bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Thermal management of GaInNAs/GaAs VECSELs
Authors: Sokół A. , Sarzała R.
Published: March 2013

Different methods used to reduce temperature increase within the active region of vertical-external-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VECSELs) are described and compared with the aid of the self-consistent thermal finite-element method. Simulations have been carried out for the GaInNAs/GaAs multiple-quantum-well (MQW) VECSEL operating at room temperature at 1.31 μm. Main results are presented in form of ‘thermal maps’ which can be simply used to determine maximal temperature of different structures at specified pumping conditions. It has been found that these maps are also appropriate for some other GaAs-based VECSELs and can be very helpful especially during structure designing. Moreover, convective and thermal radiation heat transfer from laser walls has been investigated.
Towards optoelectronic detection of explosives
Authors: Wojtas J. , Stacewicz T. , Bielecki Z. , Rutecka B. , Medrzycki R. , Mikolajczyk J.
Published: March 2013

Detection of explosives is an important challenge for contemporary science and technology of security systems. We present an application of NOx sensors equipped with concentrator in searching of explosives. The sensors using CRDS with blue — violet diode lasers (410 nm) as well as with QCL lasers (5.26 μm and 4.53 μm) are described. The detection method is based either on reaction of the sensors to the nitrogen oxides emitted by explosives or to NOx produced during thermal decomposition of explosive vapours. For TNT, PETN, RDX, and HMX the detection limit better than 1 ng has been achieved.
Simple wavelength pre-selection and stabilization of the single-frequency operation of a microchip laser
Authors: Antończak A. , Soboń G. , Abramski K.
Published: March 2013

This paper presents the concept and experimental verification of a simple method of wavelength pre-selection of a single frequency, second-harmonic generation SHG solid state laser Nd:YAG/KTP with the Lyot filter. Apart from well-known configuration of single-frequency operation, the Lyot filter to stabilization of the wavelength was used. The idea presented is based on a measurement of the losses introduced by the Lyot filter inside the laser cavity, or the maximums of laser output power as a measure of the assessment of the Lyot filter tuning to a required laser longitudinal mode, not requiring any external frequency standards. This method allows for the synthesization and stabilization of a selected wavelength from the spectrum range of the gain curve of the laser with the period determined by the “Lyot comb”. In the developed system 15 values of wavelength spaced at about 32 pm (∼ 7.9 GHz) for the infrared radiation were obtained.
Electrical properties of HgCdTe films grown by MOCVD and doped with as
Authors: Izhnin I. , Savytskyy H. , Fitsych O. , Piotrowski J. , Mynbaev K.
Published: March 2013

Electrical properties of HgCdTe films grown by metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) on GaAs substrates and doped with the As acceptor during the growth were studied. Discrete mobility spectrum analysis was used to extract the parameters of the as-grown films and films after ion milling and during prolonged relaxation of milling-induced defects. The measurements revealed significant compensation of the as-grown MOCVD HgCdTe with As on Te sites being the main defect, residual donor concentration of the order of (2–5)×1015 cm−3, and the presence of some unidentified defects.
Teachers' Perspectives on Literacy Instruction for Students with Severe Disabilities Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Authors: Ruppar Andrea L. , Dymond Stacy K. , Gaffney Janet S.
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perspectives on the appropriate skills and settings for literacy instruction, the factors influencing their decisions about literacy instruction, and the barriers to literacy instruction in general education classrooms. A sample of special education teachers (n = 69) of students taking the Illinois Alternate Assessment were surveyed, and results were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicate that teachers prefer to provide life-skills-linked literacy instruction in special education classrooms and consider student characteristics and features of the general education curriculum when making these decisions. Also, the setting had a significant effect on teachers' rankings of preferred literacy skills to teach. Teachers may not understand how to adapt literacy content or how access to literacy instruction in a variety of contexts may benefit their students with severe disabilities.
Preparing Teachers to Provide Literacy Instruction to All Students: Faculty Experiences and Perceptions
Authors: Copeland Susan R. , Keefe Elizabeth B. , Calhoon Anne J. , Tanner Wendy , Park Seonsook
Published: March 2013

Although there is an increased focus on reading instruction in schools, little is known about how teachers of students with extensive support needs are prepared to provide literacy instruction for this group of students. This paper reports the results of an exploratory study of how literary instruction is addressed within teacher education programs at institutions of higher education that prepare preservice and inservice teachers to work with students with extensive support needs. We conducted telephone interviews with nine teacher educators in university programs across the country that prepare special educators, asking about their experiences and perceptions of what works well and what presents difficulty in preparing teachers to effectively teach literacy skills to students with significant disability, what additional research and practice knowledge is needed in this area, and how they view literacy instruction for students with extensive support needs fitting into the current national debate on reading instruction methodology. Content analysis of respondents' interviews yielded three broad themes that we describe and discuss: Challenges, changes, and future directions for the field. We explore the implications of the study's findings for teacher preparation programs and directions for future research.
What is Literacy? The Power of a Definition
Authors: Keefe Elizabeth B. , Copeland Susan R.
Published: March 2013

