The University has 3 active pension plans. Faculty, Excluded Faculty, Professional/Managerial staff, College Academic/Research Group and Ontario Nurses Association employees participate in the Professional Pension Plan [2]. UGFSEA Units 1 & 2 and OSSTF/TARA District 35 members enrolled on or after October 1, 2014 participate in the Non-Professional Pension Plan [3]. All other eligible employees belong to the Retirement Pension Plan [4].


"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering. Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the "rise of the rest"-the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others-as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world. The tallest buildings, biggest dams, largest-selling movies, and most advanced cell phones are all being built outside the United States. This economic growth is producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should the United States understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.


Protein Found to Shield Pancreatic Cancer Cells from Self-Destruction An overexpressed protein protects human pancreatic cancer cells from being forced to devour themselves, removing one of the body's natural defenses against out-of-control cell growth, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report in the March, 2007 issue of Molecular Cancer Research. The protein tissue transglutaminase, known by the abbreviation TG2, previously has been found by researchers at M. D. Anderson and elsewhere to be overexpressed in a variety of drug-resistant cancer cells and in cancer that has spread from its original organ (metastasized). "In general, you rarely see overexpression of TG2 in a normal cell," says Kapil Mehta, Ph.D., professor in the M. D. Anderson Department of Experimental Therapeutics, who began 10 years ago studying TG2 as an inflammatory protein. Mehta and colleagues in the past year have connected TG2 overexpression to drug-resistant and metastatic breast cancer, pancreatic cancer and melanoma. Expression of TG2 is tightly regulated in a healthy cell, Mehta says, and is temporarily increased in response to certain hormones or stress factors. "However, constitutive expression of this protein in a cancer cell helps confer protection from stress-induced cell death," Mehta says. "We are developing TG2 as a pharmaceutical target and are now working with a mouse model to that end." The mechanisms by which TG2 might promote drug-resistance and metastasis have remained elusive, the researchers note. In this paper, the M. D. Anderson team shows in lab experiments that inhibiting the protein in pancreatic cancer cells leads to a form of programmed cell suicide called autophagy, or self-digestion. TG2 was inhibited in two separate ways. First, the researchers blocked another protein known to activate TG2. Secondly, they also directly targeted TG2 with a tiny molecule known as small interfering RNA tailored to shut down expression of the protein. In both cases, the result was a drastic reduction of TG2 expression (up to 94 percent) and telltale signs of autophagy in the cancer cells, which became riddled with cavities called vacuoles. When autophagy occurs, a double membrane forms around a cell organ, or organelle. This autophagosome then merges with a digestive organelle called a lysosome and everything inside is consumed, leaving the vacuole and a residue of digested material. If enough of this happens, the cell dies. Gabriel Lopez-Berestein, M.D., professor of experimental therapeutics and study co-author, notes that the research also shows that the self-consuming cell death prevented by TG2 is independent of a prominent molecular pathway also known to regulate autophagy called the mammalian target of rapamycin. "Targeting TG2, or its activating protein PKC, or both, presents a novel and potentially effective approach to treating patients with pancreatic cancer," Lopez-Berestein said. Research in the mouse model remains in the early stages, the researchers caution. The researchers also show that the TG2 pathway also is separate from another, better known, form of programmed cell death called apoptosis. Apoptosis, like autophagy, is a normal biological defense mechanism that systematically destroys defective cells by forcing them to kill themselves. In apoptosis, the cells die via damage to their nucleus and DNA, with other cellular organelles preserved. Autophagy kills by degrading those other organelles while sparing the nucleus. Mehta's lab reported in a Cancer Research paper in September, 2006 that TG2 overexpression also activates a protein called nuclear factor-kB known to play a role in regulating cell growth, metastasis and apoptosis. This pathway, Mehta explained, could make TG2 an attractive target for other forms of cancer as well. Co-authors with Mehta and Lopez-Berestein are: co-first authors Ugur Akar, Ph.D., and Bulent Ozpolat, M.D., Ph.D., and Jansina Fok, all of the Department of Experimental Therapeutics, and Yasuko Kondo, M.D., Ph.D, of the M. D. Anderson Department of Neurosurgery. Funding for this research was provided by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.


The biological hair-cell is a modular building block of a rich variety of biological sensors. These sensors are responsive to various mechanical properties like vibration, touch, gravitational forces, etc., especially flow. Using micro and nano-fabrication technology, an engineering equivalent of such sensors have been reported to be fabricated, imitating the structure and transfer function of the biological hair-cell. This study aims at the design and simulation of such artificial hair-cell sensor using MEMS module of COMSOL Multiphysics which can lead to a better understanding of biological hair-cells and their role in sensing. The design consists of an array of Silicon beams fixed at one end and the corresponding out-of-plane beams attached to the distal end of the horizontal beams were designed to be made of polyimide. The physics used to simulate the working condition of the sensor was Fluid Structure Interaction. By this study, parameters that are influenced by the flow rate of the fluid, such as displacement, pressure, stress-strain, etc can be evaluated. A comparison between the efficiencies of this design and conventional cantilever beams has also been made in this study.


Summary A prerequisite for planning within existing built contexts is precise information regarding the building substance, its construction and materials, possible damages and any modifications and additions that may have occurred during its lifetime. Using the information collected in a building survey the user should be able to "explore" the building in virtual form, as well as to assess the information contained with regard to a specific planning aspect. The functionality provided by an information module should cover several levels of information provision ranging from 'simple retrieval' of relevant information to the analysis and assessment of stored information with regard to particular question sets. Through the provision of basic functionality at an elementary level and the ability to extend this using plug-ins, the system concept of an open extendable system is upheld. Using this modular approach, different levels of information provision can be provided as required during the planning process.


In this paper a new approach to perform step-drawdown tests is presented. Step-drawdown tests known to date are performed strictly keeping the value of the pumping rates constant through all the steps of the test. Current technology allows one to let the submerged electric pumps work at a specific revolution per minute (r/min) and to suitably modify the rotation velocity at every step. The new approach presented in this paper is based on the idea of keeping the value of r/min fixed at every step of the test, instead of keeping constant the value of the discharge. This technique has been experimentally applied to a well and a description of the operations and results are presented in detail. This approach, in this unique case, made possible an understanding of how the discharge Q varies as a function of the drawdown sw. It also enables one monitor the approaching of the equilibrium between Q and sw, using both the variation of Q and sw with time. Moreover, it was observed that for the well in question the ratio Qsw remains almost constant within each step.


Phospholipids comprise a large body of lipids that define cells and organelles by forming membrane structures. Importantly, their complex metabolism represents a highly controlled cellular signaling network that is essential for mounting an effective innate immune response. Phospholipids in innate cells are subject to dynamic regulation by enzymes, whose activities are highly responsive to activation status. Along with their metabolic products, they regulate multiple aspects of innate immune cell biology, including shape change, aggregation, blood clotting, and degranulation. Phospholipid hydrolysis provides substrates for cell-cell communication, enables regulation of hemostasis, immunity, thrombosis, and vascular inflammation, and is centrally important in cardiovascular disease and associated comorbidities. Phospholipids themselves are also recognized by innate-like T cells, which are considered essential for recognition of infection or cancer, as well as self-antigens. This Review describes the major phospholipid metabolic pathways present in innate immune cells and summarizes the formation and metabolism of phospholipids as well as their emerging roles in cell biology and disease.


If you have large quantities of data in a Microsoft Access database, and need to study that data in depth, this book is a data cruncher's dream. Access Data Analysis Cookbook offers practical recipes to solve a variety of common problems that users have with extracting Access data and performing calculations on it. Each recipe includes a discussion on how and why the solution works. Whether you use Access 2007 or an earlier version, this book will teach you new methods to query data, different ways to move data in and out of Access, how to calculate answers to financial and investment issues, and more. Learn how to apply statistics to summarize business information, how to jump beyond SQL by manipulating data with VBA, how to process dates and times, and even how to reach into the Excel data analysis toolkit. Recipes demonstrate ways to: Develop basic and sophisticated queriesApply aggregate functions, custom functions, regular expressions, and crosstabsApply queries to perform non-passive activities such as inserting, updating, and deleting dataCreate and manipulate tables and queries programmaticallyManage text-based data, including methods to isolate parts of a string and ways to work with numbers that are stored as textUse arrays, read and write to the Windows registry, encrypt data, and use transaction processingUse the FileSystemObject, use XML with XSLT, communicate with SQL Server, and exchange data with other Office productsFind answers from time-based data, such as how to add time, count elapsed time, work with leap years, and how to manage time zones in your calculationsDeal with business and finance problems, including methods for calculating depreciation, loan paybacks, and Return on Investment (ROI)Explore statistical techniques, such as frequency, variance, kurtosis, linear regression, combinations and permutations Access Data Analysis Cookbook is a one-stop-shop for extracting nuggets of valuable information from your database, and anyone with Access experience will benefit from these tips and techniques, including seasoned developers. If you want to use your data, and not just store it, you'll find this guide indispensable.


