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Light Spectrum Glazes has been granted a patent for the novel process of expanding and completing the spectral light array emitted by LED bulbs with transparent colors filters. Non-luminescent, low-cost, stable, and highly durable color filters are used to expand the jagged LED spectral emission into a full, true white light array. Transparent colors are applied in combination with existing manufacturing technologies as a final color-tuning step in bulb design. The quantity of emitted light that can be color filtered is adjustable from 1p to 100p of emitted light, creating a custom balance of light quantity with light quality. This invention recognizes that: (1) approximately 1/3 of people do not have trichromatic vision, (2) a robust white light spectrum of light is necessary to avoid metameric failure, and (3) "better light" quality is often as important or more important than "brighter light" quantity in the consumer marketplace.

In 1912, a phenomenon appeared when Kandinsky’s abstraction and his text Concerning the Spiritual in Art was published. A paradox of the avant-garde and the Orthodox, Kandinsky exemplifies the Enlightenment freedom of subjective religious and spiritual expression. What does modern and contemporary religious or spiritual Art look like? Following the ‘separation of church and state’ artists created new expressions of traditional and new religions needing cohesive studies to locate, recognise and document these legacies; correct biased or inaccurate records; and identify these artworks’ secular disguises. This thesis considers religion and the spiritual in Art as traditional or new imagery and symbolism including agnostic and atheist impulses. Kandinsky’s abstraction as ‘Christian’ art acknowledges a collaboration of the avant-garde with the Russian Orthodox; his spiritual texts expressing the spiritual in art, universally, for the artist, he claimed, was part of a ‘spiritual revolution.’ This analysis of Kandinsky required I form the ‘immaterial frame’ methodology to map these historical renovations ideologically; culturally; socially; and politically as evidence of the freedoms of expression contextualising by religio-secular aesthetics. In order to uncover these aspects, the ‘immaterial frame’ methodology has been constructed to accommodate the process of recognising the non-physical ideas of spirituality and the religious in modern and contemporary Art using four intellectual ‘sides’ represented by the image: 1) The artist’s biographical experiences. 2) Individually defined ideas or ideologies, and the artist’s personal variations. 3) The global and cultural contextualisation of the time. 4) Correcting or revealing what was formerly unknown, to answer: What does modern and contemporary religious or spiritual Art look like?

Verbal memory (VM) impairment is a trait feature of bipolar I disorder (BDI) that is present at illness onset and associated with functional outcome. However, little is known about the morphological abnormalities underlying this deficit early in the disease course. This study examined the neurobiological correlates of VM impairment in euthymic newly diagnosed patients, with attention to frontal and medial temporal (MT) structures known to contribute to VM.Euthymic patients with BDI recently recovered from their first episode of mania (n = 42) were compared with healthy subjects (n = 37) using measures of the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-II) associated with frontal and MT functioning. A subset of participants had 3T MRI scan (n = 31 patient group, n = 30 healthy subject group). Hippocampal and prefrontal volumes were analyzed using FreeSurfer 5.1 and correlated with their corresponding CVLT-II subscores.Patients showed decreased performance in total learning as well as short and long delay verbal recall. Consistent with MT dysfunction, they also showed deficits in recognition discriminability and learning slope. In the patient group only, left hippocampal volumes were negatively correlated with these measures.These results suggest that anomalous MT functioning is involved with VM impairment early in the course of BDI.

