Early Disclosure of Invention and Reduced Duplication: An Empirical Test

in Management Science (2020)

Much work on innovation strategy assumes or theorizes that competition in innovation elicits duplication of research and that disclosure decreases such duplication. We validate this empirically using the ... [more ▼]

Much work on innovation strategy assumes or theorizes that competition in innovation elicits duplication of research and that disclosure decreases such duplication. We validate this empirically using the American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA), three complementary identification strategies, and a new measure of blocked future patent applications. We show that AIPA—intended to reduce duplication, through default disclosure of patent applications 18 months after filing—reduced duplication in the U.S. and European patent systems. The blocking measure provides a clear and micro measure of technological competition that can be aggregated to facilitate the empirical investigation of innovation, firm strategy, and the positive and negative externalities of patenting. [less ▲]

Early dynamics of the gastrointestinal microbiome in infants at risk of metabolic disease in adulthood.

Poster (2015, June)

Early education, literacy and multilingualism

Presentation (2018, February 08)

Presentation of three studies, one meta-analysis, introduction of the project HOMELY and video from the project MuLiPEC (Claudine Kirsch).

Early feeding and risk of type 1 diabetes: experiences from the Trial to Reduce Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in the Genetically at Risk (TRIGR)

in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2011), 96(6), 1814-1820

Short-term breastfeeding and early exposure to complex dietary proteins, such as cow milk proteins and cereals, or to fruit, berries, and roots have been implicated as risk factors for β cell autoimmunity ... [more ▼]

Short-term breastfeeding and early exposure to complex dietary proteins, such as cow milk proteins and cereals, or to fruit, berries, and roots have been implicated as risk factors for β cell autoimmunity, clinical type 1 diabetes, or both. The Trial to Reduce Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in the Genetically at Risk (TRIGR) is an international, randomized, double-blind, controlled intervention trial designed to answer the question of whether weaning to an extensively hydrolyzed formula in infancy will decrease the risk of type 1 diabetes later in childhood. In our pilot study, weaning to a highly hydrolyzed formula decreased by ≈ 50% the cumulative incidence of one or more diabetes-associated autoantibodies by a mean age of 4.7 y. This finding was confirmed in a recent follow-up analysis to 10 y of age. Currently, the full-scale TRIGR takes place in 77 centers in 15 countries. The TRIGR initially recruited 5606 newborn infants with a family member affected by type 1 diabetes and enrolled 2159 eligible subjects who carried a risk-conferring HLA genotype. All recruited mothers were encouraged to breastfeed. The intervention lasted for 6-8 mo with a minimum study formula exposure time of 2 mo, and hydrolyzed casein and standard cow milk-based weaning formulas were compared. Eighty percent of the participants were exposed to the study formula. The overall retention rate over the first 5 y was 87%, and protocol compliance was 94%. The randomization code will be opened when the last recruited child turns 10 y of age (ie, in 2017). PMID: 21653795 [Pub [less ▲]

Early Language Education in Luxembourg

in Schwartz, Mila (Ed.) Handbook of Early Language Education (2020)

This chapter examines recent language education laws in Luxembourg as well as the ways in which early years practitioners appropriated the new policies and put them into practice. The chapter begins with ... [more ▼]

This chapter examines recent language education laws in Luxembourg as well as the ways in which early years practitioners appropriated the new policies and put them into practice. The chapter begins with a brief introduction of the linguistic landscape in Luxembourg and a summary of the dynamic development of the country’s early childhood education system. Special emphasis is put on recent changes in language education policies, which call for a more inclusive and multilingual early language education. Monolingual practices now need to open up to flexible language use and offer children opportunities to capitalize on their entire semiotic repertoire for communicating, meaning-making, and learning. The central concerns of this chapter are the ways in which policy changes influence educational practices in formal and non-formal settings and how professional development shapes this process. In order to address these questions, the authors review literature on language education policy, translanguaging and professional development and examine studies on early language education in Luxembourg. Next, they discuss recent initiatives of professional development in formal and non-formal early years settings as well as their outcomes. Finally, they present critical issues such as the practitioners’ reflexivity and responsibility and the sustainability of professional development. Future research directions include family language policies, partnerships between families and early childhood institutions and children’s languaging practices inside and across these institutions. [less ▲]

Early lessons from the design of tectile terminals for elderly people

in PervasiveHealth 2009. 3rd International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare (2009)

Abstract — This paper presents the early results of the multidisciplinary project Tivipol aiming to propose ICT devices to enhance the daily life of older people in a retirement home. A prototype ... [more ▼]

Abstract — This paper presents the early results of the multidisciplinary project Tivipol aiming to propose ICT devices to enhance the daily life of older people in a retirement home. A prototype combining a tactile color screen, a RFID reader and a ticket printer has been designed. It allows the older people to manage their usual activities in the retirement home (e.g. reserving their menu for the next days at the cafeteria). A first formative evaluation carried out with five residents of the home has shown the high level of usability and possible acceptance of the new system. This ongoing research is intended to find out which elements play a key role in the acceptation and diffusion of a ICT-based technology among elderly people in good physical and mental conditions. [less ▲]

Early life adversity and rejection sensitivity

in Early life adversity and rejection sensitivity (2016)

Early life stress reduces neuropathic pain in adulthood -is alteration of spinal microglial reactivity critically involved?

