491 research outputs found

    The Dilemma of Presidential Leadership

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    Every decade, about five thousand persons serve as college or university presidents. Over a term of office averaging less than seven years, the president is expected to serve simultaneously as the chief administrator of a large and complex bureaucracy, as the convening colleague of a professional community, as a symbolic elder in a campus culture of shared values and symbols, and (in some institutions) as a public official accountable to a public board and responsive to the demands of other governmental agencies. Balancing the conflicting expectations of these roles has always been difficult; changing demographic trends, fiscal constraints, the complexity and diversity of tasks, university dynamics, and unrealistic public expectations make it virtually impossible for most presidents to provide the leadership that is expected

    Establishing Canada\u27s First Integrated Domestic Violence Court: Exploring Process, Outcomes, and Lessons Learned

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    The establishment of domestic violence courts has resulted in significant improvements in responses to family violence, but these courts have generally dealt only with criminal cases and do not address the risks that the victim and children may face in family proceedings. In some locations in the USA, courts have been established to deal with both criminal and family proceedings that arise from a domestic violence situation. This paper describes and analyzes the establishment of the first court in Canada that hears both criminal and family cases concerning families where there are domestic violence issues. The authors report on a study of the views and experiences of 21 stakeholders (judges, Crown, criminal and family lawyers, community supports, victims, and offenders) involved in the Integrated Domestic Violence Court in Toronto. The participants generally report that the Court provides a better approach to dealing with domestic violence post separation, though there are some concerns expressed about its operations, especially by lawyers representing alleged abusers. The Integrated Domestic Violence Court is a promising example of how systems can collaborate to better protect victims and advance the interests of children

    Neurotransmitter modulation of extracellular H+ fluxes from isolated retinal horizontal cells of the skate

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    Self-referencing H+-selective microelectrodes were used to measure extracellular H+ fluxes from horizontal cells isolated from the skate retina. A standing H+ flux was detected from quiescent cells, indicating a higher concentration of free hydrogen ions near the extracellular surface of the cell as compared to the surrounding solution. The standing H+ flux was reduced by removal of extracellular sodium or application of 5-(N-ethyl-N-isopropyl) amiloride (EIPA), suggesting activity of a Na+–H+ exchanger. Glutamate decreased H+ flux, lowering the concentration of free hydrogen ions around the cell. AMPA/kainate receptor agonists mimicked the response, and the AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX) eliminated the effects of glutamate and kainate. Metabotropic glutamate agonists were without effect. Glutamate-induced alterations in H+ flux required extracellular calcium, and were abolished when cells were bathed in an alkaline Ringer solution. Increasing intracellular calcium by photolysis of the caged calcium compound NP-EGTA also altered extracellular H+ flux. Immunocytochemical localization of the plasmalemma Ca2+–H+-ATPase (PMCA pump) revealed intense labelling within the outer plexiform layer and on isolated horizontal cells. Our results suggest that glutamate modulation of H+ flux arises from calcium entry into cells with subsequent activation of the plasmalemma Ca2+–H+-ATPase. These neurotransmitter-induced changes in extracellular pH have the potential to play a modulatory role in synaptic processing in the outer retina. However, our findings argue against the hypothesis that hydrogen ions released by horizontal cells normally act as the inhibitory feedback neurotransmitter onto photoreceptor synaptic terminals to create the surround portion of the centre-surround receptive fields of retinal neuron

    Recent advances in the reconstruction of Common Slavic (1971-1982)

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    141 pagesRecent Advances in the Reconstruction of Common Slavic (1971–1982) continues the work of the original Common Slavic: Progress and Problems in its Reconstruction in annotating the literature on comparative/historical Slavic linguistics. Although the literature goes back over 40 years, much of it is still au courant, and the commentaries are incisive and helpful even to the 21st-­‐‑century reader

    Availability of soil mutualists may not limit non‐native Acacia invasion but could increase their impact on native soil communities

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    The availability of compatible mutualistic soil microbes could influence the invasion success of non-native plant species. Specifically, there may be spatial variation in the distribution of compatible microbes, and species-specific variation in plant host ability to associate with available microbes. Although either or both factors could promote or limit invasion, the scale over which most studies are conducted makes it difficult to examine these two possibilities simultaneously. However, this is critical to identifying a role of soil microbes in invasion. A series of recent research projects focused on interactions between Australian Acacia and nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia) at multiple spatial scales, from the local to the inter-continental, has allowed us to evaluate this question. Collectively, this research reveals that nodulation, performance and rhizobial community composition are all broadly similar across spatial scales and differentially invasive species. Synthesis and applications. We argue that current research provides convincing evidence that interactions with rhizobia do not determine invasion success in Acacia, but instead highlights key knowledge gaps that remain unfilled. Importantly, the ease with which non-native Acacia species form mutualistic associations with rhizobia, regardless of invasive status, highlights the critical need to understand the impacts of all non-native Acacia on native soil communities

    School functioning and violent behavior among young adolescents: a contextual analysis

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    This paper examines associations between overall school functioning and the frequency of violent behaviors among young adolescents (ages 10–14). The sample included 16 middle schools participating in an unrelated intervention study (on nutrition) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A School Functioning Index developed to characterize schools’ overall stability, performance, and demographics was constructed using data from public archives and school administrator surveys. Data on violent behaviors and other variables were collected in student surveys in fall 1998 and spring 1999. We used multilevel modeling to assess the effect of school functioning on violent behavior after adjusting for known individual-level covariates of violent behaviors. We found an interaction between school functioning (group-level variable) and expectations for future education (individual-level variable). Among students who reported expectations of completing a college degree (71% of the sample), positive school functioning was negatively associated with violent behaviors. Among students that reported expectations of completing less than a college degree, no association was found between school functioning and violent behaviors. These results support earlier work suggesting that objectively measured school characteristics are associated with students’ violent behaviors even after accounting for individual-level factors and also identify a subgroup of students for whom school detachment may be an issue

    Linear and nonlinear optical spectroscopy of a strongly-coupled microdisk-quantum dot system

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    A fiber taper waveguide is used to perform direct optical spectroscopy of a microdisk-quantum-dot system, exciting the system through the photonic (light) channel rather than the excitonic (matter) channel. Strong coupling, the regime of coherent quantum interactions, is demonstrated through observation of vacuum Rabi splitting in the transmitted and reflected signals from the cavity. The fiber coupling method also allows the examination of the system's steady-state nonlinear properties, where saturation of the cavity-QD response is observed for less than one intracavity photon.Comment: adjusted references, added minor clarification

    Next generation sequencing of chromosomal rearrangements in patients with split-hand/split-foot malformation provides evidence for DYNC1I1 exonic enhancers of DLX5/6 expression in humans

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    This is a freely-available open access publication. Please cite the published version which is available via the DOI link in this recordSplit-hand/foot malformation type 1 is an autosomal dominant condition with reduced penetrance and variable expression. We report three individuals from two families with split-hand/split-foot malformation (SHFM) in whom next generation sequencing was performed to investigate the cause of their phenotype.Wellcome Trus
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