Know Skateboarding Will Teach You To Kick-Flip Like a Pro [IPhone Apps]
tinker tailor soldier spy rent a car ghost whisperer ghost whisperer wozniacki wozniacki niger
tinker tailor soldier spy rent a car ghost whisperer ghost whisperer wozniacki wozniacki niger
Enzyme-altering can lengthen worm lifespan across several generations
?| October 19, 2011
Research on nemotode worms is helping to illuminate ways to lengthen their lifetimes. The findings have yet to be replicated in vertebrates, including humans.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
In October 2009, Stanford University geneticist Anne Brunet was sitting in her office when a graduate student came to her with a slightly heretical question. Brunet's lab had recently learned that they could lengthen a worm's lifetime by manipulating levels of an enzyme called SET-2. "What if lengthening a worm's lifetime using SET-2 can affect the lifespan of its descendants, even if the descendants have normal amounts of the enzyme?" asked Eric Greer.
The question was unorthodox, says Brunet, "because it touches upon the Lamarckian idea that you can inherit acquired traits, which biologists have believed false for years." The biologist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck theorized in 1809 that the traits an organism used during its lifetime were augmented in its offspring; a giraffe that regularly stretched its neck to eat would father calves whose necks are longer. The idea was largely discredited by Darwin's theory of evolution, first published in 1859. More recently, scientists have begun to realize that an organism's behaviors and environment may indeed influence the genes it passes to its offspring. The heritability of those acquired traits is not based on DNA, but on alterations in the molecular packaging that surrounds a gene. When Greer approached Brunet in 2009 with his question about worms and SET-2, such "epigenetic" inheritance had only been discovered for simple traits such as eye color, flower symmetry, coat color.
Brunet and Greer went ahead with the experiment. The results, published October 19 in Nature (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group), provide the first evidence that some aspects of lifespan length can be passed from parent to offspring, independent of the direct influence DNA.
"I think this is a fundamentally important finding," says Matt Kaeberlein of the University of Washington, who studies molecular mechanisms of aging. "It demonstrates for the first time that aging can be influenced by epigenetic changes that occurred in prior generations."
The study used Caenorhabditis elegans worms with very low levels of the SET-2 enzyme. The SET-2 enzyme normally adds methyl molecules onto DNA's protein packaging material. In doing so, the enzyme opens up the packaging material, allowing the genes to be copied and expressed. Some of those genes appear to be pro-aging genes, says Brunet. Her team knocked out SET-2 by removing genes that code for it. This had the effect of significantly lengthening the worms' lifespan, presumably because those pro-aging genes were no longer expressed.
Next, the long-lived, enzyme-lacking worms mated with normal worms. The offspring had the regular genes for making SET-2, and even expressed normal amounts of the enzyme, but they lived significantly longer than control worms whose parents both had regular lifespans. The life-extending effect carried over into the third generation, but returned to normal by the fourth generation (in the great-grandchildren of the original mutant worms). For the first few generations, having a long-lived ancestor increased life expectancy from 20 days to 25, extending a worm's life by 25 to 30 percent on average.
Brunet and her team haven't yet determined the exact mechanism for the lifetime extension, or which molecules are at work. This is one of the study's imperfections, says David Katz, who researches epigenetic transcriptional memory at Emory University. Regardless, "the effect is clearly epigenetic," he says, "and it's probably one of the most complicated traits that has been linked to epigenetic inheritance."
The knowledge that epigenetics can impact a complex trait like lifespan has scientists curious to find out what other kinds of traits?such as disease susceptibility, metabolism, and developmental patterns?are epigenetically heritable. Because epigenetic effects can be modified by environmental stimuli, Kaeberlein points out, it is possible that some of these traits "could be determined, at least in part, by the environment and lifestyle choices of parents, grandparents, or even great-grandparents."
The study?s results are also exciting because the genes that code for the life-lengthening SET-2 enzyme exist in other species, including human beings. Brunet says she wants see if the results can be replicated in vertebrates, such as fish and mammals. Those questions won't be answered for many years, since it is unknown whether the SET-2 complex has the same function in other species, and because those species have longer generation times.
"Worms have very short lives," Brunet says. "Will the effect apply to mammals that live thousands of times longer? We are excited to find out."
