Manipulation comes in a variety of flavors, from emotional to financial. It involves the use of something to control someone else's behaviors. The "something" can be intangible, as in the case of emotional manipulation, or tangible as with money. Some parents find it difficult to completely trust that they raised their children to be fully independent adults. These parents turn to manipulative behaviors, using guilt, fear or obligation, to coerce their adult children into making decisions they otherwise wouldn't make. If you happen to marry a person whose mother pays your bills, buys gifts or provides financial assistance in some way, such as allowing you to use her car or home, it makes for a difficult situation, but not one that's necessarily impossible to resolve.
Communicate your concerns to your spouse in a way that won't put him on the defensive. To do this, present your concerns in a factual, relatively optimistic and calm way that reinforces your marriage, according to a 2007 article published in "The Forum for Family and Consumer Issues," North Carolina State University's online journal. Express your concerns clearly, sticking to facts without inferring reasons behind his or his mother's behaviors. Imagine yourself describing a scene in a movie to someone who hasn't seen it; just describe what you see, not what you perceive.
Formulate a viable solution with your spouse to end your mother-in-law's financial control. The solution should depend on the nature of the manipulation. If, for example, your mother-in-law is paying one or several of your household bills, you might want to discuss a plan with your spouse to take back that responsibility. If necessary, create a budget to include the new expenses that your mother-in-law will relinquish. You might even have to get a part time job to compensate. Keep in mind that your spouse may have her own challenges relinquishing her financial dependence and your proposal to discontinue it may come with resistance. Dependence is often deeply rooted and is also a behavior that is learned from childhood. Be direct but not demanding in creating a solution.
Confront your mother-in-law, ideally with your spouse to demonstrate a united front. Just as you did in confronting your husband about his mother's financial manipulation, it's important to be clear about the boundaries you want and need for the sake of your marriage. It's also important not to waver in an attempt to "honor" your mother-in-law. Honor, doesn't translate into feeling obligated to let your mother-in-law cross the boundaries you set. However, you must set them. Don't expect your mother-in-law to recognize healthy boundaries. Communicate your boundaries by explaining the behavior you expect from her. For example, if she is contributes toward your mortgage payment, you need to explain that while you appreciate her help, you still don't want her stopping by your home unannounced whenever she feels like it. Explain that you want her to call first and that you need some time to yourselves.
Enforce your boundaries to stop the manipulation. Setting boundaries with your mother-in-law means drawing a proverbial line verbally and providing a consequence when she crosses that line. For example, if you tell her that you don't want her stopping by your home unannounced, but she continues to do so, you can ignore her if she enters your home, refuse to let her in if she rings the bell, or leave yourself. Be prepared to accept that she may tell you that if she is forced to comply with your boundaries that she will no longer provide financial help. However, if you reiterate that you simply need your privacy and will welcome her at other times when she calls first and arranges a visit, she might start complying with your boundaries.
Consider marriage and/or individual counseling to work through underlying problems that led to the manipulation. It's possible that if you resolve one manipulation issue, your mother-in-law might still try to manipulate you with money in the future by offering extra cash, vacations or expensive items. Counseling can help you avoid future manipulation, as well as help your spouse identify the roots of her financial dependency on her mother and reinforce behaviors that foster independence.
References Photo Credits Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images


Geographers in high demand across business, government, nonprofit, and educational sectors April 19, 2013
While the competition for job openings is high, employees with geographic and geospatial skills are in demand across a wide swath of sectors and industries within the U.S. workforce. According to the latest estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a recent report from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, and research conducted for the AAG's National Science Foundation-funded EDGE program, employers today are seeking employees who can apply broad, interdisciplinary perspectives and diverse expertise to the specific needs of their unique organizations and industries.
A recent column by Doug Richardson, Executive Director of the AAG, highlights some of these recent findings and offers advice and resources for aspiring geography professionals to make the most of the growing employment opportunities throughout the field.


As a professor at Yale, Bill Deresiewicz saw something that troubled him deeply. His students, some of the nation’s brightest minds, were adrift when it came to the big questions: how to think critically and creatively, and how to find a sense of purpose.
Excellent Sheeptakes a sharp look at the high-pressure conveyor belt that begins with parents and counselors who demand perfect grades and culminates in the skewed applications Deresiewicz saw firsthand as a member of Yale’s admissions committee. As schools shift focus from the humanities to "practical" subjects like economics and computer science, students are losing the ability to think in innovative ways. Deresiewicz explains how college should be a time for self-discovery, when students can establish their own values and measures of success, so they can forge their own path. He addresses parents, students, educators, and anyone who's interested in the direction of American society, featuring quotes from real students and graduates he has corresponded with over the years, candidly exposing where the system is broken and clearly presenting solutions.


