International contact lens prescribing in 2015

We have been collecting data on worldwide contact lens prescribing habits for almost 20 years. Over this time period, we have amassed prospective information about 315,000 contact lens fits in 59 countries. This article marks our 15th report in Contact Lens Spectrum and features a breakdown of more than 23,000 contact lens fits in 34 markets. As in previous years, our international network of coordinators distributed survey forms to eyecare practitioners in their market who then recorded generic information about the first 10 patients fit with contact lenses after receipt. Information is gathered about patient age and gender; whether the contact lenses are prescribed as a new fit or a refit; contact lens material, design, and replacement frequency; number of intended days per week of use; wearing modality; and care system. Contact lens fits are weighted to reflect the number of fits undertaken by each eyecare practitioner. The study data were entered and processed at the University of Manchester and at the University of Waterloo.

Outdoor group portrait of attendees of the International Meeting of the World Union for Progressive Judaism; London.

Includes Rabbi Leo Baeck, E.L. Ehrlich of Basel, Herbert Strauss of Bern, and Rabbi Eugen Messinger of Bern

solation and characterization of monodeamidated derivatives of bovine pancreatic Ribonuclease A

The isolation and characterization of the initial intermediates formed during the irreversible acid denaturation of enzyme Ribonuclease A are described. The products obtained when RNase A is maintained in 0.5 M HCl at 30° for periods up to 20 h have been analyzed by ion-exchange chromatography on Amberlite XE-64. Four distinct components were found to elute earlier to RNase A; these have been designated RNase Aa2, Aa1c, Aa1b, and Aa1a in order of their elution. With the exception of RNase Aa2, the other components are nearly as active as RNase A. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at near-neutral pH indicated that RNase Aa1a, Aa1b, and Aa1c are monodeamidated derivatives of RNase A; RNase Aa2 contains, in addition, a small amount of a dideamidated component. RNase Aa2, which has 75% enzymic activity as compared to RNase A, consists of dideamidated and higher deamidated derivatives of RNase A. Except for differences in the proteolytic susceptibilities at an elevated temperature or acidic pH, the monodeamidated derivatives were found to have very nearly the same enzymic activity and the compact folded structure as the native enzyme. Fingerprint analyses of the tryptic peptides of monodeamidated derivatives have shown that the deamidations are restricted to an amide cluster in the region 67–74 of the polypeptide chain. The initial acid-catalyzed deamidation occurs in and around the 65–72 disulfide loop giving rise to at least three distinct monodeamidated derivatives of RNase A without an appreciable change in the catalytic activity and conformation of the ribonuclease molecule. Significance of this specific deamidation occurring in highly acidic conditions, and the biological implications of the physiological deamidation reactions of proteins are discussed.

Strategies for the management and treatment of coal seam gas associated water

Coal seam gas (CSG) is a growing industry in Queensland and represents a potential major employer and deliverer of financial prosperity for years to come. CSG is a natural gas composed primarily of methane and is found trapped underground in coal beds. During the gas extraction process, significant volumes of associated water are also produced. This associated water could be a valuable resource, however, the associated water comprises of various salt constituents that make it problematic for beneficial use. Consequently, there is a need to implement various water treatment strategies to purify the associated water to comply with Queensland’s strict guidelines and to mitigate environmental risks. The resultant brine is also of importance as ultimately it also has to be dealt with in an economical manner. In some ways it can be considered that the CSG industry does not face a water problem, as this has inherent value to society, but rather has a “salt issue” to solve. This study analyzes the options involved in both the water treatment and salt recovery processes. A brief overview of the constituents present in Queensland CS water is made to illustrate the challenges involved and a range of treatment technologies discussed. Water treatment technologies examined include clarification (ballasted flocculation, dissolved air flotation, electrocoagulation), membrane filtration (ultrafiltration), ion exchange softening and desalination (ion exchange, reverse osmosis desalination and capacitance deionization). In terms of brine management we highlighted reinjection, brine concentration ponds, membrane techniques (membrane distillation, forward osmosis), thermal methods, electrodialysis, electrodialysis reversal, bipolar membrane electrodialysis, wind assisted intensive evaporation, membrane crystallization, eutectic freeze crystallization and vapor compression. As an entirety this investigation is designed to be an important tool in developing CS water treatment management strategies for effective management in Queensland and worldwide.