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=2092a3b2ab2255951f198b3bdae88e61
extremely loud and incredibly close boston redsox hunger games trailer hunger games trailer red sox law and order svu camaro zl1

So we didn't see any updates to Google Music this week like so many of us had hoped there would be. But Andy Rubin has said that Google is "close" to being able to offer a bona fide MP3 store.
Speaking at the AsiaD conference, he recognised the lack of such content as a key "missing ingredient" in the attempts to lure people away from the Apple and iTunes ecosystem. He also said that Google would not be following "the 99-cent model" but that their pricing would "have a little twist - it will have a little Google in it." Let's hope for some subscriptions, eh?
Not much detail to go on, but it looks as though Google could be about to turn a corner. They're said to have inked a deal with EMI, with negotiations continuing with Universal, Sony Music and Warner Music.
Source: The Guardian
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/o_isZckRwKc/music-and-media-content-google-close
light field camera exotic animals exotic animals gaddafi dead steve wynn daylight savings 2011 lytro camera
SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) ? Libyan interim government fighters relaunched their offensive on the besieged town of Sirte on Wednesday after being pushed back by die-hard Muammar Gaddafi loyalists holed up in the deposed leader's home town.
Hundreds of National Transitional Council (NTC) troops have surrounded the Mediterranean coastal town for weeks in a chaotic struggle to snuff out the last pocket of resistance against the revolution that ended Gaddafi's 42-year rule.
Grad rockets, artillery and tank fire rained down on Gaddafi positions in the center of the town.
Asked about the government force's slow progress in taking Sirte, one NTC fighter at the front said: "All we can think of is catching the rat Gaddafi. We are taking it slowly, step by step. We have been patient for 42 years."
NTC fighters have deployed an arsenal of homemade weapons. On Wednesday a bulldozer arrived at the front fitted with armor and resembling a small ship, with a pointed prow and port holes. On its front was mounted a tank turret and the sides were made from concrete sandwiched between steel plate.
A man wearing a black ship's captain's hat with gold braid sat atop the contraption as it maneuvered into place, plowing into a lamp-post in the process.
Government fighters shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) as it made its lumbering progress toward make-shift barricades of vehicles and shipping containers put up by Gaddafi loyalists.
RETREAT
The NTC's failure to seize Sirte, nearly two months since capturing Tripoli, has raised questions about its ability to exert its authority over the entire country and has postponed the launch of its promised democracy program.
On Monday NTC forces captured the other main Gaddafi stronghold, the desert town of Bani Walid, where the ousted leader's loyalists had put up resistance for two months.
NTC forces were poised a few days ago to declare victory in Sirte, but on Tuesday they were forced to retreat in some places under intense fire.
But a day later, NTC fighters had taken back the lost ground and made further gains so that for the first time government forces attacking from the east and west could see each other's positions through Gaddafi-held enclave.
Fighters reported Gaddafi soldiers had been firing at them wearing civilian clothes so had stepped up security and were closely checking the identities of everyone at the front, including reporters.
But faced with a disciplined and determined force, many NTC fighters theorized the defenders may be guarding a high-value target, perhaps even Gaddafi himself.
"Why else would a sniper try to take on a tank?" asked Jafar Al Sharif who commands some eight tanks positioned in the streets of Sirte pounding the low-rise apartment blocks housing Gaddafi remaining loyalists.
The NTC offensive, by mostly amateur fighters, has been hampered by a lack of coordination. Units which converged on Sirte from Benghazi in eastern Libya and Misrata to the west have lost men when they fired at each other by mistake.
Gaddafi, wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of ordering the killing of civilians, is in hiding, possibly deep in Libya's Sahara desert.
"LIBYA'S VICTORY"
Even so, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed "Libya's victory" during a visit to Tripoli on Tuesday.
Clinton was the most senior U.S. official to come to Tripoli since Gaddafi's ended in August. Her visit was marked by tight security, reflecting worries that Libya's new rulers have yet to establish full control over the country.
The United States took part in the NATO bombing campaign that helped Libya's rebels take power, although its aircraft largely played a secondary role to those of Britain and France.
"I am proud to stand here on the soil of a free Tripoli and on behalf of the American people I congratulate Libya," Clinton said. "This is Libya's moment, this is Libya's victory, the future belongs to you."
