Protecting the Confidentiality of Communications in Mediation

This article explores the justifications for protecting mediation communications from disclosure. It reviews the existing legal protections for mediated dispute settlement discussions. The major issues that seem to arise when statutory reform is considered are identified, and a recent study of the issue by the Manitoba Law Reform Commission is described and critiqued. The author argues that a distinction should be made between circumstances in which a party is required or permitted to testify about what took place in mediation, and circumstances in which the mediator may be required to do so. He suggests that mere extension to mediation of the common law privilege for settlement discussions is inadequate, particularly as a basis for determining whether the mediator should be compelled to testify

Roles and regulation of membrane-associated serine proteases

Pericellular proteolytic activity affects many aspects of cellular behaviour, via mechanisms involving processing of the extracellular matrix, growth factors and receptors. The serine proteases have exquisitely sensitive regulatory mechanisms in this setting, involving both receptor-bound and transmembrane proteases. Receptor-bound proteases are exemplified by the uPA (urokinase plasminogen activator)/uPAR (uPAR receptor) plasminogen activation system. The mechanisms initiating the activity of this proteolytic system on the cell surface, a critical regulatory point, are poorly understood. We have found that the expression of the TTSP (type II transmembrane serine protease) matriptase is highly regulated in leucocytes, and correlates with the presence of active uPA on their surface. Using siRNA (small interfering RNA), we have demonstrated that matriptase specifically activates uPAR-associated pro-uPA. The uPA/uPAR system has been implicated in the activation of the plasminogen-related growth factor HGF (hepatocyte growth factor). However, we find no evidence for this, but instead that HGF can be activated by both matriptase and the related TTSP hepsin in purified systems. Hepsin is of particular interest, as the proteolytic cleavage sequence of HGF is an ‘ideal substrate’ for hepsin and membrane-associated hepsin activates HGF with high efficiency. Both of these TTSPs can be activated autocatalytically at the cell surface, an unusual mechanism among the serine proteases. Therefore these TTSPs have the capacity to be true upstream initiators of proteolytic activity with subsequent downstream effects on cell behaviour

Combining work with family

tri-folded"10/86/5M""Do you want to earn more money? Be more creative? Have more contact with persons outside your family and neighbors? Are you looking for more control over your work? More flexibility in your schedule of work and play? More time with members of your family? More adventure and challenge? These are ideas often cited as reasons for being self-employed or for looking into a home-based business. Working at or for the home can promote the enterprising, creative, individual nature of many businesses while lowering or eliminating costs of commuting, renting an office, or owning a separate work space. Persons employed at home can combine work for pay with the responsibilities of keeping house and caring for family members."--Page 1.Alma Own (Extension Family Economics and Management Specialist at Lincoln University), Mary Gray (Assistant Professor in Child and Family Development, University of Missouri--Columbia).Includes bibliographical reference

Improving efficiencies and modeling a cyclic Suspended Ion Exchange (SIX(c)) drinking water pre-treatment systems

This research focused on three primary components of the Suspended Ion eXchange (SIX(c)) process developed by PWN Water Supply Company North Holland. The first step focused on the resin regeneration procedure. It was shown that the current system could be improved and that reducing the complexity of the system simplified the process and increased the regeneration efficiency. The second step focused on the resin tank contactor hydraulics. It was determined that for the sequential completely mixed reactor design at PWN, high flows with low mixing speed of the overhead paddle mixers led to the most efficient hydraulic regime. The third step focused on the spent resin regeneration solution reuse. It was shown that cyclic ion exchange was possible with SIX(c) and could be feasible achieved with using biological denitrification and nanofiltration only allowing the waste stream to be treated and then directly reused

There’s a standard for that: Aligning academic aspirations, professional standards, and ALA accreditation

The Syracuse University library and information science (LIS) program has committed to a new focus on INformation Justice, Equity, and Community EngagemenT (INJECT) that will guide a redesign of our program and redefine our commitment to our students, our coursework, and our impact on the information profession and broader community. While INJECT concepts form the bedrock of our new curriculum, our program is committed to being responsive to library professional standards as well as the ALA Standards for Accreditation of Master’s Programs in Library and Information Studies. Professional standards produced by library associations including ALA, IFLA, ACRL, SLA, RUSA, and YALSA reflect the needs of the library profession and impact the knowledge, skills, abilities, and dispositions librarians need to learn. In designing professional curriculum, LIS faculty must respond to and design for existing standards and competency lists in order to create a program that correlates with the ideals held by various library organizations. At the same time, LIS programs must demonstrate alignment with ALA Standards for Accreditation. So, how do the various competency lists compare to accreditation standards? How do the competencies and standards support INJECT topics, including critical librarianship, social justice, and equity and where do they fall short? This poster reveals an analysis and alignment of professional standards, accreditation standards, and our aspirations to better represent information justice, equity, and community engagement in LIS. This work can enable faculty to transform LIS curricula and create a resilient future for our programs, our student, and the broader LIS profession

Learning from good practice: a review of current oral health promotion materials for parents of young children

Objectives To examine the quality of UK-based oral health promotion materials (OHPM) for parents of young children aged 0-5 years old. Data sources OHPM were obtained via email request to dental public health consultants and oral health promotion teams in the UK, structured web-based searches or collected from oral health events. Data selection Materials were included if: they were freely available; they were in English; they were parent facing and included oral health advice aimed at children aged 0-5-years-old. Data extraction Quality assessment was based on: whether the oral health messages were consistent with Public Health England’s Delivering better oral health guidance, and what barriers to good oral health were addressed by the OHPM using the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Data synthesis A wide range of printed and digital OHPM were identified (n = 111). However, only one piece of material covered all 16 guidance points identified in Public Health England’s Delivering better oral health (mean 6, SD 4), and one other material addressed all 12 domains of the TDF (mean 6, SD 2). Conclusions Although there were examples of high quality, further development is required to ensure OHPM are clear, consistent and address a wider range of barriers to good oral health behaviours

Tetrapods on the EDGE: Overcoming data limitations to identify phylogenetic conservation priorities

The scale of the ongoing biodiversity crisis requires both effective conservation prioritisation and urgent action. As extinction is non-random across the tree of life, it is important to prioritise threatened species which represent large amounts of evolutionary history. The EDGE metric prioritises species based on their Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED), which measures the relative contribution of a species to the total evolutionary history of their taxonomic group, and Global Endangerment (GE), or extinction risk. EDGE prioritisations rely on adequate phylogenetic and extinction risk data to generate meaningful priorities for conservation. However, comprehensive phylogenetic trees of large taxonomic groups are extremely rare and, even when available, become quickly out-of-date due to the rapid rate of species descriptions and taxonomic revisions. Thus, it is important that conservationists can use the available data to incorporate evolutionary history into conservation prioritisation. We compared published and new methods to estimate missing ED scores for species absent from a phylogenetic tree whilst simultaneously correcting the ED scores of their close taxonomic relatives. We found that following artificial removal of species from a phylogenetic tree, the new method provided the closest estimates of their “true” ED score, differing from the true ED score by an average of less than 1%, compared to the 31% and 38% difference of the previous methods. The previous methods also substantially under- and over-estimated scores as more species were artificially removed from a phylogenetic tree. We therefore used the new method to estimate ED scores for all tetrapods. From these scores we updated EDGE prioritisation rankings for all tetrapod species with IUCN Red List assessments, including the first EDGE prioritisation for reptiles. Further, we identified criteria to identify robust priority species in an effort to further inform conservation action whilst limiting uncertainty and anticipating future phylogenetic advances