Accurately perceiving whether interaction partners feel understood is important for developing intimate relationships and maintaining smooth interpersonal exchanges. During interracial interactions, when are Whites and racial minorities likely to accurately perceive how understood cross-race partners feel? We propose that participant race, desire to affiliate, and racial salience moderate accuracy in interracial interactions. Examination of cross-race roommates (Study 1) and interracial interactions with strangers (Study 2) revealed that when race is salient, Whites higher in desire to affiliate with racial minorities failed to accurately perceive the extent to which racial minority partners felt understood. Thus, although the desire to affiliate may appear beneficial, it may interfere with Whites' ability to accurately perceive how understood racial minorities feel. By contrast, racial minorities higher in desire to affiliate with Whites accurately perceived how understood White partners felt. Furthermore, participants' overestimation of how well they understood partners correlated negatively with partners' reports of relationship quality. Collectively, these findings indicate that racial salience and desire to affiliate moderate accurate perceptions of cross-race partners-even in the context of sustained interracial relationships-yielding divergent outcomes for Whites and racial minorities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Background Psychosis in bipolar I disorder (BDI) has been associated with increased cognitive dysfunction, which may relate to poorer functional outcomes. However, it is not known whether cognition differs between BDI patients with (BDP+) or without (BDP-) history of psychosis early in the disease course, or if it is impacted by the presence of mood congruent (MCP) versus incongruent (MIC) psychotic features. We compare cognition between these groups in BDI patients recently recovered from first episode of mania. Methods Attention, verbal learning/memory, processing speed and executive functioning were compared between: 1) all BDI patients (n = 73) and healthy controls (HC, n = 45), 2) BDP+ (n = 60) and BDP- (n = 13) patients and 3) MCP (n = 27) and MIC (n = 33) patients. Post-hoc analyses compared all patient groups with HC. Results While BDI patients performed worse than HC in all domains, there were no significant differences between BDP+ and BDP-, or MCP and MIC, patients. However, BDP+ and MIC groups demonstrated different patterns of impairment compared to HC then did BDP- or MCP. Executive functioning and cognitive flexibility in particular appeared to be a deficit area in BDP+ patients. Limitations This study may have been underpowered to detect differences in direct comparison between BDP+ and BDP- patients. Conclusion While replication in larger samples is required, these results suggest that subtle cognitive differences between BDP+ and BDP-, and between MIC and MCP, patients may be present shortly after disease onset. These patient subsets may therefore be of interest in examining early intensive strategies to preserve cognition.

Objective: Obesity is frequent in people with bipolar I disorder (BD I) and has a major impact on the course of the illness. Although obesity negatively influences cognitive function in patients with BD, its impact in the early phase of the disorder is unknown. We investigated the impact of overweight and obesity on cognitive functioning in clinically stable patients with BD recently recovered from their first manic episode. Method: Sixty-five patients with BD (25 overweight or obese and 40 normal weight) recently remitted from a first episode of mania and 37 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects (9 overweight or obese and 28 normal weight) were included in this analysis from the Systematic Treatment Optimization Program for Early Mania (commonly referred to as STOP-EM). All subjects had their cognitive function assessed using a standard neurocognitive battery. We compared cognitive function between normal weight patients, overweight-obese patients, and normal weight healthy control subjects. Results: There was a negative affect of BD diagnosis on the domains of attention, verbal memory, nonverbal memory, working memory, and executive function, but we were unable to find an additional effect of weight on cognitive functioning in patients. There was a trend for a negative correlation between body mass index and nonverbal memory in the patient group. Conclusions: These data suggest that overweight-obesity does not negatively influence cognitive function early in the course of BD. Given that there is evidence for a negative impact of obesity later in the course of illness, there may be an opportunity to address obesity early in the course of BD.

Cognitive impairments are present immediately following recovery from a first episode of mania, although at a lesser severity than those seen in more chronic patients with bipolar I disorder. Little is known about how deficits evolve over the course of illness, however, and whether these changes are associated with disease progression.Patients with bipolar I disorder (DSM-IV-TR) receiving naturalistic clinical follow-up from the Systematic Treatment Optimization Program for Early Mania (STOP-EM) from July 2004 to May 2013 completed a comprehensive cognitive battery following recovery from their first manic episode and again 1 year later. Performance was compared between patients who experienced a recurrence of a mood episode (BDrecur) (n = 26) versus those that maintained remission (BDwell) (n = 27) over follow-up, as well as healthy comparison subjects (HS) (n = 31).While both BDrecur and BDwell had impairments in overall cognitive performance relative to HS at baseline (mean difference = -0.59, P.001; mean difference = -0.43, P.05, respectively), at follow-up BDrecur showed deficits compared to both HS (mean difference = -0.62, P = .001) and BDwell (mean difference = -0.41, P = .05), with BDwell cognition similar to that in HS (mean difference = -0.21, P.4). BDwell showed larger improvements over follow-up relative to both other groups (P.05). While changes in BDrecur did not differ from HS, in this group more days in a manic or hypomanic episode was associated with performance declines (r = -0.40, P.05).While cognitive function improves in patients who sustain remission in the year following a first manic episode, those who experience a recurrence remain impaired, with performance declines being most apparent in those who experienced longer manic or hypomanic episodes.

