New Era Begins: Mental Health Law Reform in Virginia

Amidst calls for mental health reform and a sense of urgency stemming from the tragic events at Virginia Tech, the 2008 session of the Virginia General Assembly convened. The legislative reaction was overwhelming: Legislators introduced a vast array of bills relating to mental health. By the end of the session, the General Assembly enacted the most sweeping revisions to Virginia\u27s mental health laws since the 1970s

How to Implement Visual Activity Schedules for Students with Disabilities

Based on recent literature reviews on the use of Visual Activity Schedules (VAS) for students with intellectual disability and autism, the strategy has been deemed an evidence based practice. Using the literature highlighted in the recent reviews, this article provides an overview of VAS and common skills VAS has been used to teach. Additionally, the authors provide guidelines on schedules variations, creating schedules, and implementing the schedules. Finally, several examples of VAS are included

Low-frequency noise as a source of dephasing of a qubit

With the growing efforts in isolating solid-state qubits from external decoherence sources, the material-inherent sources of noise start to play crucial role. One representative example is electron traps in the device material or substrate. Electrons can tunnel or hop between a charged and an empty trap, or between a trap and a gate electrode. A single trap typically produces telegraph noise and can hence be modeled as a bistable fluctuator. Since the distribution of hopping rates is exponentially broad, many traps produce flicker-noise with spectrum close to 1/f. Here we develop a theory of decoherence of a qubit in the environment consisting of two-state fluctuators, which experience transitions between their states induced by interaction with thermal bath. Due to interaction with the qubit the fluctuators produce 1/f-noise in the qubit's eigenfrequency. We calculate the results of qubit manipulations - free induction and echo signals - in such environment. The main problem is that in many important cases the relevant random process is both non-Markovian and non-Gaussian. Consequently the results in general cannot be represented by pair correlation function of the qubit eigenfrequency fluctuations. Our calculations are based on analysis of the density matrix of the qubit using methods developed for stochastic differential equations. The proper generating functional is then averaged over different fluctuators using the so-called Holtsmark procedure. The analytical results are compared with simulations allowing checking accuracy of the averaging procedure and evaluating mesoscopic fluctuations. The results allow understanding some observed features of the echo decay in Josephson qubits.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, Proc. of NATO/Euresco Conf. "Fundamental Problems of Mesoscopic Physics: Interactions and Decoherence", Granada, Spain, Sept.200

Interactions between vaccinia virus and sensitized macrophages in vitro

The action of peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) from normal and vaccinia virus infected mice on infectious vaccinia virus particles was investigatedin vitro. PEC from immune mice showed a significantly higher infectivity titre reduction (virus clearance, VC) than normal cells. This effect could be clearly attributed to the macrophage. Vaccinia virus multiplied in PEC from normal animals while there was no virus propagation in cells from immunized mice. The release of adsorbed or engulfed virus was reduced significantly in PEC from immunized animals. Anti-vaccinia-antibodies seem to activate normal macrophages to increased virus clearance. This stimulating effect was demonstrable only in the IgG fraction of the antiserum. The activity of macrophages from mice injected three times over a period of 14 days with vaccinia virus could be entirely blocked with anti-mouse-IgG, while PEC from mice injected one time six days previously were not inhibited

Review of Student-Built Spectroscopy Instrumentation Projects

Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc. One challenge of teaching chemical analysis is the proliferation of sophisticated, but often impenetrable, instrumentation in the modern laboratory. Complex instruments, and the software that runs them, distance students from the physical and chemical processes that generate the analytical signal. A solution to this challenge is the introduction of a student-driven instrument-building project. Visible absorbance spectroscopy is well-suited to such a project due to its relative simplicity and the ubiquity of absorbance measurements. This Article reviews simple instructor- A nd student-built instruments for spectroscopy, providing an overview of common designs, components, and applications. This comprehensive summary includes options that are suitable for in-person or remote learning with K-12 students and undergraduates in general chemistry, analytical chemistry, instrumental analysis, and electronics courses

Filtration rates of the non-native Chinese mystery snail (Bellamya chinensis) and potential impacts on microbial communities

