Cooled echelle grating spectrometer

A cooled echelle grating spectrometer for detecting wavelengths between one micron and fifteen microns is disclosed. More specifically, the spectrometer has a cross-dispersing grating for ordering infrared energy and an echelle grating for further ordering of the infrared energy. Ordered radiation from the echelle grating is sensed by a detecting means. Also disclosed is use of a Schmidt camera for focusing the further ordered radiation from the echelle grating onto a detector array having individual detectors dispersed on a plane which substantially corresponds to a curved focal plane of the Schmidt camera. A spectrometer constructed according to the teachings of the present invention will continuously cover the spectrum between one micron and fifteen microns and have a resolution of 0.1/cm

Unique construction makes interferometer insensitive to mechanical stresses

Michelson-type interferometer with a cat-eye reflector operates effectively even in the presence of random mechanical stresses. A cubical beamsplitter with dichroic surfaces permits operation in infrared or visible light

Advocacy & Public Policy Grantmaking: Matching Process to Purpose

Over the past five years, advocacy and public policy grantmaking has moved away from supporting individual grantees to achieve their particular policy goals toward a more targeted, proactive approach designed to achieve the funder's policy goals. More recently, some funders have begun to explore new ways of designing advocacy and public policy grantmaking to achieve longer-term and more substantial changes in the policy landscape at large. As foundations consider how to approach their advocacy and public policy grantmaking in the future, a better understanding of this variety of approaches, and pros and cons of each among foundations with a long history of policy work, may provide options for framing and focusing such efforts.Building on research conducted in 2007 by Coffman and Campbell, this brief summarizes advocacy and public policy grantmaking approaches and their implications for grant portfolio composition and management, auxiliary supports and evaluation. "Advocacy and public policy grantmaking" refers to grantmaking in support of a wide range of advocacy activities that are intend to trigger, block, maintain, support and/or monitor changes in public policy at any level of government. The findings below emerged from an extensive literature review, as well as interviews with staff at 14 foundations and three independent consultants with in-depth policy experience. Interviewees were selected to represent an array of foundation sizes, content areas and structures, all with mature policy portfolios. Foundation staff were asked to describe their foundation's approach to advocacy and public policy grantmaking, including:The foundation's goals for its advocacy and policy grantsWhat the foundation has learned about how best to structure grantmaking and construct a portfolio to achieve its goalsWhat auxiliary supports (e.g., convenings, technical assistance, etc.) the foundation provides that have proven indispensable to its workHow the foundation defines the role of its policy staff, and how these staff interact with other staffHow the foundation designs reporting and conducts (or would like to conduct) evaluationHow the foundation thinks about its role in the larger field of "actors" in the advocacy field and in relation to other funders.The assessment revealed two approaches to advocacy and public policy grantmaking for which foundation practices and processes are fairly well established: a policy target approach to achieve the passage, successful implementation and maintenance of a funder's specific policy goal; and an advocacy niche approach to strengthen the presence or influence of a particular strategic function (i.e., policy analysis and research or grassroots mobilization) within the policymaking process. In addition, the assessment identified an emerging approach to advocacy and public policy grantmaking that has yet to be well defined: a field-building approach to develop the stability and long-term adaptive capacity of a group -- or field -- of advocacy organizations. Many funders choose a combination of these approaches, and some prefer to be more strongly positioned within a single approach. Approaches are not mutually exclusive, and may even be mutually supportive; but each approach has unique implications for grantee selection, organizational processes, program officer roles and evaluation.This report frames a series of options for advocacy and public policy grantmaking and explores implications for foundation practices by drawing on the best experiences from the field. It presents a particular focus on what it means for foundations to design their grantmaking to build the capacity and influence of a field of advocates to tackle a wide range of policy challenges over time. As such, this brief can help foundation staff and leadership establish a common language and understand trade-offs among the different advocacy strategy paths

Solving Colorado's Shortage of Health Professionals: Final Evaluation Findings and Recommendations

This report shares evaluation findings from The Trust's Health Professions initiative, and recommends strategies to increase and sustain Colorado's health professions workforce. For example, creating awareness and readiness for health professions training; providing flexible training options and reaching out to students in rural areas; supporting faculty development and clinical training opportunities; expanding the reach and content of training programs; and strengthening community partnerships for recruitment and retention of health professionals

Solving Colorado's Health Professionals Shortage: Initial Lessons Learned From the Health Professions Initiative Evaluation

Gives an overview of the trust's 2005-08 Health Professions Initiative to address expected shortages in all healthcare professions, its impact so far, and the strategies grantees are implementing to help strengthen the training infrastructure

The Pop-Pickers Have Picked Decentralised Media: the Fall of Top of the Pops and the Rise of the Second Media Age

The BBC has recently announced that Top of the Pops, the long-running weekly popular music programme, will broadcast its final episode in the summer of 2006. This brief \'rapid response\' article considers how the conclusion of Top of the Pops\' 42 year history may be understood as representative or indicative of broader transformation in musical appropriation. As such it considers the fall of Top of the Pops in relation to the rise of what Mark Poster has described as a \'second media age\' (Poster, 1996). This second media age is defined by the emergence of decentralised and multidimensional media structures that usurp the broadcast models of the first media age. This article argues that the decommissioning of Top of the Pops, and the ongoing expansion of \'social networking\' sites such as MySpace and Bebo, illustrates the movement from a first to a second media age. In light of these transformations I suggest here that there is a pressing need to develop new research initiatives and strategies that critically examine these new digitalised forms of musical appropriation.Music, Digital, Digitalisation, Internet, Capitalism, Social Networking, Rhetoric, Second Media Age, Authenticity, Culture

Evaluating Social Innovation

The philanthropic sector has been experimenting with innovative grantmaking in the hopes of triggering significant and sustainable change. FSG's latest research report, collaboratively written with the Center for Evaluation Innovation, challenges grantmakers to explore the use of Developmental Evaluation when evaluating complex, dynamic, and emergent initiatives