Some middle grades educators find ways to engage and inspire their students in an era of high-stakes testing and rigid accountability policies.I love my job, I love to teach and learn. ... I will never give up the good fight for the rights of my students to get the best from me as a teacher. ... I sadly and strongly feel our current direction with assessment is the wrong way and that there are other acceptable ways to move forward [that] don't take away quality teaching and learning. I love the kids, but the picture on a student's face today, knowing he was the only one not to finish the test, brought tears to my eyes. (MS-U.S. middle grades teacher, excerpt of an e-mail to his school's principal)After a decade of collaboration and research on middle grades education, the wisdom of dozens of teachers, administrators, and university faculty has led us to a compelling set of observations (e.g., Dalton, Samek, Olson, Greene, Caskey, & Musser, 2004; Greene, Caskey, Musser, Samek, Casbon, & Olson, 2008; Greene, Caskey, Musser, Samek, & Olson, 2005; Musser, 1998; Samek, Kim, Casbon, Caskey, Greene, & Musser, 2010; Samek, Musser, Caskey, Olson, & Greene, 2006). Teachers and principals know what is best for their students, value collaboration, and are passionate about teaching and learning. Yet, these educators also express deep concern stemming from the tension of trying to enact their heartfelt vision of teaching within a culture of standardization and accountability.The purpose of this article is to share wisdom collected from the field and offer a view of meaningful learning, explore the tensions that exist in educators' work, and invite conversation about the future of educational practice. The anecdotes and data come from a series of research studies conducted from 2001 to 2011 by a cadre of middle grades researchers- university faculty from public and private universities across Oregon. Over the past decade, we studied the perspectives of middle grades principals, middle grades teachers, university faculty, and district personnel directors representing distinct communities (urban, suburban, rural), disparate demographics (e.g., low SES to high SES), and varying school size (i.e., small to large middle schools). We guided each study with research questions such as: How are national policies affecting how teachers view the nature of their work? How does national policy affect the way middle school teachers balance the academic-cognitive needs of young adolescents with their social-emotional needs (Dalton et al., 2004)? How have high-stakes accountability measures based on yearly academic testing influenced teachers' curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices (Greene et al., 2008)? What are the perceptions of middle grades university faculty, classroom teachers, and principals regarding well-prepared middle grades teachers (Samek et al., 2010)? We used a variety of data collection methods including surveys, interviews, and focus groups to build an understanding of school and university perspectives.What we learned is that teachers often find themselves caught between the expectations of external influences and their responses to the deep needs and yearnings of their students. In the words of one veteran middle grades teacher, "I'm tired of my inability to do what's best for my kids." When teachers like this one act on their inclinations to do what is best for students, they may feel their behavior is subversive. Another middle grades teacher explained during a focus group interview,I feel like I do it a lot more, but I feel like I kind of have to hide it a little bit. If I'm going to be talking to some kids about something real, authentic, something emotional, I kind of have to go shut the door, you know what I mean? (Samek et al., 2006, p. 28)Although principals recognize the pressures placed on teachers, they are not positioned to question mandates because one of their roles is to enforce policy. …

