Red wattle pigs are an American breed. Aside from having red skin and two fleshy wattles that hang from their cheeks,
Heritage red wattles are also known for their resilience to disease, fast growth, hardy, leaner meats, and have easy-to-mild temperaments.
Red wattle pork is listed as an
endangered food in the Ark of Taste. The Ark is an initiative, developed in 1996, and managed by the global Slow Food movement that includes foods, livestock, fruits, and vegetables, and is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced, unique in taste, and part of a distinct ecoregion. The Ark of Taste includes over 2200 products from over 50 countries. Slow Food, Slow Food USA Founder and President Carlo Petrini, stated "everyone has the right to good, clean and fair food." Good, meaning a high quality product with a flavorful taste, clean meaning the naturalness in the way the product was produced and transported, and fair meaning adequate pricing and treatment for both the consumers and producers."
It is believed that conservation of the red wattle breed should be achieved through consumption, hereby stimulating demand for continued cultivation. If ranchers don't sell their stock, they can't continue scheduled breeding, enabling the already
endangered heritage red wattle breeding population to decline toward extinction. The revolution is now! Redwattlepig.com


NPC’s briefing paper following our seminar for trustees of small charities.
Trusteeship in small charities: Practical tips and advice
Being a trustee of a small charity can be an immensely rewarding experience, but it also presents a distinct set of challenges. Seeking advice and sharing best practice can be valuable to understanding how you and your board can overcome these issues.
On 23 November 2015,and held a seminar exploring the role of trustees in small charities. This report summarises the advice of our speakers and recaps the main themes discussed, including:
guiding principles of trusteeship in a small charity; common challenges that boards of small charities face; and practical tips for overcoming these issues, and for ensuring your board gets the right organisational balance.


For the first time, trends in 20 major economic and federal budget indicators, most reported since World War II, are presented in a single source. The economic performances under each presidential administration are ranked for each indicator, as well as for their overall performance. The results are often surprising and counter-intuitive, challenging many popular beliefs. This presentation of averages, trends, and illustrations will allow scholars, students, and others interested in economics, politics, and history, to interpret economic news more effectively.


Continue Reading
To stake a claim on an unclaimed gold mine, a prospector must mark claim boundaries clearly and distinctly for easy identification, according to the Bureau of Land Management. A prospector must also check the claim grounds for markings of claims established previously and check BLM records for recorded claims.
As of 2015, prospectors must record new mining claims with the BLM. Before locating a mining claim, a prospector needs to contact the proper agency in the claim state to find out what laws and regulations apply to staking and recording claims because most jurisdictions have state-specific requirements, explains the BLM. When a claimant asserts the right to hold and develop a piece of land and remove gold or other valuable minerals that have been discovered, it is called a mining claim.Learn more about Investing


Data from the Iowa Household Health Survey indicate that Iowa has fewer uninsured children than the national rate. However, the majority of those who are uninsured live in households under 200% of the federal poverty level, and may be eligible for public health insurance programs, such as Medicaid and hawk-i. While Iowa has made significant progress in insuring its children, more work must be done to ensure that insurance resources reach everyone who is eligible. This webinar presents results of the 2010 Iowa Household Health Survey related to health insurance among children, and the efforts in Iowa to increase access to health insurance.
Title: 2010 Iowa Child and Family Household Health Survey - Insurance Report Date: Tuesday, July 16, 2013 Time: 2:00 - 3:00 PM CDT
After registering you will receive a confirmation e-mail containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements: PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Mac®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS®X 10.6 or newer
Mobile attendees
Required: iPhone®, iPad®, AndroidTM phone or Android tablet Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/975555064
For more information, contact Betsy Richey of the Iowa Department of Public Health at (563) 580-8939.


DENVER (May 30, 2014) – The American Water Works Association and Imagine H2O have announced a memorandum of understanding to cultivate entrepreneurship and innovation in the water sector by providing entrepreneurs with the opportunities, tools and resources to build great water businesses.
To kick off the partnership, the two organizations will co-host the Innovation Pavilion during AWWA’s Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE14), to be held June 8-12 in Boston, Massachusetts. The pavilion will feature companies identified by Imagine H2O’s annual competition including WaterSmart Software, Wellntel, WatrHub and NBD Nanotechnologies Inc. Two of the organizations’ partners, MIT Water Club and WaterTAP, will also be featured exhibitors. Additionally, the ACE14 professional program will feature three key sessions that address overcoming barriers to innovation in the water sector.
“AWWA and its members represent a powerful partnership opportunity for innovators in the water sector,” said Imagine H2O COO Scott Bryan. “Imagine H2O is excited to engage AWWA and its members in supporting entrepreneurial solutions to water challenges.”
Imagine H2O also recently launched its Infrastructure Challenge. The challenge—Imagine H2O’s sixth annual Business Innovations Program—will identify and support innovative water businesses presenting scalable solutions that improve water and wastewater infrastructure in a matter resulting in quantifiable cost savings or environmental impact.
“AWWA looks forward to building our relationships with Imagine H2O in the coming years,” said AWWA CEO David LaFrance. “By working together we can facilitate the sharing of ideas, programming and research that will undoubtedly be of great value to both of our memberships.”
The American Water Works Association is a nonprofit, scientific and educational association dedicated to managing and treating water.
Imagine H2O inspires and empowers people to solve water challenges and turn them into opportunities.


ERIC Number:ED545905 Record Type:Non-Journal Publication Date:2012 Pages:272 Abstractor:As Provided Reference Count:N/A ISBN:978-1-2675-0194-3 ISSN:N/A
A Dialogic Action Perspective on Open Collective Inquiry in Online Forums
Jung, Yusun
ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Case Western Reserve University
In today's networked environment, online forums emerge as a popular form of social structures that have greater opportunities for learning in various organizational contexts. A plethora of studies have investigated the phenomenon to identify antecedent of its success, such as individual characteristics and organizational structure. However, how such antecedents get involved in collaborative learning processes and influence their outcomes has been largely understudied. Furthermore, the learning process in online forums has been simply presumed as a kind of general organizational learning, despite its unique situation of learning from strangers. This dissertation study focuses on online forums' highly motivated for problem-based learning and explores a dynamic process of such learning, namely "Open Collective Inquiry" (OCI). Presuming that dialogue embodies open collective inquiry processes, this study investigated characteristics of OCI dialogues that influence distinct types of inquiry outcomes using a grounded theory method. In particular, the current study highlights "what participants do" for OCI and "how they do it" through their dialogue. Based on distinct purposes for dialogic actions, six action domains were identified that constitute OCI processes: action domains to initiate inquiry, to maintain commitment, to guide inquiry process, to frame a problem, to negotiate solutions, and to confirm workability. These action domains were interrelated to shape OCI processes. Varying extent to which participants performed purposes of these action domains was found to influence distinct types of outcomes, such as full closure, partial closure, non-closure, and degraded closure. To derive a more systemic account of how participants of OCI perform such purposes, three dimensions of dialogic action were proposed: action performed, content of action, and argumentative components. These dimensions were used for characterizing essential dialogic actions in each action domain for successful OCI. In this way, three factors are proposed that influence OCI outcomes: fulfillment of essential dialogic actions, OCI initiators' role, and inquiry context. Based on these findings, a dialogic action model of OCI in online forums emphasizes OCI initiators' active roles and inquiry context encouraging validation and improvement. These characteristics influence essential dialogic actions of open collective inquiry that perform reflection, experimentation, and validation. Discussing implications for research and practice concludes this dissertation study. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]
Descriptors: Cooperative Learning, Inquiry, Social Networks, Electronic Learning, Learning Processes, Dialogs (Language), Grounded Theory, Facilitators (Individuals), Context Effect, Discussion Groups
ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway, P.O. Box 1346, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Tel: 800-521-0600; Web site: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml
Publication Type:Dissertations/Theses - Doctoral Dissertations Education Level:N/A Audience:N/A Language:English Sponsor:N/A Authoring Institution:N/A


