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At some point, every child considers a career as an astronaut; it must be among the top five answers to the perennial question, 'What do you want to be when [...]

I didn't have full command of Spanish as an undergrad translating poems of Jorge Guillen. Still, I was surprised my versions 'sounded' authoritative when published without the originals. What is [...]

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The article discusses the need for a strategic compensation model in education to attract and retain teachers. It highlights the disparity between the increase in per-student funding and the minimal increase in teacher salaries over the past 30 years. The traditional compensation model, which evenly distributes step raises based on years of experience and level of education, is deemed ineffective and costly. The article suggests four key actions to create a more strategic compensation model, including increasing pay for early-career teachers, focusing on high-needs schools and hard-to-staff subjects, not prioritizing advanced degrees, and creating teacher leadership pathways with appropriate pay. The goal is to improve teacher sustainability and address the challenges of turnover and staffing shortages in education. [Extracted from the article]

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Even though it has been demonstrated that peer support contributes to positive outcomes for service users, organizational implementation issues remain. The aim of the current study was to examine an implementation of peer support from the perspective of managers in order to develop knowledge of factors influencing sustainability of this initiative. Eighteen managers were interviewed in connection with the introduction of peer support in sixteen mental health settings. Interviews were analyzed utilizing inductive and deductive approaches. The results suggested that managers were predominantly positive in their evaluation of peer support as a recovery-oriented addition to their services, but noted developmental issues regarding role, professional identity, supervision and financing in relation to other traditional personnel. The involvement of the user movement, especially with regard to training and supervision helped prepare staff and support peer workers, yet there was some apprehension attached to the critical scrutiny that this `outsider’ perspective might imply. The results confirm previously noted uncertainties regarding peer support as an integrated component of mental health systems and illuminate a number of culturally conditioned challenges that may hamper peer support from being implemented with the same approach as other interventions. In response, the present study suggests a number of focus areas that should be attended to in future implementation efforts, including issues related to staff roles, power dynamics, connection to the user movement and reconsideration of the value of experience-based knowledge. In the Swedish context, a government level commitment was identified as critical to ensure stable funding.

The myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) gene plays an important role in myelination and has been implicated in the genetics of white matter changes in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We examined the association between variations of two microsatellite markers across MOGfor association and total white matter volume as measured using volumetric MRI in 37 pediatric OCD patients 7–18 years. We compared white matter volumes between microsatellite allele groups using analysis of covariance with covariates of age, gender, and total intracranial volume. After controlling for multiple comparisons, a significant relationship was detected between MOG(TAAA)n and increased total white matter volume (P = 0.018–0.028). Although preliminary, our findings provide further support for the involvement of MOGin OCD.

This article originally appeared in the January 2016 Insurance and Reinsurance Committee newsletter. ARBITRATIONS have become more commonplace in recent years. Many employment agreements, union contracts, insurance policies and reinsurance [...]

Mental health problems often appear at a young age. As the labour market places higher demands for education and competence, mental health services are focusing on young adults’ support needs for school and career opportunities. This study is a single case of an integrated supported education and employment unit in Sweden over an 18-month period. Multiple data sources illustrate the process of supporting careers and transition to school and work for young service users. This is a promising example of how careers can be supported through a flexible service that provides support for successful individual education and work trajectories among the youth. The service allowed for evolution of an identity process towards recovery through student and work roles.

When new superintendents first step into their offices, they often are taking charge of systems badly in need of an upgrade, with structures and practices left over from the 20th [...]

The article discusses the long-term effects of the recent Gaza war on Israel. It suggests that the war marks the end of a 20-year era of peace and prosperity for Israel, and a return to a more militarized state. The article highlights the significant military presence in Israel, with a high defense budget and a large number of people drafted into the military each year. It also discusses the impact of the war on the Israeli economy, including increased defense spending, higher taxes, and potential challenges for the start-up sector. The article concludes by noting that while Israel has the potential for recovery through its defense and energy industries, returning to a more militarized state will not be easy and may lead to divisions within the country. [Extracted from the article]

THIS paper incorporates and updates previous analysis undertaken on November 20, 2012, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy (Sandy). It focuses on concurrent causation and anti-concurrent causation clauses focused on [...]