Strong school-university partnerships foster valuable clinical experiences for preservice teacher candidates at three universities.The blend of practice and research at the university reaffirms my deeply held belief that worthwhile knowledge draws on both worlds. Indeed, the separation of practice from theory, of practitioners from scholars, is more often than not a divorce that is more symbolic than real. (Cuban, 1993, p. xxi)Forty-six states and the District of Columbia require some form of specialized middle level teacher preparation leading to licensure or an endorsement (Association for Middle Level Education [AMLE], 2007), and accreditation agencies inform the practices and policies for the majority of institutions preparing middle level teacher candidates across the country. Current debates about the most efficient and effective ways to improve P-12 education include teacher preparation as the focal point (Darling-Hammond, 2010), and the Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Student Learning has highlighted the importance of school- university partnerships in preparing teachers capable of increasing student achievement (National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], 2001; 2010). Preparing middle level teachers to improve student achievement is becoming a major priority in the larger landscape of teacher education, and concerns about the nature and quality of specialized middle level preparation permeates larger conversations about licensures and endorsements within the field of middle level education. It is critical for middle level educators to participate in these conversations to ensure that middle school philosophy remains at the core of teacher preparation practices.In this article, we describe how three universities approach middle level teacher preparation through partnerships and clinical experiences. We share the structures of our programs and the role of our partnerships in the clinical preparation of our candidates. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by school-university partnerships and discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of engaging in such work. Finally, we will situate the implications of NCATE's Blue Ribbon Panel Report in the historical and social context of middle level education and offer recommendations for others seeking to develop clinical experiences through school-university partnerships.Clinical practice through partnershipsTeacher candidates often cite clinical field placements as the most powerful learning experiences of their preservice education. They tend to value field experiences over the content of teacher education courses, as the school context is very powerful and lends itself to the social nature of learning to teach. The physical divide between courses taken on college campuses and field work completed at local schools only exacerbates the disconnect teacher candidates perceive between theory and practice in teacher education. Candidates come to our programs valuing practice over theory and the very design of our programs presents the idea and reinforces it throughout their education.In an effort to help candidates value both coursework and field work, institutions of teacher education need to shiftfrom the traditional, universitybased approach of teacher preparation to a clinical approach with practice-based curriculum (Ball & Forzani, 2009). The NCATE Blue Ribbon Panel report calls for teacher preparation that is clinically based and integrates the practice and pedagogy of learning to teach (NCATE, 2010). School-embedded teacher preparation provides the opportunity to guide candidates to the explicit connections between what they are learning in their coursework and what they are observing and experiencing in their field work.Clinically-based teacher preparation is particularly important for middle level education candidates, as they need to interact with and learn from young adolescent students to value their unique developmental needs. …

RAS mutations lead to a constitutively active oncogenic protein that signals through multiple effector pathways. In this chemical biology study, we describe a novel coupled biochemical assay that measures activation of the effector BRAF by prenylated KRASG12V in a lipid-dependent manner. Using this assay, we discovered compounds that block biochemical and cellular functions of KRASG12V with low single-digit micromolar potency. We characterized the structural basis for inhibition using NMR methods and showed that the compounds stabilized the inactive conformation of KRASG12V. Determination of the biophysical affinity of binding using biolayer interferometry demonstrated that the potency of inhibition matches the affinity of binding only when KRAS is in its native state, namely post-translationally modified and in a lipid environment. The assays we describe here provide a first-time alignment across biochemical, biophysical, and cellular KRAS assays through incorporation of key physiological factors regulating RAS biology, namely a negatively charged lipid environment and prenylation, into the in vitro assays. These assays and the ligands we discovered are valuable tools for further study of KRAS inhibition and drug discovery., PLoS ONE, 12 (4), ISSN:1932-6203

Adenomyoepithelioma (AME) is a biphasic neoplasm of epithelial and myoepithelial cells. It is most commonly found in the breast, although rare cases have been reported from the lung, salivary glands, and skin. There are 5 well-documented cases of cutaneous AME in the literature. We report a new case of cutaneous AME. Our case was commingled with apocrine hidrocystoma. This is the first report of cutaneous AME in a male patient and the first to describe SOX10 immunostaining in cutaneous AME. We review the literature on cutaneous AME and note the greater than chance colocalization with other adnexal tumors. We speculate that AME may represent localized overgrowth of myoepithelial cells within a pre-existent sweat gland tumor. Histopathologists should be aware of the potential of SOX10-positive myoepithelial neoplasms to mimic nodular melanocytic proliferations.