OLR BILL ANALYSIS HB 5460 AN ACT CONCERNING WRECKERS AND TOW TRUCKS.
SUMMARY:
The law allows wreckers holding an annual permit to exceed state and federal weight limits when towing large disabled vehicles under certain circumstances. This bill requires the transportation commissioner to adopt regulations creating a new permit that can be used under broader circumstances than the current annual permit and has a lower fee. It is unclear how this new permit fits in with the law's requirement that tows of overweight vehicles that do not meet the criteria for the existing annual permit be made under a single-trip permit.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
EXISTING ANNUAL PERMIT
State and federal law establish weight and size restrictions that normally apply to vehicles using the national highway system, but allow for exceptions. State law establishes limits on a vehicle's gross (total) weight and the weight on any single axle.
Current state law allows a wrecker with an annual DOT permit to tow or haul a vehicle from a highway when the combined gross weight of the wrecker and towed vehicle exceed the legal limits if the towed vehicle (1) was in an accident, (2) became disabled and remains within the limits of a highway, or (3) is being towed to the nearest licensed repair facility or its truck terminal at police direction. The bill expands the exemption to allow the vehicles to exceed the “axle gross combination weight limits” (apparently the limits on individual axle weights) or federal bridge formula requirements for vehicles with divisible or nondivisible loads (see BACKGROUND).
The bill requires that wreckers meet the criteria of an emergency response vehicle, as defined by federal law, to tow oversize vehicles.
SINGLE-TRIP PERMITS
By law, all other towing operations in which towed vehicles or loads exceed statutory weight limits must obtain a DOT single-trip permit. (By regulation, a single-trip permit is valid for three days and for one trip between designated points. ) As with the annual permit, above, the bill allows wreckers with single-trip permits to exceed the axle gross combination weight limits or federal bridge formula requirements. Because under existing law, unchanged by the bill, wreckers towing oversize or overweight loads must have either an annual or single-trip permit, it is not clear how the new permit (see below) complies with this permitting scheme.
NEW ANNUAL PERMIT
By law, the transportation commissioner must adopt regulations setting standards for overweight vehicle permits. The bill requires the regulations to provide for a new “wrecker towing or transporting emergency permit” that can be used more broadly than the annual permit described above. The bill would allow a wrecker, provided it complies with highway, bridge, and speed limits set by the commissioner, to tow a wrecked or disabled vehicle up to 75 miles.
Under current law, a wrecker with the annual permit can tow a wrecked or disabled vehicle only to the nearest licensed garage or the trucking firm's terminal. Also, under current law, a disabled vehicle that was not in an accident can be towed from a highway only if it remains within the highway's limits. Under the bill, a wrecker with the new permit may tow a disabled vehicle regardless of whether it remains within these limits. It is not clear if the bill's provisions allowing wreckers to exceed statutory weight limits under the current annual or single-trip permit also apply to wreckers under the new permit.
Under current law, the fee for the annual permit for vehicles transporting divisible loads or overweight, oversized, or overweight and oversized indivisible loads, is $ 7 per 1,000 pounds or fraction thereof. The annual fee for a vehicle transporting an oversize indivisible load must be at least $ 500. Under the bill, the annual fee for the new permit is $ 125 for a wrecker with a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 26,000 pounds or less, and $ 250 for wreckers with a GVWR of at least 26,001 pounds.
BACKGROUND Divisible and Indivisible (or Nondivisible) Loads
An indivisible load is one that cannot be dismantled, disassembled or loaded to meet legal size or weight limits (e. g. , a bridge beam); a divisible load includes bulk material and raw products that can be reduced in size or weight to meet these size or weight limits (e. g. , sand, gravel, or asphalt) (Conn Agency Regs. § 14-270-1 (b) & (h)).
Federal Bridge Formula
The federal bridge formula, which Congress enacted in 1975, determines the maximum allowable weight for a vehicle based on the number of axles and the distance between axle groups. Connecticut adopted the federal formula in 1980 (PA 80-71).
Weight Limits
By law, the axle weight on any axle and the gross weight of any vehicle or combination of vehicle and trailer or vehicle and semitrailer or any other object, including its load, may not exceed the lesser of the manufacturer's axle weight rating, the manufacturer's GVWR, or specific axle and gross weight limits (CGS § 14-267a). In most cases, the law also provides an alternative for calculating the maximum allowable gross weight by means of the federal bridge formula.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Transportation Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea
37
Nay
0
(03/14/2012)


The goals of this study were to define the psychological and personality characteristics that physicians attribute to their patients and to determine whether these attributions affect treatment decisions. A Physician Attribution Survey was developed to achieve the first goal, and demonstrated that likeability and competence were salient features of the physician-patient relationship. Videotapes were then created demonstrating patients with three different combinations of likeability and competence: likeable-competent (L-C), unlikeable-competent (U-C) and likeable-incompetent (L-I). After being pre-tested with several samples of health professional students, the tapes were shown to 93 primary care physicians. These physicians then completed both a Physician Attribution Survey and a Patient Management Problem describing their proposed treatment. There were significant differences in treatment on five of nine treatment dimensions, depending upon the characteristics of the patient. First, the L-C patient would be encouraged significantly more often to telephone and to return more frequently for follow-up than would the L-I or U-C patient. Second, the staff would educate the likeable patients significantly more often than they would the unlikeable patients. Third, the physician would offer significantly more patient education to incompetent patients than to competent ones. Fourth, the unlikeable patient would receive significantly more interviewing regarding the psychological aspects of care than would the likeable patients. Fifth, the L-C patient would receive augmented medication more frequently than either the U-C patient or the L-I patient.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


Title:
The economics of the reproduction 'crisis' in transition Europe : the effect of shifts in values, income and uncertainty (with special reference to Russia)
This thesis investigates the causes for the abrupt, universal and virtually unprecedented decline in the total fertility rate in transition Europe. Using evidence from Russia, it tests two competing hypotheses on the fertility decline: the demographic and economic hypotheses. Empirical findings can be summarized as follows: I find insufficient support for the demographic hypothesis-the fertility decline in Russia cannot satisfactorily be explained by a simultaneous shift in values and attitudes towards reproduction and timing of births. In contrast, I provide preliminary cross-regional evidence to support the economic hypothesis-regions with the largest fall in (the proxy for) income and large uncertainty experienced the largest declines in the fertility rates. This result is consistent with Becker's economic model of reproductive behaviour, insofar as it establishes a positive relationship between changes in income and fertility. It however introduces an additional explanatory variable: people's perception of uncertainty. In a preliminary attempt to reconcile the standard economic model with these findings, a simple model of households' reproductive decision is developed. It shows that each household tends to postpone the decision for an incremental child, whenever there is widespread uncertainty. It suggests that, if the individual decision to procrastinate is replicated over a large number of households, it can lead to an aggregate, short-term fall in the fertility rate. Provided that conclusions for the transition European region can be drawn from the Russian evidence, this inquiry shows that fertility has declined in response to a lower income and higher uncertainty: it reflects the deterioration in the quality of life and a loss in welfare. Thus, it is a strong negative indicator of the transition process.


Genetics, Religion, and Social Ethics Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life Lisa Cahill Boston College Date: February 6, 2002 12:00-1:15PM Time: Boisi Center, 24 Quincy Road Location:
Location:
Event Recap
According to Lisa Cahill, Monan Professor of Christian Ethics at Boston College, public debate about genetic research and technology has tended to focus too narrowly on questions of individual rights—such as privacy, autonomy, and economic opportunity—and has neglected broader social justice questions about access to technology and the economic bases of health and disease. In a luncheon discussion at the Boisi Center on February 6, Cahill argued that religion has a role to play in enhancing this social justice dimension of public debate. This role demands that religions take a broad perspective that attends to the multiple dimensions of biotechnology issues. Exclusive focus on a single dimension, such as the status of the early embryo in debates about cloning and stem cell research, has the effect of marginalizing religious traditions and distorting public understanding of the ethical issues at stake in these technologies.
Cahill believes religion can expand, rather than constrict the scope of debate about genetics by introducing concepts like solidarity and the preferential option for the poor. She is particularly interested in how language about the common good—reinterpreted for a world where power is transnational and decentralized—can contribute to public debate.


A recent study conducted by McGraw-Hill Education found what many students could likely confirm — technology, while extremely useful for students’ studies, can also be a tool for procrastination.
Marta Azizi, who will receive her degree as a nurse practitioner in May from Regis College, is required to use an iPad, which she said has helped to transform the way she prepares for classes.
The article you requested has been archived


The field of regenerative medicine is burgeoning with academic and industry groups, actively developing cell-based therapeutic products. These therapies aim to enhance or correct cell function, often utilizing genetic modification or gene editing approaches. Preclinical and early stage clinical trials have demonstrated that cell-based therapies can provide local and systemic clinical benefit by driving production and secretion of biologically active mediators such as cytokines and growth factors, reversing disease progression and promoting healing. Notably, cell-based therapies are already commercially available for cartilage injury and severe burn injuries, and clinical trials have shown promising results in diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, stroke, cancer, spinal cord injury, and graft versus host disease (GVHD).
To advance the development of cell-based therapies, next generation approaches for scaled manufacturing and formulation of cell-based therapeutic products are being implemented, enabling distribution demands in compliance with regulatory guidelines. Moreover, as numerous prospective therapeutics are targeted to clinical indications where there are no approved therapies, adaptive clinical trial strategies along with novel outcome endpoints for registration must be contemplated. These manufacturing and clinical endeavors require focused interactions between academia and industry to discover and translate key innovations in these areas. The symposium will unite key representatives from both academia and industry to discuss the challenges and important new developments critical for the advancement of the regenerative medicine field.
*Reception to follow. Call for Poster Abstracts
Abstract submissions are invited for a poster session. For complete submission instructions, please send an email to RegMed@nyas.org with the words "Abstract Information" in the subject line. The deadline for abstract submission is
February 5, 2016. Registration Pricing
Member $60
Member (Student / Postdoc / Resident / Fellow) $25
Nonmember (Academia) $105
Nonmember (Corporate) $160
Nonmember (Non-profit) $105
Nonmember (Student / Postdoc / Resident / Fellow) $70
This event will also be broadcast as a webinar; registration is required.
Please note: Transmission of presentations via the webinar is subject to individual consent by the speakers. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that every speaker's presentation will be broadcast in full via the webinar. To access all speakers' presentations in full, we invite you to attend the live event in New York City where possible.
Webinar Pricing
Member $30
Member (Student / Postdoc / Resident / Fellow) $15
Nonmember (Academia) $65
Nonmember (Corporate) $85
Nonmember (Non-profit) $65
Nonmember (Student / Postdoc / Resident / Fellow) $45
American Chemical Society


