Influential Report Research Articles

Recent Progress in Alzheimer's Disease Research, Part 3: Diagnosis and Treatment.

The field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research has grown exponentially over the past few decades, especially since the isolation and identification of amyloid-β from postmortem examination of the brains of AD patients. Recently, the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (JAD) put forth approximately 300 research reports which were deemed to be the most influential research reports in the field of AD since 2010. JAD readers were asked to vote on these most influential reports. In this 3-part review, we review the results of the 300 most influential AD research reports to provide JAD readers with a readily accessible, yet comprehensive review of the state of contemporary research. Notably, this multi-part review identifies the “hottest” fields of AD research providing guidance for both senior investigators as well as investigators new to the field on what is the most pressing fields within AD research. Part 1 of this review covers pathogenesis, both on a molecular and macro scale. Part 2 review genetics and epidemiology, and part 3 covers diagnosis and treatment. This part of the review, diagnosis and treatment, reviews the latest diagnostic criteria, biomarkers, imaging, and treatments in AD.

Un marché, une monnaie : un argument erroné ( post factum ) ?

Pourquoi l'Europe devait-elle opter pour une union monétaire ? « Un marché a besoin d'une monnaie ! » : voici, à première vue, l'argument clé du rapport influent de la Commission européenne intitulé « Un marché, une monnaie », publié en 1990. Une étude plus détaillée de ce rapport laisse toutefois entrevoir une situation assez différente. Le long sous-titre est plutôt agnostique : « Une évaluation des avantages et des coûts potentiels liés à la formation d'une union économique et monétaire ». Une analyse approfondie du rapport révèle que l'argument clé fonctionnait plutôt dans l'autre sens : une monnaie unique créerait un marché unique. Malheureusement, en 1990, les auteurs ne se rendaient pas compte qu'une « monnaie unique » encouragerait d'importants flux financiers transfrontaliers, lesquels conduiraient, un jour, à une crise financière très coûteuse. Classification JEL : F15, F36, F45, G28.

Recent Progress in Alzheimer's Disease Research, Part 1: Pathology.

The field of Alzheimer's disease (AD) research has grown exponentially over the past few decades, especially since the isolation and identification of amyloid-β from postmortem examination of the brains of AD patients. Recently, the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (JAD) put forth approximately 300 research reports which were deemed to be the most influential research reports in the field of AD since 2010. JAD readers were asked to vote on these most influential reports. In this 3-part review, we review the results of the 300 most influential AD research reports to provide JAD readers with a readily accessible, yet comprehensive review of the state of contemporary research. Notably, this multi-part review identifies the "hottest" fields of AD research providing guidance for both senior investigators as well as investigators new to the field on what is the most pressing fields within AD research. Part 1 of this review covers pathogenesis, both on a molecular and macro scale. Part 2 review genetics and epidemiology, and part 3 covers diagnosis and treatment. This part of the review, pathology, reviews amyloid-β, tau, prions, brain structure, and functional changes with AD and the neuroimmune response of AD.

Black Labor, White Sugar: Caribbean Braceros and Their Struggle for Power in the Cuban Sugar Industry