Background Our health service is introducing an electronic medication management system (eMMs). Obtaining baseline data on the work patterns of pharmacists will allow assessment of the impact of the eMMs on pharmacists' work patterns. Aim To quantify the time clinical pharmacists spend on various activities over their working day prior to the implementation of an eMMs. Method During this continuous observational time-and-motion study (23 November to 17 December 2009), clinical pharmacists assigned to general medical and surgical wards were shadowed by two independent observers over their entire working days. A customised Access application was used to log times and calculate average times spent on each activity. Other data collected included time from admission to interview and opportunities for medication chart review. Results 9 pharmacists were observed for 265.3 hours over 30 separate pharmacist observation days. Clinical activities (56% of total time) included professional communication (20%), medication chart review (9.6%), medication history interview (9.5%), clinical review (9.1%), providing information to patients/carers (5.5%), ascertaining discharge drugs required (1.6%), and obtaining drug information (0.5%). Non-clinical activities (44% of total time) included social activities/breaks (13%), meetings (6.9%), ordering/distribution (6.6%), discharge dispensing (6.3%), walking between wards/pharmacy (5.2%), looking for something (3.1%), and other activities (2.8%). On an average day, each pharmacist reviewed 21 of a possible 38 medication charts (55%), spent 20 minutes on clinical interventions and completed 4.5 medication history interviews. Average time from admission to interview was 67 hours. 18% of pharmacists' time was taken up with discharge/transfer of patients. Most patients 130/141 (93%) at discharge did not require further medication history clarification. Conclusion This study provides baseline data for comparison of the impact of the eMMs on pharmacist workflow.

Although associations between antipsychotic use and neuropsychological impairment in bipolar I disorder have been observed, there is a lack of studies comparing the effects of specific agents used in this population. We compared performance between patients receiving maintenance treatment with mood stabilizer monotherapy (n=15), adjunctive risperidone (n=15) or quetiapine (n=17), and a group of demographically matched healthy controls (n=28) on tests of executive function (working memory, set shifting, and inhibition) and verbal learning. Despite having a similar clinical profile, patients being treated with risperidone showed significantly impaired working memory, set-shifting, and verbal learning (P0.05) compared with those either on mood stabilizer monotherapy or adjunctive quetiapine. Although randomized controlled trials are required to confirm the cognitive side effects of medications prescribed for maintenance treatment of bipolar I disorder, preliminary results indicate that addition of risperidone to a mood stabilizer has a negative impact on executive function and verbal learning, an effect not shared with quetiapine.

Purpose To identify key genes differentially expressed in the human retinal pigment epithelium (hRPE) following low-level West Nile virus (WNV) infection. Methods Primary hRPE and retinal pigment epithelium cell line (ARPE-19) cells were infected with WNV (multiplicity of infection 1). RNA extracted from mock-infected and WNV-infected cells was assessed for differential expression of genes using Affymetrix microarray. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of 23 genes was used to validate the microarray results. Results Functional annotation clustering of the microarray data showed that gene clusters involved in immune and antiviral responses ranked highly, involving genes such as chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2), chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 5 (CCL5), chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10 (CXCL10), and toll like receptor 3 (TLR3). In conjunction with the quantitative real-time PCR analysis, other novel genes regulated by WNV infection included indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO1), genes involved in the transforming growth factor–β pathway (bone morphogenetic protein and activin membrane-bound inhibitor homolog [BAMBI] and activating transcription factor 3 [ATF3]), and genes involved in apoptosis (tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, member 10d [TNFRSF10D]). WNV-infected RPE did not produce any interferon-γ, suggesting that IDO1 is induced by other soluble factors, by the virus alone, or both. Conclusions Low-level WNV infection of hRPE cells induced expression of genes that are typically associated with the host cell response to virus infection. We also identified other genes, including IDO1 and BAMBI, that may influence the RPE and therefore outer blood-retinal barrier integrity during ocular infection and inflammation, or are associated with degeneration, as seen for example in aging.

