Establishing Education Program Inadequacy: The Alabama Example

The authors draw on their experience as attorneys for a statewide class of plaintiff school children in the liability phase of ongoing public education reform litigation in Alabama to demonstrate the availability of state and nationally recognized standards concerning educational resources (inputs) and results (outputs) that can serve as evidentiary tools for assessing and for establishing a state public education system\u27s failure to satisfy constitutional mandates of educational adequacy. The Article discusses the usefulness and limitations of using such standards as a starting point in a court\u27s constitutional analysis. It suggests an integrated approach that links input and output standards from both state and national sources to provide inter-related evidence of inadequacy while maintaining allegiance to constitutional adequacy guarantees as the ultimate standard against which all other standards, including state statutes and regulations, must be judged

Sensitivity and specificity of detection methods for erythropoietin doping in cyclists

Recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) is used as doping a substance. Anti-doping efforts include urine and blood testing and monitoring the athlete biological passport (ABP). As data on the performance of these methods are incomplete, this study aimed to evaluate the performance of two common urine assays and the ABP. In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial, 48 trained cyclists received a mean dose of 6000 IU rHuEPO (epoetin beta) or placebo by weekly injection for eight weeks. Seven timed urine and blood samples were collected per subject. Urine samples were analyzed by sarcosyl-PAGE and isoelectric focusing methods in the accredited DoCoLab in Ghent. A selection of samples, including any with false presumptive findings, underwent a second sarcosyl-PAGE confirmation analysis. Hematological parameters were used to construct a module similar to the ABP and analyzed by two evaluators from an Athlete Passport Management Unit. Sensitivity of the sarcosyl-PAGE and isoelectric focusing assays for the detection of erythropoietin abuse were 63.8% and 58.6%, respectively, with a false presumptive finding rate of 4.3% and 6%. None of the false presumptive findings tested positive in the confirmation analysis. Sensitivity was highest between 2 and 6 days after dosing, and dropped rapidly outside this window. Sensitivity of the ABP was 91.3%. Specificity of the urine assays was high; however, the detection window of rHuEPO was narrow, leading to questionable sensitivity. The ABP, integrating longitudinal data, is more sensitive, but there are still subjects that evade detection. Combining these methods might improve performance, but will not resolve all observed shortcomings

Using Synchronization for Prediction of High-Dimensional Chaotic Dynamics

We experimentally observe the nonlinear dynamics of an optoelectronic time-delayed feedback loop designed for chaotic communication using commercial fiber optic links, and we simulate the system using delay differential equations. We show that synchronization of a numerical model to experimental measurements provides a new way to assimilate data and forecast the future of this time-delayed high-dimensional system. For this system, which has a feedback time delay of 22 ns, we show that one can predict the time series for up to several delay periods, when the dynamics is about 15 dimensional.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

A Smirnov-Bickel-Rosenblatt theorem for compactly-supported wavelets

In nonparametric statistical problems, we wish to find an estimator of an unknown function f. We can split its error into bias and variance terms; Smirnov, Bickel and Rosenblatt have shown that, for a histogram or kernel estimate, the supremum norm of the variance term is asymptotically distributed as a Gumbel random variable. In the following, we prove a version of this result for estimators using compactly-supported wavelets, a popular tool in nonparametric statistics. Our result relies on an assumption on the nature of the wavelet, which must be verified by provably-good numerical approximations. We verify our assumption for Daubechies wavelets and symlets, with N = 6, ..., 20 vanishing moments; larger values of N, and other wavelet bases, are easily checked, and we conjecture that our assumption holds also in those cases

A BDI agent architecture for the GAMA modeling and simulation platform

International audienceWith the increase of computing power and the development of user-friendly multi-agent simulation frameworks, social simulations have become increasingly realistic. However, most agent architectures in these simulations use simple reactive models. Indeed, cognitive agent architectures face two main obstacles: their complexity for the field-expert modeler, and their computational cost. In this paper, we propose a new cognitive agent architecture based on the BDI (Belief-Desire-Intention) paradigm integrated into the GAMA modeling platform and its GAML modeling language. This architecture was designed to be simple-to-use for modelers, flexible enough to manage complex behaviors, and with low computational cost. An experiment carried out with different profiles of end-users shows that the architecture is actually usable even by modelers who have little knowledge in programming and in Artificial Intelligence

Supersymmetry with a Chargino NLSP and Gravitino LSP

We demonstrate that the lightest chargino can be lighter than the lightest neutralino in supersymmetric models with Dirac gaugino masses as well as within a curious parameter region of the MSSM. Given also a light gravitino, such as from low scale supersymmetry breaking, this mass hierarchy leads to an unusual signal where every superpartner cascades down to a chargino that decays into an on-shell W and a gravitino, possibly with a macroscopic chargino track. We clearly identify the region of parameters where this signal can occur. We find it is generic in the context of the R-symmetric supersymmetric standard model, whereas it essentially only occurs in the MSSM when sign(M1) is not equal to sign(M2) = sign(\mu) and tan(beta) is small. We briefly comment on the search strategies for this signal at the LHC.Comment: 27 pages and 16 figure

