An Overview of Health Law Research and an Annotated Bibliography

This analysis and the following bibliography are designed to meet the needs of researchers attempting to locate information in the field of health law. The analysis is written from the perspective of law librarians, but the same information retrieval problems apply to health administrators, hospital and medical counsel, and academic lawyers interested in health law and administration

(Anti)symmetric multivariate trigonometric functions and corresponding Fourier transforms

Four families of special functions, depending on n variables, are studied. We call them symmetric and antisymmetric multivariate sine and cosine functions. They are given as determinants or antideterminants of matrices, whose matrix elements are sine or cosine functions of one variable each. These functions are eigenfunctions of the Laplace operator, satisfying specific conditions at the boundary of a certain domain F of the n-dimensional Euclidean space. Discrete and continuous orthogonality on F of the functions within each family, allows one to introduce symmetrized and antisymmetrized multivariate Fourier-like transforms, involving the symmetric and antisymmetric multivariate sine and cosine functions.Comment: 25 pages, no figures; LaTaX; corrected typo

Evolution of precopulatory and post-copulatory strategies of inbreeding avoidance and associated polyandry

Acknowledgments This work was funded by a European Research Council Starting Grant to JMR. Computer simulations were performed using the Maxwell Computing Cluster at the University of Aberdeen. We thank Matthew E. Wolak and two anonymous reviewers for very helpful comments.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Applying Systems Theory as a Lens on Teacher and Student Perceptions of Assessment and Feedback in an Intensive English Program

The goal of this project was to apply systems theory, or more generally, systems thinking as a lens on the perceptions of teachers, students, and administrators who work together at an intensive English program (IEP). This goal necessitated a two-part project: a review of pertinent literature on systems theory and a limited qualitative study situated at the IEP. Sixteen participants, including seven teachers (more than half of the current faculty), two teacher/administrators, and seven students from different levels within the program, were invited to participate. The primary focus of the study was on participants’ awareness of and attitudes about two particular practices that are integral to the functioning of the school: assessment and feedback. In-depth interviews that centered on these two practices were utilized to gather the necessary qualitative data. This data was then analyzed to reveal topics and issues that were perceived by the participants to be of significance. Throughout the planning, execution, and analysis stages, the discipline of mental models served as a guiding principle. More generally, systems theory provided both a unique perspective and specific concepts that helped facilitate new, broadened understandings of the complex system known as the language school

Preliminary design for a Zero Gravity Test Facility (ZGTF). Volume 1: Technical

The functional requirements and best conceptual design of a test facility that simulates weightless operating conditions for a high gain antenna systems (HGAS), that will broadcast to the Tracking Data Relay Satellites were defined. The typical HGAS defined is mounted on a low Earth orbiting satellite, and consists of an antenna with a double gimbal pointing system mounted on a 13 foot long mast. Typically, the gimbals are driven by pulse modulated dc motors or stepper motors. These drivers produce torques on the mast, with jitter that excites the satellite and may cause disturbances to sensitive experiments. The dynamic properties of the antenna support structure (mast), including flexible mode characteristics were defined. The torque profile induced on the spacecraft by motion of the high gain antenna was estimated. Gain and phase margins of the servo control loop of the gimbal drive electronics was also verified

COVID-19 highlighting inequalities in access to healthcare in England: a case study of ethnic minority and migrant women

Our commentary aims to show that the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified existing barriers to healthcare in England for ethnic minority and migrant women. We expose how the pandemic has affected the allocation of healthcare resources leading to the prioritisation of COVID-19 patients and suspending the equal access to healthcare services approach. We argue that we must look beyond this disruption in provision by examining existing barriers to access that have been amplified by the pandemic in order to understand the poorer health outcomes for women in ethnic minority and migrant communities. The reflection focuses on racialised medical perceptions, gendered cultural norms including information barriers and stigma, and specific legal barriers

