Individualized Education Programs and Special Education Programming for Students with Disabilities in Urban Schools

This Article examines the individualized education program (IEP) requirement of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and presents a method for improving the education of students with disabilities in urban settings by appropriately developing IEPs. Part I considers the unique problems facing special education in urban school districts. Part II presents an overview of the IDEA and its requirement that school districts provide students with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Part III examines the components of an IEP and the process for developing students’ IEPs------the key vehicle for providing a FAPE. Part IV outlines a process for developing educationally meaningful and legally sound IEPs for students with disabilities. Finally, Part V discusses the important issues in professional development for ensuring that urban school district personnel understand their responsibilities in crafting IEPs

A comparison between the clinical frailty scale and the hospital frailty risk score to risk stratify older people with emergency care needs

Background. Older adults living with frailty who require treatment in hospitals are increasingly seen in the Emergency Departments (EDs). One quick and simple frailty assessment tool¿the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS)¿has been embedded in many EDs in the United Kingdom (UK). However, it carries time/training and cost burden and has significant missing data. The Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) can be automated and has the potential to reduce costs and increase data availability, but has not been tested for predictive accuracy in the ED. The aim of this study is to assess the correlation between and the ability of the CFS at the ED and HFRS to predict hospital-related outcomes. Methods. This is a retrospective cohort study using data from Leicester Royal Infirmary hospital during the period from 01/10/2017 to 30/09/2019. We included individuals aged + 75 years as the HFRS has been only validated for this population. We assessed the correlation between the CFS and HFRS using Pearson's correlation coefficient for the continuous scores and weighted kappa scores for the categorised scores. We developed logistic regression models (unadjusted and adjusted) to estimate Odds Ratios (ORs) and Confidence Intervals (CIs), so we can assess the ability of the CFS and HFRS to predict 30-day mortality, Length of Stay (LOS) > 10 days, and 30-day readmission. Results. Twelve thousand two hundred thirty seven individuals met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 84.6 years (SD 5.9) and 7,074 (57.8%) were females. Between the CFS and HFRS, the Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.36 and weighted kappa score was 0.15. When comparing the highest frailty categories to the lowest frailty category within each frailty score, the ORs for 30-day mortality, LOS > 10 days, and 30-day readmission using the CFS were 2.26, 1.36, and 1.64 and for the HFRS 2.16, 7.68, and 1.19. Conclusion. The CFS collected at the ED and the HFRS had low/slight agreement. Both frailty scores were shown to be predictors of adverse outcomes. More research is needed to assess the use of historic HFRS in the ED

Chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea: a prospective study of brain activation changes and neurocognitive correlates

Chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea (CIA) often occurs in pre- and peri-menopausal BC patients, and while cancer/chemotherapy and abrupt estrogen loss have separately been shown to affect cognition and brain function, studies of the cognitive effects of CIA are equivocal, and its effects on brain function are unknown. Functional MRI (fMRI) during a working memory task was used to prospectively assess the pattern of brain activation and deactivation prior to and one month after chemotherapy in BC patients who experienced CIA (n=9), post-menopausal BC patients undergoing chemotherapy (n=9), and pre- and post-menopausal healthy controls (n=6 each). Neurocognitive testing was also performed at both time points. Repeated measures general linear models were used to assess statistical significance, and age was a covariate in all analyses. We observed a group-by-time interaction in the combined magnitudes of brain activation and deactivation (p = 0.006): the CIA group increased in magnitude from baseline to post-treatment while other groups maintained similar levels over time. Further, the change in brain activity magnitude in CIA was strongly correlated with change in processing speed neurocognitive testing score (r=0.837 p=0.005), suggesting this increase in brain activity reflects effective cognitive compensation. Our results demonstrate prospectively that the pattern of change in brain activity from pre- to post-chemotherapy varies according to pre-treatment menopausal status. Cognitive correlates add to the potential clinical significance of these findings. These findings have implications for risk appraisal and development of prevention or treatment strategies for cognitive changes in CIA

