Brief Research Report: Case Study on the Early Impacts of COVID-19 on Urban Natural Areas Across 12 American Cities

The COVID-19 crisis has impacted the lives of the entire nation. As city residents faced lockdowns, they turned to their public parks and open space for respite from the confines of city living. Many residents sought solace in natural areas, wishing to hike, bird, and experience the sights and sounds of a forest during this fraught time. To understand the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the public use of natural areas and organizations' ability to care for them, we deployed a survey in May of 2020 to known partners in 12 US cities that are leaders in the management and care of urban natural areas. These cities represent a combined population of over 18 million people and collectively manage 284,906 acres of natural area parkland. We found that most organizations (83%) reported an increase in use of natural areas but concurrently 72% reported a decrease in the ability to care for natural areas during the pandemic. All organizations reported canceled public programs, and 94% saw a decrease in volunteer events. As these organizations look to the future, only 17% were confident in their organization having adequate funding in 2021. Cutting budgets to care for urban natural areas could have significant impacts on the health and sustainability of urban life. These 12 cities serve as examples of a pattern that could be occurring nationally and internationally. As cities reopen, budgets and priorities for the future will be determined as will the fate of resources to care for nature in cities.

Making Medicare Complicated: The Consequences of Privatization

Starting with policy changes in the 1980s, Medicare has largely become privatized, with nearly 40 percent of beneficiaries enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans and another 30 percent with private supplemental coverage, including for prescription drug coverage. As a result, Medicare has become laden with administrative burdens and barriers. Beneficiaries are faced with a confusing array of plans and coverage options when they enroll, and are expected to choose a new plan every year. The choice they make has large implications for their health care costs, as well as their actual access to health care. While we typically think that targeted policies are burdensome and social insurance programs are accessible, Medicare contradicts this easy categorization. Instead, it demonstrates how private sector involvement in public programs can increase complexity and increase burdens for beneficiaries.

Multilateral development banks: understanding their impact on start-up development in Latin America

Purpose This paper aims to examine the relative performance of multilateral development banks venture capital funds (MDBVCs) compared to that of government-sponsored venture capital funds (GVCs), assessing their impact on invested start-ups. Design/methodology/approach First, the authors survey the literature to understand the performance drivers of public programs designed to foster venture capital (VC). Second, the authors analyze the characteristics of multilateral development banks (MDBs) VC-related efforts. Third, based on their goals, structure, governance and management processes, the authors propose and test the hypothesis that MDBs initiatives outperform comparable public programs, overcoming the main limitations of the latter. Findings The authors find that start-ups funded by MDBVCs outperform GVC-funded start-ups in terms of access to subsequent financing and international expansion. Consistent with previous studies, the authors find that start-ups funded by private VCs show the highest levels of performance. Originality/value The paper features an unstudied actor – i.e. MDBVCs-, and an unstudied region – i.e., Latin America-, using a unique data set of 437 start-ups that received VC investments in 7 Latin American countries during the study period 2000–2018.

Efficient CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing in Alfalfa Using a Public Germplasm

Because its ability to acquire large amounts of nitrogen by symbiosis, tetraploid alfalfa is the main source of vegetable proteins in meat and milk production systems in temperate regions. Alfalfa cultivation also adds fixed nitrogen to the soil, improving the production of non-legumes in crop rotation and reducing the use of nitrogen fertilizers derived from fossil fuel. Despite its economic and ecological relevance, alfalfa genetics remains poorly understood, limiting the development of public elite germplasm. In this brief article, we reported the high-efficiency of alfalfa mutagenesis by using the public clone C23 and the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Around half of the GUS overexpressing plants (35S-GUS under C23 genomic background) transformed with an editing plasmid containing two sgRNAs against the GUS gene and the Cas9 nuclease exhibited absence of GUS activity. Nucleotide analysis showed that the inactivation of GUS in CRISPR/Cas9-editing events were produced via different modifications in the GUS gene, including frameshift and non-sense mutations. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 system and two sgRNAs, we have also edited the alfalfa gene NOD26, generating plants with different doses of alleles at this locus, including complete gene knockout at high efficiency (11%). Finally, we discuss the potential applications of genome-editing technologies to polyploid research and to alfalfa improvement public programs.