Scholars have long recognized the importance of Haitian and British Caribbean migrants to early twentieth-century Cuba. Although they loomed large in Cuban racial debates and sustained one of the largest sugar industries in the world, the migrants themselves received disproportionately less attention than the analyses of racial ideologies, sugar production, and empire in which they were evidentiary fodder. With Black Labor, White Sugar, Philip Howard joins a growing group of scholars both within and outside Cuba who are analyzing migrants and migration more explicitly, a reflection of increased interest in Caribbean migration, transnational history, and Cuba outside Havana. Howard traces the racial and economic exploitation of the migrants and their varied efforts to assert control over their lives through the first decades of the twentieth century. In so doing, he makes new claims about the extent of migrants' labor organizing in the sugar industry and adds to ongoing historiographic debates about race and mobilization in the Cuban Republic.Howard explains migration to Cuba as a convergence, not just of economic and political conditions but also of racial debates and worker consciousness within Cuba. For students of race in Cuba, the 1913 legalization of Caribbean labor migration is second only to the 1912 violent repression of the all-black Partido Independiente de Color for what it reveals about ideas of race, citizenship, work, and political power in the Cuban Republic. Howard, more than any other previous scholar, posits an explicit connection between the two. He shows that an influential report on labor and migration by the Cuban Agricultural Department was written during the 1912 repression and actually made subtle references to the unfolding events as it recommended allowing Caribbean migration. From this perspective, immigrants were brought in not just according to the arithmetic of population and wage rates but also based on a calculus attuned to an emerging, assertive black Cuban consciousness.Howard's analysis of sugar workers follows the same logic. Planters employed the management tactics from slavery to successive groups of workers until economic crisis and Cuban xenophobic nationalism closed Cuban borders in the 1930s. Initially, Caribbean migrants were recruited amid rising Afro-Cuban mobilization. Soon, Howard argues, immigrant workers, especially Jamaicans, adopted the class consciousness of worker internationalism and anarcho-syndicalism, followed later by the race consciousness of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association. By the 1920s, poor economic conditions in Cuba reduced Jamaicans' willingness to migrate; likewise, their reputation for mobilization made them less desirable to sugar planters, who increasingly turned to Haitians, maintaining the pattern of employers hiring the most exploitable labor. Although he treats different immigrant groups separately, Howard suggests that when it came to their participation in formal organizations and efforts to assert autonomy workers of all nationalities participated.Black Labor, White Sugar was published on the heels of Robert Whitney and Graciela Chailloux Laffita's book on the British Caribbean presence in Cuba, but the texts focus on different themes. Howard goes into more depth about workers' experiences and ends with the deportations in the 1930s, whereas Whitney and Chailloux Laffita spend more time on British Caribbean migrants' identities and individual interactions with British imperial and Cuban national state structures, an analysis that focuses more on the process of repatriation and hovers more in the 1930s and subsequent decades.One of the biggest challenges in writing about migrants in the Cuban sugar industry is discerning the extent of their involvement in various labor organizations and their reception of radical ideologies. Organizations throughout Cuba published pamphlets invoking migrant workers in the eastern part of the island, but few sources provide any smoking guns about migrants' actual responses. Did field workers' cane fires represent a “nascent expression of the workers' consciousness” and a gesture of support to ongoing anarcho-syndicalist organizing (p. 141)? While in Cuba, did Marcus Garvey discuss the US occupation of Haiti, as he had in speeches elsewhere? If so, were any Haitian immigrants there to hear him and understand his speech? Did Haitian writer Jacques Roumain's 1944 fictional account of a Haitian cane cutter accurately reflect the class consciousness of workers a decade before? In each of these cases, Howard responds to the ambiguous and circumstantial evidence in the affirmative, albeit cautiously. He thus makes what are perhaps the strongest claims yet for immigrant workers' participation in formal unions and radicalism. Alongside other textured histories of labor and mobilization in eastern Cuba, Black Labor, White Sugar is sure to engender lively debate.

Cognitive dissonance resolution depends on episodic memory

The notion that past choices affect preferences is one of the most influential concepts of social psychology since its first report in the 50 s, and its theorization within the cognitive dissonance framework. In the free-choice paradigm (FCP) after choosing between two similarly rated items, subjects reevaluate chosen items as more attractive and rejected items as less attractive. However the relations prevailing between episodic memory and choice-induced preference change (CIPC) remain highly debated: is this phenomenon dependent or independent from memory of past choices? We solve this theoretical debate by demonstrating that CIPC occurs exclusively for items which were correctly remembered as chosen or rejected during the choice stage. We used a combination of fMRI and intra-cranial electrophysiological recordings to reveal a modulation of left hippocampus activity, a hub of episodic memory retrieval, immediately before the occurrence of CIPC during item reevaluation. Finally, we show that contrarily to a previous influential report flawed by a statistical artifact, this phenomenon is absent in amnesic patients for forgotten items. These results demonstrate the dependence of cognitive dissonance on conscious episodic memory. This link between current preferences and previous choices suggests a homeostatic function of this regulative process, aiming at preserving subjective coherence.

