Division Of Communications Research Articles

Good Prophets Know When the End Is Near

We consider a class of online decision-making problems with exchangeable actions, where in each period a controller is presented an input type drawn from some stochastic arrival process. The controller must choose an action, and the final objective depends only on the aggregate type-action counts. Such a framework encapsulates many online stochastic variants of common optimization problems with knapsack, bin packing, and generalized assignment as canonical examples. In such settings, we study a natural model-predictive control algorithm. We introduce general conditions under which this algorithm obtains uniform additive loss (independent of the horizon) compared with an optimal solution with full knowledge of arrivals. Our condition builds on the recently introduced compensated coupling technique, providing a unified view of how uniform additive loss arises as a consequence of the geometry of the underlying decision-making problem. Our characterization allows us to derive uniform loss algorithms for several new settings, including the first such algorithm for online stochastic bin packing. It also lets us study the effect of other modeling assumptions, including choice of horizon, batched decisions, and limited computation. In particular, we show that our condition is fulfilled by the above-mentioned problems when the end of the time horizon is known sufficiently long before the end. In contrast, if at a late stage, there is still uncertainty about the end of the time horizon we show that such uniform loss guarantees are impossible to achieve. We use real and synthetic data to illustrate our findings. This paper was accepted by J. George Shanthikumar, data science. Funding: This work was supported by the Division of Mathematical Sciences [Grant 1839346]; the Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems [Grant 1847393]; and the Army Research Laboratory [Grant W911NF-17-1-0094]. The authors also gratefully acknowledge support from the NSF [Grants ECCS-1847393, CNS-195599, and DMS-1839346], AFOSR [Grant FA9550-23-1-0068], an ARL award [Grant W911NF-17-1-0094], and ARO MURI [Grant W911NF-19-1-0217]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.04307 .

Prospects for Sustainable Corporate Governance in Russia Based on Integrated Communications

The article presents the author’s understanding of the terms “corporate governance”, “corporate management” and “communication management” in the context of the concept of sustainable development, the ESG agenda and sustainable corporate governance, as well as their relationship. The role of the stakeholder approach in bringing together the content of the concepts of “corporate governance” and “integrated communications” is shown. Some features of communications management in Russia, including in the context of ESG, are examined in detail. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that many Russian companies and organizations are extremely slow to implement the principles and methods of integrated communications and sustainable corporate governance, although they determine the effectiveness of theiractivities. The subject of the study is the system of sustainable corporate governance as part of the implementation of ESG principles in Russia. The purpose of the article is to show Russian stakeholders the role of integrated communications in the development of sustainable corporate governance and ESG policies using research methods such as analysis of scientific papers on the research topic, comparison, generalization, systemic and logical analysis. The scientific novelty of the publication is justified by the author’s interpretation of the variants of understanding the terms, for example, the authors of the article consider the organizational and/or functional division of communications into internal and external to be unproductive. In addition, in order to modernize the methodology for rating and auditing companies and organizations for compliance of their activities with ESG principles, the authors propose to increase the number of management criteria of block “G”, using metrics for assessing the effectiveness of integrated communications management, taken from the “corporate management” and “communications” systems management». The practical significance of the work lies in the possibility of its use in the development of integrated communications systems within the framework of sustainable corporate governance, as well as in the course of modernizing the methodology for rating and auditing ESG policies in Russian companies and organizations. A further direction of research may be related to the development of criteria and indicators of the quality of integrated communications systems and sustainable corporate governance, as well as consideration of the characteristics of Russian communications practices in the business environment.

Accountability Committee Tracks APA’s Progress on Structural Racism

Accountability Committee Tracks APA’s Progress on Structural Racism

A division of medical communications in an academic medical center's department of medicine.

Excellent physician communication skills (physician-to-patient and patient-to-physician) have been found to have a positive impact on patient satisfaction and may positively affect patient health behaviors and health outcomes. Such skills are also essential for accurate, succinct, and clear peer-to-peer (physician-to-physician), physician-to-lay-public, and physician-to-media communications. These skills are not innate, however; they must be learned and practiced repeatedly. The Division of Medical Communications (DMC) was created within the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital as an intellectual home for physicians who desire to learn and teach the wide variety of skills needed for effective communication.In this Perspective, the authors provide an overview of the key types of medical communications and share the DMC model as an innovative approach to providing expert guidance to physicians and physicians-in-training as they develop, practice, and refine their communication skills. Current DMC projects and programs include a Volunteer Patient Teaching Corps, which provides feedback to medical students, residents, and faculty on communication skills; a controlled trial of a modified team-based learning method for attending rounds; expert coaching in preparation for presentations of all types (e.g., grand rounds; oral presentations or poster presentations on basic science, clinical, or medical education research); sessions on speaking to the media and running a meeting well; and courses on writing for publication. Objective assessment of the impact of each of these interventions is planned.

