Search

Engineering a cell's regulatory networks to dynamically control gene expression has been considered a new frontier in biological engineering. In cyanobacteria, the lack of well-characterized, modular gene regulatory elements makes regulatory network engineering challenging. Here, we suggest potential tools to modify various gene expression steps in cyanobacterial regulatory networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theoretical and practical approaches to the organization of the activities of police units recently, especially in the conditions of martial law, require rethinking and more efficient and effective mechanisms. Martial law significantly increased the level of trust of the population in the police, on the one hand, and on the other hand – created even more difficulties in the organization of their activities. Determining one of the priorities of the police activity of ensuring people’s rights, reformatting activities from penal to service branch, ensuring safety and order in society – all this contributes to the process of intensifying the improvement of views on the need to ensure the formation of high moral standards and a high level of legal culture in society. The specified provision on changing the theoretical orientation of scientific approaches to practical ones. It follows that prevention, as the main type of police activity, should be aimed at meeting the needs of society, and not at developing indicators of crime detection. It is noted that the forms and methods of police activity at the current stage of combining theory and practice should be considered as tools of police activity. The tools of preventive activity were analyzed, they were divided into groups, and the areas requiring further development were characterized. Cruelty to animals is one of the negative factors that affect the legal awareness and morality of society. The prevention of such an occasion is the basis for the formation of a further highly moral society and the reduction of cruelty among people. The content of the police toolkit, which is used to prevent animal cruelty in Ukraine, is explained. Attention is focused on the organizational tools of preventive activities regarding cruelty to animals.

The article updates the issues of ensuring financial security and stability of the entities of the small business sector in Ukraine in the conditions of critically acute instability caused by the consequences of the ongoing full-scale war. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the priorities and tools for strengthening the financial security of the small business sector of Ukraine in conditions of instability. The goal of the State policy of strengthening the financial security of the small business sector of Ukraine in the conditions of wartime and instability should be the systematic improvement of the business environment of entrepreneurial activity in the context of minimizing financial challenges and threats, improving the financial and resource provision and the financial and economic condition of small business entities, ensuring the development and capitalization of this sector of the economy. New challenges and threats to the financial security of small business entities of Ukraine in the conditions of wartime have been identified, namely, a decrease in the solvent demand of the population, a narrowing of the capacity of domestic demand for consumer goods and services and a reduction in income, an increase in the cost of resources, an increase in the cost price and a decrease in the level of economic profitability, difficulties with logistics and transportation of goods, etc. It has been proven that the achievement of this goal will be facilitated by the implementation of a system of strategic priorities, namely: improving the financial and credit support of small businesses; formation of a system of investment support for development projects of small business entities; expansion of monetary and lending opportunities; de-shadowing of the capital of small business entities and restructuring of their debt obligations; small business effectivization through the growth of the sector of innovative and technologically active entrepreneurship; implementing the potential of the insurance sector in mitigating the financial risks of small business entities.