Scientific profile of brain–computer interfaces: Bibliometric analysis in a 10-year period

BackgroundWith the tremendous advances in the field of brain–computer interfaces (BCI), the literature in this field has grown exponentially; examination of highly cited articles is a tool that can help identify outstanding scientific studies and landmark papers. This study examined the characteristics of 100 highly cited BCI papers over the past 10 years. MethodsThe Web of Science was searched for highly cited papers related to BCI research published from 2006 to 2015. The top 100 highly cited articles were identified. The number of citations and countries, and the corresponding institutions, year of publication, study design, and research area were noted and analyzed. ResultsThe 100 highly cited articles had a mean of 137.1(SE: 15.38) citations. These articles were published in 45 high-impact journals, and mostly in TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (n=14). Of the 100 articles, 72 were original articles and the rest were review articles. These articles came from 15 countries, with the USA contributing most of the highly cited articles (n=52). Fifty-seven institutions produced these 100 highly cited articles, led by Duke University (n=7). ConclusionsThis study provides a historical perspective on the progress in the field of BCI, allows recognition of the most influential reports, and provides useful information that can indicate areas requiring further investigation.

Hype among low-carbon technologies: Carbon capture and storage in comparison

Abstract Carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technology has become a crucial part of climate change mitigation strategies around the world; yet its progress has been slow. Some have criticised CCS as a distracting hype, even as mainstream support continues. This article adapts the literature on technological hypes to develop a framework suitable for technologies with limited media/public exposure, such as CCS. It provides a qualitative context and analyses seven quantitative indicators of hype that are largely internal to the CCS technology regime. Throughout, the article contrasts results for CCS with those of comparable technologies. The main findings, which support the view that CCS has been hyped, are as follows. “Expectations” mounted rapidly in the form of project announcements for electricity applications of CCS and deployment forecasts in influential reports. However, announcements soon plummeted. “Commitments” remained high, nonetheless, judging by allocations in public budgets and number of peer-reviewed publications. Meanwhile, “outcomes”—in terms of patents, prototypes and estimated costs—reveal few if any improvements for CCS. Considering these findings and the characteristics of CCS, its development is likely to be more difficult than initially expected. Accordingly, this article calls for decisively prioritising CCS for industrial and, potentially, bioenergy uses. Coal- and gas-fired power plants may be replaced by non-CCS technologies, so power CCS development is far less pressing.

P.1.g.029 - Liraglutide in psychiatric patients: preliminary results

With the tremendous advances in the field of brain–computer interfaces (BCI), the literature in this field has grown exponentially; examination of highly cited articles is a tool that can help identify outstanding scientific studies and landmark papers. This study examined the characteristics of 100 highly cited BCI papers over the past 10 years.The Web of Science was searched for highly cited papers related to BCI research published from 2006 to 2015. The top 100 highly cited articles were identified. The number of citations and countries, and the corresponding institutions, year of publication, study design, and research area were noted and analyzed.The 100 highly cited articles had a mean of 137.1(SE: 15.38) citations. These articles were published in 45 high-impact journals, and mostly in TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (n = 14). Of the 100 articles, 72 were original articles and the rest were review articles. These articles came from 15 countries, with the USA contributing most of the highly cited articles (n = 52). Fifty-seven institutions produced these 100 highly cited articles, led by Duke University (n = 7).This study provides a historical perspective on the progress in the field of BCI, allows recognition of the most influential reports, and provides useful information that can indicate areas requiring further investigation.