Losing a parent is always difficult, but it is even worse when medical providers start sending you bills claiming you owe for your parent's care. Medical providers and other lenders or creditors don't always have a right to ask you to pay debts left after a death. To remain financially secure, you must know what is within a medical provider's purview when it comes to collection.
General Rule
Typically, creditors, lenders and service providers to whom your parent was indebted, including medical providers, cannot force you to pay the balance. The primary reason for this is that your parent's creditors can legally collect only from those who they can prove are associated with the debt. Because your name is not on any of the debt documentation, they can't say you owe.
The Cosigner Exception
The only exception to being off the hook for your deceased parent's medical bills is if you cosigned for those bills. In this case, the medical provider has evidence that you assumed liability for the medical expenses. They therefore can come to you to collect what is owed. Cosigning usually isn't an issue for younger children, because laws in most states prohibit minors from signing contracts. Even if these laws weren't in place, younger children typically aren't financially stable enough or don't have a credit score high enough to act as a cosigner.
What Providers Do
In the event your parent passes away, his medical provider isn't necessarily financially out of luck. When someone dies, his estate becomes legally responsible for the debts he has. Medical providers can try to get the money owed to them through the estate. This means they have to go through the probate process. This process involves assessing the value of estate assets and paying creditors, lenders and service providers with those assets. It also involves distributing remaining assets, if any, to heirs. If a medical provider goes through probate court to get payment, the provider may entirely drain the estate, leaving you with no inheritance. If the estate is insolvent -- that is, if there aren't enough assets to cover the debts -- the medical provider writes off the debt as a loss.
Considerations
If your parent left a widow, the widow may have to pay remaining medical bills, depending on if he cosigned and if he lives in a community property state. In a community property state, the government treats married couples as one financial unit, with each spouse responsible for the debts and assets acquired during the marriage. Additionally, life insurance typically is a way for a parent to prevent anyone from having to pay for medical debt. If you are a beneficiary, you may use some of the life insurance funds to cover the debts according to your parent's wishes, although, technically, medical providers don't have a legal right to life insurance money unless you offer it.
Photo Credit Stockbyte/Stockbyte/Getty Images Who Pays Medical Bills After Death?
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Are Custodial Parents the Responsible Party for Medical Bills?
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Congress rarely accomplishes anything these days, but the need to reform Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code seems to have “crossed over the aisle.” When the Bankruptcy Code was enacted in 1978, America boasted the world’s dominant
manufacturing economy. Corporate debt was mostly unsecured trade debt. Secured loans provided tangible asset financing for property, plant, and equipment. The concept of several “tranches” of secured debt covering goodwill and intangible assets, resulting in debt well over any measure of a company’s worth, would have seemed nonsensical to both Congress and the lending industry.
The world has changed. The American economy today is primarily an information, service, and finance economy. But the Bankruptcy Code has not changed accordingly. Though the profession handled the bankruptcy challenges of the Great Recession with ingenuity and skill, the Code did not provide enough answers.
In 2012, the American Bankruptcy Institute, in coordination with legislative aides from both sides of the aisle, convened the Commission to Study the Reform of Chapter 11. Its members were the leading jurists, lawyers, academics, and turnaround professionals in the field. Every viewpoint was represented, and every constituency worked to draft common proposals for Congress to consider. BakerHostetler lawyers were active participants.
The Commission’s report was issued last December. It remains to be seen whether Congress will act on the unanimous proposals in the document, but the effort has produced an important reassessment of the conflicting needs of unpaid creditors, from the largest bank to the lowliest employee. Over the next few months BakerHostetler bankruptcy attorneys will summarize some of the most important proposals contained in the report. The first summary, regarding the conflicting rights and needs of secured and unsecured creditors at the beginning of a case, are set forth below.
Proposed Changes to Chapter 11 Affecting Secured Creditors
A business entering bankruptcy these days almost always has secured debt well in excess of company value. The development of bankruptcy and state law regarding secured creditor rights, over the past two decades, allows secured creditors to exert strong pressure on a business bankruptcy case from the outset. While secured lenders insist that is their right, the bench and bar share a concern that the pendulum has swung too far in favor of secured lenders.
Secured creditors frequently push for a sale of the company’s assets as a going concern, as quickly as possible. They can do so because of their rights to “cash collateral.” The Bankruptcy Code prohibits a debtor from using cash that has been pledged to a lender, without court approval. Almost all secured lenders have a lien on accounts receivables which generate the debtor’s cash. Secured lenders will insist that the debtor not have access to cash unless it protects the lender by: (1) commencing a sale process very quickly; (2) pledging all post bankruptcy assets, including the recoveries from preference lawsuits against unsecured creditors, to the lender; and (3) prohibiting any challenge to the lender’s receiving all proceeds of any sale.
The Commission attempted to balance the rights of a secured creditor with the needs of the company. This was a primary concern for the Commission. The unanimous compromises in the Commission report are described below.
60-Day Breathing Space Before Going-Concern Sales
The sooner the sale of a distressed business occurs, the faster the secured lenders can recover money. A longer marketing period might result in better recoveries, but lenders argue that all of the proceeds will go to pay their loans anyway. Therefore, they are the parties most affected by the sale process. Unsecured creditors argue that a proper marketing of the company might produce value for unsecured creditors. Even if that is rare, unsecured creditors are concerned with continuing customer relations. They argue for a lengthier sale process.
The Commissioners compromised by prohibiting, except in truly extraordinary circumstances, the conclusion of a sale in less than 60 days from the commencement of a bankruptcy case. The Commissioners felt that establishing certainty for the time period of a sale would allow secured creditors to protect themselves, and unsecured creditors to have an opportunity to enhance the sale process. The sole exception to the 60-day rule would be made in those situations where there is truly an emergency resulting from the debtor being what is colloquially called a “melting ice cube,” its assets quickly disappearing. A classic example of this situation was Lehman Brothers, whose financial assets would have evaporated were they not taken over by a bank (ultimately Barclays) immediately. In the absence of such extraordinary circumstances, the Commissioners recommend a reasonable, 60-day sale process.
“DIP” Lender Rights and Collateral
Debtor-in-possession financing provides a company additional loans to operate the business after the Chapter 11 filing. However, some lenders provide little if any new money to a debtor, instead characterizing the “roll-over” of pre-petition revolving loans into post-petition loans as “new lending.” In this manner, secured lenders sometimes obtain the significant advantages provided under the Bankruptcy Code to entice lenders to advance money to bankrupt companies.
The Commissioners viewed as abusive a lender’s ability to roll up its pre-petition debt into a post-petition facility, where the amount of new post-petition credit is nominal. The Commissioners therefore proposed prohibiting DIP financing that contains roll-up provisions unless: (i) the pre-petition and post-petition lenders are different; or (ii) there is an extension of substantial new credit in the post-petition facility or the facility provides financing on better terms than any other option offered to the debtor.
The Commissioners also addressed the problem of intercreditor agreements that prevent junior (subordinated) secured lenders from offering post-petition financing without the consent of senior secured lenders. This significantly limits a debtor’s options by removing a viable alternative bid for post-petition financing. The Commissioners therefore recommend that junior lenders subject to this kind of provision in an intercreditor agreement should still be able to provide post-petition financing in one of two situations: (i) the proposed facility does not “prime” (take a first lien before) the senior secured lender; or (ii) the senior secured lender is given a right of first refusal—that is, allowed to offer financing on the same terms as the junior lender, if approved by the court. The Commission also supported rendering unenforceable a senior lender lawsuit for damages resulting from a junior creditor offer of post-petition financing.
Limiting Adequate Protection Rights
Adequate protection allows the debtor to continue to use collateral during the reorganization, while ensuring that the value of the collateral does not erode during the case. There are three primary ways in which a secured creditor is afforded adequate protection: (i) cash payments; (ii) liens on additional property; or (iii) other protection that will result in the secured creditor’s realization of the “indubitable equivalent” of the collateral value. This latter clause provides a bankruptcy court flexibility in fashioning an appropriate amount of protection.
In an attempt to balance secured creditors’ interests and the objectives of the estate, the Commissioners first concluded that adequate protection, at the beginning of a case, need only be enough to cover the collateral’s “foreclosure value,” that is, the value the collateral would yield if the automatic stay were lifted and the secured creditor foreclosed. At later times, if the debtor reorganizes or sells as a going concern, secured creditors would be entitled to the reorganization or enterprise value of their collateral.
The practice of cross-collateralization was also considered an area of abuse. Cross-collateralization provides the lender a lien on post-bankruptcy property which may have higher value (including more collectible accounts receivable) than the pre-petition value of the lender’s collateral. Acknowledging the potential for impermissible improvement of a secured creditor’s interests, the Commissioners concluded that cross-collateralization should be used to provide adequate protection, but only to the extent necessary to protect against a decrease in value of the collateral.
Finally, the Commissioners decided against granting secured creditors a lien in “chapter 5” (mostly preference) “avoidance action” proceeds. Those recoveries are often an estate’s only unencumbered assets and should be available to pay unsecured creditors.
Who Pays the Costs for Helping the Secured Lender: Enhanced 506(c) and 552(b)
The Bankruptcy Code allows a secured creditor to be paid the value of its collateral, but also recognizes that the bankruptcy estate will incur costs to turn that collateral into cash. Section 506(c) and Section 552(b) of the Bankruptcy Code both provide a means to charge to secured creditors the costs of preserving or selling the collateral.
However, court decisions and bankruptcy practices have limited the usefulness of these provisions. In some instances lenders are only charged “direct” costs, even in situations where the lender wants the debtor to file a bankruptcy case and sell all of its assets at the enhanced price a bankruptcy court sale can obtain. Though the bankruptcy itself will cost substantial amounts of money, and all of the proceeds of the sale go to the lender, the cost of the case may remain unpaid. The Commission decided to address this imbalance of rights.
Section 506(c) allows a court to “surcharge” a secured creditor for the cost of preservation or sale of its collateral. This provision has gained importance because Chapter 11 filings are increasingly devoid of unencumbered assets. Any expenditure made for the benefit of a secured creditor’s collateral directly results in the depletion of funds available to rehabilitate the debtor. A secured creditor often agrees to “carve out” certain expenses from the proceeds of the collateral (quite common in DIP financing agreements), but usually in exchange for a waiver of debtor’s right to “surcharge” under Section 506(c). As a result, debtors are forced to rely on negotiated carve-outs covering only expenses closely related to the secured creditor’s collateral.
Although the Commissioners considered expanding Section 506(c) to expressly include expenses that are indirectly related to secured creditors’ collateral, such as costs to wind down the estate, they ultimately decided that the current language of Section 506(c) can be made appropriate. That language leaves the courts to determine which expenses are “reasonable” and “necessary” on a case-by-case basis. The Commissioners concluded that many courts have been sensible in that determination.
The Commissioners, however, focused on making certain the courts actually get to consider the issue. They reject allowing the debtor to waive Section 506(c) claims. Consensual carve outs usually reflect the estate’s limited negotiating power, and often do not represent what is best for the estate and its other stakeholders. Accordingly, the Commissioners’ final recommendation leaves the language of Section 506(c) as is, but prohibits waiver of a trustee’s 506(c) rights.
The Commission then focused on another, little-used statutory provision that can provide more negotiating power to a company in bankruptcy. Section 552(b) allows a court to charge costs of the case to a lender’s collateral “based on the equities of the case.” The section was originally intended to cover a situation where the debtor finishes off inventory and the like at the estate’s expense, and then sells the finished goods for the secured lender’s benefit. In essence, the provision allows the estate to be reimbursed for enhancing the value of collateral.
Similar to the right to “surcharge,” some court decisions had limited Section 552(b) to the “direct” costs of enhancing collateral, and not the general costs of, for example, the labor and overhead necessary to accomplish that goal.
The Commissioners agreed that a debtor should not be required to show actual direct expenses to demonstrate the estate enhanced the value of the collateral. Rather, costs that enhance collateral value should be recoverable by the estate. As with Section 506(c), the Commission felt it is imperative that courts are able to assess the “equities of the case” exception. Therefore, any waiver of Section 552(b) should be prohibited.
The Commissioners effort to “level the playing field” regarding secured lender rights was perhaps the most contentious and important issue the Commission reviewed. While the report reflects substantial compromises and relays the differing views expressed during the negotiations, the end result appears to provide debtors a more reasonable opportunity to survive the bankruptcy process.


Vertigo is when a person feels as if they or the objects around them are moving when they are not.Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement.This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties walking. It is typically worsened when the head is moved. Vertigo is the most common type of dizziness.
The most common diseases that result in vertigo are benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Ménière's disease, and labyrinthitis.Less common causes include stroke, brain tumors, brain injury, multiple sclerosis, and migraines.Physiologic vertigo may occur following being exposed to motion for a prolonged period such as when on a ship or simply following spinning with the eyes closed.Other causes may include toxin exposures such as to carbon monoxide, alcohol, or aspirin.[5] Vertigo is a problem in a part of the vestibular system. Other causes of dizziness include presyncope, disequilibrium, and non-specific dizziness. If this helped you then pls click on the thank u button also mark brainliest


We explored how the presence and abundance of a competitor for pollination influenced pollinator visitation patterns, conspecific and heterospecific pollen deposition, and seed set. We established replicate experimental arrays of the wetland perennial
Mimulus ringens and manipulated the presence and abundance of Lythrum salicaria, a co-flowering invasive exotic. We quantified pollinator visitation to Mimulus flowers, pollen deposition on Mimulus stigmas and seed set when a) no Lythrum was present, b) an equal frequency of Lythrum and Mimulus were present, or c) Lythrum plants were 3X as frequent as Mimulus plants. Results/Conclusions
The rate of pollinator visitation to
Mimulus flowers was reduced in the presence of Lythrum, but did not decline further with increased relative abundance of the competitor. However, patterns of pollinator movement were strongly influenced by Lythrum abundance. When Lythrum was more abundant than Mimulus pollinator probes of Mimulus flowers were often immediately preceded or followed by visits to Lythrum. The mean number of conspecific pollen grains deposited onto each Mimulus stigma was significantly influenced by the abundance of the competitor. In addition, the mean number of Lythrum grains on Mimulus stigmas nearly doubled with increasing Lythrum abundance. The reduction in conspecific pollen on Mimulus stigmas with increasing Lythrum abundance is likely to reflect the increased rate of pollinator transitions between Mimulus and Lythrum, leading to heterospecific pollen loss. The mean number of Mimulus seeds per fruit was highly variable among days, but tended to be lower in the presence of the competitor. These results suggest that changes in bumblebee foraging due to an increased abundance of competitor plants has a direct effect on conspecific and heterospecific pollen deposition and seed set in Mimulus ringens.


