Research Briefing Research Articles

California Cannabis Research Briefing, April 2023: Meeting Summary.

On April 28, 2023, the University of California Office of the President, in partnership with the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC), hosted the California Cannabis Research Briefing. The California Cannabis Research Briefing brought together researchers and state agencies/policymakers to discuss pertinent policy issues on cannabis within the state. Researchers across six different topic areas (environment, cannabis markets, social equity matters, public health, medicinal cannabis use, and public safety) provided brief explanations of their research and its policy implications. A moderated discussion with stakeholders followed these presentations. The goals of this event were to highlight research that can inform policy issues relevant to the state, and to discuss how research can be incorporated into the cannabis policy landscape.

Coronavirus in Europe: Doubling Times and Continuous Growth

This research briefing discusses two key metrics that are prevalent in the media: (i) the growth in the number of coronavirus cases and deaths, and (ii) the tim

Improving the Bilirubin Management Program in the Newborn Nursery: Background, Aims, and Protocol

Background: Practices to detect and manage hyperbilirubinemia in newborn nurseries are highly variable. American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines in 1999, 2004, and 2009 have generated, perhaps unintentionally, divergent practices that might not all be of equivalent value. Evidence-based progress is needed to define less invasive, less expensive, uniform, and safe methods to reduce ER visits and hospital readmissions for jaundice treatment and bilirubin encephalopathy. Objectives: This research briefing is intended to inform readers of a new prospective quality improvement program aimed at testing the value of specific changes in newborn nursery hyperbilirubinemia detection and management. This new program includes predetermined means of assessing those specific changes, which relate to diagnosis, safety, outcomes, and cost. Methods: In this briefing, we present the perceived problems in our present bilirubin management system, as voiced by stakeholders. We report our proposed means to test minimization of those problems utilizing already acquired data on approximately 400,000 well babies in the Intermountain Healthcare system of hospitals in the western USA. We then describe our methods of assessing specific outcomes in a pre- versus postpractice change analysis. Results and Conclusions: The University of Utah Newborn Nursery will implement a quality improvement project in bilirubin management during 2020 to test the feasibility and effectiveness of several changes to our current bilirubin management program. We maintain that the improved understanding generated by this project will be a step toward new evidence-based strategies for reducing ER visits and hospital readmissions for jaundice treatment and preventing bilirubin encephalopathy.

Digital Trade and Data Equivalency: Research Briefing for the Welsh Parliament

This research briefing provides an impartial assessment and summary in a research briefing on key issues as to digital trade and data equivalences post-Brexit for the External Affairs Committee of Senedd Cymru primarily from a legal perspective. The paper provides an overview of the concept of Digital Trade, of key negotiation objectives of the UK, EU and US as to Digital Trade, of best practice Digital Trade provisions in trade agreements, issues relating to data flows and equivalences and the parameters of how they relate to the digital economy of Wales. A summary of conclusions follows thereafter. The paper is based on materials published and available on 20 April 2020 only.

What caused the decline in child arrests in England and Wales: The Howard League’s programme or something else?

There has been a steep decline in child arrests in recent years. The Howard League Research Briefing Child Arrests in England and Wales 2017 attributes this to a Howard League programme of work with police. We show the decline in arrests began well before that programme of work, and conclude the Research Briefing’s claims are unfounded. However, there is strong evidence that the decline in arrests is due to the long-term fall in child offending rates, probably caused by security improvements. While we are sympathetic to the aims of the Howard League, if security is having such positive effects in terms of safer communities and fewer children being processed through the criminal justice system, then it should command wide support.

What lies hidden behind structural errors and failures within the UK?

Government figures from a House of Commons research briefing confirms that the components of the gross domestic product by industry are accounted for by the service sector at 79%, production at 14%, construction at 6% and agriculture at 1%. In its 2018 construction statistics, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) records that the construction industry is worth c. £100 billion annually to the UK economy. However, the Get it Right Initiative suggested in 2017 that a minimum of 10% of this is lost in errors and litigation. According to the ONS figures there were 30 fatalities. To investigate these errors and failures, this paper considers key areas in the education of chartered engineers, quality management systems and knowledge sharing in order to gain experience. A series of open-ended, semi-structured interviews was undertaken with senior professionals, including the judiciary, professors of engineering, global consultants and professional indemnity insurers. Research findings revealed that technical knowledge is deliberately withheld due to non-disclosure clauses in mediated settlements and through the practices of global professional indemnity insurers. A study of pass rates for chartered membership of the Institution of Structural Engineers showed a decrease despite an increase in academic requirements. Companies that promote corporate social responsibility credentials often seek the best commercial deal regarding litigation settlement. This research concludes that there is a sound business case for sharing knowledge, which would reduce claims, increase profits and save lives. Primary legislation must be changed to compel a free exchange of technical knowledge regarding errors and structural failures. A ‘no-blame’ repository needs to be established that should help reduce the adversarial nature of the construction industry. Additionally, the suitability of the academic degree curriculum for structural engineers needs to be reassessed.

