Independent Research Organization Research Articles

Ten Big Effects of the No Child Left behind Act on Public Schools

TEST-DRIVEN accountability is now the norm in public schools, a result of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which is the culmination of 15 years of standards-based reform. Many state and local officials believe that this reliance on tests is too narrow a measure of educational achievement, but NCLB has directed greater attention to low-achieving students and intensified efforts to improve persistently low-performing schools. For the past four years, the Center on Education Policy (CEP), an independent nonprofit research and advocacy organization, has been conducting a comprehensive and continuous review of NCLB, producing the annual reports contained in the series From the Capital to the Classroom as well as numerous papers on specific issues related to the law. (1) Each year, the CEP gathers information for this review by surveying officials in all the state departments of education, administering a questionnaire to a nationally representative sample of school districts, conducting case studies of individual school districts and schools, and generally monitoring the implementation of this important national policy. TEN EFFECTS Ten major effects of NCLB on American education are evident from this multi-year review and analysis. We describe these effects broadly, because our purpose is to assess the overall influence of this policy on public schools. The effects on particular schools and districts may be different. 1. State and district officials report that student achievement on state tests is rising, which is a cause for optimism. It's not clear, however, that students are really gaining as much as rising percentages of proficient scores would suggest. Scores on state tests in reading and mathematics that are used for NCLB purposes are going up, according to nearly three-fourths of the states and school districts, and the achievement gaps on these same tests are generally narrowing or staying the same. States and districts mostly credit their own policies as important in attaining these results, although they acknowledge that the adequate yearly progress (AYP) requirements of NCLB have also contributed. However, under NCLB, student achievement is equated with the proportion of students who are scoring at the proficient level on state tests, and states have adopted various approaches in their testing programs, such as the use of confidence intervals, that result in more test scores being counted as proficient. In addition, some national studies support our survey findings of increased student achievement, while others do not. 2. Schools are spending more time on reading and math, sometimes at the expense of subjects not tested. To find additional time for reading and math, the two subjects that are required to be tested under NCLB and that matter for accountability purposes, 71% of districts are reducing time spent on other subjects in elementary schools--at least to some degree. The subject most affected is social studies, while physical education is least affected. In addition, 60% of districts require a specific amount of time for reading in elementary schools. Ninety-seven percent of high-poverty districts have this requirement, compared to 55%-59% of districts with lower levels of poverty. 3. Schools are paying much more attention to the alignment of curriculum and instruction and are analyzing test score data much more closely. Changes in teaching and learning are occurring in schools that have not made AYP for two years. The most common improvements are greater alignment of curriculum and instruction with standards and assessments, more use of test data to modify instruction, use of research to inform decisions about improvement strategies, improvement in the quality and quantity of professional development for teachers, and the provision of more intensive instruction to low-achieving students. 4. Low-performing schools are undergoing makeovers rather than the most radical kinds of restructuring. …

Membrane Bioreactors for Industrial Wastewater Treatment: Applicability and Selection of Optimal System Configuration

The membrane biological reactor (MBR) configuration has proven to be optimal for treatment of many industrial wastewaters when treatment efficiency is an important consideration. Since installation of the first large, U.S., full scale MBR system for industrial wastewater treatment at the General Motors plant in Mansfield, Ohio in the early 1990s, use of membranes for biomasseffluent separation in biological systems has gained wide appeal both in this country and internationally. Industrial applications have ranged from nitrogen removal from food processing wastewaters to use of the technology to deal with complex organics in wastewaters originating from the production of pharmaceuticals and the manufacture of polymeric membrane materials. Historically, low membrane flux, low permeability, limited membrane life and high membrane costs hindered broad application of the MBR technology. The membrane industry, including independent research and development organizations and system suppliers, invested considerable effort to overcome these limitations over the past decade. The result has been a dramatic increase in the number of new commercial system embodiments of the MBR configuration offered by suppliers and a rapid acceleration in the use of the technology for treatment of industrial wastewaters and other aqueous streams. MBR systems can be categorized according to the location of the membrane component. Until recently, the immersed or internal membrane MBR was typically more cost-effective than the external membrane MBR particularly in the treatment of larger wastewater flows. The technical advantages of the external membrane configuration, and recent significant membrane and system design advances resulting in reductions in operating power costs, have translated to broader application of this configuration. External membrane MBRs have recently been designed to treat wastewater flows as high as 3785 m 3 /day.