Twenty criteria are used to analyze sixteen national action plans that focus on women, peace, and security. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, a base for the national plans, highlights the terrible consequences of violent conflict on women and girls as well as the important role of women in all peacebuilding processes. Suggestions are made for those developing or revising plans and include addressing the relevant points from four UN Security Council resolutions (1325, 1820, 1888, and 1889); specifying all processes and timelines; and including civil society participation in all phases of a plan's development; implementation, and assessment.

There are many reasons to develop closer links between research and teaching. To do this, we argue the need to move beyond university rhetoric that fractures the engagement of teaching with research and instead focus on the development of what is necessary to bring these two core academic activities closer together. Opening with a review of the current literature on research‐led teaching, the paper then highlights the various debates about whether or not the divide between research and teaching can be broached. We then explore a number of often contradictory myths that we argue universities subscribe to in their efforts to bring teaching and research together as they simultaneously create structures to separate them. The paper seeks to better ‘marry’ research and teaching activities in higher education settings, concluding with a set of principles that could be used by university leaders to guide the implementation of research‐led teaching.

In this paper we argue that living in university accommodation is a possible means of improving the security of international students. Our argument is supported by a qualitative case study of a single Hall of Residence on Monash University's Clayton campus. Data were collected primarily from interviews with three groups of participants – six international students currently living in that Hall of Residence, three international students who used to live in the Halls of Residence, and three College Heads. The primary finding of this study was that international students living in university accommodation felt very physically secure and experienced a reduced threat level to their social security. It is intended that our findings will assist universities and government in improving the security of international students studying in Australia, thus contributing to a more sustainable Australian education export industry.

Aim: To describe the implementation of pharmacist-initiated e-script transcription service (PETS) in a teaching hospital; to validate the service through process indicators; and to explore the views of stakeholders. Method: Following an initial trial, PETS was implemented in 7 medical and surgical units at Frankston Hospital. Data were collected on activities and discharge prescription errors. Stakeholders' satisfaction was measured using a Likert scale based survey and group interviews. Transcripts of group interviews were analysed by informal word-based techniques, noting words or synonyms used repeatedly to discover themes. Results: During the implementation phase (8 to 29 February 2008), a daily average of 15 prescriptions (112 items) were prepared by the PETS pharmacist, i.e 30 to 60% of weekday discharge prescriptions. The discharge prescription error/ amendment rate was 0.06 per patient. 163 respondents (92%) were satisfied or very satisfied with PETS. As a result of 3 group interviews of 10 doctors, 10 nurses and 10 pharmacists, several areas for enhancement were identified and implemented. Conclusion: PETS has transitioned from trial to mainstream service, facilitating the discharge process and improving continuity of care.

Plagioporus kolipinskii n. sp. (Trematoda: Opecoelidae) is described from the intestine of the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., from Lobos Creek, a freshwater stream in Presidio, San Francisco County, California. Plagioporus kolipinskii is morphologically somewhat similar to 4 (P. serotinus , P. angusticollis , P. macrouterinus , and P. shawi []) of the 12 currently recognized North American species of the genus, but can be readily distinguished from all 4 in possessing a much larger acetabulum and a larger ovary relative to the testes. In addition, the new species can be distinguished from P. angusticollis by a smaller cirrus sac; from P. macrouterinus by the elongated shape of its body and reduced extent of its uterus (the uterus of P. macrouterinus extends posteriorly to the intersection of the testes); from P. shawi by a much-shorter cirrus sac (which reaches the ovary in P. shawi), an unlobed ovary (as opposed to a quadrilobed ovary in P. shawi), and fewer eggs that are also larger relative to body size.

