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The first year of teaching has and continues to be fraught with challenges for early educators in public school contexts across the United States. A persistent problem that has been documented across the globe is the ability of novice teachers to engage in developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) with their students. We examine this issue through a case study that investigated how the first-year teachers in our study described: a) their conceptions of DAP with their students and b) their engagement in such practices during their first year of teaching in public school contexts. Our findings reveal the challenges and opportunities for growth as professionals in implementing DAP that emerged for these teachers in their first year of teaching. Through this analysis, we illuminate the spaces that might exist for teachers to think about and engage in DAP within public elementary school contexts and offer the chance to consider how such stakeholders as teacher educators and principals can better support novice teachers in conceptualizing and implementing more appropriate and equitable practices in their teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the shortcomings of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Whistleblower Award Program 10 years after its launch to prevent another 2008 financial crisis. Topics include the benefit of the program in preventing securities fraud, the possibility that private whistleblowers and their attorneys are acting as government agent, the procedures of the reward program and its beneficiaries, and the complexity of proving that a whistleblower is a government agent.

As policy-makers continue to implement early childhood education reforms that frame the field as a mechanism that is to ready children for elementary school success, questions arise as to how the multiple variables in the readiness equation, such as the child, family, and program, are affected by these policies. The instrumental case study presented in this article looks at this dilemma by examining how a collection of prekindergarten stakeholders in the United States aligned their academic performance expectations for students with their district's standards-based kindergarten through grade 12 education system. Such an analysis highlights the issues that arise for early educators who are asked to define the ready student within a standards-based education environment. Through this case study, the author makes suggestions for early childhood advocates and educators that can assist them in working with policy-makers and administrators to develop a balanced vision of the readiness equation that takes into account not only children's academic skills and knowledge but also the capacity of the family, the school, and the community to prepare these children for school success. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure and 13 notes.)

In this article, the author demonstrates how the current emphasis on viewing early childhood education (ECE) as an investment keeps ECE at the margins of U.S. political debates as well as in other discussions around the world. Historically, the field of ECE in the United States has struggled, and continues to struggle, for political positioning. While studies continue to demonstrate ECE's effectiveness in preparing students for success in later life (e.g., Schweinhart et al., 2005), politicians and the public appear unwilling to implement or advocate for a universal early childhood education system. The author believes that the lack of political will to broaden ECE exists because the field continues to position itself to policymakers as an intervention or investment. Using George Lakoff's (2002, 2004) cognitive theory as a foundation, the author argues that early childhood educators must consider strategies to reframe their positioning of ECE so that they can move their field from the margins to the heart of discussions over education policy.

