Breaking News
At university campuses, particularly in California, anti-Israel divestment debates in student government have become a spring ritual.
From San Diego to Berkeley and Davis, student senators introduce resolutions backing divestment, debate is scheduled immediately, propaganda is spread, supporters pack the halls, pro-Israel speakers are harassed (or worse), and student senators with almost no knowledge cast deciding votes. Whether the resolution (which has no practical impact) is adopted or defeated, Israel’s demonization is propagated.
While presented under the façade of local student initiatives, this process is a central part of a much wider and well-financed campaign of political warfare against Israel. The delegitimization of Israel began with its founding, and has not stopped. In the early decades (before the pretext of occupation after the 1967 war), the Arab League boycott office, located in Damascus, persuaded many firms, including Pepsi and American Express, not to do business with Israel. And travelers with Israeli visas in their passports were barred from Arab countries.
At the U.N.’s 2001 NGO (non-governmental organization) “anti-racism” conference in Durban, South Africa, the political war was expanded to include false claims of “war crimes,” “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing” and even “genocide.” Boycott efforts were expanded to universities, churches and the media. They received a massive infusion of funds and “feet on the ground” in the form of highly politicized NGOs. The goal of this Durban strategy was clear: the complete international isolation of Israel.
On this foundation, the first campaigns for academic boycotts and divestments were launched a few months later by pro-Palestinian student groups and union officials, using the false allegations of an Israeli “massacre” in Jenin. Monthly and sometimes weekly events featured speakers under the banner of human rights who repeated the mantra of Israeli demonization. Although often focusing on post-1967 occupation and settlements, and stripped of the historic and military context, the message remained that sovereignty for the Jewish people, regardless of borders, was unacceptable. This is the core message of campus divestment campaigns, including those in California.
The engine propelling this political war is composed of groups like Electronic Intifada, (led by Ali Abunimeh), the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott (Omar Barghouti) and other full-time dedicated Palestinian activists in scores of NGOs. Their funding sources are often hidden, but they clearly have major resources to send speakers, organize training sessions for activists, hold pseudo-academic conferences, and support the Students for Justice in Palestine network on many campuses. Perpetual students, like Emiliano Huet-Vaughn, who is part of the International Solidarity Movement and SJP, have spent years going from campus to campus (St. Louis, London, Berkeley, etc.). All of this takes money, coordinated organizations, schedulers, speakers, graphic artists and spin doctors.
To support the pretense that these campaigns are not inherently anti-Semitic in singling out Israel, the organizers quote Israeli and Jewish political NGOs that are part of the Durban strategy. For example, the 2013 UC Berkeley divestment resolution cites B’tselem, Adalah and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel as sources for allegations of “human …read more
Source: Israpundit


Abstract
Central and peripheral fatigue have been explored during and after running or cycling exercises. However, the fatigue mechanisms associated with a short maximal cycling exercise (30 s Wingate test) have not been investigated. In this study, 10 volunteer subjects performed several isometric voluntary contractions using the leg muscle extensors before and after two bouts of cycling at 25% of maximal power output and two bouts of Wingate tests. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electrical motor nerve stimulation (NM) were applied at rest and during the voluntary contractions. Maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), voluntary activation (VA), twitch amplitude evoked by electrical nerve stimulation, M wave and motor potential evoked by TMS (MEP) were recorded. MVC, VA and twitch amplitude evoked at rest by NM decreased significantly after the first and second Wingate tests, indicating central and peripheral fatigue. MVC and VA, but not the twitch amplitude evoked by NM, recovered before the second Wingate test. These results suggest that the Wingate test results in a decrease in MVC associated with peripheral and central fatigue. While the peripheral fatigue is associated with an intramuscular impairment, the central fatigue seems to be the main reason for the Wingate test-induced impairment of MVC.


A Papa John’s pizza franchisee faces jail time for his attempt to evade responsibility for paying overtime to workers at nine stores in the Bronx, N.Y. Authorities alleged the man’s company, BMY Foods, ran a scheme that tracked hours under fictitious names to hide overtime liability.
Working with the New York Attorney General, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered over $500,000 in lost wages and damages for the affected employees. Additionally, the attorney general is seeking jail time for the franchisee.
Note: Enforcement officials are not taking wage theft, in its various forms, lightly. In cases like this—where the employer obviously falsified records to hide his illegal pay practices—officials will not think twice about throwing the book at the employer.


Vaccination Costs From the Doctor's POV the MPR take:
Approximately half of pediatric vaccines are purchased by private pediatricians and family physicians and are administered to the majority of children in the U.S. As the cost of newer vaccines has increased, it has become one of the top overhead expenses for private pediatric practices. A survey of pediatricians and family physicians on satisfaction with insurance payments for vaccine purchases and administration reported that 10% of physicians had considered halting providing vaccines for privately insured patients due to costs. The highest dissatisfaction levels were seen in physicians regarding Medicaid payments for vaccine administration. The strategy used most frequently by clinicians unsure of how third-party payers would reimburse for new vaccines: informing patients that they may receive a bill for the vaccine.
READ FULL ARTICLE From
pediatrics.aappublications.org


Research links estrogen and binge eating
Estrogen may be a new tool for combating obesity. Medpage Today reports that Baylor College of Medicine researchers have found that an estrogen replacement suppressed binge-eating behavior among lab mice which lacked estrogen receptors.
The team published its findings in the
Journal of Clinical Research and noted that a new glucagon-like peptide-1 estrogen conjugate delivered estrogen to the right place.
Medpage notes that there have been human studies which showed that binge-eaters tend to have low GLP-1 levels, but that this research is the first to suggest a GLP-1 estrogen conjugate can curb behavior.


A recent study indicated that several species of fish, namely Clinostomus funduloides, enter the streams around Lake Matoaka when detention ponds overflow during storm events. The purpose of this study was to determine whether these fish have a top-down control of stream ecosystems.
A controlled laboratory study showed that the fish prey upon the amphipod Gammarus pseudolimnaeus with a strong preference for smaller sized individuals. The relationship between amphipod populations and leaf litter decomposition was then analyzed in Strawberry, Berkeley and Pogonia Creeks. Leaf litter bags were placed in areas with and without fish in each stream. After a five week period, the number of amphipods was significantly lower in the sites where fish were abundant. Moreover, the average size of the amphipods in the areas containing fish was larger, indicating that the presence of fish does, in fact, influence the amphipod community structure.
Gammarus pseudolimnaeus is a shredder, essential in the decomposition of leaves. Therefore, the decomposition rate of the leaf litter was expected to be lower in the areas populated with fish. However, no significant difference in the breakdown rate was found between areas with and without fish. Potential explanations for these results include possible leakages, differences in turbidity, dissolved oxygen and the availability of other food sources. Future studies must be conducted to determine the direct correlation between the abundance and size of amphipods and leaf litter decomposition
For additional documentation Elise Wach provided a PowerPoint Presentation entitled "Fish, Amphipods and Leaves: How are they related?" provided here in PDF form.


TIPS TO CONSERVE WATER Kitchen and Laundry
Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator to avoid running the tap for a cold drink.
Avoid running water to thaw food. Run the dishwasher only when you have a full load. Automatic dishwashers use about 15 gallons of water per load. Don’t let water run continuously if washing dishes by hand. Use your garbage disposal less often and compost instead. Use the proper water level when doing laundry. Bathroom
Test for toilet leaks by adding food coloring to the water tank.
Install water saving fixtures; especially WaterSense products. Dispose of tissue in the trash instead of flushing it and save 3-7 gallons per flush. A bathtub filled half full holds about 50 gallons of water. Consider showering instead. Keep shower length under 5 minutes and save up to 1,000 gallons if using an unrestricted fixture. Avoid letting the water run while shaving, brushing your teeth, and washing your face. Teach children to turn faucets off tightly after use. Lawn
Avoid excessive watering. Most lawns need only an inch of water per week to stay healthy. A shallow container can be used to measure the water.
Use short cycles (5 minutes) at least an hour apart to reduce runoff. Reduce evaporation by watering in the evening or early in the morning. Set sprinklers carefully to avoid watering paved areas. Avoid sprinklers that spray a fine mist, which increases evaporation. Aerate the soil in the spring and fall to reduce runoff. Keep the grass 2-3" long to enhance root development with minimal watering. Install a Rain Barrel and use the water for plants, to wash the car or water the lawn. Landscape Materials
Plant water efficient grasses, plants, trees, and shrubs.
Use mulch to help the soil retain moisture and to reduce the growth of weeds. Use drip irrigation to water plants, trees, and shrubs. Plant in the spring or fall, when watering requirements are lower. Other Outdoor Tips
Shut off and drain the water lines to outside spigots in the winter to prevent damage and costly repairs from freezing.
Avoid using the hose to clean areas that could be swept with a broom. Run the water only to wet and rinse when washing vehicles and use a bucket for wash water. (Try to wash on the grass where the water can percolate to reduce water quality impacts. Storm drains lead directly to our streams.)


