Vietnam : communication factors of revolutionary guerrilla war

"May 1965.""Paper delivered at the annual conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Groton, Conn., May 14, 1965.""1577"--handwritten on cove

Student Mathematics Performance in Year One Implementation of Teach to One: Math

This report examines mathematics test data from the first year of implementation (2012-13) of the Teach to One: Math (TtO) approach in seven urban middle schools in Chicago, New York City, and Washington D.C. Researchers addressed the question: How did Tto students' growth on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) mathematics assessment compare with national norms?To answer this question, the researchers analyzed student performance on the MAP test, an established instrument developed by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). The researchers then compared these results to the national norms published by NWEA (2011). Please note that these analyses cannot attribute Tto student results to the TtO model: the data available did not permit the use of an experimental design, which would be necessary to establish a link between the implementation of the program and the student test results. While the TtO results are promising, its performance beyond one year should be analyzed using an experimental design, in order to remove unmeasured differences between TtO students and schools with an appropriate comparison sample

Could an El Niño event put dietary supplies of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (EPA and DHA) in jeopardy

The beneficial effects of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially EPA and DHA, for human health are widely recognised. Intakes of these fatty acids in many parts of Europe fall far short of the recommended intake, especially in young people. The most robust evidence from human health studies demonstrating beneficial effects is that for cardiovascular disease. Other beneficial effects have been reported for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, cognitive and visual development in pre-term infants, and on various psychological/behavioural and psychiatric disorders. For European consumers fish is the main source of EPA and ­­DHA, especially oily fish, and in particular farmed Atlantic salmon. With evidence of a strong El Niño type event occurring in the Pacific currently (2015/16), fish stock biomasses have drastically declined and permitted fishing heavily reduced. Subsequent fish oil shortages have resulted in increased substitution of fish oil with vegetable oil in feeds for farmed salmon. A significant fall in EPA and DHA in these fish and a reduction in intake by consumers are expected in the short term. Avoiding fish oil shortages causing reductions in EPA and DHA intake by consumers in the future may be possible through the production of DHA-rich algal biomass if the cost can be reduced. Genetically modified crops which might also be a source of these fatty acids are unlikely to be acceptable for salmon feeds in Europe in the near future

Assaying locomotor activity to study circadian rhythms and sleep parameters in Drosophila.

Most life forms exhibit daily rhythms in cellular, physiological and behavioral phenomena that are driven by endogenous circadian (≡24 hr) pacemakers or clocks. Malfunctions in the human circadian system are associated with numerous diseases or disorders. Much progress towards our understanding of the mechanisms underlying circadian rhythms has emerged from genetic screens whereby an easily measured behavioral rhythm is used as a read-out of clock function. Studies using Drosophila have made seminal contributions to our understanding of the cellular and biochemical bases underlying circadian rhythms. The standard circadian behavioral read-out measured in Drosophila is locomotor activity. In general, the monitoring system involves specially designed devices that can measure the locomotor movement of Drosophila. These devices are housed in environmentally controlled incubators located in a darkroom and are based on using the interruption of a beam of infrared light to record the locomotor activity of individual flies contained inside small tubes. When measured over many days, Drosophila exhibit daily cycles of activity and inactivity, a behavioral rhythm that is governed by the animal's endogenous circadian system. The overall procedure has been simplified with the advent of commercially available locomotor activity monitoring devices and the development of software programs for data analysis. We use the system from Trikinetics Inc., which is the procedure described here and is currently the most popular system used worldwide. More recently, the same monitoring devices have been used to study sleep behavior in Drosophila. Because the daily wake-sleep cycles of many flies can be measured simultaneously and only 1 to 2 weeks worth of continuous locomotor activity data is usually sufficient, this system is ideal for large-scale screens to identify Drosophila manifesting altered circadian or sleep properties

Innovative system for deploying novel biosensors for water contaminant monitoring

The ability to remotely sense contaminants in surface and sub-surface waters can offer a deeper understanding of environmental conditions and an early warning system that will improve the efficiency of response to contaminant transport. The aim of this thesis was to develop an innovative system for field deployment of biosensors to facilitate environmental water quality monitoring. Two strands of work were addressed in developing themonitoring system (i) a flow cell in which to deploy the biosensor and (ii) integration of a uranyl ion (UO₂²⁺) biosensor. Three different flow cell designs were investigated using both a finite element computational model and a flow-fluorescence experimental technique. These comprised a flow channel featuring an expanded central region to accommodate the sensor, but the rates of channel expansion were varied between each design. A reduction in flow cell efficiency with increasing flow rate for all three cell designs was linked to the development of regions of flow recirculation (eddies). However, the most gradually expanding flow channel restricted eddy development to higher flow rates in comparison to the other designs. This more efficient design, and an optimised operational protocol, was thus identified as a recommended method of biosensor deployment. A biosensor for the detection of aqueous uranyl ions (UO₂²⁺) was developed from a sensor element created by Conroy (2012). Two different integration methods, screen-printed electrodes and solid gold electrodes for biosensor construction, were investigated. The biosensor response was linked to electrode nano-surface topography and electrode chemical composition, and was observed to be higher for the solid gold electrodes. The operational dynamic range of the integrated biosensor was improved by four orders of magnitude in comparison to the original laboratory proof of concept investigations for the sensor. Furthermore, recommendations for operational protocols were developed with respect to optimisation of integrated biosensor operation within a remotely controlled and automated water monitoring system

Using Second-Order Factor Analysis in Examining Multiple Problems of Clients

This post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of the article submitted to IUPUI ScholarWorks as part of the OASIS Project. Article reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Permission granted through posted policies on copyright owner’s website or through direct contact with copyright owner.Data from veterans of the Persian Gulf engagement were studied to assess the potential of second-order factor analysis in examining, interpreting, and directing person-environment interventions with an array of different but related individual and environmental problems. Participants of the study were 1,532 veterans of the Persian Gulf engagement who were eligible for social services provided by the Veterans Administration. The results provided support for the use of second-order factors in examining client data and provided information about the relationships among clinically significant problems. Further research on the second-order factors of multidimensional instruments that are used in social work to measure client progress can yield information about how client populations differ and provide direction in selecting interventions that are congruent with social work's person-environment focus