Aim: To evaluate a pharmacist-initiated e-script transcription service for discharged patients. Method: A sequential prospective study of 2 groups of 40 eligible medical patients recruited from the neurology and respiratory wards. Pre-implementation of the service, baseline data were collected from 40 consecutive medical patients. After the new service was implemented and allowing for a 2 week run-in period, data were collected from a further 40 consecutive medical patients. The outcome indicators were the time taken to discharge patients and the number of prescribing errors. Results: The pharmacist-initiated e-script transcription service was successfully implemented. The discharge process was faster with the time taken from decision to discharge to actual discharge decreased by 34% (p = 0.02). The time spent by dispensing pharmacists in clarifying and amending discharge prescriptions decreased from 9.5 to 1.5 minutes per patient. The time spent by doctors in preparing discharge prescriptions fell from 15 to 2 minutes per patient. There were also fewer prescribing errors – number of errors decreased from 0.83 to 0.1 per patient (p = 0.0005) and from 0.0962 to 0.0137 per item (p = 0.011). Conclusion: Combining a prescribing role with the medication safety elements of electronic prescribing and medication reconciliation has resulted in significant improvements in the quality, accuracy and timeliness of discharge prescriptions. The centralised discharge transcription service is transferable to a wide variety of health settings. The principles of workforce substitution and process change is important as the health system struggles to meet ever increasing demands. J Pharm Pract Res 2009; 39: 39-42.

This research analyzes the 11 national action plans that were adopted between June 2005 and October 2008 as a response to the United Nations Security Council's Resolution 1325. Resolution 1325, one of the most important UN resolutions within the field of peace and security, was adopted unanimously on 31 October 2000. The resolution highlights the consequences of violent conflict on women and girls and the important role of women in peacebuilding and post-conflict processes. In 2002 and again in 2004, UN member states were invited to prepare national action plans in order to take strong steps towards the implementation of UNSCR 1325. This study examines the similarities and differences in the plans and compares the points identified in the plans to the relevant points in UNSCR 1325.

This article provides background information about special education and mediation and offers some points to consider for those interested in starting, improving or analyzing a special education mediation process. This article is based on the author's experience as a mediator as well as on site visits, interviews and a review of the relevant literature. The author concludes that mediation can be a very effective method for settling special education disputes and/or improving relationships but that the process can be affected by outside factors such as politics, finances and/or the system.

Purpose: This paper describes a process for the identification of genes that can report on the aggressiveness of prostate tumors and thereby add to the information provided by current pathologic analysis. Materials and Methods: Expression profiling data from over 100 laser capture microdissection derived samples from nonneoplastic epithelium; Gleason patterns 3, 4, and 5 and node metastasis prostate cancer were used to identify genes at abnormally high levels in only some tumors. These variably overexpressed genes were stratified by their association with aggressive phenotypes and were subsequently filtered to exclude genes with redundant expression patterns. Selected genes were validated in a case-control study in which cases (systemic progression within 5 years) and controls (no systemic progression at 7 years of follow-up) were matched for all clinical and pathologic criteria from time of prostatectomy (n = 175). Both cases and controls, therefore, could have nodal invasion or seminal vesicle involvement at the time of initial treatment. Results: A number of candidate variably overexpressed genes selected for their association with aggressive prostate cancer phenotype were evaluated in the case control study. The most prominent candidates were SSTR1 and genes related to proliferation, including TOP2A. Conclusions: The process described here identified genes that add information not available from current clinical measures and can improve the prognosis of prostate cancer.

Affirmative action has been a particularly contentious policy issue that has polarised contributions to the debate. Over recent times in most western countries, support for affirmative action has, however, been largely snuffed out or beaten into retreat and replaced by the concept of ‹diversity management’. Thus, any contemporary study that examines the development of affirmative action would suggest that its opponents have won the battle. Nonetheless, this article argues that because the battle has been won on dubious ethical grounds it is important that we do not allow affirmative action to sink unnoticed. This article explores and challenges the ethical and philosophical underpinnings of opponents’ views and finds their cases against affirmative action are not ethically sound. The article concludes there are strong ethical grounds for those organisations which seek to do well, to reassert affirmative action programmes in the global efforts to eradicate systemic discrimination and disadvantage.