The brief but intense history of American judicial and legislative confrontation with problems caused by the online world has demonstrated a certain wisdom: a reluctance to intervene in ways that dramatically alter online architectures; a solicitude for the collateral damage that interventions might wreak upon innocent activity; and, in the balance, a refusal to allow unambiguously damaging activities to remain unchecked if there is a way to curtail them. The ability to regulate lightly while still curtailing the worst online harms that might arise has sprung from the presence of gatekeepers. These are intermediaries of various kinds - generally those who carry, host, or index others' content - whose natural business models and corresponding technology architectures have permitted regulators to conscript them to eliminate access to objectionable material or to identify wrongdoers in many instances. The bulk of this Article puts together the pieces of that history most relevant to an understanding of the law's historical forbearance, describing a trajectory of gatekeeping beginning with defamation and continuing to copyright infringement, including shifts in technology toward peer-to-peer networks, that has so far failed to provoke a significant regulatory intrusion. I argue that the U.S. Supreme Court's Grokster decision upholds this tradition of light-touch regulation that has allowed the Internet to thrive. The decision thus is not a landmark so much as a milestone, ratifying a continuing detente between those who build on the Internet and those in a position to regulate the builders. Grokster may have achieved such a fit with its ancestors by avoiding a set of now-pressing issues about gatekeepers. This avoidance is revealed by looking at Grokster's outcome: a loss for Grokster Ltd. that has no practical impact on the distribution and use of the sort of PC software that got Grokster Ltd., in trouble. The most recent peer-to-peer technologies eliminate a layer of intermediation from the networks they create; there are often no longer central websites or services that can be blamed, and then shut down or modified, to dampen the objectionable activities that they enable. Even decentralized Internet service providers may prove unable to intercede much as new overlay networks cloak users' network identities in addition to their personal ones. The loss of these natural points of control will cause those with challenged interests to foreground a new and less palatable set of intermediaries: software authors. These authors may be asked to write their software in such a way that it can be recalled or modified after it has been obtained by a user and then put to an undesirable purpose. They may even be asked to program their software to disable the installed software of others. Control over software - and the ability of PC users to run it - rather than control over the network, will be a future battleground for Internet regulation, a battleground primed by an independently-motivated movement by consumers away from open, generative PCs and toward more highly regulable endpoint platforms.


Literature proscribes and prescribes ethically. When stories reinforce a society's unhealthy prejudices, responsible readers should find others. The Bildungsroman has fostered the perspective that women are expendable, that coming of age terminates in adult identity formation, and that acculturation is the access to happiness and success. "Cinderella" is the current American companion tale for female coming of age. In both, male success trumps female success, female happiness depends on attachment to a male, adult coming of age is the end to human development, and happiness depends upon social acculturation. Such tales diminish females unacceptably. Although many critics have challenged the ethical merits of perpetuating the Bildungsroman and "Cinderella" agendas, none have proposed an alternative. This dissertation explores that possibility in the new genre of the "self-actualization novel," a nomenclature highlighting the importance of Abraham H. Maslow's famous concept. Frequently written by marginalized authors, this genre avoids the pitfalls of the Bildungsroman and the American "Cinderella" marriage master narrative. The novels of Jade Snow Wong, Julia Alvarez, Lisa Alther, Ntozake Shange, and Fannie Flagg explore family, education, friends, work, community, and love as alternatives for enriching women's lives and their worlds. Although these self-actualization novels vary in their approaches to characterizing ethical females, they all promote a lifelong journey of self-fulfillment and social responsibility (Motivation 217). The self-actualization novels of marginalized authors offer great hope that all women can establish their voices and places--for themselves and for others.


Within two hydrodynamically different inundation regimes in North Carolina, the growth response and interactions of two dominant marsh macrophytes were evaluated over a range of inundation periods to understand better how coastal marshes will respond to rising sea levels. Marsh vegetation is likely key to accretion processes. Greater aboveground biomass baffles floodwaters, potentially increasing sedimentation, and greater belowground biomass contributes directly to the elevation of marsh substrate. Multi-level planters were used to evaluate experimentally the response of Spartina alterniflora Loisel and Juncus roemerianus Scheele to an array of inundation periods. Groundcover changes were evaluated before and after a pulsed disturbance to simulate conditions where these species are naturally delineated on the marsh platform. Peak production of S. alterniflora and J. roemerianus occurred at inundation periods of 0.5 to 14% and 0.4 to 28%, respectively, in marsh planters. The growth response patterns of S. alterniflora and J. roemerianus to inundation period were similar, although J. roemerianus appeared to experience greater stress in an astronomically-dominated than in a meteorologically-dominated inundation regime. Spartina alterniflora was found to be more resilient to disturbance than J. roemerianus in planters and on the marsh platform. Sixteen months following a one-time cutting disturbance, a significant decline in J. roemerianus and encroachment of S. alterniflora in experimental platform plots was observed within both regimes. Estuarine inundation appears to function as both a subsidy and stressor to marsh macrophytes. I propose a conceptual model to describe this relationship. The scaling of the losses and gains in marsh ecosystem services is reviewed within the context of coastal marsh habitat injury, restoration and creation as achieved by the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and compensatory restoration processes. An analysis into the current methods used to assess ecosystem services found that U.S. statutes provide for the compensation of loss of public trust resources, yet current metrics for ecosystem services serve as incomplete proxies of ecosystem function and condition. Coastal ecosystems have and will transgress in response to rising sea levels. Data from this investigation suggest that marsh accretion is challenged by increased inundation rates, especially where sediment supplies are limiting, thus, highlighting the need for accommodating transgression within the coastal zone.


"This study explored the significance of deploying effective teachers to schools most heavily impacted by poverty as a strategy for reducing the achievement divide. The degree to which teacher assignments affect students' performance on Algebra I End-of-Course and Eighth Grade Math End-of-Grade tests was examined. Estimates of the effect of a series of effective or ineffective teachers on the students' scores were generated. Achievement scores of all students who participated in Algebra I and eighth grade math testing in Guilford County Schools, Greensboro, North Carolina in 2005 were matched with records in the value added databases maintained by SAS Institute. A variety of descriptive analyses were conducted to demonstrate the relationship between the cumulative effects of teacher quality and student achievement as measured by students' performance on Eighth Grade Math End-of-Grade and Algebra I tests. Even after adjusting for the entering achievement of the students in fourth grade, the impact of the previous fifth, sixth and seventh grade teachers, was quite significant on how eighth grade students performed on the Algebra I End-of-Course and the End-of-Grade tests. Further, the study investigated the relationship between teacher effectiveness scores and teacher years of experience. The study confirmed that teachers with more years of experience tended to be more effective than non-experienced teachers. The poorer schools were also more likely to have a higher percentage of less experienced teachers. In addition, the distribution of teachers based on their teacher effectiveness estimates was examined across the Guilford County public school system. Generally, the highest percentage of effective teachers were assigned to schools that were least impacted by poverty. The results of the study should serve as a necessary catalyst for policy makers and personnel of Guilford County Schools and other districts across the nation to make decisions regarding the equitable deployment of effective teachers as a viable means of reducing the achievement gap."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


This article contends that university continuing education is in need of a dramatic repositioning in the minds and wallets of most university administrations. In order to respond both to a developed economy's need for the continuous upgrading of skills and knowledge and to universities' needs for new funding sources, the provision of lifelong education and training—lifelong learning—needs to be strategically central to a university's vision, mission, and goals. Right now, in its non-degree form, it is a peripheral activity making only minor contributions to universities' reputation and revenue: according to the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada in its 2008 report Trends in Higher Education—Volume 3: Finance, only $300 million was earned by universities in noncredit courses. This had not changed much in a decade. Canadian universities are missing out on opportunities in reputation, revenue, and relevance, both domestically and globally. The article goes on to suggest the steps needed in the development of an effective lifelong learning strategy. Some would require changes in university management processes and philosophy to be effective, but continuation of the present half-hearted approach will not succeed in serving either Canada's lifelong learning needs or its universities' needs for relevance and revenue.


[1] Thermal analysis of aerosol size distributions provided size resolved volatility up to temperatures of 400C during extensive flights over North America (NA) for the INTEX/ICARTT experiment in summer 2004. Biomass burning and pollution plumes identified from trace gas measurements were evaluated for their aerosol physiochemical and optical signatures. Measurements of soluble ionic mass and refractory black carbon (BC) mass, inferred from light absorption, were combined with volatility to identify organic carbon at 400C (VolatileOC) and the residual or refractory organic carbon, RefractoryOC. This approach characterized distinct constituent mass fractions present in biomass burning and pollution plumes every 5–10 min. Biomass burning, pollution and dust aerosol could be stratified by their combined spectral scattering and absorption properties. The ''nonplume'' regional aerosol exhibited properties dominated by pollution characteristics near the surface and biomass burning aloft. VolatileOC included most water-soluble organic carbon. RefractoryOC dominated enhanced shortwave absorption in plumes from Alaskan and Canadian forest fires. The mass absorption efficiency of this RefractoryOC was about 0.63 m 2 g � 1 at 470 nm and 0.09 m 2 g � 1 at 530 nm. Concurrent measurements of the humidity dependence of scattering, g, revealed the OC component to be only weakly hygroscopic resulting in a general decrease in g with increasing OC mass fractions. Under ambient humidity conditions, the systematic relations between physiochemical properties and g lead to a well-constrained dependency on the absorption per unit dry mass for these plume types that may be used to challenge remotely sensed and modeled optical properties.