Some thoughts on quality

AbstractA view of quality is given from inside an independent contract research organization (CRO) that undertakes regulated studies as well as unregulated studies and has as its primary focus on ‘the project’. Focusing on the project brings into play dependency, which means that the success of the project is dependent on the company's Board, its management, and its technical and support staffs. Dependency is a factor that needs to be considered when talking quality. Some project, company, and client dependencies are given. Quality assurance and quality control play important roles in quality operations, but there is more.Quality needs to be a built‐in aspect, which here is termed ‘quality inherency’, and not an add‐on. Quality should be seen as a quality permeation system powered from the top management position; and as a quality operational system that comprises all technical and business processes, their sub‐processes and interfaces, or linkages. Quality needs to be functional and regularly improved and maintained. Eight major activities are discussed that are needed to achieve quality inherency. Ten processes, their sub‐processes and linkages are presented in a systems diagram as well as summarized in words. The article describes what success means to the client, the research organization's management, the project team member, and the project leader and ends with conclusions. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Adenoviral-Mediated Transgene Expression in Liver Cancer Patients

In gene-therapy protocols, imaging of gene expression is needed to evaluate the transduction efficiency of the vector, its tissue distribution, and the duration of transgene expression and to assess the feasibility of repeated vector administration. We have used positron emission tomography with a fluorine-18-labeled penciclovir analogue to monitor thymidine kinase gene expression after intratumoral injection of a first-generation recombinant adenovirus in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Patients were enrolled in a pilot clinical trial and treated with escalating doses of the vector. Two days after adenovirus inoculation, transgene expression was evaluated during the first hours after administration of the radiotracer both on the treated lesion and on a whole-body basis. Transgene expression in the tumor was dependent on the injected dose of the adenovirus and was detectable in all patients who received > or = 10(12) viral particles. However, when the study was repeated 9 days after vector injection, no expression could be observed. It is interesting to note that no specific expression of the transgene could be detected in distant organs or in the surrounding cirrhotic tissue in any of the cases studied. Our findings show the real possibility of imaging transgene expression in humans by using viral vectors. We show that hepatocarcinoma is a permissive tumor for adenoviral infection and that the nontumoral cirrhotic liver is spared from transduction when the vector is administered by intratumoral injection. These results show that positron emission tomography imaging may help in the design of gene-therapy strategies and in the clinical assessment of new-generation vectors.

Closing the “Seams”: U.S. Security Policy in the Americas

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsAdam IsacsonAdam Isacson has worked since 1995 at the Center for International Policy, an independent research and advocacy organization in Washington D.C. He coordinates a program that monitors security and U.S. military assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean.

Anthrax Vaccines

SUMMARYAnthrax, an uncommon disease in humans, is caused by a large bacterium, Bacillus anthracis. The risk of inhalation infection is the main indication for anthrax vaccination. Pre-exposure vaccination is provided by an acellular vaccine (anthrax vaccine adsorbed or AVA), which contains anthrax toxin elements and results in protective immunity after 3 to 6 doses. Anthrax vaccine precipitated (AVP) is administered at primovaccination in 3 doses with a booster dose after 6 months. To evoke and maintain protective immunity, it is necessary to administer a booster dose once at 12 months. In Russia, live spore vaccine (STI) has been used in a two-dose schedule. Current anthrax vaccines show considerable local and general reactogenicity (erythema, induration, soreness, fever). Serious adverse reactions occur in about 1% of vaccinations. New second-generation vaccines in current research programs include recombinant live vaccines and recombinant sub-unit vaccines.