Objectives Bipolar I disorder (BD-I) is associated with gray matter volume (GMV) alterations in neural regions important for emotional regulation. Reductions found in patients with multiple episodes are not seen at illness onset, suggesting that changes occur with illness progression, although no prospective studies to date have examined this. In the present study, we assessed GMV at baseline and one year following a first manic episode, examining the impact of episode recurrence on the trajectory of change. Methods A total of 41 recently remitted first manic episode patients with BD-I and 25 healthy subjects (HS) underwent 3T magnetic resonance imaging at baseline and one year later. Using voxel-based morphometry, we compared GMV change between HS, patients who experienced a recurrence of a mood episode (BDrecurr), and patients in sustained remission (BDwell). Results The GMV change from baseline to one year did not differ significantly between HS and the full BD-I group or BDwell and HS. However, the BDrecurr group had greater GMV loss than HS in left frontal and bilateral temporal regions, and BDwell patients involving bilateral frontal, temporal and left parietal regions. Conclusions GMV change early in the course of BD-I is associated with clinical outcome, such that neuroprogression found in patients who experience a recurrence of a mood episode is not seen in those with sustained remission. These findings have important implications for the treatment of BD-I as they suggest that prevention of recurrence might minimize neuroprogression of the disease, possibly requiring a multipronged early intervention approach to achieve this goal.

Future magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) systems for medical diagnosis may work on the principle of pre-polarization. This requires a strong local magnetic field which can be ramped up and down in milliseconds. Such fields can be generated efficiently by compact coils made with high-temperature superconductors (HTS). Copper conductors would be too bulky; low-Tc superconductors would give high AC loss at 4 K. We have designed, constructed and tested an HTS double-pancake coil which generates 0.3 T of pulsed field in a 200 mm inner bore. An operating temperature of 30 K was chosen as a compromise between efficient cooling and optimum use of the HTS tape. The coil is cooled by a single GM refrigerator via a heat-pipe system filled with liquid Neon. The heat pipes and supporting structure were designed for minimum eddy-current loss in the pulsed field. The design process had to account also for AC loss in the superconductor, heat transfer from the coil to the cooling fluid and Lorentz forces on the HTS tape. Initial experiments validated the winding process for the mechanically weak Bi-2223/Ag tape, and the glued connections under thermal contraction of the materials. The production process of the coil aimed at ensuring optimum thermal contact between winding and heat pipes. The critical current at 77 K proved that there was no degradation of the HTS material. In tests at 30 K, the coil carried 250 A, 1 Hz pulsed current during up to 20 minutes. Thus the coil fulfilled the design specs

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of internationalisation on academic work within a department of management in a large Australian university. It has been argued elsewhere that internationalisation strategies have transformed the nature and demands of academic work through the massification and commodification of educational curricula. Drawing on one of our university's projects to develop and deliver internationalised common curricula to students in Asia, South Africa and Australia we contend that internationalisation strategies have contributed to what we identify as the “Taylorisation” of teaching and learning. Frederick Taylor's principles of scientific management, exemplified by the growing trend towards standardisation of delivery and curricula, are readily identified in the pedagogical processes and expected academic practice in higher education. This paper draws on the work of others who highlight the complexity of internationalisation issues in the development and delivery of curric...

The aim of this study was to demonstrate that telehomecare linking homebound patients with their home health-care nurses over the plain old telephone system (POTS) provides high-quality, clinically useful, and patient satisfactory interactions. Congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic wound-care patients receiving skilled home nursing care were randomized into control (standard home health care, HHC) and two intervention (standard care plus video conferencing/Internet access; the above plus physiological monitoring) groups. Virtual visits (VVs), consisting of two-way audio and video interactions between the central site HHC nurse and the subject at home, were compared for technical quality and clinical usefulness by the HHC nurses who performed the VVs. Subject perception of telehomecare and satisfaction with their HHC were assessed over the course of the project. There were a total of 567 virtual and 1,057 actual visits conducted for the 53 subjects completing the study. The technical quality of VVs were rated at 94.7%. They were considered to be as useful as actual visits in 90.7% of cases. Subject telehomecare perception increased after experiencing the process. All subjects were satisfied with their HHC; satisfaction increased with an increasing level of telehomecare intervention. Subjects receiving physiological monitoring and video conferencing/Internet access in addition to standard care were most satisfied with their care. VVs can be conducted over POTS. Patients can use telehomecare with moderate levels of training. These programs can provide timely and quality home health nursing care with VVs augmenting traditional home visits.