Patna, Feb 27: Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has lauded Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for having no reports of wild poliovirus. Bihar is on its way to make the state a polio free.
In a letter to Nitish Kumar, Bill Gates expressed his pleasure, stated that, "On the occasion of India being free of polio for one year, it is truly a pleasure to congratulate you on more than 16 months without a reported case of wild poliovirus in Bihar."
"When I first visited Bihar's polio programme in 2010, I was struck by the sheer scale of the effort and by your administration's keen ability to work synergistically with the World Health Organiszation, UNICEF, Rotary International and your local polio partners to reach some of the most remote and high-risk regions in Bihar. Even activities in the Kosi River region, which undoubtedly present some of the most challenging conditions faced by the global polio programme, were robust," he said.
"Your personal leadership has been extraordinary and your administration deserves special credit for this accomplishment. We hope your example inspires other governments around the world to strive for similar successes in this truly global effort.
As you are aware, it is now more important than ever to sustain this remarkable progress. Despite the absence of reported polio cases in Bihar since September 2010, the risk of wild poliovirus importation through migrant groups and in high-risk areas continues to be very real. Your continued personal supervision ofpolio vaccination and surveillance efforts is critical and I would urge you to maintain regular communication with high-risk districts, particularly in the Kosi region to understand and directly address critical challenges," he added in his letter.
OneIndia News


How often do I have to repeat the treatments? Do I need to keep using Philips Lumea, once I am smooth? To remove all hairs successfully and prevent the hair follicle from becoming active again, the treatments have to be repeated once every two weeks for the first two months. Your skin should be smooth and hair-free by then. Our studies have shown a significant hair reduction already after two treatments. Optimal results were generally achieved after four to five treatments.
To maintain results and prevent the hair root from becoming active again, it is necessary to repeat treatments regularly to keep your skin smooth and hair-free. If the treatment is interrupted, the hair follicle will re-activate and hair will start to grow back. To maintain results, repeat treatments every four to eight weeks, this will ensure that the hair root stays inactive and hair regrowth is inhibited. The time between treatments may vary based on your individual hair growth.
If too many hairs grow back between treatments, simply shorten the treatment interval again, but do not treat more often than once every two weeks.
When you use the appliance more frequently than recommended, you do not increase the effectiveness but you do increase the risk of skin reactions.


Standardized Patients are trained to accurately portray the role of a patient with a specific medical condition. They bring a new dimension to the world of medical education, by providing students with “hands-on practice” in a safe learning environment. Performing a competent physical exam, taking a thorough medical history, and building a rapport with patients are fundamental clinical skills that all graduates should possess. The Standardized Patient Program’s primary objective is to ensure that all graduates possess these essential skills.
If you are interested in becoming a Standardized Patient, please contact SPmail@rvu.edu.


This paper has been added to your cart ($35.00)
This paper presents numerical simulation strategies for stretchable silicon integrated circuits that use stiff thin film on elastomeric substrates. Detailed numerical simulation studies reveal the key underlying aspects of these systems. The results indicate, as an example, optimized mechanics and materials for circuits that exhibit maximum principal strains less than 0.2% even for applied strains of up to ~90%. Simple circuits, including CMOS inverters provide an example that validates these designs. The results suggest practical routes to high performance electronics with linear elastic responses to large strain deformations, suitable for diverse applications that are not readily addressed with conventional wafer-based technologies.


In biology,
cloning is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or pl- ants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNAfragments (molecular cloning), cells (cell cloning), or organisms. The term also refers to the production of multiple copies of a product such as digital media or software.
The term
clone is derived from the Ancient Greek word κλών klōn, "twig", referring to the process whereby a new plant can be created from a twig. In horticulture, the spelling clon was used until the twentieth century; the final e came into use to indicate the vowel is a "long o" instead of a "short o". [1] [2] Since the term entered the popular lexicon in a more general context, the spelling clonehas been used exclusively.
In botany, the term
lusus was traditionally used. [3] :21, 43


UCL is offering £500,000 of bursaries, covering the full tuition fee cost and including £10,000 maintenance funding available for students from under-represented backgrounds to undertake engineering degrees at master’s level.
UCL’s scheme supports traditionally under-represented groups, such as care-givers, those with children, those with no history of private education, and, in the case of engineering, women, to engage in graduate study at UCL.
Results from the 2013 IET Skills Survey show that only seven per cent of the engineering workforce in the UK is female, lower than any other country in Europe. The UK still continues to experience persistent difficulty in encouraging and retaining women in engineering and technology roles.
The full-time master’s bursaries are offered as part of the UCL Graduate Support Bursary scheme, a section of UCL’s wider initiative to support graduate master’s students and funded through the HEFCE Postgraduate Support Scheme.
A wide range of engineering courses are available as part of the scheme including biochemical engineering, computer graphics, Internet engineering, telecommunications with business and nanotechnology. As well as financial support, postgraduate students can also access mentoring from academia and industry, skills development, and all the resources of UCL’s Graduate School. Childcare support is also available.
"The Graduate Support Scheme actively aims to support female graduates to attain their full potential in the engineering profession,” says Jane Butler, vice dean (Enterprise), UCL Engineering. “We want to encourage many more women to apply as they are currently vastly under-represented in engineering. The scheme is ideal for women returning to work or changing career. It offers mentoring by researchers and senior managers from technology companies to provide a fantastic boost to what can be a wonderful career for a woman to pursue.”
This scheme is open to prospective students domiciled in the UK who have ‘Home’ tuition fee status. The closing date for applications to the scheme is 30 June, and students must have applied for their chosen master’s programme by that date.


Blending of two or more immiscible polymers is an attractive route to generate new materials. However, during processing in the liquid state, the flow-induced microstructure changes continuously due to a complex interplay between break-up and coalescence, typically resulting in a coarse morphology with poor properties. Hence, the need to generate and stabilize a fine morphology is obvious and block copolymers are typically used as compatibilizers. The use of nanoparticles has been suggested to be an alternative to 'compatibilize' immiscible polymer pairs. In the present work, the role of interfacially located nanoparticles on the coalescence in immiscible blends is investigated systematically to clarify their role as compared to that of block copolymers. A (70/30 vol%) polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/polyisobutylene (PIB) blend with a droplet/matrix microstructure is chosen as a model system. Contact angle measurements and theoretical models are used to select the surface chemistry of the nanoparticles to ensure their localization at the polymer/polymer interface, which is experimentally verified by scanning microscopy under cryogenic conditions. Using a rheological method it is shown that coalescence of the dispersed phase is slowed down or even totally suppressed when nanoparticles are present at the interface. This effect becomes stronger when the particle concentration is increased or the (aggregate) size is reduced. Additionally, anisotropic nanoparticles tend to stabilize blends more efficiently than their spherical counterparts. A combination of optical microscopy and interfacial rheometry using planar interfaces has been used to demonstrate that the nanoparticles mainly affect the surface rheological properties, whereas traditional compatibilizers also strongly affect the interfacial tension. As a result, nanoparticles with a suitable surface chemistry can be used to tune the flow-induced microstructure of immiscible polymer blends by optimizing their concentration, size and shape.


Guidance on Enhanced Scrutiny for TransactionsThat May Involve the Proceeds of Foreign Official Corruption
Together with the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Department of the Treasury and the Department of State, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is issuing the attached guidance to banks on accounts held by senior foreign officials and closely related persons or entities that may involve proceeds from corruption.
The guidance is neither a rule nor a regulation, and should not be interpreted as such. It is advice that banks are encouraged to implement as part of their routine anti-money laundering and risk-management practices. The guidance is intended to assist banks in ensuring that they do not unwittingly become involved in money laundering schemes conducted by foreign officials, their immediate family members or their close associates.
However, as part of the FDIC's Bank Secrecy Act examination program, examiners may inquire about the bank's procedures concerning accounts held by foreign officials. If serious deficiencies are noted that would have been minimized or eliminated had the recommendations in this guidance been followed, the FDIC may, if appropriate, require that this guidance be incorporated into the bank's risk-management procedures.
The guidance defines a "covered person" and includes recommendations to banks on procedures that may be incorporated into their existing practices for account opening and maintenance. It also contains a list of 14 questionable or suspicious activities that, when present, often will warrant enhanced review of transactions involving such persons. Finally, the document contains a listing of independent sources available to banks to assist them in making decisions about conducting business with particular persons or entities.
For additional information, please contact Carol Mesheske in the FDIC's Division of Supervision at 202-898-6750. For your reference, all FDIC Financial Institution Letters published since January of 1995 may be found on the FDIC's Web site at www.fdic.gov under "News, Events & FOIA."
Distribution: FDIC-Supervised Banks (Commercial and Savings)
NOTE: Paper copies of FDIC financial institution letters may be obtained through the FDIC's Public Information Center, 801 17th Street, NW, Room 100, Washington, DC 20434 (800-276-6003 or (703) 562-2200).


Finding one's way around an environment and remembering the events that occur within it are crucial cognitive abilities that have been linked to the hippocampus and medial temporal lobes. Our review of neuropsychological, behavioral, and neuroimaging studies of human hippocampal involvement in spatial memory concentrates on three important concepts in this field: spatial frameworks, dimensionality, and orientation and self-motion. We also compare variation in hippocampal structure and function across and within species. We discuss how its spatial role relates to its accepted role in episodic memory. Five related studies use virtual reality to examine these two types of memory in ecologically valid situations. While processing of spatial scenes involves the parahippocampus, the right hippocampus appears particularly involved in memory for locations within an environment, with the left hippocampus more involved in context-dependent episodic or autobiographical memory.