Introduction. Part I: Knowing Where You Want to Go. Chapter 1: Preparing to Do a Business Plan. Chapter 2: Understanding the Importance of a Business Plan. Chapter 3: Setting Off in the Right Direction. Chapter 4: Charting the Proper Course. Part II: Describing Your Marketplace. Chapter 5: Examining the Business Environment. Chapter 6: Slicing and Dicing Markets. Chapter 7: Getting Better Acquainted With Customers. Chapter 8: Checking Out Your Competition. Part III: Weighing Your Company's Prospects. Chapter 9: Assessing Where You Stand Today. Chapter 10: Making Money Doing What You Do Best. Chapter 11: Figuring Out the Financial Details. Chapter 12: Forecasting and Budgeting. Part IV: Looking to the Future. Chapter 13: Managing Uncertainty. Chapter 14: Thinking Strategically. Chapter 15: Growing Up and Growing Bigger. Part V: Putting Your Business Plan into Action. Chapter 16: Shaping Your Organization. Chapter 17: Leading the Way. Part VI: The Part of Tens. Chapter 18: Ten Signs That Your Business Plan Needs Refreshing. Chapter 19: Ten Questions to Ask about Your Plan. Chapter 20: Ten Business-Planning Never-Evers. Appendix: A Sample Business Plan. Index.


It is widely believed that urbanisation is occurring faster in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world, as migrants move from rural to urban settlements. This is a fallacy. While the populations of numerous urban areas are growing rapidly, the urbanisation levels of many countries are increasing slowly – if at all. Natural increase, rather than net in-migration, is the predominant growth factor in most urban populations. African governments, policymakers and international donors need to acknowledge fundamental changes in urbanisation trends, and respond to the irrefutable messages these impart about urban employment, incomes and economic development.


Sharing economy firms such as Uber and Airbnb facilitate trusted transactions between strangers on digital platforms. This creates economic and other value and raises a set of concerns around racial bias, safety, and fairness to competitors and workers that legal scholarship has begun to address. Missing from the literature, however, is a fundamental critique of the sharing economy grounded in asymmetries of information and power. This Article, coauthored by a law professor and a technology ethnographer who studies the ride-hailing community, furnishes such a critique and indicates a path toward a meaningful response.
Commercial firms have long used what they know about consumers to shape their behavior and maximize profits. By virtue of sitting between consumers and providers of services, however, sharing economy firms have a unique capacity to monitor and nudge all participants — including people whose livelihood may depend on the platform. Much activity is hidden away from view, but preliminary evidence suggests that sharing economy firms may already be leveraging their access to information about users and their control over the user experience to mislead, coerce, or otherwise disadvantage sharing economy participants.
This Article argues that consumer protection law, with its longtime emphasis of asymmetries of information and power, is relatively well positioned to address this under-examined aspect of the sharing economy. But the regulatory response to date seems outdated and superficial. To be effective, legal interventions must (1) reflect a deeper understanding of the acts and practices of digital platforms and (2) interrupt the incentives of sharing economy firms to abuse their position.


India emerged as one of the fastest growing economies of the world during the 1990s because of the spectacular dynamism shown by the services sector. Indias services sector has been burgeoning fast and one of the major drivers of the growth of services sector is information technology (IT) and information technology enabled services (ITES). It is well documented in literature that IT impacts growth by different channels. In this study we try to empirically verify the question : Can IT and ITES be an engine of growth? Using micro-level data of 100 households of 20 IT and ITES firms along with secondary data we tried to estimate the extent of indirect employment generation at macro level and the share of IT and ITES in total employment and total value added. According to our study, one job for skilled professional employed in IT and ITES spins off jobs for 0.48 semi-skilled, low skills or unskilled workers. As per our estimates, the 16 lakh workers who are expected to be directly employed in IT sector in the FY 2008 would generate secondary employment for 7,68,000 people which would constitute 0.16 % of total employment. However, the share of consumption expenditure of 16 lakh professionals would be 20% of total value added. Assuming the consumption expenditure of the IT and ITES workers and total value added to be the same/constant when we tried to assess the contribution of consumption expenditure of 2.3 million workers (who are projected to be directly absorbed by IT sector by 2010, NASSCOM, 2005) to total value added it comes out to be 29% of total value added. The study says that the proportion of IT-ITES in total employment may be small but its contribution to total value added is still very high. Indeed IT and ITES can be an engine of growth in Indias economy by way of generating demand impulses in the economy as has been hypothesized and shown through the present study. Keeping in view the contributions of this sector and its huge untapped potential as evident from the present study and various other studies, there is a need for introduction and implementation of policy initiatives to address the challenges faced by this sector and to sustain the growth driven by the services sector.


In the game $G_{0}$ two players alternate removing positive numbers of counters from a single pile and the winner is the player who removes the last counter. On the first move of the game, the player moving first can remove a maximum of $k$ counters, $k$ being specified in advance. On each subsequent move, a player can remove a maximum of $f(n,t) $ counters where $t$ was the number of counters removed by his opponent on the preceding move and $n$ is the preceding pile size, where $f:N\times N\rightarrow N$ is an arbitrary function satisfying the condition (1): $\exists t\in N$ such that for all $n,x\in N$, $f(n,x) =f(n+t,x) $. This note extends our earlier paper [E-JC, Vol 10, 2003, N7]. We first solve the game for functions $f:N\times N\rightarrow N$ that also satisfy the condition (2): $\forall n,x\in N$, $f(n,x+1) -f(n,x) \geq -1$. Then we state the solution when $f:N\times N\rightarrow N$ is restricted only by condition (1) and point out that the more general proof is almost the same as the simpler proof. The solutions when $t\geq 2$ use multiple bases .


How do parental investments respond to health endowments at birth? Recent studies have combined insights from an earlier theoretical literature on household resource allocation with improved identification strategies to capture causal effects of early life health shocks. We describe empirical challenges in identifying behavioral responses and how recent studies have sought to address these. We then discuss the emerging literature on dynamic complementarities in parental investments arising from the staged, developmental nature of capability production and how capabilities may have multiple dimensions. The bulk of the empirical evidence to date suggests that parental investments reinforce initial endowment differences.


One of the most fundamental concepts in Sociology of Religion, the concept of God, was emphasised in this article. Although the God concept is not the same as the transcendental existence of God, it is this concept that is the most fundamental social construct in the entire history of world religions. The aim of this article was the conceptual reconstruction of God amongst the youth of Iran, who may be free from a theological approach. This article aimed to examine the God concept in the 'epistemological', 'emotional' and 'social action' domains. The Iranian society is in transition, faced with delusion about the traditional and modern belief systems, and multiplicity of interpretations and new presentation of One God Allah. A spectrum of these plural presentations of God embodies micro and macro social levels. Some of the most important of these concepts are: individual and personal concept of God, the God in family, in educational system, in religious rituals, and the dominant concept in the society.


Formal journalism education in Ukraine has been criticized for quite a long time for still being affected by the old Soviet theory-based teaching model, rather than adhering to internationally accepted best practices. The system of teaching students at journalism departments has not changed significantly since Ukrainian independence in 1991 and many Ukrainian journalists have entered the profession with largely inadequate training. For instance, the practice of on-the-job training has been implemented only by some journalism departments, or is partly implemented by some lecturers. On the other hand, graduates of journalism programs in Ukraine say that more practical trainings help their professional growth. This article, then, aims to explicate the advantages and disadvantages that exist in Ukrainian journalism education, and it seeks to reveal whether Ukrainian journalists prefer formal or non-formal education for their profession. The findings are based on an analysis of 10 focus groups conducted with a total of 92 Ukrainian journalists (both with and without journalism degrees) and nine indepth interviews with Ukrainian lecturers and Ukrainian media representatives.


1. Introduction to Modeling and Decision Analysis. 2. Introduction to Optimization and Linear Programming. 3. Modeling and Solving LP Problems in a Spreadsheet. 4. Sensitivity Analysis and the Simplex Method. 5. Network Modeling. 6. Integer Linear Programming. 7. Goal Programming and Multiple Objective Optimization. 8. Nonlinear Programming & Evolutionary Optimization. 9. Regression Analysis. 10. Data Mining. 11. Time Series Forecasting. 12. Introduction to Simulation Using Analytic Solver Platform. 13. Queuing Theory. 14. Decision Analysis. 15. Project Management (Online).


Knowledge in digital form offers unprecedented access to information through the Internet but at the same time is subject to ever-greater restrictions through intellectual property legislation, overpatenting, licensing, overpricing, and lack of preservation. Looking at knowledge as a commons--as a shared resource--allows us to understand both its limitless possibilities and what threatens it. In Understanding Knowledge as a Commons, experts from a range of disciplines discuss the knowledge commons in the digital era--how to conceptualize it, protect it, and build it.Contributors consider the concept of the commons historically and offer an analytical framework for understanding knowledge as a shared social-ecological system. They look at ways to guard against enclosure of the knowledge commons, considering, among other topics, the role of research libraries, the advantages of making scholarly material available outside the academy, and the problem of disappearing Web pages. They discuss the role of intellectual property in a new knowledge commons, the open access movement (including possible funding models for scholarly publications), the development of associational commons, the application of a free/open source framework to scientific knowledge, and the effect on scholarly communication of collaborative communities within academia, and offer a case study of EconPort, an open access, open source digital library for students and researchers in microeconomics. The essays clarify critical issues that arise within these new types of commons--and offer guideposts for future theory and practice.Contributors:David Bollier, James Boyle, James C. Cox, Shubha Ghosh, Charlotte Hess, Nancy Kranich, Peter Levine, Wendy Pradt Lougee, Elinor Ostrom, Charles Schweik, Peter Suber, J. T odd Swarthout, Donald Waters


Abstract This paper examines the determinants of subnational location choice of Japanese multinational enterprises (JMNEs) in India to investigate whether or not conventional investment behaviour as 'foot-loose' and one-off investments has given way to an agglomeration logic as Japanese foreign direct investment has intensified. Using geographic information system analysis of investment project numbers, we find that Japanese MNE behaviour in India is evolving, with complementing but complex subnational interactions of economic, institutional and infrastructure factors serving as strong determinants of location choice consistently across key phases of India's liberalization. We argue that Japanese investment decisions in India have followed a self-reinforcing dynamic whereby prior investments indeed attract further investment.