Since the middle of the 20th century, the peak snowpack in the Upper Rio Grande (URG) basin of United States has been decreasing. Warming influences snowpack characteristics such as snow cover, snow depth, and Snow Water Equivalent (SWE), which can affect runoff quantity and timing in snowmelt runoff-dominated river systems of the URG basin. The purpose of this research is to investigate which variables are most important in predicting naturalized streamflow and to explore variables' relative importance for streamflow dynamics. We use long term remote sensing data for hydrologic analysis and deploy R algorithm for data processing and synthesizing. The data is analyzed on a monthly and baseflow/runoff basis for nineteen sub-watersheds in the URG. Variable importance and influence on naturalized streamflow is identified using linear standard regression with multi-model inference based on the second-order Akaike information criterion (AICc) coupled with the intercept only model. Five predictor variables: temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, sublimation, and SWE are identified in order of relative importance for streamflow prediction. The most influential variables for streamflow prediction vary temporally between baseflow and runoff conditions and spatially by watershed and mountain range. Despite the importance of temperature on streamflow, it is not consistently the most important factor in streamflow prediction across time and space. The dominance of precipitation over streamflow is more obvious during baseflow. The impact of precipitation, SWE, sublimation, and minimum temperature on streamflow is evident during the runoff season, but the results vary for different sub-watersheds. The association between sublimation and streamflow is positive in the runoff season, which may relate to temperature and requires further research. This research sheds light on the primary drivers and their spatial and temporal variability on streamflow generation. This work is critical for predicting how warming temperatures will impact water supplies serving society and ecosystems in a changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Operational satellite remote sensing products are transforming rangeland management and science. Advancements in computation, data storage and processing have removed barriers that previously blocked or hindered the development and use of remote sensing products. When combined with local data and knowledge, remote sensing products can inform decision‐making at multiple scales.We used temporal convolutional networks to produce a fractional cover product that spans western United States rangelands. We trained the model with 52,012 on‐the‐ground vegetation plots to simultaneously predict fractional cover for annual forbs and grasses, perennial forbs and grasses, shrubs, trees, litter and bare ground. To assist interpretation and to provide a measure of prediction confidence, we also produced spatiotemporal‐explicit, pixel‐level estimates of uncertainty. We evaluated the model with 5,780 on‐the‐ground vegetation plots removed from the training data.Model evaluation averaged 6.3% mean absolute error and 9.6% root mean squared error. Evaluation with additional datasets that were not part of the training dataset, and that varied in geographic range, method of collection, scope and size, revealed similar metrics. Model performance increased across all functional groups compared to the previously produced fractional product.The advancements achieved with the new rangeland fractional cover product expand the management toolbox with improved predictions of fractional cover and pixel‐level uncertainty. The new product is available on the Rangeland Analysis Platform (https://rangelands.app/), an interactive web application that tracks rangeland vegetation through time. This product is intended to be used alongside local on‐the‐ground data, expert knowledge, land use history, scientific literature and other sources of information when making interpretations. When being used to inform decision‐making, remotely sensed products should be evaluated and utilized according to the context of the decision and not be used in isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) may experience greater risk of sexually transmitted infections, higher rates of sexual abuse, and decreased sexual health knowledge, emphasizing the need for accessible, comprehensive sexual health education. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify the extent and nature of sexual health education interventions among individuals with I/DD ages 15–24 years. Six studies were included in the review. They investigated sexual health interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and mild I/DD, covered a wide range of topics (e.g. puberty, healthy relationships), included multiple learning activities (e.g. illustrations, activity-based learning), and measured behavior and sexual health knowledge outcomes. Future research is needed in this area to assess intervention effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As survival rates for adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients improve, fertility preservation has gained increased attention. Many AYAs report significant concerns about fertility potential after therapy. Preservation at diagnosis may be the only opportunity for future genetic parenthood for many patients. Time constraints, concerns about treatment delays, and difficulty accessing resources are reported as reasons for providers not providing counseling. In addition, some pubertal males are unable/unwilling to produce a sample through self-stimulation. Testicular sperm aspiration/extraction with sperm cryopreservation can be successfully performed in "high-risk" pubertal males with significant barriers to traditional collection before initiation of emergent chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 2 decades, policymakers' standards-based accountability reforms in the United States, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, have fundamentally changed public schooling in general and kindergarten specifically. As this has occurred, little is known about how families make sense of these changes in schooling. By sharing findings from a video-cued multivocal ethnographic research study, this article addresses this issue by providing insight into families' sensemaking about the changes that have occurred and continue to occur in public schooling. These findings reveal how family members were concerned about what kindergarten has become and were worried this increased academic focus in schooling may negatively affect their children's social and academic development. Such findings can assist education stakeholders such as teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, and policymakers in working with these primary stakeholders to develop an education system that will prepare their children for success in school and the larger society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important factor that may be missing from recent attempts to counter, resist, and/or reconceptualize the neoliberal framing of the early education process is the actions of children, particularly those that reinforce the neoliberal assemblage of schooling they learn through their interactions with their teacher in school. This article begins to address this issue by employing Foucault's conceptions of governmentality to examine how a teacher and students in a kindergarten classroom located in the USA give voice to and make choices that reflect the dominant neoliberal discourses of schooling. Such an analysis