People with extensive needs for support represent the last group of people routinely denied opportunities for literacy instruction. One of the major reasons for this lack of opportunity can be related to limited definitions of what constitutes literacy as a whole and reading and writing in particular. This article will explore the way in which definitions of literacy impact literacy opportunities for individuals with extensive needs for supports. We propose a set of core definitional principles and make explicit the assumptions underlying their inclusion. Our hope is that this will lead to a dialogue about how we define literacy and the implications this holds for the lives of people with extensive needs for support. Our work is based on the assumption that all individuals with extensive needs for support are fully capable of benefiting from literacy instruction and further that our field as a whole could benefit from a more optimistic and inclusive approach to literacy instruction. We conclude that the way in which we define literacy is powerful and essential to opening the final frontier of literacy opportunities to include people with extensive needs for support.
Broadening the Conceptualization of Literacy in the Lives of Adults with Intellectual Disability
Authors: Morgan Michelle F. , Cuskelly Monica , Moni Karen B.
Published: March 2013

Current pedagogical approaches recognize literacy as a social practice and yet school-based conceptualizations continue to dominate understandings of literacy learning of individuals with intellectual disability. Such understandings lead to local or everyday literacy practices being devalued and overlooked. Thus, for adults with intellectual disability who might not possess a high level of proficiency in school-based literacy, it is important to develop understandings about their everyday literacy uses for such practices to be recognized as being socially and culturally significant. Approaches to research are needed, which enable collection of rich, detailed information about literacy use by adults with intellectual disability that go beyond standardized scores and rankings and outside of the classroom. This paper presents a view of methodologies that can be used to conduct future research in this area that will broaden the conceptualization of literacy for adults with intellectual disability.
“I Don't Have to Do This by Myself?” Parent-Led Community Conversations to Promote Inclusion
Authors: Carter Erik , Swedeen Beth , Walter Molly Cooney Martha , Moss Colleen K.
Published: March 2013

Parents have long played a pivotal and powerful role in advocating for improved services, supports, and increased opportunities for their children with significant disabilities. Yet inclusive opportunities remain strikingly limited in many schools and communities. We examined the viability and impact of parent-led community conversation events as an avenue for launching or strengthening efforts to involve children and youth with disabilities more fully in school, work, and community life. Events were held in 10 locales, used the World Café process by Brown and Isaacs, and addressed specific issues identified by parents (e.g., expanding employment opportunities, recreation options, extracurricular activities, and inclusive education). Interviews with parents and their collaborating partners, observations of the events, and anonymous surveys of more than 300 community members who attended the conversations suggested that the events were successful at accomplishing the goals of promoting greater awareness, generating new strategies and ideas for programmatic changes, encouraging school–community–family linkages, and drawing in new partners. Recommendations for supporting the contributions of parents as leaders in this type of local change effort are provided, along with directions for future research on conducting asset-focused change efforts.
“Free at Last”: Kennedy, King, and the Meaning of Liberty in the Disability Rights Movement
Authors: Turnbull H. Rutherford
Published: March 2013

There is a direct link connecting President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., to the causes of liberty, consent, choice, the least restrictive environment, and genuine community presence for people with intellectual and related developmental disabilities. This article connects the meaning of liberty in those civil rights movements to the disability rights movement, identifies some of the factors that still inhibit liberty for those with disabilities, and describes the responsibilities and opportunities that professionals have to advance the cause of liberty for those with disabilities.
Teacher Perceptions of Alternate Assessments Based on Alternate Achievement Standards: Results from a Three-State Survey
Authors: Restorff Diane , Sharpe Michael , Abery Brian , Rodriguez Michael , Kim Nam Keol
Published: March 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' perceptions of the impact of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS). We used a survey of 401 teachers from three states to probe teacher perspectives across a wide range of topics. Our study found teacher perceptions were more universal than state specific. The mathematics and language arts assessments were viewed by teachers more favorably than the science assessments, and alternate academic achievement standards were viewed more favorably than the assessments. We also found that many teachers are incorporating academic content into their instruction; however, only half of the teachers are in favor of including students with significant intellectual disabilities in assessment and accountability programs, with teachers who administer the least complex assessment to students with the most significant intellectual disability less favorable toward their students' inclusion. The study found that most teachers did not perceive a change in student performance, teacher expectations, or parental involvement; however, where changes were reported, the changes were positive. Results suggest that 30% of teachers have no curriculum and none in development; however, when teachers did have a curriculum, they rated it highly. Results of the study are presented, and their implications are discussed.
Can Assessment Drive Instruction? Understanding the Impact of One State's Alternate Assessment
Authors: Goldstein Jessica , Behuniak Peter
Published: March 2013