FEASIBILITY OF AN OKLAHOMA FRESH GREENS AND COWPEAS PACKING COOPERATIVE

Oklahoma's green producers are not benefiting from a growing fresh market. In order to seize the opportunities offered by the growing fresh market for leafy greens, investment in packing facilities have been evaluated. To make use of these facilities during summer months, the addition of a cowpea shelling enterprise is considered. A business plan for a new generation cooperative is estimated using an updated version of "The Packing Simulation Model" (PACKSIM) The business associates PACKSIM with @RISK®, to incorporate risks in the financial analysis.Agribusiness,

Tissue Engineering

There is little doubt that tissue engineering is a revolutionary addition to the therapeutic armamentarium of medicine. The dilemma of adequately repairing either failing or traumatized organs has been looming larger as patients either become older or are in dire need of grafts. Compounding some of the intrinsic problems of transplantation is the chronic shortage of tissues and organs. Tissue engineering allows the hope of a regular creation of spare parts for the human body. This is a most significant approach to reconstruct, replace, or repair organs in a way that could not be foreseen 25 years ago. Reconstructive medicine is, in a way, not a very recent concept. If one stays away from punctilious definitions, one of its forms, reconstructive surgery, has been practiced for quite some time, with a surge of development after the Second World War. In 1970s, the development of microsurgery allowed distant tissue transfer and reimplantation.[1-5] Since then, the introduction of various biomaterials has allowed vast and diversified types of reconstruction of the human body. Vascular grafts and prosthetic articulation are two prominent examples.[6] However, tissue engineering does open a radically new chapter in reconstructive medicine, for it is now deemed possible to reconstruct in the laboratory human living tissues and organs for either in-vivo, ex-vivo, and even invitro applications.[7-3] This new domain of biotechnology is remarkably multidisciplinary, bringing together cell and molecular biologists, biochemists, engineers, pharmacologists, physicians, and others. When the aim of tissue engineers is to obtain grafts for in-vivo applications, then the biological and mechanical functions are of utmost importance. In some subdivisions of the field, one can essentially choose between a biological function, as in cell therapy, and a principally mechanical function, as in the use of tissue templates[14] (Fig. 1). Tissue-engineered substitutes are three-dimensional reconstructions that can be implanted into the human body, leading to rapid host integration and acceptance. These substitutes must have at least minimal biological and mechanical functions for such a reparative role

Cancer-associated epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM; CD326) enables epidermal Langerhans cell motility and migration in vivo

After activation, Langerhans cells (LC), a distinct subpopulation of epidermis-resident dendritic cells, migrate from skin to lymph nodes where they regulate the magnitude and quality of immune responses initiated by epicutaneously applied antigens. Modulation of LC-keratinocyte adhesion is likely to be central to regulation of LC migration. LC express high levels of epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM; CD326), a cell-surface protein that is characteristic of some epithelia and many carcinomas and that has been implicated in intercellular adhesion and metastasis. To gain insight into EpCAM function in a physiologic context in vivo, we generated conditional knockout mice with EpCAM-deficient LC and characterized them. Epidermis from these mice contained increased numbers of LC with normal levels of MHC and costimulatory molecules and T-cell-stimulatory activity in vitro. Migration of EpCAM-deficient LC from skin explants was inhibited, but chemotaxis of dissociated LC was not. Correspondingly, the ability of contact allergen-stimulated, EpCAM-deficient LC to exit epidermis in vivo was delayed, and strikingly fewer hapten-bearing LC subsequently accumulated in lymph nodes. Attenuated migration of EpCAM-deficient LC resulted in enhanced contact hypersensitivity responses as previously described in LC-deficient mice. Intravital microscopy revealed reduced translocation and dendrite motility in EpCAM-deficient LC in vivo in contact allergen-treated mice. These results conclusively link EpCAM expression to LC motility/migration and LC migration to immune regulation. EpCAM appears to promote LC migration from epidermis by decreasing LC-keratinocyte adhesion and may modulate intercellular adhesion and cell movement within in epithelia during development and carcinogenesis in an analogous fashion