THE CONCEPT of privileged attorney-client communications has been a long standing tenet in legal communities for decades. However, the scope and justification for privilege vary by jurisdiction. This article compares [...]

This essay discusses unlimited insurance subrogation (UIS) as a means of improving the deterrence and compensation results of medical malpractice law. Under UIS, health care insureds could assign their entire [...]

Objective: Although several magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have been conducted in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), few studies have used voxel-based morphometry to examine brain structure, especially in psychotropic drug-naive pediatric patients. Method: MRI examinations of 37 psychotropic drug-naive pediatric OCD patients and 26 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were acquired on a 1.5 T MRI system, normalized to a customized template, and segmented with optimized voxel-based morphometry. Results: Pediatric OCD patients had significantly more gray matter in regions predicted to differ a priori between groups, including the right and left putamen and orbital frontal cortex. Among patients, more gray matter in the left putamen and right lateral orbital frontal cortex correlated significantly with greater OCD symptom severity, but not with anxiety or depression. Manual region-of-interest measurements confirmed more gray matter in the orbital frontal cortex and putamen in patients compared to healthy volunteers. More anterior cingulate gray matter was evident among patients compared to healthy volunteers with regional volumetry but not with voxel-based morphometry. Regions of significantly less gray matter in OCD were confined to the occipital cortex and were not predicted a priori. Conclusions: Our results suggest that OCD is characterized by more gray matter in brain regions comprising cortical-striatal-thalamic-cortical circuits. These findings are consistent with functional neuroimaging studies reporting hypermetabolism and increased regional cerebral blood flow in striatal, anterior cingulate, and orbital frontal regions among OCD patients while in a resting state.

Blogging has become a popular method of communicating in the modern electronic age. Many employees now have blogs, and for most, the blog is devoted to something of personal interest [...]

I. INTRODUCTION II. IS SUBSTANTIVE DUE CARE "FOREIGN" TO THE BUSINESS JUDGMENT RULE? III. THE "REINVIGORATION" OF SUBSTANTIVE DUE CARE IV. SUBSTANTIVE DUE CARE AND THE REASONABLE DIRECTOR V. THE [...]

Does Richard Posner lead a double life as scholar and judge? Posner's prodigious and prolific scholarship, developing and applying the functionalist, rational approach (he might call it economic or pragmatic) [...]

HURRICANE Katrina was a natural disaster unlike any that the United States has experienced in the past. We will never forget the images, which were with us every waking hour [...]

Objective: The superior temporal gyrus, a heteromodal auditory and language association cortex, has been found to be smaller in patients with schizophrenia than in normal subjects. However, genetic and/or neurodevelopmental underpinnings of superior temporal gyrus alterations are unknown. Nonpsychotic children with greater genetic risk for schizophrenia exhibit language deficits. The authors studied the superior temporal gyrus in nonpsychotic children at risk for schizophrenia. Method: Magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure the right and left superior temporal gyrus of 29 young nonpsychotic subjects who had a parent with schizophrenia and 27 age- and sex-matched comparison subjects who had no family psychiatric history. Results: After controlling for age and intracranial volume, the authors found that the volumes of the right and left superior temporal gyrus of the subjects at risk for schizophrenia were significantly smaller than those of the comparison subjects. Comparison subjects, but not at-risk subjects, showed an inverse correlation between age and left superior temporal gyrus volume. Conclusions: These findings provide new evidence that superior temporal gyrus abnormalities may result from genetically mediated developmental deviance reflecting greater susceptibility to schizophrenia. Further studies and follow-up will lead to greater understanding of the role of the superior temporal gyrus in the premorbid vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Objective: The authors investigated structural abnormalities in brain regions comprising cortical-striatal-thalamic-cortical loops in pediatric patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Method: Volumes of the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus and gray and white matter volumes of the anterior cingulate gyrus and superior frontal gyrus were computed from contiguous 1.5-mm magnetic resonance images from 23 psychotropic drug-naive pediatric patients with OCD (seven male patients and 16 female patients) and 27 healthy volunteers (12 male subjects and 15 female subjects). Results: Patients had smaller globus pallidus volumes than healthy volunteers, but the two groups did not differ in volumes of the caudate nucleus, putamen, or frontal white matter regions. Compared to healthy volunteers, patients had more total gray matter in the anterior cingulate gyrus but not the superior frontal gyrus. Total anterior cingulate gyrus volume correlated significantly and positively with globus pallidus volume in the healthy volunteers but not in patients. Conclusions: These findings provide evidence of smaller globus pallidus volume in patients with OCD without the potentially confounding effects of prior psychotropic drug exposure. Volumetric abnormalities in the anterior cingulate gyrus appear specific to the gray matter in OCD, at least at the gross anatomic level, and are consistent with findings of functional neuroimaging studies that have reported anterior cingulate hypermetabolism in the disorder.

