Texas' historically underutilized business program : can affirmative action run on good faith?

The State of Texas has long been known for its thriving economy, but it has left many behind on its path to greatness. Systematic and deep-rooted hurdles have stopped minority-owned businesses from being able to flourish in the Lone Star State. Lack of access to capital and difficulty breaking into business circles that white men have dominated for years have plagued these businesses, curtailing their growth. As a result, the state founded the Historically Underutilized Business program nearly 30 years ago to address these barriers to entry. The program seeks to make “good faith” efforts to boost minority-owned businesses by proactively allocating state contracts to these businesses. However, without enforcement or oversight protocols in place, and no repercussions for those who sidestep the program, many minority-owned businesses see the program as obsolete. The statistics agree: the program has not seen any improvement in overall minority-contracting levels in 25 years. While some minorities, like woman-owned businesses, have grown under the program, other minorities, predominantly black-owned businesses, remain stagnant. The disparity has created a cultural and monetary divide between these communities. This rift has led to allegations of corruption and shed a harsh light on persisten issues with the state’s contracting process. Minority-owned businesses have been hesitant to speak out against the program in the fear that they will be blacklisted by the state agencies that distribute the contracts. In recent years, the program’s issues and the divide between minority business owners have come to the forefront of African-American legislators’ minds. Lawmakers are now looking for ways to incentivize the “good faith” program in the hopes that minorities will finally see equal and sustainable success. However, with 25 years of stagnation and no enforcement strategy, business owners are skeptical.Journalis

Aboriginal Title and Extinguishment Not So Clear and Plain : A Comparison of the Current Maori and Haida Experiences

As the end of the United Nations General Assembly\u27s International Decade of the World\u27s Indigenous Peoples (1995-2004) approaches, indigenous peoples worldwide are proactively seeking an unprecedented reclamation of aboriginal rights lost since European colonization. One of the most all-encompassing rights that is asserted by indigenous peoples is the right of indigenous title, a legal term of art that is both difficult to define and challenging to recognize. Notwithstanding domestic opposition from their respective provincial or national legislatures, both the Haida of Canada and the Maori of New Zealand are currently pursuing recognition of this indigenous right through their respective judiciaries. Recent case law in both Canada and New Zealand recognize the existence of indigenous title. Further, international law supports both the Haida and the Maori claims. However, manifest differences between the two nations as to what actions constitute extinguishment of indigenous title will probably result in the success of the Haida claim and the failure of the Maori claim. Canada\u27s constitutionally-based narrow approach contrasts sharply with New Zealand\u27s flexible statute-based methods of extinguishing indigenous title, which include mere legislative action

Youth Leadership Development Programs: Participants’ Pre- and Post-perceptions of Leadership Life Skills Development

Research exists on the participation of youth in various types of youth leadership development programs. However, the problem is a lack of understanding of the perception of participants’ pre- and postparticipation on their development of leadership life skills. The purpose of this quantitative, causal-comparative study was to determine how youth leadership development program participants perceive themselves in the area of leadership life skills development pre- and postparticipation in a youth leadership development program. In this study, specific consideration was given to the difference in gender and ethnic minority affiliation reporting scores. The independent variables in this study were participation in youth leadership development programs (i.e., yes or no), gender, and ethnic minority affiliation. The outcome measure in the study was self-reported student leadership life skills attribute scores. Students from the study site completed the survey associated with the data collection tool. After analyzing the responses, 123 of those responses met the criteria to be included in the study. The students surveyed in this study reported gains in how they perceived their leadership life skills development pre- and postparticipation in a youth leadership development program. There was also a gain in the perception of leadership life skills development in gender and ethnic minority affiliation reporting scores. Keywords: leadership, youth leadership development program, leadership life skill