FDA Actions Against Health Economic Promotions, 2002–2011

ObjectiveTo investigate Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory actions against drug companies' health economic promotions from 2002 through 2011 to understand how frequently and in what circumstances the agency has considered such promotions false or misleading. MethodsWe reviewed all warning letters and notices of violation (“untitled letters”) issued by the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communications (DDMAC) to pharmaceutical companies from January 2002 through December 2011. We analyzed letters containing a violation related to “health economic promotion,” defined according to one of several categories (e.g., implied claims of cost savings due to work productivity or economic claims containing unsupported statements about effectiveness or safety). We also collected information on factors such as the indication and type of media involved and whether the letter referenced Section 114 of the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act. ResultsOf 291 DDMAC letters sent to pharmaceutical companies during the study period, 35 (12%) cited a health economic violation. The most common type of violation cited was an implied claim of cost savings due to work productivity or functioning (found in 20 letters) and economic claims containing unsubstantiated comparative claims of effectiveness, safety, or interchangeability (7 letters). The violations covered various indications, mostly commonly psychiatric disorders (6 letters) and pain (6 letters). No DDMAC letter pertained to Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act Section 114. ConclusionThe FDA has cited inappropriate health economic promotions in roughly 12% of the letters issued by the DDMAC. The letters highlight drug companies' interest in promoting the value of their products and the FDA's concerns in certain cases about the lack of supporting evidence.

Auditory Brainstem Implants

The development of cochlear implantation has allowed the majority of patients deafened after the development of language to regain significant auditory benefit. In a subset of patients, however, loss of hearing results from destruction of the cochlear nerves, rendering cochlear implantation ineffective. The most common cause of bilateral destruction of the cochlear nerves is neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2). The hallmark of this genetic disorder is the development of bilateral acoustic neuromas, the growth or removal of which causes deafness in most patients. Patients with NF2 may benefit from direct stimulation of the cochlear nucleus. We describe the development, use, and results of the auditory brainstem implant (ABI), which is typically implanted via craniotomy at the time of tumor removal. Most patients with the implant have good appreciation of environmental sounds, but obtain more modest benefit with regard to speech perception. The majority of patients make use of the implant to facilitate lip reading; some can, to varying degrees, comprehend speech directly. We discuss future directions in central implants for hearing, including the penetrating ABI, the use of ABI in nontumor patients, and the auditory midbrain implant.