Student Privacy and Ed Tech (K-12) Research Briefing

Foundational changes at the intersection of technology, society, law, and behavior are disrupting and energizing large institutions, impacting the educational technologies and student privacy landscape at lightning speed. Greater levels of connectivity and participation are raising questions about how best to navigate new types of learning environments, how best to engage in data-driven decision-making, and how best to ensure channels for positive collaboration in decision-making. This research briefing builds upon student privacy research and activities, and aims to translate these into practical take-aways. The briefing provides a map of the current digital learning ecosystem in the U.S. primary and secondary space, surveys at a high-level critical issues in the ed tech and student privacy space, and outlines key tools and opportunities for decision-makers.

Privacy and Cybersecurity Research Briefing

Cybersecurity has evolved into a pressing issue that sits at the top of government policy and board room agendas as the prevalence and severity of incidents continue to increase. As we search for solutions, public and private sector actors must balance the numerous tensions inherent in securing products and services, keeping users safe, and maintaining a vibrant and innovative ecosystem that supports the continued development of new products. This research briefing aims to translate findings from ongoing Berkman Klein Center privacy and cybersecurity research and activities into practical considerations and takeaways for key stakeholders and decision-makers. It offers a snapshot of the cybersecurity ecosystem and the forces shaping it, a map of high-level overview of several current approaches aimed at addressing cybersecurity challenges, and identifies opportunities for collaborative approaches that will help prepare decision-makers to address the next generation of pressing cybersecurity issues.

Privacy and Open Data Research Briefing

Political leaders and civic advocates are increasingly recommending that open access be the “default state” for much of the information held by government agencies. Over the past several years, they have driven the launch of open data initiatives across hundreds of national, state, and local governments. These initiatives are founded on a presumption of openness for government data and have led to the public release of large quantities data through a variety of channels. At the same time, much of the data that have been released, or are being considered for release, pertain to the behavior and characteristics of individual citizens, highlighting tensions between open data and privacy. This research briefing offers a snapshot of recent developments in the open data and privacy landscape, outlines an action map of various governance approaches to protecting privacy when releasing open data, and identifies key opportunities for decision-makers seeking to respond to challenges in this space.

World Economic Prospects

Economic OutlookVolume 39, Issue s11 p. 1-50 Articles World Economic Prospects First published: 23 November 2015 https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0319.12189AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Overview: Awaiting the first Fed rate hike Our world growth forecasts this month are unchanged at 2.5% for 2015 and 2.7% for 2016, but have dropped from 2.6% and 3% respectively in July. A key issue is how world growth will hold up as US rates start to rise. An initial Fed rate hike in December is in our baseline and has become increasingly likely over recent weeks given the US data flow. Arguably, global financial conditions have already started to tighten. US stocks have regained most of their August-September losses but global stocks remain well below May's peak. Junk bond spreads have also widened since mid-2015 and the latest credit standards surveys (see Research Briefing in this issue) had some worrying elements with a sharp worsening in emerging markets and less favourable readings in some advanced economies. Meanwhile, the slowdown in China and other emerging markets (EM) continues to weigh on global trade and industrial output. G7 industrial output is likely to have contracted for a second straight quarter in Q3 and manufacturing PMIs remain consistent with stagnant or declining output in most major EMs. The weakness in EM remains a major risk factor for the global economy as we move towards 2016, and could yet drag world growth down below this year's already-moderate level. But so far, the difficult conditions in the industrial economy are not being mirrored in the services sector. In the advanced economies, services PMIs are mostly consistent with solid rates of expansion and have not shown a downward trend. This contrasts with the Eurozone crisis of 2011–12 when G7 services PMIs performed badly. The solid performance of service sectors has been accompanied by business confidence measures mostly holding up too, despite the serious wobble in stock markets in Q3. Overall, while our 2016 world growth forecasts are below consensus risks are skewed to the downside; in particular – despite developments to date – financial conditions could tighten more as Fed rate hikes begin. Volume39, Issues11November 2015Pages 1-50 RelatedInformation

