ДОКАЗИ ТОЧНИХ НАУК ЩОДО ІСНУВАННЯ РОЗУМНОГО ЗАДУМУ. (EVIDENCE FROM THE EXACT SCIENCES FOR INTELLIGENT DESIGN.)

Визначається та обговорюється парадигма Розумного Задуму. Наводяться докази точного доопрацювання фундаментальних постійних величин та передумов стандартної моделі Великого Вибуху, яка підтримувала ідею виникнення планети, що створює умови для життя людини. Розумний Задум як вищу наукову парадигму, як обговорюється у цій статті, можливо найбільш вичерпно показати на прикладі молекулярної біології. (The intelligent design (ID) paradigm is defined and discussed. Representative evidence of precise fine tuning in fundamental constants and initial conditions for the standard model of the Big Bang, to produce a planet which can support human life is presented. ID as a superior scientific paradigm will probably be fully shown in molecular biology we argue.

Towards a Common Language of Infrastructure Interdependency

Infrastructure systems can exist interdependently with one another either by design, necessity or evolution. There is evidence that interdependencies can be the source of emergent benefits and hazards, and therefore there is value in their identification and management. Achieving this requires collaboration and communication between infrastructure stakeholders across all relevant sectors. Recognising, developing and sharing multiple understandings of infrastructure interdependency and dependency will facilitate a wide range of multi-disciplinary and cross-sectorial work and support productive stakeholder dialogues. This paper therefore aims to initiate discussion around the nature of infrastructure interdependency and dependency in order to establish the basis of a useful, coherent and complete conceptual taxonomy. It sets out an approach for locating this taxonomy and language within a framework of commonplace stakeholder viewpoints. The paper looks at the potential structural arrangements of infrastructure interdependencies before exploring the qualitative ways in which the relationships can be characterised. This builds on the existing body of knowledge as well as experience through case studies in developing an Interdependency Planning and Management Framework for Infrastructure

The Absorption of Sound in Suspensions and Emulsions. I. Water Fog in Air

The suspended particles are approximated by spheres and the diffraction problem for a fluid sphere in a fluid medium is solved taking into consideration viscosity and thermal conduction. The results are discussed numerically for water droplets in air and a satisfactory agreement with Knudsen's attenuation measurements in water fog is found

California: Round 1 - State-Level Field Network Study of the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act

This report is part of a series of 21 state and regional studies examining the rollout of the ACA. The national network -- with 36 states and 61 researchers -- is led by the Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public policy research arm of the State University of New York, the Brookings Institution, and the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.In September 2010, six months after the passage of the Affordable Care Act, California became the first state in the nation to create its own insurance exchange, eventually named Covered California. This accelerated timeline was consistent with California's desire to be, in the words of the state's Health and Human Services Secretary and Exchange Board Chair Diana Dooley, the "lead car" in implementation of federal health care reform. Because of the speed with which it approached this task, as well as the sheer size of its coverage expansion, the decisions California has made have been influential both regionally and nationally. What has transpired in the state has had implications for other states as they addressed difficult issues, including minimizing adverse selection, promoting cost-conscious consumer choice, and seamlessly coordinating with public programs

The incarcerated male adolescent\u27s view of the meaning of his experience : a phenomenological study.

Each year in Massachusetts there are approximately 21,000 juveniles arraigned in court on criminal charges. If trends continue as they have over the past ten years, juvenile arrests for violent crimes will double by the year 2010 (DYS, 1996). This indicates a need to examine closely the current methods of rehabilitation and socialization of incarcerated youths. This study examines the experiences of eight ajudicated, incarcerated male adolescents to discover the meaning these offenders are making of their daily experience in a Massachusetts secure treatment unit and indicates whether this experience is congruent with the expressed goals and purpose of the Department of Youth Service. This study also expanded on the work of Kegan (1982) by investigating the applicability of his model of developmental stages in meaning making systems to incarcerated male adolescents. The qualitative approach of semi-structed interviewing was used in order to avoid imposing the ideas and standards of the psychological establishment as well as that of the experimenter\u27s culture on the experience of the adolescents. Using Kegan\u27s model, African-American, Caucasian and Hispanic subjects were found to be all functioning at the same developmental level. Qualitative analysis of the data revealed trust as a significant issue and identified the lack of the ability on the part of the subjects to take another\u27s perspective as a major deterrent to the messages inherent in the program\u27s stated goals and also to the actual methodology used by the staff. Case history material from the Department of Youth Services and Kegan\u27s semi-structured, subject-object interviews provided a multi-dimensional understanding of the complex picture of the adolescents\u27 experiences. Conclusions are drawn from the data leading to suggestions for better communication between incarcerated adolescents and those professionals in whose care they have been entrusted

Recreation as a Basic Forest Product

There is a widespread attitude among technical foresters that the sole function of the forest is wood production. Wood, wood and more wood is the motto. Nothing shall stand in the way of even a little more production of wood according to this even if it is accomplished through the elimination from forest territory of other uses which add invaluable service to the people who are owners of these public properties

Effect of total body iron on metabolic dysfunction among U.S. females in the Nhanes 2003-2010, aged 12-49.