As of February 2015, the average weight of a 19-year-old male in America is 152 pounds, while the average female weighs 126 pounds. However, once a person reaches adulthood, an ideal average weight is determined more by height and body type than by age.Continue Reading
The generally accepted indicator of ideal weight is the Body Mass Index. BMI is a measurement endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health organizations and uses a formula that account for height and weight to determine how much body fat a person likely has. The BMI scale then determines an ideal weight for a person's height.Learn more about Medical Ranges & Levels


Escalation of anxious behavior while environmentally and socially relevant contextual events amplify the intensity of emotional response produces a testable gradient of anxiety shaped by integrative circuitries. Apprehension of the Stress-Alternatives Model apparatus (SAM) oval open field (OF) is measured by the active latency to escape, and is delayed by… (More)


United States District Court, D. Idaho
CHERYL D. OVERSTREET, Petitioner,
v. CAROLYN W. COLVIN, Acting Commissioner of Social Security Administration, Respondent.
MEMORANDUM DECISION AND ORDER INTRODUCTION
CANDY W. DALE, Magistrate Judge.
Currently pending before the Court for consideration is Petitioner Cheryl Overstreet's ("Petitioner") Petition for Review (Dkt. 1) of the Respondent's denial of social security benefits, filed July 24, 2013. The Court has reviewed the Petition for Review and the Answer, the parties' memoranda, and the administrative record ("AR"), and for the reasons that follow, will affirm the Commissioner's decision.
PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL HISTORY
Petitioner filed an application for Disability Insurance Benefits and Supplemental Security Income on March 11, 2010, claiming disability beginning December 4, 2004, caused by fibromyalgia. This application was denied initially and on reconsideration. A hearing was conducted on November 1, 2011, before Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") John Molleur. At the hearing, Petitioner was represented by counsel, and the ALJ heard testimony from Petitioner, and from vocational expert Polly Peterson. ALJ Molleur issued a decision finding Petitioner not disabled on December 7, 2011. Petitioner timely requested review by the Appeals Council, which denied her request for review on June 28, 2013.
Petitioner appealed this final decision to the Court. The Court has jurisdiction to review the ALJ's decision pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). At the time of the November 1, 2011 hearing, Petitioner was forty-seven years of age. Petitioner graduated from high school and attended some college. She has past work experience as a receptionist, accounts payable clerk, medical clerk, food service supervisor, and human resources clerk.
SEQUENTIAL PROCESS
The Commissioner follows a five-step sequential evaluation for determining whether a claimant is disabled.
See 20 C.F.R. §§ 404.1520, 416.920. At step one, it must be determined whether the claimant is engaged in substantially gainful activity. The ALJ found Petitioner had not engaged in substantial gainful activity since her alleged onset date, which was amended to January 2, 2009. At step two, it must be determined whether the claimant suffers from a severe impairment. The ALJ found Petitioner's fibromyalgia, obesity, sleep apnea, and asthma severe within the meaning of the Regulations.
Step three asks whether a claimant's impairments meet or equal a listed impairment. The ALJ found that Petitioner's impairments did not meet or equal the criteria for any listed impairments, specifically considering Listings 3.03 (asthma), 3.10 (sleep-related breathing disorder, evaluated under 3.09 and 12.02), and 14.02 (systemic lupus erythematosus). If a claimant's impairments do not meet or equal a listing, the Commissioner must assess the claimant's residual functional capacity ("RFC") and determine, at step four, whether the claimant has demonstrated an inability to perform past relevant work.
The ALJ found Petitioner retained the RFC to perform sedentary work with limitations that prohibited her from climbing ropes, ladders or scaffolds; and prohibited her from exposure to unprotected heights, moving machinery, dust, fumes, gases, poor ventilation, noxious odors or other lung irritants. She could occasionally climb ramps and stairs, and engage in other postural activities frequently. With this RFC, the ALJ determined Petitioner could perform her past relevant work as a receptionist, accounts payable clerk, and medical clerk. The ALJ did not reach step five, because Petitioner could not demonstrate an inability to perform past relevant work.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
Petitioner bears the burden of showing that disability benefits are proper because of the inability "to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which... has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months." 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(1)(A);
see also 42 U.S.C. § 1382c(a)(3)(A); Rhinehart v. Finch, 438 F.2d 920, 921 (9th Cir. 1971). An individual will be determined to be disabled only if her physical or mental impairments are of such severity that she not only cannot do her previous work but is unable, considering her age, education, and work experience, to engage in any other kind of substantial gainful work which exists in the national economy. 42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(2)(A).
On review, the Court is instructed to uphold the decision of the Commissioner if the decision is supported by substantial evidence and is not the product of legal error. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g);
Universal Camera Corp. v. Nat'l Labor Relations Bd., 340 U.S. 474 (1951); Meanel v. Apfel, 172 F.3d 1111, 1113 (9th Cir. 1999) (as amended); DeLorme v. Sullivan, 924 F.2d 841, 846 (9th Cir. 1991). Substantial evidence is such relevant evidence as a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. Richardson v. Perales, 402 U.S. 389, 401 (1971). It is more than a scintilla but less than a preponderance, Jamerson v Chater, 112 F.3d 1064, 1066 (9th Cir. 1997), and "does not mean a large or considerable amount of evidence." Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 565 (1988).
The Court cannot disturb the Commissioner's findings if they are supported by substantial evidence, even though other evidence may exist that supports the petitioner's claims. 42 U.S.C. § 405(g);
Flaten v. Sec'y of Health & Human Servs., 44 F.3d 1453, 1457 (9th Cir. 1995). Thus, findings of the Commissioner as to any fact, if supported by substantial evidence, will be conclusive. Flaten, 44 F.3d at 1457. It is well-settled that, if there is substantial evidence to support the decision of the Commissioner, the decision must be upheld even when the evidence can reasonably support either affirming or reversing the Commissioner's decision, because the Court "may not substitute [its] judgment for that of the Commissioner." Verduzco v. Apfel, 188 F.3d 1087, 1089 (9th Cir. 1999).
When reviewing a case under the substantial evidence standard, the Court may question an ALJ's credibility assessment of a witness's testimony; however, an ALJ's credibility assessment is entitled to great weight, and the ALJ may disregard a claimant's self-serving statements.
Rashad v. Sullivan, 903 F.2d 1229, 1231 (9th Cir. 1990). Where the ALJ makes a careful consideration of subjective complaints but provides adequate reasons for rejecting them, the ALJ's well-settled role as the ...


You don't need to be a certified public accountant (CPA) to land a lucrative work-at-home career in accounting. However, you will need a bookkeeping background or an accounting degree to get started, as well as a way to network with potential clients.
Accountants help their clients by handling a variety of tasks, from running payroll to preparing corporate taxes. The highest-paid accountants earn $100,000 or more per year, but even an average salary is still between $45,000 and $78,000. Better still, accountants can operate their businesses from home without a lot of overhead [source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics]. All it requires is a typical office setup, including a computer and printer, as well as some specialized accounting software.


Lacking facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice, in writing we make choices about words and phrases to communicate our thoughts and feelings to our readers. Before we write, we must decide how we feel about our subject. The city council’s plan to reduce funding for public transportation may please you, disturb you, or anger you. An act of kindness between acquaintances may inspire appreciation or may instill a sense of unwanted obligation. Carefully chosen words and details communicate the tone in which we want audiences to interpret the text.
In persuasive writing, we frequently suppress our own voice. Being too passionate may cause our audience to become skeptical. Business reports, scientific papers, and appeals to neutral audiences may require suppressing our personal beliefs. Conventions in academic writing require focusing on research rather than researchers, and influencing others often requires focus on documented information rather than emotional appeal.


SAKER, J., 2016. Knowledge sharing in a global automotive corporation. The Business and Management Review, 7(3), pp. 354-355.
Abstract:
This paper reports on research undertaken into Knowledge Sharing (KS) within the Sales and Marketing Operations of a global automotive company. The organisation had set up a Global Knowledge Centre to promote and coordinate KS between its markets. The research aimed to understand the effectiveness and barriers to KS by interviewing senior managers from markets around the world. The findings identifiedthe key role of informal KS but challenged the conventional belief that interpersonal ‘homophily’is a key antecedent for KS to take place. The research identifies instead key market characteristics that act as a greater factor in determining what is considered as relevant and creditable knowledge within the organisation. Inconclusion the concept of ‘homoplily’ is redefined in the context of the global corporation.
Description:
This paper was presented at the 5th International Conference on Business and EConomic Development (ICBED), New York, 4-5th April. It is published as open access proceedings by kind permission of the publisher.