creates the opportunity to consider what needs to be done to assist both early educators and the children themselves so that they can live in the presence of each other within their neoliberal classrooms otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and resulting cases in the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration developed a personal protective equipment selection matrix to help employers protect workers from exposure to Ebola virus in the event of additional US cases. Now, the world's second largest Ebola outbreak on record continues to expand in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 70 Ebola-infected healthcare workers serve as reminders of the importance of robust infection prevention measures in keeping infectious disease responders from becoming victims themselves. Toward facilitating preparedness for cases associated with the ongoing or future outbreaks, this article discusses the matrix of personal protective equipment recommendations. The matrix applies to a variety of job tasks in health care, laboratories, waste handling, janitorial services, travel and transportation, and other sectors where workers may be exposed to the Ebola virus during outbreak events. A discussion of the information sources and decision-making process for developing the matrix forms the basis of the recommendations. The article then emphasizes challenges and considerations for formulating the matrix, including identifying information sources to help characterize occupational exposures, aligning recommendations among stakeholders with varying viewpoints, and balancing worker protections with feasibility concerns. These considerations highlight issues that remain relevant for preparedness efforts ahead of future US cases of Ebola or other emerging infectious diseases. OSHA developed a personal protective equipment selection matrix to help employers protect workers from exposure to Ebola virus in the event of future US cases. Toward facilitating preparedness for cases associated with outbreaks, this article discusses the matrix of personal protective equipment recommendations, which apply to a variety of job tasks in healthcare, laboratories, waste handling, janitorial services, travel and transportation, and other sectors where workers may be exposed to the Ebola virus during outbreak events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The call by policymakers, education stakeholders, and families for children to enter school ‘ready’ has led to numerous empirical studies that seek to identify how children and their families are or are not prepared for school. In the United States, this empirical work tends to identify particular children and their families ‘at-risk’ for school success and often seeks out ways to intervene so that such risks are addressed. Absent from this work is an understanding of how families conceptualise school readiness, and how those understandings influence their conceptions of whether or not their own children are ready for school. Such work could assist educators and other school personnel in supporting families and their children as they enter their programmes. This article examines this issue by presenting findings from a qualitative metasynthesis of studies that investigated how families conceptualised school readiness. Analysing, synthesising, and interpreting their conceptions of school readiness offers the chance to consider how early childhood stakeholders can be ready for families as they enter their programmes as well as support their efforts in readying their children for school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concomitant spine and hip disease in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) presents a management challenge. Degenerative lumbar spine conditions are known to decrease lumbar lordosis and limit lumbar flexion and extension, leading to altered pelvic mechanics and increased demand for hip motion. In this study, the effect of lumbar spine disease on complications after primary THA was assessed. The Medicare database was searched from 2005 to 2012 using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, procedure codes for primary THA and diagnosis codes for preoperative diagnoses of lumbosacral spondylosis, lumbar disk herniation, acquired spondylolisthesis, and degenerative disk disease. The control group consisted of all patients without a lumbar spine diagnosis who underwent THA. The risk ratios for prosthetic hip dislocation, revision THA, periprosthetic fracture, and infection were significantly higher for all 4 lumbar diseases at all time points relative to controls. The average complication risk ratios at 90 days were 1.59 for lumbosacral spondylosis, 1.62 for disk herniation, 1.65 for spondylolisthesis, and 1.53 for degenerative disk disease. The average complication risk ratios at 2 years were 1.66 for lumbosacral spondylosis, 1.73 for disk herniation, 1.65 for spondylolisthesis, and 1.59 for degenerative disk disease. Prosthetic hip dislocation was the most common complication at 2 years in all 4 spinal disease cohorts, with risk ratios ranging from 1.76 to 2.00. This study shows a significant increase in the risk of complications following THA in patients with lumbar spine disease. [Orthopedics. 2017; 40(3):e520-e525.]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study critically examines how African students experience racialization and the process of negotiating their Black racial identity in the United States. The authors conducted focus group interviews to analyze the collective racialized experiences among African international students and African students who live in the United States as permanent residents or naturalized U.S. citizens at a Midwestern University. They discovered two themes that constituted how the participants made sense of their shifting Black subjectivity. This study reveals that Black migrants use multiple and sometimes contradictory strategies to negotiate their shifting Black subjectivity, which ultimately has implications for intercultural relations and Black identity politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy makers and early childhood stakeholders across the United States continue to seek policy solutions that improve early educators’ instruction of young children. A primary vehicle for attaining this goal is professional development. This has led to an influx of empirical studies that seek to develop a set of best practices for professional development. While this deductive work is important and informative, it provides limited insight into how professional development is being conceptualized, and how teachers experience, respond to, or learn from these programs. This article begins to address these issues by presenting findings from a qualitative metasynthesis of published peer-reviewed qualitative studies of professional development programs for in-service early educators in the United States. By analyzing, synthesizing, and interpreting these studies, it appears that while such programs may have a positive impact on teachers’ conceptions of practice, there is a need to expand the research literature beyond identifying what works so that it includes studies examining teachers using such practices with children and investigations into teachers’ knowledge of their local teaching and learning communities. This study ends by offering an interpretation of the relationship between these findings and the field of teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issues of standardization, student achievement, and diversity have dramatically altered teaching within early childhood programs across