State Constitutional Analyses of Public School Finance Reform Cases: Myth or Methodology?

The public education system in the United States fails to educate economically disadvantaged children. Students from poor families are more likely to repeat grades,\u27 to have below average basic academic skills, to drop out of school, and to forego attending college. These gaps in educational achievement translate into an inability to compete effectively in the employment market place. In an attempt to remedy these inequalities, plaintiffs have attacked the most obvious source of disparity: state school financing schemes

Fighting Tigers with a Stick: An Evaluation of U.S. Army Recruitment, Training, and Their Combat Outcomes in the Korean War

After the Korean War, most people regarded the performance of the U.S Army in that conflict as largely checkered. It had not once, but twice retreated disgracefully, losing to theoretically inferior third world armies. Its soldiers often performed poorly, not just in battle, but also prison camps. Many scholars, military commentators, and journalists have since tried to dissect the failures of the U.S. Army in Korea. Some have examined whether or not American GIs received proper combat training before and during the war. Indeed, problems existed with American infantry training before and during the early phases of the Korean War. Recruitment standards slipped while leaders reduced the length of basic training. Unit level training also suffered from personnel turnover as well as a lack of training areas, equipment, and focus from leadership. Training largely became inconsistent and unrealistic as the military slipped into a peacetime mentality. As a result, the average American infantryman deploying to Korea in 1950 lacked training and education in how to fight a ground war. Thus, the U.S Army’s infantry training system prior to Korean War deservedly warranted criticism and reform. However, it was not the only factor in the Army’s defeats. Instead, it reflected a larger, underlying issue. The ambivalent attitude of American civil and military society regarding ground warfare shaped the outcome of Korean War. This outlook not only created conditions leading to poor training for infantrymen, but other issues like a lack of equipment and manpower, poor leadership, and weak national morale that adversely affected the soldier’s performance on the battlefields and prison camps of Korea

Economical genotyping of little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) clades from feather-based DNA

Determination of clade membership is a crucial requirement for many research questions addressing phylogeography, population structure, mating patterns, speciation, and hybridisation. The little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) can be separated into two deeply divergent clades. However, assigning clade membership in little blue penguins requires molecular methods. Genetic sequencing can be used to identify clade membership but is expensive. Here, we present an economical alternative to the use of sequencing to determine little blue penguin clade membership. We extracted DNA from feathers using a method that produced reasonable quantities of DNA. We then amplified the D-loop section of the mitochondrial control region from total genomic DNA extracts, using the primers 'C L-tRNAglu' and 'D H-Dbox' followed by digestion with the restriction enzyme AluI. When visualised on a gel, distinctive banding patterns clearly indicated clade membership. We sequenced a subset of our samples and verified the accuracy of this method. The methods we present should facilitate little blue penguin research through a cost-effective approach to clade analysis as well as a successful technique to extract DNA from feathers when blood or tissue samples are not available

Short Note: Report of mummified leopard seal carcass in the southern Dry Valleys, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.

The wide spread occurrence of mummified seal and penguin carcasses tens of kilometres from the open ocean is an interesting phenomenon occurring in the Antarctic Dry Valleys. Mummified seal carcasses were first reported by Scott’s expedition in 1903 (Scott 1969), and live seals and seal carcasses have since been reported many kilometres from the nearest ice-free ocean. Seal carcasses found in the McMurdo Dry Valleys are predominantly crabeater seals (Lobodon carcinophaga (Hombron & Jacquinot)) with a smaller number of Weddell seals, (Leptonychotes weddellii (Lesson)), also reported. Here we present only the second published report of a leopard seal carcass from the McMurdo Dry Valleys

Antirealist Essentialism

This project is an investigation into the prospects for an antirealist theory of essence. Essentialism is the claim that at least some things have some of their properties essentially. Essentialist discourse includes claims such as “Socrates is essentially human”, and “Socrates is accidentally bearded”. Historically, there are two ways of interpreting essentialist discourse. I call these positions ‘modal essentialism’ and ‘neo-Aristotelian essentialism’. According to modal essentialism, for Socrates to be essentially human is for it to be necessary that he be a human if he exists, and for Socrates to accidentally have a beard is for it to be contingent that Socrates has a beard if he exists. According to neo-Aristotelian essentialism, objects have definitions in something like the way words do. For Socrates to be essentially human but accidentally bearded is for it to be part of the definition of Socrates that he is human, but not part of that definition that he is bearded. I argue that both are susceptible to antirealist interpretation. This thesis sets about showing that this is the case. In Chapters One and Two I investigate neo-conventionalist theories of modality, in the hope of using such a position to develop an antirealist modal essentialism. In Chapter Three I discuss the debate between modal and neo-Aristotelian essentialism and conclude that it is by no means settled. In Chapter Four I develop an antirealist neo-Aristotelian essentialism based on the mechanism of one of the neo-conventionalist accounts of modality. In Chapter Five I argue that this account is in a better position to give an essentialist theory of necessity than its realist counterparts. I conclude that, regardless of whether one is a modal or neo-Aristotelian essentialist, antirealist essentialism is a viable theory of essence that is worthy of consideration in contemporary debate

Designing games for the rehabilitation of functional vision for children with cerebral visual impairment