Sputum RNA signature in allergic asthmatics following allergen bronchoprovocation test

Background: Inhaled allergen challenge is a validated disease model of allergic asthma offering useful pharmacodynamic assessment of pharmacotherapeutic effects in a limited number of subjects. Objectives: To evaluate whether an RNA signature can be identified from induced sputum following an inhaled allergen challenge, whether a RNA signature could be modulated by limited doses of inhaled fluticasone, and whether these gene expression profiles would correlate with the clinical endpoints measured in this study. Methods: Thirteen non-smoking, allergic subjects with mild-to-moderate asthma participated in a randomised, placebo-controlled, 2-period cross-over study following a single-blind placebo run-in period. Each period consisted of three consecutive days, separated by a wash-out period of at least 3 weeks. Subjects randomly received inhaled fluticasone ((FP) MDI; 500 mcg BID×5 doses in total) or placebo. On day 2, house dust mite extract was inhaled and airway response was measured by FEV1 at predefined time points until 7 h post-allergen. Sputum was induced by NaCl 4.5%, processed and analysed at 24 h pre-allergen and 7 and 24 h post-allergen. RNA was isolated from eligible sputum cell pellets (<80% squamous of 500 cells), amplified according to NuGEN technology, and profiled on Affymetrix arrays. Gene expression changes from baseline and fluticasone treatment effects were evaluated using a mixed effects ANCOVA model at 7 and at 24 h post-allergen challenge. Results: Inhaled allergen-induced statistically significant gene expression changes in sputum, which were effectively blunted by fluticasone (adjusted p<0.025). Forty-seven RNA signatures were selected from these responses for correlation analyses and further validation. This included Th2 mRNA levels for cytokines, chemokines, high-affinity IgE receptor FCER1A, histamine receptor HRH4, and enzymes and receptors in the arachidonic pathway. Individual messengers from the 47 RNA signatures correlated significantly with lung function and sputum eosinophil counts. Conclusion: Our RNA extraction and profiling protocols allowed reproducible assessments of inflammatory signatures in sputum including quantification of drug effects on this response in allergic asthmatics. This approach offers novel possibilities for the development of pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarkers in asthma

LIVE COLOR PATTERNS DIAGNOSE SPECIES: A TALE OF TWO HERICHTHYS

The Rio Grande Cichlid, Herichthys cyanoguttatus, is native to the drainages of the Gulf Coast of northern Mexico and southern Texas and has been introduced at several sites in the US. Previous observations have suggested that non-native populations in Louisiana that are currently recognized as H. cyanoguttatus resemble another species, the Lowland Cichlid, H. carpintis. Traditional morphological and genetic techniques have been insufficient to differentiate these species, but H. carpintis has been reported to differ from H. cyanoguttatus in color pattern, so we turned to novel electronic photo archives to determine the identity of the species introduced in Louisiana. First, we used the public databases Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database and Fishes of Texas to infer the historical distributions of these species in the US. We then used museum specimens, live specimens, and two additional databases, The Cichlid Room Companion and iNaturalist, to compare morphology and color patterns among individuals obtained from their native and introduced ranges in Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana. Our general observations found that H. cf. cyanoguttatus from Louisiana tended to have an obliquely oriented mouth and a more rounded ventral profile than H. cyanoguttatus from Texas, consistent with previous descriptions of H. carpintis, but our morphological analyses were unable to identify any significant differences among populations. Our analyses of color patterns found that H. cf. cyanoguttatus from Louisiana had larger iridescent spots than H. cyanoguttatus from Texas as well as black breeding coloration that extended anteriorly to the tip of the mouth, characters consistent with H. carpintis. Our observations indicate that at least some of the cichlids introduced in Louisiana are not H. cyanoguttatus but are instead H. carpintis, and that their presence there is likely due to release by humans. This is the first record of H. carpintis establishing a population in the US. Understanding the biology of not one, but two, species of Herichthys will be necessary to predict and mitigate their continued colonization of new environments in the US.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167241/1/UMMZ MP 209.pdfDescription of UMMZ MP 209.pdf : Main ArticleSEL

Production, Decay, and Polarization of Excited Heavy Hadrons

We discuss the production via fragmentation of excited heavy mesons and baryons, and their subsequent decay. In particular, we consider the question of whether a net polarization of the initial heavy quark may be detected, either in a polarization of the final ground state or in anisotropies in the decay products of the excited hadron. The result hinges in part on a nonperturbative parameter which measures the net transverse alignment of the light degrees of freedom in the fragmentation process. We use existing data on charmed mesons to extract this quantity for certain excited mesons. Using this result, we estimate the polarization retention of charm and bottom baryons.Comment: 37 pages, 3 figures available upon request, uses phyzzx forma