the United States. This has created a situation in which teacher educators need to assist practicing and preservice teachers working in these contexts with formulating instructional responses that address policymakers’ high-stakes demands, take into account the best practices of early childhood, and attend to children’s linguistic, cultural, socioeconomic, and political worlds. This article addresses this issue by examining findings from a qualitative study of a professional development course within a large urban school district for prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers. In the course, the teachers were asked to engage in action research projects that pursued learning experiences with their students reflecting issues central to their lives in and/or outside their classrooms. Analyzing and interpreting their experiences sheds light on how teacher educators can support practicing and preservice teachers in responding to the governmental, institutional, and local demands on their teaching while attempting to formulate learning experiences that reflect their students’ sociocultural worlds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Policymakers’ use of high-stakes exams to improve students’ academic achievement affects teachers and their tenure in the field at all levels of schooling. Novice teachers now being inducted into the field have been educated almost exclusively in these high-stakes learning environments. Yet, how their familiarity with these contexts combined with their experiences in their own classrooms affect novices’ induction into the field of teaching has not been fully examined.Aim:This article presents findings from an investigation into the experiences of two first-year teachers who were educated and trained to be teachers in the same high-stakes education system in which they taught. It examines how these first-year teachers viewed policymakers’ reforms affecting their teaching and tenure in the field.Methods:This qualitative case study centers on the experiences of two first-year teachers working in the same high-stakes standards-based accountability teaching context in which they were educated – the case. This study provides insight into the issue of how novices’ familiarity with high-stakes reform combined with their experiences in their own classrooms impacts their conceptions of their teaching and their tenure in the field.Outcomes:The findings from this case study reveal how policymakers’ high-stakes reforms impacted the development of these novice teachers in significant ways. Not only did they have to learn how to teach as they taught, but they also had to ensure they were teaching all of their students to pass the high-stakes exams. Their varied experiences also demonstrate how these high-stakes exams can ‘test’ beginning teachers out of the classroom.Conclusions:These findings demonstrate that first-year teachers’ familiarity with policymakers’ high-stakes reforms is not enough to prepare them for the expectation that they immediately improve students’ academic achievement on high-stakes exams. Such findings not only challenge what it means to be a educator in these contexts, but they also shed light on how larger political and economic forces impact the teaching and tenure of novices. To support new teachers, teacher educators and mentors should rethink the education and induction processes while helping novices understand as well as prepare for the role context plays in their teaching and development as professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portrayals of fathers in the mass media influence parents' views of the importance of fathers to the well-being of children and of fathers' competence as parents. Awareness of how these portrayals influence parents is crucial to the effectiveness of professionals as they seek to improve child well-being through their work with parents, particularly through tactics that seek to increase the involvement of fathers in children's lives. This article raises awareness among professionals about how media depictions of fathers influence parents and concludes with recommendations for how professionals can counter negative stereotypes of fathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-stakes education reforms across the United States and the globe continue to alter the landscape of teaching and teacher education. One key but understudied aspect of this reform process is the experiences of first-year teachers, particularly those who participated in these high-stakes education systems as students and as a teachers-in-training. This article employs Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain’s conception of figured worlds to understand how such reforms affected two first-year teachers’ conceptions of themselves as educators and what it is they were to teach their students. It concludes with suggestions for teacher–educators and mentors to help novice and preservice teachers succeed in these high-stakes contexts so that they can work toward becoming educators who attend to their students’ individual needs and teach them how to be active and reflective citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As school readiness continues to gain prominence on political agendas across the globe, policymakers have also implemented reforms that demand improved student performance. While these demands for improved student achievement have been shown to impact teachers in numerous ways, little is known about how such policies affect their understanding of school readiness. This is significant because how teachers conceptualize school readiness impacts their teaching and their relationships with children. This article examines this issue by presenting findings from a qualitative metasynthesis of peer-reviewed studies that examined how U.S. teachers conceptualized school readiness prior to and after the implementation of NCLB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents findings from a qualitative metasynthesis that examined whether teachers and/or administrators were engaging in appropriate practices, and if so, how might such practices influence children's cognitive development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identified a grounded theory related to ethics studies within graduate organizational Security Management programs in the United States. The study used data analysis of program curricula, course descriptions, and program Web sites, as well as interviews of program faculty and administrators (n = 15) to explore (a) how ethics studies are incorporated into graduate organizational Security Management program curricula in the United States, (b) the role that ethics studies play in graduate organizational Security Management studies, (c) instruction and evaluation methods for ethics studies within the programs, (d) difficulties in teaching ethics, and (e) barriers to incorporating ethics into a curriculum. The research findings resulted in the creation of theoretical models depicting ethics studies in graduate Security Management programs and the role of ethics studies in the professionalization of security. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers information on the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in National Pork Producers Council v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that focuses on the ethical implications from the interpretation of the Clean Water Act against the factory farming related to Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in the U.S. It discusses the ethical issues raised by the EPA related to the treatment of animals from a legal perspective.