The Quantum Paradox of Truthiness: Satire, Activism, and the Postmodern Condition

The Quantum Paradox of Truthiness: Satire, Activism, and the Postmodern Condition

Chemical thermodynamic data. 1. The concept of links to the chemical elements and the historical development of key thermodynamic data

Chemical thermodynamic data remain a keystone for geochemical modeling and reactive transport simulation as applied to an increasing number of applications in the earth sciences, as well as applications in other areas including metallurgy, material science, and industrial process design. The last century has seen the development of a large body of thermodynamic data and a number of major compilations. The past several decades have seen the development of thermodynamic databases in digital form designed to support computer calculations. However, problems with thermodynamic data appear to be persistent. One problem pertains to the use of inconsistent primary key reference data. Such data pertain to elemental reference forms and key, stoichiometrically simple chemical species including metal oxides, CO2, water, and aqueous species such as Na+ and Cl−. A consistent set of primary key data (standard Gibbs energies, standard enthalpies, and standard entropies for key chemical species) for 298.15K and 1bar pressure is essential. Thermochemical convention is to define the standard Gibbs energy and the standard enthalpy of an individual chemical species in terms of formation from reference forms of the constituent chemical elements. We propose a formal concept of “links” to the elemental reference forms. This concept involves a documented understanding of all reactions and calculations leading to values for a formation property (standard Gibbs energy or enthalpy). A valid link consists of two parts: (a) the path of reactions and corrections and (b) the associated data, which are key data. Such a link differs from a bare “key” or “reference” datum in that it requires additional information. Some or all of its associated data may also be key data. In evaluating a reported thermodynamic datum, one should identify the links to the chemical elements, a process which can be time-consuming and which may lead to a dead end (an incomplete link). The use of two or more inconsistent links to the same elemental reference form in a thermodynamic database will result in an inconsistency in the database. Thus, in constructing a database, it is important to establish a set of reliable links (generally resulting in a set of primary reference data) and then correct all data adopted subsequently for consistency with that set. Recommended values of key data have not been constant through history. We review some of this history through the lens of major compilations and other influential reports, and note a number of problem areas. Finally, we illustrate the concepts developed in this paper by applying them to some key species of geochemical interest, including liquid water; quartz and aqueous silica; and gibbsite, corundum, and the aqueous aluminum ion.

The National Academy of Medicine and the Cardiovascular Community: Partnering for a Healthier Future.

We are entering an era of unprecedented opportunities and challenges in health and medicine. With recent advances in science and technology, as well as the advent of big data, we have seen tremendous developments in biomedical science and the practice of medicine. Yet, the global disease burden continues to rise, demand for care is increasing, costs are unsustainable, and health inequity persists. Globally, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the No. 1 disease burden, driven by the rise in noncommunicable diseases such as obesity and diabetes mellitus. The need for cardiovascular medicine will continue to grow as the global population ages and developing countries become more affluent, adopt a Western lifestyle, and become more urbanized. There have been impressive advances in cardiovascular diagnostics and therapeutics in the areas of precision medicine, molecular/metabolic imaging, endovascular procedures, gene and cell therapies, RNA therapeutics, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and digital health. However, cardiovascular care is fragmented and expensive. Furthermore, in the current healthcare landscape, access, quality, and costs are top priorities. The Affordable Care Act introduced a number of payment and delivery system reforms to increase the quality of health care while controlling costs, such as accountable care organizations, patient-centered medical homes, and mechanisms to link payments to quality. This value-focused health care is here to stay; therefore, we must adopt this approach for cardiovascular medicine. Importantly, we must do more to move from a disease-treatment model to a model that prioritizes and enables prevention. Unfortunately, current health challenges do not always lend themselves to straightforward solutions. There is a real need for evidence-based, independent, and nonpolitical advice that can inform health policy and thereby shape solutions and drive change. Indeed, society can benefit enormously from the activities of an independent scientific academy with the directive to mobilize the best minds to provide objective …

The dream of health information for all.

