using HeLa,5 or as oncogenomic resources, e.g. the Cancer Genome Project which lists data for hundreds of examples drawn from all available tumour types (http://www.sanger.ac.uk/genetics/CGP/Census/). It is nigh impossible to think of any major biological research field where cell lines are not widely used. Hence it would be tragic were investigators forced to boycott cell lines for fear of CLCC. It is sometimes argued that one eukaryotic cell is very much like another, rendering misidentification a side-issue. Good practice aside, use of misidentified examples frustrates independent data replication. Furthermore, postgenomic research highlights ever finer differences between tumour types. Usefulness of cell models assumes authenticity and deep characterization. For intractable primary tumors, such as neuroblastoma or Hodgkin lymphoma, cell lines often serve as prototypes where misidentification would be catastrophic. As Cicero famously observed, ‘One falsehood leads easily to another’. Although acknowledging the importance of good technique and awareness, we and others have urged intervention at other levels of the scientific process, for example by those reviewing grant applications, or by journal editors and referees who could, respectively, encourage use of authentic cell lines or sanction users of false examples. Few non-specialists are aware of the problem—a knowledge gap most acute among those likely to suffer most, namely starting scientists. We, therefore welcome this opportunity to air proposals which might serve to combat CLCC. Reports describing CLCC have increased of late, reflecting both technical advances and hightened awareness. With DNA profiling it is now possible unequivocally to distinguish individual cell lineages. The application of forensic DNA STR-profiling speeds and simplifies authentication.6 Previously, detection of untoward matches between supposedly unrelated cell lines required laborious cytogenetic analyses and good memories. Nevertheless, cytogenetics still has a role to play, notably when reference karyotypes of individual cell lines have been previously described enabling downstream identification. The long-overdue attention by high-profile journals has benefited awareness,2 meanwhile leading specialist journals now award single instances of CLCC a degree of priority previously unthinkable.7 Hitherto, most instances of CLCC have been reported by cell repositories. The reasons for this are twofold: first, unlike originators, it is in their own interest for cell banks rapidly to uncover CLCC, if only to avoid recall actions; second, only suitably equipped facilities holding cell lines en masse are equipped to perform meaningful authentication. Using cytogenetics combined with traditional DNA multilocus VNTR-profiling, we found that 18% purportedly ‘new’ cell lines are false, mainly due to CLCC involving classic cell lines.8 This estimate is conservative, given the limited database of <500 cell lines then available for comparison. Furthermore, we found that 29% of all originators depositing cell lines had included at least one false example. The current method of choice for cell line authentication involves analysis of short tandem repeat (STR) markers and is based on forensic profiling which, unlike previous DNA profiling techniques, has been standardized across major cell banks worldwide. Both STR profiling data6 and the Sanger Institute's parallel SNP/genotyping survey of ∼3,500 mainly repository-sourced cell lines (http://www.sanger.ac.uk/genetics/CGP/Genotyping/synlinestable.shtml) confirm that CLCC is rife. Unexpectedly, we found that CLCC among leukemia-lymphoma cell lines (the single most identifiable group) occurs at about the same frequencies (∼16%) whether obtained directly from originators or from indirect sources.9 This implies that CLCC occurs primarily during ‘establishment’, presumably by contamination of fledgling cultures of new cell lines. Although ‘downstream’ CLCC among established cell lines undoubtedly occurs, its effects are likely to be localized. CLCC is likely to occur as a result of sharing reagents or pipettes under the cleanbench. We found no evidence linking CLCC to fraud, at least among freely available cell lines. Immortalization of some cell types may be unfeasible; undue success with intractable cell types warrants consideration of CLCC before rushing into print. The precise classifications of early ‘classic’ cell lines remain subject to revision. Their identities are articles of faith given the sparse documentation and the non-viability or inaccessibility of early cryopreserved material. Many classic cell lines go under multiple aliases, their disambiguation an arcane and thankless task. On the other hand, recent diagnostic advances have allowed several classic cell lines to be reclassified, e.g. HL-60 (from AML-M3 to AML-M2), SK-N-MC (from neuroblastoma to Ewing-family tumor). The most complete coverage, that of human leukemia lymphoma cell lines offered by the DSMZ repository barely reaches 50% of 609 examples hitherto characterized, the latter only ∼40% of the published total.10 Repository holdings are mainly limited by the generosity of donors. While publication to death by retentive originators is only human, less understandable is hoarding to trade against co-authorships or pecuniary advantage. Avoiding reposition means evading authentication, leaving authors free to publish findings unencumbered by worries concerning outside replication.11 As cited by Lacroix,12 the problems occasioned by CLCC are illustrated by the sad though instructive case of ECV-304, derived from the classic bladder cancer cell line T-24,13 inadvertently republished as a ‘spontaneously immortalized human