Multimillion Dollar Program Research Articles

Participatory action research on alcoholism and bonded labour in times of prohibition in India

ABSTRACT This paper analyses our experiences of conducting participatory action research into alcohol abuse in communities living with bonded labour in Tamil Nadu and in Bihar. The action research on alcoholism in these communities is part of a large-scale mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative participatory research programme which was designed to encourage community-based solutions to bonded labour in India. The research was conducted in two ‘slavery hotspots’, both with a high prevalence (over 50%) of households with people in bonded labour, as part of a multi-million dollar programme of interventions funded by a foundation specialising in modern-slavery eradication. The programme focuses on workers in brick kilns and stone quarries and, to some extent, on sex workers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and on cotton-mill workers in Tamil Nadu. The participatory research runs in parallel to programme interventions by local NGO’s. This paper examines whether participatory action research methods can transform violent, stigmatising approaches to alcohol consumption in marginalised communities into community-owned, evidence-informed, non-violent harm reduction approaches. In both locations alcohol consumption is a highly stigmatised public secret. Bihar has banned alcohol production and consumption.

Big-data project aims to transform farming in world’s poorest countries

Multimillion-dollar programme will gather data on small-scale farms in an effort to reduce hunger and promote rural growth. Multimillion-dollar programme will gather data on small-scale farms in an effort to reduce hunger and promote rural growth.

Out of the mouths of researchers: experiences of involvement

ABSTRACT
 ObjectivesThe presentation will
 
 Increase awareness of a range of methods that researchers can use to involve patients and the public (consumers and community members) in linked data research.
 Promote shared learning of how these methods have been successfully implemented
 Provide insights from researchers, consumers and community members about their experiences of using these methods
 
 ApproachThe University of Western Australia School of Population Health and Telethon Kids Institute established a Consumer and Community Involvement Program (the Program) in 1998 in response to community concerns about linked data research.
 Since its inception, the Program has developed a range of strategies, systems and methods to successfully involve consumers and community members in a variety of research projects. These include projects ranging from student and individual projects to large multi-million dollar programs of research.
 A key role of the Program has been to increase skills and capacity for researchers at both organisations. In order to do this a series of training workshops were developed in collaboration with a UK consumer advocate. The training workshops cover the foundations and principles, as well as guidance on the implementation of consumer and community involvement in research.
 In 2015 - 2016, an online training course was developed to support the needs of researchers using linked data, who were unable to access face-to-face training and to maximise the focus of face to face training on the implementation of consumer involvement. As part of the development of the online training course a series of interviews were recorded with researchers, consumers and community sharing their experiences of consumer and community involvement.
 ResultsA wealth of material was collected during the interviews that will be used to enable researchers to learn from their peers conducting linked data research: 
 
 Researchers experiences of involving consumers and community members in their linked data research 
 The benefits of involving consumers and community members in research and tips for how to do this
 Consumers and community members experiences of being involved in linked data research
 Consumer and community involvement in a range of topics including: child protection and health, cardiology and health services research
 Researchers experiences of involvement throughout the research process
 The impact of consumer and community involvement on the research
 
 ConclusionThis presentation will promote shared learning of good practice models of consumer and community involvement to the international linked data research community.

Comment on "Using groundwater age and hydrochemistry to understand sources and dynamics of nutrient contamination through the catchment into Lake Rotorua, New Zealand" by Morgenstern et al. (2015)

Abstract. This comment addresses a key conclusion in the paper entitled "Using groundwater age and hydrochemistry to understand sources and dynamics of nutrient contamination through the catchment into Lake Rotorua, New Zealand" by Morgenstern et al. (2015). The authors analyse hydrochemistry data and conclude that "the only effective way to limit algae blooms and improve lake water quality in such environments is by limiting the nitrate load". We undertook the crucial task of examining this conclusion because it contradicts the current strategy of limiting both phosphorus and nitrogen loads to the lake, supported by a multi-million dollar programme of action. Following careful consideration, we believe that the conclusion is invalid and outline four reasons to support our assessment. Our comments do not relate to the methodology or results that are presented by Morgenstern et al. (2015), and we recognise that their paper makes an otherwise highly valuable contribution to understanding hydro-chemical processes in the catchment.

