Adolescent Literacy Programs: Costs of Implementation

Reviews the literature on implementation of educational reforms and compares implementation processes and costs at schools that have adopted one of three literacy reforms. Includes recommendations for detailed resource planning and cost accounting

Alfalfa Snout Beetle, \u3ci\u3eOtiorhynchus Ligustici\u3c/i\u3e L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae): Methods for Egg Collection and Larval Rearing

The alfalfa snout beetle, Otiorhynchus ligustici L., is the most serious pest of alfalfa in northern New York State. Recent research efforts focused on the biological control of this insect require the availability of all life stages. With a 2-year lifecycle and a mandatory diapause, the artificial rearing of a laboratory culture appears to be a non-viable option at present, but methods described here can be used to obtain sufficient numbers of eggs and larvae over an extended period of time for research purposes. The crowding of adult beetles in egg production units (cups) had a significant, negative effect on egg production per beetle but the total egg production per cup was still higher with higher number of beetles per cup resulting in a significant saving of labor per egg produced. Larval survival rates in alfalfa-planted cans were surprisingly low given the protected conditions of the greenhouse. The larval survival rates were not significantly different among the dates for the second instar and later instars, suggesting that larval mortality occurs in the first instar in alfalfa-planted cans

Femtosecond-laser-irradiation-induced structural organization and crystallinity of Bi2WO6

Controlling the structural organization and crystallinity of functional oxides is key to enhancing their performance in technological applications. In this work, we report a strong enhancement of the structural organization and crystallinity of Bi2WO6 samples synthetized by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method after exposing them to femtosecond laser irradiation. X-ray difraction, UVvis and Raman spectroscopies, photoluminescence emissions, energy dispersive spectroscopy, feld emission scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy were employed to characterize the as-synthetized samples. To complement and rationalize the experimental results, frstprinciples calculations were employed to study the efects of femtosecond laser irradiation. Structural and electronic efects induced by femtosecond laser irradiation enhance the long-range crystallinity while decreasing the free carrier density, as it takes place in the amorphous and liquid states. These efects can be considered a clear cut case of surface-enhanced Raman scattering

Inhibitor regulation of tissue kallikrein activity in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid athritis

Tissue kallikrein (TK) and 1-antitrypsin (AT)/TK complexes can be detected in SF from patients with RA if components of the fluids which interfere with the detection of TK are removed. 2-Macroglobulin (2-M) in SF was demonstrated to contain trapped proteases which were still active in amidase assays. Removal of 2-M from RA SF reduced their amidase activity. However, at least some of the remaining activity was due to TK because it was soya bean trypsin inhibitor resistant and trasylol sensitive and was partly removed by affinity chromatography on anti-TK sepharose. Removal of RF from the fluids reduced the values obtained for TK levels by ELISA. Addition of SF to human urinary kallikrein (HUK) considerably reduced the levels of TK detected suggesting the presence of a TK ELISA inhibitor in the fluids. Removal of components of >300 kDa from SF markedly reduced the TK ELISA inhibitory activity and increased the values for both the TK and l-AT/TK levels in fluids as measured by ELISA. It is considered this novel inhibitor does not bind to the active site of TK but rather binds to the site reactive with anti-TK antibodies