The article updates the issues of ensuring financial security and stability of the entities of the small business sector in Ukraine in the conditions of critically acute instability caused by the consequences of the ongoing full-scale war. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the priorities and tools for strengthening the financial security of the small business sector of Ukraine in conditions of instability. The goal of the State policy of strengthening the financial security of the small business sector of Ukraine in the conditions of wartime and instability should be the systematic improvement of the business environment of entrepreneurial activity in the context of minimizing financial challenges and threats, improving the financial and resource provision and the financial and economic condition of small business entities, ensuring the development and capitalization of this sector of the economy. New challenges and threats to the financial security of small business entities of Ukraine in the conditions of wartime have been identified, namely, a decrease in the solvent demand of the population, a narrowing of the capacity of domestic demand for consumer goods and services and a reduction in income, an increase in the cost of resources, an increase in the cost price and a decrease in the level of economic profitability, difficulties with logistics and transportation of goods, etc. It has been proven that the achievement of this goal will be facilitated by the implementation of a system of strategic priorities, namely: improving the financial and credit support of small businesses; formation of a system of investment support for development projects of small business entities; expansion of monetary and lending opportunities; de-shadowing of the capital of small business entities and restructuring of their debt obligations; small business effectivization through the growth of the sector of innovative and technologically active entrepreneurship; implementing the potential of the insurance sector in mitigating the financial risks of small business entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to identify the most promising regulatory and marketing tools for business risk management in the COVID-19 crisis and develop recommendations for improving the practice of these tools from a post-pandemic perspective. This paper is devoted to the scientific search for answers to two research questions: RQ1: What tactical tools of business risk management are most effective in the COVID-19 crisis? RQ2: How to carry out strategic risk management of the business from a post-COVID perspective? The authors perform dataset modeling of business risks in the COVID-19 crisis and data analysis of the post-pandemic perspective of managing these risks, relying on data for 2016–2023, reflecting international experience in a representative sample. The key conclusion of this research is that the most complete and effective business risk management in times of COVID-19 crisis requires the integrated application of tools of state and corporate governance, that is, two-tier management: At the state and business levels. On this basis, the authors recommended applying the systemic approach to business risk management in times of the COVID-19 crisis, which includes a set of the most effective regulatory (financial support from the state budget and protectionism) and marketing (use of big data and analytics) tools of business risk management. The practical significance of the research results is that the recommended systemic approach to using regulatory and marketing tools can improve the effectiveness of tactical and strategic risk management in the COVID-19 crisis, thereby increasing business resilience to this crisis. The novelty is due to the fact that we selected the most effective tools of business risk management under the conditions of the COVID-19 crisis and proved the necessity to combine the tools of state and corporate management, which are substantiated, for the first time, not as mutually interchangeable, but complementary practices of risk management in the unique context of the COVID-19 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to identify the most promising regulatory and marketing tools for business risk management in the COVID-19 crisis and develop recommendations for improving the practice of these tools from a post-pandemic perspective. This paper is devoted to the scientific search for answers to two research questions: RQ1: What tactical tools of business risk management are most effective in the COVID-19 crisis? RQ2: How to carry out strategic risk management of the business from a post-COVID perspective? The authors perform dataset modeling of business risks in the COVID-19 crisis and data analysis of the post-pandemic perspective of managing these risks, relying on data for 2016–2023, reflecting international experience in a representative sample. The key conclusion of this research is that the most complete and effective business risk management in times of COVID-19 crisis requires the integrated application of tools of state and corporate governance, that is, two-tier management: At the state and business levels. On this basis, the authors recommended applying the systemic approach to business risk management in times of the COVID-19 crisis, which includes a set of the most effective regulatory (financial support from the state budget and protectionism) and marketing (use of big data and analytics) tools of business risk management. The practical significance of the research results is that the recommended systemic approach to using regulatory and marketing tools can improve the effectiveness of tactical and strategic risk management in the COVID-19 crisis, thereby increasing business resilience to this crisis. The novelty is due to the fact that we selected the most effective tools of business risk management under the conditions of the COVID-19 crisis and proved the necessity to combine the tools of state and corporate management, which are substantiated, for the first time, not as mutually interchangeable, but complementary practices of risk management in the unique context of the COVID-19 crisis.

The scientific research is devoted to the development of methodological proposals for assessing the effectiveness of tax revenues of the countries of Eastern Europe through the system of economic indicators, the presentation of measures of the regulatory impact of increasing tax revenues in the future and strengthening the economic security of the countries. The methodological basis of the study is a comprehensive approach, thanks to which the tasks and tools of the regulatory policy are established through the prism of the components of tax security of Eastern European countries. The methodological toolkit for assessing the effectiveness of tax revenues in the system of regulatory policy in the direction of guaranteeing the economic security of the state provided for the following stages: collection of economic data, selection of analysis indicators, assessment methods and determination of the system of stimulating and destructive factors influencing the volume of tax payments. Having carried out the analysis, the author's vision of priority tasks and tools of regulatory influence on tax revenues with the aim of increasing the level of economic security of Eastern European countries is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Scientific Bulletin of Polissia is the property of Chernihiv State Institute of Economics & Management and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The automotive industry is one of the drivers of economic growth and a symbol of the country''s industrial development due to its strong backward linkage with other industries and services. Problems arising from government interventions in this industry and the need to improve its resilience to external consequences, optimize market regulation and reduce demand for speculation, remove multilateral monopolies among producers, balance profit in the production chain, full familiarity of consumers By its very nature, the establishment of coordination between small and medium-sized parts manufacturing enterprises and the promotion of technological capabilities of manufacturers in line with global developments requires a review and reform of the regulatory structure of this industry. The results of evaluating the regulatory structure of the automotive industry through library, field and institutional mapping studies (institution-function matrix) indicate that, firstly, the scattered distribution of regulatory tools among 23 different institutions leads to policy incoherence in this It has become an industry, and secondly, issues such as design and R&D, branding, attracting foreign investment and international participation (production), the depth of domestic manufacturing in parts manufacturing and the transfer of technical knowledge to the interior (import), consumer rights and Competitiveness (pricing), spare parts market and how to supply sales agents (supply), marketing and giving consumers the right to choose (consumption) in the regulatory structure of this industry has not received much attention. Hence, in the end, solutions to reform the regulatory structure of this industry are presented.

