Competitive Awards Research Articles

The 2008 PEMpix Photo Competition Award Winner: Alexandra Rucker, MD

The 2008 PEMpix Photo Competition Award Winner: Alexandra Rucker, MD

The gap between wine expert ratings and consumer preferences

PurposeExpert wine awards are commonly used by consumers to reduce complexity in wine choice but little is known about expert vs non‐expert perceptions of sensory wine quality. This paper aims to examine if expert ratings are suitable quality indicators for consumers and whether there are certain groups of consumers that find expert awards more useful than others.Design/methodology/approachThe paper compares German consumer ratings obtained in a sensory laboratory with German Agricultural Society's quality competition awards. it tests for the correspondence between expert and non‐expert ratings and for the concordance within the non‐expert group. Estimation of a linear mixed model serves to identify consumer‐side variables with an influence on individual rating distance.FindingsCorrespondence between expert and non‐experts and concordance within the non‐expert group were found to be insignificant. Experienced wine consumers with sufficient specific knowledge and superior self‐reported sensory skills better replicated expert ratings.Research limitations/implicationsWith 216 wine ratings obtained from 36 German consumers, the number of observations is small. Future research should verify above findings by considering more consumers and the stability of ratings across time.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that although some consumer segments may find expert awards to be useful decision cues, for a large portion of the market, there is demand for a more consumer‐orientated system of sensory quality evaluation and labelling.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to address the usefulness of expert ratings to novice and experienced wine consumer populations. The statistical procedures employed (including linear mixed modelling) are shown to be useful techniques to handle the repeated measurement nature of the data.

Statistical Ecology Section

The Statistical Ecology Section seeks to encourage research in statistical theory and methodology applied to ecological problems; to sponsor forums for presentation of advances in statistical ecology; and to facilitate communication between the disciplines of statistics and ecology so as to enhance statistical design and analysis in ecological research. The Section had 272 members as of late June 2008. At the ESA Annual Meeting, the Section conducts a competition for the E.C. Pielou Student Award, which is a competitive award made to a graduate student or recent Ph.D graduate based on overall quality of the student's scientific contribution to statistical ecology, as evidenced by his or her oral presentation at the meeting. In 2007, the award was presented to Daniel Laughlin from Northern Arizona University for his presentation, “Explaining gradients in plant community composition with a general multivariate model.” For 2008, two candidates will compete for the Pielou Award, which consists of $200 and a book authored by E. C. Pielou of the winner's choice. Also at the 2008 ESA meeting, the Section will host a mixer and business meeting on Tuesday evening, 5 August. Refreshments will be served. This year, the Section elected Philip Dixon from Iowa State University as the Section Vice-Chair. Dixon will serve as Vice Chair from 2007–2009, and then become Chair for 2009–2011. Kathy Cottingham, Vice-Chair for 2005–2007, became Chair at the close of the Section mixer in 2007. We are currently conducting an election for the incoming Secretary of the Section, to serve from the close of this year's business meeting through the 2010 Annual Meeting. Pedro Peres-Neto from the University of Quebec at Montreal currently serves as Secretary. The Section continues to maintain its web site 〈http://stat-ecol.evsc.virginia.edu/〉 as a way to communicate with its members and to enhance interactions among statistical ecologists. The site allows for threaded discussions and the posting of papers and software. The web-master is Masami Fujiwara of UC Santa Barbara.

Markt – Staat – Wettbewerb in der Sozialwirtschaft

Summary The article shows the different forms of the legal relation in the welfare state in a three level system. The system change in the social economy from a corporate system to a competitive system occurs centrally by two instruments: First by personalized budgets respectively cash value vouchers instead of payments in kind and second by public tender of services in a competitive award procedure. In case examples the practical implementation and efficiency of competitive instruments is shown under completely different framework.

