In this paper, we propose a conceptual framework for constructing a diffusion index of changes in overall perceptions with respect to corruption. The corruption diffusion index we construct lies between 0 (the greatest overall deterioration in corruption perceptions) and 100 (the greatest overall improvement in corruption perceptions) with 50 (no change in corruption perceptions) as the critical reference. The proposed methodology is applied to the 2010/2011 global corruption barometer survey data. Possible refinements of the proposed methodology to capture the potentially (...) multi-dimensional nature of corruption and the practical challenges associated with the empirical implementation are discussed. (shrink)

Sometimes life's waves knock you down; other times, life might seem to sweep you along powerless, on a wave of malaise. But the choice is always yours to swim back up to the light. World champion surfer Shaun Tomson and Pultizer-nominated poet Noah benShea join forces to guide you down a path of purpose, hope, and faith. This gentle guidebook alternates between Tomson's essays relating the surf experience to life's big waves and benShea's spiritual commentary, accented with full-color (...) surfing photographs. After losing his son, Tomson walked the bitter road of loss and crossed from darkness into the light.The Surfer and the Sage addresses the ten relentless, breaking waves of life, from loss and aging to relationships and depression, and guides you to transformation. It is not a list of rules to follow that guarantee success, health, or wealth, but rather a collection of advice from two guides who have traveled far and wide and suffered deeply, but still look forward to tomorrow with faith and hope. (shrink)

The progress of history rests on the battle for supremacy of competing ideas.... The power and wealth of western countries give them a dominant role in shaping the international public discourse. This is a privileged position... [an] imbalance of voice in the international discourse [that] has built up a dangerous sense of resentment by the silent majority of the world’s people. The dominant bioethical paradigm that provides the context for research ethics discourse has evolved within western philosophy’s powerful normative framework (...) and is built on a relationship model that explains and underpins the obligations doctors have to their patients. In this one-to-one relationship, the doctor is... (shrink)

The right to health is enshrined in the constitution of the World Health Organization and numerous other international agreements. Yet today, an estimated 5.7 million people die each year from treatable infectious diseases, most of which are susceptible to existing antimicrobials if they were accessible. These deaths occur predominantly among populations living in poverty in low- and middle-income countries, and they greatly exceed the estimated 700,000 annual deaths worldwide currently attributed to antimicrobial resistance. Ensuring universal appropriate access to antimicrobials is (...) not only a critical part of realizing the right to health, it is necessary for mobilizing effective collective action against the development and spread of AMR. (shrink)

John's most characteristic word for salvation, then, is life, and ultimately it is not a quality, a state, to which Jesus brings men, but Jesus himself.

Animals have been and will continue to be used in educational programs, but some concerns about the responsibility for assuring their proper care and humane use need to be discussed. Research animals have been regulated and monitored quite successfully by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUC). These Committees are extending their responsibilities to cover animals used in educational programs. Three common roles of these IACUCs are described, including oversight, investigative and training responsibilities. Guidelines developed for faculty using animals at (...) the University of Florida are presented and discussed. (shrink)

We describe a patient LS, profoundly deaf in both ears from birth, with underdeveloped superior temporal gyri. Without hearing aids, LS displays no ability to detect sounds below a fixed threshold of 60 dBs, which classifies him as clinically deaf. Under these no-hearing-aid conditions, when presented with a forced-choice paradigm in which he is asked to consciously respond, he is unable to make above-chance judgments about the presence or location of sounds. However, he is able to make above-chance judgments about (...) the content of sounds presented to him under forced-choice conditions. We demonstrated that LS has faint sensations from auditory stimuli, but questionable awareness of auditory content. LS thus has a form of type-2 deaf hearing with respect to auditory content. As in the case of a subject with acquired deafness and deaf hearing reported on a previous occasion, LS’s condition of deaf hearing is akin in some respects to type-2 blindsight. As for the case of type 2 blindsight the case indicates that a form of conscious hearing can arise in the absence of a fully developed auditory cortex. (shrink)