The article presents an abstract on the possibility of child abuse in patients showing signs of intraoral trauma and that the dentist should learn to recognize these signs and report it to the state child protection authorities.

The article presents information on the recent development in the intellectual property law under the legal system of Indiana. The Congress of the U.S. under the administration of the President of the country Barack Obama brought in some changes in the law under the Patent Act. Information on the role of the Patent and Trademark Office of the U.S. regarding the intellectual property law is also presented.

The article offers an in-depth analysis of a 1992 television commercial for the American clothing company Levi's, widely known as "Swimmer." Particular focus is given to how the commercial is inspired by and replicates shots from, the 1968 film "The Swimmer," directed by Frank Perry and starring Burt Lancaster. Details relating to how the commercial's muscled male protagonist holds both heterosexual and homosexual connotations for viewers are provided. The commercial's soundtrack, which features the song "Mad About the Boy," by Dinah Washington, is also examined.

The article focuses on the restrictions imposed by the U.S. National Pork Producers Council against the U.S. Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement. It discusses the overriding statutory purpose of CWA to maintain the physical, chemical and biological integrity of water. It gives an overview of confined animal feeding operation (CAFO) informing about its pollutants and corporate consolidation. It concludes that legally CWA is not bound to accept the restrictions of pork producers.

On March, 18, 2010, President Obama signed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE Act) into law. While the main focus of the law is to provide incentives for hiring and retaining unemployed workers, it also contains provisions to address offshore tax evasion. These provisions, commonly referred to as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), add an entirely new and significant U.S. withholding and information reporting tax regime to the Internal Revenue Code. FATCA was enacted to ensure there is no gap in the ability of the U.S. government to determine the ownership of U.S. assets in foreign accounts and to prevent offshore tax abuses by U.S. persons-in particular to prevent a U.S. person from escaping U.S. tax liability by owning U.S. assets through foreign accounts. During the last decade, U.S. persons, including financial institutions, corporations, and individuals, have invested trillions of dollars into global loan syndications and participations, as well as multi-party repos and swap or derivative products. Now banks and other financial sponsors will have to determine how FATCA and the preexisting U.S. tax information reporting and withholding rules interact and are applied to cross-border structured financial products. This article explores the impact of FATCA on cross-border loan participations, syndications or multi-party repo transactions, and on notional principal contracts or derivatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on how incorporate third-party benefits into the cost-benefit analysis of reasonable accommodation. Information is provided on the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act and the reasonable accommodation mandate that requires schools and employers to allow disabled people the rights of any other U.S. individual. It is noted that the ambiguity in the mandate leads to differences in interpretation of the courts when deciding on applicability, reasonableness, and ability - a form of cost-benefit analysis.