The 2006-2007 PEMpix Photo Competition Award Winner: Mark Cicero, MD

Department of Pediatrics, Section of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT [email protected]

The 2007-2008 Photo Competition Award Winner: Melissa Langhan, MD

The 2007-2008 Photo Competition Award Winner: Melissa Langhan, MD

Organizing a Bidding Competition for a Toll Road Concession in South Africa: The Case of Chapman’s Peak Drive

Chapman’s Peak Drive is a scenic coastal road in the Western Cape province of South Africa with a history of reoccurring rockfall incidents. This paper presents qualitative case study research that explores the competitive award of a concession to design, build, finance, and operate an upgrade of the road for a period of 30 years. The analysis focuses on the intensity of competition for the concession and its implications on value for money. The focus of the analysis is on rockfall risk which was the principal justification for the upgrade and which had the greatest financial significance for the project. The information on the case study project was obtained by interviewing some of the public and private sector individuals involved and by examining the documentation issued by the public sector. Analysis revealed that the award process supported the adoption of an innovative rockfall protection solution that is believed to be the optimal technical solution for Chapman’s Peak Drive. However, it also revealed that the value for money of the concession to the province may have been compromised by limited and unfocused competition between bidders. The paper hypothesizes that the amount and timing of information disclosed, use of bid bonds, level of output specification used, disclosure of the relative importance of the bid evaluation criteria, and timing of financier’s involvement, influenced the value for money of the project and that further quantitative research on their general effects on the value for money of concessions needs to be investigated. The primary contribution of the paper is that it allows more precise hypotheses to be devised for the purposes of quantitative research in the problem domain.

The Role of Investments in Refusals to Deal

Under the “essential facilities” doctrine, dominant firms may have a duty to deal with competitors. A principal objection to imposing a duty to deal is uncertainty as to whether a firm can recoup its investments in the facility that the competitor seeks access to. This article discusses the role of investments in essential facility cases. The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it observes that many “essential facility” cases seem to originate from allocation of rights rather than from anticompetitive conduct. Second, it proposes that courts attribute a more significant role to the analysis of investments underlying these facilities. It is expected that greater emphasis on the investments at stake can limit the chilling effects caused by mandatory sharing. This article has been shortlisted for the 3rd Young Writer’s Competition Award.

Market Power in Bidding Markets: An Economic Overview

Undertakings often claim to operate on a bidding market, where it is impossible to have market power (“bidding market defence”). This defence is only valid under four conditions: winner-takes-all, lumpy demand, absence of lock-in effects and easy entry. If fulfilled, one speaks of an ideal bidding market. Non-compliance with at least one condition invalidates the defence, and “ordinary” antitrust problems resurge: firms may exercise market power. The feasibility thereof depends, firstly, on whether the bidding process is better qualified as an ascending or a sealed-bid auction and, secondly, on whether it is a private or a common value auction. Three common ways of exercising market power in impure bidding markets are collusion, predation and entry deterrence. These strategies can be effectively tackled under Articles 81 or 82, except for tacit collusion. Therefore, competition authorities should use their powers under the Merger Regulation to avoid that mergers between bidders facilitate coordinated behaviour. Consequently, markets with bidding contests do not always lead to competitive outcomes. To avoid confusion, these markets should not be referred to as “bidding markets” but as “markets with a bidding process”. The concept “bidding market” is better reserved for ideal bidding markets. This article has been shortlisted for the 3rd Young Writer’s Competition Award.

Grant-Backs and No Challenge Clauses in Europe: What Lessons from the MedImmune v. Genentech Case?

This article will discuss the provisions of Article 5 of the new Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (“TTBER”) in Europe and analyse whether the provisions in the Article are anti competitive. Article 5 of the TTBER concerns grant-backs and no challenge clauses. The article will examine the MedImmune v. Genentech case of the US Supreme Court to find out whether there is any likely impact for no challenge clauses in Europe. The case concerned a patent validity dispute in which a pharmaceutical company, MedImmune, Inc., manufactured a drug Synagis, which Genentech, another pharmaceutical company, alleged to have violated its “Cabilly II” patent. The case was brought before the US Supreme Court, which held on 9 January 2007 that a patent licensee is not required to terminate or be in breach of its licence agreement before it can seek a declaratory judgment that the underlying patent is invalid, unenforceable, or not infringed. The article first discusses the interaction of competition and intellectual property law in Europefollowed by an examination of the TTBER grant-backs and no challenge provisions in Article 5. In the final part, a brief discussion on patent licensing and the doctrine of licensee estoppel is discussed to unravel any likely impact of MedImmune on no challenge clauses in licensing contracts in Europe. This article has been shortlisted for the 3rd Young Writer’s Competition Award.