Inspired by protests in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt that ended in the overthrow of long-standing autocratic leaders, Libyans rose up against Gaddafi in February, but it took six months of civil war to end his one-man rule.
The NTC lent its backing to another regional revolt on Wednesday, officially recognizing as Syria's legitimate authority an umbrella opposition council struggling to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
While Gaddafi himself is still at large, his wife, two sons and a daughter fled to neighboring Algeria shortly after Tripoli was captured by the NTC in August.
Algeria's foreign minister said his country let them in for "humanitarian reasons." The NTC at the time called it an "act of aggression," but has since moved to patch up ties with Algeria.
"Algeria has systematically honored all its obligations as a member of the international community," Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci told a news conference in Algiers alongside British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Wednesday.
Hague, on a tour of the region, said he respected Algeria's position but had requested all countries in the region honor obligations to turn over any indicted war crimes suspects.
(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh in Tripoli and Adrian Croft in Algiers; Writing by Jon Hemming; Editing by Peter Graff)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111019/wl_nm/us_libya
dead island gabrielle union nascar schedule burkina faso elmo aesop alyson hannigan
BRUSSELS ? A person familiar with the talks over a second massive bailout for Greece says disagreement between France and Germany is endangering a crucial deal expected for this weekend.
The person says that Germany is pushing for banks to accept cuts of 50 percent to 60 percent on the value of their Greek bonds.
He says France is insisting that leaders at their summit Sunday should only make technical revisions to a preliminary agreement reached with private investors in July.
That deal would lead to losses of some 21 percent on Greek bondholdings, much of that from cuts in interest rates and deferred payments.
The person was speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.
Europe officials promised a "comprehensive solution" to the crisis at Sunday's summit.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
PARIS (AP) ? France's finance minister warned Tuesday that economic growth next year may be lower than estimated, after a leading agency indicated that it may put the country's cherished triple-A rating on notice for a possible downgrade.
Ahead of the 2012 budget debate in parliament, Finance Minister Francois Baroin said on France-2 television that the growth estimate of 1.5 percent for Europe's No. 2 economy next year was "probably too high."
He blamed the risk of a global slowdown, which he said could be "very vast" and "severe."
Baroin said the government would "put everything in place to avoid falling into a recession ... and to protect our country from a downgrade" of its triple A rating.
However, Baroin said he wouldn't change the forecast just yet, especially in the run-up to a much-awaited meeting of eurozone leaders in Brussels this Sunday and the early November meeting of the Group of 20 leaders from the industrial and developing world.
"If we are capable in the next two weeks of .... measures powerful enough to stop speculation so that we can make people understand that we will not let 60 years of European construction collapse ... then I will have no worries, there will be growth in 2012 and 1.5 percent will be achieved," he said.
With only the German economy bigger, France could well have a big bill to pay for sorting out Europe's debt crisis even at a time when it's trying to bring its borrowing levels down. The global slowdown has made it increasingly difficult for countries to balance their budgets as weak growth means less revenues pouring in and higher benefits being paid out.
It's in that context that Moody's said it will be studying whether to put France's rating on notice for a possible downgrade over the next three months. It said it will focus in on the government's ability to implement its fiscal and economic reforms as well as any other potential adverse economic or financial market developments.
It said the French government has much less room for maneuver in terms if stretching its balance sheet than it had in 2008.
"France may face a number of challenges in the coming months ? for example, the possible need to provide additional support to other European sovereigns or to its own banking system, which could give rise to significant new liabilities for the government's balance sheet," Moody's said.
Moody's warning comes ahead of Sunday's meeting of eurozone leaders in Brussels. For days, markets have been hopeful that they would unveil a comprehensive solution to Europe's debt crisis that would include a big ramp up in the bailout fund, a recapitalization of a large segment of the banking sector and a strategy for Greece.
However, on Monday German officials sought to downplay market expectations and the market mood has turned sour once again. France's CAC-40 index of leading shares was underperforming its main peers in Europe on Tuesday, trading 1.8 percent lower as against the 0.5 percent fall on the German DAX.
Ahead of the meeting on Sunday in Brussels, the markets will be closely monitoring comments from all round Europe.
Jan Kees de Jager, the Netherlands finance minister, said the meeting needs to produce concrete results even though his counterpart in Germany, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said Monday that the weekend summit would not provide a "definitive solution."
