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K-12 institutions find themselves under the realm of No Child Left Behind. A central question is, "What does this really mean in terms of the educational world?" State legislatures are more and more influencing the organization and operation of institutions of higher education. It seems that the roles assumed by individuals in education and the roles assumed by individuals in politics have taken drastic, if not cataclysmic changes. No Child Left Behind and state-mandated funding formulas (to mention only a few) are not the only times in which educators and institutions have found themselves inundated by politics. The days of the small, one-roomed, red-bricked school house have definitely come and gone. In its place have arisen the multi-leveled acropolises we now call "P.S. something or other." Gone are the days of small agricultural colleges. These small A&M institutes are now supplanted by the million-student universities. Cities have grown and with this growth have come more and more students for fewer and fewer teachers. Something or someone had to step in. The question is, "Were the politicians or the politics (the laws, the court cases) the right choice?" The paper to follow will delve into the role of politics in education historically, currently, and in the future by looking at Supreme Court decisions, State and Federal laws, as well as teacher opinions using one of the basest cornerstones of education, the ABCs (some letters omitted or "left behind"). Simple overviews of incidents of politics and education meeting will be displayed with author conclusions and opinions reserved until the end.

Students enter higher education requiring remediation before they can be expected to be successful asthey progress through their courses. The students enter from many different high schools with a varietyof personal backgrounds. It is the job of leadership in institutions of higher education to suggestattributes of general education programs that are likely to be successful in increasing student learningand enhancing the likelihood of transferring knowledge from developmental classes to later programsof study.

K-12 institutions find themselves under the realm of No Child Left Behind. A central question is, "Whatdoes this really mean in terms of the educational world?" State legislatures are more and moreinfluencing the organization and operation of institutions of higher education. It seems that the rolesassumed by individuals in education and the roles assumed by individuals in politics have takendrastic, if not cataclysmic changes. No Child Left Behind and state-mandated funding formulas (tomention only a few) are not the only times in which educators and institutions have found themselvesinundated by politics. The days of the small, one-roomed, red-bricked school house have definitelycome and gone. In its place have arisen the multi-leveled acropolises we now call "P.S. something orother." Gone are the days of small agricultural colleges. These small A&M institutes are now supplantedby the million-student universities. Cities have grown and with this growth have come more and morestudents for fewer and fewer teachers. Something or someone had to step in. The question is, "Werethe politicians or the politics (the laws, the court cases) the right choice?" The paper to follow will delveinto the role of politics in education historically, currently, and in the future by looking at Supreme Courtdecisions, State and Federal laws, as well as teacher opinions using one of the basest cornerstones ofeducation, the ABCs (some letters omitted or "left behind"). Simple overviews of incidents of politicsand education meeting will be displayed with author conclusions and opinions reserved until the end.

AbstractThis research examines the association between the strength of an individual's intimacy goals in dating and preferences for dating partners, relationship initiation strategies, and contexts in which to pursue dating. Two studies demonstrate that intimacy goal strength positively corresponds with preferring partners who have strong intimacy and are warm and open, similar in attitudes and interests, and securely attached. The strength of intimacy goals also positively corresponds with the perceived use and effectiveness of emotional involvement as a strategy for initiating dating and negatively with meeting potential partners at campus parties. Data collected at a 4‐month follow‐up indicate that a stronger focus on intimacy goals is associated with entering a dating relationship for men, but not for women.

AbstractAll etiological studies of complex human traits focus on analyzing the causes of variation. Given this complexity, there is a premium on studying those processes that mediate between gene products and cellular or organismal phenotypes. Studies of levels of gene expression could offer insight into these processes and are likely to be especially useful to the extent that the major sources of their variation are known in normal tissues. The classical study of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins was employed to partition the genetic and environmental influences in gene expression for over 6500 human genes measured using microarrays from lymphoblastoid cell lines. Our results indicate that mean expression levels are correlated about .3 in monozygotic (MZ) and .0 in dizygotic (DZ) twins suggesting an overall epistatic regulation of gene expression. Furthermore, the functions of several of the genes whose expression was most affected by environmental effects, after correction for measurement error, were consistent with their known role in mediating sensitivity to environmental influences.

BACKGROUND: Leishmania infantum is the causative agent of visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Mediterranean region, South America, and China. MON-1 L. infantum is the predominating zymodeme in all endemic regions, both in humans and dogs, the reservoir host. In order to answer important epidemiological questions it is essential to discriminate strains of MON-1. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have used a set of 14 microsatellite markers to analyse 141 strains of L. infantum mainly from Spain, Portugal, and Greece of which 107 strains were typed by MLEE as MON-1. The highly variable microsatellites have the potential to discriminate MON-1 strains from other L. infantum zymodemes and even within MON-1 strains. Model- and distance-based analysis detected a considerable amount of structure within European L. infantum. Two major monophyletic groups-MON-1 and non-MON-1-could be distinguished, with non-MON-1 being more polymorphic. Strains of MON-98, 77, and 108 were always part of the MON-1 group. Among MON-1, three geographically determined and genetically differentiated populations could be identified: (1) Greece; (2) Spain islands-Majorca/Ibiza; (3) mainland Portugal/Spain. All four populations showed a predominantly clonal structure; however, there are indications of occasional recombination events and gene flow even between MON-1 and non-MON-1. Sand fly vectors seem to play an important role in sustaining genetic diversity. No correlation was observed between Leishmania genotypes, host specificity, and clinical manifestation. In the case of relapse/re-infection, only re-infections by a strain with a different MLMT profile can be unequivocally identified, since not all strains have individual MLMT profiles. CONCLUSION: In the present study for the first time several key epidemiological questions could be addressed for the MON-1 zymodeme, because of the high discriminatory power of microsatellite markers, thus creating a basis for further epidemiological investigations. ; The research was supported by a grant (QLK2-CT-2001-01810) of the European Union. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. ; Sí