The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has decided to award The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for 2006 jointly to Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello for their discovery of "RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA" This year's Nobel Laureates have discovered a fundamental mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information. Our genome operates by sending instructions for the manufacture of proteins from DNA in the nucleus of the cell to the protein synthesizing machinery in the cytoplasm. These instructions are conveyed by messenger RNA (mRNA). In 1998, the American scientists Andrew Fire and Craig Mello published their discovery of a mechanism that can degrade mRNA from a specific gene. This mechanism, RNA interference, is activated when RNA molecules occur as double-stranded pairs in the cell. Double-stranded RNA activates biochemical machinery which degrades those mRNA molecules that carry a genetic code identical to that of the double-stranded RNA. When such mRNA molecules disappear, the corresponding gene is silenced and no protein of the encoded type is made. RNA interference occurs in plants, animals, and humans. It is of great importance for the regulation of gene expression, participates in defense against viral infections, and keeps jumping genes under control. RNA interference is already being widely used in basic science as a method to study the function of genes and it may lead to novel therapies in the future. The flow of information in the cell: from DNA via mRNA to protein The genetic code in DNA determines how proteins are built. The instructions contained in the DNA are copied to mRNA and subsequently used to synthesize proteins (Fig 1). This flow of genetic information from DNA via mRNA to protein has been termed the central dogma of molecular biology by the British Nobel Laureate Francis Crick. Proteins are involved in all processes of life, for instance as enzymes digesting our food, receptors receiving signals in the brain, and as antibodies defending us against bacteria. Our genome consists of approximately 30,000 genes. However, only a fraction of them are used in each cell. Which genes are expressed (i.e. govern the synthesis of new proteins) is controlled by the machinery that copies DNA to mRNA in a process called transcription. It, in turn, can be modulated by various factors. The fundamental principles for the regulation of gene expression were identified more than 40 years ago by the French Nobel Laureates François Jacob and Jacques Monod. Today, we know that similar principles operate throughout evolution, from bacteria to humans. They also form the basis for gene technology, in which a DNA sequence is introduced into a cell to produce new protein. Around 1990, molecular biologists obtained a number of unexpected results that were difficult to explain. The most striking effects were observed by plant biologists who were trying to increase the colour intensity of the petals in petunias by introducing a gene inducing the formation of red pigment in the flowers. But instead of intensifying the colour, this treatment led to a complete loss of colour and the petals turned white! The mechanism causing these effects remained enigmatic until Fire and Mello made the discovery for which they receive this year's Nobel Prize. The discovery of RNA interference Andrew Fire and Craig Mello were investigating how gene expression is regulated in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans (Fig. 2). Injecting mRNA molecules encoding a muscle protein led to no changes in the behaviour of the worms. The genetic code in mRNA is described as being the 'sense' sequence, and injecting 'antisense' RNA, which can pair with the mRNA, also had no effect. But when Fire and Mello injected sense and antisense RNA together, they observed that the worms displayed peculiar, twitching movements. Similar movements were seen in worms that completely lacked a functioning gene for the muscle protein. What had happened? When sense and antisense RNA molecules meet, they bind to each other and form double-stranded RNA. Could it be that such a double-stranded RNA molecule silences the gene carrying the same code as this particular RNA? Fire and Mello tested this hypothesis by injecting double-stranded RNA molecules containing the genetic codes for several other worm proteins. In every experiment, injection of double-stranded RNA carrying a genetic code led to silencing of the gene containing that particular code. The protein encoded by that gene was no longer formed. After a series of simple but elegant experiments, Fire and Mello deduced that double-stranded RNA can silence genes, that this RNA interference is specific for the gene whose code matches that of the injected RNA molecule, and that RNA interference can spread between cells and even be inherited. It was enough to inject tiny amounts of double-stranded RNA to achieve an effect, and Fire and Mello therefore proposed that RNA interference (now commonly abbreviated to RNAi) is a catalytic process. Fire and Mello published their findings in the journal Nature on February 19, 1998. Their discovery clarified many confusing and contradictory experimental observations and revealed a natural mechanism for controlling the flow of genetic information. This heralded the start of a new research field. The RNA interference machinery is unraveled The components of the RNAi machinery were identified during the following years (Fig 3). Double-stranded RNA binds to a protein complex, Dicer, which cleaves it into fragments. Another protein complex, RISC, binds these fragments. One of the RNA strands is eliminated but the other remains bound to the RISC complex and serves as a probe to detect mRNA molecules. When an mRNA molecule can pair with the RNA fragment on RISC, it is bound to the RISC complex, cleaved and degraded. The gene served by this particular mRNA has been silenced. RNA interference - a defense against viruses and jumping genes RNA interference is important in the defense against viruses, particularly in lower organisms. Many viruses have a genetic code that contains double-stranded RNA. When such a virus infects a cell, it injects its RNA molecule, which immediately binds to Dicer (Fig 4A). The RISC complex is activated, viral RNA is degraded, and the cell survives the infection. In addition to this defense, higher organisms such as man have developed an efficient immune defense involving antibodies, killer cells, and interferons. Jumping genes, also known as transposons, are DNA sequences that can move around in the genome. They are present in all organisms and can cause damage if they end up in the wrong place. Many transposons operate by copying their DNA to RNA, which is then reverse-transcribed back to DNA and inserted at another site in the genome. Part of this RNA molecule is often double-stranded and can be targeted by RNA interference. In this way, RNA interference protects the genome against transposons. RNA interference regulates gene expression RNA interference is used to regulate gene expression in the cells of humans as well as worms (Fig 4B). Hundreds of genes in our genome encode small RNA molecules called microRNAs. They contain pieces of the code of other genes. Such a microRNA molecule can form a double-stranded structure and activate the RNA interference machinery to block protein synthesis. The expression of that particular gene is silenced. We now understand that genetic regulation by microRNAs plays an important role in the development of the organism and the control of cellular functions. New opportunities in biomedical research, gene technology and health care RNA interference opens up exciting possibilities for use in gene technology. Double-stranded RNA molecules have been designed to activate the silencing of specific genes in humans, animals or plants (Fig 4C). Such silencing RNA molecules are introduced into the cell and activate the RNA interference machinery to break down mRNA with an identical code. This method has already become an important research tool in biology and biomedicine. In the future, it is hoped that it will be used in many disciplines including clinical medicine and agriculture. Several recent publications show successful gene silencing in human cells and experimental animals. For instance, a gene causing high blood cholesterol levels was recently shown to be silenced by treating animals with silencing RNA. Plans are underway to develop silencing RNA as a treatment for virus infections, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, endocrine disorders and several other conditions. Reference: Fire A., Xu S.Q., Montgomery M.K., Kostas S.A., Driver S.E., Mello C.C. Potent and specific genetic interference by double-stranded RNA in Caenorhabditis elegans. Nature 1998; 391:806-811. Andrew Z. Fire, born 1959, US citizen, PhD in Biology 1983, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. Professor of Pathology and Genetics, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. Craig C. Mello, born 1960, US citizen, PhD in Biology 1990, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA. Professor of Molecular Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.


MCSA/MCSE Exam 70-292 Study Guide & DVD Training System: Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment for an MCSA Certified on Windows 2000 is a one-of-a-kind integration of text, DVD-quality instructor led training, and Web-based exam simulation and remediation. This system gives you 100% coverage of the official Microsoft 70-292 exam objectives plus test preparation software for the edge you need to pass the exam on your first try. In June, 2003 Microsoft will launch beta exams for the Windows Server 2003 certification line. Exams will likely go live the following August and September. This launch is a comprehensive revamping of the MCSE (Microsoft Certified System Enginner) track with all new core exams and all new electives. In addition, the MCSA (Microsoft Certified System Administrator) certification will expand its program to include an additional upgrade exam for MCSAs wanting to become MCSEs. The launch of this new certification track means that all current MCSEs, representing an installed base of approximately 200,000 (source: MCP Magazine) will need to recertify under Windows Server 2003. In addition, any MCP looking to become an MCSE--estimates are about 1.2 million (source: MCP Magazine)--will also have to continue their certifications under the new program. Many industry experts expect the Windows 2003 certification, and product line as well, to be a more popular track since many organziations are still using NT and plan to skip 2000 and go directly to 2003. * DVD Provides a "Virtual Classroom": Get the benefits of instructor led training at a fraction of the cost and hassle.* Guaranteed Coverage of All Exam Objectives: If the topic is listed in Microsoft's Exam 70-292 objectives, it is covered here.* Fully Integrated Learning: This system includes a study guide, DVD training and Web-based practice exams.