FDA Wants M.D.s to Enlist in War Against Illegal Ads

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Professional NewsFull AccessFDA Wants M.D.s to Enlist in War Against Illegal AdsJun YanJun YanSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:18 Jun 2010https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.45.12.psychnews_45_12_002AbstractThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a campaign to recruit physicians and health care professionals to report potentially illegal advertisements and promotions by drug companies.This outreach effort, termed the “Bad Ad” program, is being implemented by the FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC).A Web site at <www.fda.gov/badad> has been set up to educate health care professionals about the types of drug advertisements and promotions that violate the law. Among the examples are overstating efficacy, omitting or downplaying safety risks, and promoting off-label indications.Drug companies are prohibited from discussing or promoting unapproved indications of their products, but it is not illegal for them to distribute articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals that investigate or review unapproved uses of a medication.The FDA is encouraging physicians and other professionals to report suspected violations they encounter at medical conferences, in professional and lay media, in materials they receive, at company-sponsored presentations, and during sales-representatives' visits. Complaints can be submitted, with supporting materials or other evidence, to the agency by e-mail at [email protected]gov, telephone at (877) RX-DDMAC, or mail. The reports can be submitted anonymously, but the agency recommends that those filing a complaint provide their name and contact information for follow-up and collection of additional materials.“This is a reasonable effort on the part of the FDA,” said David Fassler, M.D., APA treasurer and a child and adolescent psychiatrist in Vermont. He is also a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Vermont. “At a minimum, it may help educate physicians about the regulations governing ads and promotions.”He suggested, however, that the initiative indicates the FDA's lack of resources when it comes to reviewing drug-marketing activities. “Improving compliance will ultimately require a substantial increase in the resources available for monitoring and enforcement,” he said.The DDMAC, housed in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, is in charge of monitoring and regulating the advertisements and promotional activities for prescription drugs. Medical devices and over-the-counter drugs are not regulated by this division.Although spontaneous reports from health care professionals have occasionally led to investigation and regulatory actions, the DDMAC has traditionally focused its reviews on advertising materials voluntarily submitted by drug companies, complaints filed by competitor drug companies, and surveillance of medical conferences. In a public letter posted on the Bad Ad program Web site, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D., wrote that the “FDA's ability to monitor other promotional activities, which may occur in any number of settings, is limited.”In 2009, the DDMAC issued 38 enforcement letters to pharmaceutical companies, up from 22 letters in 2008.According to Hamburg's letter, the DDMAC will have exhibits at major medical conferences to educate physicians and others about drug-marketing regulations and to promote the Bad Ad program. She urged practitioners to assist the FDA in identifying and stopping misleading drug promotion. ISSUES NewArchived

Med Check

Med Check

FDA Catching Up With Drug Companies That Push Online Envelope

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Professional NewsFull AccessFDA Catching Up With Drug Companies That Push Online EnvelopeJun YanJun YanSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:5 Jun 2009https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.44.11.0004aFourteen pharmaceutical companies have received warning letters from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about violating direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisement regulations in their paid links on Internet search engines.In recent years the pharmaceutical and medical-device industries have been aggressively expanding marketing campaigns into online media. The FDA has had to step up its monitoring and regulatory actions in response (Psychiatric News, March 20).Sent on April 2, the most recent batch of warning letters from the agency's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications targeted a number of major pharmaceutical companies over dozens of prescription drugs they were advertising online. The agency's objections focused on sponsored links and accompanying short statements posted on Google that were intended to attract Internet users to visit promotional Web sites for the products (see screenshot). Several drugs named in these warning letters are often prescribed in psychiatry, including Forest Laboratories' acamprosate, escitalopram, and memantine; Pfizer's pregabalin; Boehringer Ingelheim's pramipaxole; and Eli Lilly's duloxetine.Eli Lilly, for example, was criticized for suggesting the efficacy of duloxetine in the online blurb “Learn about an SNRI for depression called Cymbalta® (duloxetine HCl),” along with a link to the product's Web site, without giving any information about potential adverse events and safety risks. Forest Laboratories' links for several drugs, including memantine, donepezil, and escitalopram, “inadequately communicate[d] the drugs' indications ... and fail[ed] to use the required” generic names.The other warning letters cited similar problems with not including adequate information about safety risks and complete indications.The use of “sponsored links” that are posted on the pages of Internet search engines has become a popular marketing strategy for companies and organizations to promote their Web sites and products. It is inexpensive and has the advantage of targeting advertisements to people who are already looking for information about a particular product or related subjects such as disease information.However, these sponsored links are given limited space (95 characters by Google) for a statement to accompany the link. The FDA's warning letters have made it clear that the agency is sticking to its rules for all public-access pharmaceutical promotional materials and requires a complete and balanced representation of both efficacy and safety information when a specific product is advertised. Web sites' length limit for sponsored links is likely to make it impossible for companies to go much beyond stating drug names.As have other companies in other industries, pharmaceutical and medical-device manufacturers have been testing various ways to expand their online marketing presence. In addition to YouTube video postings and channels, companies are making more use of online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace to connect with consumers directly. For example, McNeil Pediatrics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, has launched Facebook pages, or“ online communities,” for adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and for mothers of children with ADHD. McNeil's ADHD drug methylphenidate hydrochloride extended-release tablets (Concerta) won FDA approval for treating adults in June 2008.The FDA warning letters to pharmaceutical companies are posted at<www.fda.gov/cder/warn/warn2009.htm>.▪ ISSUES NewArchived