ERIC Number:ED050699 Record Type:RIE Publication Date:1971-Apr Pages:5 Abstractor:N/A Reference Count:0 ISBN:N/A ISSN:N/A
Comprehensive Planning for Postsecondary Education.
Higher Education in the States, v2 n3 p37-41 Apr 1971
This report focuses on the essential need for statewide higher educational activities, regardless of the agency or agencies involved in this effort, and discusses in the introduction some of the issues that make it particularly urgent at the present time. The first section of the report makes recommendations intended as guidelines for drafting federal legislation related to the support of comprehensive statewide planning for postsecondary education. These include substantial and continuing matching fund commitments to each state engaged in a comprehensive planning effort, to be allocated to the state agency legally responsible for this effort, which in turn would administer the funds and have the right to allot part of these funds to other appropriate agencies engaged in planning. Section II of the report is concerned with the responsibilities of the states in support of effective statewide planning and makes recommendations to be used by the states in carrying these out. These include: financial commitment, a planning agency, widespread participation in the planning effort, and realistic budgets for planning. Section III discusses the types of planning essential on a statewide level and calls attention to the difference between the strategic and tactical phases of planning. Section IV deals with the need for effective coordination and governance. (AF)
Publication Type:N/A Education Level:N/A Audience:N/A Language:N/A Sponsor:N/A Authoring Institution:Education Commission of the States, Denver, CO. Note:Report of the Task Force on Statewide Comprehensive Planning for Postsecondary Education


Without social identity there is no human world. Without frameworks of similarity and difference, people would be unable to relate to each other in a consistent and meaningful fashion. In the second edition of this highly successful text, Richard Jenkins develops his argument that identity is both individual and collective, and should therefore be considered within one analytic framework. Using the work of major social theorists, such as Mead, Goffman, and Barthes to explore the experience of identity in everyday life, Jenkins considers a range of different issues, including embodiment, categorization and boundaries, the institutionalizing of identities, and identity and modernity.
Written in a clear and accessible style throughout, the text has been thoroughly revised and updated. It is essential reading for all students interested in the concept of identity in the contemporary world.


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has intentionally preview sections. blurred to view the full version. Sign up Unformatted text preview: Chapter Eleven CHAPTER 11 CORPORATIONSAN INTRODUCTION SOLUTIONS TO REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. By law, a corporation is recognized as an entity which has the power to act on its own behalf and enter into enforceable legal agreements. It can own property, sell and lease property, and borrow funds in the same way that an individual can. Although the corporation is owned by its shareholders, the affairs of the corporation are separate from the affairs of its owners. Therefore, property owned by the corporation is not property owned by the shareholder, and debts of the corporation are not debts of the shareholders. As a separate entity, the corporation is subject to income tax on its profits. However, when those after-tax profits are distributed to the shareholders they are again included in the shareholders income for tax purposes [S.12(1)(j)]. 2. A shareholder can have both a primary and a secondary relationship with the corporation. Under a primary relationship, the shareholder provides equity capital to the corporation in exchange for shares. The shareholder can receive a return from the shares in the form of dividend distributions and/or share value enhancement. Under a secondary relationship, the shareholders may also act as a creditor, supplier, customer, employee, or lessor to the corporation. They can, therefore, loan money to the company in exchange for interest, lease property to the company in exchange for rent, provide services in exchange for salary and so on. 3. The following factors may influence the value of a corporation's common share capital. Profits earned or losses incurred by the corporation. Profits retained belong to the common shareholders and the share value increases accordingly. Dividends paid by the corporation. Dividend distributions reduce the equity of the corporation and the share value declines accordingly. Increases or decreases in the value of assets owned by the corporation, including tangible assets such as land and buildings, and intangible assets such as goodwill. 4. A shareholder who provides share capital to a corporation can realize a return on investment from dividends or from capital gains when shares that have increased in value are sold. The two are related because dividend payments alter the value of the shares, thereby affecting the potential capital gain (loss) on sale. If after-tax corporate profits are retained by the corporation, the value of the shares increases, which may create a capital gain if the shareholder sells the shares. On the other hand, if corporate earnings are distributed as a dividend, the value of 199 Chapter Eleven the shares decline and reduce the amount of capital gain that would otherwise occur when the shares are sold.... View Full Document Fall '11 A.Vena


Research company In-Stat predicts a quarter of all cell phones will have WiFi support by 2012:
Mobile handsets with embedded Wi-Fi continued to experience growth in 2009 despite total handset shipment declines, reports In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). While the 2009 Wi-Fi mobile handset growth rate of more than 20% was significantly slower than 2008’s early market monster growth, In-Stat expects that 2010 will see resumed strength with units exceeding 180 million.
While the majority of current Wi-Fi enabled handsets are smartphones, feature phone manufacturers are also beginning to incorporate this feature, providing double stimulus for Wi-Fi handset growth.
“There are three primary zones of Wi-Fi handset usage,” says Frank Dickson, In-Stat analyst. “At home, at the office and on the go. In the home, while broadband penetration has increased significantly over the past several years, so too has Wi-Fi penetration. This has enabled home networks that will rely on Wi-Fi handsets for voice and to share information with other devices, such as TVs.”
“In the office, enterprise smartphones will continue evolving to leverage VoIP’s potential, and on the go, consumers are increasingly leveraging Wi-Fi enabled handsets as they become more educated about hotspots.”
Recent research by In-Stat found the following:
* While the majority of respondents from In-Stat’s recent survey still access hotspots with a notebook, more than a quarter of the responses indicated accessing a public network with Wi-Fi enabled handsets.* The potential for voice over Wi-Fi is gaining popularity, as cellular/Wi-Fi phones become more pervasive and consumer familiarity with VoIP increases.* The Wi-Fi attach rate (percent of handsets with embedded Wi-Fi) will nearly triple from 2009’s rate by 2013.* While the enterprise was the original smartphone/Wi-Fi handset market, consumer adoption has also experienced strong growth, largely due to the success of Apple’s iPhone in the consumer market.


People with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) are characterized by callous and exploitive behavior and by a lack of empathy or remorse. According to DSM-IV, a person with this disorder demonstrates a pervasive pattern of disregard for the rights of others as evidenced by at least three of the following criteria: repeatedly engaging in illegal behavior; frequently lying, using aliases, or conning others for personal profit; impulsivity and lack of future planning; irritability and aggressiveness; reckless disregard for the safety of self and others; consistent irresponsibility, with repeated failures to sustain employment or fulfill financial obligations; lack of remorse as evident in indifference to, or rationalization of, hurting, mistreating, or stealing from others. This definition has been criticized, however, for being too focused on behavior instead of personality traits, and for requiring evidence of conduct disorder (a childhood variant of ASPD) before the age of fifteen.
Do Mafia bosses have abnormal psychological traits? Would they be diagnosed with either antisocial personality disorder or psychopathy, the personality disorders characterized by criminal behavior? Their criminal behavior would certainly meet some criteria for both antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy, but the fact that they operate within a subculture distinguishes them from the kinds of criminals that act alone. Within the culture of organized crime, they would probably not be considered psychologically abnormal
(Library of Congress).


