The New Face of Creationism: The Establishment Clause and the Latest Efforts to Suppress Evolution in Public Schools

Over seventy-five years after the impassioned debate be- tween William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow echoed through a hot Tennessee courtroom, the controversial confrontation over science, religion, law, and education can still be heard in legislative halls, courtrooms, schools, and homes across the nation. The now infamous Scopes Monkey Trial of 19253 brought the debate between religious fundamentalism and modern day scientific theory to the forefront and sparked twenty state legislatures to consider measures to prohibit the teaching of evolution in public schools. Nearly a century later, the dispute rages on. Twenty states considered anti-evolution measures in both the 1920s and the 1990s. Whether the incorporation of certain religiously motivated theories of the earth\u27s origin into public schools violates the fundamental separation between church and state is a question that continues to plague this country today. Since Charles Darwin first introduced the concept of evolution in his 1859 book The Origin of Species, Christian fundamentalists have rejected this scientific theory, contending that it conflicts with a literal reading of the Bible and its teachings that all living species were created by divine power. This Biblical-based tenet regarding the earth\u27s origin is commonly known as creationism, and its followers, creationists, have developed various strategies that endeavor to remove the teaching of evolution from public schools and incorporate creationism into science curricula. Despite Supreme Court jurisprudence that laws banning and criminalizing the teaching of evolution, and laws mandating the teaching of creationism, violate the Establishment Clause, creationists continue to develop new tactics to voice their opinions and beliefs. Currently, Christian fundamentalists are using three strategies designed to remove evolution and, in certain instances, incorporate creationist theory into public school curricula. One strategy is to attempt to remove evolution from state science curricula, and correspondingly, from state-mandated tests. Another strategy that creationists have employed is the use of a disclaimer, read before teaching evolution, to caution students that evolutionary theory is not to be taken as fact and is not intended to discount other beliefs that they may have regarding the earth\u27s origin. Thirdly, legislatures across the nation have enacted statutes requiring that evolution be taught as a theory, not a fact. The success of this legislation has fomented a new response to evolution known as Intelligent Design.\u27 This latest movement encourages teachers to present the controversy between Darwinism and creationism, and then point to evolution\u27s inability to provide all scientific answers. The proponents of these three recent strategies have justified their actions as legal by relying on certain language in Supreme Court precedent suggesting that states and local school from state-mandated tests

Determination of the efficacy of an applied vacuum at the skin surface during the laser therapy of Port Wine Stain (PWS) [abstract]

Abstract only availableWe will be doing experiments ex vivo using pig skin, which is very similar and much more attainable than human skin, to test the stress vs. strain relationship, elasticity (Young's Modulus) and research skin mechanics. Certain pathological conditions in skin, such as basal cell carcinoma, exhibit changes in skin mechanics. Thus, measuring skin elasticity may help in clinical identification of skin cancer borders. We will be using degraded pig skin and a tensile tester to create a model of skin strength. Skin will be degraded using collagenase to change the skin mechanical properties. After getting the results and data we will then compare this to skin deformation experiments using a vacuum cup which we can get from a simple and pain-free clinical study. By applying a low level vacuum to human skin, in vivo, we will measure the deformation of skin and extract the elasticity. Eventually, we would like to use this vacuum to help with laser light therapy to reduce the appearance of birthmarks made from blood-vessels (vacuum details and usage) as well as to diagnose other skin pathologies

Rise of the machines? Intraday high-frequency trading patterns of cryptocurrencies

This research analyses high-frequency data of the cryptocurrency market in regards to intraday trading patterns related to algorithmic trading and its impact on the European cryptocurrency market. We study trading quantitatives such as returns, traded volumes, volatility periodicity, and provide summary statistics of return correlations to CRIX (CRyptocurrency IndeX), as well as respective overall high-frequency based market statistics with respect to temporal aspects. Our results provide mandatory insight into a market, where the grand scale employment of automated trading algorithms and the extremely rapid execution of trades might seem to be a standard based on media reports. Our findings on intraday momentum of trading patterns lead to a new quantitative view on approaching the predictability of economic value in this new digital market

Stromelysin-3 over-expression enhances tumourigenesis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell lines: involvement of the IGF-1 signalling pathway

BACKGROUND: Stromelysin-3 (ST-3) is over-expressed in the majority of human carcinomas including breast carcinoma. Due to its known effect in promoting tumour formation, but its impeding effect on metastasis, a dual role of ST-3 in tumour progression, depending on the cellular grade of dedifferentiation, was hypothesized. METHODS: The present study was designed to investigate the influence of ST-3 in vivo and in vitro on the oestrogen-dependent, non-invasive MCF-7 breast carcinoma cell line as well as on the oestrogen-independent, invasive MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma cell line. Therefore an orthotopic human xenograft tumour model in nude mice, as well as a 3D matrigel cell culture system, were employed. RESULTS: Using both in vitro and in vivo techniques, we have demonstrated that over-expression of ST-3 in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells leads to both increased cell numbers and tumour volumes. This observation was dependent upon the presence of growth factors. In particular, the enhanced proliferative capacity was in MCF-7/ST-3 completely and in MDA-MB-231/ST-3 cells partially dependent on the IGF-1 signalling pathway. Microarray analysis of ST-3 over-expressing cells revealed that in addition to cell proliferation, further biological processes seemed to be affected, such as cell motility and stress response. The MAPK-pathway as well as the Wnt and PI3-kinase pathways, appear to also play a potential role. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that breast cancer cell lines of different differentiation status, as well as the non-tumourigenic cell line MCF-10A, have a comparable capability to induce endogenous ST-3 expression in fibroblasts. CONCLUSION: These data reveal that ST-3 is capable of enhancing tumourigenesis in highly differentiated "early stage" breast cancer cell lines as well as in further progressed breast cancer cell lines that have already undergone epithelial-mesenchymal transition. We propose that ST-3 induction in tumour fibroblasts leads to the stimulation of the IGF-1R pathway in carcinoma cells, thus enhancing their proliferative capacity. In addition, further different cellular processes seem to be activated by ST-3, possibly accounting for the dual role of ST-3 in tumour progression and metastasis

Spring Wheat Stand and Yield Losses From Applying Urea-N Fertilizer With The Seed

Volume is misnumbered as 37:3Since urea is becoming a primary source of N-fertilizer in dry-granular blends and in liquid formulations, there is reason to be concerned whether such urea-containing fertilizers should be used for grain-drill application with the seed. We found germination damage and root pruning increased progressively 27 days after seeding as the rate of urea-N applied with the seed increased. For every 10 lbs/acre of actual N applied with the seed, spring wheat stands decreased about 13 percent and grain yields decreased 3.1 bu/acre. To prevent such losses, liquid or dry-granular N-fertilizer materials that contain urea-N should be broadcasted and incorporated before seeding or banded to the side and below the seed