Med Check

Med Check

FDA Blamed for Poor Monitoring of Off-Label Drug Promotion

FDA Blamed for Poor Monitoring of Off-Label Drug Promotion

Med Check

Med Check

APA’s Redesigned Web Site Will Be More Informative, User Friendly

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Association NewsFull AccessAPA’s Redesigned Web Site Will Be More Informative, User FriendlyCatherine F. BrownCatherine F. BrownSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:18 Jul 2003https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.38.14.0002aIt’s been a long time coming, but months of hard work by APA’s Council on Member and District Branch Relations and staff will pay off shortly when APA launches its totally revamped Web site this fall.What members will find is a far more attractive, graphically oriented Web site with easy-to-navigate features—many of which are new—that will provide breaking news of interest to psychiatrists, information on the practice of psychiatry and advocacy, and programs that offer continuing medical education credit.“We set out to create a site that is vibrant and easy to maneuver,” said Michael Vergare, M.D., chair of the Council on Member and District Branch Relations and vibrant. “Members should be able to scan the latest news quickly and decide what interests them most. For those trying to access APA resources or support, the icons for these functions will jump out. Most of the complaints I have heard about the old site—some of them my own—centered on how cumbersome it was to find what you needed.”APA Medical Director James H. Scully Jr., M.D., commented, “Our commitment here at APA is to continue to improve our service to our members every day. This new Web site is an important step along the way.”“APA’s Web site is the front door of our Association,” said Laurie Oseran, director of APA’s Division of Communications and Marketing.One of the goals of the redesign was to make the content more timely by including breaking news on research and clinical developments, as well as on developments that impact on the practice of psychiatry and its patients.“The site will be continually updated,” said Vergare. “In fact, I expect it to serve as a news resource that can get information out immediately.”Under “Advocacy,” members will find up-to-the-minute information on legislation, “Action Alerts” that let members know when their efforts are needed to contact legislators about a particular bill or issue, and information on government regulations that affect the practice of psychiatry, such as the HIPAA privacy rule.To help users move quickly from one part of the Web site to another is a “navigation box” on the left side of each Web page. The box lists the Web site’s major sections, many of which are new, including “District Branches and State Societies,” which will link members to the Web sites of their home societies; “Career Corner,” which will provide news and information to help psychiatrists advance in their careers, and “Calendar,” which lists the dates of APA meetings, along with the meetings of other major psychiatric organizations.The new site will include more features and information accessible to members only. A recently updated APA membership directory will help members locate one another and make referrals. There are also improved links to other professional and subspecialty organizations of interest to psychiatrists, said Vergare.Another improvement to the Web site is a new search engine that is vastly superior to the current one. As content is added to the Web site, it is assigned keywords that categorize the information. When the search engine performs a search, it uses these keywords along with its own independent analysis to provide more accurate search results.To ensure that information is posted and removed in a timely manner, the content “will be put back in the hands of the APA staff and members who develop it,” said Oseran. Thus, staff will have the capability to add, delete, or update content. Moreover, the Division of Communications and Marketing has developed a style manual to ensure that all content is edited following the same rules and that the look of each document is consistent with the rest of the site.APA’s Web site was first launched in 1996. Over the course of about a year, APA staff compiled and arranged the site’s content. While the site was innovative at the time and made many of APA’s informational resources and publications accessible to APA members, the site has not undergone a major overhaul until now.In addition to Vergare, the members of the Council on Membership and District Branch Relations are Nioaka Campbell, M.D., John Gaston, M.D., Ellen Haller, M.D., Mary Marrocco, M.D., William Matuzas, M.D., Rekha Ranade-Kapur, M.D., Sarah Spratt, M.D., Margo Adams, M.D., Robin Huffman, M.D., Helen Montague Foster, M.D., and Priscilla Ray, M.D.APA’s revamped Web site at www.psych.org goes live this fall. More information will be published closer to the launch date. ▪ ISSUES NewArchived