In my thesis, I analyze meta-films and different ways they are used in films. I try to show that meta-films can serve as a creative tool to communicate new and old ideas and stories. Whereas some argue that meta-films are the mark of the death of creativity and that film is doomed to be a parody of itself, I argue that this is not necessarily the case by showing examples of films that use meta-reflection and intertextuality not as a way to communicate their message. The first film that I am studying is Adaptation (2002) by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman. It is a film that reflects at its own creation and process it took to make it. I move on to analyze Michael Winterbottom's A Cock and Bull Story (2005) which was based on Laurence Sterne's novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemen. I explore how the novel captures the essence of the book by not simply telling the story of its narrator but by questioning the concept of narrative and storytelling. The last film in my essay is Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) by Edgar Wright. I analyze how Edgar Wright uses the structure of a meta-film in order to switch the focus from its predictable story to an exercise in paying tribute to a culture that the target audiences have embraced.


"Influence", the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes" - and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly acclaimed book. You'll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader - and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of "Influence" will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.


Many parents who have children suffering from some form of chronic illness or mental disorder may experience chronic stress reactions of various types. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been proved to be effective in reducing stress-related problems, but there seems to be no study to date in which CBT has been tested on this specific parent group. Two case studies were therefore performed. Case 1 centered on a 47-year-old married woman, who has lived in Sweden for 12 months. She described how she had become increasingly exhausted, and she wanted help to find strategies enabling her to cope with everyday life. Case 2 featured a 45-year-old single mother, who had been on part-time sick leave due to depression and stress. She described how she had always been anxious and worried and had had two episodes of depression. Both women had sons diagnosed with autism/Asperger syndrome. One of the women met the criteria for pathological burnout, while the other woman was just below the limit. The focus of the therapy for both women was on exhaustion, depression, and sleeping difficulties. In addition, therapy in Case 1 involved under-stimulation and in Case 2, anxiety. When the therapy ended, genuine improvements were registered for both clients. The results show that CBT can be an effective treatment of symptoms for this group of parents so that they can provide adequate support to their children, thus facilitating everyday life for a child with a chronic illness or disorder.


Web services have been used for many years. In this time, developers and architects have encountered a number of recurring design challenges related to their usage, and have learned that certain service design approaches work better than others to solve certain problems. In Service Design Patterns, Rob Daigneau codifies proven design solutions for web services that follow the REST architectural style or leverage the SOAP/WSDL specifications. This catalogue identifies the fundamental topics in web service design and lists the common design patterns for each topic. All patterns identify the context in which they may be used, explain the constituent design elements, and explore the relative strengths and trade-offs. Code examples are provided to help you better understand how the patterns work but are kept general so that you can see how the solutions may be applied to disparate technologies that will inevitably change in the years to come. This book will help readers answer the following questions: How do you create a web service API, what are the common API styles, and when should a particular style be used? How can clients and web services communicate, and what are the foundations for creating complex conversations in which multiple parties exchange data over extended periods of time? What are the options for implementing web service logic, and when should a particular approach be used? How can clients become less coupled to the underlying systems used by a service? How can information about a web service be discovered? How can generic functions like authentication, validation, caching, and logging be supported on the client or service? What changes to a service cause clients to break? What are the common ways to version a service? How can web services be designed to support the continuing evolution of business logic without forcing clients to constantly upgrade? This book is an invaluable resource for enterprise architects, solution architects, and developers who use web services to create enterprise IT applications, commercial or open source products, and Software as a Service (SaaS) products that leverage emerging Cloud platforms.


Balloon-borne frost point hygrometers measured three high-resolution profiles of stratospheric water vapour above Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen during winter 2002/2003. The profiles obtained on 12 December 2002 and on 17 January 2003 provide an insight into the vertical distribution of water vapour in the core of the polar vortex. The water vapour sounding on 11 February 2003 was obtained within the vortex edge region of the lower stratosphere. Here, a significant reduction of water vapour mixing ratio was observed between 16 and 19 km. The stratospheric temperatures indicate that this dehydration was not caused by the presence of polar stratospheric clouds or earlier PSC particle sedimentation. Ozone observations on this day indicate a large scale movement of the polar vortex and show laminae in the same altitude range as the water vapour profile. The link between the observed water vapour reduction and filaments in the vortex edge region is indicated in the results of the semi-lagrangian advection model MIMOSA, which show that adjacent filaments of polar and mid latitude air can be identified above the Spitsbergen region. A vertical cross-section produced by the MIMOSA model reveals that the water vapour sonde flew through polar air in the lowest part of the stratosphere below 425 K, then passed through filaments of mid latitude air with lower water vapour concentrations, before it finally entered the polar vortex above 450 K. These results indicate that on 11 February 2003 the frost point hygrometer measured different water vapour concentrations as the sonde detected air with different origins. Instead of being linked to dehydration due to PSC particle sedimentation, the local reduction in the stratospheric water vapour profile was in this case caused by dynamical processes in the polar stratosphere.


This outstanding reference has already taught thousands of traders the concepts of technical analysis and their application in the futures and stock markets. Covering the latest developments in computer technology, technical tools, and indicators, the second edition features new material on candlestick charting, intermarket relationships, stocks and stock rotation, plus state-of-the-art examples and figures. From how to read charts to understanding indicators and the crucial role technical analysis plays in investing, readers gain a thorough and accessible overview of the field of technical analysis, with a special emphasis on futures markets. Revised and expanded for the demands of today's financial world, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in tracking and analyzing market behavior.


Nowadays, the number of flexible and fast human to application system interactions is dramatically increasing. For instance, citizens interact with the help of the internet to organize surveys or meetings (in real-time) spontaneously. These interactions are supported by technologies and application systems such as free wireless networks, web -or mobile apps. Smart Cities aim at enabling their citizens to use these digital services, e.g., by providing enhanced networks and application infrastructures maintained by the public administration. However, looking beyond technology, there is still a significant lack of interaction and support between "normal" citizens and the public administration. For instance, democratic decision processes (e.g. how to allocate public disposable budgets) are often discussed by the public administration without citizen involvement. This paper introduces an approach, which describes the design of enhanced interactional web applications for Smart Cities based on dialogical logic process patterns. We demonstrate the approach with the help of a budgeting scenario as well as a summary and outlook on further research.


When it comes to punishment, should we be subjectivists or objectivists? That is, should we define, measure, and justify punishment based on the subjective experiences of those who are punished or should we instead remain objective, focusing our attention on acts, culpability, and desert? In a recent series of high profile articles, a group of contemporary scholars has taken up the mantle of subjectivism. In their view, criminal punishment is a grand machine for the production of negative subjective experiences — suffering. The machine requires calibration, of course. According to these scholars, the main standard we use for ours is comparative proportionality. We generally punish more serious crimes more severely and aim to inflict the same punishment on similarly situated offenders who commit similar crimes. In the views of these authors, this focus on comparative proportionality makes ours a rather crude machine. In particular, it ignores the fact that (1) different offenders suffer differently or to a different degree when subjected to the same punishment; (2) different offenders have different happiness baselines, which leads to disparities in the degree of suffering among offenders sentenced to the same punishment as measured by comparing their prepunishment baselines to their hedonic states during punishment; and (3) offenders' self-reported states of happiness and suffering vary over the course of a sentence, revealing inaccuracies in our objective assessments of severity.These scholars contend that a more sophisticated and rational approach would be to calibrate punishment according to the amount of suffering produced, trading objective measures of punishment — years in prison, etc. — for subjective measures. Looking forward to a day when advances in neuroscience and psychology will provide us with reliable qualitative and quantitative metrics of suffering, these scholars are setting the stage now, arguing that no matter our theory of criminal law and punishment — be we retributivists or utilitarians — we are obliged to dial the machine according to who is in its thrall and to titer both the form and extent of punishment so as to achieve just the right kind and amount of suffering.This view of the criminal law may strike some readers as troubling. It should. The problem can be traced to three contestable propositions. The first is that "subjective disutility" is a necessary feature and primary goal of punishment. The second is that comparative proportionality serves as an independent measure of justice in punishment. The third is that punishment theory must justify all of the suffering caused by the punitive practices it endorses. This Article rejects each of these claims. It defends retributivist and utilitarian theories of punishment on objectivist grounds by explaining why arguments based on the proposition that punishment is suffering have no bite on these theories. These arguments urge punishment theorists to reject outright the claim that punishment should be calibrated according to the subjective suffering it inflicts. So too do the uncomfortable outcomes subjectivist critics deploy against objective theories of punishment as purported reductio ad absurdum. While admittedly absurd, those results obtain only if punishment is defined, measured, and justified subjectively.


