Design and implementation of the IEA Civic and Citizenship Education Study

This paper provides an overview of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) and summarizes different aspects of the study implementation. It outlines: the structure of the assessment framework; the design, development and implementation of instruments; the sampling design and outcomes; and quality control measures for the study

PROGRAMMING Intergenerational Exercise Addresses the Public Health Issue of Obesity

ABSTRACT. Health practitioners are increasingly concerned about the rise in obesity and decrease in physical activity in society. This article reports on an intergenerational exercise program involving participants from Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly and four preschool classes in Newton, Massachusetts. The program attempts to address those health issues using an intergenerational approach. Children between ages 3 and 5, and older adults come together weekly during the course of a school year for pre-literacy play, intergenerational stories that raise awareness of aging issues and nutritional snacks. An exercise class is added to this program monthly. The exercise component reflects the physical needs of both groups. The classes enable older adults to recognize their important role as models for lifelong exercise, while simultaneously addressing their own health habits. Children see olde

Non-monotonic field-dependence of the ZFC magnetization peak in some systems of magnetic nanoparticles

We have performed magnetic measurements on a diluted system of gamma-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (~7nm), and on a ferritin sample. In both cases, the ZFC-peak presents a non-monotonic field dependence, as has already been reported in some experiments,and discussed as a possible evidence of resonant tunneling. Within simple assumptions, we derive expressions for the magnetization obtained in the usual ZFC, FC, TRM procedures. We point out that the ZFC-peak position is extremely sensitive to the width of the particle size distribution, and give some numerical estimates of this effect. We propose to combine the FC magnetization with a modified TRM measurement, a procedure which allows a more direct access to the barrier distribution in a field. The typical barrier values which are obtained with this method show a monotonic decrease for increasing fields, as expected from the simple effect of anisotropy barrier lowering, in contrast with the ZFC results. From our measurements on gamma-Fe2O3 particles, we show that the width of the effective barrier distribution is slightly increasing with the field, an effect which is sufficient for causing the observed initial increase of the ZFC-peak temperatures.Comment: LaTeX file 19 pages, 9 postscript figures. To appear in Phys. Rev. B (tentative schedule: Dec.97

A seasonal variation of the three Leading diagnoses over fifty months at the Duk Lost Boys Clinic, South Sudan

No Abstrac

How to promote citizens' brain health? Insights from the Global Brain Health Survey on citizens' perceptions of brain health interventions

Brain health is about your mental well-being and the ability to remember, learn, plan and concentrate. The report is based on answers from 27,590 respondents from 81 countries who took part in the Global Brain Health Survey, which asked the public what they would need in order to help improve or maintain their brain health. The survey is the largest worldwide study to date about public perceptions of brain health. The report found that people want clear, evidence-based information about exactly which lifestyle changes can improve their brain health. People also say they would need professional support and regular monitoring or follow-up to track the effect of such changes. The report was written by Lifebrain consortium members at the University of Oslo and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.publishedVersio

Relaxation and Landau-Zener experiments down to 100 mK in ferritin

Temperature-independent magnetic viscosity in ferritin has been observed from 2 K down to 100 mK, proving that quantum tunneling plays the main role in these particles at low temperature. Magnetic relaxation has also been studied using the Landau-Zener method making the system crossing zero resonant field at different rates, alpha=dH/dt, ranging from 10^{-5} to 10^{-3} T/s, and at different temperatures, from 150 mK up to the blocking temperature. We propose a new Tln(Delta H_{eff}/tau_0 alpha) scaling law for the Landau-Zener probability in a system distributed in volumes, where Delta H_{eff} is the effective width of the zero field resonance.Comment: 13 pages, 4 postscript figure

Phase locking in quantum and classical oscillators: polariton condensates, lasers, and arrays of Josephson junctions

We connect three phenomena in which a coherent electromagnetic field could be generated: polariton condensation, phase-locking in arrays of underdamped Josephson junctions, and lasing. All these phenomena have been described using Dicke-type models of spins coupled to a single photon mode. These descriptions may be distinguished by whether the spins are quantum or classical, and whether they are strongly or weakly damped.Comment: 6 pages, RevTex. To appear in a special edition of Solid State Communications on "Quantum Phases at the Nanoscale

ProNGF induces PTEN via p75NTR to suppress Trk-mediated survival signaling in brain neurons

Proneurotrophins and mature neurotrophins activate different signaling pathways with distinct effects on their target cells: proneurotrophins can induce apoptotic signaling via p75NTR, whereas mature neurotrophins activate Trk receptors to influence survival and differentiation. Here, we demonstrate that the PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10) phosphatase represents a novel switch between the survival and apoptotic signaling pathways in rat CNS neurons. Simultaneous activation of p75 NTR by proNGF and TrkB signaling by BDNF elicited apoptosis despite TrkB phosphorylation. Apoptosis induced by p75NTR required suppression of TrkB-induced phosphoinositide-3 kinase signaling, mediated by induction of PTEN, for apoptosis to proceed. Inhibition of PTEN restored the ability of BDNF to phosphorylate Akt and protect cultured basal forebrain neurons from proNGF-induced death. In vivo, inhibition or knockdown of PTEN after pilocarpine-induced seizures protected CNS neurons from p75 NTR-mediated death, demonstrating that PTEN is a crucial factor mediating the balance between p75NTR-induced apoptotic signaling and Trk-mediated survival signaling in brain neurons.Fil: Song, Wenyu. Rutgers University. School of Engineering. Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department; Estados UnidosFil: Lapid de Volosin, Marta Edith. Rutgers University. School of Engineering. Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Cragnolini, Andrea Beatriz. Rutgers University. School of Engineering. Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department; Estados Unidos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Hempstead, Barbara L.. Cornell University; Estados UnidosFil: Friedman, Wilma J.. Rutgers University. School of Engineering. Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Department; Estados Unido