endothelial cell line’.14 Although there are several human cell lines purporting to be endothelial in both origin and character, only one, EA.hy926, produced by fusing human umbilical vein endothelial cells with the lung cancer cell line A549 is widely used at present.15 Despite being hybrid and therefore potentially unstable, the genomic composition of EA.hy926 awaits full characterization. Miraculous birth inspires faith, and the equally prodigious ECV-304 quickly became a popular in vitro endothelial cell model in its heyday (Fig. 1), not least because, unlike EA.hy926, its originators granted distribution by major cell repositories, prior to the advent of STR-profiling which might have revealed its true identity. Notwithstanding doubts concerning, inter alia, its lack of von Willebrand factor secretion, ECV-304 became widely regarded as the leading endothelial cell model. Citation history of ECV-304. Main figure shows yearly (March-February) citations of ECV-304 (http://highwire.stanford.edu/). Plot shows percentage citation as ‘endothelial’ 1999–2006. Hand indicates 1999 when ECV-304 was first unmasked as T-24.8, 15 Note stable citation 2000–2006. In 1999, just as its popularity took off, the journal where ECV-304 was originally described published our letter announcing its derivation from T-24, based on DNA profiles of samples obtained from their respective originators.16 This finding was rapidly confirmed by other ECV-304 recipient cell banks, pointing inexorably to originator CLCC. Simultaneously, this journal published our general survey of CLCC affecting cell lines sourced from their originators, including ECV-304.8 Although it might be argued that denunciation halted ECV-304 in its tracks, the level of citation reached in 1999 has scarcely abated. Disappointingly, the percentage of articles describing ECV-304 as ‘endothelial’ remains stable, and may even be increasing (Fig. 1) notably in China—by now a major scientific hub. Although ECV-304 is widely used there, its former status remains unchallenged like several other false cell lines. For various reasons, including linguistic barriers, back door distribution, and the inaccessibility of Chinese cell repository websites, the CLCC message has yet to come across. We are drafting an updated list of false leukemia-lymphoma cell lines which will be submitted to the Chinese Journal of Hematology. Most ECV-304 citations seem blissfully unaware of its true origin, while a significant remainder seem coy (Fig. 1). The latter are divided between the frank—admitting identity to T-24, and opportunists who have simply replaced ‘endothelial’ by ‘epithelial’. In most cases the ‘guiding hand’ of referees is clear to see. Just how many papers suffered the ‘clunking fist’ of rejection is unknown, of course. Although a notably egregious example, the case of ECV-304 is by no means untypical17 and points to chronic structural weaknesses in the response of the scientific community to a specific form of misrepresentation, however inadvertant. Although various solutions have been proposed to combat CLCC,18 including ‘passports’ detailing provenances and movements of cell lines,19 there is little evidence of takeup, e.g. by inclusion within editorial notes for referees. Non-interventionists argue that science inevitably generates misleading data condemned to oblivion given their inherent unrepeatability. Consideration of ECV-304 suggests that rather than cumulating burdensome discrepancies, most users reported endothelial features (Fig. 1), 1 group claiming that endostatin promotes apoptosis in ECV-304 unlike bladder cancer cell lines.20 In the light of CLCC, conclusions of a significant proportion of the 1361 articles citing ECV-304 must be deemed questionable, as with a legion of additional false cell lines. While CLCC affecting prototypes like ECV-304 is most harmful, more commonly established tumors may come to be represented by single exemplars thrust into prominence by expert recommendation, such as membership of the NCI-60 reference panel. Alas, NCI-60, originally used for anticancer drug evaluation and more recently for transcriptosome analysis, no longer comprises 60 cell lines following expulsion of several duplicated or false examples, most recently the purported drug-resistant breast cancer MCF-7/AdrR cell line, alias NCI/ADR-RES, recently shown to be subclones of OVCAR-8 ovarian adenocarcinoma.21 Woes concerning ECV-304 seem to have plagued certain journals more than others, implying that editorial policy can limit CLCC data dissemination. Although high throughput methods simplify detection, there is no simple nostrum to banish CLCC. Hence, multiple avenues of attack seem advisable, but to be effective consensus is prerequisite. To continue the debate recently started in an open letter to the USA Secretary of Health from Prof. Roland Nardone and 19 prominent co-signatories calling for zero tolerance for CLC—‘no grants; no publications’,22 we have identified distinct stages of the scientific process where intervention might be effective. Document their derivation from primary material (either by DNA profiling, or, where relevant, by cytogenetics). Offer unrestricted availability or public reposition. Test for and, if necessary, eliminate mycoplasma contamination—a problem which often accompanies CLCC.23 Infractions would be penalized by time-limited embargo by the affected journals. List false cell lines, including those thereby excluded from accessions; Collaborate on comparative STR profiling of all holdings to detect duplicates; Offer training courses, including cell line authentication. The DSMZ publishes a comprehensive list of known false leukemia and lymphoma cell lines (http://www.dsmz.de/human_and_animal_cell_lines/main.php?content_id=97). A similar scheme for solid tumor cell lines is planned. Encourage reports and reviews such as that of Lacroix; Furnish referees with lists of false cell lines; Insist that authors give provenances of cell lines used; Require indirectly provenanced material (i.e. obtained from secondary sources) to be authenticated by comparison with reference STR profile provided online by cell banks, or by cytogenetic analysis. Insist that definitive first reports of cell lines subsequently shown to false be retracted. Mandate use of cell lines provenanced directly from originator/repositories, or authenticated with reference to published STR profiles/karyotypes; Insist that cell lines established by funds provided be submitted to a public repository. To end on a more optimistic note, measures to avoid CLCC have been successfully implemented by the USA biopharma industry where only 2 cases of misidentified cells were discovered in over 900 samples tested from 1996 to 2006 (cited in Ref.22). The authors welcome all comments and suggestions from users of cell lines how best to combat CLCC. According to „Genome News”︁ (December 2007), The National Institutes of Health issued a notice that it expects researchers working with cultured cells to use authentication procedures in order to avoid misidentified or contaminated cultures that can significantly affect research outcomes. The NIH cautioned that grant applications that fail to employ authentication methods “would not be considered of the highest quality and such manuscripts would not fare well in the journal review process.” The notification is a response to an open letter from Roland Nardone, a professor at the Discovery Center for Cell and Molecular Biology at the Catholic University of America, and by a number of other biologists, to US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, which said that misidentification of cell lines is a serious and potentially growing problem that can have the potential for “dire consequences.” The authors of the letter advised that “all researchers using cell cultures incorporate a specific cell line authentication protocol into their experimental framework” and that authentication be mandatory in order for researchers to receive grants. We thank Dr Hilmar Quentmeier for critically reading the manuscript. We also wish to thank Mr Peyton Hughes for drawing our attention to the article in “genome News” cited in the Note Added in Proof. Yours sincerely, Roderick A.F. MacLeod, Wilhelm G. Dirks, Hans G. Drexler Roderick A.F. MacLeod*, Wilhelm G. Dirks*, Hans G. Drexler*, * DSMZ, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Department of Human and Animal Cell Cultures, Inhoffenstr. 7b, 38124, Braunschweig, Germany.
EC competition law has undergone major changes in the last years. A so-called more economic approach has been introduced: for vertical restrictions safe harbours were created for undertakings with low market shares and only a limited number of hard-core restrictions are still considered detrimental for the economy. For horizontal agreements, the Commission adopted guidelines and new group exemptions allowing for more flexibility for certain types of agreements that can have pro-competitive effects. Where hard-core cartels are concerned, there is no question of introducing more flexibility at a policy level. On the contrary, due to procedural reforms, decentralisation and the successful introduction of leniency programs, the focus of the Commission and most national competition authorities is now on cartels and large fines are imposed. Even in hard-core cases there is some pressure on the competition authorities to have sufficient consideration for economic reality and impact on the market. This pressure is coming from the insights of economic doctrine, but also from the courts upon review. It is the result of a growing attention for issues of proof and evidence that we can observe in the last years in several areas of competition law. Community courts are requiring the Commission to substantiate adequately its findings of infringement of competition law by demonstrating adverse effect on the market place. Similar requirements are imposed by national courts when it comes to justifying the sanctions that are imposed by national competition authorities. This stricter approach towards proof is, at least partly, inspired by the seriousness of the sanctions that are imposed on companies. Increasingly high sanctions bring more attention for rights of defence and rules on proof and evidence. The impression could exist that there is a contradiction between on the one hand more economics and more flexibility, and on the other hand a stricter approach when it comes to the procedural framework in which specific competition cases are dealt with. The paper addresses how to reconcile a more economics-based approach to competition law with procedural rules, in particular rules on proof and evidence. First, a short description is given of the general characteristics of rules on proof and their role in the legal system with special attention for general principles of law. Then the relevant specific characteristics of EC law and of cartel cases are described, as well as a number of recent developments that have their impact on proof. Thirdly, an attempt is made to define the practical features of workable rules on burden of proof and standard of proof and some proposals are made to develop a pragmatic approach that reconciles the different, seemingly contradictory trends in current competition law. This approach requires both economists and lawyers to deviate somewhat from their dogmas for the sake of efficient enforcement of competition law.