The article outlines the myriad problems that need be addressed to carry out the promise of the Trafficking Victim Protection Act. In the year 2000, Congress proudly signed into law the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), with two goals in mind - protecting victims of human trafficking and prosecuting their traffickers. Yet years after the passage of the TVPA, trafficking victims found in the United States are still too often treated like criminals by those charged with protecting them. Victims are charged for immigration-related offenses, deported at the borders for attempting to enter with documents traffickers have foisted upon them, arrested and detained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and prosecuted by Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys. DHS inspection officers fail to observe that they are questioning victims of human trafficking, even when clear signals are given by victims in fear of their lives. Victims are held in detention for months and sometimes years by the DHS at considerable taxpayer expense, and judges are unclear why trafficking is a human rights offense tantamount to slavery. In short, government personnel charged with protecting victims of human trafficking and prosecuting their traffickers, particularly outside of task forces headquartered in Washington, D.C., have little or no understanding of the obligations the nation undertook in passing the TVPA and, in consequence, U.S. personnel are working contrary to the purposes of the Act. The article suggests where procedurally and as a matter of policy, the government has gone wrong, employing a case study as a device to point to the particular problems of trafficking victims in accessing the law. It presents the approach the United States has taken to combating human trafficking and details the meta-problems that continue to undermine its effectiveness. It sets forth the ways in which the root causes of trafficking have been obscured, in service to a preferred focus on sex and victimhood. It reviews the misapplication of the law both by those tasked to interpret it, and by politicians who have tacked their own political agendas onto anti-trafficking initiatives, leading the nation away from a hardnosed and honest look at the problems of causation in trafficking, and discussed the distortions that result from the issue conflation. The article presents an alternate view of trafficking, which involves reframing the trafficking issue through the lens of migration, and which would require U.S. government personnel to approach trafficking with the understanding that being victimized by traffickers and yet still demonstrating personal agency are not only not mutually exclusive, but tantamount to surviving the crime.


"Cytochrome P450s are a common type of the polyketide tailoring enzymes that are responsible for the hydroxylation of polyketides. PksS, a likely tailoring enzyme, is found within the gene cluster pksX, from Bacillus subtilis. The gene cluster was found to synthesize bacillaene, a polyketide with antibiotic activity. Sequence homology has classified pksS as a cytochrome P450. We have hypothesized that PksS is responsible for the hydroxylation of bacillaene, dihydrobacillaene, or both. After several attempts to clone, overexpress, and purify pksS, we determined a sequence error within the published sequence. Following the correction of this error, the next in-frame stop codon was located. Using this newly identified sequence, PksS was overexpressed successfully and assayed using a spectrophotometric cytochrome P450 assay that detects a carbon-monoxide complex with the ferrous form of the P450. Spectra obtained definitively showed that PksS is a cytochrome P450. Several steps have been taken to characterize the role PksS serves in the biosynthesis of polyketides by B. subtilis. High-pressure liquid chromatography, coupled to mass spectrometry has preliminarily shown that the substrate for PksS is dihydrobacillaene. Other attempts to construct mutations of pksS have been performed, but experiments with the mutant strains did not yield conclusive information."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


Melanotic melanoma (MM) of Xiphophorus (Te1eostei: Poeciliidae) was studied by conventional preparations and freeze-etch preparations for electron microscopy. MM of Xiphophorus exhibits tightly packed pigment cells with prominent dendritic processes and interdigitations of their plasma membranes. The most impressive feature of MM cells is the occurrence of Iarge lobulated nuclei with numerous nuclear pores and some nuclear pockets. Abundant spheroidal or ellipsoidal melanosomes (diameter 200-650 nm) and vesicular structures are distributed throughout the cellular dendrites, whereas the perinucJear cytoplasm is free of melanosomes. A further characteristic feature of melanoma cells in fish is the occurrence of melanosome complexes (i.e., .. compound melanosomes"). These melanosome complexes consist of a few to numerous melanosomes, which are enveloped by a separate rnembrane. Pinocytotic vesicJes couJd be demonstrated with distinct dif· ferences in frequency and distribution patterns, indicating differences in the metabolic activities of the cells in the same rnelanoma. Intercellular junctions are Jacking in the MM cells. The conventional TEM technique showed clear advantages in the demonstration of intemal architecture of organelles~ whereas FE bad considerable potential in respect to the visualization of membrane surface specializations.


In the last thirty years, there have been fierce debates over how civilizations develop and why the West became so powerful. The Measure of Civilization presents a brand-new way of investigating these questions and provides new tools for assessing the long-term growth of societies. Using a groundbreaking numerical index of social development that compares societies in different times and places, award-winning author Ian Morris sets forth a sweeping examination of Eastern and Western development across 15,000 years since the end of the last ice age. He offers surprising conclusions about when and why the West came to dominate the world and fresh perspectives for thinking about the twenty-first century. Adapting the United Nations' approach for measuring human development, Morris's index breaks social development into four traits--energy capture per capita, organization, information technology, and war-making capacity--and he uses archaeological, historical, and current government data to quantify patterns. Morris reveals that for 90 percent of the time since the last ice age, the world's most advanced region has been at the western end of Eurasia, but contrary to what many historians once believed, there were roughly 1,200 years--from about 550 to 1750 CE--when an East Asian region was more advanced. Only in the late eighteenth century CE, when northwest Europeans tapped into the energy trapped in fossil fuels, did the West leap ahead. Resolving some of the biggest debates in global history, The Measure of Civilization puts forth innovative tools for determining past, present, and future economic and social trends.


"The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a combined antioxidant supplementation on myocardial protein carbonyls (PC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in rats after aerobic downhill running. Sixty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to either a normal diet or antioxidant supplemented diet (2,000 mg vitamin C + 1,000 IU vitamin E/kg diet) for 2 weeks. Exercised rats (N=48) ran on a rodent treadmill for 90 min at a speed of 16 m/min and - 16 degrees downhill grade. Rats were killed either at rest, immediately, 2 hrs, or 48 hrs post exercise. Rested rats were killed at the same times as the exercised rats all between 0700-1000 hrs. Ventricular tissue was analyzed for two markers of oxidative stress, PC and MDA. Only exercised rats that completed the 90 min run were included in the PC and MDA data analysis. There was a significant time main effect for PC concentration (p= 0.02) but post-hoc analysis indicated no specific time differences. However, PC approached significance (p=0.064) for the 2 hr post exercise time. There were no significant treatment or time*treatment effects for PC. MDA results showed no significant time, treatment or time*treatment effect. These data indicate that downhill running with modest intensity does not significantly increase oxidative stress in hearts as indicated by PC and MDA but a larger sample size is needed to confirm these results."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


We investigated the long-term effects of fire frequency on Colophospermum mopane and Combretum apiculatum woodland structure and composition in northern Gonarezhou National Park (GNP), Zimbabwe. Fire frequency was categorised as high (every 1–2 years), medium (every 3–4 years) and low (every 5–6 years). The following variables were measured or recorded: plant height, species name, canopy depth and diameter, basal circumference, number of stems per plant, plant status (dead or alive) and number of woody plants in a plot. There was a positive correlation (r = 0.55, P = 0.0007) between annual area burnt (total from January to December) and annual rainfall (average over two rain stations per rain year, July to June) between 1972 and 2005. A total of 64 woody species were recorded from C. mopane and C. apiculatum woodlands. Mean plant height increased from 4.5 to 8.2 meters in C. mopane woodland and from 4.5 to 5.1 meters in C. apiculatum woodland in areas subjected to high and low fire frequencies. In C. mopane woodland, low fire frequency was characterised by a significantly low density of woody plants (P 0.05). Our results suggest that C. mopane and C. apiculatum woodlands are in a state of structural transformation. Fire frequency effects, however, appear to be woodland specific. Fire management strategies in GNP should take into consideration annual rainfall and the different vegetation types. Conservation implication: This study provides valuable information on fire frequency effects on woody vegetation in northern GNP, which can be used in fire management programmes for the park. The positive relationship between annual rainfall and annual area burnt emphasises the need for wildlife managers to consider annual rainfall in fire management.


Burnout is common among doctors in the West, so one might assume that a medical career in Malawi, one of the poorest countries in the world, would place far greater strain on the idealism that drives many doctors. But, as "A Heart for the Work" makes clear, Malawian medical students learn to confront poverty creatively, experiencing fatigue and frustration but also joy and commitment on their way to becoming physicians. The first ethnography of medical training in the global South, Claire L. Wendland's book is a moving and perceptive look at medicine in a world where the transnational movement of people and ideas creates both devastation and possibility. Wendland, a physician anthropologist, conducted extensive interviews and worked in wards, clinics, and operating theaters alongside the student doctors whose stories she relates. From the relative calm of Malawi's College of Medicine to the turbulence of training at hospitals with gravely ill patients and dramatically inadequate supplies, staff, and technology, Wendland's work reveals the way these young doctors engage the contradictions of their circumstances, shedding new light on debates about the effects of medical training, the impact of traditional healing, and the purposes of medicine.


Thomas Hanna's somatic work has been essential to the development of the field of somatic education. From redefining the word "somatic" and developing the concept of somatics as a field of study, to starting the magazine/journal Somatics, to developing theories and practices of somatic education, Hanna greatly influenced this fledgling area of work. This article presents the somatic philosophy, theories, and education techniques of Hanna, focusing on the aspects that are unique to this somatic explorer. Hanna's techniques are contrasted to the traditional somatic movement training of Tai Chi. The difficulties of researching a learning such as somatic education are discussed. Ideas are presented on how kinesiology and somatic education can inform each other.