We specialize in helping seniors find residential care homes, assisted living facilities, and in-home care assistance.
A Love For Seniors is dedicated to helping you and your loved ones through what can be a difficult time for many families. We specialize in senior care management, guiding you through the process of selecting the best option for your individual care needs. Our free in-person assessment provides the essential details to determine the necessary level of care.
Our partners have a combined 25 years of experience in the senior care environment, this collective experience ranges from personal caregiving to administrator/owner of a residential board and care home along with senior placement services. There is comfort in knowing you have choices, and we are there to help you find the optimal solution. A Love For Seniors is a free senior placement service created to provide alternatives to seniors who are in need of assistance with their activities of daily living. Whether it is finding a residential board and care home, assisted living facility or in-home care, we guide them to the best options for their care needs.
A Love For Seniors provides resources to ensure ongoing support for seniors and their loved ones. These are some of the options:
Facilities that offer 24-hour supervision and assistance with daily activities of living. Social activities provide seniors with a sense of community. Accommodations are in apartment style rooms which add a feeling of independence.
Independent living is designed for seniors aged 55 and older. In general, senior housing is friendlier to older adults, often being more compact, with easier navigation. While residents live independently, most communities offer amenities, activities, and services.
For seniors who choose to remain at home, caregivers can provide in-home support ranging from a few hours a day to 24hour care. This solution offers seniors assistance while providing their care in the comfort of their own home.
Seniors with Alzheimer's may need special accommodations to keep them safe while navigating unfamiliar challenges. These facilities provide highly specialized environments and activities designed to meet these needs.
Referred to as Board and Care Homes, they offer non medical care services in a comfortable home-like setting. Caregivers provide around the clock supervision to make sure residents are safe.
Seniors with mild memory loss or mild to severe dementia may need these specialized facilities that are designed to help manage day to day challenges of memory loss. Senior care is provided in a secure and safe environment.
Nursing home, also known as skilled nursing facilities, are medical facilities offered for several different reasons. They are designed to help individuals whose needs range from short term rehabilitation to long term care due to chronic care needs.


Laser spike anneal for photoresists outperforms hotplate bake
11/01/2012
Researchers at Cornell University have developed a new laser-based method for ultra-fast anneal of thin photoresist films. The research, sponsored by Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), has shown that the new anneal outperforms a state-of-the-art hotplate bake for both 193nm and EUV lithography applications.
Laser spike annealing is already in use for dopant activation in silicon (see J. Hebb et al., "Dual-beam laser spike annealing for advanced logic applications," http://bit.ly/VLRWCg). Now, Professors Michael Thompson and Christopher Ober from Cornell are perfecting the unique advantages of laser heating vs. current state-of-art hotplate bake used in chip patterning processes.
Historically, wafers required a lengthy bake at low temperatures to avoid degradation of the photoresist properties. Heating at much higher temperatures for millisecond times using continuous wave lasers not only activates the necessary photoresist chemical reactions at higher throughput, the researchers have determined, but also improves the pattern fidelity and line-edge roughness by limiting the chemical diffusion.
"This new laser method can deliver a breakthrough in thermal processing for the industry," said Ober. "Until now, lithography progress has been held back by the traditional methods for heating the resist that were regarded by many as already optimized. The laser proves otherwise."
As one of the key benefits of the laser-based bake process, Cornell Ph.D. candidate Byungki Jung has shown significant improvements in line-edge roughness for both current 193nm immersion lithography as well as for next-generation 13nm EUV lithography.
Currently, photoresists are exposed and then baked on a hot plate at low temperatures (80-150??C) for approximately 1min to activate the resist chemistry and create a solubility differential between exposed and unexposed parts of the resist, which delineates the post-develop pattern. Prolonged heating, especially at higher temperatures, causes excessive chemical diffusion which degrades the image quality.
The novel application of laser spike heating ??? for a duration of milliseconds only ??? preserves the polymer integrity at much higher temperatures (up to 800??C) and provides a means to maximize resist sensitivity while minimizing pattern roughness, thereby facilitating enhanced scalability.
??? P.S.
Solid State Technology | Volume 55 | Issue 9 | November 2012


INTJs and INTPs are both deeply skeptical, philosophical, and penetrating in their thinking. Whatever their similarities, INTJs and INTPs differ in significant ways, especially in their epistemology. For amateur typologists, the differences between these two types may be felt intuitively, while remaining difficult to explain rationally. In this post, we will explore reasons for their differences by comparing and contrasting their preferred modes of Judging: INTPs’ Introverted Thinking (Ti) vs. INTJs’ Extraverted Thinking (Te).
Myers Briggs theory posits that J-types prefer outer Judging/ordering (Fe or Te) along with inner Perceiving (Ni or Si), while P-types prefer outer Perceiving (Ne or Se) coupled with inner Judging (Fi or Ti).
INTJs’ Extraverted Thinking
Since their auxiliary function is Extraverted Thinking (Te), INTJs prefer the world’s systems and operations be controlled, orderly, and rational. Since Te is extraverted, INTJs endorse a standardized set of collective methods for evaluating and implementing what is rational. This is why INTJs believe so strongly in the value of science and the scientific method. Their Te is more positivistic and forward-moving than INTPs’ Introverted Thinking is. Once their Ni vision is clear, INTJs use their Te to formulate definitions, plans, policies, classifications, and procedures, working to develop a perfectly rational and orderly system.
INTPs’ Introverted Thinking (Ti)
While INTPs may find some degree of philosophical resonance with INTJs, they feel strongly averse to INTJs’ Te propensities. Rather than striving to make external systems more rational, the introverted nature of INTPs’ Introverted Thinking orients their rationality toward themselves and their own ideas, making them more idiosyncratic than INTJs. INTPs are largely concerned with ensuring that their own lives, worldview, and personal philosophy are rational. Their Ti impels them to establish and reestablish inner order. While INTJs are comfortable to leave their inner world open and allow their Ni ample time to mull things over, INTPs find persistent inner openness uncomfortable and work to reduce it through use of their Introverted Thinking.
INTPs’ preference for developing and using their own subjective methods of rational judging and ordering runs contrary to INTJs’ Te insistence on using a shared and objective methodology. This is why INTJs feel more comfortable working in organizations and formal research settings and have an easier time finding an academic or career niche than INTPs (or ENTPs) do. While NTPs feel averse to and tend to resist external formalizing and structuring, NTJs feel it is warranted and needed.
This also explains why INTPs are more apt to be critical of science and the scientific method. INTPs are more comfortable functioning as philosophers of science than they are as scientists; it was likely an INTP who coined the term “scientism,” which is often used pejoratively toward those perceived as taking an excessively high-minded view of the value or possibilities of science.
These differences also go a long way in accounting for the putative division of philosophers into the continental and analytic camps. INTJs are more apt to gravitate toward the analytic camp, whose logical positivism can be associated with Te. The continental school, by contrast, takes a more critical stance toward science and leans toward more relativistic and historical interpretations of knowledge. ENTPs, whose dominant Ne should, at least in theory, make them more comfortable with relativism, and whose inferior Introverted Sensing (Si) confers an interest in history, are perhaps the best representatives of the continental school. INTPs often fall somewhere in between, tending to resonate with the analytic camp’s quest for convergent, non-relativistic truth, while siding with the continental camp’s questioning of the assumptions and methods of science.
If we extend this analysis to some of the other personality types, we might find that INFPs, because of their inferior Te, are actually more interested in formal science than INTPs are. Their Te inferior allows INFPs to better tolerate working within structured settings and systems. In lacking Te, INFJs are more apt, along with NTPs, to prefer less formal means of investigating truth. For this reason, NTPs may feel quite comfortable philosophizing with NFJs, while NTJs may feel a certain Te-Fi camaraderie with NFPs.
To learn more about Ti, I encourage you to explore my recent book, The INTP: Personality, Careers, Relationships, & the Quest for Truth and Meaning:
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Over the years home economics has received a reputation as confining
women to the home, while the movement for women's suffrage has been
viewed as liberating women from the home. However, the Progressive
Era movements for home economics and women's suffrage both had shared
a common mission: to improve the condition of women in American
society. Consequently, during the first quarter of the 20th century,
leaders of the home economics and suffrage movements corresponded:
sharing tactics and ideas, as well as publicly promoting each other's
causes.
Select an image at left
or choose from the list below:


Our mobile lab space will broaden data collection, enabling cognitive scientists to extend studies beyond university walls.
we can ensure that theories of the mind reflect a more representative group of humans. In an era where policymakers are increasingly consulting cognitive scientists to make decisions, more representative data can help science improve society.
Most cognitive science data are collected from college students, who are ethnically and socio-economically less diverse than the broader population. This limits scope of our theories about the human mind. By reaching a more diverse group of experimental participants,


Cooked Jams
It's important to sterilize jars, lids and filling utensils for cooked jams to prevent mould.
You can pre-sterilize jars & lids by using one of two methods:
Sterilize all jars, lids and filling equipment in a 225ºF oven for 10 minutes, then keep in the oven, with heat turned off, until needed so they stay warm. Sterilize all jars, lids and filling equipment in boiling water for 15 minutes and keep warm.
Use tempered glass jars with two-piece lids, not leftover pickle or baby food jars. For more than twenty years General Foods Kitchens, now Kraft Kitchens, have successfully pre-sterilized and hot-filled jars for a large number of cooked jams, jellies, relishes, chutneys, marmalades and conserves. Both methods are equally effective at preventing mould growth.
Paraffin Wax Seals Using paraffin to seal is NOT recommended for jams and jellies as mould growth often occurs and will spoil your jam or jelly. If a jam or jelly has mould on it, throw out the entire jar. The mould produces toxins that penetrate deeply into the jam and cannot be removed by simply scraping off the mould. In the past, jam makers needed paraffin seals since they often used leftover food jars for their jams and these did not seal tightly.
Storing Jars Wipe jars of cooled jams and jellies with a clean damp cloth before storing. Label jars with the date and recipe name. Cooked jams and jellies should be used within one year of making. Store opened cooked jams and jellies in refrigerator.
Properly Sealed Jars Once the sterilized, warm jar is filled and two-piece lids are applied, turn the lid as far as it will go. After the jam or jelly has cooled, a jar is properly sealed if the lid is curved down and remains so when pressed. This may take up to 24 hours.
No-Cook Jams
For no-cook jams, simply wash jars and lids or plastic containers with hot soapy water, rinse and fill. Freezer storage prevents mould spoilage.