Maturation of visual and auditory temporal processing in school-aged children. Dawes P., Bishop DV.
PURPOSE: To examine development of sensitivity to auditory and visual temporal processes in children and the association with standardized measures of auditory processing and communication. Methods Normative data on tests of visual and auditory processing were collected on 18 adults and 98 children aged 6-10 years of age. Auditory processes included detection of pitch from temporal cues using iterated rippled noise and frequency modulation detection at 2 Hz, 40 Hz, and 240 Hz. Visual processes were coherent form and coherent motion detection. Test-retest data were gathered on 21 children. RESULTS: Performance on perceptual tasks improved with age, except for fine temporal processing (iterated rippled noise) and coherent form perception, both of which were relatively stable over the age range. Within-subject variability (as assessed by track width) did not account for age-related change. There was no evidence for a common temporal processing factor, and there were no significant associations between perceptual task performance and communication level (Children's Communication Checklist, 2nd ed.; D. V. M. Bishop, 2003) or speech-based auditory processing (SCAN-C; R. W. Keith, 2000). CONCLUSIONS: The auditory tasks had different developmental trajectories despite a common procedure, indicating that age-related change was not solely due to responsiveness to task demands. The 2-Hz frequency modulation detection task, previously used in dyslexia research, and the visual tasks had low reliability compared to other measures.


To get dental insurance, Medicare participants must enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan that includes dental coverage. Traditional Medicare Parts A and B exclude dental services unless they are a crucial part of a covered procedure.Continue Reading
Medicare Advantage Plans, also known as Medicare Part C, are coverage options offered by private companies that must include all the services traditional Medicare Parts A and B offer, apart from hospice care, which traditional Medicare covers. Additionally, many Medicare Advantage Plans offer extra coverage such as hearing, vision, health and welfare programs, and dental. To find a Medicare Advantage Plan in your area that includes dental coverage, go to the main page of the Medicare website, click on Forms, Help & Resources in the toolbar at the top of the page, select Find Health & Drug Plans, enter your zip code, and click Find Plans. Under Summary of Your Search Results, select Medicare Health Plans With Drug Coverage or Medicare Health Plans Without Drug Coverage. A special symbol marks all listed plans that include dental insurance.
Traditional Medicare only covers dental work that is part of a procedure such as repairing a jaw after an accident or extracting teeth as a prelude to radiation treatment. Additionally, Medicare Part A covers inpatient hospital care during complex or emergency dental work, but it does not cover the dental services.Learn more about Health Insurance


We believe deeply in the great value of an AU education. Our story is not the national story.
When choosing a college we believe the focus should be on selecting the best fit for your educational needs. Whether you are considering attending, or you've already chosen American University, we understand that financing your education is a significant factor in setting you on the right course for a transformational experience and lifetime of passion for effecting change.
In Washington, D.C., and across the nation, student debt, loan rates and college affordability have become increasingly important issues since the start of the recession. The economy and job market have created uncertainty for students and families across the country.
However, the value of a quality education does not fluctuate.
American University is committed to using all of its resources to help motivated students attain their educational goals. We’ve developed these tools and resources to help students and their families understand and manage their personal finances to take the actions that best fit their situations.
We look forward to working with you regarding financing an AU education.


Teaching Energy and Transport Economics
A Joint Workshop organised and sponsored by the Economics Network and the UK Energy Research Centre Meeting Place, Oxford, Wednesday 31 May 2006
Teaching Energy Economics was our third subject-specific participatory workshop. Held at Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford, the workshop provided 16 lecturers with the opportunity to focus on their own issues of concern.
Unusually, most of the participants were not economists and were seeking guidance in teaching non-economics specialists. The varied background in transport, energy, renewables, and microeconomics proved a challenge for structuring the day (which is normally based upon the registrants' responses to a questionnaire e-mailed to them two weeks before the event). But in the end, the highlight was the networking and, in this case particularly, the sharing of resources for supporting students without economics backgrounds. One attendee wrote:
"Many thanks for an enjoyable and informative workshop. As a non-economist teaching energy economics I was enthused by the discussions within the groups and grateful for the resource information, none of which I had previously seen."
The Economics Network is now aware of this need from non-economists and plans to address it via the website and, possibly, future workshops.


The power to redraw electoral lines is the power to design elections. Enormous significance therefore attaches to any delegation of redistricting authority. Yet in every jurisdiction in the country, the power to redistrict has been delegated to a varied collection of actors whose participation largely has escaped academic attention. They are as ubiquitous as they are overlooked: they are the redistricting litigants. These actors’ participation in the process leads to a startling form of redistricting. Though the majority of these litigants are not elected, appointed, or in any way vetted by the electorate at large, they are empowered to affect electoral lines in deliberate and politically consequential ways; to affect the rights of non-parties without providing class-action protections or other defenses; and to exploit a procedural regime that, due to the time pressures of the election cycle, becomes warped in ways that give litigants significant leverage to advance their own agendas. These features reflect a regime developed not through deliberate design, but rather through the accidental effects of judicial intervention. This Article responds to the persistent gap in the literature by revealing the unacknowledged power of redistricting litigants. It identifies the concerns their participation raises with respect to the outcomes, efficiency, and legitimacy of the redistricting process, and it concludes with a discussion of targeted reforms. These reforms include institutional adjustments meant to reduce reliance on litigants and procedural changes meant to give greater voice to non-parties.


Diabetes Mellitus - Type I
Type I Diabetes Mellitus (Type I DM) was originally termed "Juvenile Diabetes" because it largely presented in adolescents and young adults. However, this term is no longer in use as the age of Type II DM onset has progressively decreased and has come to overlap with that of Type I DM. Type I DM is an autoimmune disease which results in progressive immune-mediated destructions of the Islets of Langerhans, ultimately leading to deficiencies in insulin synthesis. Development of the disease appears to occur in individuals with some genetic susceptibility who undergo a unidentified environmental insult. Those possessing HLA-DR4 and HLA-DR3 alleles are at increased risk and some theorize that a cryptic viral infection may be the source of the environmental insult. Whatever the ultimate etiology, Type I DM is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of the endocrine pancreas specifically in the Islets of Langerhans. This inflammatory infiltration, termed Insulinitis, appears to be primarily composed of T-cells and can be observed years before clinical onset. Inflammation leads to progressive and selective destruction of insulin-producing islet beta cells. Clinically apparent diabetes begins only after nearly all (~80%) of pancreatic beta cells have been destroyed. Once this physiological reserve of beta cells has been destroyed, insulin levels progressively decline and may reach complete absence. Type I DM is treated with lifetime recombinant insulin replacement therapy.


Bacteria Diversity
Greater bacterial diversity has been correlated with wellness, but diversity can vary greatly among healthy individuals.
[1][2] When you have your microbiome sequenced with uBiome, you will receive a diversity score. Diversity is determined using the Simpson's Diversity Index. Scores range from 0 to 10, with 10 being the most diverse. The average gut sample generates a score of between 6 and 9, but the distribution varies depending on the type of sample.


Affiliation: Lianet Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Medicina Tropical “Pedro Kouri”, Apartado Postal 601, Marianao 13, La Habana, Cuba.
Abstract
Parasites are eukaryotic pathogens and largely include protozoa, helminths and arthropods that cause different diseases to human. Parasitic diseases have a significant impact on developing countries and it has raised the mortality rate to various millions per year. Despite the recent progress, no vaccines are presently available against any of the major parasitic infections of humans. Chemotherapy remains the only option for both clinical and control management. However, conventional drugs are present with features that limit their utility, such as high cost, poor compliance, drug resistance, low efficacy and poor safety. There is thus a clear need for new therapeutic agents against parasites infections.


Education, at its most fundamental core, is a social endeavour between student and teacher. While this remains a core tenet in the Junior School, it is clear that at the dawn of the digital era, technology must also be integrated into the student experience. However, we must be vigilant to not replace that critical human contact with a machine, but harness those tools purposefully and thoughtfully to engage each student individually as they work toward their personal learning goals.
A wide array of tools are readily available in the Junior School, including interactive whiteboards in each classroom, an Apple iPad mobile learning lab, dedicated primary and junior iMac labs, LEGO robotics, a generous distribution of iPads in the junior classrooms and laptop resources for each teacher. Having the hardware and software is not enough, for we recognize that it is professionally informed teachers who animate the curriculum with the inspired use of technology tools. To this end, we also have a dedicated Junior School Technology Integration Specialist who oversees the MacLabs and works alongside both teachers and students, facilitating projects and creating engaging lessons inside and outside the classroom.
At CDS, we remain true to our core strengths and beliefs regarding teaching and learning, but are also sure footed, knowing when and where to adapt and adopt the best uses of emergent technology within our classrooms. That is true - Education, with balance.


Webinar Overview: Presenter:
We here at the Society of Certified Senior Advisors
® are very excited to have Deborah Skovron joining us. Deborah holds a BA in counselling psychology and certificates in Compression Planning™, workplace mediation, program evaluation, and business management.
Over the past 30 years, Deborah has developed extensive experience in testing and demonstrating innovative concepts in the educational, human services, and senior industries. Most recently she has served as Executive Director of the
Society for Creative Aging and the Director of the Colorado Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund. Deborah is committed to making a difference in organizational direction and dynamics. She is also keenly aware of the sensitive and integral role that a consultant takes on with an organization seeking change, direction, or impact.
A multitude of studies have established that loneliness and social isolation increase the risk of cognitive decline and depression as people age. Over the last 6 years under Deborah’s direction, CircleTalk™ has created a platform for the aging population to shine and be known, sometimes for the first time in their lives.
Inspiration:
As older adults leave their homes and communities for the security and support offered in senior living, too often, the ability to successfully connect socially is disrupted or lost leading to loneliness, isolation and lack of purpose and meaning. This experience can be more profound for adults with memory and cognitive challenges. Research has now established that these human conditions increase the risk of cognitive decline, dementia, social isolation and depression as people reach longevity.
Intention:
This webinar will highlight best practices for operationalizing positive and successful aging in senior living and introduced tools and strategies that reduce isolation through a structured program for meaningful conversations and personal sharing.
These strategies have been successfully implemented in a range of residential settings, inspiring a sense of belonging, and creating small community where there was none.


Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment in favor of defendants who faced a RICO suit following resolution of arbitration with the plaintiffs. The case involved a dispute over whether the defendants tried to overtake a foreign subsidiary of the plaintiffs. A relevant agreement between the parties required the plaintiffs to submit to arbitration under Singapore law. The plaintiff brought suit in the Northern District of California, but that case was dismissed on forum non conveniens grounds. As part of that suit, the plaintiff included a RICO claim and sought treble damages. The Singapore arbitration took about two decades to reach completion, following which time the defendants paid the arbitral award to the plaintiff. Then, the defendants found that the plaintiff had re-initiated suit in California, continuing to seek treble damages under RICO.
The court balanced the treble damages provision of RICO with the “one satisfaction rule,” the principle that a plaintiff should not recover more than their actual losses. The “full measure” of the plaintiff’s claims were not satisfied by the arbitration’s award of actual losses, and, thereby, the RICO trebling claim was not extinguished. The court remanded the case for further proceedings, albeit with a limitation that the previous arbitral award would be offset against any liability on the RICO claim. Uthe Technology Corp. v. Aetrium, Inc., No. 3:L95-cv-02377 (9th Cir. Dec. 11, 2015).


Whitefield’s Sin Exposing Spotlight
Whitefield was convinced that any presentation of the gospel must begin by exposing the listener’s sin and his dire need for salvation. This necessitated the preacher’s confronting his hearers’ rebellion against God and warning of the eternal consequences of their rejection. Whitefield plainly understood that none rightly desire the gospel of Christ until they know of their own condemnation before God. Whitefield preached those truths that reveal sin, namely, the holiness of God, the fall of Adam, the demands of the law, the curse of disobedience, the certainty of death, the reality of the final judgment, and the eternality of punishment in hell.
When addressing the unregenerate masses, Whitefield sought to ensure that their depravity was fully laid bare. Martyn Lloyd-Jones aptly stated, “No man could expose the condition of the natural unregenerate heart more powerfully than George Whitefield.” Only when confronted with their sinfulness, Whitefield insisted, would unbelievers seek to embrace Christ as their Savior and Lord. He peeled back the outer layers of people’s self-righteousness in order to bring about self-awareness of their sinful hearts.
The work of evangelism mandated that he address the eternally devastating effects of sin in his preaching. Whitefield, like a watchman on the tower, warned of sin, death, and judgment. He sought to disturb his listeners with their lost condition before a righteous Judge in heaven. “The sin of your nature, your original sin, is sufficient to sink you into torments, of which there will be no end,” he preached. “Therefore unless you receive the Spirit of Christ, you are reprobates, and you cannot be saved.” He believed the lost must be driven to the brink of utter desperation before they will come to faith in Christ.
Whitefield was a master at sweeping away all useless rhetoric in order that the unconverted would recognize their desperate need to repent. He implored them, “You are lost, undone, without Him; and if He is not glorified in your salvation, He will be glorified in your destruction; if He does not come and make His abode in your hearts, you must take up an eternal abode with the devil and his angels.” None who heard Whitefield were put to sleep with a false sense of security.
Pointing back to Adam’s transgression, Whitefield emphasized that all are born with an inherited sin nature from the first man. He declared, “We all stand in need of being justified, on account of the sin of our natures: for we are all chargeable with original sin, or the sin of our first parents.” It was this strong belief in original sin and total depravity that caused his every sermon to drive his listeners to grasp a sense of their desperate condition in sin. All humanity is born spiritually dead, he believed:
Can you deny that you are fallen creatures? Do not you find that you are full of disorders, and that these disorders make you unhappy? Do not you find that you cannot change your own hearts? Have you not resolved many and many a time, and have not your corruptions yet dominion over you? Are you not bondslaves to your lusts, and led captive by the devil at his will?
Whitefield’s sermons were filled with vivid warnings of the horrific dangers of remaining in a state of sin. In his sermon “Walking with God,” he warned that hell may be but one step away for them: “For how knowest thou, O man, but the next step thou takest may be into hell? Death may seize thee, judgment find thee, and then the great gulf will be fixed between thee and endless glory for ever and ever. O think of these things, all yet that are unwilling to walk with God. Lay them to heart.” Whitefield understood that gospel preaching must include the threat of hell, which is intended to drive men to flee to Christ and escape His terrors.
By such strong statements, Whitefield shined a sin-exposing spotlight into the dark crevasses of depraved hearts. Only then would sinners flee to the foot of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ to hear about a Savior who died for their guilty souls.
This excerpt is taken from
The Evangelistic Zeal of George Whitefield by Steven Lawson.


One positive side-effect of the recent financial market meltdown that toppled giant, century-old institutions and cost millions their jobs is that it created a strong desire among many Americans to better understand how the U.S. economy functions. In The Little Book of Economics, Greg, Ip, one of the country's most recognized and respected economics journalists, walks readers through how the economy really works.Written for the inquisitive layman who doesn't want to plow through academic jargon and Greek letters or pore over charts and tables, The Little Book of Economics offers indispensible insight into how the American economy works - or, doesn't. With engaging and accessible prose, the book Provides a comprehensive understanding of each aspect of our economy from inflation and unemployment to international trade and finance Serves as an insider's guide to the people and institutions that control America's economy such as the Federal Reserve and the federal budget Explains the roots of America's current economic crisis and the risks the country faces in its aftermath, such as stratospheric government debt, while offering advice on overcoming these threats Walks readers through the basic concepts and terminology they need to understand economic news Punctures myths and political spin from both the left and the right with candid and often surprising insightA must read for anyone who wants a better grasp of the economy without taking a course in economics , The Little Book of Economics is a unique and engaging look at how the economy works in all its wonderful and treacherous ways.


Broadcast-equipment vendor Grass Valley, and middleware and content-security vendor Irdeto, have partnered to develop a multiscreen solution that is aimed at the world of broadcast. For managing content ingest, metadata, and transcoding, the solution relies upon Grass Valley's Mediafuse product; Mediafuse oversees the core, content management processes that allow live and pre-recorded content to be formatted, then IP-encapsulated for distribution to connectable devices. In order to ensure that this content is secured for IP distribution, the solution relies on the Irdeto Broadband suite, which at its heart consists of Irdeto's ActiveCloak DRM.
Also at NAB this year, both Harris and Harmonic have released multiscreen hardware in the form of dedicated transcoding platforms, for content wrapping and repurposing. Such platforms indicate that multiscreen solutions are set to become affordable as packaged products, rather than remain boutique systems that have often required siloed workflows, and a dense archive of pre-encoded and wrapped video assets.
The joint solution has been designed so that broadcasters who use current iterations of Mediafuse can upgrade to the new functionality, and importantly, leave their existing production infrastructure intact.
Analysis
The UK offers a telling example. In 2010, of the 83m installed connectable Blu-Ray players, connectable TV sets, Xbox360's, PS3s, smartphones and PCs, only 14m of these are addressed by pay-TV - corresponding to a total penetration of 16 per cent. There is ample opportunity for broadcasters to address the remaining 69m devices. Moreover, across both Western Europe and North America, pay-TV multiscreen penetration is much lower; pay-TV device penetration stands at 4 per cent in both regions.
Although Grass Valley's and Irdeto's solution will allow broadcasters to add multi-device distribution capability onto their existing platforms, use of a single DRM - Irdeto's - may not be sufficient to address the totality of devices in the market; this is because the DRM market has the potential to fragment. While Microsoft's Playready, Apple's Fairplay and Adobe's Flash Access have historically constituted the means to secure audio-visual content, solutions from Widevine, NDS, Nagravision and Irdeto have broadened the set of DRMs from which broadcasters and pay-TV operators may pick. With Marlin DRM making additional inroads in the world of hybrid broadcast-IP television - on the UK's YouView platform, and Italy's Tivu' platform - the market is moving further away from universal, platform-and-device-independent DRM. If pay-TV operators, broadcasters, and OTT providers wish to reach the entirety of the addressable device ecosystem - or at least have the potential to reach all addressable devices - multi-DRM support will near assuredly be required.
IHS Screen Digest TV Technology Intelligence


Braille reading is a demanding task that requires the identification of rapidly varying tactile patterns. During proficient reading, neighboring characters impact the fingertip at ∼100 ms intervals, and adjacent raised dots within a character at 50 ms intervals. Because the brain requires time to interpret afferent sensorineural activity, among other… (More)


Designing effective REDD+ safeguard information systems: building on existing systems and country experiences
A key determinant of REDD+ success will be the development and implementation of safeguards, including systems for providing information on how safeguards are addressed and respected. This policy paper is the result of a three-year initiative to develop REDD+ safeguard information systems (SIS). The research examined: information collected through eight existing systems that could feed into reporting on REDD+ safeguards; how the existing systems ensure transparency, consistency, accessibility, flexibility, country-driven processes and the lessons for a REDD+ SIS; early action in five countries to provide lessons and insights for the further development of REDD+ SIS. In exploring these areas, the research aims to contribute to improved SIS by identifying how REDD+ practitioners can build on existing systems and learn from early action. The research concludes that new mechanisms, methodologies or indicators are not necessarily required, but systems can be built on existing frameworks.


