Pacific Seascapes, Canoe Performance, and a Review of Lapita Voyaging with Regard to Theories of Migration

The first part of this paper establishes in a general kind of way that the domain or seascape that Lapita sailors operated in was more demanding than that of Wallacea and Near Oceania, but markedly less so than that negotiated later by East Polynesians. The second part takes a look at the form and performance of canoes, the possible nature of Lapita craft, and suggests ways to improve modern estimates of prehistoric performance by mechanical and mathematical modeling. The third part considers the practicalities of sailing in the Lapita domain; it argues that the dispersal of Lapita was in a selected direction rather than a random one, and offers a glimpse of how these ambitious but relatively cautious sailors learned to navigate. The final aim of the paper is to summarize three theories of migration, which support each other in some respects, but which differ in others-especially in their views of prehistoric canoe performance. KEYWORDS: Pacific Ocean, Lapita, seascapes, canoe performance, colonization

Final Project 3.0: A Student Virtual World Conference on the Future of Collaboration

There is currently little research of any kind on enterprise virtual worlds or using these collaborative tool ecosystems for geographically distributed education in organizational studies. In 2013, a group of multidisciplinary graduate students created and executed a conference in a 3D virtual world as a class project. The topics presented in the conference were crowdsourcing and mobile virtual worlds, but the overall experience resulted in learning well beyond those topics. The project team encountered a significant learning curve over planning and executing in person meetings as well as technical challenges that would threaten the success of the project. This paper describes the end-to-end process taken by the team to plan and execute the conference, and shows the challenges, successes, and the lessons learned that can be applied to future conferences in 3D virtual worlds, which promise incredible potential for improving collaboration across businesses

Toward a Revised 4.2 No-Contact Rule

Model Rule of Professional Conduct 4.2, in effect in substantially similar form in all U.S. jurisdictions, generally forbids a lawyer from contacting a person represented by another lawyer unless that lawyer consents or the contact is authorized by law. Our thesis is that as conceptualized and applied, this Rule is overbroad and ambiguous in important respects. After illustrating and explaining these shortcomings, we propose reform to Rule 4.2 to better implement its intended purpose. Specifically, we propose modifications to the text of the Rule that: (i) clarify the meaning of the authorized by law exception, (2) articulate new exceptions to avoid unjust applications, (3) revise the test for application of the Rule in the organizational context, and (4) offer guidelines for communications that occur under any of the Rule\u27s exceptions. We then propose modifications to the Rule\u27s comments that explain and elaborate on these modifications. Together, our proposed changes aim to implement Rule 4.2\u27S proper purpose-protecting the lawyer client relationship, while acknowledging and balancing competing duties and interests

Court Finance and Unitary Budgeting

Among the difficulties besetting the courts today is lack of money.In this respect, they share adversity with most public and charitableinstitutions such as schools, universities, hospitals, parks and libraries.But the fiscal dilemma of the courts is unique in certain respects.They constitute an independent branch of government, critically necessaryto the balance of our constitutional system. Yet they are expectedto eschew the normal political process and, unlike other competitorsfor public resources, are prohibited from cultivating their own constituenciesand utilizing lobbyists. Furthermore, the judicial systemsof most states are heavily dependent on local government for theirfinance.\u27 In these states, the courts must join the unhappy competitionfor the inadequate revenues of local property taxes

Combined horizontal and vertical integration of care: a goal of practice-based commissioning

Practice-based commissioning (PBC) in the UK is intended to improve both the vertical and horizontal integration of health care, in order to avoid escalating costs and enhance population health. Vertical integration involves patient pathways to treat named medical conditions that transcend organisational boundaries and connect communitybased generalists with largely hospital-sited specialists, whereas horizontal integration involves peerbased and cross-sectoral collaboration to improve overall health. Effective mechanisms are now needed to permit ongoing dialogue between the vertical and horizontal dimensions to ensure that medical and nonmedical care are both used to their best advantage. This paper proposes three different models for combining vertical and horizontal integration – each is a hybrid of internationally recognised ideal types of primary care organisation. Leaders of PBC should consider a range of models and apply them in ways that are relevant to the local context. General practitioners, policy makers and others whose job it is to facilitate horizontal and vertical integration must learn to lead such combined approaches to integration if the UK is to avoid the mistakes of the USA in over-medicalising health issues

Filaggrin-stratified transcriptomic analysis of pediatric skin identifies mechanistic pathways in patients with atopic dermatitis

BackgroundAtopic dermatitis (AD; eczema) is characterized by a widespread abnormality in cutaneous barrier function and propensity to inflammation. Filaggrin is a multifunctional protein and plays a key role in skin barrier formation. Loss-of-function mutations in the gene encoding filaggrin (FLG) are a highly significant risk factor for atopic disease, but the molecular mechanisms leading to dermatitis remain unclear.ObjectiveWe sought to interrogate tissue-specific variations in the expressed genome in the skin of children with AD and to investigate underlying pathomechanisms in atopic skin.MethodsWe applied single-molecule direct RNA sequencing to analyze the whole transcriptome using minimal tissue samples. Uninvolved skin biopsy specimens from 26 pediatric patients with AD were compared with site-matched samples from 10 nonatopic teenage control subjects. Cases and control subjects were screened for FLG genotype to stratify the data set.ResultsTwo thousand four hundred thirty differentially expressed genes (false discovery rate, P < .05) were identified, of which 211 were significantly upregulated and 490 downregulated by greater than 2-fold. Gene ontology terms for “extracellular space” and “defense response” were enriched, whereas “lipid metabolic processes” were downregulated. The subset of FLG wild-type cases showed dysregulation of genes involved with lipid metabolism, whereas filaggrin haploinsufficiency affected global gene expression and was characterized by a type 1 interferon–mediated stress response.ConclusionThese analyses demonstrate the importance of extracellular space and lipid metabolism in atopic skin pathology independent of FLG genotype, whereas an aberrant defense response is seen in subjects with FLG mutations. Genotype stratification of the large data set has facilitated functional interpretation and might guide future therapy development