Leaders' personal wisdom and leader-member exchange quality: The role of individualized consideration

Business scholars have recently proposed that the virtue of personal wisdom may predict leadership behaviors and the quality of leader–follower relationships. This study investigated relationships among leaders’ personal wisdom—defined as the integration of advanced cognitive, reflective, and affective personality characteristics (Ardelt, Hum Dev 47:257–285, 2004)—transformational leadership behaviors, and leader–member exchange (LMX) quality. It was hypothesized that leaders’ personal wisdom positively predicts LMX quality and that intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration, two dimensions of transformational leadership, mediate this relationship. Data came from 75 religious leaders and 1–3 employees of each leader (N = 158). Results showed that leaders’ personal wisdom had a positive indirect effect on follower ratings of LMX quality through individualized consideration, even after controlling for Big Five personality traits, emotional intelligence, and narcissism. In contrast, intellectual stimulation and the other two dimensions of transformational leadership (idealized influence and inspirational motivation) did not mediate the positive relationship between leaders’ personal wisdom and LMX quality. Implications for future research on personal wisdom and leadership are discussed, and some tentative suggestions for leadership development are outlined.

Establishing the next generation at work: Leader generativity as a moderator of the relationships between leader age, leader-member exchange, and leadership success

In this study, the authors investigated leader generativity as a moderator of the relationships between leader age, leader-member exchange, and three criteria of leadership success (follower perceptions of leader effectiveness, follower satisfaction with leader, and follower extra effort). Data came from 128 university professors paired with one research assistant each. Results showed positive relationships between leader age and leader generativity, and negative relationships between leader age and follower perceptions of leader effectiveness and follower extra effort. Consistent with expectations based on leadership categorization theory, leader generativity moderated the relationships between leader age and all three criteria of leadership success, such that leaders high in generativity were better able to maintain high levels of leadership success at higher ages than leaders low in generativity. Finally, results of mediated moderation analyses showed that leader-member exchange quality mediated these moderating effects. The findings suggest that, in combination, leader age and the age-related construct of generativity importantly influence leadership processes and outcomes. © 2011 American Psychological Association.

Schoolman family papers, undated, 1889-1994

The Schoolman Papers reflect Dr. Albert P. and Mrs. Bertha Schoolmans' staunch dedication to Jewish education, Jewish causes, and Israel. Bertha Schoolman, a lifelong member of Hadassah, assisted thousands of Israeli youth as chairman of the Youth Aliyah Committee. Her diaries, photos, scrapbooks, and correspondence record her numerous visits to Israel on which she helped set up schools, met with Israeli dignitaries, and participated in Zionist Conferences and events. The collection includes a 1936 letter from Hadassah founder, Henrietta Szold, praising Mrs. Schoolman's work as well as a letter from the father of Anne Frank, thanking Mrs. Schoolman for naming a Youth Aliyah center the "Anne Frank Haven" after his later daughter.

Connecting people and ideas from around the world: global innovation platforms for next-generation ecology and beyond

We present a case for using Global Community Innovation Platforms (GCIPs), an approach to improve innovation and knowledge exchange in international scientific communities through a common and open online infrastructure. We highlight the value of GCIPs by focusing on recent efforts targeting the ecological sciences, where GCIPs are of high relevance given the urgent need for interdisciplinary, geographical, and cross-sector collaboration to cope with growing challenges to the environment as well as the scientific community itself. Amidst the emergence of new international institutions, organizations, and meetings, GCIPs provide a stable international infrastructure for rapid and long-term coordination that can be accessed by any individual. This accessibility can be especially important for researchers early in their careers. Recent examples of early-career GCIPs complement an array of existing options for early-career scientists to improve skill sets, increase academic and social impact, and broaden career opportunities. We provide a number of examples of existing early-career initiatives that incorporate elements from the GCIPs approach, and highlight an in-depth case study from the ecological sciences: the International Network of Next-Generation Ecologists (INNGE), initiated in 2010 with support from the International Association for Ecology and 20 member institutions from six continents.