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to identify trends in external migration of the population in the Carpathian region of Ukraine and to develop applied recommendations for the regulation of external migration in the context of the need to save human resources. Methodology / approach. The theoretical and scientific-methodological basis of the study are the theories of migration, social economy and demography, methods of cognition of migration phenomena and processes. Current research involves such methods and approaches as logical generalization and synthesis to create the basic conclusions and proposals; comparative analysis to compare trends of external migration in the Carpathian region with average national indicators; structural and geographical analysis to assess the migrant rates in recipient countries; graphic and cartographic methods to visualize the results of research of migration flows. Results. The volume of external migration of the population in the Carpathian region of Ukraine as a border area is significant compared to national trends. The largest volumes of migration flows from the Carpathian region are directed to Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, and Italy. The results of the structural analysis confirm the close migration relations of oblasts of the Carpathian region and neighboring countries, including the Carpathian region and Hungary, the Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts with Poland, and Zakarpattya oblast and Moldova. It is determined that the real indicators of external migration from the Carpathian region significantly exceed the data of official statistics. It is proved that the critical challenges caused by the growing external migration in the Carpathian region relate to: increasing educational and labour migration of young people against an active pull migration policy for high qualified and working staff in the EU, increasing imbalances in regional labour markets, low wages and incomes, non-availability labour substitution effect due to low demographic reproduction and active immigration policies. Originality / scientific novelty. The system of priority goals of regional migration policy has been improved in terms of substantiation of mechanisms for regulating external migration of the population, which is based on the formation of information and analytical base of external migration of border areas and development of a new electronic system of labour and educational migration. For the first time, it has been proposed a system of measures to ensure the convergence of the institutional system for regulating regional migration flows from the Carpathian region by the leading models of EU countries. Practical value / implications. There are proposed and substantiated the tools and appropriate measures for regulating the external migration of the population in the Carpathian region under conditions of the need to save human resources and ensure the intellectual and personnel security in the region for their implementation by regional authorities.

This article analyzes trends in international trade regarding trade contradictions and attempts to define "trade wars". The growth of global trade has changed the economic impact and political contours of trade protection. The study revealed that today trade disputes and wars, which have turned into the biggest problems for the global trading system, this is a matter of great concern, and certain contradictions in trade relations between states are characterized as “trade wars”. Since the establishment and development of international trade relations, in the context of competition between countries for markets, serious trade conflicts have begun to arise and escalate, and in connection with the development of the international trading system, the consequences of trade clashes have become increasingly large-scale. Countries have used a variety of methods - from diplomacy to military intervention-to protect their own markets from foreign competitors ' goods and strengthen their positions in foreign markets. The article examines the history of development and the reasons of world trade wars. The study of the evolution of international trade contradictions and disputes from the time of Ancient Greece to the present day, showed that the objects of disputes were different, different methods and tools were used during trade wars. Although trade wars have always been destructive, at the present stage, these conflicts causing divisions can escalate into new geopolitical confrontations and lead to a prolonged global recession.

In view of the complex and severe challenges faced by financial technology regulation and the lag behind situation of the existing regulatory sandbox which is highly dependent on manual operation,the important feature and development trend of the Chinese “innovative regulatory tools on financial technology” lie in “intelligence” were pointed out.A systematic platform framework of “intelligent innovative regulatory tools on financial technology” was proposed,that is,use modern means of science and technology to realize the full life cycle supervision of financial technology innovative applications.The elements of innovative regulatory tools were elaborated,including the underlying blockchain,public opinion monitoring platform,explainable artificial intelligence based on knowledge graphs,and presented the key technologies involved.The new iterative methodology used in the development of the innovative regulatory tools platform was introduced,i.e.,the spiral development model and iterative design driven by the hierarchy of needs.Towards the end,some thoughts and prospects on the proposed innovative regulatory tools were put forward,and the regulatory tools are expected to create a set of regulatory technology infrastructure to serve regulatory authorities and financial institutions were pointed out.