Connecticut's Skills Checklist was developed in response to federal policy that requires all students with significant cognitive disabilities participate in state assessments and be included in measures of adequate yearly progress. Test developers had high expectations for this assessment. In addition to its function as an accountability measure, the assessment was designed to change the nature of classroom instruction for this population. In this study, special education teachers in Grades 4, 6, and 10 completed a survey of their instructional practices after submitting accountability data. Combined survey and accountability data indicated that teachers did not instruct students on the breadth of content included on the Skills Checklist. Study data suggest patterns of academic content that are accessible not only for this population of students but for their teachers as well. Moreover, findings from this study have profound implications on the validity of the assessment data.
Impact of Online Coursework for Teachers of Students with Severe Disabilities: Utilization of Knowledge and its Relationship to Teacher Perception of Competence
Authors: Hanline Mary Frances , Hatoum Rima J. , Riggie Jennifer
Published: March 2013

This study had two purposes. The first was to explore how practicing teachers of learners with severe disabilities applied in their teaching the information provided in distance learning courses. A second purpose was to explore the relationship between the application of course content and the areas of course content in which teachers perceived themselves to be more competent. Written information provided by 24 teachers of learners with severe disabilities who participated in online coursework was analyzed qualitatively. Results indicated that teachers appreciated the opportunity to learn new information that could be applied in their classrooms, were willing to change their practices based on information provided in the coursework, and made modifications to their teaching practices in areas in which they perceived they had increased their competence to the greatest degree. Results are discussed in relation to providing online personnel development for teachers of learners with severe disabilities.
A Systematic Review of Interventions to Increase Peer Interactions for Students with Complex Communication Challenges
Authors: Chung Yun-Ching , Carter Erik W. , Sisco Lynn G.
Published: March 2013

Although positive peer relationships can facilitate the academic learning, skill development, and emotional well-being of students with complex communication challenges, few peer interactions are likely to take place in school settings apart from intentional intervention and support efforts. We conducted a systematic review to identify and examine intervention approaches aimed at improving peer interaction outcomes for school-aged children with complex communication challenges who regularly used or might benefit from augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). We categorized 31 studies based on their primary focus and the manner in which AAC was incorporated into the intervention package. Although the configurations of these intervention packages varied, most were found to be effective at increasing measures of peer interaction. We also identified several methodological features of this literature that would benefit from additional attention (e.g., participant descriptions, treatment fidelity, social validity). We offer recommendations to practitioners and researchers for impacting this dimension of students' lives.
Defining Access to the General Curriculum for High School Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities
Authors: Dymond Stacy K. , Renzaglia Adelle , Gilson Christie L. , Slagor Michael T.
Published: March 2013

The term “access to the general curriculum” is widely used in the field of special education, yet little is known about how practitioners are interpreting the term for high school students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD). In this study, general and special educators in one high school were interviewed to determine their definition of access for students with SCD. General educators most frequently defined access as receiving the same curriculum and materials as students without disabilities in the general education classroom with support from a special educator or paraprofessional. In contrast, most special educators defined access as access to an adapted curriculum that is relevant to the student's life and meets the student's individual needs.
Review of Studies with Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities Which Link to Science Standards
Authors: Courtade Ginevra R. , Spooner Fred , Browder Diane M.
Published: March 2013

A comprehensive review of research was conducted on teaching science to students with significant cognitive disabilities. Guidelines from the National Science Education Standards were used to identify categories of studies based on the strands of science. A total of 11 studies were identified from the 20 years of literature searched. In general, work in the area of science is sparse for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Eight of the 11 studies fell in Content Standard F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives. Single subject experimental designs were the methodology used in all of the studies and outcomes suggest that this population benefits from instruction in highly specific skills with modeling and errorless learning strategies like time delay. The interventions found in the 11 studies that linked to science incorporated systematic response prompting methods similar to those found in evidence-based reading and math research for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Additional research is needed to identify methods to teach science to this population that includes both broader content and additional skills that link to state standards.
The Acquisition and Generalization of Joint Attention and Symbolic Play Skills in Young Children with Autism
Authors: Wong Connie S. , Kasari Connie , Freeman Stephanny , Paparella Tanya
Published: March 2013