Test sensitivity is approximately 81%, and specificity is approximately 99%. Newer rapid influenza testing can detect both influenza A and B viruses, but it cannot differentiate between the two. The total cost for these tests is between $15 to $20. The role of rapid influenza testing in influenza management is unclear.


Knowing this stuff earlier would have saved me SO much strife.
Last night my husband went to bed, and I stayed up, enjoying the silence of the after-hours. He called me into the room after a couple minutes, inviting some more affection. He's been working a lot lately, and we haven't been spending as much time together as usual.
Then he said half-joking,
"Wanna give me a beej?" (Yup, that's what we call 'em.) I absolutely did not. It was way past my clock-out time for those kinds of shenanigans, and I was in my own groove writing in the living room.
It would have been easy to laugh off his ridiculous suggestion and kiss him good night, but I stroked him instead and said,
"I was hoping you'd call me in here for this." (Lie.) He was seriously surprised by my willingness. Listen: we exchange I love you's like 956 times a day. I don't know if he really hears me all the time, or if it's just so expected and automatic. I wanted to tell him in the language he understands best: physical.
I was impressed with myself as I committed to the deed. Not only because I was being an awesome wife but because I've gotten all-around better at wife-ing over the years. Here are 10 things I do that strengthen our relationship and make my husband feel loved.
1. I cook him something special.
Collard greens are his thing, and if it weren't for him I wouldn't make them at all. They stink up the whole house, but all he smells are memories of his grandparents' farm. He loves their taste and the nutrition they offer, as much as he enjoys the sight of his Yankee wife preparing a Southern staple.
2. I choose to be real over being nice.
During our first year of marriage, we also had a baby. It was hard to find our new balance. I often wanted to play Cool Wife, but it made me stew on the inside.
One day, when he was post-exams in medical school, I told him to go to the beach and hang out with his friends. I don't know why I was so self-sacrificial. I felt angry all day and eventually stomped to the beach to tell him to come home.
I acted like a B, which totally took away from my niceness in the first place. I learned to say instead,
"I want you to have fun and relax but I want to, too. What can we do?" He has always been cool with that. 3. I'm real, but I push some sh*t under the rug.
In a lifetime of togetherness, there will be plenty to bitch about and squabble over. I no longer care that he likes to get up and walk around as soon as he's done eating, even though I'd prefer he waited for us all to finish. I used to get bent out of shape by his borderline offensive sense of humor.
Now, I trust that he's coming from a good place while rolling my eyes and laughing (not with him, but at him). I choose my battles, rather than fight them all.
4. I ask for what I want.
Why has this been so unnatural for me? Maybe because I assumed that if my husband wanted to help me he would ask what he could do or just jump in. Wrong. I learned that I have to speak aloud what I want to happen. It usually produces great results. I feel loved, he feels valued, and we're both happier.
5. I know hard times are opportunities for growth.
Every relationship has its struggle but I've found that our darkest times have ultimately brought us the most light. When things fall apart, we rebuild together. When we get cracked open, we are exposed and vulnerable, and ultimately end up feeling closer. We fight through the tough times, which is an expression of our love and commitment.
6. I forgive quickly.
I used to be the Cold Shoulder Queen. Over minor things, I'd want him to feel bad. I don't do this anymore because it sucks for both of us. I'd walk around like I had a large stick up my ass for a day, and he'd wonder how long I was going to make life miserable for, and what it was even over.
In a marriage, this gets exhausting. Now, we openly communicate, take time apart if we want it, and break the fight as soon as possible. Usually, the one who was the most assh*le-ish will say,
"I forgive you." It's kind of funny for the assh*le to be the one forgiving, so then we both laugh. "I forgive you" is a silly invitation to reconcile. There's not much room for pride in marriage. 7. I give him time to do his hobbies.
In the beginning of our relationship, he told me his passions are surfing, playing guitar and fishing. I wondered when he was going to arrange the list to put me at the top, and took it as a personal challenge to get there. He finally has, so it's only fair I'm cool with him doing the activities that mean so much to him.
He's a solid family guy, so when he gets the chance to surf or fish, I fully encourage it. He thinks I'm the coolest wife for doing this stuff, but he comes home in such a good mood, and I reap the benefits.
8. I trust in his decisions.
When we were first married, I had a lot to learn about asking a man questions about the way he runs his life. For instance, when he was in the basic sciences of med school, and I inquired if he should be studying or not in a way that suggested he should, his feathers would ruffle. Not because he was defensive or hard to approach; simply because he wanted me to trust him, and let him be.
He's a man and doesn't need me to be his mother. I'm actually relieved by this.
9. I look for the good.
You'll never catch my husband folding laundry or sending flowers on an ordinary day. But I catch him sending loving texts and rushing home from work to be with us on the regular. We see what we look for, and I look for the good.
10. I take care of my own happiness.
Smiles and lightheartedness are all he really needs from me to feel loved (aside from the occasional beej). It makes him feel like he's doing everything right. What's worse than a woman who can't be pleased? For this reason, I take it as my wifely duty to live a life that satisfies me and communicate the desires of my heart. Happy wife, happy life, right?
Loving someone is never selfless. All that I give, gets returned.
like us on facebookIf you 'like' us, we'll LOVE you!


XPRIZE has launched a competition inviting teams do develop artificially intelligent systems capable of delivering a TED talk without human intervention.
The non-profit organisation aiming to encourage mankind to solve the world’s greatest challenges has announced the new competition on its website. The public will now have a chance to help define the goals of the undertaking, including the duration of the talk, how to choose the topic and details of the evaluation process.
"Advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence have made extraordinary progress over the past decade, but we've barely scratched the surface," said Peter Diamandis, XPRIZE’s CEO. "This global competition could help spur its development across a myriad of areas - including biological research, exploration, education, healthcare, and fields we have not yet even imagined."
It has not been decided yet whether the artificial intelligence systems should preferably have a physical form of a robot or could be represented just by a voice. XPRIZE is now considering whether to run the competition on a regular, most likely annual, basis or just as a one-off event.
"We're entering a future in which humans and machines must learn new ways to work with each other,” said Chris Anderson, curator of TED. “My hope is this prize will fuel that process. I predict that within a few years we'll be blown away by what Artificial Intelligences can do. But that we also may learn what they can't do so well. We may discover that it's some form of human-machine collaboration that offers the most powerful prospect for creating and communicating ideas that matter. I have no idea how this ends up, but I'm incredibly excited to find out."
XPRIZE has already several disruptive projects under its belt, most notably the Google Lunar XPRIZE that has teams from across the world developing spacecraft to land on the Moon. Its other undertakings include the £10m Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, and the £2.25 million Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE, and the £2 million Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE.
TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to ideas worth spreading, which started as a four-day conference in California 30 years ago and has grown since to support its mission with multiple initiatives. The two annual TED Conferences invite the world's leading thinkers to speak for 18 minutes or less. In the past Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, or Sir Richard Branson were among those delivering a TED talk.


Magnet size is crucial to an accelerator as it determines the final circumference and power. This spring, Fermilab unveiled a 10.4 Tesla magnet that is shorter than the 8 Tesla magnets currently installed in the LHC. These new magnets will be a valuable asset to the HL-LHC, the next step of the LHC machine.
The HL-LHC (High Luminosity LHC) represents the future of CERN's flagship accelerator. From around 2020, this major upgrade will allow a substantial increase in the rate of collisions compared to today. The project poses various technical challenges, some of which appear to be close to being resolved.
The success of the HL-LHC hinges on two essential conditions: the installation of more powerful magnets to guide the beams, and the addition of extra collimators to mitigate the increase in radiation. However, one of the key questions is how to insert additional collimators in a 27 km ring already full to bursting. The answer is to replace the current magnets by shorter but more powerful magnets, which is what Fermilab's engineers have been working on in collaboration with CERN. "The idea originated in 2010 from a proposal made by the then head of CERN's Magnets, Superconductors and Cryostats group, Lucio Rossi," explains Giorgio Apollinari, head of Fermilab's Technical Division. "During a discussion he suggested replacing a few of the LHC's 8 Tesla dipole magnets with shorter 11 Tesla magnets. His idea aligned well with the goals of Fermilab's R&D programme for projects including the muon collider, so we decided to collaborate."
It was not long before the decision started to pay off. In spring 2012, only 20 months after the research had begun, Fermilab unveiled a 10.4 Tesla two-metre-long prototype magnet. Once several more development phases have been completed, an 11-metre-long magnet should see the light of day. Nothing short of a revolution when you think that the existing magnets are 14 metres long. "We achieved this using niobium-tin (Nb3Sn) instead of niobium-titanium (Nb-Ti), which was the material used in the manufacture of the superconducting cables of the LHC magnets in the 1990s," adds Giorgio Apollinari.
Looking at what the CERN-Fermilab collaboration has achieved in less than two years, we think it's safe to assume that 11 Tesla magnets are not far off…
Explore further: An Advance in Superconducting Magnet Technology Opens the Door for More Powerful Colliders