Insights from novel mechanistic paradigms in gene expression control have led to the development of new gene expression systems for bioproduction, control, and sensing applications. Coupled with a greater understanding of synthetic burden and modern creative biodesign approaches, contemporary bacterial gene expression tools and systems are emerging that permit fine-tuning of expression, enabling greater predictability and maximisation of specific productivity, while minimising deleterious effects upon cell viability. These advances have been achieved by using a plethora of regulatory tools, operating at all levels of the so-called 'central dogma' of molecular biology. In this review, we discuss these gene regulation tools in the context of their design, prototyping, integration into expression systems, and biotechnological application. A huge array of genetic regulatory tools are now available that permit gene expression control at all layers of the central dogma. Matching production demand with cellular capacity can reduce burden and allow stable production over longer timescales. Modern in silico design tools allow rapid design and optimisation of complex genetic circuitry. Cell-free prototyping of genetic parts and devices is an emerging, yet powerful tool to improve the design–build–test–learn cycle. The use of feedback loops to facilitate dynamic regulation of gene expression allows researchers to construct responsive pathways to minimise cellular metabolic burden. Stress-linked expression regulation enables coupling of heterologous production with endogenous stress response pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the period of the approval of the innovative and information model of Ukraine’s economic development, the actual problem is the formation of a new institutional base, which should create favorable conditions for the preservation and accumulation of domestic human capital. After all, the state, reproduction and development of human capital are determined primarily by the nature of its institutional base. Formal legislative acts and informal norms influence the activities of educational, scientific, medical, cultural and other organizations that play a significant role in the formation and increase of human capital. At the same time, the state policy on the human capital formation should provide the social development: the reformation of pension system, education and health care, labor market; modernization of the economy and society: deregulation of the economy, social mobility growth, development of the banking system and financial institutions, such as venture, pension, accumulation and investment funds, the stock market and the insurance services market, as institutions of investment resources for the development of human capital. The analysis of the legislative base showed that not all provisions which are enshrined in the laws of Ukraine realized, that leads to a decrease in the efficiency of the institutional system and inhibits the formation of the human capital system of the information society. In order to overcome these shortcomings and ensure the formation of human capital on an investment basis, it is necessary to create an effective system of distribution of public funds in the system of development and reproduction of human capital. Formation of the human capital system of the information society on an investment basis requires the stimulation of the development of information sectors and science. Obviously, in order to ensure the transition to the information society and the development of the intellectual potential of human capital, legislators need to develop regulatory instruments for preferential taxation of innovative activity of enterprises, which should b exemption from taxation of funds aimed at advanced training or retraining and funds for financing scientific activity The process of human capital diagnostics for the main subjects of human capital investment should consist of successive stages, the realization of which provides full information on the state and the need to invest in human capital by the main subjects.

The development of novel regulatory tools such as adaptive clinical trial design and utilization of real-world evidence are topics of high interest. Recently, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) introduced the Adaptive Pathways (AP) that represents an innovative tool in healthcare systems allowing the early dialogue with multiple stakeholders on promising and innovative medicinal products in areas with an high unmet medical need. The innovative aspect in the AP is the early involvement of several stakeholders such as pharmaceutical industry, the Academia, Health Technology Assessment (HTA) bodies, and patient representatives bringing their real experience with the disease and their expectations about the treatment. AP is not a new licensing tool but an opportunity for a very early discussions, before starting the phase II studies, among all stakeholders, including regulators, companies, HTA bodies, and patient representatives on a new potential medicine in areas of high unmet medical need. The aim of this paper is to describe the evolution of the AP approach from the beginning of the pilot project to date, highlighting major advances, and achievement at European level.

Copyright of Financial & Credit Activity: Problems of Theory & Practice is the property of University of Banking of the National Bank of Ukraine and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The creation of the audiovisual regulatory authority falls under the context of the transformations that Algeria has known since the early 90s until today, and that lead the country to adopt a new method of regulating the different sectors, through independent administrative authorities. In order to evaluate the adequacy of the law n°14-04relating to the audiovisual activity to the requirements of sector’s regulation, there is a need to assess the degree of organic independence, in the light of the fundamental elements which are: a low independence resulting from the subordination to the executive power, at the level of appointment and financial and administrative levels. Regarding the prerogatives obtained, they are very limited and restricted in the field of regulatory authority and the issuing of recommendations and subject to government supervision in the field of control of access to the market, while they are more effective in the field of market control, through sending formal notices and through the arbitration authority and punitive power, without using the licences withdrawal, which remain under the authority of the government.