For children with autism, acquiring and generalizing new skills can be particularly difficult and may be affected by child characteristics. Forty-one preschool children with autism were recruited from an existing early intervention program and then randomized to one of two treatments, a targeted intervention for symbolic play skills or one for joint attention skills. Interventions involved Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) approaches, in two teaching contexts that included similar prompt hierarchies, natural rewards (access to item), expansion, and corrective feedback. However, in the first ABA context, Naturalistic I, the children sat at the table. Components, such as scaffolding in play, greater pause times, and imitation of the child were included in the second ABA context, Naturalistic II. Mastery of children's first treatment goal was analyzed, and results indicate that children with autism generally acquired and mastered their first joint attention or symbolic play skill with the Naturalistic I approach before generalizing the skill to novel objects and activities to the Naturalistic II context. However, these findings are qualified by teaching domain and child characteristics. Overall, children had an easier time learning play skills than joint attention skills, but the mastery using the Naturalistic I methods was greater for play skills than for joint attention skills. Finally, children with higher mental and language ages reached performance mastery criteria faster than children with lower scores. These results suggest that teaching approach, type of skill, and child characteristics all affect mastery and generalization of joint attention and symbolic play skills.
Incidental Teaching of Age-Appropriate Social Phrases to Children with Autism
Authors: McGee Gail G. , Daly Teresa
Published: March 2013

Successful inclusion is facilitated when children with autism fit in and interact in meaningful ways with their typical peers. However, deficits in conversational language likely limit the social attractiveness of children with autism to their classmates. This study evaluated an incidental teaching approach to promoting use of age-appropriate social phrases by three preschool-aged boys with autism. A multiple baseline design demonstrated that introduction of incidental teaching yielded immediate use of the targeted social phrases (“All right” and “You know what?”) during instructional sessions, and children transferred use of the new social phrases to unprompted conditions. Initial instruction required somewhat artificial stimulus—response relationships to compensate for the lack of responsiveness to social consequences that characterizes autism. However, as in other studies in which conversational language was successfully taught to children with autism, systematic fading procedures facilitated transfer of stimulus control from the contrived cues needed to teach a child with autism to say age-appropriate social phrases to conditions that call for comments and queries in everyday situations.
An Unheard Voice: Korean American Parents' Expectations, Hopes, and Experiences concerning Their Adolescent Child's Future
Authors: Kim Kyeong-Hwa , Lee Youngsun , Morningstar Mary E.
Published: March 2013

Although research has indicated that parent participation is considered to be one of the most important elements of transition planning, there are a few studies that have sought to measure the involvement of culturally and linguistically diverse parents. Asian Americans are the most diverse of America's leading minority groups and one of the most poorly understood ethnic minorities. We interviewed 10 Korean American parents to understand their perspectives regarding the transition experiences of their children with disabilities. Through this qualitative study, five themes emerged: Parental perceptions of disability, experiences with advocacy, expectations for future living, connections with Korean communities, and family-professional partnerships. Implications for practice among educators to enhance the involvement of Korean American parents in the development of long range plans that will affect the postschool outcomes of their children with disabilities will be discussed.
Concepts and Issues Related to Choice Making and Autonomy among Persons with Severe Disabilities
Authors: Guess Doug , Benson Holly Anne , Siegel-Causey Ellin , Agran Martin
Published: March 2013

This paper discusses issues related to concepts of preferences and choice making among persons with severe disabilities. Included are suggestions for acknowledging preferences, teaching choice as a decision-making process, and the broader implications of choice making among persons with severe handicaps as an expression of personal autonomy and dignity. Directions for future research are discussed.
Access to the General Curriculum: Systems Change or Tinker Some More?
Authors: Sailor Wayne
Published: March 2013

Special education as practiced today remains firmly anchored in the original logic of the Amendments to the Education of the Handicapped Act (PL 94-142). Subsequent reauthorizations of the statute have included language designed to increase access to the general curriculum by special needs students but have not addressed the underlying medical-model logic, a product of the “age of specialization” that was in full bloom in the 1970s. This article presents an argument for replacing the medical model with prevention logic that, at present, is embodied in the emerging applications of school-wide response to intervention (RTI). This replacement logic is described and exemplified by a school that has completed the transformation from a categorical, self-contained special education delivery system to an RTI-driven, fully integrated system that serves all students in grade-level, general education. A case example of a student at the school with extensive support/service needs is examined. Finally, the article offers a look at some of the policy implications of the new logic that would need to be addressed in further reauthorization of both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) to advance the agenda.
An Exploratory Study of Self-Directed Science Concept Learning by Students with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities
Authors: Jimenez Bree A. , Browder Diane M. , Courtade Ginevra R.
Published: March 2013

