Teacher Attrition in Charter Schools

This study focuses on the reasons why teachers are leaving charter schools. It is based on analyses of data collected in surveys of charter school employees from around the country from 1997-2006. The authors found that while overall attrition rates fluctuate from year to year and state to state, as many as one in four charter school teachers leave each year- approximately double the traditional public school rate of 11 percent. Moreover, attrition among new teachers in charter schools is close to 40 percent annually. The authors contend that high attrition, "consumes resources of schools, impedes schools' efforts to build professional learning communities and positive, stable school cultures," and recommend that supporters of charters schools focus efforts on reducing teacher attrition

A Theoretical Analysis of Thermal Radiation from Neutron Stars

As soon as it was realized that the direct URCA process is allowed by many modern nuclear equation of state, an analysis of its effect on the cooling of neutron stars was undertaken. A primary study showed that the occurrence of the direct URCA process makes the surface temperature of a neutron star suddenly drop by almost an order of magnitude when the cold wave from the core reaches the surface when the star is a few years old. The results of this study are published in Page and Applegate. As a work in progress, we are presently extending the above work. Improved expressions for the effect of nucleon pairing on the neutrino emissivity and specific heat are now available, and we have incorporated them in a recalculation of rate of the direct URCA process

The 3x+1 Semigroup

The 3x+1 semigroup is the multiplicative semigroup generated by the rational numbers of form (2k+1)/(3k+2) for non-negative k, together with 2. This semigroup encodes backward iteration under the 3x+1 map, and the 3x+1 conjecture implies that it contains every positive integer. We prove this is the case, and show that this semigroup consists of all positive rational numbers a/b such that 3 does not divide b.Comment: 16 pages, latex; minor change

Production of Beryllium and Boron by Spallation in Supernova Ejecta

The abundances of beryllium and boron have been measured in halo stars of metallicities as low as [Fe/H] =-3. The observations show that the ratios Be/Fe and B/Fe are independent of metallicity and approximately equal to their solar values over the entire range of observed metallicity. These observations are in contradiction with the predictions of simple models of beryllium and boron production by spallation in the interstellar medium of a well mixed galaxy. We propose that beryllium and boron are produced by spallation in the ejecta of type II supernovae. In our picture, protons and alpha particles are accelerated early in the supernova event and irradiate the heavy elements in the ejecta long before the ejecta mixes with the interstellar medium. We follow the propagation of the accelerated particles with a Monte-Carlo code and find that the energy per spallation reaction is about 5 GeV for a variety of initial particle spectra and ejecta compositions. Reproducing the observed Be/Fe and B/Fe ratios requires roughly 3 times 10^{47} ergs of accelerated protons and alphas. This is much less than the 10^{51} ergs available in a supernova explosion.Comment: 5 pages, Latex, to be published in the 4th Compton Symposium Conference Proceedin

A systematic review of neuroprotective strategies after cardiac arrest: from bench to bedside (Part I - Protection via specific pathways).

Neurocognitive deficits are a major source of morbidity in survivors of cardiac arrest. Treatment options that could be implemented either during cardiopulmonary resuscitation or after return of spontaneous circulation to improve these neurological deficits are limited. We conducted a literature review of treatment protocols designed to evaluate neurologic outcome and survival following cardiac arrest with associated global cerebral ischemia. The search was limited to investigational therapies that were utilized to treat global cerebral ischemia associated with cardiac arrest. In this review we discuss potential mechanisms of neurologic protection following cardiac arrest including actions of several medical gases such as xenon, argon, and nitric oxide. The 3 included mechanisms are: 1. Modulation of neuronal cell death; 2. Alteration of oxygen free radicals; and 3. Improving cerebral hemodynamics. Only a few approaches have been evaluated in limited fashion in cardiac arrest patients and results show inconclusive neuroprotective effects. Future research focusing on combined neuroprotective strategies that target multiple pathways are compelling in the setting of global brain ischemia resulting from cardiac arrest

General anesthesia soon after dialysis may increase postoperative hypotension - A pilot study.

IntroductionPilot study associating hemodialysis-to-general-anesthesia time interval and post-operative complications in hemodialysis patients to better define a more optimal pre-anesthetic waiting period.MethodsPre-anesthetic and 48-hours post-anesthetic parameters (age, gender, body-mass-index, pre-operative ultrafiltrate, potassium, renal disease etiology, hemodialysis sessions per week, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-II score, Portsmouth-Physiologic and Operative Severity Score for the Enumeration of Mortality and Morbidity, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status, Johns Hopkins Surgical Classification System Category, surgical urgency, intra-operative fluids, estimated blood loss, post-operative complications) were collected on chronic hemodialysis patients between 11/2009-12/2010. Continuous data were analyzed by Analysis of Variance or t-test. Bivariate data were analyzed by Fisher's Exact Test. Relative Risks/Confidence Intervals were calculated for statistically significant comparisons (p=0.05). Exclusion criteria were incomplete records, peritoneal dialysis, intra-operative hemodialysis, liver transplant, and cardiopulmonary bypass.ResultsPatients were grouped by dialysis to anesthesia time interval: Group 1 >24 hours, Group 2 7-23.9 hours, Group 3 < 7 hours. Among Surgical Category 3-5 patients, hypotension was more common in Group 3 than Group 1 (63.6% vs 9.2%, p<0.0001, relative risk=6.9, confidence interval=3.0-15.7) or Group 2 (63.6% vs 17.3%, p=0.0002, relative risk=3.7, confidence interval=1.9-7.2). Other complications rates were not statistically significant. Disease and surgical severity scores, preoperative ultrafiltrate, and intra-operative fluids were not different.ConclusionsPost-anesthetic hypotension within 48 hours was more common in those with < 7 hours interval between dialysis and anesthesia. Therefore, if surgical urgency permits, a delay of ≥7 hours may limit postoperative hypotension. More precise associations should be obtained through a prospective study