National security is a concept which ensures the safety and
continuous protection of people and the state. It seeks to guarantee that beliefs, values, and unity of the state are protected, while government institutions function for the welfare of the people (in the case of a democracy, at least). National security entails territorial integrity, social-political-economic stability, external peace, and moral, spiritual, and cultural cohesion. National security policy is a framework which defines a state’s objectives, often in the form of a consolidated document, to provide security to its citizens. It outlines core interests of the nation, while drawing lessons from the past, and formulates guidelines for present and future strategy.
The United States develops its
National Security Strategy annually as a comprehensive document. But states, like the United Kingdom, China, and France, do not present their security policies as consolidated documents. Rather, they use defense policies or white papers as the principal documents for highlighting national security issues. National security policy is formulated by a standard procedure of spinning policy: It initiates from the executive office, though the legislature and standing committees are actively engaged in the process.
Unlike in developed nations, national security policy formulation does not seem to be a priority in developing states. Developing regions like
South Asia have immense traditional and non-traditional security challenges. South Asia’s stability is defined by two nuclear powers, Pakistan and India, stuck in a decades-old rivalry, and by an increasing presence of terrorism. Additionally, conflict in Afghanistan has remained a prominent feature of the region since the Soviet invasion. Traditional security challenges such as terrorism, ethnic conflicts, insurgency, and inter-state conflicts are already major problems in the region. Now, the region is developing non-traditional security threats too. Addressing a rising population, food and water scarcity, and natural disasters remain immense challenges in South Asia.
In the wake of so many intermingled threats, states in the region do not appear to be serious enough in defining their security challenges and objectives. To date, national security has only been defined by military strength or weakness. Traditional security is the dominant issue concerning national security in the region. The traditional rivals of the region, Pakistan and India, exemplify the security paradigm of the region through their defense objectives. Although both states have various security challenges, the emphasis has remained on the military and nuclear competition.
The new millennium poses very different and non-traditional threats to the region. Yet, the traditional military rivalry takes precedent over these new threats. Differences over resources and economic interests often require military options by both Pakistan and India. Water security is seen to be only a matter of difference between India and Pakistan. However, the broader picture involves China, Afghanistan, and Central Asia too. Pakistan’s former army chief,
General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani cited the water issue as a “driver of India centric security policies.” A broader vision is required to weigh this issue.
Energy shortages, natural disasters, and cyber warfare are other major
imminent security issues which require consideration. Pakistan’s current democratic government, elected in 2013, presented the first National Internal Security Policy. The central focus of this policy is counter-terrorism. It aims at negotiating with all stakeholders, isolating terrorists, and enhancing deterrence. Further, one aspect of the policy objectifies the need to ensure freedom, democracy, pluralism, and cultural tolerance. However, the operational part of the policy only deals with counter-terrorism mechanisms.
India is an emerging global power considered to be significant by the United States and all other regional powers. India’s national security agenda has primarily been furthered with the goal of economic growth. But the newly formed
BJP/NDA government seems to see national security and foreign policy entirely through the prism of Indian centrism. India has disputes with almost all of its neighbors. Continuous tensions with Pakistan along the Line of Control and with China along the Line of Actual Control are two big uncertainties in India’s national security paradigm. Internal threats facing India also loom large. Maoism and Naxalism have been successful in creating a “red corridor” in half a dozen states. Apart from these traditional threats, a population boom, rapid urbanization, and environmental concerns also face India.
The Indian security apparatus has changed and evolved over the decades since independence. It is no more a completely insecure state. The basis of the Indian and Pakistani security dilemma is shared fears regarding each other. Indian trepidation lies in the underlined concept of Pakistan and the two nation theory. Pakistan’s security nervousness is derived from fear of an
Indian hostile presence on one side, and a pro-India Afghanistan on the other. Because India has been a basic threat in Pakistan’s security calculus, Pakistan’s policies in Afghanistan have been derived from Indian intimidation.
Pakistan and India have distinct and significantly divergent roles in global politics. They have distinguished roles in the world. Their economic and military capabilities are different. Since six decades have passed, both states need to come out of their traditional security dilemma and chalk out respective comprehensive national security agendas. Both states share so many problems and various non-traditional insecurities. A collaborative effort addressing common security threats may lead to a more open dialogue and diplomatic, political responses toward each other.
***


This book describes the premier organization for the performance and funding of biomedical research in the United States. By articulating events that occurred at the National Institutes of Health from 1991-2008, this volume also examines the leadership of directors Bernadine Healy, HaroldVarmus and Elias Zerhouni. To conduct his research, Dr. Kastor interviewed more than 200 people currently working at the NIH, those who have left and those funded by the institute. In an engaging and dynamic prose style, Dr. Kastor presents his findings on the operations, problems, controversies,financies, politics and structure of the NIH. The book begins by examining topics such as the NIH's evaluation of grant funding, the argument between those who favor support of basic biomedical science versus clinical research, the inclusion of HIV/AIDS in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the unique features of theClinical Center, the hospital of the NIH. The volume concludes with a review of the recent conflict of interest controversy, the NIH's response to recent budget constrictions and the role of the institute in the Obama administration.


BACKGROUND:
Aspirin hypersensitivity is not a rare condition among patients with acute coronary syndrome. However, despite the publication of several successful desensitization protocols, the procedure is not as widespread as expected. We present a cohort of patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing aspirin desensitization to evaluate its short- and long-term efficacy and safety and to reinforce data from previous studies.
METHODS:
Of 1306 patients admitted to our Coronary Care Unit between February 2011 and February 2013, 24 (1.8%) had a history of aspirin hypersensitivity. All 24 patients underwent an eight-dose aspirin desensitization protocol (0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg of aspirin given by mouth every 15 minutes) after premedication with antihistamines and corticosteroids or antileucotrienes. Previously prescribed β blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were not discontinued. All patients were desensitized within 72 hours of admission. Those requiring urgent catheterization (five patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction) were desensitized within 12 hours of catheterization and the remainder before catheterization.
RESULTS:
All patients were successfully desensitized and only one presented with an urticarial reaction. The five patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction were treated with abciximab until desensitization was complete. All but one patient underwent catheterization and 20 underwent percutaneous coronary intervention, most (66%) with the implantation of a bare metal stent. At follow-up (a minimum of 6-24 months), only two patients had discontinued aspirin, both due to gastrointestinal bleeding, and no hypersensitivy reaction had occurred.
CONCLUSIONS:
Aspirin desensitization is effective and safe in unstable patients with acute coronary syndrome in both the short and long term.


INTRODUCTION: No firm consensus currently exists on the best technique for the repair of umbilical and paraumbilical hernia in adults. The role of laparoscopic hernioplasty of umbilical hernia remains controversial,and a recent EAES consensus meeting recommended both open mesh, suture or laparoscopic repair for defects under 3cm.
METHODS: A retrospective audit was conducted and identified patients who had umbilical/paraumbilical hernia repairs performed over a ten year period, (January 1998- July 2008) (n=1200). Demographic data, hernia characteristics, complications and outcomes were recorded. Patients were divided into three groups based on operative technique, laparoscopic repair with mesh, open repair with mesh, and open repair without mesh (primary suture repair). RESULTS: To date 212 cases have been evaluated. Age range was from 3-86 (mean 48). A total of 169 open cases were performed compared to 43 laparoscopic cases. Recurrence rates were 8.2% (n=14) in the open group compared to 2.3% (n=1) in the laparoscopic group (n.s Fisher’s exact test; Odds Ratio: 0.38 95% CI: 0.05-2.84). In the open group 12 recurrences were from primary suture repairs and 2 from mesh repairs (n.s Fisher’s exact test). Complications recorded included wound infection 4.1% (n=7) open vs 2.7% (n=3) laparoscopic, 1 wound dehiscence in the open group and 1 incisional hernia in the laparoscopic group. In the open group 3% (n=5) were associated with a hospital stay of greater than 24h compared to 4.6% (n=2) in the laparoscopic group. CONCLUSIONS: In this series the laparoscopic repair of umbilical/paraumbilical hernias resulted in a trend to a lower recurrence rate and overall complication rate. Although not reaching significance open repair with simple suture had a higher recurrence rate than repairs with mesh. In this series laparoscopic repair of para/umbilical hernias had the lowest recurrence rate.
Session: Podium Presentation
Program Number: S021


Three options for embedded analytics
How much information is there hidden in your data? Developers can incorporate powerful analytics functionality into their applications to discover this valuable information.
The decreasing cost of processing power, storage and sensors is allowing commercial organizations to accumulate and store business data at previously unimaginable rates. This so-called “big data” contains more information than ever before about business processes and customer behaviours, because of recent developments in personalization and mobile technologies. However, the full value of this data is all too often untapped. Transforming data into meaningful insight requires the expert utilization of sophisticated analytical tools – including techniques such as optimization, correlation and regression analysis, time series analysis and data mining – which can be a daunting task.


I believe Card and Krueger will and should win Nobel Prizes, but their work is also not the last word on the minimum wage, especially during weak labor markets. Here is the most recent study, by Jeffrey Clemens:
I analyze recent federal minimum wage increases using the Current Population Survey. The relevant minimum wage increases were differentially binding across states, generating natural comparison groups. I first estimate a standard difference-in-differences model on samples restricted to relatively low-skilled individuals, as described by their ages and education levels. I also employ a triple-difference framework that utilizes continuous variation in the minimum wage’s bite across skill groups. In both frameworks, estimates are robust to adopting a range of alternative strategies, including matching on the size of states’ housing declines, to account for variation in the Great Recession’s severity across states. My baseline estimate is that this period’s full set of minimum wage increases reduced employment among individuals ages 16 to 30 with less than a high school education by 5.6 percentage points. This estimate accounts for 43 percent of the sustained, 13 percentage point decline in this skill group’s employment rate and a 0.49 percentage point decline in employment across the full population ages 16 to 64.
Do any of you see an ungated version? In any case I hope this receives the media attention it deserves. Will it?


Finding new materials for copper/low-k interconnects is critical to the continuing development of computer chips. While copper/low-k interconnects have served well, allowing for the creation of Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) devices which combine over a billion transistors onto a single chip, the increased resistance and RC-delay at the smaller scale has become a significant factor affecting chip performance.Advanced Interconnects for ULSI Technology is dedicated to the materials and methods which might be suitable replacements. It covers a broad range of topics, from physical principles to design, fabrication, characterization, and application of new materials for nano-interconnects, and discusses:Interconnect functions, characterisations, electrical properties and wiring requirements Low-k materials: fundamentals, advances and mechanical properties Conductive layers and barriers Integration and reliability including mechanical reliability, electromigration and electrical breakdown New approaches including 3D, optical, wireless interchip, and carbon-based interconnects Intended for postgraduate students and researchers, in academia and industry, this book provides a critical overview of the enabling technology at the heart of the future development of computer chips.