Editorial

After a tumultuous year around the globe in the wake of COVID 19, the cultural sector, including museums, galleries, and other institutions, as well as universities, have emerged in 2021 scathed but still functioning. As an academic journal engaged with professional museum practice, it is to be expected that Museum Worlds 9 will reflect the unprecedented impact of the pandemic. If the 2020 issue was difficult to collate and produce, this year’s issue was doubly so: academics and students are busy, stressed, and preoccupied with teaching online, while museum professionals are overworked, or out of work, or at home with their museums closed, and there are few exhibitions and public programs. Even the publishing industry seems to have been severely affected: new titles have been delayed, it is tricky to get books sent to readers due to holdups with freight, and writers, reviewers, and editors are busy, busy, busy.

Socioeconomic changes predict genome-wide DNA methylation in childhood

Childhood socioeconomic position (SEP) is a major determinant of health and well-being across the entire life course. To effectively prevent and reduce health risks related to SEP, it is critical to better understand when and under what circumstances socioeconomic adversity shapes biological processes. DNA methylation (DNAm) is one such mechanism for how early life adversity "gets under the skin". Using data from a large, longitudinal birth cohort, we showed that changes in the socioeconomic environment may influence DNAm at age 7. We also showed that middle childhood (ages 6-7) may be a potential sensitive period when socioeconomic instability, reflected in parental job loss, is especially important in shaping DNAm. Our findings highlight the importance of socioeconomic stability during childhood, providing biological evidence in support of public programs to help children and families experiencing socioeconomic instability and other forms of socioeconomic adversity during childhood.

Analisis Dampak Platform Peer-To-Peer Airbnb Terhadap Usaha Perhotelan Konvensional di Provinsi Bali

The sharing economy platforms in the accommodation, such as Airbnb, gain more public attention. Several hoteliers in Indonesia have complained about the unequal playing of the field due to the alleged tax violations. Some studies on the impact of Airbnb have been discussed in various countries, but this subject has not been widely conducted in Indonesia. This study aims to determine the impact of Airbnb on the conventional hotel industry in Bali and how the conventional hotel’s response to compete with Airbnb. This research was conducted using qualitative research. Data was collected through interviews and secondary data collection. Interviews were conducted with representatives of hoteliers, Airbnb owners, and hospitality associations in Bali. Using forecasting analysis, this study finds that the presence of Airbnb in Bali has an impact on the occupancy rate of conventional hotels in Bali. However, there doesn't a significant impact from Airbnb regarding the hospitality revenue. Meanwhile, conventional hoteliers generally do not make particular efforts to compete with Airbnb. This research implies for the managerial side of hotels and public programs and policies, especially for the Government of Bali in the future to pay attention to consumer protection to provide equal action between conventional hotel and Airbnb owners.

Experimentalist Governance for Technology Upgrading

The chapter extends the familiar Schumpeterian notion of creative destruction to the public-sector domain by asking a practical “how to” question: how policymakers can set priorities assuming that they have neither the panoramic view of the economy nor good capabilities to learn. The key notion is a trial-and-error policy process—with new experimentalist public programs and policies at the center—which shifts attention from one-time choice to incremental and continuous error-detection and correction of policy choices. Central governance procedure of such policy process is diagnostic monitoring which motivates stakeholders to learn by revealing both mistakes and new possibilities for action. Such problem-solving monitoring is contrasted with conventional (accounting) monitoring. Echoing the industry life-cycle literature, a policy life cycle of a new experimentalist program is introduced. A distinction is made between experimental policy process in the managerial sense (medium-term horizon) and in the evolutionary sense (long-term horizon).