BACKGROUND As sharing and secondary research use of biospecimens increases, IRBs and researchers face the challenge of protecting and respecting donors without comprehensive regulations addressing the human subject protection issues posed by biobanking. Variation in IRB biobanking policies about these issues has not been well documented. METHODS This paper reports on data from a survey of IRB...

This study adopts a multilevel comparative approach to investigating the degree to which Japanese work systems are implemented and internalized in the UK business system. The focus is on the limits to accepting continuous improvement schemes of Japanese multinational corporations. The paper addresses national and local institutional factors and firm-level organizational factors affecting implem...

Between 2001 and 2005 UCISA2 and JISC3 conducted surveys into issues relating to the acquisition, use, management and support of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). A number of other studies provide information on these issues during this period. Together they provide a substantial body of evidence that allows an analysis of the factors that enhance or inhibit institutional take-up and suppor...

The VIVO project is creating an open, Semantic Web-based network of institutional ontology-driven databases to enable national discovery, networking, and collaboration via information sharing about researchers and their activities. The project has been funded by NIH to implement VIVO at the University of Florida, Cornell University, and Indiana University Bloomington together with four other pa...

BACKGROUND Novel research training approaches are needed in global health, particularly in sub-Saharan African universities, to support strengthening of health systems and services. Blended learning (BL), combining face-to-face teaching with computer-based technologies, is also an accessible and flexible education method for teaching global health and related topics. When organised as inter-ins...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the perceptions and interactions of the actors involved in anti-tuberculosis treatment, and to explore their influence in treatment defaulting in Los Altos region of Chiapas, Mexico. MATERIAL AND METHODS From November 2002 to August 2003, in-depth interviews were administered to patients with PTB, patients' family members, institutional physicians, community health coordi...

By examining several different types of open institutions including open source software, open science and open square, this paper presents a general analysis of open institutional structure that is complementary to traditional proprietary mode. We argue that open institutions are essentially about decentralized production of a collective good that relies on voluntary collaboration of highly va...

BACKGROUND Attempts to address the huge, and unmet, need for surgical services in Africa by training surgical specialists in well established training programmes in high-income countries have resulted in brain drain, as most trainees do not return home on completion of training for various reasons. Local postgraduate training is key to retaining specialists in their home countries. Internationa...

Legal and institutional structures fundamentally shape opportunities for adaptive governance of environmental resources at multiple ecological and societal scales. Properties of adaptive governance are widely studied. However, these studies have not resulted in consolidated frameworks for legal and institutional design, limiting our ability to promote adaptation and social-ecological resilience...

This paper provides a comparative institutional analysis between ENSO forecasting systems in the Pacific and southern Africa with a focus on how scientific information is connected to the decision making process. With billions of dollars in infrastructure and private property, and human health and well-being at risk during ENSO events, forecasting systems have begun to be embraced by managers a...