Molecular basis of thrombophilia

Trombofilija nastaje kao rezultat kompleksne interakcije između negenetičkih i genetičkih faktora rizika koji hemostaznu ravnotežu pomeraju u smeru hiperkoagulacije i dovode do pojave tromboze. Veoma značajan faktor rizika za nastanak trombofilije je deficijencija inhibitora koagulacije: antitrombina, proteina C ili proteina S. Veliki korak u razumevanju genetičke osnove i molekularne dijagnostike trombofilije napravljen je otkrićem rezistencije na aktivirani protein C i faktor V Leiden mutacije. Ubrzo je otkrivena i varijanta u 3'-nekodirajucem regionu gena za faktor II (FII G20210A), za koju je pokazano da dovodi do povišene koncentracije protrombina u plazmi. Ove dve genske varijante su najučestaliji genetički faktori rizika za nastanak trombofilije. Nedavno je opisana nova mutacija u genu za protrombin (c.1787G gt T) za koju je pokazano da dovodi do rezistencije na antitrombin, odnosno do smanjene mogućnosti inaktivacije mutiranog trombina od strane antitrombina, sto predstavlja novi mehanizam za nastanak trombofilije. U toku poslednjih decenija, opisan je veliki broj genetičkih faktora rizika za nastanak trombofilije, uključuju}i one koji dovode do: nedostatka inhibitora koagulacije, povećanog nivoa ili smanjene inaktivacije koagulacionih faktora ili defekata sistema za fibrinolizu. Međutim, većina njih nije od dijagnostičke važnosti zbog njihovog malog ili još uvek nepoznatog uticaja na etiologiju trombofilije. Primena novih tehnologija koje omogućavaju analizu velikog broja gena kod jednog pacijenta otvoriće mogućnost individualnog utvrđivanja genetičkih faktora rizika, samim tim i adekvatan terapeutski pristup.Thrombophilia is a multifactorial disorder, involving both genetic and acquired risk factors that affect the balance between procoagulant and anticoagulant factors and lead to increased thrombotic tendency. The severe forms of thrombophilia are caused by a deficiency of natural anticoagulants: antithrombin, protein C and protein S. The advances in DNA technology played an important role in the identification of the exact nature of these deficiencies and opened up new possibilities in genetic research and molecular diagnostics of thrombophilia. The major breakthrough came with the discovery of activated protein C resistance and the Factor V Leiden gene mutation. Shortly afterwards, a variant in the 3' untranslated region of the Factor II gene (FII G20210A) associated with an increased concentration of Factor II in plasma was described. These two gene variants represent the most common thrombophilic genetic risk factors. Recently, a novel prothrombin mutation (c.1787G gt T) was identified in a Japanese family with juvenile thrombosis. This mutation leads to impaired inhibition of mutant thrombin by antithrombin, proposing a new mechanism of thrombophilia named resistance to antithrombin. In the last decade, several prothrombotic genetic risk factors have been described, including gene variants associated with defects of natural coagulation inhibitors, increased levels of coagulation factors or their impaired inhibition and defects of the fibrinolytic system. However, most of them are not of diagnostic value, due to their minor or unknown impact on the thrombotic risk. Large-scale DNA analysis systems are now becoming available, opening a new era in the genetic studies of the molecular basis of thrombophilia

Family SES and Parental Perceptions of Children’s Aggressive Behaviors

Past literature has shown the strength of the relationship between low socioeconomic status (SES) and behavioral issues during childhood. However, it is unclear how family’s low SES may be related to children’s behavioral issues. A possible reason could be due to the stress brought on by financial difficulties, contributing to more frustrations between parent and child. Researchers believe that parents typically expect their children to have gained some control over their aggression emotions by early childhood. There is also evidence to support that parents tend to exhibit more anger towards their child’s behavior if it is aggressive (Mills & Rubin, 1990). Tough punishment could foster aggression during childhood (Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1994). Previous literature on parental beliefs of aggression suggests that parents are more likely to use force when mediating aggressive behavior than other types of disciplinary tactics. Furthermore, parents are also more likely to react more intensely to their child’s misbehavior if it is something they can control. Parents with aggressive children also tend to be more critical and take on a very harsh disciplinarian role (Hastings & Rubin, 1999). The present study, part of a larger study, is aimed to assess the differences in aggressive levels of children based on family’s SES and parental evaluations. Parental disciplinary strategies and report of children’s prosocial versus aggressive behaviors were collected through a parental survey distributed at a neighborhood Head Start program and Montessori academy. Parents from low SES are expected to report more physical punishment and aggressive behaviors in their children than parents with a higher SES. Detailed results and implications will be shared and discussed at the conference

Um modelo de decisão em processo de automação

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção.A automação é uma tecnologia que as organizações modernas não podem excluir de seu desenvolvimento. A globalização com a necessidade de reduzir custos para aumentar sua competitividade são fatores que obrigam à busca de novas tecnologias. A decisão do que e como automatizar é sempre um dilema que deve ser resolvido da melhor maneira possível. Como tomar a decisão? Foi correta? A implementação de uma metodologia para decidir se e como automatizar é apresentada neste trabalho. Buscou-se uma ferramenta que auxilie o executivo a decidir se a automação dará certo em sua empresa. Esta ferramenta foi testada e aprovada em uma aplicação prática destinada a avaliar sua aplicabilidade