Socio-legal studies are an essentially interdisciplinary enterprise. However, there is currently only one form of interdisciplinarity that most socio-legal scholars (and criminologists) recognise and work with. This form is derived from the idea that 'society itself' - and by this most scholars mean ‘civil society’ - drives the law. However, another, rival understanding of society, which we term the authoritarian-liberal statist understanding that slipped from view in the late seventeenth century and remained obscure from then until now, may be used to generate another form of interdisciplinarity for socio-legal studies (and for criminology). However, this rival understanding of society does not simply allow us to reconfigure our notion of ‘society’; it radically changes the role society plays in relation to the law. Two crucial points emerge from this rival account: first, society can no longer be understood as separable from (even though interacting with) the law; and second, society can no longer be understood as driving the law.


If a personal home is also your primary residence, you may not be liable for any capital gains tax. IRS rules allow homeowners selling their primary residence to earn up to $250,000 profit without having any capital gains tax liability. Therefore, the majority of US homeowners will face no tax requirements when selling their homes. But, the property must qualify as your primary residence to receive this tax break. If a married couple sells their primary residence, this exemption increases to $500,000.
IRS Regulations
Until 1997, the IRS required homeowners to reinvest all profits into another primary residence to avoid capital gains taxes when selling their homes. Sellers over age 55 could take a one-time $125,000 profit tax exemption, regardless of their use of the funds. However, the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, allows the $250,000 exemption each time you sell your primary home. This IRS law allows homeowners to sell their homes without concern for the disposition of their profits.
No LImit on Exemption Use
Unlike the former once-in-a-lifetime exemption for seniors, IRS rules set no limit on the number of times you use the $250,000 (or $500,000) tax exemption. You may sell your primary residence multiple times and enjoy this exemption each time you transfer the deed. Second homes and rental properties do not enjoy this tax benefit. However, you face no difficult choices regarding when or if to take this tax exemption, since you are not numerically limited.
Primary Residences Only
To enjoy this tax benefit, you must sell your primary residence. Selling other real estate falls under prevailing capital gains tax rules, just as all longer term assets do. Be sure you can prove, if necessary, that the home sold was your primary residence. You must have lived in the home for over six months for at least two of the five years prior to its sale. This rule gives you some flexibility if you moved, but had difficulty selling your former primary home.
Spousal Co-Owners
If you are married and file joint tax returns with your spouse, you should qualify for a $500,000 tax exemption, instead of the single owner $250,000 maximum. While you may exceed these maximums if you sell a six-bedroom mansion on the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, most US homeowners will face zero capital gains taxes when they sell their homes. The doubling of the exemption for homes co-owned by spouses eliminates tax consequences for most Americans.
Photo Credits Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images


For some reason, most of us tend to gravitate toward certain types of jewelry. Whether it's simply the look of these pieces or how they blend in with our wardrobes, it's not uncommon to have hyper-specific preferences, especially since jewelry is such a personal thing. When it comes to metal, many people will choose baubles based on what is most trendy at that time. Meanwhile, others stick to the tried-and-true options that they know complement their personalities.
It can be challenging to figure out which metal is the right one for you. After all, there are many considerations to take into account, including your budget, skin tone and lifestyle. So how do you choose?
Use this guide before picking out some new baubles from Fine Jewelers:
Silver This metal boasts many advantages. For one, silver is a less expensive precious metal than gold. It's also particularly soft in its pure state, making it an ideal choice for jewelry you want engraved. However, this softness also means that it can be easily damaged. That's why silver is often combined with other metals. Mixing in copper, for example, produces sterling silver, which is not only more affordable than the pure metal but also has greater durability. On the other hand, the addition of copper can make silver more prone to tarnishing over time. Still, it's a strong metal that's ideal for bracelets, necklaces and earrings. Since this soft metal shows wear more quickly, it's not the best choice for wedding bands or engagement rings.
While essentially anyone can wear silver, it looks especially stunning on those with cool skin. If you're unsure about whether you have a cool complexion, look for bluish veins on your wrist or rosy undertones in your face.
Gold There's a reason that gold has captivated all kinds of people for centuries. Not only is it ultra rare, but the metal's lustrous appearance is particularly eye-catching. Additionally, gold is more resistant to tarnishing and scratching than silver. While pure gold is usually considered too soft for everyday baubles, it can be mixed with zinc or copper to make it more durable. It's important to take your lifestyle into account when wearing gold pieces. Rings and bracelets are more at risk of becoming damaged or deformed, especially if you're someone who works with your hands. That's why it makes more sense to choose 18-karat or 14-karat gold for these pieces. Or, you could always opt for gold plated jewelry, which also comes with the benefit of a lower price tag.
As with silver, this metal can look striking on a range of different skin tones. However, it really complements those with warm complexions. Gold also looks remarkable on those with blonde or reddish hair. If you're not sure whether you have a warm skin, look for greenish veins and golden or olive undertones.
Rose gold While this is really just a different alloy of gold, it deserves its own category purely for the major resurgence its seen in recent years. As more designers have been featuring this metal and more celebs have been rocking it, rose gold has certainly made a major comeback. Essentially, the alloy fuses gold with copper, resulting in a pinkish finish as opposed to the traditional yellow hue. The higher the copper content, the more intense the reddish tone will appear. The addition of copper also means that this form of gold will patina over time, but this effect can be rather desirable for some. In fact, it has a certain vintage vibe that may perfectly match a person's retro-inspired or whimsical wardrobe.
One of the primary perks of rose gold is that it's highly scratch-resistant. So it's a fitting choice for everything from pendants to rings and watches. It's also worth noting that rose gold is ultra versatile as it pairs nicely with nearly any other metal. Plus, this metal flatters any complexion.


Paul W. Thurner, Martin Binder Effectiveness of Ministries’ Claims in EU Intergovernmental Negotiations: A Multi-Level Approach
We propose to measure ‘negotiation effectiveness’ by comparing the initial preferences of 140 governmental subunits with regard to 46 negotiation issues with the final treaty stipulations. Due to the hierarchical order of the data we use multi-level analysis. A key result is that the macro-context of equivalent jurisdictions leads to a higher convergence of negotiation effectiveness than the macro-context of the national governments.


Healthcare providers are frequently turning to new technologies to keep patients engaged in their care. While such tools may enhance the patient experience, clicking a mouse or logging into a portal is not indicative of active patient engagement. Kyra Bobinet, a consulting faculty member of the Stanford School of Medicine, explains that these shiny new tools leave only fleeting, surface-level impressions. Technology, alone, is not the silver bullet to building lasting relationships with patients or engaging them in their care.
What Bobinet cites as the most critical factors of patient engagement are motivation and emotion. Caregivers can only connect with patients on a deeper level when they understand the factors that lead to excitement, the moments that elicit fear, and the words that bring comfort. When providers understand what truly resonates with patients, they can develop effective products and programs to make patients an active part of the care process.
CipherHealth recognizes that technology should be used to enhance personal connections between patients and caregivers, not foster impersonal experiences. Orchid, CipherHealth’s digital rounding solution, encourages purposeful touchpoints, helping staff communicate clearly with patients and encouraging patients to ask questions or express concerns. The patient’s feedback is not simply a means to complete a checklist, but instead is used to drive organization-wide improvements and influence the way care is delivered to each patient.
When patients return home from the hospital, they will not remember the high-tech gadgets used by their caregivers. What sticks with patients is how well the care team listened, and responded, to their individual thoughts and feelings. This doesn’t mean that providers should abandon technology, as it is a critical component in delivering high-quality care. Rather, providers must find the tools that enable an ever greater level of connection with their patient populations.
Contact CipherHealth today to understand how you can capitalize on technology to build meaningful patient engagement.


ERIC Number:ED142476 Record Type:RIE Publication Date:1977-Mar Pages:82 Abstractor:N/A Reference Count:0 ISBN:N/A ISSN:N/A
American Women Today & Tomorrow.
Bryant, Barbara Everitt
This study finds that the women's movement has had a significant impact in expanding the outlook and changing the attitudes of American women. According to this representative survey of 1,552 women, American women perceive their roles as either traditional, balancing, or expanding. The traditional outlook, generally shared by women over 50, views homemaking as woman's primary role. The expanding outlook favors more options and flexible lifestyles. This outlook, held by women under 35, regards women on an equal basis with men, not only in employment, but also in the sharing of household responsibilities, alimony, child support and custody. In the middle of the spectrum are those women who share a balancing outlook, combining the views of the traditional and the expanding. These women are generally in their 40's or of Black or Spanish-American heritage. The survey reveals that (1) most women are still employed in low-level or female-dominated fields, (2) a gap remains between salaries of men and women, and (3) most women believe government assistance with child care is needed. The study concludes with a list of predictions for the future, based on the idea that "when outlooks change, behavior follows." An expectation is that women will pursue lifestyles which combine careers and homemaking with more shared responsibilities in marriage. Chapters discuss women's opinions; their work; marital status; motherhood, family planning, and childhood; leisure activities and the media image of women; and the effect of the women's movement. Statistical tables, a copy of the 19 page questionnaire, and a bibliography are included. (KC)
Descriptors: Attitude Change, Child Care, Employed Women, Family Planning, Family Role, Females, Feminism, Homemakers, Leisure Time, Marital Status, Mass Media, Mothers, National Surveys, Occupational Surveys, Prediction, Questionnaires, Sex Differences, Sex Discrimination, Sex Role, Statistical Surveys
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 (Stock No. 052-003-00249-3, $1.25 paper cover)
Publication Type:Reports - Research Education Level:N/A Audience:N/A Language:N/A Sponsor:N/A Authoring Institution:National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year, Washington, DC.