This investigation focused on the effects of a treatment package including multiple exemplar training, time delay, and a self-directed learning prompt (KWHL chart) on students' ability to complete an inquiry lesson independently and generalize to untrained materials. Three middle school students with moderate intellectual disabilities learned to self-direct themselves through a 15-step task analysis to complete inquiry lessons in chemistry and physical science. All three students achieved mastery across materials, science concepts, and instructional settings, but unanticipated generalization weakened the demonstration of experimental control. The results provide a potential method for students with moderate intellectual disabilities to learn science concepts.
Reaching the Hard to Reach: A Review of an Initiative Aimed at Increasing Participation and Supports for People of Color with Disabilities and Their Families in Disability Organizations
Authors: Lamar-Dukes Pamela
Published: March 2013

Individuals of color with disabilities and/or their family members need access to services and supports that will assist them with daily life and a way to advocate for these services. Disability organizations, whose core mission is advocacy, have had difficulty attracting and maintaining persons of color with disabilities or their family members to their membership and, consequently, to the services or supports they offer. Connections and stronger outreach is needed in communities of color by disability and civil rights organizations to enhance the quality of life and services and supports received by people of color with disabilities. In this article, an innovative initiative designed to help people of color with disabilities and/or their family members to develop advocacy skills and to obtain membership in disability organizations while building capacity of the disability and/or civil rights organization involved is discussed, followed by implications and suggestions for future engagement and research.
Race, Culture, and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Understanding the Role of Diversity in Successful Educational Interventions
Authors: Tincani Matt , Travers Jason , Boutot Amanda
Published: March 2013

The reported prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased dramatically since the 1980s. In response, researchers, educators, and policy makers have sought to develop effective technologies for assessment and intervention. A focus on evidenced-based practices is logical, given significant deficits in language, social interaction, cognition, and adaptive behavior that comprise these conditions. Although critical, a technology of best practices is insufficient without understanding the important role that diversity plays in helping persons with ASD, particularly those with the most severe impairments, to lead fulfilling lives. The aim of the current article is threefold. First, we explore the concept of diversity with particular attention to neurodiversity among persons with ASD. We describe how cultural and linguistic diversity influence identification of students with ASD in special education, with data to suggest that racially diverse students are underrepresented in the autism category. We then examine the educational process with particular focus on the impact of parent and family culture on perception of disability, the influence of diverse family systems on interventions, and the successful interventions for diverse contexts. We conclude with recommendations for culturally competent practice and research.
Diffusion of Innovation: A Roadmap for Inclusive Community Recreation Services
Authors: Schleien Stuart J. , Miller Kimberly D.
Published: March 2013

Inclusive community recreation is an optimal environment for the development of recreation and sports skills and social relationships between people with and without disabilities. Although we know much about best practices for inclusion, little systemic change in recreation agencies has transpired. Diffusion of Innovation Theory is proposed as a framework for understanding what must occur for inclusive recreation practices to become more systemic throughout community recreation agencies. The theory rests on the premise that aspects such as how quickly an innovation is adopted, by whom, and when are subject to predictable variables based on attributes of the innovation and characteristics of the individual or group of adopters. The theory proposes that once agencies falling into one of the first three groups have adopted an innovation, a “tipping point” is reached. The tipping point is the point after which further diffusion of the innovation becomes self-sustaining. In this case, inclusive recreation would spread quickly until it became standard operating procedure. A thorough understanding of this theory, especially as it relates to characteristics of adopter groups, could potentially provide a roadmap for change agents regarding the roles that they could play to ensure that the tipping point, where people of all abilities have ongoing access to the community, is reached.
Optimizing Biomedical Science Learning in a Veterinary Curriculum: A Review
Authors: Warren Amy L. , Donnon Tyrone
Published: March 2013

As veterinary medical curricula evolve, the time dedicated to biomedical science teaching, as well as the role of biomedical science knowledge in veterinary education, has been scrutinized. Aside from being mandated by accrediting bodies, biomedical science knowledge plays an important role in developing clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic reasoning skills in the application of clinical skills, in supporting evidence-based veterinary practice and life-long learning, and in advancing biomedical knowledge and comparative medicine. With an increasing volume and fast pace of change in biomedical knowledge, as well as increased demands on curricular time, there has been pressure to make biomedical science education efficient and relevant for veterinary medicine. This has lead to a shift in biomedical education from fact-based, teacher-centered and discipline-based teaching to applicable, student-centered, integrated teaching. This movement is supported by adult learning theories and is thought to enhance students' transference of biomedical science into their clinical practice. The importance of biomedical science in veterinary education and the theories of biomedical science learning will be discussed in this article. In addition, we will explore current advances in biomedical teaching methodologies that are aimed to maximize knowledge retention and application for clinical veterinary training and practice.
A People between Languages
Authors: Miron Guy
Published: March 2013