As federal government information is increasingly migrating to online formats, libraries are providing links to this content via URLs or persistent URLs (PURLs) in their online public access catalogs (OPACs). Clickthrough statistics that accumulated as users visited links to online content in the University of Denver's library OPAC were gathered over a six-year period and were analyzed. Among the conclusions were that DU users prefer online content over print for both newer and older documents and that there is great benefit in adding URLs above and beyond the URLs supplied by GPO cataloging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigate the influence of external factors such as depression and BMI among subjects with primary severe low back pain (LBP) and low back related leg pain (LBLP). The report of disability in patients with LBP may be significantly influenced by confounding and moderating variables. No similar studies have examined the influence of these factors on LBLP. This study included 1,448 consecutive subjects referred to a tertiary spine clinic. Unconditional binary logistic regression was used to determine the influence of comorbidities on the relationship between self-reported back and leg pain. A change in estimate formula was used to quantify this relationship. Among those subjects with primary LBP the unadjusted odds ratio was 8.58 (95% CI 4.87, 15.10) and when adjusting for BMI, depression and smoking was 5.94 (95% CI 3.04, 11.60) resulting in a 36.7% change due to confounding by these comorbidities. Among those with primary LBLP, the unadjusted odds ratio was 4.49 (95% CI 2.78, 7.27) and when adjusting for BMI and depression was 4.60 (95% CI 2.58, 8.19) resulting in a 1.7% change due to confounding by these comorbidities. The disability statuses of the patients with primary LBP in this study were more significantly affected by comorbidities of BMI, depression and smoking than patients with report of LBLP. However, these comorbidities contribute little to the relationship of primary low back related leg pain and Oswestry scores ≥ 40. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the moderate effect of anti-human trafficking policies of the U.S. and the Republic of Korea (ROK) due to their concentration on prostitution. It depicts on the human trafficking and the use of trafficked persons as prostitutes in ROK. It outlines the responses of the U.S. government and the Department of Defense on the issue of trafficked persons but limited only to the country's soldiers.

The article discusses a court case wherein the U.S. Court of Appeals Fourth Circuit held that the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is not applicable to cases where the state authority denies a permit application. The statute allowed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FRC) to issue permits for the construction of new transmission facilities wherein state commissions withheld approval of an application for over a year. In Piedmont Environmental Council v. FRC, it was agreed that the commission's backstop authority was a matter of statutory interpretation.

The article explores several cases related to intellectual property in the U.S. It discusses the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case Quanta Computer Inc. versus LG Electronics Inc. in which it examined a patent exhaustion doctrine in the context of patent methods that entail the use of computer technology. It offers an overview of the case Eagle Services Corp. versus H2O Industrial Services Inc., which deals with the granting of attorneys' fees in a copyright lawsuit won by a defendant.

A main implication of C.E. Ayres tool-combination principle is that the goal of technical progress is best served by a non-proprietary, open science public policy. Joseph Schumpeter claimed that new combinations are consequential only when they have been successfully commercialized. The capacity to privatize knowledge is, moreover, a powerful stimulus to innovation. This paper reexamines the Ayresian and Schumpeterian positions using evidence from the Bayh Dole experiment. The Bayh Dole Act, which gave universities title to inventions resulting from federally-sponsored research, created a laboratory wherein the trade-offs between diminution of the appropriable knowledge fund (due to patenting) and incentives to commercialization can be appraised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet connects people from different parts of the world in a way that no other technological innovation can. Extremists and hate mongrels use the Internet to access a potential audience of millions and to create a breeding ground for hate. In recent years, White supremacist organizations use chat rooms and Internet broadcasts to highlight a "racist double standard" and to promote racist ideologies. The influence of White supremacy is understudied and often ignored in communication studies on Whiteness and race. This study examines White supremacist discourse to show how it frames people of African descent using blatantly racist and offensive stereotypical overgeneralizations that set foundations of Whiteness ideology. I argue that this discourse aids our understanding of the contemporary constructions of both White and Black identities in the contemporary United States by showing how constructions of racist representations are integral to systems of White privilege. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As early childhood education becomes more regulated through a range of education reforms and mandates, early childhood teacher educators are seeking ways to prepare their preservice teachers to address these policy constraints through appropriate teaching practices that foster learning with understanding. Using the National Research Council’s conception of learning as a framework for analysis, this article considers strategies to achieve this goal by first presenting findings from a case study that examined the training of a sample of preservice teachers who were both educated in high-stakes learning classrooms as well as taught to be early educators in these same environments. This article then uses these findings to the make case for practical and political approaches to teaching that can assist teacher educators in preparing their students for this regulated field of early education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Establishment Clause jurisprudence, which stems from the inherent tension between Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause in the U.S. It notes a review of the Supreme Court's attempt to create an enduring standard in Lemon v. Kurtzman and how the pervasively sectarian doctrine matches into the Lemon Test. It mentions the analysis of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals' treatment of the Establishment Clause that exemplifies the pervasively sectarian debacle.