De Jager is quoted in Germany's Die Welt newspaper Tuesday as saying that the markets "are awaiting a long-term solution. The overall package must involve a wide-reaching and irreversible agreement over enhanced controls in the eurozone in the future."
In Greece, whose crushing debts sparked the crisis Europe now finds itself in, railway workers and journalists joined a wave of strikes Tuesday against austerity measures required if the country is to avoid defaulting. Strikes also kept island ferries in port for a second day Tuesday, while rotting mounds of rubbish remained uncollected for the 17th day in the country's cities.
____
David Rising in Berlin contributed to this story.
walter payton oneiric oneiric eartha kitt psych david ortiz matthew shepard
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Accused New York thieves have been using a Hollywood-born strategy to rob dozens of small stores, telling police they were inspired by the 2010 movie "The Town" to splash bleach on the crime scenes, according to the police.
In what were dubbed the "splash-and-dash" robberies, the suspects would throw bleach over cash machines and cash drawers in a bid to erase their DNA evidence, the New York Police Department said.
They targeted dozens of corner stores, discount stores and pizzerias, netting $217,000 (137,290 pounds) in the past year, police said.
"(The suspects) told detectives that they were inspired by the Ben Affleck movie 'The Town' in which the protagonists used bleach to cover their tracks," police said in a statement.
These suspects also would cut electrical power to the robbery locations and use miners' headlamps to work in the dark, the police said.
Four men have been charged in connection to 62 robberies, and two were scheduled to appear in Brooklyn criminal court.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Jerry Norton)
jason campbell daylight savings 2011 j.r. martinez android ice cream sandwich rocksmith shia labeouf teleprompter
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip ? Tens of thousands of flag-waving Palestinians celebrated the homecoming Tuesday of hundreds of prisoners exchanged for an Israeli soldier, with the crowd exhorting militants to seize more soldiers for future swaps.
Hamas, which had negotiated the release, organized the celebration that turned into a show of strength for the Islamic militant movement that had seized Gaza from its moderate rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in 2007.
The joyous crowd crammed into a sandy lot, where a huge stage was set up, decorated with a mural depicting the 2006 capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit at an army base near the Gaza border.
"The people want a new Gilad!" the crowd chanted, suggesting the abductions of Israeli soldiers would mean freedom for thousands more Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
Many hoisted green Hamas flags, while a far smaller number raised the banner of rival movement Fatah, led by Abbas.
The released prisoners were making their way from the border with Egypt, on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, to Gaza City in the north, and many thousands had lined the streets to cheer on the convoy.
In the West Bank, Abbas addressed a crowd of several thousand, including released prisoners and their relatives. In an attempt at unity, he shared a stage with three Hamas leaders in the West Bank. At one point, the four men raised clasped hands in triumph.
Still, Abbas is likely to suffer politically as a result of the swap, the most significant exchange for the Palestinians in nearly three decades. In years of negotiations with Israel, Abbas has only been able to secure the release of those who had little time left on their sentences.
In contrast, most of the 477 prisoners freed Tuesday had been serving life terms for killing Israelis, and their release violated a long-standing Israeli pledge not to free those with "blood on their hands." Another 550 are to be freed in two months.
In his speech, Abbas praised the released prisoners as "freedom fighters."
He suggested that his method of negotiations was also bearing fruit, saying that "there is an agreement between us and the Israeli government on another batch (of releases) similar to this batch after it finishes."
His comments marked the first time he referred to an additional prisoner release, and there was no immediate Israeli comment.
An Abbas aide, Saeb Erekat, later explained that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, had promised a release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners following any Schalit deal. Erekat said Abbas would now ask international mediators that Israel keep the promise.
More than 300 of the prisoners arrived in Gaza, the rest were in the West Bank.
In both locations, relatives eagerly awaited them.
In Gaza City, Azhar Abu Jawad, 30, celebrated the return of a brother who had been sentenced to life for killing an Israeli in 1992. She said she last saw him eight years ago, before Israel banned visits by Gazans.
"My happiness is indescribable," she said. "We'll get him a bride and everything. I just spoke to him. He's so happy. This is a reminder God doesn't forget anyone."