The field of modern European Jewish history, as I hope to show, can be of great interest to those who deal with conceptual history in other contexts, just as much as the conceptual historical project may enrich the study of Jewish history. This article illuminates the transformation of the Jewish languages in Eastern Europe-Hebrew and Yiddish-from their complex place in traditional Jewish society to the modern and secular Jewish experience. It presents a few concrete examples for this process during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The article then deals with the adaptation of Central and Western European languages within the internal Jewish discourse in these parts of Europe and presents examples from Germany, France, and Hungary.
Scheduling tribes
Authors: Middleton Townsend
Published: March 2013

Venturing into an ethnography of government anthropologists themselves, this article interrogates the bureaucratic inner workings and actual agents of today's “ethnographic state." By engaging with the civil servants who verify India's Scheduled Tribes, I explore the politics of “tribal“ recognition from the inside out. This perspective lends timely insight into the logistical, political, and epistemological difficulties integral to the functioning-and current crisis-of India's affirmative action system. Weighing the demands of “tribal“ recognition through those that arguably know them best-government anthropologists themselves- this study examines the human dimension (and dilemmas) of the Indian state and its affirmative action system for Scheduled Tribes.
Upward mobility in a forgotten tribe
Authors: Moodie Megan
Published: March 2013

Public discussions of recent demands by the Gujjars of Rajasthan, India, for inclusion on the list of the state's affirmative action beneficiaries have often veered away from the legitimacy of their claims and toward whether elite Gujjar leaders can speak for less educated and less affluent community members. This article examines how this latter set of questions-often described as the “creamy layer“ problem in reference to a group's elite who have “risen to the top“ and need to be “skimmed off“-can obscure the real workings of affirmative action on the ground and the limitations encountered by groups seeking upward mobility. Ethnographic research with the Dhanka tribe reveals deep concerns that upwardly mobile groups are in danger of downward mobility without the protection of affirmative action-based hiring practices, and that middle class elites within the tribe can be important political advocates for others within the community.
The politics of entitlement
Authors: Michelutti Lucia , Heath Oliver
Published: March 2013

This article focuses on the struggles and shifting political strategies of two major political players in northern India: the Yadavs (a low-to-middle ranking pastoral agricultural caste) and the dalits (former untouchables, which in the region mainly come from the Chamar caste) and their political parties, the Samaj wadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, respectively. Both communities (and political parties) have strongly benefited from affirmative action policies over the last three decades. We argue that that these affirmative action policies, and the political rhetoric that has tended to accompany them, have been “vernacularized“ in local sociocultural structures, which in turn has helped to produce folk theories of democracy and social justice that are directly and indirectly legitimizing conflict, and producing new forms of caste-based strategic voting, based on the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
"They have it in their stomachs but they can't vomit it up"
Authors: Still Clarinda
Published: March 2013

This article examines the social effects of India's affirmative action policy (“reservations“) on the relationship between dalits and the dominant castes. Drawing on fieldwork in rural southern India, this article looks at the way people use their knowledge of reservations (however imperfect) to form opinions that shape behavior in everyday life. I argue that this policy is used to vindicate upper-caste antipathy toward dalits and has become an important part of new discriminatory attitudes. While discrimination on the basis of pollution has become muted, in its place reservations (combined with ideas about habits, morality, and cleanliness) have become the principal idiom through which the dominant openly express resentment toward dalits. In this sense, the language of reservations enables and legitimates an upsurge of anti-dalit feeling. This leads us to consider whether the positive effects of the policy can effectively counteract the caste antagonism caused by it in everyday life.
Affirmative action and political economic transformations
Authors: Higham Rob , Shah Alpa
Published: March 2013

This article proposes an anthropology of affirmative action that is embedded in analysis of the wider political economic transformations in which affirmative action policies emerge. It is argued that this historically situated approach enables analyses of the relative effects of affirmative action on processes of socio economic marginalization. The focus of the article is on the combination of preferential treatment policies and the provision of education as a state-led response to historical marginalization. These policies are explored in the context of adivasis (tribal or indigenous peoples) in Jharkhand, India. The analysis shows how, despite improvement in absolute educational outcomes among adivasis as a result of these policies, inequalities in relative outcomes are being reproduced and are widening. This is explained in part by market-led gains within the private edu cation sector for more advantaged sections of society that outweigh the predom inately state-led improvements for adivasis. The analysis demonstrates the limitations of contemporary affirmative action in affecting the relative position of socioeconomically marginalized groups in contexts where the state is losing some of its universal features and ambition.
l-Proline-catalysed three-component Cascade Reaction for the Facile Synthesis of 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyrano[3,2-c]quinolin-2,5(6H)-dione Derivatives
Authors: Du Bai-Xiang , Li Yu-Ling , Lin Wei , Hu Ming-Hua , Huang Zhi-Bin , Shi Da-Qing
Published: March 2013