Taking a LEAP: Training the next generation of pharmacologists

Launch into Education About Pharmacology (LEAP), a science enrichment program for high school students, uses the study of drugs and their effects on the human body to teach basic principles in biology and chemistry. LEAP targets 10th/11th graders underrepresented in the sciences. Students complete an intensive three‐week course in pharmacology during June and engage in mentored research during the school year. Teaching approaches include guided‐inquiry exercises, debates, discovery labs, and presentations by career scientists in diverse areas of pharmacology. LEAP students exhibit a 13–32% gain in basic science knowledge as assessed by a 10‐item multiple‐choice posttest administered at the conclusion of the summer course. Overall, the students rate their interest and self‐efficacy in science as significantly higher after the LEAP experience. In a retrospective analysis, 86% of participants report an increased interest in science. LEAP students have earned a combined total of nine awards in local and state science competitions (including one academic scholarship). These data suggest that topic‐relevant study, coupled with exposure to research science, effectively increases understanding of key scientific concepts and enthusiasm for science education among high school students. LEAP is funded by a SSEP grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund.

THE SHINING LIGHTS? PUBLIC SERVICE AWARDS AS AN APPROACH TO SERVICE IMPROVEMENT

Award schemes have proliferated in the public sector worldwide – yet there is little analysis of their role in improving public services through celebrating performance and sharing good practice. This paper theorizes this development, establishing a research agenda to examine the functioning, attractiveness and effectiveness of award schemes, which may be classified as being threshold or competitive schemes. The paper examines a major English competitive award, the Beacon Scheme, and focuses initially on its attractiveness to applicants. The research constructed a database of applications and awards of all English local authorities over six years as well as using interviews and observation. The analysis examined trends over a changing policy context, along with differences in application rates across eligible authorities and perceptions of the scheme. The analysis is used inductively to construct criteria by which the attractiveness of award schemes and their effectiveness in service improvement can be conceptualized.

Building brand equity and share of heart at Nassau Valley Vineyards

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to describe an innovative promotional and product development approach that has implications for new product developers in consumer industries.Design/methodology/approachThe case describes an approach to new product development and promotion. The organization's original name has been retained as well as individual managers' names.FindingsThe paper provides information and action approaches to new product developers that may reduce the risk of product failure. The subject company recognizes that third party competitive awards are public relations tools to build sales and product image. Their results offer direct implications for new product development and promotional teams in the wine industry. By extension, the implications may aid traditional companies outside of the wine industry.Research limitations/implicationsAs in all case studies, the specific conditions found in one organization may not be found more generally in others. Readers are cautioned that the conclusions drawn in the case may have limited applicability.Practical implicationsThe case depicts an innovative application of word of mouth generating quality competitions in boosting sales. It also depicts the use of consumer and expert opinions in selecting wines to submit for judging. Other organizations may find the technique of value in their own efforts.Originality/valueThe case is one of the first to describe a successful promotional technique that minimizes the reliance on advertising and concentrates on the product quality characteristics resulting from the product development process.

El sonido del realismo mágico (review)

