The Measure of Consumption Taxes

The paper explores to which extent teacher unions have been involved in discussions, consultations and negotiations with goverments in relation to initiatives taken to achieve education for all (EFA). The paper deals with three questions: 1) Whether teacher unions were aware of the existence of EFA (Education For All) forums in their countries and if their answers were yes, to which extent they had participated in the National EFA Forums. 2) Whether teacher unions were aware of the existence of National EFA Plans or the active work to establish such a plan. If their answers were yes, in what ways had they participated in consultations on the National EFA Plan. 3) Whether the teacher unions had taken any initiative related to EFA. Based on answers given by teacher unions to a questionnaire it is concluded that many unions have not been involved in the EFA process in an appropriate way

Significant Trends Affecting Your Audiences

I suspect that AAACE members, like other professional groups, spend much of their time on improving skills and techniques and, as a result, tend to overlook some of the larger scale developments that are equally, if not more, important to their work

Being Innovative While Being Green: An Experimental Inquiry into How Consumers Respond to Eco‐Innovative Product Designs

Eco‐innovations are an effective way for companies to strategically align themselves with customers' growing environmental concerns. Despite their crucial role, scant research has focused on eco‐innovative product designs. Drawing from the sustainability and innovation literature, this article proposes that in the design of an eco‐innovation, its degree of innovativeness, level of eco‐friendliness, and detachability significantly affect consumers' adoption intentions. This article develops various conceptual models tested through three independent online experiments with U.S. consumers. The findings support the hypotheses and provide useful insights into the underlying mechanisms of how and why consumers respond to eco‐innovative product designs across various high‐tech product categories. Specifically, the results show (1) a positive effect of innovativeness degrees of eco‐innovative attributes on consumers' perceptions of product eco‐friendliness and on their adoption intentions as well as a significant moderating role of consumers' need for cognition (Study 1); (2) a positive influence of eco‐friendliness levels of eco‐innovative attributes on consumer adoption intentions in the case of high‐complexity products but not for low‐complexity products, emphasizing the need to adopt different approaches when developing eco‐innovations to ensure favorable consumer reactions (Study 2); and (3) a significant impact of the detachability of eco‐innovative attributes on consumers' perceptions of trade‐offs between environmental benefits and product functionality and on their intentions to adopt eco‐innovations (Study 3). These findings add to existing theoretical knowledge, provide actionable managerial implications, and identify fruitful avenues for future research

PEG Branched Polymer for Functionalization of Nanomaterials with Ultralong Blood Circulation

Nanomaterials have been actively pursued for biological and medical applications in recent years. Here, we report the synthesis of several new poly(ethylene glycol) grafted branched-polymers for functionalization of various nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes, gold nanoparticles (NP) and gold nanorods (NRs), affording high aqueous solubility and stability for these materials. We synthesize different surfactant polymers based upon poly-(g-glutamic acid) (gPGA) and poly(maleic anhydride-alt-1-octadecene) (PMHC18). We use the abundant free carboxylic acid groups of gPGA for attaching lipophilic species such as pyrene or phospholipid, which bind to nanomaterials via robust physisorption. Additionally, the remaining carboxylic acids on gPGA or the amine-reactive anhydrides of PMHC18 are then PEGylated, providing extended hydrophilic groups, affording polymeric amphiphiles. We show that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), Au NPs and NRs functionalized by the polymers exhibit high stability in aqueous solutions at different pHs, at elevated temperatures and in serum. Morever, the polymer-coated SWNTs exhibit remarkably long blood circulation (t1/2 22.1 h) upon intravenous injection into mice, far exceeding the previous record of 5.4 h. The ultra-long blood circulation time suggests greatly delayed clearance of nanomaterials by the reticuloendothelial system (RES) of mice, a highly desired property for in vivo applications of nanomaterials, including imaging and drug delivery

Placebo-controlled study in neuromyelitis optica : ethical and design considerations

BACKGROUND: To date, no treatment for neuromyelitis optica (NMO) has been granted regulatory approval, and no controlled clinical studies have been reported. OBJECTIVE: To design a placebo-controlled study in NMO that appropriately balances patient safety and clinical-scientific integrity. METHODS: We assessed the "standard of care" for NMO to establish the ethical framework for a placebo-controlled trial. We implemented measures that balance the need for scientific robustness while mitigating the risks associated with a placebo-controlled study. The medical or scientific community, patient organizations, and regulatory authorities were engaged early in discussions on this placebo-controlled study, and their input contributed to the final study design. RESULTS: The N-MOmentum study (NCT02200770) is a clinical trial that randomizes NMO patients to receive MEDI-551, a monoclonal antibody that depletes CD19+ B-cells, or placebo. The study design has received regulatory, ethical, clinical, and patient approval in over 100 clinical sites in more than 20 countries worldwide. CONCLUSION: The approach we took in the design of the N-MOmentum trial might serve as a roadmap for other rare severe diseases when there is no proven therapy and no established clinical development path

An improved measurement of muon antineutrino disappearance in MINOS

We report an improved measurement of muon anti-neutrino disappearance over a distance of 735km using the MINOS detectors and the Fermilab Main Injector neutrino beam in a muon anti-neutrino enhanced configuration. From a total exposure of 2.95e20 protons on target, of which 42% have not been previously analyzed, we make the most precise measurement of the anti-neutrino "atmospheric" delta-m squared = 2.62 +0.31/-0.28 (stat.) +/- 0.09 (syst.) and constrain the anti-neutrino atmospheric mixing angle >0.75 (90%CL). These values are in agreement with those measured for muon neutrinos, removing the tension reported previously.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. In submission to Phys.Rev.Let

Search for the disappearance of muon antineutrinos in the NuMI neutrino beam

We report constraints on antineutrino oscillation parameters that were obtained by using the two MINOS detectors to measure the 7% muon antineutrino component of the NuMI neutrino beam. In the Far Detector, we select 130 events in the charged-current muon antineutrino sample, compared to a prediction of 136.4 ± 11.7(stat)^(+10.2)_(-8.9)(syst) events under the assumption │Δm^2│ = 2.32 X 10^(-3) eV^2, sin^2(2θ) = 1.0