In 2004, an influential report in The Lancet suggested that open health information for all could be achieved by 2015. Unfortunately, this goal has not yet been accomplished. Despite progress in obtaining quality scientific articles in Latin America, it remains difficult to reliably access new and cutting-edge research. As graduating Peruvian medical students, we have confronted many obstacles in obtaining access to quality and up-to-date information and a constant tension between accessing "what is available" rather than "what we need". As we have learned, these limitations affect not only our own education but also the choices we make in the management of our patients. In the following article, we state our point of view regarding limitations in access to scientific articles in Peru and Latin America.

The dream of health information for all

In 2004, an influential report in The Lancet suggested that open health information for all could be achieved by 2015. Unfortunately, this goal has not yet been accomplished. Despite progress in obtaining quality scientific articles in Latin America, it remains difficult to reliably access new and cutting-edge research. As graduating Peruvian medical students, we have confronted many obstacles in obtaining access to quality and up-to-date information and a constant tension between accessing "what is available" rather than "what we need". As we have learned, these limitations affect not only our own education but also the choices we make in the management of our patients. In the following article, we state our point of view regarding limitations in access to scientific articles in Peru and Latin America.

The Problem with the Delta Cost Project Database

The Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS) collects data on Title IV institutions. The Delta Cost Project (DCP) integrated data from multiple IPEDS survey components into a public-use longitudinal dataset. The DCP Database was the basis for dozens of journal articles and a series of influential policy reports. Unfortunately, a flaw in the construction of the DCP Database may make it inappropriate for particular analyses. Specifically, the DCP Database often collapsed data from state systems, which consist of multiple Title IV institutions, into a single observation. For example, the University of Texas-Austin observation contained data from all Title IV Institutions in the UT system (e.g. UT-Dallas, UT-Brownsville). This research note investigates how many institutions were affected by this problem, identifies the extent to which published research used the DCP Database in potentially inappropriate ways, and conducts selected analyses to understand whether the problem can affect empirical results. Results show that the problem was concentrated in the public sector but only affected a small proportion of public institutions. However, analyses suggested that this problem can substantively affect empirical results. Therefore, we argue that the DCP Database should not be used to analyze public institutions. We conclude by discussing the creation of alternative databases.

Opportunity to Learn and Students from Economically Disadvantages Homes: Implications for School Leaders Through an Examination of Talis 2013

The proposed paper examines the relationship between student socioeconomic status (SES) and opportunity to learn (OTL), as indicated by teacher quality and instructional time, using a recent large dataset available, the 2013 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) Teacher Questionnaire. The guiding research of the comparative quantitative study is, “To what extent does student opportunity to learn differ between classes with different proportions of disadvantaged students, and how does that relationship vary by country?” Researchers consider these findings in light of various leadership theories to propose implications for school leaders.Many researchers (Growe & Montgomery, 2003; Mayer, 1997; Murnane, 2007; Toutkoushian & Curtis, 2005) have found a strong relationship between student socioeconomic status (SES) and student achievement. In his influential report, Coleman (1966) found one standard deviation gap in academic achievement between students in poverty and affluent students in parts of the United States. Recent research (e.g., Chudgar & Luschei, 2009) provides strong support that the relative influence of SES upon student achievement still varies by economic context, including overall levels of poverty and inequality, across many countries. Still other research (e.g., Carnoy, et al., 2013) supports that family academic resources (FAR) is second only to previous learning and achievement in predicting student achievement using international data. Researchers such as Walberg (1989) argued that student achievement should not be studied without considering SES.Determining that a relationship exists between student SES and achievement does not explain the mechanisms for these disparities. Opportunity to Learn (OTL) is a framework for connecting teacher practice to student achievement. The term was possibly first coined by John B. Carroll (1963) to describe the amount of time devoted to student learning (cited in Schmidt et al., 2013). More recently, researchers (e.g. Wang, 1998) have determined through hierarchical linear modeling that OTL is a multidimensional construct and suggest it should be measured at different levels, for example, the classroom and individual student levels. This group of research (e.g., Schmidt et al., 1999; Schmidt et al. 2001) has used OTL to encompass both time and exposure to relevant pedagogical content (cited in Schmidt et al., 2013). This builds on earlier research, such as that of Gamoran and Berends (1987), which explored the relationships between student achievement and exposure to challenging content through academic tracking. Other research, including the paper by USAID, Opportunity to Learn: A high impact strategy for improving educational outcomes in developing countries, emphasize that OTL can include instructional time, student-teacher ratio, and access to educational resources such as qualified teachers (EQUIP, 2008).Akiba, LeTendre, and Scribner (2007) conducted cross-national, empirical analyses of the 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data from 46 countries, measuring teacher quality and student access to quality teachers (opportunity gap). The researchers defined qualified teachers across countries by using four characteristics of teacher quality that have been linked with student achievement in past studies: (a) full certification, (b) mathematics major, (c) mathematics education major, and (d) teaching experience of three or more years. In addition to these four measures of teacher quality, the researchers also developed an overall measure of teacher quality based on the percentage of students taught by mathematics teachers who were fully certified, who majored in mathematics or mathematics education, and who had three or more years of teaching experience. By utilizing an overall measure of teacher quality, the researchers believed they would be able to examine the cumulative impact of multiple indicators of teacher quality and the impact of each individual characteristic. When the researchers examined potential differences in student opportunity to have access to fully certified teachers with mathematics or mathematics education majors and with at least three years of experience, Syria, Chile, Taiwan and the United States had the largest opportunity gap between high- and low-SES students.