If Pancho fell asleep on a trip or tour and you had no weed, would you feel entitled to pinch his sack? No, because it's his weed, and whenever there's […]

THE ISSUE of the spoliation of evidence is of the utmost importance to an insurer planning to pursue subrogation. All reasonable attempts must be made to preserve material evidence regarding [...]

On July 14, 1941, the opening night of a brittle French farce titled 'Her Cardboard Lover,' Miss Tallulah Bankhead made an unforgettable appearance at Connecticut's Westport Country Playhouse. For her [...]

On July 14, 1941, the opening night of a brittle French farce titled 'Her Cardboard Lover,' Miss Tallulah Bankhead made an unforgettable appearance at Connecticut's Westport Country Playhouse. For her [...]

The author criticizes Richard Nagareda's model of mass tort class action as of limited usefulness. Instead, he argues that mandatory-litigation class actions would do more to benefit individuals and society.

Nasal bone lateral osteotomies are a critical component of open and closed rhinoplasty. Lateral osteotomies represent the most traumatic component of rhinoplasty and contribute to significant edema and ecchymosis in the periorbital region. We believe that lateral osteotomies are often performed more frequently than necessary. The senior author of this article has significantly decreased the number of lateral osteotomies that he performs during rhinoplasty and instead advocates for the use of osteoplasty with a rasp when appropriate to narrow and shape the bony dorsum without forming a wide flat open-roof deformity. This study is a retrospective chart review of 239 patients who underwent rhinoplasty with the senior author. Almost half of the patients (44%) did not undergo osteotomies. The revision rate is less than 1% (2 patients). Avoidance of lateral osteotomies in carefully selected patients can offer a more appealing “rapid recovery rhino,” which is characterized by decreased edema, swelling, and faster recovery time with less limitations on postoperative restrictions.

Israeli banks are finally returning to private hands, after 15 years of state ownership which began when the government started its takeover of the country's top four banks in 1983. As privatization approaches, Israeli banks are learning to better manage cost control and personnel, financial and technological resources. This is not an easy task, though, owing to the inefficiency which characterizes many banks and the competition from giant institutions created from the series of mergers and acquisitions in US and Europe., Israeli banks are coming to the final stretch on the long road back to the private sector. The privatisation of Israeli banking is far from complete. But the final stretch [...]

Objective: Previous studies, mostly involving neuroleptic-treated patients, have suggested enlarged basal ganglia size in schizophrenia. The authors sought to examine basal ganglia volume in neuroleptic-naive psychotic patients. Method: Magnetic resonance imaging volumetric studies were conducted in newly diagnosed neuroleptic-naive schizophrenic and non-schizophrenic psychotic patients and in matched healthy comparison subjects. Results: Both patient groups had bilaterally reduced caudate, but not putamen, volumes, compared to the healthy subjects, after adjustment for intracranial volume. Conclusions: Decreases in caudate volume in newly diagnosed psychotic patients may be related to the primary pathophysiology of these disorders; prior observations of increased caudate volume may reflect effects of neuroleptic treatment.

Selected of apprenticeships and internships available at summer stock and repertory theaters in various parts of the US are described. New London, New Hampshire's New London Barn Playhouse relies on interns in the staging of five musicals per summer. Interns play most roles, and they receive a $40/wk stipend. Summer training programs are offered by six New Jersey theaters., We asked six of our regional writers for a sampling of internships and apprenticeships available in their parts of the country. They came back with a wide range of insightful, [...]

Information about theater productions that will happen throughout North America during 1997-8 are discussed. There will be several new productions that will be staged. The different theater companies that will be providing theatrical productions are also discussed., No one can fault our regional writers for lack of enthusiasm. This year we asked them to 'crystal-ball' their annual columns: to entice us with the half-dozen productions they most [...]