Bush Blitz aids description of three new species and a new genus of Australian beeflies (Diptera, Bombyliidae, Exoprosopini).

Bush Blitz is a three-year multimillion dollar program to document the plants and animals in hundreds of properties across Australia’s National Reserve System. The core focus is on nature discovery – identifying and describing new species of plants and animals. The Bush Blitz program has enabled the collection and description of beeflies (Diptera, Bombyliidae) from surveys in Western Australia and Queensland. Three new species of Australian beeflies belonging to the Exoprosopini are described; Palirika mackenziei Lambkin sp. n., Palirika culgoafloodplainensis Lambkin sp. n., and Larrpana bushblitz Lambkin sp. n. Phylogenetic analysis of 40 Australian exoprosopine species belonging to the Balaana generic-group Lambkin & Yeates 2003 supports the placement of the three new species into existing genera, and the erection and description of the new genus Ngalki Lambkin gen. n. for Ngalki trigonium (Lambkin & Yeates 2003) comb. n. Revised keys are provided for the genera of the Australian Balaana genus-group and the species of Palirika Lambkin & Yeates, 2003 and Larrpana Lambkin & Yeates 2003. With the description of the three new species and the transferral of Munjua trigona Lambkin & Yeates 2003 into the new genus Ngalki Lambkin gen. n., three genera are rediagnosed; Munjua Lambkin & Yeates 2003, Palirika and Larrpana.

APA Seeks Ideas to Sever Mental Illness, Delinquency Link

APA Seeks Ideas to Sever Mental Illness, Delinquency Link

Canada's new toxic hit list called "inadequate"

Is it a toxic hit list or toxic miss list? That's the question many in the medical and scientific community are asking about the federal government's new Chemicals Management Plan — a multi-million dollar program that imposes strict new regulations on about 4000 “legacy chemicals” used in

Jump-Starting the Internet Revolution: How Structural Conduciveness and Global Connections Help Diffuse the Internet

The growing perception that the Internet is becoming an engine of global economic and social change has inspired both governments and intergovernmental agencies to accelerate the diffusion of the Internet around the globe via multimillion dollar programs and initiatives. Unfortunately, few empirical studies guide these initiatives. The purpose of this research is to investigate the causes that drive Internet capacity, with special emphasis on diffusion theory. Global diffusion of IT requires some degree of structural conduciveness (similarities between developed and developing countries in economic, political, and social structures) as well as contact with developed countries. In our pooled time-series models of 58 developing nations over the 1995-2000 time period, we find that both structural conduciveness (i.e., teledensity, service economies, political openness, and global urban share) and globalization (i.e., aid share, tourist share, foreign investment share, and trade share) shape the distribution and growth of Internet usage.

Principal Stratification Approach to Broken Randomized Experiments

The precarious state of the educational system in the inner cities of the United States, as well as its potential causes and solutions, have been popular topics of debate in recent years. Part of the difficulty in resolving this debate is the lack of solid empirical evidence regarding the true impact of educational initiatives. The efficacy of so-called “school choice” programs has been a particularly contentious issue. A current multimillion dollar program, the School Choice Scholarship Foundation Program in New York, randomized the distribution of vouchers in an attempt to shed some light on this issue. This is an important time for school choice, because on June 27, 2002 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a voucher program in Cleveland that provides scholarships both to secular and religious private schools. Although this study benefits immensely from a randomized design, it suffers from complications common to such research with human subjects: noncompliance with assigned “treatments” and missing data. Recent work has revealed threats to valid estimates of experimental effects that exist in the presence of noncompliance and missing data, even when the goal is to estimate simple intention-to-treat effects. Our goal was to create a better solution when faced with both noncompliance and missing data. This article presents a model that accommodates these complications that is based on the general framework of “principal stratification” and thus relies on more plausible assumptions than standard methodology. Our analyses revealed positive effects on math scores for children who applied to the program from certain types of schools—those with average test scores below the citywide median. Among these children, the effects are stronger for children who applied in the first grade and for African-American children.