Abstract Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected vector-borne disease. In India, it is transmitted to humans by Leishmania donovani -infected Phlebotomus argentipes sand flies. In 2005, VL was targeted for elimination by the governments of India, Nepal and Bangladesh by 2015. The elimination strategy consists of rapid case detection, treatment of VL cases and vector control using indoor residual spraying (IRS). However, to achieve sustained elimination of VL, an appropriate post elimination surveillance programme should be designed, and crucial knowledge gaps in vector bionomics, human infection and transmission need to be addressed. This review examines the outstanding knowledge gaps, specifically in the context of Bihar State, India. The knowledge gaps in vector bionomics that will be of immediate benefit to current control operations include better estimates of human biting rates and natural infection rates of P. argentipes , with L. donovani , and how these vary spatially, temporally and in response to IRS. The relative importance of indoor and outdoor transmission, and how P. argentipes disperse, are also unknown. With respect to human transmission it is important to use a range of diagnostic tools to distinguish individuals in endemic communities into those who: 1) are to going to progress to clinical VL, 2) are immune/refractory to infection and 3) have had past exposure to sand flies. It is crucial to keep in mind that close to elimination, and post-elimination, VL cases will become infrequent, so it is vital to define what the surveillance programme should target and how it should be designed to prevent resurgence. Therefore, a better understanding of the transmission dynamics of VL, in particular of how .

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected vector-borne disease. In India, it is transmitted to humans by Leishmania donovani-infected Phlebotomus argentipes sand flies. In 2005, VL was targeted for elimination by the governments of India, Nepal and Bangladesh by 2015. The elimination strategy consists of rapid case detection, treatment of VL cases and vector control using indoor residual spraying (IRS). However, to achieve sustained elimination of VL, an appropriate post elimination surveillance programme should be designed, and crucial knowledge gaps in vector bionomics, human infection and transmission need to be addressed. This review examines the outstanding knowledge gaps, specifically in the context of Bihar State, India. The knowledge gaps in vector bionomics that will be of immediate benefit to current control operations include better estimates of human biting rates and natural infection rates of P. argentipes, with L. donovani, and how these vary spatially, temporally and in response to IRS. The relative importance of indoor and outdoor transmission, and how P. argentipes disperse, are also unknown. With respect to human transmission it is important to use a range of diagnostic tools to distinguish individuals in endemic communities into those who: 1) are to going to progress to clinical VL, 2) are immune/ refractory to infection and 3) have had past exposure to sand flies. It is crucial to keep in mind that close to elimination, and post-elimination, VL cases will become infrequent, so it is vital to define what the surveillance programme should target and how it should be designed to prevent resurgence. Therefore, a better understanding of the transmission dynamics of VL, in particular of how rates of infection in humans and sand flies vary as functions of each other, is required to guide VL elimination efforts and ensure sustained elimination in the Indian subcontinent. By collecting contemporary entomological and human data in the same geographical locations, more precise epidemiological models can be produced. The suite of data collected can also be used to inform the national programme if supplementary vector control tools, in addition to IRS, are required to address the issues of people sleeping outside

Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected vector-borne disease. In India, it is transmitted to humans by Leishmania donovani-infected Phlebotomus argentipes sand flies. In 2005, VL was targeted for elimination by the governments of India, Nepal and Bangladesh by 2015. The elimination strategy consists of rapid case detection, treatment of VL cases and vector control using indoor residual spraying (IRS). However, to achieve sustained elimination of VL, an appropriate post elimination surveillance programme should be designed, and crucial knowledge gaps in vector bionomics, human infection and transmission need to be addressed. This review examines the outstanding knowledge gaps, specifically in the context of Bihar State, India.The knowledge gaps in vector bionomics that will be of immediate benefit to current control operations include better estimates of human biting rates and natural infection rates of P. argentipes, with L. donovani, and how these vary spatially, temporally and in response to IRS. The relative importance of indoor and outdoor transmission, and how P. argentipes disperse, are also unknown. With respect to human transmission it is important to use a range of diagnostic tools to distinguish individuals in endemic communities into those who: 1) are to going to progress to clinical VL, 2) are immune/refractory to infection and 3) have had past exposure to sand flies.It is crucial to keep in mind that close to elimination, and post-elimination, VL cases will become infrequent, so it is vital to define what the surveillance programme should target and how it should be designed to prevent resurgence. Therefore, a better understanding of the transmission dynamics of VL, in particular of how rates of infection in humans and sand flies vary as functions of each other, is required to guide VL elimination efforts and ensure sustained elimination in the Indian subcontinent. By collecting contemporary entomological and human data in the same geographical locations, more precise epidemiological models can be produced. The suite of data collected can also be used to inform the national programme if supplementary vector control tools, in addition to IRS, are required to address the issues of people sleeping outside.