How Americans Think about International Education and Why it Matters

The public has not yet embraced international education. It is time, Ms. Bales argues, to articulate a clear vision of international education to replace the perception that it is a nonessential add-on to the conventional curriculum. SCHOLARS of social movements offer important advice for those who would attempt to catapult international education onto the nation's policy agenda: There is no such thing as a social problem, until enough people, with enough power in the society, agree that there is. Social problems are produced by public opinion, not by particular social conditions, undesirable or otherwise.1 Taken in this light, the fact that student knowledge of the world is demonstrably inadequate or that fewer than 40,000 American students study Chinese is unlikely to result in a widespread call for education reform. And, despite the fact that policy leaders in government and business have publicly expressed their concern about isolationism, elite opinion in itself is insufficient to propel the changes that are necessary to transform the curriculum. That will depend on the reactions of constituents and of influential individuals who must weigh international education against other priorities. The challenge for those who would advance internationalizing the American curriculum as an important public goal lies in helping opinion leaders engage citizens in the issue in a way that makes vivid the transformative power of the educational changes proposed. At the same time, educators and opinion leaders must anticipate and avoid unproductive habits of thinking that are likely to derail public understanding. The public has a lot on its mind just now, from jobs and health care to failing schools and terrorist threats. Without a clear and well-stated message about the importance and promise of international education, this issue is unlikely to attach itself to other public goals that Americans are eager to address. The findings reported here come from an admittedly small sample of research projects on international education conducted by the FrameWorks Institute. FrameWorks interviewed 20 average citizens in Colorado and Connecticut to elicit their associations with international education and conducted two focus groups in North Carolina. However, this body of work is amplified dramatically by FrameWorks' multi-year investigation of American attitudes toward international issues in general -- funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and others -- which consisted of more than a dozen multi-method studies, including two large-scale surveys of public opinion. The following observations are based on work conducted by FrameWorks' partners, the independent research organizations Cultural Logic and Public Knowledge. Through a Glass Darkly a review of previous research on U.S. attitudes toward international education, public opinion expert Meg Bostrom concluded, In several ways, Americans demonstrate strong support for international education, including foreign language requirements, international education courses, study abroad, and international students on U.S. campuses. However, few say these skills are essential, leaving international education easily displaced by other priorities.2 The research by FrameWorks confirms this assessment. Framing, as it is used by FrameWorks researchers, refers to the subtle selection of certain aspects of an issue in order to cue a specific response. As researchers have shown, the way an issue is framed explains who is responsible and suggests potential solutions conveyed by images, stereotypes, messengers, and metaphors. The advantage of strategic frame analysis is that it allows researchers to document and deconstruct the frames currently in the public consciousness and to understand their impact on public policy preferences. Perhaps the most important finding in FrameWorks' research is the lack of a well-defined public vision or definition of international education. …

Science policy for risk governance.

Rather than regarding risk governance as a burden, science should embrace it as an opportunity to build public trust

Ex vivo chemoresponse assay of ovarian cancers predicts clinical outcome

5074 Background: Advanced ovarian cancer remains without chemotherapeutic cure. Numerous regimens can achieve clinical responses, but each only in a subset of women. The challenge is to predict which regimen an individual will respond to prior to its administration. Methods: We examined the clinical outcome of 317 women from 9 practices from whom ovarian cancer specimens were tested with an ex vivo chemoresponse assay between 4/30/97 and 4/30/02. The assay results were scored for sensitivity or resistance based on live cell number after exposure to varied concentrations of each chemotherapeutic regimen, and reported to the referring physician. Clinical data was compiled by an independent clinical research organization. Cox Proportional Hazard Model analysis identified independent prognostic factors. Results: Classification into two groups (sensitive and resistant) failed to yield statistically significant differences in progression free interval (PFI). Reclassification into three groups (sensitive, intermediate, and resistant) and the application of quality filters developed since 1997 was highly predictive of outcome. Of the 317 cases, 135 were treated with the same regimen that had been tested: the hazard ratio (HR) for PFI of ex vivo resistant tumors was 2.9 times (95% CI: 1.4 to 6.3; P<0.01) that of ex vivo sensitive tumors. The PFI of women whose tumors scored as intermediate fell between those scored as sensitive and those scored as resistant. When analyses were expanded to include all women who received at least one of the drugs tested, the relationship remained robust (HR=2.1; CI: 1.2 to 3.1; P=0.01; N=256). In the most challenging cohort, recurrent cancer, the HR was 2.6 (CI: 1.1 to 6.5; P<0.05; N=77). Conclusions: These data strongly suggest that incorporating an ex vivo chemoresponse assay can improve the clinical outcome of individual patients receiving either single or combination chemotherapy regimens. Author Disclosure Employment or Leadership Consultant or Advisory Stock Ownership Honoraria Research Funding Expert Testimony Other Remuneration Precision Therapeutics, Inc. Precision Therapeutics, Inc. Precision Therapeutics, Inc.

