THE POLITICS OF NON-INCREMENTAL SCHOOL FINANCE REFORM: A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF VERMONT'S ACT 60 AS A TEST OF MAZZONI'S ARENA MODEL

This research, grounded in political theory, had two major purposes: 1) to explain a case of non-incremental policy change within the realm of school finance reform; and 2) to test the utility of Mazzoni's (1991) arena model for explaining state-level school finance policymaking. These goals were accomplished through an examination of the Vermont state legislature's policymaking process in response to the Vermont Supreme Court Brigham v. State (1997) ruling declaring the state's system of school finance unconstitutional. This analysis sought to explain how key political actors, taking advantage of favorable reform conditions, utilized power derived from positional authority as well as personal influence to impact the passage of Act 60, an innovative and forcefully redistributive piece of school finance legislation. The research employed a qualitative case method as a means to answer the research questions. Data collection drew from an informant interview process supported by extensive primary and secondary source document review. Data were systematically analyzed against the conceptual framework, presented in a case narrative and discussed in light of related literature to generate analytic conclusions with regard to the process of state education policymaking for school finance. Study findings highlight the general utility of Mazzoni's arena model in explaining non-incremental policy change in the realm of school finance reform; the importance of politically savvy and well-situated policy entrepreneurs who can take advantage of propitious events such as a court ruling to advance non-incremental policy reform; and the role of political elites in advancing the cause of school finance reform. Suggestions for future research include the potential refinement of the arena model to include a judicial arena and the use of other policy frameworks to analyze non-incremental policy innovation for school finance

Measurement and Prediction of Pressure Drop in Pneumatic Conveying: Effect of Particle Characteristics, Mass Loading, and Reynolds Number

This paper reports the effect of Reynolds number, mass loading, and particle shape and size on pressure drop in a vertical gas-solids pneumatic conveying line. We isolate the effect of one variable while holding all others constant. A commonly used pressure drop correlation and a state-of-the-art multiphase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are then assessed by comparing their predictions to experimental data. Deficiencies in the models and the correlation are identified, and possible modifications are proposed. The most notable deficiency is the inability of both the experimental correlation and the CFD model to accurately predict the pressure drop for gas-solids flow with highly aspherical particles

Quantitative assessment of desirability of platform cell culture media

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Passing Messages between Biological Networks to Refine Predicted Interactions

Regulatory network reconstruction is a fundamental problem in computational biology. There are significant limitations to such reconstruction using individual datasets, and increasingly people attempt to construct networks using multiple, independent datasets obtained from complementary sources, but methods for this integration are lacking. We developed PANDA (Passing Attributes between Networks for Data Assimilation), a message-passing model using multiple sources of information to predict regulatory relationships, and used it to integrate protein-protein interaction, gene expression, and sequence motif data to reconstruct genome-wide, condition-specific regulatory networks in yeast as a model. The resulting networks were not only more accurate than those produced using individual data sets and other existing methods, but they also captured information regarding specific biological mechanisms and pathways that were missed using other methodologies. PANDA is scalable to higher eukaryotes, applicable to specific tissue or cell type data and conceptually generalizable to include a variety of regulatory, interaction, expression, and other genome-scale data. An implementation of the PANDA algorithm is available at www.sourceforge.net/projects/panda-net

Receptor Activated Ca2+ Release Is Inhibited by Boric Acid in Prostate Cancer Cells