HIGH-POWER TURBODRILL AND DRILL BIT FOR DRILLING WITH COILED TUBING

Commercial introduction of Microhole Technology to the gas and oil drilling industry requires an effective downhole drive mechanism which operates efficiently at relatively high RPM and low bit weight for delivering efficient power to the special high RPM drill bit for ensuring both high penetration rate and long bit life. This project entails developing and testing a more efficient 2-7/8 in. diameter Turbodrill and a novel 4-1/8 in. diameter drill bit for drilling with coiled tubing. The high-power Turbodrill were developed to deliver efficient power, and the more durable drill bit employed high-temperature cutters that can more effectively drill hard and abrasive rock. This project teams Schlumberger Smith Neyrfor and Smith Bits, and NASA AMES Research Center with Technology International, Inc (TII), to deliver a downhole, hydraulically-driven power unit, matched with a custom drill bit designed to drill 4-1/8 in. boreholes with a purpose-built coiled tubing rig. The U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory has funded Technology International Inc. Houston, Texas to develop a higher power Turbodrill and drill bit for use in drilling with a coiled tubing unit. This project entails developing and testing an effective downhole drive mechanism and a novel drill bit for drilling 'microholes' with coiled tubing. The new higher power Turbodrill is shorter, delivers power more efficiently, operates at relatively high revolutions per minute, and requires low weight on bit. The more durable thermally stable diamond drill bit employs high-temperature TSP (thermally stable) diamond cutters that can more effectively drill hard and abrasive rock. Expectations are that widespread adoption of microhole technology could spawn a wave of 'infill development' drilling of wells spaced between existing wells, which could tap potentially billions of barrels of bypassed oil at shallow depths in mature producing areas. At the same time, microhole coiled tube drilling offers the opportunity to dramatically cut producers' exploration risk to a level comparable to that of drilling development wells. Together, such efforts hold great promise for economically recovering a sizeable portion of the estimated remaining shallow (less than 5,000 feet subsurface) oil resource in the United States. The DOE estimates this U.S. targeted shallow resource at 218 billion barrels. Furthermore, the smaller 'footprint' of the lightweight rigs utilized for microhole drilling and the accompanying reduced drilling waste disposal volumes offer the bonus of added environmental benefits. DOE analysis shows that microhole technology has the potential to cut exploratory drilling costs by at least a third and to slash development drilling costs in half

Studying Large and Small Scale Environments of Ultraviolet Luminous Galaxies

Studying the environments of 0.4<z<1.2 UV-selected galaxies, as examples of extreme star-forming galaxies (with star formation rates in the range of 3-30 M_sol/yr), we explore the relationship between high rates of star-formation, host halo mass and pair fractions. We study the large-scale and small-scale environments of local Ultraviolet Luminous Galaxies (UVLGs) by measuring angular correlation functions. We cross-correlate these systems with other galaxy samples: a volume-limited sample (ALL), a Blue Luminous Galaxy sample (BLG) and a Luminous Red Galaxy sample (LRG). We determine the UVLG comoving correlation length to be r_0=4.8(+11.6/-2.4) h^-1 Mpc at =1.0, which is unable to constrain the halo mass for this sample. However, we find that UVLGs form close (separation < 30 kpc) pairs with the ALL sample, but do not frequently form pairs with LRGs. A rare subset of UVLGs, those with the highest FUV surface brightnesses, are believed to be local analogs of high redshift Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) and are called Lyman Break Analogs (LBAs). LBGs and LBAs share similar characteristics (i.e., color, size, surface brightness, specific star formation rates, metallicities, and dust content). Recent HST images of z~0.2 LBAs show disturbed morphologies, signs of mergers and interactions. UVLGs may be influenced by interactions with other galaxies and we discuss this result in terms of other high star-forming, merging systems.Comment: 35 pages, 10 Figures, accepted for publication in Ap