A series of 4-aryl-3,4-dihydro-2 H-pyrano[3,2- c]quinolin-2,5(6 H)-dione derivatives was synthesised by the three-component reaction of aromatic aldehyde, quinoline-2,4-diol and Meldrum's acid catalysed by l-proline. This protocol has the advantages of easy work-up, mild reaction conditions and high yields.
Porous Chitosan Microspheres Supported-palladium Catalyst for the C–N Cross-coupling of Aryl Halides with Secondary Amines
Authors: Cheng Kai , Zeng Minfeng , Qi Chenze
Published: March 2013

Porous chitosan microspheres-supported palladium catalysed the amination of aryl halides with a wide variety of secondary amines to yield the corresponding cross-coupling products under aerobic conditions. Both aryl bromides and iodides gave good to excellent yields of N,N-disubstituted anilines. The procedure can tolerate common functional groups such as chloro, methoxyl and nitro. The heterogeneous catalysis is efficienct and the catalyst could be recycled seven times without obvious decreased conversion.
An Efficient and Environmental Benign Synthesis of 2-benzimidazoles and 2-benzothiazoles Using CeCl3-NaI as Catalyst
Authors: Zhu Xun , Wei Yunyang
Published: March 2013

A one-pot condensation of an aldehyde with 1,2-phenylenediamine or 2-aminothiophenol in dimethyl carbonate at 100 °C under O2 in the presence of catalytic amounts of CeCl3–NaI gave an imine intermediate, which cyclised and dehydrogenated to give 2-arylbenzimidazoles or 2-arylbenzothiazoles in good yields.
Turning Travel into Travail: Twenty-First-Century Voyageuses Engagées
Authors: Jones Kathryn N.
Published: March 2013

This article examines attempts by contemporary female travellers to distance themselves from travel's leisure and pleasure connotations by reasserting the ethical value of travel literature. In Bienvenue en Palestine (2004), Anne Brunswic bears witness to everyday life in Israeli-occupied Ramallah; and Soifs d'Orient and Méandres d'Asie (2008) describe the twenty-two-month journey by Caroline Riegel following ‘les pérégrinations d'une goutte d'eau en Asie’. These travel narratives by voyageuses engagées underline the potential of this undervalued literary genre to serve as a means of social critique and vehicle for raising awareness about key humanitarian and environmental issues. The article explores how the narrator-travellers inscribe the experience of travel with a sense of travail, not only through the global concerns they highlight and the war-torn conflict zones they visit, but also by deliberately depriving themselves of the comfort and ease of modern means of transport.
In Defence of Shopping: A Consideration of the Pleasurable, Playful and Empowering Potential of Consumerism in Selected Works by Gabrielle Roy
Authors: Rodgers Julie
Published: March 2013

This article examines the representation of shopping in selected fictional and autobiographical works by French-Canadian author Gabrielle Roy (Bonheur d'occasion, Rue Deschambault and La Détresse et l'enchantement) It argues that, in the case of Roy, the activity of shopping can be seen to constitute not only a playful and pleasurable pursuit for women, but also one that has the potential to be empowering. Shopping in Royan works offers female characters the opportunity to dream, to create, to escape the everyday, to explore and, perhaps most importantly, it facilitates female bonding, particularly between mother and daughter.
Bacterial Responses and Genome Instability Induced by Subinhibitory Concentrations of Antibiotics
Authors: Laureti Luisa , Matic Ivan , Gutierrez Arnaud
Published: March 2013

Nowadays, the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance have become an utmost medical and economical problem. It has also become evident that subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics, which pollute all kind of terrestrial and aquatic environments, have a non-negligible effect on the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations. Subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics have a strong effect on mutation rates, horizontal gene transfer and biofilm formation, which may all contribute to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. Therefore, the molecular mechanisms and the evolutionary pressures shaping the bacterial responses to subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics merit to be extensively studied. Such knowledge is valuable for the development of strategies to increase the efficacy of antibiotic treatments and to extend the lifetime of antibiotics used in therapy by slowing down the emergence of antibiotic resistance.
Graphene versus Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Electrochemical Glucose Biosensing
Authors: Zheng Dan , Vashist Sandeep , Dykas Michal , Saha Surajit , Al-Rubeaan Khalid , Lam Edmond , Luong John , Sheu Fwu-Shan
Published: March 2013