BACKGROUND:The global disparity in cancer incidence remains a major public health problem. We focused on prostate cancer since microscopic disease in men is common, but the incidence of clinical disease varies more than 100 fold worldwide. Ca(2+) signaling is a central regulator of cell proliferation, but has received little attention in cancer prevention. We and others have reported a strong dose-dependent reduction in the incidence of prostate and lung cancer within populations exposed to boron (B) in drinking water and food; and in tumor and cell proliferation in animal and cell culture models. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We examined the impact of B on Ca(2+) stores using cancer and non-cancer human prostate cell lines, Ca(2+) indicators Rhod-2 AM and Indo-1 AM and confocal microscopy. In DU-145 cells, inhibition of Ca(2+) release was apparent following treatment with Ringers containing RyR agonists cADPR, 4CmC or caffeine and respective levels of BA (50 microM), (1, 10 microM) or (10, 20, 50,150 microM). Less aggressive LNCaP cancer cells required 20 microM BA and the non-tumor cell line PWR1E required 150 microM BA to significantly inhibit caffeine stimulated Ca(2+) release. BA (10 microM) and the RyR antagonist dantroline (10 microM) were equivalent in their ability to inhibit ER Ca(2+) loss. Flow cytometry and confocal microscopy analysis showed exposure of DU-145 cells to 50 microM BA for 1 hr decreased stored [Ca(2+)] by 32%. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE:We show B causes a dose dependent decrease of Ca(2+) release from ryanodine receptor sensitive stores. This occurred at BA concentrations present in blood of geographically disparate populations. Our results suggest higher BA blood levels lower the risk of prostate cancer by reducing intracellular Ca(2+) signals and storage

Estimation of Heat Transfer Coefficients of Cooked Boneless Ham

Biological heat transfer depends on many factors; however it is necessary to understand the cooling process to design safe and efficient meat cooling techniques. For this reason the convective heat transfer coefficient h of a five pound processed boneless pork ham was evaluated by two methods using a similarly shaped aluminum block. A Lumped Parameter approach in which mass transfer was ignored resulted in a heat transfer coefficient value of 5.10 W/m2K. A second method, which included mass transfer, resulted in a value of 9.11 W/m2K. These values fell within the expected range of 5-20 W/m2K but were lower than those derived by other published methods. It was concluded that the five pound processed boneless pork ham cut is too large for the Lumped Parameter approach; however the mass transfer method does appear valid

Crafting one’s brand to fit: an exploration of Black female principals’ construction and navigation of their leadership identities

African American female school leaders have a great responsibility and complex task before them. Not only are they charged with managing and improving schools, leading and empowering staff, and ensuring that the students under their care find academic success, they must also do this while managing their identity and navigating through various gender and race related social constructions. School leaders have multiple selves such as the identities they use when dealing with parents, district personnel, colleagues, students, etc. Effectively managing these selves is imperative to their successfulness as a school leader. This study examines how African American female principals construct and craft their leadership identities. Using the theoretical framework of critical race theory and black feminist thought, it discusses in depth the challenges Black females face based on their race and gender. This study also details their need to prove themselves and to change perceptions related to the stereotypes that plague women of color. It provides insight about how these women navigate and shift their identities in order to find and maintain success in their work spaces. This study recognizes that African American women are doubly marginalized; however, it appreciates their efforts to succeed despite the hurdles they face. The stories and voices of these women are seldom heard in the context of educational leadership and this study attempts to fill that void. Six women were selected and interviewed for this qualitative study which sought to answer the following questions: How do African American female principals construct and navigate their leadership identities? How do Black female administrators describe their experiences with identity navigation and shifting in terms of personality, behavior, and physical appearance? How do they use identity navigation and shifting to fit their work spaces? Also, this study uses autoethnographic data obtained from the author's own interview data, a daily log of events, excerpts from a reflective journal, relevant emails, and memories coupled with interview data from the six administrators to create a composite portrait illustrating a week in the life of a Black female school principal. In order to follow the tenets of critical race theory, the author's and the participants' authentic voice was honored through the use of powerful narratives and a composite counter-story. Themes that emerged related to the need for African American women to prove themselves professionally and to portray an image and identity that dispelled myths and negative perceptions related to their gender and/or race. Shifting strategies that are used such as changing communication styles, appearance, and behaviors are discussed. Concluding thoughts, implications for future research, and recommendations for educational practitioners are also presented