Abstract
Abstract A polyepitope chimeric antigen incorporating multiple protective and conservative epitopes from multiple antigens of Plasmodium falciparum has been considered to be more effective in inducing multiple layers of immunity against malaria than a single stage- or single antigen-based vaccine. By modifying the molecular breeding approach to epitope shuffling, we have constructed a polyepitope chimeric gene that encodes 11 B-cell and T-cell proliferative epitope peptides derived from eight key antigens mostly in the blood stage of Plasmodium falciparum. A 35-kDa antigen encoded by this gene, named Malaria RCAg-1, was purified from an E. coli expression system. Immunization of rabbits and mice with the purified protein in the presence of Freund's adjuvant strongly generated long-lasting antibody responses that recognized the corresponding individual epitope peptide in this vaccine as well as blood stage parasites. CD4 + T-cell responses were also elicited as shown by the enhancement of T-cell proliferation, IFN-γ and IL-4 level. In vitro assay of protection revealed that vaccine-elicited antibodies could efficiently inhibit the growth of blood-stage parasites. Additionally, the chimeric antigen was recognized by human serum specimens from malaria patients and individuals living in the endemic area. Our studies indicate the potential of M.RCAg-1 recombinant protein as malaria candidate vaccines as well as the rationale of the epitope shuffling technology applied in designing malaria vaccines.


The standard tax deduction is a set amount a taxpayer deducts from his income on a federal tax return without the need to itemize his deductions, according to TurboTax. For 2015, the standard deduction is $6,300 for single taxpayers and $12,600 for couples filing jointly, reports Kelly Phillips Erb for Forbes.Continue Reading
Other filing designations are head of household and married filing separately. The amount of the standard deduction is adjusted annually due to inflation. Taxpayers can choose between taking the standard deduction or itemizing their deductions. When itemizing deductions, taxpayers can deduct expenses such as mortgage interest or charitable contributions, explains TurboTax.
When a taxpayer elects to take the standard deduction, that amount is subtracted from gross income to calculate the adjustable gross income, or the taxpayer's taxable income. Some taxpayers are not able to take the federal standard deduction, states TurboTax. If a taxpayer is married but files separately and his spouse itemizes her deductions, the taxpayer must also itemize his deductions. Taxpayers cannot claim the standard deduction if a spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the tax year. A taxpayer also cannot take the standard deduction if he changes his annual accounting period and files a tax return that covers less than 12 months, notes the Internal Revenue Service.Learn more about Income Tax


It’s 20 minutes to grab-your-backpack-and-get-out-the-door time and your child is complaining of a sick stomach. What’s a parent to do? Do you encourage him to rally and get ready or let him roll over and get more rest? It can be a tough call, particularly when the symptoms are subjective.
Experts with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advise sending a child to school only if he or she is well enough to learn. This means the child’s symptoms do not disrupt his or her ability to concentrate in class and do not distract classmates, according to Cindy Devore, MD, FAAP, a member of the AAP Council on School Health Executive Committee.
If you think your child might be faking an illness (or perhaps exaggerating symptoms), Dr. Devore recommends stepping back to consider the “total child”. Does he complain he doesn’t feel well right after a break from school? Have you noticed social isolation or mood swings that might suggest another reason he might want to avoid school?
Generally, AAP experts agree these symptoms may warrant a day at home or a visit to the doctor:
persistent temperature higher than 100.4° F severe sore throat lasting more than 48 hours (especially when accompanied by fever) significant rash (particularly when other symptoms are present) large amounts of discolored nasal discharge severe ear pain uncontrolled cough diarrhea severe headache (especially with fever)


The Cost of Friendship
Interesting if perhaps not so surprising: in a new working paper called “The Cost of Friendship,”
Paul Gompers, Vladimir Mukharlyamov, and Yuhai Xuan argue that even in as performance-based an industry as venture capital, people tend to collaborate with people who have similar backgrounds, often to their detriment:
This paper explores two broad questions on collaboration between individuals. First, we investigate what personal characteristics affect people’s desire to work together. Second, given the influence of these personal characteristics, we analyze whether this attraction enhances or detracts from performance. Addressing these problems in the venture capital syndication setting, we show that venture capitalists exhibit strong detrimental homophily in their co-investment decisions. We find that individual venture capitalists choose to collaborate with other venture capitalists for both ability-based characteristics (e.g., whether both individuals in a dyad obtained a degree from a top university) and affinity-based characteristics (e.g., whether individuals in a pair share the same ethnic background, attended the same school, or worked for the same employer previously). Moreover, frequent collaborators in syndication are those venture capitalists who display a high level of mutual affinity. We find that while collaborating for ability-based characteristics enhances investment performance, collaborating for affinity-based characteristics dramatically reduces the probability of investment success. A variety of tests show that the cost of affinity is not driven by selection into inferior deals; the effect is most likely attributable to poor decision-making by high-affinity syndicates post investment. Taken together, our results suggest that non-ability-based “birds-of-a-feather-flock-together” effects in collaboration can be costly.


Using the wrong tools to apply grout can quickly ruin the look of your freshly tiled wall or floor. Proper tools help to ensure no grout remains on the surface to create a haze or ugly clumps on your tile. The right tools also make it easier to fill every single joint between the tiles, a process that helps prevent water damage and keeps your tiles secure. Before you grout, take the time to gather the right tools for the job to maximize your chance for DIY success.
Grout Float
A grout float resembles a trowel but features a rubber base rather than a metal one. Using this tool, you can quickly and easily pick up grout and apply it to a tiled surface. A grout float also serves as an effective tool for forcing grout into the joints between tiles or wiping excess grout from a surface before it dries. Popular Mechanics recommends a hard rubber grout float for epoxy grout or a soft rubber unit when working with standard grout.
Grout Bag
When working with colored grout or unglazed tiles, swap your grout float for a grout bag. This tool resembles the pastry bags used for decorating cakes. It features small nozzle attachments that allow you to direct grout directly into the joints rather than applying it to the entire surface. While using a grout bag tends to take more time than applying grout with a float, it also reduces the risk of stains or scratches on porous or unglazed tiles.
Striking Tool
Striking tools make it easy to shape the joints between each tile to create the desired profile. Home improvement stores sell specialty striking tools to create rounded, square or other types of joints, but many tile installers simply improvise when striking grout joints. The corner of your grout float, the handle of a wooden spoon or a simple wooden dowel can all serve as effective tools for creating profiles in grout.
Grout Sponge
After you apply grout, use a grout sponge to wipe away any excess grout, and clean the surface of the tiles. If you skip this step, the grout will form an ugly haze as it dries. While it can be tempting to use a standard sponge for this task, the squared edges of a regular sponge can pull grout out of the joints between your tiles. Instead, stick to special grout sponges, which feature rounded edges to help keep grout where you want it.
Paintbrush
Once your grout has a chance to dry, apply a coat of sealer to protect the grout from stains. Use a small paintbrush to apply the sealer according to the manufacturer's recommendations, then keep the tile dry and protected until the sealer has a chance to dry completely.
Photo Credits Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images