This Thesis contributes by reporting on the current state of diffusion of collaboration information technology (CIT). The investigation concludes, with a high degree of certainty, that today we have a "satisfactory" diffusion level of some level-A CITs (mostly e-Mail, distantly followed by Audio Conferencing), and a "dissatisfactory" diffusion level of higher-level CITs (i.e. those requiring significant collaboration and cooperation among users, like Meeting Support Systems, Group Decision Support Systems, etc.). The potential benefits of the latter seem to be far from fully realised due to lack of user acceptance. This conclusion has gradually developed along the research cycle " it was suggested by Empirical Study I, and tested through Empirical Studies II and III. An additional, unplanned and rather interesting, finding from this study has been the recognition of large [mostly business] reporting on numerous Web 2.0 user-community produced collaboration technologies (most of them belonging to the category of "social software") and their metamorphosis from autonomous, "bottom-up" solutions into enterprise-supported infrastructures. Another contribution of this Thesis " again suggested by Empirical Study I, and tested through Empirical Studies II and III " pertains to the "process structure" of CIT diffusion. I have found that collaboration technology has historically diffused following two distinct (interdependent but orthogonal) diffusion paths " top-down (authority-based) and bottom-up. The authority-based diffusion path seems to be characterised by efforts aimed at "imposing" technologies on employees, the primary concern being to make sure that technology seamlessly and easily integrates into the organisational IT infrastructure. On the other hand, the bottom-up diffusion trail seems to be successful. The contribution of this investigation may be summarised as threefold: 1. This investigation consolidates most of the findings to date, pertaining to CIT adoption and diffusion, which have been produced by the CIT research community. Thus, it tells a coherent story of the dynamics of the community focus and the collective wisdom gathered over a period of (at least) one decade. 2. This work offers a meaningful framework within which to analyse existing knowledge " and indeed extends that knowledge base by identifying persistent problems of collaboration technology acceptance, adoption and diffusion. These problems have been repeatedly observed in practice, though the pattern does not seem to have been recognised and internalised by the community. Many of these problems have been observed in cases of CIT use one decade ago, five years ago, three years ago, and continue to be observed today in structurally the same form despite what is unarguably "rapid technological development". This gives me reason to believe that, at least some of the persistent problems of CIT diffusion can be hypothesised as "determining factors". My contribution here is to identify these factors, discuss them in detail, and thus tackle the theme of CIT diffusion through a structured historical narrative. 3. Through my contribution (2) above, I characterise a "knowledge-action gap" in the field of CIT and illuminate a potential path through which the research community might hope to bridge this gap. The gap may be operationalised as cognitive distance between CIT "knowledge" and CIT "action".


In this article we problematize our field roles as two linguistic ethnographers who aim to study the communication and documentation practices drawn upon by care workers in elderly care facilities in Sweden. Our field roles are discussed in relation to the complex nature of care workers' knowledge and competence, which results from three different aspects of their work-identities: institutional, professional, and individual. As researchers, we found ourselves in constant dialogue with the research participants, and our field roles were continuously shaped and reshaped according to the individuals and the situations in which we became involved. Even aspects of our own identities taken into the field, such as our background and personal qualities, proved to be important in establishing good relations with the care staff. Coming closer to the participants' professional identity proved to be of utmost importance for interpreting their choices and decisions in the workplace. Identity negotiation is presented here as a constructive way of discussing ethnographic field roles in the research field.


We investigate the modulation of aerosols by the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) using multiple, global satellite aerosol products: aerosol index (AI) from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) on Nimbus-7, and aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on Terra and Aqua and the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on NOAA satellites. A composite MJO analysis indicates that large variations in the TOMS AI and MODIS/AVHRR AOT are found over the equatorial Indian and western Pacific Oceans where MJO convection is active, as well as the tropical Africa and Atlantic Ocean where MJO convection is weak but the background aerosol level is high. A strong inverse linear relationship between the TOMS AI and rainfall anomalies, but a weaker, less coherent positive correlation between the MODIS/AVHRR AOT and rainfall anomalies, were found. The MODIS/AVHRR pattern is consistent with ground-based Aerosol Robotic Network data. These results indicate that the MJO and its associated cloudiness, rainfall, and circulation variability systematically influence the variability in remote sensing aerosol retrieval results. Several physical and retrieval algorithmic factors that may contribute to the observed aerosol-rainfall relationships are discussed. Preliminary analysis indicates that cloud contamination in the aerosol retrievals is likely to be a major contributor to the observed relationships, although we cannot exclude possible contributions from other physical mechanisms. Future research is needed to fully understand these complex aerosol-rainfall relationships.


North Carolina, Texas, and other states with Republican legislatures have passed a series of laws making it harder for voters to register and to vote. In response, the United States Department of Justice has sued these states, claiming that the laws violate portions of the Voting Rights Act protecting minority voters. When party and race coincide as they did in 1900 and they do today, it is hard to separate racial and partisan intent and effect. Today, white voters in the South are overwhelmingly Republican and, in some of the Southern states, are less likely to be willing to vote for a Black candidate than are white voters in the rest of the country. The Democratic Party supports a left leaning platform that includes more social assistance to the poor and higher taxes. Some Republicans view such plans as aiding racial minorities. Given the overlap of considerations of race and considerations of party, when a Republican legislature like North Carolina's passes a law making it harder for some voters to vote, is that a law about party politics or a law about race? As I explain, if courts call this a law about party politics and view it through the lens of partisan competition, then the law is more likely to stand, and the fight over it will be waged at the ballot box. If the courts call this a law about race and view it through the lens of the struggle over race and voting rights, then the law is more likely to fall and the fight will be settled primarily in the courts. The race versus party bifurcation is unhelpful, and the solution to these new battles over election rules — what I call "The Voting Wars" — is going to have to come from the federal courts. Courts should apply a more rigorous standard to review arguably discriminatory voting laws. When a legislature passes an election administration law (outside the redistricting context) discriminating against a party's voters or otherwise burdening voters, that fact should not be a defense. Instead, courts should read the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause to require the legislature to produce substantial evidence that it has a good reason for burdening voters and that its means are closely connected to achieving those ends. The achievement of partisan ends would not be considered a good reason (as it appears to be in the redistricting context). These rules will both discourage party power grabs and protect voting rights of minority voters. In short, this new rule will inhibit discrimination on the basis of both race and party, and protect all voters from unnecessary burdens on the right to vote.


Radical chemistry and, in particular, tandem radical chemistry has rarely been used in the synthesis of the 'Strychnos' and 'Aspidosperma' alkaloids. These two classes of compounds are structurally complex, possess a range of biological activity and present a synthetic challenge. Previous routes to these molecules are reviewed in the first section
. of this thesis. The utility of radical chemistry, tandem radical chemistry and 1,S'I hydrogen atom abstraction towards the syntheses of complex molecules is outlined with examples that demonstrate the potential of radical chemistry.
A new synthetic approach towards the spiropyrrolidinyl oxindole alkaloids is presented, which utilises tandem radical chemistry. The radical sequence involves an initial 1,5- hydrogen atom abstraction, followed by a Sew-trig cyclisation onto the indole C-3 position. This is governed by the directing effect of a cyano group at the C-2 position of indole. The tricyclic core of the oxindole alkaloids can be readily obtained following an oxidative decyanation. In the course of these studies a novel product was observed during the cyclisation of the N-isopropyl precursor. Modification of the cyclisation precursor to incorporate the N-pentenyl group resulted in the formation of the tetraeyelic core of the Strychnos and Aspidosperma alkaloids. This arose from a subsequent 6-exo¬trig cyclisation after formation of the tricyclic core. Cyclisation of the N-pentynyl radical precursor led to the expected cyclised product along with an unexpected pentaeyelic structure, which arose from an unprecedented further l,S-hydrogen atom abstraction followed by a 4-exo-dig cyclisation.
The second approach involves the addition of alkyl radicals onto the indole C-3 position to generate the tricyclic core of the spiropyrrolidinyl oxindole alkaloids. This approach is directed towards a total synthesis of the oxindole alkaloids, horsfiline and coerulescine. However, this approach led instead to rearrangement before cyclisation followed by intramolecular transfer of the cyano group from the indole C-2 to C-3 position.
A novel approach to the formation of 3-substituted 2-cyanoindoles is also presented which negates the need for protection of the indole nitrogen allowing for a flexible approach to the tandem radical cyclisation precursors. The experimental conditions for the synthesis of all new compounds prepared during this work along with characterisation data are presented.


Leonardo da Vinci was a gifted painter, talented musician, and dedicated scientist and inventor, designing flying machines, submarines, and even helicopters. Yet he had a hard time finishing things, a problem anyone can relate to. Only thirteen paintings are known to be his - as for the illustrated encyclopedia he intended to create, all that he left were thousands of disorganised notebook pages. Here is an accessible portrait of a fascinating man who lived at a fascinating time - Italy during the Renaissance.