Reviewed by: El sonido del realismo mágico David P. Appleby Tomas Marco. El sonido del realismo mágico. Madrid: Fundación Autor, 2006. 222 pp. ISBN 84-8048-703-8. Catalogue of works, alphabetical catalogue, discography, bibliography of writings by Marlos Nobre, general bibliography, compact disc. Tomas Marco is well qualified to write the first Spanish language biography of Brazil's most internationally acclaimed living composer, Marlos Nobre. Marco is winner of several awards as a composer and is well known in Spain as a critic for Radio Nacional de España for eleven years. He was also professor of history of music in la Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia. This biography derives its title, "El sonido del realismo magico," from a term more readily familiar to readers of contemporary literature than music. Marco also mentions in his preliminary notes (13) the composition by Alberto Ginastera, "Cantata para America Mágica," as a source of inspiration for his title. Marlos Nobre was one of the Latin American composers selected for a period of study at the Centro de Altos Estudios Musicales del Instituto Torcuato de Tella de Buenos Aires during the years 1963–1964. The association with Alberto Ginastera and his fellow young composers was a period of intense stimulation and stylistic growth for Marlos Nobre. Marlos Nobre's output as a composer has embraced all major instrumental and vocal media with the exception of opera. Whereas the life of Villa-Lobos, with whom Marlos Nobre is often compared, was one of incessant compositional activity, Marlos Nobre's output has been one interrupted by periods of reflection and periods of intense compositional activity fulfilling major commissions. Marco's biography refers to the special [End Page 150] importance of the Tomás Luis de Victoria prize in 2005, awarded to "one of the greatest composers of contemporary Latin America: En atención a la excelente trayectoria, trascendencia y proyección de su obra, a sus altos valores en el campo de la composición musical, reflejados en su catálogo; a la originalidad de su pensamiento estético que sitúa la creación iberoamericana en un lugar de preferencia y supone una importante contribución a la música contemporánea (7). The organization of Marco's biography presents an evaluation of Nobre's contribution as a composer of piano music, vocal music, works for guitar, orchestral works, works for percussion, chamber music, and "musica aplicada," a chapter in which Marco discusses principally works for ballet and film. While Marco's biography provides an excellent introduction to the important contributions of Marlos Nobre as a major composer, one hopes that future editions of the biography improve the system of indexing. Two indexes of works (Catálogo de obras) are provided for reference. The first index is chronological. Unless one knows the date when a work was composed or published, a work cannot easily be found in the first Catálogo de obras. The second Catálogo de obras is alphabetical and provides the opus number and date of a work. After obtaining this information, the reader then must return to the first Catálogo de obras where information about dates of performance and awards in competitions, as well as other information, is to be found. The inclusion of a compact disc in recent biographies of composers is a welcome addition and enhances the value of the Tomas Marco biography. The CD provides a representative sample of various styles in Nobre's development as a composer and closes with one of his most effective works, "Passacaglia for orchestra" (1997). In the post-Nationalist period in Latin America, one of the important contributions of the Marco biography is the fact that, whereas Heitor Villa-Lobos created works that were recognized in the twentieth century as being Brazilian in inspiration and style, Marlos Nobre is convincingly portrayed as a major post-Nationalist Latin American composer whose style embraces elements of various Latin American cultures. Copyright © 2007 University of Texas Press