Among those arriving in Gaza were prisoners who grew up in the West Bank but were being deported to Gaza. Israel's security chiefs have said they wanted to keep prisoners still deemed dangerous away from the West Bank, which has relatively open borders with Israel. Gaza is tightly sealed by an Israeli border fence.
Sobhia Jundiya of the West Bank town of Bethlehem traveled to Egypt with her husband to catch a brief glimpse of their 28-year-old son, Ibrahim, who was being released after 10 years. He had been sentenced to multiple life terms for an attack that killed 12 and wounded 50.
"It's better he be in Gaza even if I can't see him. It's better than prison in Israel," she said.
"I hope to see him for a few minutes," she said, beginning to cry. "This is the day I have been dreaming of for 10 years. I haven't touched his hand in 10 years."
In the end, the Jundiyas were unable to see him because the prisoners' convoy did not stop during its brief swing through Egypt. The couple will try to go to Gaza, but it's difficult for West Bankers to obtain such permission from Israel or Egypt.
Israel prevents most movement between the West Bank and Gaza.
In the West Bank, Fakhri Barghouti was carried on the shoulders of one man and was surrounded by chanting relatives. Sentenced to life for killing an Israeli, Barghouti, 57, had spent 34 years in prison, making him one of the longest-serving inmates.
"There will be no happiness as long as our brothers are still in jail," he said. "I can't feel good when I'm leaving my brothers behind."
His son, Shadi, is serving a 27-year sentence for involvement in an armed group. At one point, he shared a cell with his father.
Earlier Tuesday, hundreds of relatives of prisoners had waited at a West Bank checkpoint for a first glimpse at their loved ones, but the buses carrying the inmates were instead driven directly to Abbas' headquarters in the West Bank.
Clashes erupted between about 200 young Palestinians at the checkpoint and Israeli soldiers several hundred yards (meters) away, after the families were told they had waited in the wrong place. The troops fired tear gas and Palestinians threw stones for about a half-hour. Some of the young men climbed a fence near the checkpoint and draped it with Hamas and Fatah flags.
___
Daragmeh reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writer Aya Batrawy contributed reporting from Rafah, Egypt.
michael fassbender michael fassbender jumpstart cbi al pacino hu shame
Contact: Sona Rai
sr2763@columbia.edu
212-854-5955
Columbia Business School
NEW YORK October 17, 2011 A study conducted by Columbia Business School's Prof. Jonah Rockoff, Sidney Taurel Associate Professor of Business, Finance and Economics, and Cecilia Speroni, a doctoral student at Teachers College, set to estimate whether subjective evaluations of teacher effectiveness have predictive power for the achievement gains made by teachers' future students. The study, which was recently published in Labour Economics, found that subjective evaluations are comparable with and complementary to objective measures of teacher effectiveness taken from a teacher's first year in the classroom. The study's analysis drew on data on students and teachers in the public schools of New York City specifically teachers of grades 3 to 8 in the school years 2003-04 through 2007-08, and their students' behavior, demographics, and achievement test scores in math and English.
Prof. Rockoff found evidence that teachers who receive better subjective evaluations of teaching ability prior to hire or in their first year of teaching also produce greater gains in achievement, on average, with their future students. Consistent with prior research, the results also support the idea that teachers who produce greater achievement gains in the first year of their careers also produce greater gains, on average, in future years with different students. More importantly, subjective evaluations present significant and meaningful information about a teacher's future success in raising student achievement. This finding is particularly noteworthy, since the variation in subjective evaluations may capture facets of teaching skill that are not captured by the study of standardized tests results.
Using the linked studentteacher data, the researchers objectively evaluated teachers' impacts on student test scores using an empirical Bayes' method. In terms of subjective evaluations, data came from New York City Teaching Fellows (TF), an alternative path to teaching certification taken by about a third of new teachers in New York City. Alongside this data, they also used data from New York City's "New Teacher Induction" program which spanned the school years 2004-2005 through 2006-2007. Under this centrally administered program, a group of trained, full-time mentors worked with new teachers over the course of their first year to improve their teaching skills and submitted ongoing evaluations of teachers' progress in mastering a detailed set of teaching standards. The study then proceeds to examine student achievement in the second year of teachers' careers; the researchers believe this provides a more rigorous test of whether objective and subjective performance metrics provide useful information for decisions such as teacher retention.