: A simple procedure was developed for the fabrication of electrochemical glucose biosensors using glucose oxidase (GOx), with graphene or multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Graphene and MWCNTs were dispersed in 0.25% 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) and drop cast on 1% KOH-pre-treated glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs). The EDC (1-ethyl-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide)-activated GOx was then bound covalently on the graphene- or MWCNT-modified GCE. Both the graphene- and MWCNT-based biosensors detected the entire pathophysiological range of blood glucose in humans, 1.4–27.9 mM. However, the direct electron transfer (DET) between GOx and the modified GCE’s surface was only observed for the MWCNT-based biosensor. The MWCNT-based glucose biosensor also provided over a four-fold higher current signal than its graphene counterpart. Several interfering substances, including drug metabolites, provoked negligible interference at pathological levels for both the MWCNT- and graphene-based biosensors. However, the former was more prone to interfering substances and drug metabolites at extremely pathological concentrations than its graphene counterpart.
Okadaic Acid: A Tool to Study the Hippo Pathway
Authors: Hata Yutaka , Timalsina Shikshya , Maimaiti Sainawaer
Published: March 2013

Mammalian Ste20-like kinases 1 and 2 (MST1 and MST2) are activated in NIH3T3 cells exposed to okadaic acid. The Hippo pathway is a newly emerging signaling that functions as a tumor suppressor. MST1 and MST2 work as core kinases of the Hippo pathway and their activities depend on the autophosphorylation, which is negatively regulated by protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). Okadaic acid has been frequently used to enhance the phosphorylation of MST1 and MST2 and to trigger the activation of the Hippo pathway. However other components of the Hippo pathway could also be targets of okadaic acid. In this review we first briefly summarize the molecular architecture of the Hippo pathway for the reference of researchers outside the field. We explain how MST kinases are regulated by PP2A and how okadaic acid activates MST2. Thereafter we discuss which components of the Hippo pathway are candidate substrates of protein phosphatases and which points we need to consider in the usage of okadaic acid to study the Hippo pathway.
Advances in Click Chemistry for Single-Chain Nanoparticle Construction
Authors: Sanchez-Sanchez Ana , Pérez-Baena Irma , Pomposo José
Published: March 2013

Single-chain polymeric nanoparticles are artificial folded soft nano-objects of ultra-small size which have recently gained prominence in nanoscience and nanotechnology due to their exceptional and sometimes unique properties. This review focuses on the current state of the investigations of click chemistry techniques for highly-efficient single-chain nanoparticle construction. Additionally, recent progress achieved for the use of well-defined single-chain nanoparticles in some promising fields, such as nanomedicine and catalysis, is highlighted.
Diosgenone Synthesis, Anti-Malarial Activity and QSAR of Analogues of This Natural Product
Authors: Pabón Adriana , Escobar Gustavo , Vargas Esteban , Cruz Víctor , Notario Rafael , Blair Silvia , Echeverri Fernando
Published: March 2013

Solanum nudum Dunal steroids have been reported as being antimalarial compounds; however, their concentration in plants is low, meaning that the species could be threatened by over-harvesting for this purpose. Swern oxidation was used for hemisynthesis of diosgenone (one of the most active steroidal sapogenin diosgenin compounds). Eighteen structural analogues were prepared; three of them were found to be more active than diosgenone (IC50 27.9 μM vs. 10.1 μM, 2.9 μM and 11.3 μM). The presence of a 4-en-3-one grouping in the A-ring of the compounds seems to be indispensable for antiplasmodial activity; progesterone (having the same functional group in the steroid A-ring) has also displayed antiplasmodial activity. Quantitative correlations between molecular structure and bioactivity were thus explored in diosgenone and several derivatives using well-established 3D-QSAR techniques. The models showed that combining electrostatic (70%) and steric (30%) fields can explain most variance regarding compound activity. Malarial parasitemia in mice became reduced by oral administration of two diosgenone derivatives.
Remarks on Sasidharan et al. “Evaluation of the Hepatoprotective Effects of Lantadene A, a Pentacyclic Triterpenoid of Lantana Plants against Acetaminophen-induced Liver Damage”. Molecules 2012, 17, 13937-13947
Authors: Sharma Manu
Published: March 2013

An article by Sasidharan et al. recently published in the journal Molecules [1] claimed to show the hepatoprotective effects of lantadene A against acetaminophen-induced liver damage in mice. While reading this paper, I came across certain points that need to be clarified and taken up in the interest of science and other scientists working in this area.