The dream of health information for all.

In 2004, an influential report in The Lancet suggested that open health information for all could be achieved by 2015. Unfortunately, this goal has not yet been accomplished. Despite progress in obtaining quality scientific articles in Latin America, it remains difficult to reliably access new and cutting-edge research. As graduating Peruvian medical students, we have confronted many obstacles in obtaining access to quality and up-to-date information and a constant tension between accessing "what is available" rather than "what we need". As we have learned, these limitations affect not only our own education but also the choices we make in the management of our patients. In the following article, we state our point of view regarding limitations in access to scientific articles in Peru and Latin America.

The top 100 most cited scientific reports focused on diabetes research

The number of citations that a paper has received reflects the impact of the article within a particular medical research area. However, which articles are cited most frequently in diabetes research is unknown. We aimed to identify the most frequently cited 100 articles that describe advances focused on diabetes research. Science Citation Index Expanded database was used to determine the 100 most cited articles in diabetes research. The key characteristics of the top 100 cited articles, including citation ranking, year of publication, publishing journal, type of study, h-index, PMC citation, patent citation, country of origin, funding source, and authorship, were analyzed. The number of citations ranged from 10292 to 1121. The 100 most cited articles were published between 1962 and 2010. New England Journal of Medicine published the largest number of the most cited articles (n=23), followed by Diabetes Care (n=14) and Nature (n=12). The greatest number of contributions came from the USA, followed by the UK and Canada. RCT was the most popular article type, followed by basic science studies and observational studies. There was a positive correlation between total citations and h-indexes and PMC citations, while there was no correlation with patent citations. The most influential report in diabetes research seems to be RCT, which is performed to confirm the effectiveness and outcome of anti-diabetes drugs in patients with diabetes. This study presents insight into the historical development of diabetes research, and provides foundations for further investigations.

Global Financial Standard Setting, the G10 Committees, and International Economic Law

he global financial and credit crisis of 2007!2009 has highlighted the important role of the G10 committees in setting international standards for the regulation of bank capital adequacy, payment systems, and related issues pertaining to global financial stability. The main three G10 committeesconsisting of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (#Basel Committee$ or #BCBS$), the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (#CPSS$), and the Committee on the Global Financial Systemare the most influential international financial standardsetting bodies and exercise either direct or indirect influence over the development of banking and payment system law and regulation for all developed countries and most developing countries. Specifically, the Basel Committee has produced a number of important international agreements that regulate the amount of capital that banks must set aside against their risk-based assets, and the allocation of jurisdictional responsibility for bank regulators in overseeing the international operations of banks. Its activities have usually been kept away from the fanfare of high politics, but its recent efforts to amend the 1988 Basel Capital Accord by adopting the Basel II Capital Agreement (#Basel II$) and to extend its application to all countries where international banks operate have attracted significant critical comment and brought its work under close scrutiny by leading policymakers and regulators. The CPSS has created important agreements setting forth principles and recommendations for the regulation of bank payment systems and for the regulation of clearing and settlement of securities trading, and recommendations regarding counterparties. The Committee on Global Financial Systems, though it has not yet adopted regulatory principles or recommendations, has produced a number of influential reports that have influenced the debate on