Experimental and epidemiological studies have reported positive associations between iron parameters and metabolic dysfunction including: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) (1-6), metabolic syndrome (7-15), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) (16-22) and insulin resistance (23,24) with a number of studies showing that reductions in total body iron via dietary modification (e.g., reducing red meat intake) or phlebotomy lead to increases in insulin sensitivity (25), decreases in insulin resistance (26), and reductions in the prevalence of complications associated with T2DM (5, 27), metabolic syndrome (28) and NAFLD (22, 29). Moreover, the risk associated with these outcomes and total body iron differ between males and females and it has been hypothesized that the divergence in risk of disease due to total body iron is related to the female reproductive lifespan (e.g., age at menarche, parity, oral contraceptive use and age at menopause). Regardless of study design, serum ferritin and transferrin saturation have consistently been used in these investigations to estimate total iron stores, which are affected by inflammation and demonstrate diurnal variation. The aim of the current study was to examine the clinical utility of an index of iron repletion developed by JD Cook et al. in 1993 (i.e. FeCOOK), which is unaltered by inflammation or liver function in a nationally-representative, community-dwelling, non-institutionalized group of females participating in continuous NHANES from 2003 to 2010 and to examine the association between the index and metabolic dysfunction. The current results highlight the clinical utility of FeCOOK in assessing the iron status in females of reproductive age. I did not observe a statistically significant association between metabolic dysfunction and continuously-scaled FeCOOK. However, when FeCOOK was modeled in accordance with common reporting patterns (i.e., categorically), significant, positive associations between increasing FeCOOK and metabolic dysfunction were observed among all females, and this pattern persisted after stratification by ethnicity and menopausal status. Further research is warranted to examine the clinical utility of FeCOOK among other cohorts. Moreover, additional research using FeCOOK is recommended in order to replicate these findings among a larger sample comprised of both males and older females

Teacher Beliefs, Teacher Concerns, and School Leadership Support as Influences on School Readiness for Implementing a Research-Based Reform Model

Federal policy makers and school leaders increasingly recognize middle school math as a turning point in students\u27 academic success. An i3 scale-up grant allowed grant partners to conduct a large-scale implementation of Power Teaching (PT), a research-based reform to increase student math achievement. In a mixed-methods study during the pilot phase of the project, eight schools\u27 readiness for reform was explored. Teacher questionnaires; interviews with project managers, school leaders, and teachers; classroom observations; and school evaluation forms were used to describe school characteristics that affected variability in initial implementation of the PT model. A cluster analysis demonstrated the relative importance of multiple factors in defining clusters of schools with varying levels of implementation. Classroom observations of teachers\u27 instructional practices and classroom structure as well as teacher beliefs about team learning were found to be statistically significant. Fundamental to a reform\u27s successful implementation are a stable network of strong players, and an ability by the school leader to point the organization in one direction

Exploiting Multi Stability of Compliant Locking Mechanism for Reconfigurable Articulation in Robotic Arm

This study analyzes a biology inspired approach of utilizing a compliant unit actuator to simplify the control requirements for a soft robotic arm. A robot arm is constructed from a series of compliant unit actuators that precisely actuate between two stable states. The extended state can be characterized as a rigid link with a high bending stiffness. The compressed state can be characterized as a flexible joint with a low bending stiffness. Without the use of an external power source, the bistable mechanism remains in each of the stable states. The unit actuator can demonstrate pseudo-linkage kinematics that require less control parameters than entirely soft manipulators. An advantage of using compliant mechanisms to design a robotic arm is that the bending stiffness ratio between the extended and compressed states is related to the frame and flexural member geometry. Post buckling characteristics of thin flexural members, combined with a cantilever style frame design gives the unit actuator versatile advantages over existing actuator designs like layer jamming and shape memory polymers. To achieve efficient movement with the optimized unit actuator design, experimental validation was performed, and a robotic arm prototype was fabricated. The tendon-driven robotic arm consisted of three modules and proved the capability of transforming and rotating in the eight configurations. The deformations of the robotic arm are accurately predicted by the kinematic model and validate the compliant mechanism arm and simple control system