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More US Funding for Medical Research in Singapore.

CyGenics Granted Key Patent for the China Market.

Japan Sets Up Ethnic Crime Database.

Singapore and Hong Kong are Most at Risk in Bird Flu Pandemic.

Eisai Sets Up Pharmaceutical Marketing Branch in Switzerland.

India Ties Up with US FDA.

Archbishop of Seoul Opposes Professor Hwang's Embryonic Stem Cell Research.

Malaysia on the Verge of an HIV Epidemic.

US Donates US$35 Million to Help China Fight AIDS.

Satellite-based System to Monitor the Patterns of How Viruses Spread.

New Bird Flu Test Offers Results in 24 Hours.

Singapore's Researcher Awarded Prestigious International Award.

India's Bharat Biotech Invests in Perak.

Bill Gates Contributes Millions to Support Cervical Vaccines for the Poor.

This paper focuses on the use of computer models for making inferences about the effects of social policies. In order to improve the reliability of such inferences, the article proposes a new methodology which is based on the systematic search of model output which either confirms or falsifies the aforementioned inferences. The successful use of this new methodology is exemplified by the analysis of a simulation model which describes the dynamics of long-term unemployment.

The aim of this paper is to replicate the study of Siegrist et al. [2007] and to present a comparison of nanotechnology acceptance in Turkey and Switzerland. The participants in our survey acknowledge the benefits of nanotechnology in achieving a preferred future (significance on the country's economy and on wealth creation, as well as quality of life) while reserving some sceptism on the institutions' responsibility in utilizing nanotechnology in the food domain.

The most beneficial application in our study is viewed as nanotechnology-used bread compared to food packaging of Swiss study. The most risky application is seen as the application for tomatoes, the most affect is observed again for the tomatoes and willingness to buy(WTB) choice is more for juice application than any other applications analyzed in this study. Perceived benefits and perceived risks are found to have influence on the WTB nanotechnology applications in the food domain. Results did not support any evidence suggesting that the nanoinside applications are perceived as less acceptable than nanooutside application as stated in the Swiss study. Affect evoked by the information existing in environment about the nanotechnology products have significant relation with benefits and risks of this emerging technology. The relation between affect and risk in our model is positive whereas it is negative in Siegrist et al. [2007]. The effect of social trust on affect is found to be insignificant in our study which was an assumption of Siegrist et al. [2007] and found to be significant in their research.

This paper attempts to help the managers to understand the youth and young adults' perception of nanotechnology in Turkey and to consider the importance of those perceptions for the realization of technological advances in improving their products and developing new ones.

We reappraise the material needed to assess the 20th-century seismicity of Switzerland and of the adjacent areas of the Alps in terms of magnitude. For this we make use of macroseismic reports and literature and by calculating the surface-wave magnitude from the Prague formula of all significant earthquakes in the region. No attempt is made to relocate earthquake positions; instead their reliability is ranked using existing solutions and macroseismic observations. We find that for small earthquakes (M_S<4.5), which constitute the bulk of the events in the region, the calculation of M_S observed at relatively short distances, requires station and distance corrections which can be significant. Also we find that recomputed Ms estimates differ from those reported in other earthquake catalogues. From this reappraisal of M_S and from a uniform re-evaluation of the associated macroseismic data, we derive a stable correlations between M_S and felt areas that can be used to assess the magnitude of historical, pre-instrumental, events for which only isoseismal radii (r_i) and the associated intensities (I_i) are available. We examined the conversion of surface-wave magnitude into moment magnitude, a conversion that presents some interesting problems for relatively small events for which the M_S-log(M₀) scaling changes. We conclude that the rate of moment release derived from events of M_S>4.0 is small, and that it should be associated with horizontal and vertical velocity rates of less than 1 mm/yr, too small to be confirmed by GPS measurements over short periods of time so that can be used to constrain hazard assessment.

Different types of virtual innovation-related communities have emerged in recent years. These are increasingly being utilized by companies from different industries as a tool to efficiently source knowledge from diverse groups of individuals and thus to nourish internal innovations. Based on a case study research methodology this study investigated the impact 39 motivational factors have on the participation and contribution of members of two different innovation communities, i.e., an online Swiss innovation intermediary community (n = 48) and the off-line internal innovation community of a Swiss bank (n = 69). Results showed many similarities yet 16 significant differences between the perception of members of the two investigated innovation communities. For example, reward related items (monetary and non-monetary) showed to be top motivators for the intermediary community only. Items such as 'Webcam option', 'Chat function', 'Connection with other social network platforms', were perceived as low motivators by both communities. Derived from the findings, we discuss how the nature of the innovation community has an influence on the motivation and measures potentially leading to higher participation and contribution efficiency.

The efficient management of waste is important in order to reduce negative externalities, such as air, water and soil pollution. A major challenge is the increasing amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) produced by households. Municipalities around the world have implemented pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) schemes in order to incentivise the reduction of MSW. Although the literature has shown that these financial incentive schemes are often effective, they are criticised in practice for raising costs to society. This paper aims to assess whether or not this criticism is correct. A social cost-benefit analysis was conducted in order to take into account economic, environmental and social costs and benefits. Our results show that PAYT schemes reduce overall social costs and therefore positively contribute to the social efficiency of a municipality. The above criticism is not supported by empirical evidence, but in practice forms a barrier to the implementation of PAYT schemes. In order to remove this barrier, we encourage the readers of JEAPM to disseminate our findings to a wider audience.

Understanding the economic magnitude of climate change (CC) impacts is a prerequisite for developing adequate adaptation strategies. In Switzerland, despite new climate scenarios and impact studies, only few impacts have been monetized. Our objective is to assess costs and opportunities of CC for Switzerland by 2060, while enhancing the assessment methods. Using inputs from bottom-up impact studies, we simulate the economic consequences of climate scenarios in a computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework. We cover health, buildings/infrastructure, energy, water, agriculture, tourism, the spill-overs to other sectors, and international effects. Due to data constraints, significant impacts have not been quantified, e.g., for heat waves and droughts more extreme than the 2060 average climate. For the considered impacts, welfare decreases by 0.37% to 1.37% in 2060 relative to a reference without CC. Higher summer temperatures increase mortality and decrease productivity. Contrariwise, tourism benefits from extended summer seasons. Regarding energy, increased demand for cooling is overcompensated by savings in heating.

Different types of virtual innovation-related communities have emerged in recent years. These are increasingly being utilized by companies from different industries as a tool to efficiently source knowledge from diverse groups of individuals and thus to nourish internal innovations. Based on a case study research methodology this study investigated the impact 39 motivational factors have on the participation and contribution of members of two different innovation communities, i.e., an online Swiss innovation intermediary community (n = 48) and the off-line internal innovation community of a Swiss bank (n = 69). Results showed many similarities yet 16 significant differences between the perception of members of the two investigated innovation communities. For example, reward related items (monetary and non-monetary) showed to be top motivators for the intermediary community only. Items such as ‘Webcam option’, ‘Chat function’, ‘Connection with other social network platforms’, were perceived as low motivators by both communities. Derived from the findings, we discuss how the nature of the innovation community has an influence on the motivation and measures potentially leading to higher participation and contribution efficiency.