Administration, Landscape and Authorized Heritage Discourse – Contextualising the Nationally Valuable Landscape Areas of Finland

In 2010, the Finnish Ministry of the Environment launched a re-evaluation and revision of the 1993 inventory of Nationally Valuable Landscape Areas (NVLAs). While the inventory works for implementation of the National Land Use Guidelines, it also showcases the use of landscapes in Finnish national heritage policy. Based on critical readings of three influential Finnish administrative landscape policy reports, I claim that NVLAs, as tools of heritage policy, are based on the approaches and methodologies that have supported Finland’s development into a modern nation state by providing tools for intellectual governance of the national past and territory. Rather than meeting the diversity of landscape conceptions, as defined in the European Landscape Convention, the NVLAs run a risk of being in conflict with citizens and actors that do not share the administrative assumption of landscapes as public containers of national heritage.

2014 AARES Distinguished Life Member

Jim Ryan's outstanding professional career in agricultural economics has included important contributions to research and to policy formulation, both in Australia and internationally. A consistent feature of his research work has been the integration of agricultural science and economic analysis, a focus that has required collaborative work with agronomists, geneticists and agricultural engineers, among others. He has been an institution builder, applying his multidisciplinary approach in Australia, in India and in Africa. Jim studied under Keith Campbell and Bruce Davidson in the Agricultural Economics Department of the University of Sydney. After receiving his bachelor's degree in 1962 he joined the NSW Department of Agriculture, where he was assigned to Leeton, as one of the first regional economists of the Department, completing his master's degree as an external student, again under Campbell and Davidson. His master's thesis derived optimal farm plans for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, including optimal farm sizes, using parametric linear programming. This work required extensive collaboration with non-economist scientists for input-output information on present and prospective technologies for incorporation into the analysis, a theme of much of Jim's subsequent research methodology. From 1968 to 1972 Jim was a PhD student at North Carolina State University, on leave from the NSW Department. His PhD thesis estimated a production function for potato production in Peru, drawing on technological information from a large cooperative program conducted at the University. It was adjudged the best Ph.D. dissertation from the Department of Economics of the University in 1971/72. After his return to Australia in 1972, Jim rejoined the NSW Department of Agriculture and continued his research, including a study of the economics of farm size in wheat-sheep farms, comparing both cross-sectional and time series approaches. From 1974 to 1983 Jim was Leader of the Economics Program at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), one of the largest of the 16 International Agricultural Centers of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research with headquarters in Hyderabad, India. During this time he traveled extensively in India, Africa, Europe, and North and South America, building a strong economics research team with an international reputation. Jim and his colleagues made important progress in the area of ex ante assessment of the economics of prospective agricultural technologies and on-farm evaluation of agricultural technologies. He returned to Australia in 1983 and became Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) in Canberra. He initiated and managed ACIAR's programs in Africa and had responsibility for those in South East Asia and the South Pacific. From 1991 to 1997 Jim was Director General of ICRISAT, which then had some 1300 staff in Hyderabad, plus seven locations in Africa involving another 600 and an annual budget exceeding $30 million. He led research on the economics of the staple food crops of the poorest people of Asia and Africa, including genetic enhancement research on these crops to increase their productivity and stability. Since his return to Australia in late 1997 Jim has worked actively as an international agricultural R & D consultant, completing numerous influential commissioned reports for international institutions, along with his own continuing research.