Now the real international fight begins for the Trans-Pacific Partnership

In Atlanta, the trade ministers of a dozen countries across the Pacific Rim announced that they had successfully reached a concluded agreement upon the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The debate over the TPP will now play out in legislatures across the Pacific Rim, where sentiment towards the deal is much more mixed. The ministers insisted: “After more than five years of intensive negotiations, we have come to an agreement that will support jobs, drive sustainable growth, foster inclusive development, and promote innovation across the Asia-Pacific region … The agreement achieves the goal we set forth of an ambitious, comprehensive, high standard and balanced agreement that will benefit our nation’s citizens … We expect this historic agreement to promote economic growth, support higher-paying jobs; enhance innovation, productivity and competitiveness; raise living standards; reduce poverty in our countries; and to promote transparency, good governance, and strong labor and environmental protections.” But there has been fierce criticism of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, because of both its secrecy and its substance. Nobel Laureate Professor Joseph Stiglitz has warned that the agreement is not about free trade, but about the protection of corporate monopolies. The intellectual property chapter provides for longer and stronger protection of intellectual property rights. The investment chapter provides foreign investors with the power to challenge governments under an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) regime. The environment chapter is weak and toothless, and seems to be little more than an exercise in greenwashing. The health annex — and many other parts of the agreement — strengthen the power of pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology developers. The text on state-owned enterprises raises concerns about public ownership of postal services, broadcasters and national broadband services.

Evaluating the effects of international exposure from networks ties and mimetic pressure on clustered SMEs in Brazil

Research on the internationalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has received increasing attention in recent years due to the important role they play in today’s economic environment. Internationalisation prompting, or awareness, is an already recognised phase of the innovation-related stages model (I-model). This phase of awareness is closely related to the international exposure that a firm may experience during the occasion when it realises its competitors are already internationalising. Although the literature has discussed the various forms in which international exposure may happen, there has been limited attention given to the extent of its effect on the internationalisation of clustered SMEs that behave according to the I-Model. This study will assess the applicability of the I-Model in a dynamic, competitive and co-operative setting of an industrial cluster. It also evaluates the impact (if any) of international exposure derived from networks and the mimetic pressure that these firms may experience due to their embeddedness in an industrial cluster. Results from this study will indicate the effectiveness of the improved adapted model that will provide a richer insight for both academic researchers and policy makers.

Editorial of "International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies Volume 1, Number 1, 2008"

We perceive the epistemological boundaries of Critical Indigenous Studies as marked by analyses of contemporary colonising power in its multiple forms in different contexts. This first issue brings together a diverse group of international Indigenous scholars who are politically and intellectually engaged in theorising from their respective standpoints as well as spatial and geographic locations. As such these essays enable dialogue across and within different colonial power contexts addressing epistemological ethical and methodological concerns within the broad field of Indigenous studies. In each essay a connecting theme is the need for intercultural and comparative work and to import Indigenous agency in the writing of history...

Editorial of "International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies Volume 2, Number 1, 2009"

Over the past two decades neo liberalism has shaped global economic activity. The international reach of the current economic crisis propelled by the subprime mortgage meltdown in the United States has affected Indigenous communities in different ways to those whose investments were depleted by the Wall Street activities of an unregulated corporate and banking sector. Throughout this roller coaster economic ride the low socio-economic position of Indigenous peoples continued in Canada, the United States of America, New Zealand, Hawaii and Australia. The logic, or illogic of capital, failed to extend the boom of the economic upturn to Indigenous peoples, but is poised to extend the repercussions of the current downturn deep into Indigenous lives. The consistency of the Indigenous socio-economic position across these countries, even where treaties exist, indicates that the phenomenon is based on a shared Indigenous reality. In this special edition, the commonality in the way in which Indigenous people are engaged in and positioned by market forces and regulation by their respective nation states is proposed as one of the foundation plates of that Indigenous positioning...

Editorial of "International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies Volume 2, Number 2, 2009"

This edition of the International Critical Indigenous Studies Journal, our second for 2009 takes alternative understandings as its theme. All four articles in this edition attend to citizenship and Indigenous sovereignty though in different ways...