Your resume is the employer’s first impression of you. It should clearly explain your experience and highlight the qualities that are searched for in a janitor, such as mechanical skills, stamina and physical strength. Use the resume format of your choice to explain your duties in summary or bullet list form.
Cleaning Duties
Describe the cleaning duties you had to perform to maintain the interior and exterior appearance of the building at your previous position. You could make a statement such as, “Swept and mopped floors, washed walls and windows and emptied trash cans.” Also describe additional duties specific to your work environment. For instance, a hospital janitor might prepare medical waste for appropriate disposal, while a school janitor could set up and remove decorations for school events.
Repair and Maintenance
List any repair and maintenance duties you performed at previous jobs. Typical maintenance jobs include replacing broken items, buffing scuffed floors and painting walls. You could write a descriptive statement such as, "Inspected the building for problems, replaced light bulbs and reported broken fixtures to a supervisor."
Tools and Equipment
Describe how you used various tools and equipment to perform your duties to show your mechanical ability. Try a statement like: "Cut grass on front lawn monthly with a riding lawn mower, and cleared leaves and debris from walkways with a leaf blower." Also mention other tools you used including brooms, mops, squeegees and vacuum cleaners.
Supplies
Janitors are often responsible for keeping track of supplies. You could write, "Maintained record of supplies inventory and ordered replacements as needed." This indicates responsibility, displays initiative and shows your ability to act independently.
Safety
Janitors are responsible for building safety. An appropriate statement could be: "Responsible for securing hazardous materials, ensuring appropriate use of machinery, putting up signs for wet floors, and locking and unlocking buildings daily."
Additional Duties
Describe additional duties you may have had such as trained and supervised new janitorial staff, performed inspections for quality control and made recommendations for improvements to the building.
Photo Credits PhotoObjects.net/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images


Hello, my name is XXXXX XXXXX I look forward to assisting you today. I bring nearly 20 years of experience in various legal disciplines.
1. The hours worked, in terms of deciding whether a person is full or part time, is what matters. What they were hired to do is not legally relevant. So, if the employee is not working the number of hours necessary to meet the requirement for full time for the employer, their benefits can change. This is even true if the employer is causing the person to have fewer hours. It would only be illegal to do so if the employee has an employment contract
specifically stating that the terms of their employment can not be altered without their consent AND that they are guaranteed a specific number of hours.
2. I don't know if this is discrimination. On the facts you've given, it's not conclusive. There is no law stating that an employer must treat everyone equally. So, just on the facts you've given so far, there is no discrimination that you've pointed out. Now, if you can make the state that the people that are getting less opportunities are being treated that way based on their race, religion, gender, age (over 40) disability or in retaliation
for their using FMLA
or worker's compensation, THEN you'd have raised an issue that clearly demonstrates disparate treatment based on an illegal factor. The point is that differing treatment, by itself, is not illegal. It has to be connected to an illegal factor.


"In today’s world, ‘change’ is the only ‘constant’ factor. In the last few decades, there has been a radical change in how organizations function. To survive in this highly volatile environment, companies need a long-term strategic vision and thinking. In light of this, ‘strategic management’ has become a significant topic and is taught as the core subject in MBA/PGDM programmes in Indian universities and business schools. This is a book written in the context of the Indian business environment but with a global orientation. It is comprehensive and contemporary in its approach. "


Results indicate that lower tax rates are associated with more favorable economic activity, including growth in GDP, lower unemployment, and higher savings. These findings suggest that at the micro-level, corporate managers should consider tax rates when deciding to locate or not locate business operations within a given country, especially if the goal is to locate where the economy is dynamic. At the macro-level, before making changes to tax law, policy makers should carefully consider how tax rates affect economic activity. For example, policy makers in the US Congress, at the time of this writing, are considering whether to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire in 2010. If the Congress allows that to happen, the outcome would effectively be the largest tax increase in US history. New Academic Study Shows Obamanomics Will Undermine Prosperity
July 31, 2010 by Dan Mitchell
These results won’t come as a surprise to anyone who has compared long-run growth rates in Hong Kong, the United States, France, and North Korea, but there’s a new study by three economists showing that nations with better tax policy grow faster and create more jobs. There are many other factors that also determine growth, as this video explains, but punishing investors and entrepreneurs with high tax rates is never a good idea. Here’s a passage from the study’s abstract, including a specific warning about the anti-growth impact of Obama’s plan for higher taxes in 2011.


Despite reports that the price of a college education is increasing, the actual cost of attending college may not be as severe as some might think, according to The New York Times.
Judith Scott-Clayton, a professor at Columbia University, claims that the net rate of tuition – the cost of attending college after loans, grants and scholarships have been deducted – is typically less than half the advertised price at private nonprofit four-year colleges, and less than one-third of the cost listed by public four-year colleges.
"The average full-time undergraduate now receives about $6,500 annually in grant aid and nearly $1,000 in tax-based aid to help defray tuition and fees," Scott-Clayton writes. "Only about one-third of full-time students pay the published sticker price, and even this third may receive significant tuition tax credits that lower the effective cost."
According to a study that was conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research, some parents overestimated the rate of tuition at community colleges by more than 300 percent. Some speculate that this is because of the complexity of the financial aid system, and widespread media attention on published increases in tuition fees.


Today, Congressman Steve Pearce responded to the Department of Energy’s WIPP Underground Fire Accident Investigation Report. The report provides a detailed examination into the fire that took place on February 5, 2014.
“This transparent report highlights the sloppy procedures that caused the fire,” Pearce said, “including failure to regularly clean oil and grease off the engines of mining equipment. The report concludes with the steps the WIPP team and the Department of Energy intend to take to prevent future incidents at the facility.
“I applaud the Department of Energy for producing a candid, transparent report that takes responsibility for its failures in oversight, training and other areas crucial to the operation of WIPP,” Pearce continued. “This report shows operational shortcomings, and highlights what the Department and contractor must do to rectify the situation. New Mexicans expect and deserve to know the full truth. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, but it must never happen again.
“I also echo the sentiments of the report when it comes to the employees at WIPP. We have the highest caliber workers at WIPP. They deserve the strongest possible protections and a safe work environment. I am thankful that this incident was not as catastrophic as it might have been, but the people of New Mexico and WIPP employees deserve a facility managed to the best standards. I expect the site to meet these standards going forward.”


Strategic Intelligence is a coordinated activity of research, analysis and distribution of information necessary to make strategic decisions. When strategic decisions are driven by anecdotes, executive intuition and past experience, companies run the risk of making decisions based on biased information. A structured process exists to implement within a company the tools necessary to guide managers and top management when making strategic decisions.
Here are indications that those processes are not well-mastered in the organization:
Competia works directly with boards, individual board members and their strategic commitees, or with executive teams to provide guidance, and specific tools to create the space for this strategic discussion.
As a board member, you can be held responsible for identifying where the executives might have undereastimated a strategic risk, or where they are failing to see a strategic opportunity. You are routinely expected to be a strategy guru, without the relevant tools and support. In a recent article Hays Management revealed that most CEOs simply present strategy theory to the board, rather than engage members on strategic issues.
A McKinsey survey found that corporate directors,
"Want to spend more time on long-term strategy and less time on short-term matters such as ensuring that quarterly earnings will consistently meet market expectations."
Competia has developed a systematic approach to examine a company’s strategy and lead a discussion around potential “blindspots” – untapped opportunities, or overlooked risks.
Check out these articles about the crucial role of boards in strategy:
Setting up a Competitive Intelligence process in your organization will allow you to:
"My role is to facilitate this process, and these discussions - I am not a substitute to your management team, and would never run a competitive analysis on your behalf - but will transfer the knowledge about
HOW to do it."- Estelle, Competia
Engage. Understand. Act. The Competia Advantage.


When you experience a traumatic event, initially it is certainly not the focal point of someone else's joke. However, as time goes on, many may ease their distress with humor, but when is it okay to joke about tragedies?
According to the Benign Violation Theory, humor emerges when we perceive something that is wrong (a violation), while also seeing that it is okay (benign). Psychological distance may be one key component that can make a violation seem okay. Research has demonstrated that once a person is removed from a violation by space, time, relationships, or imagination, it can foster humor.
In a study conducted by psychological scientist Peter McGraw, who runs the Humor Research Lab (HuRL) at the University of Colorado Boulder, and colleagues explored when violation severity and psychological distance work together to facilitate humor.
Participants were instructed to take an online survey where they would rate an event in their lives by the severity and distinguish if the event became more or less funny over time.
McGraw discovered participants who reported a violation, such as being hit by a car, was funnier if it occurred five years go. While a mild violation such as hitting a toe, was funny if it occurred yesterday.
Five studies were conducted and supported the theory. Participants stated events that became funnier over time were more severe than events that were categorized as mild violations.
All five studies demonstrated with space, time and social relationships, an individual may categorize a once severe event as very humorous one over time.
"These findings suggest that there's a real sweet spot in comedy - you have to get the right mix between how bad something is and how distant it is in order for it to be seen as a benign violation," McGraw said.
This study was published in the journal
Psychological Science.