Poster (2017, November 14)

Growing evidence underlines the association between early life adversity and persistent alterations of neural, endocrine and immune functions that may be accompanied by a host of disease patterns such as ... [more ▼]

Growing evidence underlines the association between early life adversity and persistent alterations of neural, endocrine and immune functions that may be accompanied by a host of disease patterns such as chronic pain in later life. Neuropathy is a debilitating condition presenting a substantial cooccurrence with stress related disorders. Despite the established overlapping of biochemical pathways involved in the etiology of these disorders, the intricacy of their mutual interdependence remains. In this context, immunocompetent cells are largely affected during chronic stress and are a key factor in the sensitization of nociceptive dorsal horn neurons. The goal of the present study was to investigate the impact of maternal separation (MS), a wellestablished model of early life stress in rodents, on chronic constriction injury (CCI)induced neuropathic pain and to reveal the relevance of spinal microglia activation and proinflammatory cytokine regulation. For this purpose 12 groups of rats were exposed to different combinations of stress condition, CCIinjury and pharmacological treatment. Noxious sensitivity was tested during baseline conditions as well as during subsequent neuropathic and pharmacological treatment conditions. Von Frey hair and the cold plate tests were used for the assessment of mechanical and cold hyperalgesia/allodynia. Amphotericin B, a substance known to activate monocytes and macrophages in the periphery and microglial cells in the CNS was administered to subgroups of animals. At the end of the protocol, rats were sacrificed to assess microglial activation using qPCR and immunohistochemistry. Our main finding was that maternal separation led to a reduction of CCIrelated pain hypersensitivity (thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia/allodynia). We concomitantly observed a downregulation of Iba 1, mRNA a marker of microglial cells, and of IL1β mRNA, a proinflammatory cytokine that may be released by microglia. According to preliminary results, Amphotericin B in turn seemed to enhance CCI related pain sensitivity, possibly via an activation of microglia. Our results show that MS may lead to a reduction of neuropathy relatedpain in adult age. Stress related dampening of spinal microglial reactivity may play a critical role in this context. [less ▲]

Early literacy instruction in a multilingual setting

Scientific Conference (2016, May)

Early Pleistocene enamel proteome from Dmanisi resolves Stephanorhinus phylogeny.

in Nature (2019)

The sequencing of ancient DNA has enabled the reconstruction of speciation, migration and admixture events for extinct taxa(1). However, the irreversible post-mortem degradation(2) of ancient DNA has so ... [more ▼]

The sequencing of ancient DNA has enabled the reconstruction of speciation, migration and admixture events for extinct taxa(1). However, the irreversible post-mortem degradation(2) of ancient DNA has so far limited its recovery-outside permafrost areas-to specimens that are not older than approximately 0.5 million years (Myr)(3). By contrast, tandem mass spectrometry has enabled the sequencing of approximately 1.5-Myr-old collagen type I(4), and suggested the presence of protein residues in fossils of the Cretaceous period(5)-although with limited phylogenetic use(6). In the absence of molecular evidence, the speciation of several extinct species of the Early and Middle Pleistocene epoch remains contentious. Here we address the phylogenetic relationships of the Eurasian Rhinocerotidae of the Pleistocene epoch(7-9), using the proteome of dental enamel from a Stephanorhinus tooth that is approximately 1.77-Myr old, recovered from the archaeological site of Dmanisi (South Caucasus, Georgia)(10). Molecular phylogenetic analyses place this Stephanorhinus as a sister group to the clade formed by the woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) and Merck's rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis). We show that Coelodonta evolved from an early Stephanorhinus lineage, and that this latter genus includes at least two distinct evolutionary lines. The genus Stephanorhinus is therefore currently paraphyletic, and its systematic revision is needed. We demonstrate that sequencing the proteome of Early Pleistocene dental enamel overcomes the limitations of phylogenetic inference based on ancient collagen or DNA. Our approach also provides additional information about the sex and taxonomic assignment of other specimens from Dmanisi. Our findings reveal that proteomic investigation of ancient dental enamel-which is the hardest tissue in vertebrates(11), and is highly abundant in the fossil record-can push the reconstruction of molecular evolution further back into the Early Pleistocene epoch, beyond the currently known limits of ancient DNA preservation. [less ▲]