World Economic Prospects

Overview: Global growth and Fed hike forecasts cut back We have cut our world growth forecasts this month to 2.5% for 2015 and 2.7% for 2016, from 2.6% and 2.8% respectively last month. For 2016, the forecast was at 3% as recently as June, so that there has been a significant downgrade in next year's outlook over the last few months. Developments in emerging markets (EM) have been central to recent global forecast downgrades. We now expect EM GDP growth of just 3.4% this year, down from 3.7% in June, while the 2016 forecast has slumped to 3.8% from 4.4% in June. This month sees forecasts cut in Brazil, Russia, India and Turkey. The downgrade in EM forecasts is supported by the pattern of incoming data: the Citigroup economic surprise index for emerging markets had shown signs of improvement in August but has slumped back into deeply negative territory. With our 2015 and 2016 forecasts now so close together the prospects for 2016 being a ‘take‐off’ year for the global recovery look meagre. Global GDP growth will be supported next year by improving trends in the US, Europe and Japan. These ‘old world’ markets are also more important for world trade than standard trade data suggest (see World Trade Research Briefing in this issue). But the capacity for these countries to carry world growth is limited by external headwinds. US export volumes fell 1.5% in August and German exports were also weak. Reflecting external drags, we have reduced our US growth estimate to 2.6% in 2016–17 – two tenths below last month. Against this background, we assume only two rate hikes in 2016 after the initial liftoff in December this year. We then assume three hikes in each of 2017–19. This very restrained pace of rate increases in the US is a recognition of the fact that external conditions are set to be unfavourable for a further year: after growth of less than 1% this year, we expect world trade to expand 3.6% next year, still well below its historic average pace of around 5%.

Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Regional Policy: A Sympathetic Critique

Regional policies for entrepreneurship are currently going through a transition from increasing the quantity of entrepreneurship to increasing the quality of entrepreneurship. The next step will be the transition from entrepreneurship policy towards policy for an entrepreneurial economy. The entrepreneurial ecosystem approach has been heralded as a new framework accommodating these transitions. This approach starts with the entrepreneurial actor, but emphasizes the context of productive entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is not only the output of the system, entrepreneurs are important players themselves in creating the ecosystem and keeping it healthy. This research briefing reviews the entrepreneurial ecosystem literature and its shortcomings, and provides a novel synthesis. The entrepreneurial ecosystem approach speaks directly to practitioners, but its causal depth and evidence base is rather limited. This article provides a novel synthesis including a causal scheme of how the framework and systemic conditions of the ecosystem lead to particular entrepreneurial activities as output of the ecosystem and new value creation as outcome of the ecosystem. In addition it provides a framework for analysing the interactions between the elements within the ecosystem. This offers a much more rigorous and relevant starting point for subsequent studies into entrepreneurial ecosystems and the regional policy implications of these.

Language specialists' views on academic language and learning support mechanisms for EAL postgraduate coursework students: The case for adjunct tutorials

Large numbers of international students are enrolled in postgraduate coursework degrees in English Medium of Instruction (EMI) destinations such as Australia and the UK (AUSSE Research Briefing, 2011; HEFCE, 2014), most of whom have English as an Additional Language (EAL). However, there is a dearth of literature on the types of academic language and learning (ALL) support that best suit this cohort, and few accounts of sustained strategies implemented specifically for them, particularly university-wide. This paper is an account of one university's attempt to fill this gap in terms of both research and practice. The institution's senior executive commissioned a survey of the views of higher education ALL practitioners across Australia (n = 42) on the potential effectiveness of nine archetypal ALL support mechanisms for postgraduate EAL coursework students. Findings took the form of a quantitative rating of the nine mechanisms as well as qualitative comments on pro and con factors. As the paper describes, this data fed into the formation of an executively mandated academic language enhancement strategy for postgraduate coursework EAL students in the form of a two-year trial of adjunct tutorials within core coursework units.

Urban Mobility: What Role for the European Union? Explaining Dynamics of European Union Policy Design Since 1995

This research briefing provides a timely assessment of European Union (EU) intervention in the urban mobility policy field, by examining the relationship between forms of policy design and the EU institutionalization process. More precisely, it questions whether or not this continued intervention has benefited EU institutions. In order to do so, it analyses evolving relationships between three dimensions of EU policy design—namely policy objectives, policy structures and policy instruments—in a long-term perspective. Drawing on an original dataset, the article shows that in the absence of a stabilized understanding of the issue at stake, the lack of dedicated financial and organizational resources, and the import of policy instruments from other policy domains, the institutionalization of urban mobility at EU level is incomplete. These findings contribute to current debates on the Europeanization of cities and urban policies.

Why Hierarchy Won't Go Away: Understanding the Limits of 'Horizontalism'

This short paper was produced as a Research Briefing for Leicester Business School in May 2012. It explores the rise of 'horizontalism' as a hegemonic world view and then discusses its limits, applying Gramsci's theory of the integral state. The paper suggests that the concept of a 'governance genome' maybe helpful for understanding how governing institutions embody multiple modes of coordination in many variable configurations, simultaneously hierarchy, market and network. It concludes that the resistance movements influenced by horizontalism should not feel threatened by hierarchy. The concept can be wrongly conflated with domination, and an element of hierarchy is the pre-condition of effective solidarity and democratic accountability.