CEAT Ltd, leading tyre makers in India, has introduced a new range of Win Series tyres. These tyres see a host of improvements based on feedback received from the trucking segment and bus operators across India. Win Series tyres have evolved from the previous range of Pro Series and are built with CEAT’s proprietary rubber compound.
CEAT claims that this new design, with a novel tread pattern, not only offers better endurance but also prevents overheating, thereby reducing risk of tyre failure.
The tyres have uniform mass transfer allowing for better grip on dry roads having tar, gravel and sand. The tyres provide improved load bearing capacities with higher mileage thanks to better belt durability and added stiffness in the bead area.
Suited for trucks carrying general goods, perishable items, containers, tankers and stone and sand carriers, and inter-city and intra-city buses, Ceat’s Win Series tyres have been put through extensive research and testing.
CEAT’s Win Series tyres are expected to not only enhance transportation efficiency but also reduce logistic costs leading to better economic growth and higher productivity. It will address the mass market segment in the country where lower cost of ownership is a prime requirement.
News Release


Education and Justice Departments Clarify Fisher v. UT Ruling
On Friday, the Obama administration gave some clarity to the
Supreme Court ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas, as the decision had not provided a direct answer about the constitutionality of race-conscious admissions policies in higher education. Instead, the ruling had underscored the necessity of “strict scrutiny”—a term that sparked concern and confusion among some college officials. In a “Dear Colleague” letter, the Education and Justice Departments clarified:
An individual student’s race can be considered as one of several factors in higher education admissions as long as the admissions program meets the well-established ‘strict scrutiny’ standard; specifically, the college or university must demonstrate that considering the race of individual applicants in its admissions program is narrowly tailored to meet the compelling interest in diversity, including that available, workable race-neutral alternatives do not suffice.
In other words, colleges can continue considering race in admissions decisions as long as race-neutral alternatives would not achieve “sufficient diversity,” as Justice Kennedy put it in the case’s
majority decision. Determining what constitutes “sufficient” diversity is where much of the remaining ambiguity lies. However, in their letter, the Departments pledged to provide “technical assistance” to institutions as they interpret the ruling and asserted that previously-provided guidance on affirmative action still holds true.
As Inside Higher Ed
reported, legal experts believe the court’s “strict scrutiny” requirement will make it difficult for UT and many other institutions to successfully defend their use of race in admissions. However, the Obama administration seemed to encourage colleges to maintain their diversity efforts. “The Departments of Education and Justice stand ready to support colleges and universities in pursuing a racially and ethnically diverse student body in a lawful manner,” the letter stated.
For more information, see the Departments’
Q&A document and the article by Inside Higher Ed, and stay tuned to our blog for updates. Comments


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ANCHORAGE - Health officials have released new data showing that Alaska's rate of fetal alcohol syndrome dropped by about one-third.
The findings cover children born between 1996 and 2002, and diagnosed by 2008. During that time, the rate declined steadily through the years, from about 20 per 10,000 births to 13.5. The drop was due to a decrease in rates among Alaska Natives.
Health officials credit in part a $29 million earmark for the prevention and treatment of fetal alcohol syndrome that former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens obtained in 2000.
Alaska Native health organizations have strongly emphasized screening and intervention for pregnant women and women of child-bearing age.


In recognition of the importance of effective and equitable governance at the landscape scale in enhancing human and environmental well-being, we use a recently developed framework for assessing men’s and women’s involvement in local governance. These results set the stage for an ongoing examination of the success of the AgFor project in southern Sulawesi in achieving this goal. Our findings establish a baseline on gender and governance in five communities with landscapes that include forestry, agroforestry, and agriculture: Bonto Tappalang and Tana Toa in South Sulawesi, and Tawanga, Ladongi, and Wonua Hua in Southeast Sulawesi. These indicators, which we complement with ethnographic insights, fall into two categories: (1) level of public involvement and (2) skills relevant for political action, each of which is assessed for both women and men. Our findings reflect what we believe to be a comparatively equitable gender situation in Sulawesi, with hopeful prospects for enhancing women’s (and men’s) public involvement in governance. We conclude with some practical and ethnographically informed suggestions for enhancing collaboration with women and men in these (and similar) communities.
Topic: governance,agroforestry,gender
Geographic: Indonesia,Sulawesi Publication
Year: 2015 ISSN: 1472-8028 Source: Forests, Trees and Livelihoods 24(1): 59-83 Altmetric score:


RIIO-ED1 Final Determinations Briefing Note
O
n Friday 28 November, Ofgem published Final Determinations (FDs) for the remaining 10 electricity distribution network operators (DNOs), having already agreed a ‘fast track’ determination for the four Western Power Distribution (WPD) DNOs in February.1 These FDs set out Ofgem’s proposed price controls for the 2015-23 period, including the outputs and targets the DNOs need to deliver, their expenditure allowances and the allowed cost of capital.
Some of the key features of the FDs include:
expenditure allowances of £17.5bn, £1.3bn (or 7.1%) less than the amounts requested by companies. Ofgem’s reductions to company proposals broadly related to different views on efficiency, the savings that could be achieved from smart grids and the expected differences between input cost pressures and RPI inflation (to which DNOs’ revenues are indexed); a real, post-tax cost of equity of 6.0% (compared to the approximately 6.4% requested by most DNOs), and a cost of debt based on a trailing average of benchmark bond indices, the same as proposed for the Draft Determinations (DDs). Slow-track DNOs will face one of the lowest WACCs (3.8% real, vanilla) ever set by an economic regulator in the UK; a package of rewards, penalties and incentives that Ofgem considers will enable each DNO to earn a return on equity in a range of roughly 2 – 10.5% (at 65% gearing), somewhat less advantageous than the 3 – 12% range available to the fast-tracked WPD DNOs; and the FDs will entail significant reductions in DNOs’ customer charges in 2015/16 (up to £35 in 2012/13 prices for SPMW), followed by more gradual reductions over the remainder of the period. Key Contact
Senior Managing Director


IOSCO has published a summary of its meeting to discuss and respond to the ongoing and emerging challenges facing global securities markets. Among other things, there were discussions on recent market developments and volatility in capital markets, and the challenges and opportunities posed by fintech, particularly "distributed ledger technology" (also referred to as block chain). A roundtable discussion on block chain highlighted the potential that new financial technologies can have to improve global market efficiencies and which can provide emerging market jurisdictions with the infrastructure needed to further develop their capital markets.


By Piriya Mahendra, medwireNews Reporter
African-American men could improve their vascular health by lifting weights, researchers say.
Bo Fernhall (University of Illinois at Chicago, USA) and team found that levels of circulating matrix metalloprotease (MMP) -9, which plays a role in remodeling blood vessels after injury or infection, and 8-isoprostane (8-IsoP), a marker of oxidative stress, were markedly reduced in African-American men after 6 weeks of resistance training.
Although previous studies have shown that aerobic exercise reduces oxidative stress and levels of isoprostane, until now "nobody had a clue about resistance training," commented Marc Cook (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA) in a press statement.
He said he now knows what to tell African-American men when they ask him why they should exercise. "If you don't like cardiovascular exercise, if you don't like running on a treadmill, if you can't play basketball or you're not good at it, you can lift weights and improve your health, especially when it comes to high blood pressure," he explained.
"If you just want to lift weights and you do it on a regular basis, you could improve your function."
The study involved 14 African-American and 18 Caucasian men aged 18-35 years matched for body mass index, who participated in three 60-minute sessions of resistance training each week for 6 weeks. The training protocol used was a two-way body part split - legs, back, and biceps on one day; chest, shoulders, and triceps on a separate day.
At baseline, there were no significant differences in circulating levels of MMP-2 or 8-IsoP between the groups. However, MMP-9 was significantly lower in African-American men before training and then significantly decreased after the intervention, whereas there was no change in Caucasian men.
As reported in the
Journal of Human Hypertension, resistance training did not significantly modify MMP-2 in either group. However, it did significantly reduce 8-IsoP in African-American men but not in Caucasian men.
The researchers also found that each 1-repetition maximum (1-RM) increase in strength, defined as the maximum amount of weight lifted for a single repetition, significantly correlated with the change in MMP-9 levels after the training intervention.
"It may be that MMP-9 has a different effect on the vasculature of African-Americans than it does on Caucasians," suggested Cook of the findings.
Licensed from medwireNews with permission from Springer Healthcare Ltd. ©Springer Healthcare Ltd. All rights reserved. Neither of these parties endorse or recommend any commercial products, services, or equipment.


ProductsJanuary 19, 2017
According to a new whitepaper by MetLife, utilizing fixed income annuities can fix confusion over retirement planning.
ProductsJanuary 18, 2017
The new eBook thoroughly explains this new benefit that many small business owners may not understand or even be aware of.
BenefitsJanuary 18, 2017
Regardless of how tax policy changes under the new administration and Congress, it will remain crucial for retirement investors to consider the impact taxation will have on lifetime wealth.
ComplianceJanuary 18, 2017
The case involves a complicated leveraged buyout of an ESOP that left participants with worthless stock.
BenefitsJanuary 18, 2017
With low start-up and ongoing contribution amounts, myRA could be an option to kickstart savings for low-income workers.
AdministrationJanuary 18, 2017
Lowering costs, reducing return assumptions and experiencing healthy returns is putting a positive spin on public retirement plans’ future.
Data and ResearchJanuary 18, 2017
While the gender pay gap is better in some states than others, it still indicates women need to save more than men, according to a NerdWallet analysis.
ComplianceJanuary 17, 2017
On the high-level question, “Is every communication with a financial adviser about retirement accounts a fiduciary recommendation?,” DOL answers simply, “No.”
ComplianceJanuary 17, 2017
Under the proposal, employer contributions to a plan would be able to qualify as QMACs or QNECs if they satisfy applicable nonforfeitability and distribution requirements at the time they are allocated to participants’ accounts not when they are contributed to the plan.
ComplianceJanuary 17, 2017
When the agency established a pre-approved plan program for 403(b)s, it allowed for a remedial amendment period to retroactively correct plan operational failures.
ComplianceJanuary 17, 2017
The agency regularly monitors single-employer DB plans for signs of potential distress.
SURVEY SAYSJanuary 17, 2017
We at PLANSPONSOR strive to bring you news that is relevant, helpful, informative and thought-provoking.
ComplianceJanuary 13, 2017
“After April 10, advisers who are paid to make recommendations about retirement accounts, such as individual retirement accounts [IRAs] and 401(k) accounts, will be treated as fiduciaries,” DOL says.