Re-Aim Blame for NIH's Hard Times

![Figure][1] J. Michael Bishop ![Figure][1] Harold Varmus Anxiety and anger are rife among the biomedical research community over the dwindling fortunes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The anxiety is justified: Success rates for grant applications have fallen, on average, from over 30% in 2003 to under 20% (and to even less at some Institutes), and the Bush administration's budget projections imply further declines. But the anger is another matter: Much of it is mistakenly directed at NIH itself and threatens to undermine the credibility of the agency with both its federal patrons and its public constituencies. Between 1999 and 2003, NIH enjoyed extraordinary largesse as Congress and two successive administrations doubled its budget to about $27 billion. During this period, as expected, NIH awarded more multiyear grants, committing itself to increasing fiscal obligations in the ensuing years. At the same time, the average grant size grew beyond the rate of inflation and the number of applications also rose significantly. After such expansion, a gradual decline toward more customary increases is required to ensure that substantial uncommitted funds are available for new grants. But the hoped-for “soft landing” did not occur. Most federal budgets, including NIH's, have flattened in the service of larger budgetary agendas, such as tax cuts and financing the war in Iraq. Congress has turned a skeptical eye on NIH, demanding to know at an unrealistically early stage what exceptional benefits the doubling has brought to those suffering from diseases and asking why NIH cannot prosper with its doubled budget. Now, facing its third consecutive year of sub-inflationary increases, NIH is likely to have 11% less spending power in 2007 than it did in 2004. Rather than galvanizing political action to restore at least inflationary budgetary increases, these developments have precipitated an irrational response from some members of our research community. They have begun to blame the agency itself, accusing the NIH administration of mismanagement and ill-conceived adventures. The favorite whipping boy is the recently developed NIH Roadmap. The contents of the Roadmap were shaped a few years ago by extensive consultations with extramural scientists, not invented unilaterally by the NIH leadership, and represent a response to converging forces, including demands from Congress—and from diverse physicians, disease-research advocates, and scientists—for a greater sense of mission, more risk-taking, and expanded interdisciplinary research. In its first couple of years, the Roadmap has launched laudable programs, supported mainly by highly competitive awards to individual investigators, to encourage creative but high-risk research (the Pioneer Awards); new approaches to biomedical computing, structural biology, nanomedicine, and chemical biology; and a reconfiguring of the infrastructure for clinical research. ![Figure][1] CREDIT: RICK KOZAK Despite its high ambitions, the Roadmap has required no more than a modest 1.2% of the NIH budget. “Shelving” the Roadmap, as called for by one recent commentary,[*][2] would not heal NIH's financial maladies. But it just might persuade Congress and other potential critics that members of the biomedical research community are hopelessly inured to change and less concerned about the commonweal than the professional well-being of scientists. What then is to be done? First, stop blaming NIH—it is a victim, not a culprit, and it urgently needs our collective help. Second, redirect the hue and cry to Congress and the White House. Professional societies and disease-advocate groups have taken up the cause, but investigators in the trenches have been singularly silent. And third, support NIH in its efforts to manage resources prudently: Understand the nature of its difficulty and the rationale for restricting the size of awarded grants; encourage favored treatment of applications from scientists seeking their first awards; and accept opportunities to provide advice by serving on NIH's advisory and review panels. This is a time for concern and action, not despair. Biomedical research has found itself in seemingly dire straits before, yet recouped rapidly when Congress learned that the health sciences were adversely affected by budgetary shortfalls.[†][3] NIH still has potent allies in Congress. The public enthusiastically supports health research and recognizes that modern science is making rapid progress against feared diseases. Scientists should reinforce those alliances by making common cause with the leadership of NIH, rather than unjustly undermining its credibility. [1]: pending:yes [2]: #fn-1 [3]: #fn-2

Fecund CityScapes: Ephemeral Structures for the Athens Olympics 2004

Fecund CityScapes: Ephemeral Structures for the Athens Olympics 2004

Materials off the Catalogue

October 01 2019 Materials off the Catalogue Lydia Kallipoliti Lydia Kallipoliti Lydia Kallipoliti is a practicing architect and a PhD Candidate at Princeton University, focusing on the theory' and practice of technology and material culure, She holds a Diploma in Architecture and Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and a SMArchS from MIT. She has worked as a project architect for Athens Olympics Research grants and for dECOi architects/MIT Digital Design Group. Her design work, in collaboration with Alexandros Tsamis, has received awards in international architectural competitions and has been extensively published and exhibited in venues, which include the Bienal Miami+Beach, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Byzantine Museum of Athens and the Greek Biennalle. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Lydia Kallipoliti Lydia Kallipoliti is a practicing architect and a PhD Candidate at Princeton University, focusing on the theory' and practice of technology and material culure, She holds a Diploma in Architecture and Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and a SMArchS from MIT. She has worked as a project architect for Athens Olympics Research grants and for dECOi architects/MIT Digital Design Group. Her design work, in collaboration with Alexandros Tsamis, has received awards in international architectural competitions and has been extensively published and exhibited in venues, which include the Bienal Miami+Beach, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Byzantine Museum of Athens and the Greek Biennalle. Online Issn: 2572-7338 Print Issn: 1091-711X © 2006 Lydia Kallipoliti2006Lydia Kallipoliti Thresholds (2006) (31): 16–25. https://doi.org/10.1162/thld_a_00262 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Lydia Kallipoliti; Materials off the Catalogue. Thresholds 2006; (31): 16–25. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/thld_a_00262 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsThresholds Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. © 2006 Lydia Kallipoliti2006Lydia Kallipoliti Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Call for Applications: Competitive Awards for Post-Graduate Education: Gender and Development Studies With Specialization in Gender, Environment and Development at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand

Call for Applications: Competitive Awards for Post-Graduate Education: Gender and Development Studies With Specialization in Gender, Environment and Development at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand

Public Affairs Office

Public Affairs Office

An Endless Frontier Postponed

N ext month, U.S. scientists Vinton G. Cerf and Robert E. Kahn will receive computing's highest prize, the A. M. Turing Award, from the Association for Computing Machinery. Their Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), created in 1973, became the language of the Internet. Twenty years later, the Mosaic Web browser gave the Internet its public face. TCP and Mosaic illustrate the nature of computer science research, combining a quest for fundamental understanding with considerations of use. They also illustrate the essential role of government-sponsored university-based research in producing the ideas and people that drive innovation in information technology (IT). Recent changes in the U.S. funding landscape have put this innovation pipeline at risk. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) funded TCP. The shock of the Soviet satellite Sputnik in 1957 led to the creation of the agency, which was charged with preventing future technological surprises. From its inception, DARPA funded long-term nonclassified IT research in academia, even during several wars, to leverage all the best minds. Much of this research was dual-use, with the results ultimately advancing military systems and spurring the IT industry. U.S. IT research grew largely under DARPA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF relied on peer review, whereas DARPA bet on vision and reputation, complementary approaches that served the nation well. Over the past 4 decades, the resulting research has laid the foundation for the modern microprocessor, the Internet, the graphical user interface, and single-user workstations. It has also launched new fields such as computational science. Virtually every aspect of IT that we rely on today bears the stamp of federally sponsored research. A 2003 National Academies study provided 19 examples where such work ultimately led to billion-dollar industries, an economic benefit that reaffirms science advisor Vannevar Bush's 1945 vision in Science: The Endless Frontier. ![Figure][1] CREDIT: GEORGE B. DIEBOLD/CORBIS However, in the past 3 years, DARPA funding for IT research at universities has dropped by nearly half. Policy changes at the agency, including increased classification of research programs, increased restrictions on the participation of noncitizens, and “go/no-go” reviews applied to research at 12- to 18-month intervals, discourage participation by university researchers and signal a shift from pushing the leading edge to “bridging the gap” between fundamental research and deployable technologies. In essence, NSF is now relied on to support the long-term research needed to advance the IT field. Other agencies have not stepped in. The Defense Science Board noted in a recent look at microchip research at the Department of Defense (DOD): “[DARPA's] withdrawal has created a vacuum … The problem, for DOD, the IT industry, and the nation as a whole, is that no effective leadership structure has been substituted.” The Department of Homeland Security, according to a recent report from the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee, spends less than 2% of its Science and Technology budget on cybersecurity, and only a small fraction of that on research. NASA is downsizing computational science, and IT research budgets at the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health are slated for cuts in the president's fiscal year 2006 budget. These changes, combined with the growth of the discipline, have placed a significant burden on NSF, which is now showing the strain. Last year, NSF supported 86% of federal obligations for fundamental research in IT at academic institutions. The funding rate for competitive awards in the IT sector fell to 16%, the lowest of any directorate. Such low success rates are harmful to the discipline and, ultimately, to the nation.[*][2] At a time when global competitors are gaining the capacity and commitment to challenge U.S. high-tech leadership, this changed landscape threatens to derail the extraordinarily productive interplay of academia, government, and industry in IT. Given the importance of IT in enabling the new economy and in opening new areas of scientific discovery, we simply cannot afford to cede leadership. Where will the next generation of groundbreaking innovations in IT arise? Where will the Turing Awardees 30 years hence reside? Given current trends, the answers to both questions will likely be, “not in the United States.” [1]: pending:yes [2]: #fn-1