Kexue, or science, captured the Chinese imagination in the early twentieth century, promising new knowledge about the world and a dynamic path to prosperity. Chinese Buddhists embraced scientific language and ideas to carve out a place for their religion within a rapidly modernizing society.
Examining dozens of previously unstudied writings from the Chinese Buddhist press, this book maps Buddhists' efforts to rethink their traditions through science in the initial decades of the twentieth century. Buddhists believed science offered an exciting, alternative route to knowledge grounded in empirical thought, much like their own. They encouraged young scholars to study subatomic and relativistic physics while still maintaining Buddhism's vital illumination of human nature and its crucial support of an ethical system rooted in radical egalitarianism. Showcasing the rich and progressive steps Chinese religious scholars took in adapting to science's rising authority, this volume offers a key perspective on how a major Eastern power transitioned to modernity in the twentieth century and how its intellectuals anticipated many of the ideas debated by scholars of science and Buddhism today.


We develop a monetary model with flexible supply of labor, cash in advance constraints and government spending financed by seignorage. This model has two regimes. One regime is conventional with two steady states. The other regime has a unique steady state which can be determinate or indeterminate. In the latter case there exist sunspot equilibria which are stable under adaptive learning, taking the form of noisy finite state Markov processes at resonant frequencies. For a range of parameter values, a sufficient reduction in government purchases will eliminate these equilibria.


Tolerance to bacterial cell wall components including lipopolysaccharide (LPS) may represent an essential regulatory mechanism during bacterial infection. Two members of the Toll-like receptor (TLR) family, TLR2 and TLR4, recognize the specific pattern of bacterial cell wall components. TLR4 has been found to be responsible for LPS tolerance. However, the role of TLR2 in bacterial lipoprotein (BLP) tolerance and LPS tolerance is unclear. Pretreatment of human THP-1 monocytic cells with a synthetic bacterial lipopeptide induced tolerance to a second BLP challenge with diminished tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 production, termed BLP tolerance. Furthermore, BLP-tolerized THP-1 cells no longer responded to LPS stimulation, indicating a cross-tolerance to LPS. Induction of BLP tolerance was CD14-independent, as THP-1 cells that lack membrane-bound CD14 developed tolerance both in serum-free conditions and in the presence of a specific CD14 blocking monoclonal antibody (MEM-18). Pre-exposure of THP-1 cells to BLP suppressed mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphorylation and nuclear factor-kappaB activation in response to subsequent BLP and LPS stimulation, which is comparable with that found in LPS-tolerized cells, indicating that BLP tolerance and LPS tolerance may share similar intracellular pathways. However, BLP strongly enhanced TLR2 expression in non-tolerized THP-1 cells, whereas LPS stimulation had no effect. Furthermore, a specific TLR2 blocking monoclonal antibody (2392) attenuated BLP-induced, but not LPS-induced, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 production, indicating BLP rather than LPS as a ligand for TLR2 engagement and activation. More importantly, pretreatment of THP-1 cells with BLP strongly inhibited TLR2 activation in response to subsequent BLP stimulation. In contrast, LPS tolerance did not prevent BLP-induced TLR2 overexpression. These results demonstrate that BLP tolerance develops through down-regulation of TLR2 expression.


August 2016 - NICE is updating this guidance (see the in development page for information). The NHS should continue to follow the recommendations in this guidance until the update is complete.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued full guidance to the NHS in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on sacrocolpopexy using mesh for vaginal vault prolapse repair.
It replaces the previous guidance on mesh sacrocolpopexy for vaginal vault prolapse (NICE interventional procedures guidance 215, March 2007).
NICE was notified of various procedures for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse. NICE asked the Review Body for Interventional Procedures to undertake a systematic review of these procedures.The Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee (IPAC) considered the systematic review and have also produced guidance on: sacrocolpopexy using mesh for uterine prolapse repair, infracoccygeal sacropexy using mesh for vaginal vault prolapse repair, infracoccygeal sacropexy using mesh for uterine prolapse repair and insertion of uterine suspension sling (including sacrohysteropexy) using mesh for uterine prolapse repair.
Description
Vaginal vault prolapse occurs when organs above or around the vagina slip down from their normal position. Sacrocolpopexy is an operation that aims to provide support for the pelvic organs in their natural position. This is achieved by attaching a piece of material (mesh), usually from the top and back of the vagina, to a ligament of the lower back bone.
P24.2 Sacrocolpopexy
Your responsibility
This guidance represents the view of NICE, arrived at after careful consideration of the evidence available. When exercising their judgement, healthcare professionals are expected to take this guidance fully into account. However, the guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer.
Commissioners and/or providers have a responsibility to implement the guidance, in their local context, in light of their duties to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations. Nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.
Commissioners and providers have a responsibility to promote an environmentally sustainable health and care system and should assess and reduce the environmental impact of implementing NICE recommendations wherever possible.


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Some advantages to being twins are that the twins have a sibling their age, may understand each other better and can have a strong bond while some disadvantages are that they may often be compared to each other and not viewed as individuals. Identical twins occur when one fertilized egg divides into two, and these twins have the same genes. Fraternal twins occur when there are two fertilized eggs; these twins share half of the same genes and can be different sexes.
Twins can often have strong bonds between each other, understanding each other in ways that other siblings or parents may not. However, it is important to see twins as individuals with their own distinct personalities. Ways parents can achieve this is to spend time with each twin individually, give them their own space and give them separate gifts based on their own interests.Learn more about Genealogy


The people we spend time with
influence how successful we are. They influence how hard we work, how we deal with failure, how big our goals are.
This includes the people
we surround ourselves with online AND the ‘people’ we watch on TV.
If you doubt this,
listen and watch a TV watching 5 year old. She’ll likely have the mannerisms and the vocabulary of the TV characters.
What we see becomes normal for us.
When I watch an episode of Real Housewives, I tend to bicker and fight with the people around me. I grow dissatisfied with my house. I’m less likely to work hard. Because these attitudes don’t drive me toward my goals, I rarely watch Real Housewives.
Are you surrounding yourself
with people, both real and imaginary, who drive you toward your goals?
This entry was posted on Sunday, March 10th, 2013 at 6:00 am and is filed under New Business Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


Fat loss is all about caloric expenditure. We must burn more calories than we take in. While on the quest for fat loss, many people place far too much focus on how many calories they are burning during their exercise sessions. If you train in the proper way, you can actually greatly enhance the total [...]
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On Thursday, the White House debuted plans to target a demographic long ignored by the Democratic Party given its history of electoral apathy: fourth graders.
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the administration is celebrating by offering fourth graders and their families a chance to visit national parks and other public land free of charge. The program, called "Every Kid in a Park," will take place during the 2015–2016 school year, and the National Park Foundation plans to provide travel assistance to schools with many low-income students.
The White House cited a 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation poll when announcing the project, which notes that kids spend about 53 hours a week glued to electronic devices. "Every Kid in a Park" will make these grueling hours more fun by helping kids practice properly Instagramming a sunset.
The program will also hopefully lead to a significant uptick in the number of young Junior Rangers across America, an underappreciated but reliable indicator of national well-being.


[en] The Hazar Basin is a 25 km-long, 7 km-wide and 216 m-deep depression located on the central section of the East Anatolian Fault zone (eastern Turkey) and predominantly overlain by Lake Hazar. This basin has been described previously as a pull-apart basin because of its rhombic shape and an apparent fault step-over between the main fault traces situated at the southwestern and northeastern ends of the lake. However, detailed structural investigation beneath Lake Hazar has not been undertaken previously to verify this interpretation. Geophysical and sedimentological data from Lake Hazar were collected during field campaigns in 2006 and 2007. The analysis of this data reveals that the main strand of the East Anatolian Fault (the Master Fault) is continuous across the Hazar Basin, connecting the two segments previously assumed to be the sidewall faults of a pull-apart structure. In the northeastern part of the lake, an asymmetrical subsiding sub-basin, bounded by two major faults, is cross-cut by the Master Fault, which forms a releasing bend within the lake. Comparison of the structure revealed by this study with analogue models produced for transtensional step-overs suggests that the Hazar Basin structure represents a highly evolved pull-apart basin, to the extent that the previous asperity has been bypassed by a linking fault. The absence of a step-over structure at the Hazar Basin means that no significant segmentation boundary is recognised on the East Anatolian Fault between Palu and Sincik. Therefore, this fault segment is capable of causing larger earthquakes than recognised previously.
EU Marie Curie Excellence Grant Project (MEXT-CT-2005-025617: Seismic Cycles)
Understanding the Irregularity of Seismic Cycles: A Case Study in Turkey


Competence should be a given by the time you are being considered for an executive role. So what could stop you from being selected for promotion, or successful even if promoted? One answer is weak executive presence.
What is executive presence? It has been called the “Je ne sais quoi” of executive success – invisible, hard to define, but definitely palpable in the boardroom. Bates Communication calls it the “wow factor” and defines it as “the ability to walk into a room and instantly attract positive attention”. With it, a leader is heard and considered; without it, overlooked and dismissed.
In my work with succession planning and executive team coaching, developing executive presence is emerging as one of the most critical development areas. Although some might think presence is the same as charisma, I believe presence is a skill that can be developed, not a charm that some are fortunate to have.
What are the building blocks of executive presence?
Character Confidence Conviction Clarity Consciousness Character
Someone with executive presence is grounded in deep values and known for consistency between his or her words and actions.
Confidence
A healthy self-regard attracts the confidence of others. Self-doubt and a need for approval create warning flags as does arrogance.
Conviction
The ability to stand alone marks someone with presence. Doing what is right despite opposition and obstacles has immortalized leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
Clarity
The ability to communicate good and bad news and connect with others in a straightforward, compelling manner earns the respect and commitment of others. Waffling and confusion do not.
Consciousness
Without strong self-awareness and emotional intelligence, a leader with confidence, conviction and clarity could be cunning and controlling. That kind of presence creates fear and resentment.
To sum up, competence is a necessary but not sufficient foundation for executive presence. Character, confidence, conviction, clarity and consciousness must also be developed.
Is it a coincidence that the building blocks to enter and thrive in the C-Suite all start with “C”? I think not.