Consistent with prior research, first-year value-added estimates were significant predictors of student achievement in the teacher's second year. Furthermore, evaluations by mentors and in particular variation in evaluations within mentors bear a substantial positive relationship with student achievement in teachers' second years.
The study suggests that evaluation systems that incorporate subjective measures made by trained professionals and objective job performance data have significant potential to help address the problem of low teacher quality. However, the researchers warn that the application of standards can vary significantly across individuals responsible for making evaluations, and the implementation of any evaluation system should address this issue.
###
About Columbia Business School
Led by Dean Glenn Hubbard, the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School is at the forefront of management education for a rapidly changing world. The school's cuttingedge curriculum bridges academic theory and practice, equipping students with an entrepreneurial mindset to recognize and capture opportunity in a competitive business environment. Beyond academic rigor and teaching excellence, the school offers programs that are designed to give students practical experience making decisions in realworld environments. The school offers MBA and Executive MBA (EMBA) degrees, as well as nondegree Executive Education programs. For more information, visit www.gsb.columbia.edu.
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Contact: Sona Rai
sr2763@columbia.edu
212-854-5955
Columbia Business School
NEW YORK October 17, 2011 A study conducted by Columbia Business School's Prof. Jonah Rockoff, Sidney Taurel Associate Professor of Business, Finance and Economics, and Cecilia Speroni, a doctoral student at Teachers College, set to estimate whether subjective evaluations of teacher effectiveness have predictive power for the achievement gains made by teachers' future students. The study, which was recently published in Labour Economics, found that subjective evaluations are comparable with and complementary to objective measures of teacher effectiveness taken from a teacher's first year in the classroom. The study's analysis drew on data on students and teachers in the public schools of New York City specifically teachers of grades 3 to 8 in the school years 2003-04 through 2007-08, and their students' behavior, demographics, and achievement test scores in math and English.
Prof. Rockoff found evidence that teachers who receive better subjective evaluations of teaching ability prior to hire or in their first year of teaching also produce greater gains in achievement, on average, with their future students. Consistent with prior research, the results also support the idea that teachers who produce greater achievement gains in the first year of their careers also produce greater gains, on average, in future years with different students. More importantly, subjective evaluations present significant and meaningful information about a teacher's future success in raising student achievement. This finding is particularly noteworthy, since the variation in subjective evaluations may capture facets of teaching skill that are not captured by the study of standardized tests results.
Using the linked studentteacher data, the researchers objectively evaluated teachers' impacts on student test scores using an empirical Bayes' method. In terms of subjective evaluations, data came from New York City Teaching Fellows (TF), an alternative path to teaching certification taken by about a third of new teachers in New York City. Alongside this data, they also used data from New York City's "New Teacher Induction" program which spanned the school years 2004-2005 through 2006-2007. Under this centrally administered program, a group of trained, full-time mentors worked with new teachers over the course of their first year to improve their teaching skills and submitted ongoing evaluations of teachers' progress in mastering a detailed set of teaching standards. The study then proceeds to examine student achievement in the second year of teachers' careers; the researchers believe this provides a more rigorous test of whether objective and subjective performance metrics provide useful information for decisions such as teacher retention.
Consistent with prior research, first-year value-added estimates were significant predictors of student achievement in the teacher's second year. Furthermore, evaluations by mentors and in particular variation in evaluations within mentors bear a substantial positive relationship with student achievement in teachers' second years.
The study suggests that evaluation systems that incorporate subjective measures made by trained professionals and objective job performance data have significant potential to help address the problem of low teacher quality. However, the researchers warn that the application of standards can vary significantly across individuals responsible for making evaluations, and the implementation of any evaluation system should address this issue.
###
About Columbia Business School
Led by Dean Glenn Hubbard, the Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia Business School is at the forefront of management education for a rapidly changing world. The school's cuttingedge curriculum bridges academic theory and practice, equipping students with an entrepreneurial mindset to recognize and capture opportunity in a competitive business environment. Beyond academic rigor and teaching excellence, the school offers programs that are designed to give students practical experience making decisions in realworld environments. The school offers MBA and Executive MBA (EMBA) degrees, as well as nondegree Executive Education programs. For more information, visit www.gsb.columbia.edu.
