Standards, information, and the demand for student achievement

Higher student achievement, say the authors, has been severely hampered by a lack of good information comparing achievement levels with today's labor market requirements. They argue that by obtaining this information--in the form of academic standards and assessments--parents can more accurately evaluate the quality of their children's education.Education

The Growing Importance of Cognitive Skills in Wage Determination

Using data from two longitudinal surveys of American high school seniors, we show that basic cognitive skills had a larger impact on wages for 24-year-old men and women in 1986 than in 1978. For women, the increase in the return to cognitive skills between 1978 and 1986 accounts for all of the increase in the wage premium associated with post-secondary education. We also show that high school seniors' mastery of basic cognitive skills had a much smaller impact on wages two years after graduation than on wages six years after graduation.

Upstairs downstairs: how introducing computer technology changed skills and pay on two floors of Cabot Bank

Assessing the differing impacts of a new computer technology on skills and pay in two departments of a large bank.Checks ; Check collection systems ; Check float ; Job security ; Employees, Training of

Deficient mitochondrial biogenesis in critical illness: cause, effect, or epiphenomenon?

Recent studies indicate that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a role in the pathogenesis of a number of disease states. The importance of these organelles in shock and multiple organ dysfunction is of particular interest to those caring for the critically ill. Mitochondria have their own unique DNA (mtDNA) that encodes 13 essential subunits of electron transport chain enzymes, two ribosomal RNAs and 22 transfer RNAs. Importantly, mtDNA is especially susceptible to deletions, rearrangements and mutations because it is not bound by histones and lacks the extensive repair machinery present in the nucleus. The study by Côté et al. in this issue of Critical Care examines changes in mtDNA in critically ill patients. The results support further investigation into the role of mtDNA in the critically ill

Are Lots of College Graduates Taking High School Jobs? A Reconsiderationof the Evidence

Several recent published papers have asserted that a growing proportion of workers with college degrees are either unemployed or employed in jobs requiring only high school skills. Using data from the 1980 and 1990 Censuses of Population and Housing, we show that this assertion does not accurately reflect labor market trends for young (25-34 year old) male or female college graduates or for older (45-54 year old) female college graduates. For all these groups, real earnings increased during the 1980s and the percentage in 'high school jobs' declined. The assertion is valid only for older male college graduates. Young college graduates improved their labor market position during the 1980s by increasingly obtaining degrees in occupations which had high earnings at the beginning of the decade and which had the highest earnings growth over the decade.

AFLOW-SYM: Platform for the complete, automatic and self-consistent symmetry analysis of crystals

Determination of the symmetry profile of structures is a persistent challenge in materials science. Results often vary amongst standard packages, hindering autonomous materials development by requiring continuous user attention and educated guesses. Here, we present a robust procedure for evaluating the complete suite of symmetry properties, featuring various representations for the point-, factor-, space groups, site symmetries, and Wyckoff positions. The protocol determines a system-specific mapping tolerance that yields symmetry operations entirely commensurate with fundamental crystallographic principles. The self consistent tolerance characterizes the effective spatial resolution of the reported atomic positions. The approach is compared with the most used programs and is successfully validated against the space group information provided for over 54,000 entries in the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database. Subsequently, a complete symmetry analysis is applied to all 1.7$+$ million entries of the AFLOW data repository. The AFLOW-SYM package has been implemented in, and made available for, public use through the automated, $\textit{ab-initio}$ framework AFLOW.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

Evidence of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism: Biochemical Links, Genetic-Based Associations, and Non-Energy-Related Mechanisms

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the fastest growing developmental disability in the United States, represents a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impaired social interaction and communication as well as restricted and repetitive behavior. The underlying cause of autism is unknown and therapy is currently limited to targeting behavioral abnormalities. Emerging studies suggest a link between mitochondrial dysfunction and ASD. Here, we review the evidence demonstrating this potential connection. We focus specifically on biochemical links, genetic-based associations, non-energy related mechanisms, and novel therapeutic strategies

Ropivacaine decreases tissue oxygen saturation following peripheral nerve block in children

Background: Local anesthetics can cause vasoconstriction and disrupt neuronal impulses, reducing regional blood flow and increasing tissue oxygen consumption. This could alter regional oxygen supply and demand. Because microcirculation modifies during development and oxygen consumption kinetics differ between children and adults, we aimed to assess effects of ropivacaine Peripheral Nerve Block (PNB) on regional tissue saturation in children and young adults using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). Methods: Following Institutional Review Board approval and informed consent, 20 patients undergoing PNB for various orthopedic surgeries were studied. NIRS sensors were placed on the operative limb, contralateral limb, and forehead. Tissue saturations (rSO2) were recorded at baseline and every 5 minutes for 60 minutes following ropivacaine PNB. Mean rSO2 was assessed with repeated measures ANOVA. Correlation of tissue rSO2 with cerebral oximetry was calculated and significance determined with student’s t-test. Results: In all patients, blocked limb rSO2 decreased significantly compared to control limb 20 minutes after injection and remained lower. Control limb rSO2 and cerebral oximetry did not change over time. Non-blocked limb rSO2 demonstrated weak but significant correlation with cerebral oximetry while blocked limb rSO2 showed no correlation. Mean change in blocked limb rSO2 from baseline was significantly negative compared to a net positive mean change in the non-blocked limb. Conclusions: Decreased rSO2 following PNB suggests reduced local blood flow due to vasoconstriction, increased tissue oxygen consumption, or both. Changes in rSO2 provide an opportunity to develop NIRS as a non-invasive tool to identify successful PNB. Local anesthetic-induced decline in rSO2 could have implications in operative settings with ischemia or low-flow

A Previously Healthy Adolescent With Acute Psychosis and Severe Hyperhidrosis

A previously healthy 15-year-old boy presented with 3 months of progressive psychosis, insomnia, back and groin pain, and hyperhidrosis. On examination, the patient was disheveled, agitated, and soaked with sweat, with systolic blood pressure in the 160s and heart rate in the 130s. Aside from occasional auditory and visual hallucinations, his neurologic examination was normal. The patient was admitted for an extensive workup, including MRI of the brain and spine and lumbar puncture, which were normal. Through collaboration with various pediatric specialists, including psychiatry and neurology, a rare diagnosis was ultimately unveiled

Increased hand washing reduces influenza virus surface contamination in Bangkok households, 2009–2010

Within a hand-washing clinical trial, we evaluated factors associated with fomite contamination in households with an influenza-infected child. Influenza virus RNA contamination was higher in households with low absolute humidity and in control households, suggesting that hand washing reduces surface contamination