Dear SCCT Member:
As you know, the SCCT is the only professional medical membership organization dedicated to ensuring patient access to the appropriate use of cardiovascular CT. The SCCT Board of Directors thought that it would be beneficial to our members to create a Case of the Month series showcasing cardiac CTA in various clinical scenarios. this series will be spearheaded by the collective members of the SCCT FiRST committee. Please provide feedback or forward any questions to info@scct.org
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Multimodality Imaging of a Left Atrial Mass
Kim L. Sandler, MD (1), Murray J. Mazer, MD (1), Allison M. Wasserman, MD (2), Julian A. Noche Munoz, MD (3), Jennifer R. Williams, MD (1)
1. Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
2. Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
3. Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
_________________________________________________
History
A 66-year-old female with past medical history significant for paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, asthma, Graves disease, and anxiety presented to an outside hospital with chest pain and worsening shortness of breath. She reported shortness of breath that was progressive over a month, despite increased use of her rescue inhaler. This was accompanied by substernal chest pain that radiated to her left arm and neck. History was also significant for fatigue, weight loss, abdominal distention, orthopnea and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea. While admitted at an outside facility, she underwent evaluation including a cardiac MRI and PET/CT. The patient was transferred to our institution in stable condition after imaging was obtained.
Findings
Cardiac MRI performed at an outside hospital demonstrated a left atrial mass with extension into the pericardium and associated pericardial effusion. The PET/CT demonstrated a large, intensely avid cardiac mass without additional foci of abnormal FDG uptake. (Figure 1)
Figure 1: MRI demonstrating a large left atrial mass with extension into the pericardium and pericardial effusion. Small bilateral pleural effusions are also demonstrated (A). PET imaging is limited, but clearly demonstrates significant FDG uptake correlating with the left atrial mass (B).
Following transfer to our institution, the patient was further evaluated with gated cardiac CT angiography (CTA). This helped to further characterize the mass as partially calcified and occupying the majority of the left atrium. There was extension into the left posterolateral portion of the pericardial sac and exophytic extension in the region of the mitral valve. The aortic valve was not involved. Imaging of the pulmonary veins demonstrated occlusion of the left lower lobe pulmonary vein with compression and possible early invasion of the left upper lobe pulmonary vein. Ejection fraction was calculated at 42%. (Figure 2)
Figure 2: CTA images demonstrating a large left atrial mass extending into the pericardial sac (A) with associated pericardial effusion and bilateral pleural effusions. The left lower lobe pulmonary vein is occluded with early invasion versus compression of the left upper lobe pulmonary vein. Color rendering (B) further illustrates the mass extending to the mitral valve without significant left ventricular involvement.
Imaging was most consistent with a primary cardiac tumor, suspected to represent sarcoma. Metastatic disease was felt to be less likely, given the absence of additional foci of abnormal FDG uptake on PET/CT. The patient underwent minimally invasive right anterior thoracotomy with biopsy of the left atrial mass and performance of a pericardial window. Pathologic evaluation was consistent with high-grade sarcoma. (Figure 3)
Figure 3: Pathologic evaluation of the left atrial mass demonstrates abundant mitotic figures and occasional apoptoses amongst a background of spindle cells, consistent with high-grade sarcoma.
Discussion
Primary cardiac tumors are exceedingly rare, with an incidence of less than 0.03%, and greater than 75% of these are benign.(1) Nearly all primary malignant cardiac tumors are sarcomas.(2) Angiosarcoma is the most common pathologic subtype and typically involves the right atrium, while the less common undifferentiated sarcoma is more often seen in the left atrium.(3) Though patients may be asymptomatic until the disease reaches an advanced stage, they most often present with refractory heart failure, often with an associated pericardial effusion.(4)
Once detected, cardiac masses can be evaluated using a multitude of imaging modalities, including echocardiography, gated cardiac CTA, cardiac MRI, and even PET/CT as was performed in this case. Gated cardiac CTA is particularly helpful in providing anatomic detail, assessing for the presence of calcifications, and for detecting vascular invasion.(5) While differentiation of benign from malignant cardiac tumors can be difficult, malignant features include size greater than 5 cm, associated pericardial effusion, broad-based attachment with ill-defined margins, and heterogeneous enhancement following contrast administration.
Commonly encountered benign lesions in the left atrium include atrial myxoma and thrombus.(1) Additionally, mass-like lipomatous hypertrophy of the interatrial septum can mimic a left atrial tumor, however fat within the lesion should be apparent on both CTA and MRI. The prognosis for cardiac sarcoma is universally poor, with a mean survival of 9-11 months. Median survival ranges up to 24 months in patients who undergo complete resection, but remains 10 months following incomplete or no resection.(4)
References
1. Hoey ETD, Mankada K, Puppalaa S, Gopalan D, Sivananthanan MU. MRI and CT appearances of cardiac tumours in adults.
Clinical Radiology. 2009;64:1214-30.
2. Tatli S, Lipton MJ. CT for intracardiac thrombi and tumors. The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging. 2005;21:115-31.
3. Araoz PA, Eklund HE, Welch tJ, Breen JF. CT and MR Imaging of Primary Cardiac Malignancies. Radiographics. 1999;19:1421-34.
4. Shanmugam G. Primary cardiac sarcoma. European Journal of Cardio-thoracic Surgery. 2006;29:925-32.
5. Buckley O, Madan R, Kwong R, Rybicki FJ, Hunsaker A. Cardiac Masses, Part 1: Imaging Strategies and Technical Considerations. AJR. 2011;197:837-41.
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The Case of the Month may also be viewed at http://www.scct.org.
Members of SCCT may view archived Cases by visiting:
http://www.scct.org/members.cfm.
__________________________________________________
If you would like to submit a Case of the Month for publication, please contact Anna Leong at aleong@scct.org for specifications and instructions.


If after treatment your ovaries don't produce ripe eggs anymore, it doesn't mean you can't carry a pregnancy to term and give birth to a healthy baby. If you decide not to extract and store your own eggs or ovaries, egg donation is another option.
Many companies offer egg donation services, allowing you to choose from donors with a wide range of ages, characteristics, and education. Women who donate the eggs are paid. It's a good idea to look for an egg donation service that's affiliated with a respected infertility center. The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology is a good place to start.
According to Gina Shaw in
Having Children After Cancer, the egg donation process usually follows these steps: You sign up with a service and choose a donor. If she's available, a short profile of your family will be presented to her. Once a donor agrees to match with you, it's common for you and the donor to go through psychological testing. Your service will then help you through the process of signing a legal contract. Both you and your donor should have legal representation. Once the contract is finalized, you and the egg donor get treatments to synchronize your cycles. The egg donor's treatments are much like in vitro fertilization, except that instead of harvesting the eggs to be fertilized and implanted in her own womb, the eggs are fertilized with your partner's sperm and implanted in your uterus. Your treatments are much simpler. You just take medicine that prepares the lining of your uterus for implantation of embryos. Between two and four embryos usually are implanted. Any remaining embryos are usually frozen for later use.
While prices vary, experts estimate that the egg donation process costs at least $30,000.


Affordable apartments have been a stepchild in housing lately, as everyone chases affluent "renters by choice" and would-be homeowners. An initiative recently announced by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation aims to change that. Over the next 10 years, the prominent Chicago-based foundation plans to contribute $50 million for preserving reasonably priced rental units around the country.
The commitment comes at what the foundation sees as a critical time for affordable apartments. Since the foundation began investing in housing in the 1980s, rents have risen significantly in many cities, and thousands of subsidized units have been transformed into market-rate rentals as government subsidies expire. "If we wanted our new investments to make a difference, we had to make sure we weren't losing ground," explains Debra Schwartz, director of program-related investments.
The answer was preserving existing affordable units, which typically is more cost-effective than building new. So the foundation is providing low-cost loans and grants to community development groups, specialty lenders, policy organizations, and researchers, with the goal of saving 100,000 units.
One recipient is Community Preservation and Development Corp. (CPDC), a Washington group that buys subsidized apartments at risk of becoming market-rate rentals. It's not an easy job. The CPDC, which relies on government funding and low-income tax credits to fund its purchases, frequently competes against for-profit developers. "It takes us a long time to put money together, so that puts us at a serious disadvantage," says Leslie Steen, president. "The MacArthur money will help us with that." The $1.5 million investment from the foundation will also help the CPDC expand. It generally preserves 160 units annually, or about two to three buildings, a number it now plans to boost to four.


Family Pride Family Pride What LGBT Families Should Know about Navigating Home, School, and Safety in Their Neighborhoods
Beacon Press (MA), Paperback, 9780807001974, 191pp.
Publication Date: January 15, 2013
An invaluable portrait and roadmap on how to thrive as an LGBT family
The overwhelming success of Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" YouTube project aimed at queer youth highlighted that despite the progress made in gay rights, LGBT people are still at high risk of being victimized. While the national focus remains on the mistreatment of gay people in schools, the reality is that LGBT families also face hostility in various settings--professional, recreational, and social. This is especially evident in rural communities, where the majority of LGBT families live, isolated from support networks more commonly found in urban spaces. "Family Pride" is the first book for queer parents, families, and allies that emphasizes community safety. Drawing on his years as a dedicated community activist and on the experiences of LGBT parents, Michael Shelton offers concrete strategies that LGBT families can use to intervene in and resolve difficult community issues, teach their children resiliency skills, and find safe and respectful programs for their children.
COLAGE is a national movement of children, youth, and adults with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer parent(s).
Family Pride…
“Community activist Shelton (
Boy Crazy) brings intellectual rigor to this well-researched examination of the history, progress, and challenges of LGBT families in the U.S., a broader focus than the title implies.”— Publishers Weekly “An earnest, well-researched overview”— Library Journal


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In the recently published Cloud Landscape Report, Internap revealed the significant differences in public cloud infrastructure concerns between the cloud-wise and the cloud-wary.
While the confidence level in cloud services has clearly grown for the cloud-wise, new pain points have emerged; and legacy concerns – such as security – continue to persist for the cloud-wary.
Join us as we take a deep dive into the report findings and explore the notable performance and price challenges users are encountering with virtual public cloud, particularly for real-time, data-intensive and scale-out applications.
Watch this webinar to learn: Are the cloud-wary overestimating cloud security risks? What are the new challenges faced by organizations currently using public cloud services? How are fast, big data apps putting pressure on public virtual clouds? What other forms of public cloud address the challenges presented by changing application requirements?


On April 20, 2016, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury issued a set of Frequently Asked Questions (“
”) addressing certain provisions under the Affordable Care Act, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“ FAQs ”), and the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 (“ MHPAEA ”). The FAQs provide guidance on several topics, including coverage of colonoscopies and contraceptives, rescissions of coverage, disclosures required for claims related to out-of-network emergency services, coverage for individuals participating in approved clinical trials, reference-based pricing, various topics related to the MHPAEA, and coverage under the WHCRA. WHCRA
The FAQs are available
here.


