Improved silver-zinc battery-terminal seals

Development of battery terminal seal for sealing electrolyte for periods of three to five years is discussed. Operating conditions of battery are defined. Components of electrolyte seal and method of production are reported. Schematic diagrams of device are included

Testing, Accountability and Accrediation

The primary purpose of this case study was to describe the implementation of the Virginia Standards of Learning in seven public school systems in the Richmond, Virginia metropolitan area. Implementation includes the application of the grade level and subject objectives to daily classroom instruction, organization of instruction, and preparation of students for administration of the tests. The Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC) is made up of Virginia Commonwealth University and seven school systems in the vicinity of Richmond. A Policy and Planning Council, which governs the consortium, is made up of the school superintendent, a representative member of each school board, the consortium director, and other administrators/faculty from the university and the seven school systems that comprise the MERC membership. In February, 1998, the Policy and Planning Council requested that a study group be established to investigate the effect of implementing the Virginia Standards of Learning and the associated criterion-testing program. In December 1998, the MERC Policy and Planning Council approved the recommendation of the study group to conduct this research. it was anticipated that the results of this research would provide the impetus for instructional decisions needed to achieve higher levels of student performance on the Standards of Learning. As described by Creswell (1998), this case study is an exploration of a \u27bounded system\u27 . . . through detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information rich in context . . . bounded by time and place (p. 61). The bounds of this multi-case study do not permit inclusion of approximately two hundred schools that comprise these seven districts; therefore, a purposeful sampling of one school from each school system was appropriate after input from the school superintendents with regard to balancing school levels and community types. The study is further bounded by the timeline beginning with the project approval in December 1998 and the ending with the report in the fall of 1999. Practical factors of time and budget required the limitation of categories of persons from which to seek information and perspectives; therefore, direct input of students and parents was not sought. Because of the many activities that occur near the end of the school year, the data collection was limited primarily to February and March, 1999

Observations of attenuation at 20.6, 31.65 and 90.0 GHz: Preliminary results from Wallops Island, VA

Ground based radiometric observations of atmospheric attenuation at 20.6, 31.65, and 90.0 GHz were made at Wallops Island, Virginia during April and May 1989. Early results from the analysis of the data set are compared with previous observations from California and Colorado. The relative attenuation ratios observed at each frequency during clear, cloudy, and rainy conditions are shown. Plans for complete analysis of the data are described

Examining the Impact of Treatment Fidelity on Client Outcomes in a Statewide Implementation of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy

Clinician treatment fidelity, consisting of treatment adherence and clinician competence, is commonly assessed during the implementation of evidence-based treatments to ensure that clinicians are delivering care according to an intended service model. Although resources are often expended in fidelity measurement, associations between fidelity and client outcomes has not been well established in the psychotherapy literature. The relationship between clinician fidelity and treatment outcomes was investigated in a longitudinal sample of clinicians (n = 17) and parent-child dyads (n = 32) following a statewide implementation of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. Observer-rated measures of adherence and coaching competence collected from early treatment sessions were used to predict intake levels and growth trajectories of parent-reported behavior problems and positive parenting skills. Hierarchical linear modeling results indicated that higher levels of coaching competence were associated with greater behavior problem frequency at intake. Neither early session adherence nor early session competence, as they were measured in the current study, predicted changes in treatment outcomes over time. These results suggest that additional variables should be modeled alongside early treatment fidelity to predict treatment outcome change. Possible explanations for these findings, limitations of the current study, and directions for future research are discussed

Optical particle counter measurement of marine aerosol hygroscopic growth

International audienceA technique is developed for the determination of the hygroscopic growth factor of dry particles with diameter between 0.3 and 0.6 ?m and is applied to measurements made during the second Dynamics and Chemistry of Marine Stratocumulus experiment (DYCOMS-II). Two optical particle counters are utilized, one measures the aerosol size spectrum at ambient relative humidity and the other simultaneously dries the aerosol prior to light scattering detection. Growth factors are based on measurements made in the region of the Mie scattering curve where scattered light intensity increases monotonically with dry and wet particle diameter, i.e. D<0.9 ?m. Factors influencing the accuracy of the measurement are evaluated, including particle drying, refractive index and shape. Growth factors at 90±3% ambient relative humidity in marine airmasses 400 km west of San Diego, California range between 1.5 and 1.8. This suggests that a significant fraction of the particle mass, between 40 and 70%, is either non-hygroscopic or weakly hygroscopic

Bers-ERK Schwann Cells Coordinate Nerve Regeneration

In this issue of Neuron, Napoli et al. (2012) demonstrate that elevated ERK/MAPK signaling in Schwann cells is a crucial trigger for Schwann cell dedifferentiation in vivo. Moreover, the authors show that dedifferentiated Schwann cells have the potential to coordinate much of the peripheral nerve response to injury

Different Signaling Pathways Mediate Regenerative versus Developmental Sensory Axon Growth

Recent advances in defining neurotrophin signaling mediators have provided insights into the signal transduction mechanisms that underlie axon growth. Evidence is accumulating that major Trk effectors regulate the morphological development of embryonic peripheral neurons. Less is known about signaling related to the robust axon extension that follows peripheral axotomy of adult neurons. Regenerative axon growth can be mimicked in vitro by a "conditioning" lesion performed 2 weeks before culture (Smith and Skene, 1997). Previous work has implicated both neurotrophins and cytokines in this response. Because signal transduction mediators of both of these families of growth factors are well characterized, we have compared the role of neurotrophin and cytokine signaling in developmental versus regenerative sensory axon growth. Chemical inhibitors were administrated to embryonic and axotomized sensory neurons in vitro to block the activation of Erk kinase (MEK)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase (PI3-K), and janus kinase (JAK) signaling. As expected, both MEK and PI3-K inhibition blocked axon growth from both naive and NGF-stimulated embryonic day 13 sensory neurons, whereas inhibition of JAK phosphorylation had no effect. In contrast, neither MEK nor PI3-K inhibitors blocked elongation of adult sensory neurons after a conditioning lesion. However, the addition of a JAK2 inhibitor prevented the regenerative axon response. Consistent with these pharmacological results, the percentage of neurons showing intense nuclear signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 phosphorylation after a conditioning lesion was markedly increased compared with controls. These observations demonstrate that the signaling mediators that underlie regenerative axon growth are distinct from those used during development and suggest that cytokine signaling may be critical to peripheral nervous system regeneration

Functions of GSK-3 Signaling in Development of the Nervous System

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) is central to multiple intracellular pathways including those activated by Wnt/β-catenin, Sonic Hedgehog, Notch, growth factor/RTK, and G protein-coupled receptor signals. All of these signals importantly contribute to neural development. Early attention on GSK-3 signaling in neural development centered on the regulation of neuronal polarity using in vitro paradigms. However, recent creation of appropriate genetic models has demonstrated the importance of GSK-3 to multiple aspects of neural development including neural progenitor self-renewal, neurogenesis, neuronal migration, neural differentiation, and synaptic development

Recent Extreme Ultraviolet Solar Spectra and Spectroheliograms

Extreme ultraviolet solar spectra and spectroheliogram analyse