Changes Put APA on Right Track To Face Future, Appelbaum Says

Changes Put APA on Right Track To Face Future, Appelbaum Says

PSA on Youth Suicide

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Letter to the EditorFull AccessPSA on Youth SuicideNada L. Stotland, M.D., M.P.H.Nada L. StotlandSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., M.P.H.Published Online:5 Apr 2002https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.37.7.0034aThe January 18 issue of Psychiatric News included an excellent article about the prevention of youth suicide. I would like to let readers know that APA has available an excellent public service announcement, produced by Industrial Light and Magic, the producers of the special effects in “Star Wars,” on the subject of adolescent suicide.A copy of the public service announcement can be obtained from APA’s Division of Communications and Marketing for use on television stations and at educational programs. Local organizations can add their own tag lines. It is a powerful and effective 30-second addition to any presentation on the subject. APA’s Division of Communications and Marketing can be reached by calling (202) 682-6140.Dr. Stotland is speaker of the APA Assembly and a member of the Psychiatric News Editorial Advisory Board. She is also a former chair of APA’s Joint Commission on Public Affairs.Chicago, Ill. ISSUES NewArchived

Regulatory Issues for Health-Related Quality of Life— PhRMA Health Outcomes Committee Workshop, 1999

Introduction Health-related quality-of-life (HRQL) can be defined as the impact of disease and treatment across the physical, psychological, social and somatic domains of functioning and well-being. Health-related quality-of-life measures are included in clinical trials of drug treatment to assess the impact of therapy on the patient's functioning. HRQL guidance could allow for use of this data in drug labeling and promotion. Objectives The aim of our study was to provide recommendations with respect to regulatory issues important to the development of guidelines for HRQL research. Methods The HRQL workshop was planned jointly by members of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Health Outcomes Committee and the Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications of the Food and Drug Administration. The workshop was limited to six regulatory issues related to HRQL research in clinical trials of pharmaceutical therapies. These six issues were: instrument selection and validation, study design, data analysis, HRQL and safety, clinical meaning, and promotional use. Before the meeting, a consensus was reached that HRQL does not measure, nor should it be used to measure, safety. Therefore, five work groups discussed HRQL issues and made recommendations. Results Overall, the workshop recommended that HRQL measures be treated as any other clinical end point. The workshop recognized that research in HRQL methods is ongoing and that any guidance should be flexible to allow for changes in this developing research area. Conclusions HRQL provides a patient perspective on the impact of disease and therapy on patients' daily life and functioning. Including HRQL information in promotion could be beneficial to decision making on the use of therapies. HRQL is a measure of effectiveness, not safety, and should be treated as any other clinical end point.

Mirin Brings Antistigma Message to World Health Day

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Professional NewsFull AccessMirin Brings Antistigma Message to World Health DayLaurie OseranLaurie OseranSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:4 May 2001https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.36.9.0011APA Medical Director Steven Mirin, M.D., spends a moment with U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., after the World Health Day program last month in Washington, D.C.APA Medical Director Steven Mirin, M.D., and a lineup of international health leaders pledged to redouble their efforts to erase the stigma surrounding mental illness at an April 7 World Health Day event sponsored by the American Association for World Health (AAWH) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).Mirin, a member of the World Health Day Advisory Committee and featured speaker, praised event organizers for “making mental health a global priority” and commended Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., one of the speakers, for his “outspoken mental health advocacy on behalf of America’s patients and families.”“Open Minds. . .Open Doors” is the theme of the international public education campaign, launched by the World Health Organization and its partners to increase awareness and support for the more than 400 million people worldwide who suffer from mental disorders.George Alleyne, M.D., PAHO director, lamented that mental health, while a pressing public health issue, does not get the priority attention it deserves.In his remarks, Satcher referenced his 1999 Report on Mental Health, pointing out that mental illness ranked second after heart disease as the leading cause of disease in market economies worldwide.Citing a 1999 study by the Society for Human Resources Management, Mirin noted that the “cost of not treating mental disorders is enormous. The societal costs associated with mental illness in terms of disability, lost productivity, and absenteeism are staggering, with an estimated cost to business of $40 billion annually.”Mirin also said that efforts to meet the increasing mental health needs of the nation’s elderly—an often underserved population—need to be stepped up.“Vulnerable and often underdiagnosed, between 10 percent and 20 percent of our nation’s elderly living at home have a diagnosable mental disorder such as depression often masked by medical, cognitive, and social problems. Unfortunately, this often complicates and limits their access to needed mental health care.”Other program participants included Richard K. Nakamura, Ph.D., deputy director at the National Institute of Mental Health; Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; Richard L. Winenberg, president and CEO of the American Association for World Health; and Larry Siegel, M.D., senior deputy director for medical affairs/administrator in the District of Columbia’s Department of Health. ▪Laurie Oseran is director of APA’s Division of Communications and Marketing. ISSUES NewArchived

Some Features of Cultural Policies Applied in Belgium, Particularly in the French-Speaking Community

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsMichel JaumainMichel Jaumain works in the Ministry of Culture and Social Affairs (French-Speaking Community of Belgium), General Division of Culture and Communications.