Evidence has accumulated that visual rehabilitation for patients with neurological visual impairment can be effective. Unfortunately, the existing therapy tools are repetitive, uninteresting, and unsuitable for use with children. This project aims to improve the engaging qualities of visual rehabilitation for children, through the design of therapy tools based on game design principles. Development is ongoing in a participatory, user-centred manner in conjunction with a specialist centre for childhood visual impairment. This paper outlines design requirements and briefly reports early findings of the development process

Latitudinal distribution and mitochondrial DNA (COI) variability of Stereotydeus spp. (Acari: Prostigmata) in Victoria Land and the central Transantarctic Mountains

We examined mitochondrial DNA (COI) variability and distribution of Stereotydeus spp. in Victoria Land and the Transantarctic Mountains, and constructed Neighbour Joining (NJ) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) phylogenetic trees using all publicly available COI sequences for the three Stereotydeus species present (S. belli, S. mollis and S. shoupi). We also included new COI sequences from Miers, Marshall and Garwood valleys in southern Victoria Land (78°S), as well as from the Darwin (79°S) and Beardmore Glacier (83°S) regions. Both NJ and ML methods produced trees which were similar in topology differing only in the placement of the single available S. belli sequence from Cape Hallett (72°S) and a S. mollis haplotype from Miers Valley. Pairwise sequence divergences among species ranged from 9.5–18.1%. NJ and ML grouped S. shoupi from the Beardmore Glacier region as sister to those from the Darwin with pairwise divergences of 8%. These individuals formed a monophyletic clade with high bootstrap support basal to S. mollis and S. belli. Based on these new data, we suggest that the distributional range of S. shoupi extends northward to Darwin Glacier and that a barrier to dispersal for Stereotydeus, and possibly other arthropods, exists immediately to the north of this area

Preferences for cancer investigation:a vignette-based study of primary-care attendees

SummaryBackgroundThe UK lags behind many European countries in terms of cancer survival. Initiatives to address this disparity have focused on barriers to presentation, symptom recognition, and referral for specialist investigation. Selection of patients for further investigation has come under particular scrutiny, although preferences for referral thresholds in the UK population have not been studied. We investigated preferences for diagnostic testing for colorectal, lung, and pancreatic cancers in primary-care attendees.MethodsIn a vignette-based study, researchers recruited individuals aged at least 40 years attending 26 general practices in three areas of England between Dec 6, 2011, and Aug 1, 2012. Participants completed up to three of 12 vignettes (four for each of lung, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers), which were randomly assigned. The vignettes outlined a set of symptoms, the risk that these symptoms might indicate cancer (1%, 2%, 5%, or 10%), the relevant testing process, probable treatment, possible alternative diagnoses, and prognosis if cancer were identified. Participants were asked whether they would opt for diagnostic testing on the basis of the information in the vignette.Findings3469 participants completed 6930 vignettes. 3052 individuals (88%) opted for investigation in their first vignette. We recorded no strong evidence that participants were more likely to opt for investigation with a 1% increase in risk of cancer (odds ratio [OR] 1·02, 95% CI 0·99–1·06; p=0·189), although the association between risk and opting for investigation was strong when colorectal cancer was analysed alone (1·08, 1·03–1·13; p=0·0001). In multivariable analysis, age had an effect in all three cancer models: participants aged 60–69 years were significantly more likely to opt for investigation than were those aged 40–59 years, and those aged 70 years or older were less likely. Other variables associated with increased likelihood of opting for investigation were shorter travel times to testing centre (colorectal and lung cancers), a family history of cancer (colorectal and lung cancers), and higher household income (colorectal and pancreatic cancers).InterpretationParticipants in our sample expressed a clear preference for diagnostic testing at all risk levels, and individuals want to be tested at risk levels well below those stipulated by UK guidelines. This willingness should be considered during design of cancer pathways, particularly in primary care. The public engagement with our study should encourage general practitioners to involve patients in referral decision making.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research programme

Testing use of mitochondrial COI sequences for the identification and phylogenetic analysis of New Zealand caddisflies (Trichoptera)

We tested the hypothesis that cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (COI) sequences would successfully discriminate recognised species of New Zealand caddisflies. We further examined whether phylogenetic analyses, based on the COI locus, could recover currently recognised superfamilies and suborders. COI sequences were obtained from 105 individuals representing 61 species and all 16 families of Trichoptera known from New Zealand. No sequence sharing was observed between members of different species, and congeneric species showed from 2.3 to 19.5% divergence. Sequence divergence among members of a species was typically low (mean = 0.7%; range 0.0–8.5%), but two species showed intraspecific divergences in excess of 2%. Phylogenetic reconstructions based on COI were largely congruent with previous conclusions based on morphology, although the sequence data did not support placement of the purse-cased caddisflies (Hydroptilidae) within the uncased caddisflies, and, in particular, the Rhyacophiloidea. We conclude that sequence variation in the COI gene locus is an effective tool for the identification of New Zealand caddisfly species, and can provide preliminary phylogenetic inferences. Further research is needed to ascertain the significance of the few instances of high intra-specific divergence and to determine if any instances of sequence sharing will be detected with larger sample sizes