Summary 1. Jasmonic acid (JA), a ubiquitous regulator of the wound response in plants, is part of a long distance defence signalling pathway and when applied exogenously induces several defence related responses in many species including the activation of proteinase inhibitor (PIN) proteins and defence-related metabolites. 2. There is evidence for an induced systemic resistance mechanism linking increased cell wall peroxidase activity with reductions in leaf expansion rates in Rumex obtusifolius, following limited grazing by the chrysomelid beetle Gastrophysa viridula. We hypothesised that herbivory induces strengthening of cell walls in distal, non-damaged tissue through increases in peroxidase activity and that this mechanism was mediated systemically by JA. 3. JA was applied to the fully expanded fourth leaf of R. obtusifolius and expansion of leaf 8 was measured over 19 days. Treatment with exogenous JA induced a temporary reduction in the expansion rate of leaf 8 beginning 6 days after treatment. This reduction continued until day 7 and reduced final leaf areas in treated plants by approximately 20%. 4. Final epidermal cell areas in leaf 8 were reduced by approximately 25%, while epidermal cell numbers remained unchanged. 5. Cell wall bound peroxidase activity was measured in leaf 8 over a 6-day period following application of JA to leaf 4. Activity increased approximately 9-fold 2 days after treatment, before returning to control activities on day 3. 6. Treatment of leaf 4 with JA reduced the gregariousness of G. viridula larvae on the fully expanded leaf 8. 7. We postulate that JA acts as a signalling molecule in a long-distance pathway responsible for inducing resistance to future attack through increases in cell wall bound peroxidase activity leading to cell wall toughening, while incurring a potential ecological cost in the form of reductions in subsequent leaf expansion.


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Topics such as military tribunals, same-sex marriage, informative privacy, reproductive rights, affirmative action, and states' rights fill the landscape of contemporary legal debate and media discussion, and they all fall under the umbrella of the Due Process Clauses of the United States Constitution. However, what is not always fully understood is the constitutional basis of these rights, or the exact list of due process rights as they have evolved over time through judicial interpretation. In
The Arc of Due Process in American Constitutional Law, Sullivan and Massaro describe the intricate history of what are currently considered due process rights, and maintain that modern constitutional theory and practice must adhere to it. The authors focus on the origins and contemporary uses of due process principles in American constitutional law, while offering an overarching description of the factors or normative concepts that allow courts to invalidate a government action on the grounds of due process. They also analyze judicial interpretations and expressions as a key manner and perhaps the most powerful source of how due process has taken form in the United States. In the process of charting this arc, the authors describe the judicial analysis of rights within each category applying an illustrative list, and identify several fundamental norms that span these disparate threads of due process and the most salient principles that animate due process doctrine.


No species occurs everywhere. Indeed, the majority are absent from most places, and where they do occur they are usually quite rare. Gaston discusses the structure of these distributions - the structure of the geographic ranges of species. Gaston is particularly concerned with the factors that determine the limits to a species' geographic range, how the sizes of those ranges vary, and patterns in that variation. Also considered are the distribution of individuals amongst those sites where a species does occur and what determines thatdistribution, and some of the practical implications of all these. Both in a pure and applied context, ecologists need a broader perspective on their subject matter than has historically prevailed. This book provides one such perspective. A must have book for any researchers and graduate students studying macroecology, biogeography and conservation biology.


Abstract 77: CXCR7 Induction, Signaling and Phagocytic Function in Macrophages Linked with Atherosclerosis Abstract
The discovery of CXCR7 as a new receptor for SDF-1 places many previously described SDF-1 functions attributed to CXCR4 in question, though whether CXCR7 acts as a signaling or non-signaling “decoy” receptor has been in debate. A recent study demonstrated that CXCR7 is not expressed in normal human or mouse blood leukocytes; however, the potential role of leukocyte CXCR7 in disease states has not been addressed. Here, we show that CXCR7 was detected in macrophage-positive area of aortic atheroma of ApoE-null mice, but not in healthy arteries. Consistent with this, we found that during monocyte-to-macrophage differentiation, CXCR7 was dramatically upregulated at both mRNA and protein levels. In addition, CXCR7 induction was associated with a SDF-1 signaling switch from pro-survival to pro-inflammatory pathways including p38 and JNK, which was mimicked by a CXCR7-selective agonist and inhibited by CXCR7-blocking antibodies, but not by CXCR4-selective antagonist. Furthermore, we found that CXCR7 activation by SDF-1 or its selective agonist TC14012 significantly increased macrophage phagocytosis, which was suppressed by inhibiting either the p38 or JNK pathways. We conclude that CXCR7 is induced during monocyte-to-macrophage differentiation, which mediates signaling to p38 and JNK pathways, leading to enhanced cellular phagocytic function, thus possibly contributing to atherogenesis.
© 2012 by American Heart Association, Inc.


The principal Hebrew word for “honor” literally means “heaviness.” A person who is honored is regarded as being weighty or as amounting to something. The same Hebrew word is also often translated in the Scriptures as “glory,” which further indicates the high regard shown to the one being honored. (Gen. 45:13) The Greek word translated “honor” in the Bible conveys the sense of esteem, value, preciousness. (Luke 14:10) Yes, those we honor are precious, valuable to us. What is involved in honoring others? It starts with respect. In fact, the words “honor” and “respect” are often used together because they are closely related. Honor is the manifestation, or outward demonstration, of respect. In other words, respect refers primarily to how we view our brother while honor refers to how we treat our brother. How can a Christian show genuine honor to fellow believers if he does not have heartfelt respect for them? (3 John 9, 10) Just as a plant can flourish and last only if it is rooted in good soil, so honor can be genuine and lasting only if it is rooted in heartfelt respect. Since insincere honor does not grow out of genuine respect, it will wither sooner or later. No wonder, therefore, that Paul preceded his admonition to show honor with the clear-cut statement: “Let your love be without hypocrisy.”—Rom. 12:9; read 1 Peter Why not check the Scriptures here? BIBLE ON LINE


When you’re as easily teased by Buddhist discourse as I am, you can see the same arguments over and over. Among the refrains I keep hearing are the ones I call The Biggest Lies in Buddhism. Believing them is serious self-deception and keeps you in a world of trouble.
I’m not a Buddha. You most certainly are; you may not yet realize it. “Buddha” does not equate to a celestial being or deity but to an awakened one. When human beings live in their natural awakened state, undisturbed by delusive thoughts and emotions, they live as buddhas. Buddhahood is your birthright. You claim it every time you wake up to the present moment. And even when we can’t quite convince ourselves, we practice the way Maezumi Roshi admonished: “as if” enlightened. “I’m only human,” we like to assess and degrade ourselves. And yet we have an entirely lopsided idea of what a human being really is. That leads me to: My ideas are as good as yours. That’s true, however, no one’s ideas are any good at all. The practice of Buddhism is not intended to democratize personal views, as in Oh, you think that way? That’s OK. I think this way? That’s OK too. Buddhism is not a feel-good club that aims to equalize the worth of everyone’s self-reinforcing preferences; it simply transcends them. We practice Buddhism so we will no longer be blinded by what we think, confused by what others think, or stuck in the understanding we feel compelled to express on a Buddhist discussion board someplace. We practice Buddhism to wake up to how things are. How things are is not how you think they are. As Dogen said, “Your understanding of reality is not reality.” No one is perfect. Everyone and everything is perfect as they are, we just don’t view them – or ourselves – to be so. Imperfection lies solely in our judging mind, the mind that picks what we like and calls it best or right, and labels what we don’t like as worse or wrong. This mind between your ears is the source of all conflict, and even then, it is functioning perfectly. Seeing it clearly, we must unleash ourselves from its mastery over our lives. Only then can we hope to repair the mess we have made of the world we inhabit.


Each week, we profile a BMP—short for Best Management Practices—to demonstrate how local businesses, organizations and neighbors are helping to keep our streams and rivers clean by managing stormwater on their property.
Saylors Grove before renovation
Saylors Grove after the creation of a stormwater wetland
Before the Philadelphia Water Department constructed a stormwater wetland at Saylors Grove in Fairmount Park, the area received an excessive amount of runoff that drained into Monoshone Creek, a tributary to the Wissahickon, resulting in erosion of the Monoshone and impaired water quality. The creation of a one-acre wetland in 2006 now handles approximately 25 million gallons of urban stormwater each year, slowing the flow to the Monoshone and filtering the stormwater naturally by removing pollutants as the water cascades over rocks en route to the wetland.
PWD continues to monitor this stormwater wetland to determine the reduction in stormwater flow to the creek and analyze its performance. It is estimated that the wetland intercepts 73% of the watershed's annual runoff.
Learn more about this stormwater BMP project, find it on a map and view photos at the Temple-Villanova Sustainable Stormwater Initiative project page. After the jump, another photo of the fully vegetated wetland.


AN INTRODUCTION TO YOUNG CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS offers a thorough introduction to the educational policies, programs, practices, and services specific to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who demonstrate delays and disabilities. It also speaks to youngsters who exhibit signs of being at-risk for future programs in learning and development. Through a host of proven learning techniques, a website, and additional related resources, readers are guided to a full understanding of important theoretical and philosophical foundations in serving children whose learning is delayed. These include