How SCIE are guiding good practice on adult protection

PurposeThis short briefing aims to discuss Social Care Institute for Excellence's (SCIE's) work in safeguarding adults.Design/methodology/approachSCIE has produced a research briefing on self‐directed support and personal budgets, and work on restraint, personalisation and risk as well as other projects that promote best practice in adult protection.FindingsPlacing the person at the centre of safeguarding processes will support practitioners to move away from “service‐led” procedure‐focused responses.Originality/valueTogether, these resources aim to improve access to up‐to‐date knowledge. This will support the rapid pace of change in safeguarding practice.

Thomson Reuters innovation award research brief: The use of patent analytics in measuring innovation

There are six different factors that can be used to assess the inventiveness of an organization and to determine how efficiently they apply invention resources to innovate effectively. This research briefing describes the techniques used to measure certain aspects of patenting activity by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) headquartered in India. The techniques are used to identify the most innovative SMEs in India in order to determine the winners of the Innovation Award 2009 from Thomson Reuters, awarded at InfoVision 2009 in Bangalore.

Measuring Polycentricity and its Promises

Even a decade after the concept of polycentric development became popular and increasingly widespread in Europe as a normative policy stance allegedly leading to cohesion and competitiveness, its empirical basis is still rather weak. This is partly due to a lack of conceptual clearness, which makes its measurement difficult. This research briefing synthesises the results of two recent ESPON projects that aim to create a quantitative measurement of the extent of polycentricity of national urban systems, as well as the links they find between polycentricity and economic and social objectives. Both approaches have their limits and have been, and can be criticized from various perspectives. Some suggestions on how to proceed with this research agenda are presented.

Getting the most out of the research experience: what every researcher needs to know

PART ONE: THE RESEARCHER The Conduct of Research What is Research? What is a 'Researcher'? Images of Sociology and the Sociologist Research Roles and Researcher Characteristics PART TWO: RESEARCH STYLES, ROLES AND CONTEXTS Styles of Research - Qualitative and Quantitative Research Experience The Status and Stance of Styles of Research How important is being a researcher to you? Where do research topics come from? Networking - research as market/research as friendship The Search for Funds Research Relations in Different Social Settings Competing Research Roles PART THREE: THE 'EMOTIONAL' ASPECTS OF RESEARCH Research and 'Emotional Labour' 'Reflexivity' and the Research Experience Everyday Life Skills in Research Experiential Distraction Working with Others in Research Subjective Support Overcoming Isolation Dealing with Anxiety and Stress PART FOUR: ENTERING THE RESEARCH - THE PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCHER'S SELF The Researcher's Self in Research Sociological Imagination and Research Practice Early Days in Research Reasons to Research The PhD Experience Research 'Hold-ups' PART FIVE:INTERPRETATION IN RESEARCH The Researcher-as-Interpreter/Theorist The Research Diary Data, and yet More Data Organising Interpretations and New Ideas PART SIX: WRITING RESEARCH Academic Writing as a Genre New Writing Practices and Representation Writing and Relations with Others Research Autobiographies and Auto/ethnography. The Researcher Account and 'Confessions' 'Writing Up' Research Writing Blockages Writing for an Audience PART SEVEN:DISSEMINATION What is 'Research Dissemination'? Dissemination and Audience Issues The Doctoral Thesis The Research Report and Briefing The Conference Paper Articles in Books and Journals Books - Proposals and Publishers The Internet Research and Teaching - the use of research in the classroom PART EIGHT:REACTION TO RESEARCH Reactions to Research Dissemination 'Self' and Audience Reactions to Research Feedback on Journal and Article Submission PART NINE: WHAT NEXT IN MY RESEARCH? End of the 'Adventure' - what next? Academic Labour and its Organisation Professional and Personal Identities in the Conduct of Research Rewriting the CV The Researcher's Life/Life as Research Career - in Academia? PART TEN: CONCLUSION - THE RESEARCHER'S EXPERIENCE OF RESEARCH Researcher Experience in Research Researcher Experience and the Emotions Researcher Insights and Reflections Orientations to the Researched Revisited

Dublin's Digital Hubris: Lessons from an Attempt to Develop a Creative Industrial Cluster

ABSTRACT Dublin's Digital Hub project was intended to be a digital district boasting not only an exciting industry of the future employing thousands of media, technology and creative workers, but an entire district of apartments, retail units and leisure areas. Six years after its inception, only two of the total nine acre site have been in any way developed and the project faces collapse following the closure of its star anchor tenant, Media Lab Europe. This research briefing contours the rise and fall of the project, suggesting lessons to be learned from the tortuous route followed in this attempt to plan and develop a creative digital cluster.