A cooperative corporation is a business trust that holds the title to a cooperative building and grants occupancy rights to shareholders of the corporation. Cooperative housing is not the same as a condominium. A condominium association is a group of individually owned units with an association of homeowners that handles the upkeep and maintenance of common elements. In contrast, cooperative housing is a corporation that holds the title to a building. People who live in a unit of the building must purchase a share of the corporation, and they get a lease instead of a deed in exchange for their purchase. Common upkeep and maintenance happens through the actions of the corporation's elected boards; these members must be elected from existing shareholders. To become a member of the corporation's shareholders, a potential unit buyer must be accepted by the board. and a shareholder cannot sell his or her share until the board approves the buyer.


119,532content UK rich-poor gap widening A new study has revealed that affluent Britons are accumulating wealth three times as fast as the destitute.
According to a research study by the Office for National Statistics, total wealth for the richest tenth of British households increased by 21 percent between 2012 and 2014.
However, for the bottom half of all households, total wealth rose by just 7 percent during the same period.
There are now growing concerns that Britain is becoming an increasingly unequal society.


Employer-required lodging expenses may now be deductible as an employee business expense or, if paid or reimbursed by the employer, excluded under an accountable plan, even if the employee is not away from home.
The IRS finalized rules it put into effect in 2012 allowing employees to deduct certain expenses paid or incurred for local lodging as business expenses.
Normally, lodging expenses a taxpayer incurs while not traveling away from home are considered personal expenses under Sec. 262(a) and are not deductible. However, under the new rules, local lodging expenses that meet certain criteria will be considered ordinary and necessary business expenses and therefore deductible under Sec. 162.
To be deductible, local lodging expenses must meet a facts-and-circumstances test under Regs. Sec. 1.162-32(a) or qualify for a safe harbor under Regs. Sec. 1.162-32(b). Local lodging expenses paid by an employer on behalf of an employee may be deductible under Sec. 132 as a working condition fringe benefit if they meet the new tests. If an employee is reimbursed by the employer for local lodging expenses, the reimbursement amount may be excludable from the employee’s income if the expense allowance arrangement qualifies as an accountable plan under Sec. 62(c).
One factor considered under the facts-and-circumstances test is whether the expense is a “bona fide condition or requirement of employment imposed by the taxpayer’s employer.” Examples given in the regulations to illustrate the facts-and-circumstances test include employees who are required to stay at a local hotel during a work-related training session, professional athletes who are required to stay at a local hotel before a home game, an employee who is relocating for work and looking for a new home, an employee who has to stay at a hotel near the office while working long hours, and employees who occasionally are on call for a night duty shift and stay at a local hotel.
Under the safe harbor, local lodging expenses will be treated as an ordinary and necessary business expense if:
The lodging is necessary for the employee to participate fully in or be available for a bona fide business meeting, conference, training activity, or other business function; The lodging does not exceed five calendar days and does not occur more than once each calendar quarter; The employer requires the employee to remain at the activity or function overnight; and The lodging is not extravagant or lavish and does not provide a significant element of personal pleasure.
In response to a comment, the final regulations clarify that expenses that do not qualify for the Regs. Sec. 1.162-32(b) safe harbor may nevertheless be deductible under the facts-and-circumstances test.
Taxpayers may apply the new rules to any tax year that is still open.
By Alistair M. Nevius, J.D., the JofA ’s editor-in-chief, tax.


As the demand for kidney transplantation continues to increase, some patients needing a transplant have looked abroad for available organs. The findings suggest that such “transplant tourism” by Americans may not be as safe as receiving transplants in the United States.
To investigate the issue, the researchers studied the outcomes of kidney transplant recipients who were US residents that travelled abroad for transplants and returned to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for follow-up care. They compared these so called “transplant tourists” with similar patients who underwent both transplantation and follow-up care at UCLA.
The study included 33 transplant tourists and 66 UCLA-transplanted patients who were followed for an average of 16 months. The investigators noted that most transplant tourists travelled to their region of ethnicity with the majority receiving transplants in China (44 percent), Iran (16 percent), and the Philippines (13 percent). After receiving their transplants, tourists came to UCLA for follow-up about a month after their procedure.
After one year, kidney rejection occurred in 30 percent of tourists compared with twelve percent of the UCLA-transplanted patients. The incidence of infections was not significantly different between tourists and UCLA-transplanted patients, but the severity and types of infections were markedly different. Seventeen tourists (52 percent) had at least one infectious complication, with three patients having had two or more infectious episodes. Nine patients (27 percent) were hospitalised with an infection listed as the primary cause of hospitalisation. By comparison, only six (nine percent) of the 66 UCLA-transplanted patients required hospitalisation for infectious complications following transplantation.
One patient in the transplant tourism group died from complications related to possibly donor-contracted hepatitis B. The investigators also noted that infections with cytomegalovirus were more common among tourists than UCLA-transplanted patients.
MEDICA.de; Source: American Society of Nephrology (ASN)


Water is known as elixir of life. This precious resource is used by all living organisms for their survival. You might have noticed formation of scales on your kitchen sinks, bathroom surface. This is due to the prolonged use of hard water.
Hard water is water containing appreciable amounts of dissolved
like calcium and magnesium in the form of ions. As it contains minerals, it is not harmful to our health. When hard water is boiled, it releases carbonates forming scales in utensils like tea kettles used for boiling. Hard water can be distinguished by its metallic and dry taste. minerals
What are the uses of Chlorine?
Scales caused by the prolonged use of hard water makes the kitchen, bathrooms, taps and other plumbing devices look old. Though the cations present in hard water (Ca2+, Mg2+) are water soluble, their relative concentration causes the displacement of ions from the solution. This is responsible for the calcinations seen on water faucets, which is nothing but a precipitation of calcium or magnesium carbonate. It is not suitable for some industrial applications as it may damage the equipments like pipes by slowly clogging the pipelines completely.
What does rain water consists of?
Soap does not lather easily in hard water though detergents do. This is because when they come in contact with soaps, hard water reacts with the organic acids (present in the soap) to form a precipitate called ‘scum’. Thus, hard water does not seem to be suitable for purposes like bathing and washing clothes.
Soft water on the other hand contains few or no
. It is treated water which only contains sodium ions and other ions removed. It may taste slightly salty and hence might not be suitable for drinking. Upon boiling, it does not form scales unlike the hard water. It also lathers easily with soaps and detergents. elements
5 great ideas that emerged around the period of Renaissance.
Hardness could be of two types depending on the ions present. Temporary hardness is due to the presence of calcium and magnesium ions while permanent hardness is due to the presence of sulfate or chloride ions along with calcium and magnesium ions. Temporary hardness could be removed by boiling or adding lime while permanent hardness cannot be.
Why is sodium kept under kerosene?


Across racial and educational groups, households with children have fewer resources than those without. Typical white, college-educated couples without children have nearly three times more wealth than their peers with children. Typical black, non-college-educated couples without children earn 57 percent higher incomes than similarly situated black couples with children. Typical Hispanic, non-college-educated couples without children have 3½ times more savings than their peers with children.
http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/analysis/2016/04/07/what-your-household-type-reveals-about-your-financial-security


Gardner, Leigh A. (2012)
The rise and fall of sterling in Liberia, 1870-1943. In: Modern and comparative economic history seminar, 15th November 2012, London School of Economics and Political Science. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Recent research on exchange rate regime choice in developing countries has revealed that a range of factors, from weak fiscal institutions to the inability to borrow in their own currencies, limits the range of options available to them. This paper uses the case of Liberia to illustrate that new states in Africa during the gold standard era faced similar limitations, even in the absence of formal colonial rule. The rapid depreciation of the Liberian dollar in the nineteenth century led to the adoption of sterling as a medium of exchange and store of value. This initially made it easier for Liberia to service its sterling-denominated debt and for Liberians to purchase imports from Britain. However, as economic relations with the United States deepened during the twentieth century, instability in the pound-dollar exchange rate created serious dislocations in the Liberian economy, ultimately leading the official adoption of the U.S. dollar in 1943. The story of Liberia illustrates the long-standing challenges of globalization for peripheral economies and suggests the need for a reassessment of the origins and impact of colonial monetary regimes.
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Charter school lotteries are fixed. I am not suggesting operators have systematic ways to populate schools with high-achieving students. For the most part, this is a misconception propagated by charter school detractors. However, even when operators entice lottery participation, voluntary entry skews the composition of charter populations. To truly fix charter lotteries, give every student a chance.
The issue is particularly relevant in NYC, which has 197 charter schools educating 83,200 students, according to the NYC Charter School Center, a support organization. The center says interest is so high that all but a handful have to choose students by lottery.
Instead of relying on voluntary participation, charter lotteries should include every student within a district or zone. Assuming random selection, including all students would provide an equal opportunity to win the lottery. Students selected by drawing would attend a charter, unless they refuse placement. Such a fix would maintain the power of school choice while providing all the opportunity to make that choice.
Current procedures presuppose the existence of family members and advocates who have the motivation to choose lottery participation. The need for a lottery suggests that many students receive such support. For these overcrowded pools of entrants, lotteries provide a fair way to select incoming classes. Yet, for students with advocates too stubborn, apathetic, or negligent, a lottery offers no chance. Their absence (and loss) is not random.
In fairness to many charter operators, the inability of lotteries to select classes of students that are equivalent to local public schools should not unequivocally eliminate admiration of charter outcomes. Many charters provide high-quality education that yields positive outcomes. Yet, critics dismiss performance of charters if they serve students who are less underprivileged or vulnerable than their traditional school peers. In my courses, I challenge that condemnation by asking, "How poor must students be before their educational attainment becomes impressive?" I have similar trouble with detractors who accuse charters of supporting race and class segregation. The accusers cast judgment as charters attempt to meet the needs of parents who must navigate between irreconcilable choices of education and equality for their children. Because they tend to focus on meeting the needs of underprivileged communities, segregated student populations often accompany the possibilities offered by charters.
Like current policies, my proposed charter lottery fix has trade-offs. Most notably, entering all students in a lottery limits the choice of some students. After all, to have the opportunity to make a choice, the student must still win a seat.
Similarly, my proposed fix does not guarantee equivalent charter and traditional school populations. Non-random factors such as residence and child care could unduly bias school choices. My "opt out" proposal may not compel responses from those who overlook school choice options. However, including the entire population of students in the lottery would safeguard against the unequal distribution of non-responders among charter and traditional schools.
Regardless of claims otherwise, charter school lotteries are anything but random. Although drawings indiscriminately select winners from the lot of entrants, their procedures discriminate against the neediest of students. Not every knocked-upon door will be opened, phone call answered, or flier hung upon a refrigerator. For students behind closed doors, lacking a reliable phone number, without a refrigerator, or a flier-hanging guardian, choice was never an option.
To give these students a chance, charter school lotteries need a fix.
Craig Hochbein is an assistant professor of educational leadership at Lehigh University's College of Education.