Copyright of Scientific Bulletin of National Mining University is the property of National Mining University, State Higher Educational Institution and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: A trend towards the state governance of healthcare through quality indicators and national clinical guidelines has been observed, and it is argued that this trend can be a challenge to the autonomy of healthcare professionals. In Sweden, these regulatory tools have been implemented in combination with subsidies for adult dental care that are based on guideline recommendations which serve to ensure that dental care is evidence-based and cost-effective. This paper aims to analyse the implications of these changes regarding dentists' autonomy and whether the government's political intentions can be fulfilled.Material and Methods: The paper is based on documents from government authorities and professional theories.Results: The financial control over Swedish dental care has been strengthened, and it can be argued that this is a step in the right direction from a societal point of view, as public resources are limited. Dentists' professional autonomy with their patients is not affected, which is appropriate, as patients should be treated according to their individual needs and expectations.Conclusions: This article shows that the state's governance does not directly detail dentists' work, which indicates a balance between state governance and dentists' autonomy. However, further research is required to get knowledge on Swedish dentists' view of the governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with regulatory quality that always depends also on human factors. While the latter are moulded in time and in their mutual enhancements, also the regulatory tools have the same characteristics. Because they change their meanings in time and place - while these changes are enhanced by other changes and contexts - this paper gives criteria for some regulatory tools that could have the same meanings in different jurisdictions. Due to the political, social, economic and cultural differences there cannot be present the same regulatory tools for the same problems or targets in different countries, but nevertheless there can be used the same approach or a model by which we could establish the most appropriate tool (that could be different in other jurisdictions) for solving similar situations. A proposed model favours a participatory "individual-collective" approach that can eliminate more bias than deliberative democracy or even by experts individually, because it is built on one of the basic cybernetic laws, i.e. of redundancy of command. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open source software has evolved from being an effort driven by a collective of volunteers to become an integral part of commercial software. Constant demands for new features besides maintaining product quality made companies seek open source as an answer for these demands. These growing demands brought with them control of quality, architecture, contribution management, and community management. This article explores the governance strategies adopted by open source software projects to manage the quality of complements (such as plug-ins that extend a platform's functionality) developed by community members outside the core team. The outcomes of the research contribute to our understanding of the strategies followed by different open source platform owners (the open source project initiators) to manage external innovation in the case of platform extensions in two areas: i) governance models and ii) regulatory tools.

Lately, sustainability in eco-cities had been such an urgent topic. Development forces acts as a threat to eco-lands. This study aims to evaluate the use of different tools through out a comparative analysis of various case studies in order to guarantee their sustainability. A community vision based on sustainability will help align and motivate communities, governments and others and will provide a basis for developing a strategy to achieve this vision. This paper discusses the application of one of the regulatory tools for achieving sustainability in eco-cities which is TDR ‘Transfer of Developing Rights’ as an alternative method that has been applied in other cities, as a new promising solution and the possibilities of its application in future projects could be applied to maintain sustainability of eco-lands within the cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the role of regulatory science in drug development. It mentions that regulatory science as the science of developing new tools, standards and approaches to assess the safety, efficacy, quality and performance of U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA's regulated products.

