Hospitalfield

Many US federal agencies model the economic and budgetary effects of research and development (R&D) investments—both public R&D and private R&D—as if R&D were the same as any other form of investment, such as physical capital investment. However, in recent decades, a broad base of evidence has developed suggesting that such modeling may result in projections that are not well aligned with the actual economic and budgetary effects of R&D investments. In this paper, we attempt to synthesize the economic evidence relevant to estimating the economic and budgetary effects of R&D and examine how and where this research literature could potentially be incorporated into the standard projections produced by various federal agencies.

The Declaration of Arbroath: Historical, cultural and onomastic aspects and educational perspectives Abstract The so-called “Declaration of Arbroath”, whose 700th anniversary was celebrated in 2020, represents an extraordinary document both in Scottish history and for Scottish culture. The “Declaration”, an official letter produced by Robert the Bruce’s chancery and sent to Pope John XXII in the late spring or early summer of 1320, is an appeal made by around 50 Scottish aristocrats. The legendary origins of the Scottish people are recalled in the letter, as well as the English occupation after 1296, Robert the Bruce’s struggle to free Scotland, his pact with the community of the realm, the eagerness of the Scots to take part in a crusade planned by the Pope. In particular, the names of the Scottish noblemen who signed and/or sealed the document are a significant onomastic source by which the many linguistic and cultural layers contributing to form the Scottish identity after the 11th and 12th century can be highlighted. From this point of view, the “Declaration of Arbroath” can be used as an effective didactic tool to teach cultural and linguistic aspects of medieval Scotland, such as naming practices and the development of family names in Scottish aristocratic families, among others.

Understanding evolutionary mechanisms is fundamental to a balanced biological education, yet practical demonstrations are rarely considered. In this paper we describe a bacterial liquid microcosm which can be used to demonstrate aspects of evolution, namely adaptive radiation, niche colonisation and competitive fitness. In microcosms inoculated with Pseudomonas fluorescens SBW25, evolved mutants such as the Wrinkly Spreader (WS) rapidly arise to form biofilms covering the air–liquid (A–L) interface. WS are readily isolated due to a distinctive colony morphology and reach ∼30% of the population within five days. When re‐inoculated into static microcosms, WS preferentially colonises the A–L interface by producing a biofilm, demonstrating a niche preference distinct from the ancestral SBW25 which grows throughout the liquid column. This ability provides the WS with a ∼2.5× competitive fitness advantage over the non‐biofilm forming ancestral SBW25. However, WS and SBW25 have similar fitness in shaken microcosms where biofilms cannot form. These practical demonstrations of WS evolution, suitable for secondary or tertiary‐level classes, can be linked with a literature‐based review of the underlying molecular biology of the WS phenotype to provide a true exemplar of the modern evolutionary synthesis, the current paradigm in evolutionary biology.

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