An ex vivo chemoresponse assay predicts carboplatin-induced progression-free interval in ovarian cancer

5134 Background: Carboplatin is the mainstay of primary ovarian cancer and is often used in recurrent ovarian cancer. The ability to identify tumors that will respond to this drug prior to selection of therapy would allow patients to avoid ineffective treatments and should lead to an improvement in outcome. Methods: We evaluated an ex vivo chemoresponse assay in predicting progression-free interval (PFI) in patients with ovarian cancer in response to Carboplatin-containing regimens. 128 women with primary or recurrent ovarian carcinoma, who were subsequently treated with a Carboplatin-containing regimen, had tumors tested with an ex vivo chemoresponse assay between 4/30/1997 and 4/30/2002. The assay results were scored for sensitivity or resistance based on live cell number after exposure to varied concentrations of Carboplatin. PFI and assay results were linked by an independent contract research organization. Cox Proportional Hazard Model analysis was used to identify independent prognostic factors. Results: Results of the Carboplatin assays for these patients were a significant independent predictor of PFI (p=0.049, Hazard Ratio (HR) of cases with a Resistant assay result vs. a Sensitive assay result (HRR-S)=2.52 [95% CI: 1.01 to 6.30], HR of patients with a Resistant assay result vs. an Intermediate assay result (HRR-I)=1.59 [95% CI: 1.00 to 2.51]). Further, the predictive accuracy of the assay improved as process improvements were implemented: 70 primary assays before 1/1/2001 were suggestive (p=0.16, HRR-S=2.60 [95% CI: 0.69 to 9.86]); whereas 43 primary assays since 1/1/2001 were significant (p=0.048, HRR-S =4.58 [95% CI: 1.01 to 20.80]). Conclusion: These data demonstrate the utility of an ex vivo chemoresponse assay in predicting the clinical outcome of ovarian cancer patients treated with Carboplatin-containing regimens. Moreover, continuous quality improvements enhanced the efficacy of the ex vivo chemoresponse assay. Author Disclosure Employment or Leadership Consultant or Advisory Stock Ownership Honoraria Research Funding Expert Testimony Other Remuneration Precision Therapeutics, Inc. Precision Therapeutics, Inc. Precision Therapeutics, Inc.

An ex vivo chemoresponse assay predicts carboplatin-induced progression-free interval in ovarian cancer

5134 Background: Carboplatin is the mainstay of primary ovarian cancer and is often used in recurrent ovarian cancer. The ability to identify tumors that will respond to this drug prior to selection of therapy would allow patients to avoid ineffective treatments and should lead to an improvement in outcome. Methods: We evaluated an ex vivo chemoresponse assay in predicting progression-free interval (PFI) in patients with ovarian cancer in response to Carboplatin-containing regimens. 128 women with primary or recurrent ovarian carcinoma, who were subsequently treated with a Carboplatin-containing regimen, had tumors tested with an ex vivo chemoresponse assay between 4/30/1997 and 4/30/2002. The assay results were scored for sensitivity or resistance based on live cell number after exposure to varied concentrations of Carboplatin. PFI and assay results were linked by an independent contract research organization. Cox Proportional Hazard Model analysis was used to identify independent prognostic factors. Results: Results of the Carboplatin assays for these patients were a significant independent predictor of PFI (p=0.049, Hazard Ratio (HR) of cases with a Resistant assay result vs. a Sensitive assay result (HRR-S)=2.52 [95% CI: 1.01 to 6.30], HR of patients with a Resistant assay result vs. an Intermediate assay result (HRR-I)=1.59 [95% CI: 1.00 to 2.51]). Further, the predictive accuracy of the assay improved as process improvements were implemented: 70 primary assays before 1/1/2001 were suggestive (p=0.16, HRR-S=2.60 [95% CI: 0.69 to 9.86]); whereas 43 primary assays since 1/1/2001 were significant (p=0.048, HRR-S =4.58 [95% CI: 1.01 to 20.80]). Conclusion: These data demonstrate the utility of an ex vivo chemoresponse assay in predicting the clinical outcome of ovarian cancer patients treated with Carboplatin-containing regimens. Moreover, continuous quality improvements enhanced the efficacy of the ex vivo chemoresponse assay. Author Disclosure Employment or Leadership Consultant or Advisory Stock Ownership Honoraria Research Funding Expert Testimony Other Remuneration Precision Therapeutics, Inc. Precision Therapeutics, Inc. Precision Therapeutics, Inc.