Viewpoint: Reshaping the industry toward innovation, certainty and efficiency
It is no secret that capital costs of major projects have skyrocketed over the past decade. A July 2015 industry report noted that the average megaproject’s cost increase is 80% of its original value, with an average schedule slippage of 20 months.
It is no secret that capital costs of major projects have skyrocketed over the past decade. A July 2015 industry report noted that the average megaproject’s cost increase is 80% of its original value, with an average schedule slippage of 20 months.
1
At first glance, these statistics, combined with the lower-for-longer oil environment, yield a poor outlook for moving capital investments forward in today’s oil and gas market. However, the lower-for-longer oil environment is a positive opportunity for owners and contractors to collaborate, reverse the trend and reshape the industry into one that is known for innovation, all while delivering certainty and capital efficiency.
Fig. 1. Extensive modularization can reduce required material quantities and craft hours onsite. Use of the 3rd Gen Modular Execution approach on the capture portion of the Shell Quest carbon capture and storage facility, helped reduce the capital cost by 30% from initial estimates.
Innovation
The same industry report noted that productivity in the construction industry has remained flat for decades, while productivity improvements in manufacturing have nearly doubled.
To improve capital costs and schedule delivery, we must innovate and challenge the status quo. Three years ago, Fluor created a business transformation and innovation organization to lead the company in working with clients to develop new ideas and technology that improve project execution and reduce costs. This organization is driving a culture shift throughout the company, and empowering our organization to be more creative and innovative.
However, innovation does not just stem from the top down. Our industry can also advance productivity and new ideas by fostering an inventive culture and encouraging employees to ask not why, but why not? On nearly every project, employees are developing unique ideas that can improve a project’s capital intensity through better design and project execution. With corporate encouragement, support and funding, employees are empowered to take these ideas from concept to reality, where they are then shared throughout the organization.
On a recent project, a project engineer noticed that crews may not be able to anticipate all safety hazards. This discovery led her to develop a new application called safety pin, which helps site leadership enhance safety by mapping critical activities taking place on project sites.
In the early design phase of another recent effort, the team had a small amount of water that required treatment. Rather than incorporating a water treatment plant into the design, the team developed a way to safely flare the water rather than treat it. This novel approach removed the requirement for a water treatment plant, reducing the project’s capital cost by millions of dollars and improving operating efficiency.
Encouraging our teams to be creative, fully explore new ideas and challenge time-tested practices enables project teams to improve capital efficiency and delivery certainty for our clients.
Delivery certainty
How do we shift the average 20-month megaproject delay into one where on-time delivery is the norm? Delivery certainty is best achieved with delivery control—that means having one organization focusing on delivering the complete project. This approach allows work to flow seamlessly between phases. Fabrication and construction teams can bring their expertise to bear from the project’s inception. Early evaluations of design and execution strategies by these teams have produced significant improvements in the engineered products delivered to the jobsite, and the design is easier to fabricate and construct.
In a traditional contracting model, engineering and technology teams are the only ones engaged in the early phases of the project. Contractors transition work and the associated responsibility at the end of each phase, which can create silos. This approach pushes unresolved issues to construction, which creates unnecessary delays and cost challenges in the most labor-intensive and costly project phase. With all resources focused on delivering the project with maximum predictability and capital efficiency at the outset, unresolved issues are mitigated before they occur, preventing unnecessary consequences.
An example of this collaborative approach is advanced work packaging, where construction activities are planned and sequenced in the design phase of the project. Details on materials, equipment, tools and schedule are generated during the engineering phase and are ready before craft teams are mobilized to the site. This approach was recently designated as a construction best practice by the Construction Owners Association of Alberta. Implementing this approach and investing in the early mobilization of construction and fabrication resources has yielded substantial productivity improvements on job sites, with Fluor achieving reductions in direct craft hours of between 15% and 18% on direct-hire projects.
This approach can be expanded with other better-build solutions, such as integrating scaffolding into front-end construction planning. Scaffolds are identified and designed into the 3D model during the detailed design phase, reducing quantities and minimizing at-grade scaffolding. Scaffold clips are installed in the fabricated steel when it arrives to the site, saving critical construction hours, reducing costs and improving safety.
Capital efficiency
Fluor has been working with a major oil and gas company to create a step-change improvement in project execution, making projects 30% cheaper, 30% shorter and 30% safer. The focus for all clients is not just on a reduction in contractor rates, but an improvement in total capital expenditure.
Collaboration must begin in the early phases, such as front-end engineering and design (FEED). While typically accounting for between 0.8% and 2% of the total capital cost, FEED is where owners have the largest opportunity to impact capital cost reduction. The design, fabrication and procurement decisions made in FEED shape a project into either one that will not go forward due to the high costs, or into one that will pass the company’s hurdle rates and deliver long-term value.
Fluor began collaborating with the client very early in the FEED stage of a project. Using our 3rd Gen Modular Execution approach to optimize the facility, we reduced the plot plan by 40% compared to a traditional design, lowering bulk material costs and the number of required onsite craft hours. Combined with process simplification, capital costs were reduced to 85% of the initial estimate. With integrated engineering, procurement and construction execution, the sanctioned cost and schedule has been maintained throughout the life of the project, fully meeting the client’s business objectives.
Another concept that holds enormous potential for the industry, but also requires early collaboration, is the zero-base execution approach. Beginning with a minimal design, the goal is to develop a safe, operable and maintainable facility, while unraveling and removing additional requirements and standards that typically do not provide a return on investment. In this approach, the project only delivers what is truly needed for the facility. We achieve a practical minimum design that optimizes capital expenditure and future operating expenditures. Teams utilizing this approach have seen a 33% plot reduction and a 20% tag reduction, while maintaining facility capacity.
With these approaches, our industry has an incredible opportunity to deliver innovation, certainty and capital efficiency for our clients to achieve the return on investment they need to move forward with high-priority projects.
HP
LITERATURE CITED
Changali S., A. Mohammad and M. van Nieuwland, “The construction productivity imperative,” McKinsey and Co., July 2015.
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By Ben Levisohn
Reports in the media indicate that Biogen is being considered as an M&A target. We view the possibility that this R&D powerhouse might consider a “safe haven” exit as reasonable due to the high level of uncertainty around both Tecfidera (we think Forward’s case is strong) and Aducanumab (is ARIA the PML of AD?) and the ongoing CEO transition. However, looking at Biogen as a target, we believe many of the standard synergies that drive many acquisitions are missing. Biogen’s significant SG&A spend may be difficult to trim due to the significant infrastructure required to sell into the MS market and it’s difficult to envision an acquisition where the world’s premiere neurology R&D engine wasn’t a major objective. By contrast, a Biogen acquisition would catapult the company into the development and commercialization of some of the most complex and politically isolated drugs in the healthcare sector…Somewhat surprisingly, based on changes in terminal value, Biogen looks more valuable when swallowed intact than as a collection of current and near pipeline drugs.
Shares of Biogen have risen 0.9% to $317.50 at 12:08 p.m. today, while the
iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) has advanced 0.6% to $297.89.