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/cbs-tvo101711.php
physics games louisiana carnage carnage espn live nick vujicic wolf
WASHINGTON ? Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton insists she's committed to returning to private life after President Barack Obama's first term and says "I think it's time for others to step up."
Clinton has said previously that she didn't plan to remain in government after next year's election. And in an NBC interview broadcast on the "Today" show Monday, she stresses once more that she won't run for president again. The secretary declares, "No, no."
Clinton says people will just have to "watch and wait" to see what she does next, but she says that a return to writing and teaching is a high priority.
On international diplomacy, Clinton tells the network that "we cannot abdicate leadership around the world because when we do, it comes back to bite us."
new planet new planet lisa lampanelli lisa lampanelli bobby fischer the lion king john cabot
INDIANAPOLIS ? Shares of UnitedHealth Group Inc. slipped Tuesday as the health insurer's CEO gave a cautious preview of 2012 after his company delivered a better-than-expected earnings performance for the third quarter and raised its 2011 forecast.
CEO Stephen J. Hemsley told analysts he expects earnings to grow next year, but high unemployment rates, growing care use and the health care overhaul will pressure the Minnetonka, Minn., insurer's performance. He didn't offer a specific forecast for next year. The company is saving that for its Nov. 29 investor conference.
The CEO offered "a laundry list of negatives" regarding its 2012 outlook without an equal list of positives, other than noting the company's record of execution and innovation, said CRT Capital Group analyst Sheryl Skolnick
"They really want to make sure that people understand the challenges that the company faces with the thought that performance will drive upside if it happens, and that's an appropriate way of looking at the universe," she said. "Unfortunately it results in the stock being down on earnings day."
Company shares fell $1.26, or 2.7 percent, to close at $45.34. Even though the insurer's stock dropped Tuesday, it is still up 26 percent for 2011.
UnitedHealth and other insurers have strung together several quarters of strong performances, helped in part by enrollment growth and health care use that use has grown at a slower rate than they expected when they set premiums.
Shares of UnitedHealth's competitors also sank Tuesday after UnitedHealth became the first managed care company to report third-quarter numbers and talk about expectations for the new year.
Both Skolnick and BMO Capital analyst Dave Shove expect a rebound.
Shove noted that investors have no context when UnitedHealth announces earnings. Other insurers also may say they expect challenges next year when they report earnings over the next several days, but Shove thinks the sector's stocks will recover as more companies report strong third quarters and increase their 2011 forecasts.
If UnitedHealth releases a 2012 forecast next month that's higher than analyst expectation, the company's stock could climb higher than it was before Tuesday's earnings report, Shove said.
Analysts currently expect, on average, earnings of $4.78 per share for 2012, according to FactSet.
UnitedHealth, the largest U.S. health insurer based on revenue, reported net income of $1.27 billion, or $1.17 per share, in the three months that ended Sept. 30. That compares with $1.28 billion, or $1.14 per share, in the same quarter last year, when the company had more shares outstanding. Revenue rose 7 percent to $25.28 billion.
Analysts forecast earnings of $1.12 per share on $25.41 billion in revenue.
The insurer also said it now expects 2011 earnings to range between $4.40 and $4.45 per share on more than $101 billion in revenue. That's up from its previous forecast for earnings of $4.15 to $4.25 per share on $101 billion in revenue.
Analysts expect 2011 earnings of $4.39 per share on $101.5 billion in revenue.
Revenue from UnitedHealth's largest segment, UnitedHealthcare, grew 6 percent to $23.64 billion, as the company's medical enrollment rose 5 percent to 34.4 million people compared to last year's quarter. UnitedHealthcare includes commercial coverage like employer-sponsored group insurance and government-funded Medicare and Medicaid business.
The company's medical costs also rose 7 percent to $18.41 billion compared to last year's quarter, mainly due to price increases. UnitedHealth also said it saw a "modest increase" in utilization trends for doctor's offices and outpatient care.
UnitedHealth is seen as a bellwether for managed care companies. WellPoint Inc. will follow with its third-quarter results on Oct. 26, and Aetna Inc. reports the next day. Humana Inc. reports its earnings Oct. 31, and Cigna Corp. announces results Nov. 3.
conficker conficker rock and roll hall of fame zach braff kevin federline mega millions amy smart