S. Davidova and K. J. Thomson (eds). Romanian Agriculture and Transition toward the EU. Lexington Books, Lanham, 2003. ISBN: 0-7391-0518-3, 232 pp., Price: US$65 (hardcover).

Journal Article S. Davidova and K. J. Thomson (eds). Romanian Agriculture and Transition toward the EU. Lexington Books, Lanham, 2003. ISBN: 0-7391-0518-3, 232 pp., Price: US$65 (hardcover). Get access Štefan Bojnec Štefan Bojnec Independent Research Organization, Ljubljana Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar European Review of Agricultural Economics, Volume 30, Issue 4, December 2003, Pages 562–564, https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/30.4.562 Published: 01 December 2003

Vital Signs 2003–2004

Environmental publisher, Earthscan has announced details of the latest annual edition of its Vital Signs guide. Vital Signs 2003–2004 provides up-to-the-minute information on trends in food, energy and atmosphere, economic, transportation and communications, health and social, military and governance, environment, economy and resource economics. The annual guide compiled by the Worldwatch Institute allows readers to track key indicators that show mankind’s social, economic and environmental progress — or the lack of it. Each trend is presented in both text and graphics, providing a thorough, well-documented and very accessible overview. Topics covered include: The Inequities of Climate Change and Environment Features. The Worldwatch Institute is an independent research organisation that works for an environmentally sustainable and socially just society. By providing compelling, accessible, and fact-based analysis of critical global issues, Worldwatch informs people around the world about the complex interactions between people, nature and economies. This is a short news story only. Visit www.re-focus.net for the latest renewable energy industry news.

Characterization of coarse particles in alumina powders by a wet sieving method

Abstract The wet-sieving method was applied to determine the content of coarse particles in commercial alumina powders by four independent research organizations participated in the Round-Robin Testing. The results showed that those powders clearly contain 700 to several thousands ppm of coarse particles with the size >25 μm, whereas they could not be detected with the conventional particle size analyzer because of their low concentration. SEM and polarized light microscope observations revealed that the coarse particles contained several types of aggregates which survived during the production processes of alumina by the Bayer process.

The Third Leg of the Antitrust Stool

ALBERT A. FOER is president, American Antitrust Institute, an independent education, research, and advocacy organization (see www.antitrustinstitute.org). 1The math of my example is simple. A 50% chance of tying and a 50% chance of winning in overtime yields a 25% probability of winning. A 33% chance of winning is better. Antitrust policy is unbalanced. Like a two-legged stool, it wobbles in a state of disequilibrium. The two legs are law and neoclassical economics. Law comes at the relationship between the state and the private sector through objective rules and remediation for violating authoritative communal norms. Economics comes at it through the decentralized but objective interaction of supply and demand in the market. Missing is the focus on the subjective world of both the firm and the managers who make decisions within the firm and the consumers who purchase from the firm. By providing this perspective, business schools have the potential for making a major contribution to the evolution of antitrust policy. The disciplines of marketing and strategic management can be the third leg that gives the antitrust stool stability. First, business schools possess the ability to help antitrust move beyond neoclassical abstractions about economic man. Second, business schools have something important to say about dynamic economics, which is not captured by neoclassical assumptions.

The Roles of Independent Research and Technology Organizations in the United Kingdom's Technology Transfer Mechanism to SMEs

Independent Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs) provide an increasing proportion of the UK's technology services requirements. RTOs, often former state research establishments spun out into the private sector, provide technology consulting and networking services to specific sectors or for generic technologies; some are membership-based organizations while others work for contract clients. In this paper we explore the roles and services provided by RTOs, together with the measures being taken to assist small firms that, for many RTOs, form a new and challenging market. The diversity of services and approaches to SMEs are related, in part, to the different origins of RTOs. The research indicates three forms of technology services market failure that suggest a need for ongoing external support for the market's mechanism.