The Uses of Life: A History of Biotechnology by Robert Bud

648 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE But Wiener’s views, while naive from a scholarly standpoint, may be exactly what is needed to inspire practitioners, especially since they are linked to a strong sense of moral responsibility. Wiener himselfrefused to participate in projects he thought might benefit the military. He felt that long-term investment in fundamental science and the absolute minimum of secrecy were the way to win conflicts like the Cold War and prepare for what lay beyond it: “our long-time chief antagonist will not be Russia, but is to be sought for among the continuing threats of hunger, thirst, over­ population, and perhaps the new dangers of the poisoning of the world in which we live by the radioactive by-products of an atomic age” (p. 143). One of Wiener’s most intriguing policy suggestions is that those responsible for adjudicating patent disputes be educated in the inven­ tion and discovery process. Those of us doing detailed work on the invention process would certainly agree. Wiener tells us a little about his own creative process; when he found the solution to one set of problems, he looked for other problems to which this solution applied. But he also asked himself another, provocative question: “Now that I have come to a result, what problem have I solved?” (p. 22). One wishes he had talked more about his own invention process. In conclusion, Wiener’s book would be a useful stimulus for discussion of social and ethical issues in science and invention, especially if used in contrast with works like Bruno Latour’s Science in Action (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1987), which provide a very different view of science. Wiener has faith that science, at its best, represents one of the highest activities of the human mind: “The thesis that I am maintain­ ing and have maintained in this book is that the continued existence of an atmosphere in which fundamental science can develop to such an extent that it can fulfill not only our hopes but our needs, depends on the faith of the community that the work of the intellect is worth promoting and that institutions devoted to the furtherance of the atmosphere in which this work can take place represent a public interest” (p. 122). At a time when institutions of higher education are under attack, we can all derive inspiration from Wiener’s faith. Michael Gorman Dr. Gorman is an associate prolessor in the Division of Technology, Communications, and Culture of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia, where he teaches interdisciplinary courses and does research on the psychology of science, invention, and design. The Uses of Life: A History of Biotechnology. By Robert Bud. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993. Pp. xvii+299; illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $49.95. Robert Bud’s fascinating, if episodic, history of biotechnology is most timely. If we live in a postmodern age, where boundaries between fact TECHNOLOGYAND CULTURE Book Reviews 649 and fiction are often blurred and simulacra serve as models of the real, then biotechnology captures the spirit of the age. A report in Nature on the extraction of DNA fragments from a fossil weevil from the Creta­ ceous, dinosaur-dominated period was tied to the opening of Jurassic Park (June 10, 1993); the book and movie The Andromeda Strain (early 1970s)—a blending of Hollywood and Stanford—in turn served as the reference point for naming the biotechnology company Cetus after the adjacent constellation. “Biotechnology” is a culturally loaded term, often conjuring futuristic images of a hyperreality driven by multina­ tional profits and populated by cyborgs, hybrids of engineering and biology. Yet many scientists, industrialists, and regulators deplore the sensationalism surrounding biotechnology. To them the technology is simply a refinement of age-old practices of modifying and harnessing animate nature—notably microorganisms—for agricultural and phar­ maceutical uses. As Bud notes (p. 213), key officials at the National Science Foundation and Food and Drug Administration now feel that the word biotechnology has become “a significant millstone around the neck of both the industry and the government,” urging the removal of the word from the regulatory vocabulary. What’s in...

NYSCA video

Letter| February 01 1979 NYSCA video Lucy Kostelanetz Lucy Kostelanetz Deputy Director Division of Communications and Visual Arts New York State Council on the Arts Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Afterimage (1979) 6 (7): 3. https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.1979.6.7.3 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Lucy Kostelanetz; NYSCA video. Afterimage 1 February 1979; 6 (7): 3. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/aft.1979.6.7.3 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu nav search search input Search input auto suggest search filter All ContentAfterimage Search This content is only available via PDF. © 1979 by The Regents of the University of California1979 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.