Identifying and cutting off terrorists' access to funding has become a key priority for the international community. It is thus not surprising that while the United Nations, the European Union, G8 and others present action plans to dry up financial sources for terrorists, right-holder organizations remind the authorities and policymakers of the links between counterfeiting and terrorism. The French right-holders' association Union des Fabricants (Unifab) has presented a report on 'Counterfeiting & Terrorism' (available at: http://www.unifab.com/images/ Rapport-A-Terrorisme-2015_GB.pdf) in which they highlight the proven links between counterfeiting and terrorism. The thoroughly documented report presents the involvement of several terrorist organizations in counterfeiting activities, explains the reasons for this choice and recommends further actions. We learn, for example, that Mokhtar Belmokhtar the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb (Aqmi), responsible for several recent attacks in West Africa, has the nickname 'Mr Marlboro' because large parts of his activities are financed by counterfeit and contraband tobacco products. What is more astonishing is that the Kouachi brothers— the terrorists involved in the Paris attacks on Charlie Hebdo—were under the surveillance of the French antiterrorist police, until the monitoring of their telephone conversations revealed that they were setting up a business involving counterfeit clothing and sports shoes. This is when the police surveillance was stopped because, according to the officers, they were leaving the terrorist world to focus on petty crime. Only a few months later the Kouachi brothers burst into the newsroom of Charlie Hebdo. Some of the weapons used in the attacks were financed by the counterfeiting activity and the Director-General of French Customs confirmed that in this particular case there were 'close links between counterfeiting and the financing of terrorism'. This specific example shows how regrettable it is that public authorities categorize counterfeiting as a 'petty crime' while in reality, it represents a major funding method for organized crime in general and terrorism in particular. The Unifab report shows that the conflict in Syria is partially financed by the traffic of counterfeit amphetamines, which are very popular with consumers in the Middle East and those fighting in the conflict. In Syria, the money obtained from the sale of these counterfeit amphetamines enables forces to arm themselves, while the—albeit fake— medicine is used by fighters who see it as a way to withstand many hours in battle, without fear or fatigue. In relation to the Paris attacks of 13 November 2015, the links are less obvious: the report points out that some of the terrorists come from the Belgian city Molenbeek, which is considered as a notorious place of radicalization, and the report cites the mayor of Molenbeek, who expressly links delinquency such as drug trafficking, counterfeiting and offences to social law with the phenomenon of radicalization. In this particular case one can only 'feel the link', but the suspicions are not established beyond reasonable doubt. Then again, this is probably due to the fact that both terrorism and counterfeiting remain illegal activities which are carried out underground. To stay with the example of Molenbeek—which I know very well since I regularly assist my clients with seizures of counterfeit products in this part of Brussels—it is clear that counterfeiting and other delinquency are widespread in this community. However, to conclude from there that this leads to radicalization and ultimately to terrorism is less obvious. Having said that, there will inevitably be instances where candidates for the jihad engage in counterfeiting or piracy to make 'quick money' to finance a trip to terrorist camps or for their terrorist ventures like the Kouachi brothers did in France. The Unifab report clearly shows why counterfeiting is a 'logical choice' for terrorists—and other malicious individuals—who are out for quick money while taking a low risk. The report demonstrates that counterfeiting is a highly lucrative activity in comparison to other criminal activities, such as drug dealing or human trafficking, while the stakes are low for those who are caught. This is due in part to the fact that the legislation in place in most countries is not sufficiently dissuasive, that penalties are rarely enforced and are often well below the maximum that the law provides for. The report rightly concludes that the gap between the reality of counterfeiting and its treatment by national, European and international institutions is almost unreal!


Despite the American refusal to include socio-economic rights in the U.S. constitution or to enforce them, the vast majority of constitutions around the world now include these rights, and courts are enforcing them in increasingly aggressive and creative ways. Scholars have produced a large and theoretically rich literature on the topic. Virtually all of this literature assumes that social rights enforcement is about the advancement of impoverished, marginalized groups. Moreover, the consensus recommendation of that literature, according to scholars like Cass Sunstein and Mark Tushnet, is that courts can enforce socio-economic rights but should do so in a weak-form or dialogical manner, whereby they point out violations of rights but leave the remedies to the political branches. These scholars argue that by behaving this way, courts can avoid severe strains on their democratic legitimacy and capacity. Based on an in-depth case study of Colombia, which draws on my extensive fieldwork within that country, and on evidence from other countries including Brazil, Argentina, Hungary, and India, I argue that both the assumption and the consensus recommendation are wrong. In fact, most social rights enforcement has benefitted middle- or upper-class groups, rather than the poor. Courts are far more likely to protect pension rights for civil servants or housing subsidies for the middle class than they are to transform the lives of marginalized groups. Moreover, the choice of remedy used by the court has a huge effect on whether impoverished groups feel any impact from the intervention. Super-strong remedies like structural injunctions are the most likely ways to transform bureaucratic practice and to positively impact the lives of poorer citizens. The solution to the socio-economic rights problem is to make remedies stronger, not weaker.


Doctor | Living With Scoliosis | Resource Guide Screening for Scoliosis by Rosalyn Carson-DeWitt, MD En Espanol (Spanish Version) The purpose of screening is early diagnosis and treatment. Screening tests are usually administered to people without current symptoms, but who may be at high risk for certain diseases or conditions. Scoliosis screening should be part of a thorough well-child check-up. Screening Tests Tests include: Forward Bend Test —With feet and knees together, you will be asked to bend forward with your arms dangling. The screening person will stand first behind you and then in front of you to check for any visible curvature, or any uneven appearance in your rib cage, hipbones, or shoulder blades. Inclinometer or Scoliometer —This device is used to measure the actual degree of curvature of your spine. You will be asked to stand with feet and knees together, and bend forward until the examiner can see curvature in your upper spine. The inclinometer is then placed on your back, and a measurement is taken. Another measurement is taken when you have leaned over further, and the area of curvature is visible in your lower spine. Screening Guidelines The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) supports regular scoliosis screening programs in schools. The AAOS recommends that these programs screen girls twice (at ages 10 and 12) and boys once (at age 13 or 14). If scoliosis is identified, then the family will receive educational materials about scoliosis, and the child may be referred to an orthopedic surgeon for further evaluation. REFERENCES: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons website. Available at: http://www.aaos.org/ . Campbell's Operative Orthopaedics . 10th ed. Mosby; 2003. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases website. Available at: http://www.niams.nih.gov/ . Richards S, Vitale M. Screening for idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents. J Bone Joint Surg Am . 2008;90:195-198. Rosenberg JJ. Scoliosis. Pediatr Rev . 2011 Sep;32(9):397-398. Scoliosis Research Society website. Available at: http://www.srs.org/ . Previous | Next


It is customary to blame secular science and anti-religious philosophy for the eclipse of religion in modern society. It would be more honest to blame religion for its own defeats. Religion declined not because it was refuted, but because it became irrelevant, dull, oppressive, insipid. When faith is completely replaced by creed, worship by discipline, love by habit; when the crisis of today is ignored because of the splendor of the past; when faith becomes an heirloom rather than a living fountain; when religion speaks only in the name of authority rather than with a voice of compassion—its message becomes meaningless.


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The ongoing wars around the world have led to an ever increasing exodus of refugee populations for resettlement in developed countries, including the U.S. Importantly, it has been estimated that the bulk of these refugees in resettlement countries are comprised of children and adolescents under the age of 18 (Halcon et al., 2004; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, 2007). Previous research (e.g., Ellis, Macdonald, Lincoln, & Cabral, 2008; Layne et al., 2001; Smith, Perrin, Yule, Hacam, & Stuvland, 2002) mainly has focused on past traumatic experiences, diagnoses, and treatment modalities. An important link between acculturation, social support, and adolescent refugees' adjustment within new environments has been established (e.g., Kovacev & Shute, 2004). These aspects have not been examined, however, with African adolescent refugees in the U.S. Using a sample of African adolescent refugees (N = 70) in a mid-sized city in the Southeast, this study examined acculturation, social support, and psychosocial adjustment among African adolescent refugees from different African countries resettled in the U.S. Results indicated a strong relationship between social support and psychosocial adjustment. Both peer and parental support were central in the adjustment of adolescents. Furthermore, exploratory analyses showed there were main effects for time lived in the U.S. Results showed that, overall, for both boys and girls, time spent in the US was associated with higher scores.


Summary A 55-year-old woman diagnosed with sporadic MTC underwent total thyroidectomy 20 years ago. After the first surgery, elevated calcitonin levels in parallel with local disease persistence were noted and therefore she underwent repeated neck dissections. During follow-up, multiple foci of metastatic disease were noted in the neck and mediastinal lymph nodes, lungs and bones; however, the disease had an indolent course for a number of years, in parallel with a calcitonin doubling time of more than two years and without significant symptoms. During a routine follow-up visit 2 years ago, findings suggestive of Cushing's syndrome were observed on physical examination. The biochemical evaluation demonstrated markedly elevated serum calcitonin level, in parallel with lack of cortisol suppression after an overnight 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test, lack of cortisol and ACTH suppression after high-dose IV dexamethasone 8 mg, elevated plasma ACTH up to 79 pg/mL (normal <46 pg/mL) and elevated 24-h urinary free cortisol up to 501 µg/24 h (normal 9–90 µg/24 h). After a negative pituitary MRI, she underwent IPSS, which was compatible with EAS. Whole-body CT demonstrated progressive disease at most of the tumor sites. Treatment with vandetanib at a dosage of 200 mg/day was commenced. The patient showed a significant, rapid and consistent clinical improvement already after two months of treatment, in parallel with biochemical improvement, whereas a decrease in tumor size was demonstrated on follow-up CT. Learning points: Ectopic Cushing's syndrome due to ectopic ACTH secretion (EAS) by MTC is an uncommon and a poor prognostic event, being associated with significant morbidity and mortality. We demonstrate that vandetanib is effective in controlling the signs and symptoms related to the EAS in patients with advanced progressive MTC. We demonstrate that vandetanib is effective in decreasing tumor size and in inducing tumor control.