Copyright of Research Papers of the Wroclaw University of Economics / Prace Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wroclawiu is the property of Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny we Wroclawiu and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Biotic ligand models for calculation of watertype-specific no effect concentrations are recognized as a major improvement in risk assessment of metals in surface waters. Model complexity and data requirement, however, hamper the regulatory implementation. To facilitate regulatory use, biotic ligand models (BLM) for the calculation of Ni, Cu, and Zn HC5 values were simplified to linear equations with an acceptable level of accuracy, requiring a maximum of 3 measured water chemistry parameters. In single-parameter models, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is the only significant parameter with an accuracy of 72%-75% to predict HC5s computed by the full BLMs. In 2-parameter models, Mg, Ca, or pH are selected by stepwise multiple regression for Ni, Cu, and Zn HC5, respectively, and increase the accuracy to 87%-94%. The accuracy is further increased by addition of a third parameter to 88%-97%. Three-parameter models have DOC and pH in common, the third parameter is Mg, Ca, or Na for HC5 of Ni, Cu, and Zn, respectively. Mechanisms of chemical speciation and competitive binding to the biotic ligand explain the selection of these parameters. User-defined requirements, such as desired level of reliability and the availability of measured data, determine the selection of functions to predict HC5. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2012; 8: 738-748. © 2012 SETAC [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: From kudzu to zebra mussels, invasive species have wreaked environmental and economic havoc by modifying ecosystems, damaging crops, threatening native species, and serving as hosts to pests and viruses. Invasive species are a clearly a problem—but are they a land use problem? This study establishes a potential nexus between land use planning and biological invasions, or bioinvasions. The study also identifies the types of regulatory and non-regulatory tools used by local governments to address invasive species, including bans and ordinances, planning and policies, permit requirements, partnerships and projects, education, and other strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper outlines the use of disclosure in the regulation of the franchise sector in Australia, demonstrating that it does not meet conditions considered necessary for effective informational regulation. First, there is not enough reliable information to gauge the risks in informing the design of regulatory process and the choice of tools; second, the information in the disclosure document is not uniformly reliable, accessible and useable; and, third, a franchisee's ability to act on the information is limited because the franchise contract is not subject to negotiation and there are limited alternatives in the market. As potential solutions, this paper proposes that increased cooperation among and fuller representation of stakeholders, better information from dispute resolution processes, and registration of disclosure would improve the level of information about the sector generally. To ensure reliable, accessible and useable information, the information that is required to be disclosed should be identified by all stakeholders, with assurance that it is provided in an accessible, useable way. Finally, educational initiatives are needed to enhance franchisees' ability to act on the information. This paper also briefly surveys some other regulatory tools used in the regulation of franchising, but urges that these tools be selected as part of a democratic and participative regulatory process that accurately represents the interests of all stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US FDA has been regulating medical devices (including laboratory tests) since 1976. Premarket review is well defined and may include requirements for both analytical and clinical information. In 2004, the US FDA initiated the Critical Path initiative to help foster development of new medical products. Biomarkers were seen as an important part of this new program for both traditional diagnostic purposes and to aid in drug development. The US FDA has created programs to foster use of biomarkers both for routine diagnostic and for drug development purposes. There is growing methodology to serve as road maps for efficient and scientifically sound development in this area. The US FDA has a flexible regulatory tool box to apply to biomarker development, and has the clear aim of working as a partner to bring these important medical devices quickly to the medical marketplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans and many of their activities depend on clean water but pollute it during use. Water - a unique solvent - when moving through the landscape on its way to the river mouth, meets pollutants almost "everywhere" along its pathways. As a result, water pollution has been building up over time in rivers, lakes, aquifers and coastal waters. The pollution situation is particularly serious in industrializing, developing countries, where polluting, medium-scale industry constitutes the socio-economic backbone of whole cities and regions, which seriously complicates implementation of strict and costly pollutant abatement regulations. Evidence is now increasing of water pollution threatening the economic development of megacities, small islands, and shared transnational river basins. A set of global scenarios suggest that the world may be facing severe health effects from persistent pollutants some four decades from now. Difficulties in reversing the escalating water pollution have been severely underestimated both in terms of the possibility to finance, the social acceptance of abatement efforts, the time delays involved in achieving intended result, and the administrative fragmentation thresholds. The article explains the dilemma and the shifts in thinking needed to reverse the dangerous development and concludes that the water community has to take much stronger part in the debate to counteract the current resource illiteracy and to help diverting humanity from the population and economic collapses projected to happen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is a substitution relationship between regulatory and payment tools in agricultural land preservation of China. • A theoretical framework from the perspective of nonmarket value is established to evaluate policy tools. • We empirically verify that payment tools can partly substitute for regulatory tools. • The payment-regulation substitution may provide inspiration for policy innovation. As policies of agricultural land preservation, regulatory tools and payment ones usually operate independently or complementarily. However, under the policy of the dynamic balance of total cultivated land and taxes/fees of agricultural land conversion in China, there is a substitution relationship between the regulatory and payment tools. This article reviews this substitution mechanism, theoretically evaluates the policy system of Chinese agricultural land preservation from the perspective of nonmarket value and then estimates the public preference for those policy tools and agricultural land types using the choice experiment method. The results show that first, the effects of the regulatory and payment tools are different. While the regulatory tools preserve current agricultural land, the payment ones tend to improve cultivated land for the function of food security. Second, in the choice experiment, respondents support the hybrid tools combing the regulatory and payment tools, regulatory ones and payment ones from high to low, which means that the substitution relationship is reasonable to some extent. These suggest that the interaction of policies needs to be identified in the policy system of agricultural land preservation, and the theory of nonmarket value and choice experiment can be effectively used to evaluate the policy and provide references for the improvement of the policy system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]