IMEC pushes the limits of CMOS

Abstract An evolution that started with thermionic valve-based mainframe computers and can now put multiples of their processing power into a modern lap-top is today proceeding towards ambient intelligence, in which ever more compact processing will be all around us and, quite literally, part of the furniture. Convergence of information and communications technology (ICT), today exemplified by the conjunction of GSM (global system for mobile) telephony with ‘palm’ PC power, will go much further as microscopic electronics become nanoscopic. Ultimately we will have the power to merge biological and inanimate intelligence to create extended neuro-electronic systems. Visionary stuff, but although the day of the cyborg may still be some way off, IMEC (Inter-University MicroElectronics Centre) — Europe’s leading independent microelectronics research organization — sees its role as expediting some aspects of this future. This means, inter alia, a dedication to maintaining the currency of Moore’s Law, in the belief that this can continue for several years yet before fundamental limits impose insurmountable barriers. Success will require further extension of the boundaries of complementary metal oxide silicon (CMOS), that backbone of mainstream electronic technology. Materials, both the manipulation of existing and development of new, are germane to this, as Materials Today discovered on a recent visit.

In Brief

The UK's two prime cancer research charities – the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) and the Cancer Research Campaign (CRC) – are merging into what will become the biggest independent cancer research organization in the world: Cancer Research UK (CRUK), effective February 2002. The new organization will combine CRC's strong translational research programme with world-class basic cancer research at the ICRF. The joint forces mount up to 3000 researchers and doctors with a research budget of £130 million a year. Andrew Miller, a biophysicist and former principal and vice chancellor of the University of Stirling, has been appointed as Interim Chief Executive and will mainly focus on the task of integrating the two organizations. Meanwhile, ICRF director general Paul Nurse acts as director of science at CRUK, and CRC director general Gordon McVie will be in charge of fundraising and communications. The funding model of the new charity will be styled after the US National Cancer Institute: about 50% will be spent in universities, and 50% in present labs. In an interview with BioMedNet, Miller said: ‘To have things all together in one building such as in Lincoln's Inn Fields has huge benefits. Different people meet over coffee or in the canteen. It's very powerful there, but we are ignoring a lot of people on the outside.’ The launch of CRUK coincided with the presentation of the Nobel Prize for Medicine to Paul Nurse for his pioneering work on the understanding of cell-cycle regulation. The 100th Nobel Prize was awarded jointly with Tim Hunt, also of the ICRF, and Leland Hartwell (of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Seattle, USA). Links: http://www.crc.org.uk; http://www.icnet.uk J.d.B. & D.S.

Affiliation Bias and Expert Disagreement in Framing the Nicotine Addiction Debate

This study examined the relation between professional affiliation and the framing of expert congressional testimony about nicotine's addictiveness. Experts were chosen from three different types of sponsoring organizations: the tobacco industry, government, and independent research organizations, both pro- and anti-tobacco. The study sought to identify common technical biases and policy concerns that could define an overall “expert” attitude, as well as differences where the experts’ framing of nicotine addiction would reveal attempts to favor their own institutions. Semantic network analysis was applied to each group's discourse, thereby clustering associated words that represented major themes in each type of expert group. Clusters revealed a common preoccupation with narrowly defined, lab-based evidence, but more locally, each group framed the issues to support its sponsor's strategy.

Long-term instructional development: A 20-year ID and implementation project

This article describes the development and implementation in the schools over a 20-year period of the Energy Source Program, a comprehensive K-12 energy education curriculum. The program was developed beginning in 1980 using state-of-the-art development procedures for that time and has been used to date by more than 12 million American students to learn about energy and energy issues. End-of-unit posttest scores for the elementary and high school units averaged above 80% for their field tests. Data obtained from a large sample during the first three years of installation of the program in the schools indicated that posttest scores remained at a level during installation similar to that during the field-test phase. A study conducted in the early 1990s by an independent research organization to assess the program's long-term effects revealed that grade 6 students who had used one or more units from the program had significantly greater energy knowledge and better energy conservation habits than students who had not used any units. A set of 10 guidelines are offered for long-term instructional development and implementation projects.