A maturity randomization technique was introduced by Carr (under the name "Canadization") as an efficient method of pricing finite-lived American options (it is equivalent to the "analytic method of lines" used earlier by Carr and Faguet). Since then, Carr's randomization was successfully applied to the valuation of (single and double) barrier options in a number of works. In this article we provide formal justification for the latter methods, by showing that Carr's approximation to the value of a finite-lived barrier option with bounded continuous terminal payoff function always converges to the actual value for a wide class of Levy processes (those of type B or C), including all those that are used in financial modeling.
This paper extends our previous logical analysis of presumptions and burden of proof by studying the force of a presumption once counterevidence has been offered. In the jurisprudential literature different accounts of this issue have been given: some have argued that a presumption is nullified by counterarguments while others have maintained that this gives presumptions a force that is too slight. We argue that these differences largely are not a matter of logic but of legal policy, and we show how the various accounts can be logically formalised.
General equilibrium is the foundation of Economics, while Walras' law the foundation of general equilibrium. However, because Walras could not prove his own law, this law has been misunderstood to be the exercise of counting equations, and eliminating some equation or market. This paper shows how the original Walras' law can be correctly reestablished. It is actually Say's law. General equilibrium should be more correctly called pair-wise equilibrium. Disequilibrium, which should be better called balancing disequilibrium, is also an important part of Walras' law. A correct understanding of this Walras' law is important to many fields of studies, e.g., international trade and unemployment theories.
Capital investment usually consists of contributing to a firm's-usually not quoted on the stock exchange-capital. The aim is to finance start-up, growth, or sometimes restructuring, or else change in ownership. The need to distribute capital in France at the regional or local levels represents high stakes: That of promoting entrepreneurship and reinforcing an, SME's equity capital during growth. Regional entities, whilst often having different means available, have all the same a common objective i.e. strengthening the local economy and playing an influential role in implementing measures and policies to promote the French economy.
Valdete Berisha-Krasniqi, Antoine Bouet, Simon Mevel
In recent years the European Union has sought to transform its trading regime with the ACP countries by advocating reciprocal free trade agreements with them through Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). As a result, the EPA talks were launched in 2002 and were expected be completed by the end of 2007. Nevertheless, many African countries, including Senegal did not reach agreements with the European Union in 2007 amid rising concerns that such agreements do not represent the interests of developing countries. This policy shift from preferential trade to free trade would imply drastic changes for Senegal's economy, which currently enjoys relatively good access to European market (but also to the U.S. through the African Growth Opportunity Act) while applying a high domestic protection on all sources of imports. As a result, this type of reform would result in improved access to foreign markets only for the EU. Furthermore, the EPA implies a loss of tariff revenues from liberalization, which has been a key concern for ACP countries from the beginning of talks because they constitute a high level of public receipts there. Finally this kind of reform could lead to trade diversion in Senegal while creating not enough trade. Using the MIRAGE computable general equilibrium model the study examines the potential impact of Economic Partnership Agreements on ACP countries with a special focus on Senegal.
A strong correlated equilibrium is a strategy profile that is immune to joint deviations. Different notions of strong correlated equilibria were defined in the literature. One major difference among those definitions is the stage in which coalitions can plan a joint deviation: before (ex-ante) or after (ex-post) the deviating players receive their part of the correlated profile. In this paper we prove that if deviating coalitions are allowed to use new correlating devices, then an ex-ante strong correlated equilibrium is immune to deviations at all stages. Thus the set of ex-ante strong correlated equilibria of Moreno & Wooders (1996) is included in all other sets of strong correlated equilibria.
Pablo Brañas-Garza, Teresa García-Muñoz, Shoshana Neuman
This paper provides an empirical demonstration of high stakes incentives in relation to religious practice. It shows that, when both positive (carrot) and negative (stick) incentives are available, the former are more effective than the latter. Specifically, it is shown that beliefs in heaven are much more relevant than beliefs in hell when estimating the production of religious commodities (church-attendance and praying equations).