Invasive species in the phylum Mollusca, including gastropods and bivalves, have caused substantial impacts in freshwater ecosystems. The Chinese mystery snail, Bellamya chinensis, is a large viviparid snail native to Southeastern Asia and widely introduced throughout United States and parts of Canada and Europe. B. chinensis is a facultative filter-feeding detritivore that can both graze epiphytic diatoms using its radula and filter-feed its breathing water. Despite mounting concern associated with the expanding range and increasing abundance of B. chinensis in many parts of its invaded range, the potential ecological impacts of this non-native species remain largely unknown. Here, we used a series of laboratory experiments to assess filtration rates of B. chinensis and quantify its effects on microbial communities. According to both microcosm (24-hour, 4-L suspension) and mesocosm (5-day, 90-L suspension) experimental trials, B. chinensis exhibited an average filtration rate of 106-113 mL snail-1h-1(1.45 mL mg DW-1h-1) and an individual maximum of 471 mL snail-1h-1(6.15 mL mg DW-1h-1). These values are comparable to reported filtration rates for high-profile invasive, freshwater bivalves. Relationships between snail size and filtration rate relationship suggests that B. chinensis display an ontogenetic shift in feeding behavior from primarily radular grazing to increased filter-feeding at threshold size of approximately 44 mm shell height. Our experiments also revealed that high snail densities can result in small, significant shifts in bacterial community composition. These results suggest that B. chinensis may influence microbial communities either directly by using bacteria as a food source or indirectly by producing sufficiently large quantities of fecal and pseudo-fecal material to affect bacterial activity and growth. The overall ecological effects and importance of B. chinensis filtration behavior remain unclear, but our experimental results suggest that these impacts may be large and should be further investigated to better understand its potential role in coupling benthic and pelagic food webs in lake ecosystems.Las especies invasoras del phyllum Mollusca, incluyendo los gasterópodos y bivalvos, han causado impactos importantes en los ecosistemas dulceacuícolas. Bellamya chinensis, es un vivíparo de gran tamaño, nativo del sureste de Asia y ampliamente introducido a lo largo de los Estados Unidos y parte de Canadá y Europa. B. chinensis es una especie detritivora- filtradora facultativa, que puede tanto ramonear diatomeas epifitas usando su rádula como filtrar el agua que respiran. A pesar de la creciente preocupación asociada al incremento en la abundancia y rango de distribución de B. chinensis en las regiones ya colonizadas, el potencial impacto ecológico de esta especie introducida permanece ampliamente desconocido. En este estudio, usamos series de experimentos de laboratorio para evaluar las tasas de filtración de B. chinensis y cuantificar su efecto en las comunidades microbianas. De acuerdo con los experimentos realizados tanto en los microcosmos (24-hour, 4-L suspensión) como en los mesocosmos (5-day, 90-L suspensión), B. chinensis mostró una tasa promedio de filtración de 106-113 mL caracol-1h-1(1.45 mL mg peso seco-1h-1) y un máximo por individuo de 471 mL caracol-1h-1(6.15 mL mg peso seco-1h-1). Estos valores son comparables a otros reportados para especies de bivalvos dulceacuícolas altamente invasivas. La relación entre el tamaño de los caracoles y las tasas de filtración sugieren que B. chinensis muestra un cambio ontogénico en la manera de alimentarse, de ramoneo a una mayor alimentación por filtración, a partir de un umbral de tamaño de la concha de aproximadamente 44 mm de altura. Nuestros experimentos también revelan que altas densidades de caracoles generan pequeños cambios pero significativos en las comunidades microbianas. Estos resultados sugieren que B. chinensis afectaría las comunidades microbianas de forma directa usando las bacterias como fuente de alimentación o indirectamente al producir una cantidad de materia fecal o seudo-fecal, suficiente para afectar la actividad y crecimiento bacteriano. El impacto ecológico global y el comportamiento como filtrador de B. chinensis aún no son claros, pero nuestros resultados experimentales sugieren que estos impactos pueden ser importantes y se deben investigar mejor para entender más su papel potencial en el acoplamiento de las redes tróficas bentónicas y pelágicas en los sistemas lacustres

The MY NASA DATA Project

On the one hand, locating the right dataset, then figuring out how to use it, is a daunting task that is familiar to almost any scientist or graduate student in the fields of Earth system science. On the other hand, the ability to explore authentic Earth system science data, through inquiry-based education, is an important goal in US national education standards. Fortunately, in the digital age, tools are emerging that can make such data exploration commonplace at all educational levels. This paper describes the conception and development of one project that aims to bridge this gap: Mentoring and inquiry using NASA Data on Atmospheric and Earth science for Teachers and Amateurs (MY NASA DATA; mynasadata.larc.nasa.gov). With funding from NASA's Science Mission Directorate, this project was launched in early 2004 with the aim of developing microsets and identifying other enablers for making data accessible. A key feature of the project is a Live Access Server, the first educational implementation of this open source software, developed by NOAA, that makes it possible to explore multiple data formats through a single interface. This powerful tool is made more useful to the primary target audiences (K-12 and amateur scientists) through careful selection of the data offered, user-friendly explanations of the tool itself, and age-appropriate explanations of the parameters. However experience already shows that graduate students and even practicing scientists can also make use of this resource. The website also hosts teacher-contributed lesson plans, and seeks to feature reports of research projects that use the data

NF1 mutations are recurrent in adult acute myeloid leukemia and confer poor outcome

© 2018 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature Targeted mutation assessment of 81 genes in 1021 adults with de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) identified recurrent mutations in the neurofibromin 1 (NF1) gene in 52 (5.1%) patients, including 36 (5.2%) younger and 16 (4.8%) older patients, which suggests NF1 belongs to the 20 most frequently mutated genes in adult AML. NF1 mutations were found throughout the gene, and comprised missense, frameshift, and nonsense mutations. One mutation hotspot, at amino acid threonine 676 (Thr676), was found in 27% of AML patients with NF1 mutations. NF1-mutated patients belonged more often to the adverse European LeukemiaNet (ELN) risk category than NF1 wild-type patients. Among patients aged \u3c60 \u3eyears, the presence of NF1 Thr676 mutations was associated with lower complete remission (CR) rates (P = 0.04) and shorter overall survival (OS; P = 0.01), as was the presence of any NF1 mutation in patients in the adverse ELN risk category (CR, P = 0.05; OS, P \u3c 0.001). CR rates were also lower in NF1-mutated patients aged ≥60 years compared with NF1 wild-type patients (P = 0.001). In summary, our findings provide novel insights into the frequency of NF1 mutations in AML, and are suggestive of an adverse prognostic impact in patients treated with standard chemotherapy