Earthquake Prediction IS Possible

In a previous issue of Seismological Research Letters Paul Silver raised the question: “Why is earthquake prediction so difficult?” What makes the earthquake hazard so different from other natural hazards which are more susceptible to prediction efforts? While Paul raises valid arguments, I remain unconvinced that yet another multimillion dollar program is the solution to the problem. The fault may not lie in our lack of data, our inability to conceptualize the problem, nor in the lack of funds for whatever program may be preferred. I believe we need to refocus on the common goal of making earthquake prediction and forecasting a practical means to promote public safety. Is this an obtainable goal? It has been in other fields, such as forecasting of weather, effects from solar storms, and to some extent volcanic and tsunami hazards. The history of how it came to be so in each of these fields...

HEAT PROCESSING EQUIPMENT FOR FOODSERVICE USE - EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS FOLLOWING THE SWEDISH CATERING 1990 PROGRAM

The results of the Swedish R&D program Catering 1990, run between 1978 and 1984, are first reviewed in terms of resulting commercial applications, as well as promising prototypes that, for one reason or other, have never reached the market. Work on steam jacketed kettles and on griddles (frying tables) were successful, while technically very promising developments in infrared radiation (IR) heating and semicontinuous cooking of potatoes and pasta did not attract the interest they really deserved. It is concluded that, overall, this multimillion dollar program did, at least partly, succeed in its objective of raising the technical level of the Swedish Catering branch. Other European equipment developments are then reviewed, some of which may have benefitted from the more fundamental studies reported from the Catering 1990 program. Novel equipment commented on for large institutional kitchens includes a modified atmosphere cooker and a continuous tunnel oven, combining microwaves with steam, hot air and IR. For use in restaurants and fast foodservices, novelties mentioned comprise induction hot plates, roller frying for sliced meats and a high speed, hot air convection oven for frying low-fat or no-fat French fries.

AEDC's facility computer enhancement project

The Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) constitutes the largest collection of test cells, wind tunnels, altitude chambers, and ballistic ranges in the free world. AEDC is presently in the midst of an aggressive investment program to decrease the cost of aerospace testing by improving test efficiency and preparing for test requirements projected through 1993. To achieve the desired gains in testing, a multimillion dollar program has been initiated to upgrade data-processing capabilities. This effort, the Facility Computer Enhancement Program (FCEP), replaces the existing facility with new and more powerful computers and state-of-the-art communications networks that link all test processors at AEDC. Tradeoffs and technical considerations during the first year of the program and the design of the new system are discussed. Capabilities that support test objectives at the completion of the project are presented.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

IT IS TIME TO REDEFINE A HARMFUL QUANTITY OF OIL

ABSTRACT During the early 1970s, when Congress required the President to define a harmful quantity of oil, very little was known about the effects of oil discharged into the marine environment. As a result, a very limiting definition of what constitutes a “harmful quantity” of oil was written into regulatory law. Since then, both government and industry have found that this well-intentioned definition suffered from a very significant deficiency. The definition set forth a “sheen test,” which defined as harmful any quantity of oil which can be seen on the surface of water. Because any quantity of oil spilled on water—even a drop or two—will cause a visible sheen, the reporting procedures set out in the regulations required massive paperwork for both government and industry, even when only miniscule amounts of oil were spilled. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that a proper period of time has elapsed, and sufficient data has been gathered, to permit the regulations to be made more realistic without any harm to the public interest. A secondary benefit from a better regulatory reporting requirement would be increased productivity for professionals in government and industry, if these workers were freed from unnecessary paperwork and allowed more time for preparations necessary to deal with more significant problems relating to potential oil spills. Supporting this position is the petroleum industry's multimillion dollar program developed in the last decade that determined that small spills have at most a negligible impact on the marine environment. The authors of this paper hope that redefining of “harmful quantity of oil” will represent one step to use the manpower devoted to energy matters in this country more effectively and efficiently, thereby freeing workers from unnecessary paperwork on minor issues and allowing them to concentrate on the more serious and promising energy matters that must be dealt with in this decade.

Four Steps to a Sound Correctional Research and Statistics Program

We cannot properly operate a multimillion-dollar program to rehabilitate offenders unless we have some way to determine whether the money spent in program, personnel, and plant is wisely invested. Indeed, with the tremendous growth and sys tematizing of knowledge in the areas of juvenile delinquency and correction, states have an excellent base for developing useful programs for evaluating their probation, institutional, and parole systems.