This paper examines the macroeconomic implications of recent developments in financial engineering, with particular emphasis on the post-1987 growth of markets for securities backed by credit card, installment, student loan, and home equity receivables. Three linkages of financial engineering to effective demand are identified: (1) funding effects, (2) liquidity preference or speculative effects, and (3) balance sheet or Minsky effects. Data from the Survey of Consumer Finances are used to investigate the importance of asset-backed security—related funding and balance sheet (Minsky) effects in the United States. Evidence is shown that financial engineering has boosted borrowing power at all income levels. The liberal use of expanded borrowing opportunities has fueled the growth of consumption—especially since 1995. However, a secularly rising share of U.S. households have entered the categories of ‘speculative’ or ‘Ponzi’ finance units—a factor that raises doubts about the sustainability of the current spending boom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the decisions of the Indiana appellate courts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concerning trade secret cases and other cases based on a survey conducted during the period of October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005. The case Northern Electric Co. v. Torma involves trade secret issues which centered on a compilation of date made by an employee. It discusses several trademark and unfair competition cases including Rice v. Hulsey. The Phillips v. AWH Corp. case involves a patent claim construction issue.

The article discusses the significance of economic factors towards the decline in marriage ratios of black women. According to the author, the reduction of opportunities to improve the welfare of married couples resulted to the decrease of the number of young adults who want to get married. The two hypothesis for the decrease in marriage among young black women are the market opportunity hypothesis and the man shortage hypothesis.

The purpose of this study was to assess the persistence and accumulation of the CrylAb protein, in soil as a result of sustained planting of genetically modified Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn hybrids. Soil samples were collected from agricultural fields in five corn-growing regions of the United States where Bt corn hybrids (MON 810: or Btll) had been planted forat least 3 consecutive yr. At each site,, soil samples were collected during the corn-growing period (postanthesis) and again within 6 wk after harvest. Multiple soil specimens from matched Bt cornfields and nearby, non-Bt control fields were analyzed by diet-incorporation insect bioassay, using growth inhibition (GI) of the European corn borer (Ostrinia nubilalis) as the toxicity endpoint. Positive control soil samples containing CrylAb protein at the GI50 level (0.05 μg/g soil) were analyzed In tandem with test and control samples to verify that the bioassay was able to detect low levels of CrylAb protein. The limit of detection for CrylAb protein in soil was 0.03 μg/g soil. The presence of CrylAb protein in soil was assessed by statistical comparison of the insect toxicity (GI) of soils collected from Bt and non-Bt (control) cornfields. Only one soil sample, collected postanthesis in a Bt cornfield that had also been treated with carbofuran insecticide, showed insect toxicity. This toxicity was below the GI50 level, and no toxicity was detected in the soil collected from the same plot shortly after harvest Therefore, there is no evidence of persistence or accumulation of CrylAb protein in soils from fields planted for at least three consecutive growing seasons with Bt corn hybrids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on academic degrees related to nursing in the U.S. Nursing as a profession appears destined to argue about educational preparation. This year one celebrates the 40th anniversary of the American Nurses Association's resolution that entry into practice will be at the bachelor's degree level. In October 2004, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing passed a resolution to support the doctor of nursing practice as a terminal practice degree. The degree is to be distinguished from the PhD, which has wide acceptance as a research-focused degree, and is to supplant the master's degree.

