Complex regional pain syndrome

This issue of eMedRef provides information to clinicians on the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and therapeutics of complex regional pain syndrome

Lithic Fragments : Sand, Stones, and Spirituality

The work in this thesis exhibition is a reflection of my spiritual journey, a consecration of both the mundane and profound, and my search for transcendence. Repetitive action becomes meditation; each piece becomes a prayer. Fueled by a passion for the geologic sciences, these works combine actual stones and sediments with electroformed and enameled fabricated stones with textile techniques to create a series of neckpieces and an installation of brooches.  M.F.A

Affirmative Action Plans: A Policy Analysis

My position in this paper is not one of advocacy but one of analysis. There is no need for a philosopher to reinforce the voices of women. Nor am I here in a position of the compleat analyst. There is no need for a philosopher to reinforce the voices of scientists and other non-philosophic analysts. I am here as one whose intellectual loyalty is to the pursuit of logical and moral illumination. In the pursuit of logical illumination, I shall attempt to explicate policy, policy analysis, and affirmative action plans. In the pursuit of moral illumination, I shall discuss the policy of affirmative action relative to the kind of society in which we want to live and the kind of men and women we wish to see nurtured in such a society

Continued Progress: Promising Evidence on Personalized Learning

The findings are grouped into four sections. The first section on student achievement finds that there were positive effects on student mathematics and reading performance and that the lowest-performing students made substantial gains relative to their peers. The second section on implementation and the perceptions of stakeholders finds that adoption of personalized learning practices varied considerably. Personalized learning practices that are direct extensions of current practice were more common, but implementation of some of the more challenging personalized learning strategies was less common. The third section relates implementation features to outcomes and identifies three elements of personalized learning that were being implemented in tandem in the schools with the largest achievement effects. Finally, the fourth section compares teachers' and students' survey responses to a national sample and finds some differences, such as teachers' greater use of practices that support competency-based learning and greater use of technology for personalization in the schools in this study with implementation data

Are our actions aligned with our evidence? The skinny on changing the landscape of obesity.

Recent debate about the role of food deserts in the United States (i.e., places that lack access to healthy foods) has prompted discussion on policies being enacted, including efforts that encourage the placement of full-service supermarkets into food deserts. Other initiatives to address obesogenic neighborhood features include land use zoning and parks renovations. Yet, there is little evidence to demonstrate that such policies effect change. While we suspect most researchers and policymakers would agree that effective neighborhood change could be a powerful tool in combating obesity, we desperately need strong and sound evidence to guide decisions about where and how to invest

Employment Adjustment and Financial Constraints - Evidence from Firm-level Data

Firms adjust their employment to changes in output. But they tend to adjust it only partially. Typically, labor is hoarded in downturns and subsequently rms have to hire less in upturns. Investment in labor hoarding may therefore be in uenced by factors that impede investments, such as nancial constraints. Using rm-level data, we show that nancial constraints increase the sensitivity of employment to  uctuations in output considerably. When output changes, nancially constrained rms resize their labor force substantially more than rms that have abundant funding. Limited internal funding opportunities turn out to be just as important as the reduced access to external nance. The strongest impact, however, is observed when internal and external constraints occur jointly. In that case, rms lay o two-and-a-half times more employees than unconstrained rms. The amplifying eect of nancial constraints is similar in upturns and downturns, implying that nancially constrained rms not only reduce their workforce more when demand decreases, but they also hire more labor when demand increases

Employment Adjustment and Financial Tightness - Evidence from Firm-level Data

Firms tend to only partially adjust their workforce to changes in output. Typically, labour is hoarded in downturns; subsequently, firms have to hire less workers in upturns, but they can do so only if they can bear the current costs of keeping superfluous workers so that the firms can save rehiring costs in the future. Therefore, labour hoarding can be seen as an investment and may be influenced by factors, such as the firms' financial shortages, that tend to impede investments. Using Swiss firm-level data, we show that for firms in financially strained situations, the sensitivity of employment to fluctuations in output increases considerably. When output changes, financially tighter firms resize their labour force more than firms that have abundant funding. Both limited internal funding opportunities as well as the reduced access to external finance are important. The strongest impact, however, is observed when internal and external financial tightness occur jointly. In that case, compared to firms that are not in a financially strained situation, firms in a financially strained situation lay off twice as many employees. The amplifying effect of financial tightness is similar in upturns and downturns, implying that financially tight firms not only reduce their workforce more when demand decreases but also hire more labour when demand increases