Some FSA debit card purchases require sending a receipt to CIGNA
CIGNA has clarified the process for using the CIGNA debit card to pay for flexible spending account (FSA) expenses.
CIGNA must confirm that all uses of the FSA debit card are eligible and comply with Internal Revenue Service rules. CIGNA calls this confirmation process "substantiation." Some purchases or payments can be automatically substantiated, but others will require the employee to submit a validation form and a printed receipt showing the description, amount and date of the purchase.
Generally, the following types of purchases or payments will be substantiated automatically:
* Deductibles, coinsurance and copay amounts for claims that CIGNA has processed. CIGNA will be able to substantiate these expenses through data already in its computer system.
* Prescriptions through a retail pharmacy or through Medco mail order.
Debit card users will need to submit a validation form and a receipt for these expenses:
* Dental.
* Vision.
* Health care items that are not eligible under Purdue's medical plan, but are eligible under an FSA. For example, over-the-counter medications. After receiving a charge to an employee's debit card, CIGNA waits 90 days before sending the employee a notice asking for substantiation of the claim. The delay allows time for the employee's medical plan claim to arrive and be processed by CIGNA's claims system. If the debit card transaction cannot be substantiated through CIGNA's system within 90 days, CIGNA sends the employee a notice asking for a receipt.
When using the debit card for a purchase or payment that the employee thinks will need to be substantiated, there's no need to wait for the CIGNA notice. Instead, the employee may send the printed receipt and validation form to CIGNA right away.
Debit card validation forms are available through the Human Resources website at www.purdue.edu/hr/Forms/. Fax the completed form and receipt to CIGNA at 877-823-8953 or mail them to the address provided on the validation form.
For questions, call CIGNA at 800-767-7141 or call Staff Benefits customer service at 49-42222.


Tricia Burr
Elms College
Elms College: Division of Nursing
Theory Assessment Assignment
N: 285
Theorist: _____Dorothea Orem______________________________________
Theory: ______Self-Care Deficit Theory _______________________________
|Credentials |Basic degrees – Diploma from Providence Hospital School of Nursing in Washington DC in 1934; BSN Ed from | |Of author |Catholic University of America in 1939 (Hartweg & Fleck, 2010, pp. 121-145) | | |Highest degree - MSN Ed from Catholic University in 1946; (Hartweg & Fleck, 2010, pp. 121-145) | | |Contributions to nursing – Self-Care Deficit Theory; faculty at Catholic University of America and | | |Providence Hospital School of Nursing; authored The art of nursing in hospital services: An analysis; | | |authored Guides for Developing Curriculum for the Education of Practical Nurses; authored numerous | | |scholarly papers many of which are compiled into Self-Care Theory in Nursing: Selected Papers of Dorothea | | |Orem; (Hartweg & Fleck, 2010, pp. 121-145) | | |Honorifics: Dorothea Orem has received recognitions from numerous organizations, an exhaustive list would | | |be impossible, however they include but are not limited to Sigma Theta Tau International; the American | | |Academy of Nursing; National League of Nursing, honorary doctorates from multiple colleges and universities| | |including Georgetown in 1976 and Wesleyan University in 1988; her works became the basis for the creation | | |of the International Orem Society for Nursing Science and Scholarship in 1991 (Hartweg & Fleck, 2010, pp. | | |121-145) | |Foundation of theory |There are three key and interconnected theories that comprise Orem’s Grand Nursing Theory and include her | | |Self-care Theory, the Self-care Deficit Theory, and the Nursing Systems Theory. Self-care Theory consists | | |of several concepts including Self-Care, Self-Care Agency, and Therapeutic Self-Care Demands. Self-care | | |Theory is based on the idea that the act of caring for one’s self or a dependent is a complex learned | | |process where activities are performed intentionally to preserve health and wellness. When a person is able| | |successfully to integrate these learned behaviors, they become better able to sustain human functioning and | | |ultimately life. (Hartweg & Fleck, 2010, pp. 121-145) | | |Self-care agency speaks to the person’s ability to learn complex processes that allow them to deliberately | | |act in a manner that ensures their own effective self-care, including the preservation of their body as a | | |whole as well as the maintenance of its functioning systems. Within self-care agency, there is a three tier| | |hierarchical model at whose base is foundational capabilities and dispositions, which discusses the need for| | |a person to have adequate mental and cognitive abilities to purposefully perform self-care. (Hartweg & | | |Fleck, 2010, pp. 121-145) Next are the ten power components, which directly affect a person’s ability meet | | |their self-care needs, and are as follows:...


Edited by
K. Sivaramakrishnan, Professor of Anthropology, Yale University.
Centered in anthropology, the Culture, Place, and Nature series encompasses new interdisciplinary research on environmental issues, focusing on the intersection of culture, ecology, and politics in global, national, and local contexts. Contributors to the series view environmental knowledge and issues from the multiple and often conflicting perspectives of various cultural systems.by J. Mark Baker by Nancy J. Turner by Amity A. Doolittle by Janet C. Sturgeon by David McDermott Hughes edited by Gunnel Cederlof and K. Sivaramakrishnan by David Arnold by Thomas F. Thornton by Tim Forsyth and Andrew Walker by Edward Snajdr by Tracey Heatherington
by Miriam Kahn
by Stephanie Rupp
by Liza Grandia
by Jinghong Zhang
by Mattias Borg Rasmussen
by Jeremy M. Campbell
by Pamela D. McElwee by Yuka Suzuki


Many communities around the world have limited access to water. To reach deep groundwater reserves, diesel generated electricity is used in rural villages to power electric water pumps despite its high maintenance and diesel fuel requirements. Solar photovoltaic pumping systems offer a financially and environmentally sustainable source of power and can significantly reduce the cost of water extraction for rural communities.


INTRODUCTION:
Soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL2r), a marker of T cell activation, is elevated in inflammatory processes, such as rheumatoid arthritis, hepatitis and neoplasm. We explored a potential association between plasma sIL2r levels and progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC), a marker for subclinical atherosclerosis, in a prospectively followed cohort of type 1 diabetic and non-diabetic subjects, aged 20-59 years, with no history of coronary artery disease.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
CAC progression was assessed by electron beam tomography over 2.6 years (range 1.6-3.2). Plasma sIL2r levels were measured in a nested case-control substudy of 98 subjects (67 diabetic, 31 non-diabetic) with and 173 subjects (84 diabetic, 89 non-diabetic) without significant CAC progression. Log-transformed sIL2r levels were analyzed by conditional logistic regression to compare subjects with and without significant CAC progression.
RESULTS:
SIL2r was a significant predictor for CAC progression after adjusting for presence of baseline CAC, age, gender, diabetes status, baseline calcium volume score and adiponectin (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.09-3.61, p = 0.02 for a doubling of sIL2r level). Addition of BMI, LDL, HDL, hypertension, smoking status, HbA1c, CRP, fibrinogen, homocysteine and PAI-1 to regression models weakened but did not remove sIL2r as a predictor of CAC progression. There was no indication that this effect was different by diabetes status (p = 0.6 for diabetes-sIL2r interaction).
DISCUSSION:
Elevated plasma sIL2r is associated with CAC progression independent of traditional coronary artery disease risk factors in type 1 diabetic and non-diabetic young adults. SIL2r should be considered as a novel marker of inflammation leading to coronary artery disease.


Aims To demonstrate how Q-learning, a novel data analysis method, can be used with data from a sequential, multiple assignment, randomized trial (SMART) to construct empirically an adaptive treatment strategy (ATS) that is more tailored than the ATSs already embedded in a SMART. Method We use Q-learning with data from the Extending Treatment Effectiveness of Naltrexone (ExTENd) SMART (N = 250) to construct empirically an ATS employing naltrexone, behavioral intervention, and telephone disease management to reduce alcohol consumption over 24 weeks in alcohol dependent individuals. Results Q-learning helped to identify a subset of individuals who, despite showing early signs of response to naltrexone, require additional treatment to maintain progress. Conclusions Q-learning can inform the development of more cost-effective, stepped-care strategies for treating substance use disorders.


Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:1, 2).
A shepherd once strode into the palace of the most powerful man on earth and made a stunning demand: “Thus says the LORD the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go.'” Do you remember Pharaoh’s dubious response?
“Who is the LORD that I should obey his voice and let Israel go,” he wondered derisively, “I do not know the LORD, and moreover I will not let Israel go.”
Interestingly, the king of Egypt had a point: The more one knows of God, the more one obeys his voice. The less one knows of God, the less one obeys his voice. It could be argued that the story of the ten plagues was a case of Pharaoh and God getting better acquainted. As successive plagues fell on Egypt, Pharaoh might have been excused for declaring, “I’m sorry I asked who Yahweh was! Please, I do not care to learn any more about him!”
This brings us to the question asked in Paul’s passage: In the church, which characteristic do we need most? Zeal, or knowledge? Of course we should already recognize the false dilemma behind the question. The answer is that we need both!
You know, I heard it again just this week. A young person pointed to the “dead” worship and “uninvolved” manner of his older brethren, and used this as the reason for leaving the church. Though we might deplore his judgmental attitude, we need to ask if there is any truth in these charges. Could we do better?
I think of worship services I have witnessed in Zimbabwe: To hear the matchless harmony of Shona voices raised in song still brings tears to my eyes. Even those American congregations that sing very well could hardly be expected to compare. It breaks my heart to see row upon row of God’s people sitting like bumps on a log during a song service, consulting IPhones or balancing their checkbooks when they should be worshiping an incomparable God. This is
not the way God envisioned it. The Psalmist calls on us to offer the praise that God deserves:
“Ascribe to the Lord, O families of peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord
the glory due his name, bring an offering and come into his courts!” (Psalm 96:7,8).
We might respect many people – magistrates and rulers – but we can only properly worship one individual. That is why the twenty-four elders fell before God’s throne and cried: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:11).
To praise anyone less would be “over the top,” mere flattery. For God it is right and proper, for he is indeed worthy.