Abstract: Over the past decade or so, well-understood procedures and methodologies have evolved within computer forensics digital evidence collection. Correspondingly, many organizations such as the HTCIA (High Technology Criminal Investigators Association) and IACIS (International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists) have emphasized disk imaging procedures which ensure reliability, completeness, accuracy, and verifiability of computer disk evidence. The rapidly increasing and changing volume of data within corporate network information systems and personal computers are driving the need to revisit current evidence collection methodologies. These methodologies must evolve to maintain the balance between electronic environmental pressures and legal standards. This paper posits that the current methodology which focuses on collecting entire bit-stream images of original evidence disk is increasing legal and financial risks. 1 [1] The authors emphasize that the proposed Risk Sensitive Evidence Collection Methodology is intended to complement traditional bit-stream methodology in circumstances that necessitate a more efficient and cost-sensitive approach to digital evidence collection. Those types of contexts are addressed herein. The authors do not suggest an abdication of the bit-stream methodology in contexts where the cost-benefit assessment suggests it is reasonable to adhere to this traditional approach. For example, when a search warrant application (affidavit) establishes that the computer is an “instrumentality” or “fruit” of the crime(s), then seizure and retention of the entire machine is permitted (and advisable) under the law because the computer per se becomes evidence of the criminal conduct, like a gun used in furtherance of a robbery. See, e.g., United States v. Farrell, 606 F.2d 1341, 1347 (D.C. Cir. 1979) (noting that the government is entitled “to seize the instrumentalities of crime and hold them until the trial is completed.” The first section frames the debate and change drivers for a Risk Sensitive approach to digital evidence collection, which is followed by the current methods of evidence collection along with a cost-benefit analysis. Then the methodology components of the Risk Sensitive approach to collection, and then concludes with a legal and resource risk assessment of this approach. Anticipated legal arguments are explored and countered, as well. The authors suggest an evolved evidence collection methodology which is more responsive to voluminous data cases while balancing the legal requirements for reliability, completeness, accuracy, and verifiability of evidence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

With the performance of students, teachers, and schools defining success under current standards-based accountability policies (e.g. Chicago Public Schools (Note 1); No Child Left Behind Act, (United States Department of Education, 2002)), school districts are implementing various forms of intervention programs as a means to improve student performance. By examining a pilot summer school program that is transitioning from a 'low-stakes' to a 'high-stakes' intervention program, this article examines the possibilities that exist for students to author themselves as learners, and it questions whether opportunities for students to identify themselves as successful learners are lost when an intervention program, such as summer school, becomes mandatory. The implications of this analysis highlight questions and concerns that policymakers and school personnel need to address when formulating high-stakes standardsbased accountability policies and intervention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the influence of income distribution in the determination of effective demand in the US. A simple model is developed to simulate the effects of changing income inequality on the aggregate propensity to consume. The simulation results illustrate that income inequality has a substantial negative impact on consumption when household spending is assumed to be income-constrained. Econometric evidence is presented that rising private sector wage inequality had a dampening effect on the time path of consumption in the United States between 1978 and 2000. The methodology entails time series estimation of consumption specifications with a measure of income inequality (the Theil index) included among the explanatory variables. The argument is made that, ceteris paribus, rising income inequality creates a need for greater reliance on debt to sustain a given level of household spending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the developments in intellectual property law in Indiana, according to a survey conducted in the period October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003. Examples of cases which clarified trade dress law and its limitations; Discussion on the proposed revisions to the Indiana Trademark Act; Details of lawsuits concerning interpretation of parent claims handed down by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

A controlled burn at Bandelier National Monument got out of control and burned about 43,000 acres (17,400 hectares) near Los Alamos, New Mexico, in May 2000. The wildfire caused dramatic changes in infiltration capacity and wettability of soils in many of the watersheds above Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and destroyed the "duff" layer, dramatically reducing the interception and infiltration capacity of the formerly forested watersheds. These sudden changes in basin hydrology necessitated a rapid assessment of hydrology and hydraulics for the canyons running through LANL property to evaluate flood risk, plan emergency flood protection measures, and assess potential sediment and actinide transport. This paper presents the results of hydrologic and hydraulic modeling of Los Alamos Canyon following the wildfire. The large scale modeling effort, with over 13,000 cross sections for the hydraulic model (5,000 for Los Alamos Canyon, 8,000 for Guaje Canyon), relied heavily on a geographic information system (GIS) for model input and floodplain delineation. The HEC-geoRAS model provided good integration between the hydraulic model (HEC-RAS, Version 3.0.1) and the GIS (ArcView, v. 3.3). These modeling results are being used in drainage master planning efforts at LANL and in the development of sediment transport models using HEC-6T. Sediment transport modeling results will be used to develop actinide transport models for the canyons at LANL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the efforts to manage water supply in the U.S.-Mexican border region. Role of the Bellagio Draft Treaty in providing insight into the complexities of managing water resources in the transboundary context; Warnings issued by researchers regarding the threats posed by growth and urbanization along the border; Obstacles to transboundary management. INSETS: THE BELLAGIO DRAFT TREATY;ENVIRONMENT AND THE U.S.-MEXICAN BORDER REGION.