Endocardial endothelium modulates myofilament Ca2+ responsiveness in aequorin-loaded ferret myocardium. Abstract
The influence of selective removal of the endocardial endothelium (by a 1-second exposure to the detergent Triton X-100, 0.5%) on myofilament Ca2+ responsiveness and intracellular Ca2+ transients was studied in ferret papillary muscles loaded with the Ca(2+)-regulated bioluminescent indicator aequorin. The removal of endocardial endothelium produced three major effects: 1) a decrease in peak developed tension and an early onset in isometric relaxation without corresponding changes in the intracellular Ca2+ transient; 2) a rightward shift in the peak [Ca2+]i-peak tension relation with no change in maximum Ca(2+)-activated twitch tension; and 3) a decrease in steady-state tetanic force with a slight increase in the steady-state [Ca2+]i (at 4 mM [Ca2+]o) and an unchanged steady-state tetanic force with a clear increase in the steady-state [Ca2+]i (at 10 mM [Ca2+]o). These results suggest that intact endocardium may enhance performance of the heart by increasing the myofilament Ca2+ responsiveness through endothelium-derived compounds such as endothelin. This hypothesis is supported by our observations that endothelin 1) induced a leftward shift in peak [Ca2+]i-peak tension curve and 2) could reverse the characteristic changes produced by the removal of endocardium.
Copyright © 1992 by American Heart Association


Junkie Thinking has a new address...my favorite link!! You will always find this web site handy on Freedom's front door....
Junkie Thinking Junkie Thinking
When it comes to addictive behavior and thought processes, the smoker is right up there with the cocaine or heroine addict. Especially in the early stages of quitting smoking do we tend to crave "Just One". Unfortunately, that is nothing but the mind of the addict rationalizing the next of many fixes. (Excerpted from Patricia Allison's book "Hooked But Not Helpless") Find out why "Just One" can never be an option...
"One Puff won't hurt" JUNKIE THINKING: "One puff will always hurt me, and it always will because I'm not a social smoker. One puff and I'll be smoking compulsively again." RESPONSE: "I only want one." JUNKIE THINKING: "I have never wanted only one. In fact, I want 20-30 a day every day. I want them all." RESPONSE: "I'll just be a social smoker." JUNKIE THINKING: "I'm a chronic, compulsive smoker, and once I smoke one I'll quickly be thinking about the next one. Social smokers can take it or leave it. That's not me." RESPONSE: "I'm doing so well, one won't hurt me now." JUNKIE THINKING: "The only reason I'm doing so well is because I haven't taken the first one. Yet once I do, I won't be doing well anymore. I'll be smoking again." RESPONSE: "I'll just stop again." JUNKIE THINKING: "Sounds easy, but who am I trying to kid? Look how long it too me to stop this time. And once I start, how long will it take before I get sick enough to face withdrawal again? In fact, when I'm back in the grip of compulsion, what guarantee do I have that I'll ever be able to stop again?" RESPONSE: "If I slip, I'll keep trying." JUNKIE THINKING: "If I think I can get away with one little "slip" now I'll think I can get away with another little "slip" later on." RESPONSE: "I need one to get me through this withdrawal." JUNKIE THINKING: "Smoking will not get me through the discomfort of not smoking. It will only get me back to smoking. One puff stops the process of withdrawal and I'll have to go through it all over again." RESPONSE: "I miss smoking right now." JUNKIE THINKING: "Of course I miss something I've been doing every day for most of my life. Bud do I miss the chest pain right now? Do I miss the worry, the embarrassment? I'd rather be an ex-smoker with an occasional desire to smoke, than a smoker with a constant desire to stop doing it." RESPONSE: "I really need to smoke now, I'm so upset." JUNKIE THINKING: "Smoking is not going to fix anything. I'll still be upset, I'll just be an upset smoker. I never have to have a cigarette. Smoking is not a need; it's a want. Once the crisis is over, I'll be relieved and grateful I'm still not smoking." RESPONSE: "I don't care." JUNKIE THINKING: "What is it exactly that I think that I don't care about? Can I truthfully say I don't care about chest pain? I don't care about gagging in the morning? I don't care about lung cancer? No, I care about these things very much. That's why I stopped smoking in the first place." RESPONSE: "What difference does it make, anyway?" JUNKIE THINKING: "It makes a difference in the way I breathe, the way my heart beats, the way I feel about myself. It makes a tremendous difference in every aspect of my physical and emotional health." RESPONSE:


The easiest way to keep miniblinds clean is to regularly dust the slats with a microfiber cloth, duster or vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment. However, when a deep cleaning is necessary, keep your miniblinds clean and fresh with a variety of methods.
Vinyl, Plastic or Aluminum
Remove the blinds from the window and place them in a bathtub filled with warm water, 2 tablespoons of dish soap and a cup of white vinegar. Swish the blinds around in soapy water and let them sit for an hour. Drain the tub and rinse the blinds with warm water. Gently shake them to remove excessive water and allow them to dry.
Wood Miniblinds
Wood miniblinds may be left on the window while they are cleaned. Use a quality wood furniture polish, or make your own by combining 1-cup mineral oil, 1/4-cup white vinegar, and 1/4-cup water in a spray bottle. Spray the mixture on individual slats and polish them with a microfiber cloth. Do not soak the blinds in water; it can cause the slats to warp.
Fabric Miniblinds
Fabric miniblinds, especially silk, are the hardest to clean. For the best results, contact a professional cleaner. Blot the stains with 3 percent hydrogen peroxide and a clean white cloth until they disappear. Do a spot check first to ensure the solution does not discolor the fabric. Do not use water on fabric miniblinds.
Photo Credits BurAnd/iStock/Getty Images


Our upside-down confusion about fairness
Our society tolerates gross unfairness every day. It tolerates misogyny, racism and the callous indifference to those born without privilege.
But we manage to find endless umbrage for petty slights and small-time favoritism.
When a teacher gives one student a far better grade than he deserves, and does it without shame, we're outraged. When the flight attendant hands that last chicken meal to our seatmate, wow, that's a slight worth seething over for hours.
When Bull Connor directed fire hoses and attack dogs on innocent kinds in Birmingham, it conflated the two, the collision of the large and the small. Viewers didn't witness the centuries of implicit and explicit racism, they saw a small, vivid act, moving in its obvious unfairness. It was the small act that focused our attention on the larger injustice.
I think that most of us are programmed to process the little stories, the emotional ones, things that touch people we can connect to. When it requires charts and graphs and multi-year studies, it's too easy to ignore.
We don't change markets, or populations, we change people. One person at a time, at a human level. And often, that change comes from small acts that move us, not from grand pronouncements.
Happy birthday, Martin.


Correlation between rCBF and histological changes following temporary middle cerebral artery occlusion. Abstract
Correlations between changes in regional, cortical, cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and histological changes in the corresponding brain regions were examined following middle cerebral arterial occlusion in 24 cats. In all animals, the duration of arterial occlusion was 2 hours followed by 2 hours of recirculation. The animals were divided into 2 groups according to the severity of the observed histological damage. Severe cortical damage was observed in 8 cats (Group A), and, in the remaining 16 cats, little or no cortical damage was seen (Group B). There was a statistically significant difference between these 2 groups in the average rCBF values during ischemia. During recirculation, there was a prompt and uniform recovery of rCBF in animals in group B but a marked diversity; of rCBF ranging from hyperemia to oligemia in animals in group A. This diversity of rCBF reflects inhomogenous blood flow. This study indicates potential hazards for surgical revascularization in the aute stage of stroke when brain damage has progressed beyond a certain level.
Copyright © 1980 by American Heart Association


SYDNEY--Australian retail sales rose 0.6% in June, and were stronger than expected in the second quarter of the fiscal year largely due to strong demand from home furnishings as housing construction starts to accelerate.
Economists had expected a 0.3% rise in the month, reflecting a shallower recovery in consumer confidence after the government announced new taxes and spending cuts in its 2014-15 budget in May and an unseasonably warm winter that curbed demand for warm clothing.
Sales for May were upwardly revised by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to a fall of 0.3% from a 0.5% decline when the figures were first released. Retail sales in the second quarter fell 0.2% from the prior quarter, compared with an expected fall of 0.5%.
-Write to James Glynn at james.glynn@wsj.com


Mon, Jan 23, 2017 at noon:
Decline of cash assistance and child well-being, Luke Shaefer
Slemrod, Joel. 2010. "Old George Orwell Got It Backward: Some Thoughts on Behavioral Tax Economics."
Finanzarchiv, 66(1): 15-33.
It is entirely appropriate that the study of public finance take seriously "behavioral" in-consistencies with traditional models of individual and collective decision-making. This raises the question of whether the state should play a role in protecting individuals from themselves, and whether individuals are susceptible to manipulation, or even exploitation, by the people who comprise the state. In this essay I two aspects of this issue - tax complexity and tax compliance. In addressing these issues I ask, and offer some tentative answers to, what is distinctive about behavioral tax economics as a sub-field of behavioral economics and as a sub-field of tax economics.


ERIC Number:ED219696 Record Type:RIE Publication Date:1982-Mar Pages:9 Abstractor:N/A Reference Count:0 ISBN:N/A ISSN:N/A
The Relationship between Assertiveness and College Satisfaction in a Multicultural Population.
Abston, Nathaniel, Jr.; Wesley, Andrea L.
The changing ethnic population of college students presents a need to assess college satisfaction, particularly in view of the increasing numbers of black students attending predominantly white colleges and universities. The relationship between assertiveness and college satisfaction was studied in a multicultural population of 23 black and 23 white college students who completed the College Self Satisfaction Questionnaire and the College Self Expression Scale. Statistical analyses did not support the hypothesis of a significant relationship between assertiveness and satisfaction. In addition, no statistically significant ethnic differences were found for assertiveness. Black students did, however, achieve higher scores than white students on the assertion measure. Black students were significantly less satisfied with their college experience, confirming previous research. The findings suggest that assertiveness and college satisfaction may be inversely related. (Author/JAC)
Publication Type:Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers Education Level:N/A Audience:N/A Language:English Sponsor:N/A Authoring Institution:N/A Note:Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association (28th, New Orleans, LA, March 24-27, 1982).