Venus Radar Mapper (VRM): Multimode radar system design

The surface of Venus has remained a relative mystery because of the very dense atmosphere that is opaque to visible radiation and, thus, normal photographic techniques used to explore the other terrestrial objects in the solar system are useless. The atmosphere is, however, almost transparent to radar waves and images of the surface have been produced via Earth-based and orbital radars. The technique of obtaining radar images of a surface is variously called side looking radar, imaging radar, or synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The radar requires a moving platform in which the antenna is side looking. High resolution is obtained in the cross-track or range direction by conventional radar pulse encoding. In the along-track or azimuth direction, the resolution would normally be the antenna beam width, but for the SAR case, a much longer antenna (or much sharper beam) is obtained by moving past a surface target as shown, and then combining the echoes from many pulses, by using the Doppler data, to obtain the images. The radar design of the Venus Radar Mapper (VRM) is discussed. It will acquire global radar imagery and altimetry data of the surface of Venus

Standards Implementation in Kentucky: Local Perspectives on Policy, Challenges, Resources, and Instruction

This report examines select data from a survey administered to principals and teachers in the state of Kentucky during the spring of 2016. The results presented focus on responses about the state’s standards-based reform policies as described by the policy attributes (Porter, Floden, Freeman, Schmidt, & Schwille, 1988), the theoretical framework that undergirds C-SAIL’s research. The framework suggests that five attributes are related to successful policy implementation, and that the stronger each attribute is, the better implementation will be

Year 1 State Report: California

This report examines how the state of California approached college- and career-ready standards implementation during a time of transition. For the purposes of this report and in keeping with C-SAIL’s focus, the authors concentrate on implementation of California’s English language arts (ELA) and math standards

Teacher Implementation of College and Career-Ready Standards: Challenges & Resources

Because teachers are the primary implementers of college- and career-ready standards, C-SAIL examined the challenges teachers face in using the standards in the classroom, the resources they find to be most helpful, and their attitudes toward the standards. This brief examines these issues using 2016–2017 survey data from Texas, Ohio, and Kentucky

How is policy affecting classroom instruction?

Five-plus years into the experiment with new “college- and career-ready standards” (of which Common Core is the most notable and most controversial example), we know little about teachers’ implementation and the ways policy can support that implementation. This paper uses new state-representative teacher survey data to characterize the degree of standards implementation across three states—Kentucky, Ohio, and Texas. We also investigate teachers’ perceptions of the extent to which the policy environment supports them to implement the standards. We find a great deal of variation in perceptions of policy, with Ohio teachers perceiving policy to be less supportive than Kentucky or Texas teachers. Teachers in all states are mostly implementing the content in new standards, but they are also teaching a good deal of content they should not—content that has been deemphasized in their grade-level standards. Perceptions of policy do not explain much of the variation in instruction, contrary to our theory. If greater attention is not paid to supporting teachers to implement the standards and reduce coverage of deemphasized content, we worry the standards will not have much effect

Standards Implementation in Texas: Local Perspectives on Policy, Challenges, Resources, and Instruction

This report examines select data from a survey administered to districts, principals, and teachers in the state of Texas during the spring of 2016. The results presented focus on responses about the state’s standards-based reform policies as described by the policy attributes (Porter, Floden, Freeman, Schmidt, & Schwille, 1988), the theoretical framework that undergirds C-SAIL’s research. The framework suggests that five attributes are related to successful policy implementation, and that the stronger each attribute is, the better implementation will be

A Multi-modality Approach Towards Elucidation of the Mechanism for Human Achilles Tendon Bending during Passive Ankle Rotation

© 2018 The Author(s). The in vitro unconstrained Achilles tendon is nearly straight, while in vivo experiments reveal that the proximal region of the Achilles tendon, adjacent to Kager's fat pad, bends ventrally during plantarflexion but remains nearly straight during dorsiflexion. Tendon bending is an important factor in determining the displacement of the foot compared to the shortening of the muscle fibers. The objective of this study was to elucidate the various mechanisms that could cause tendon bending, which currently remain unknown. Examination of Thiel-embalmed cadavers, with preservation of native articular joint mobility, revealed that the Achilles tendon still bent ventrally even when its surrounding tissues, including the skin surface, Kager's fat pad, and distal portions of the soleus muscle were removed. Shear modulus and collagen fiber orientation were distributed homogeneously with respect to the longitudinal line of the tendon, minimizing their causative contributions to the bending. Given that tendon bending is not caused by either the nature of the deformations of the tissues surrounding the Achilles tendon or its physical properties, we conclude that it results from the geometric architecture of the Achilles tendon and its configuration with respect to the surrounding tissues

Transforming growth factor beta-regulated gene expression in a mouse mammary gland epithelial cell line

BACKGROUND: Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) plays an essential role in a wide array of cellular processes. The most well studied TGF-β response in normal epithelial cells is growth inhibition. In some cell types, TGF-β induces an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). NMuMG is a nontransformed mouse mammary gland epithelial cell line that exhibits both a growth inhibitory response and an EMT response to TGF-β, rendering NMuMG cells a good model system for studying these TGF-β effects. METHOD: A National Institutes of Aging mouse 15,000 cDNA microarray was used to profile the gene expression of NMuMG cells treated with TGF-β1 for 1, 6, or 24 hours. Data analyses were performed using GenePixPro and GeneSpring software. Selected microarray results were verified by northern analyses. RESULTS: Of the 15,000 genes examined by microarray, 939 were upregulated or downregulated by TGF-β. This represents approximately 10% of the genes examined, minus redundancy. Seven genes previously not known to be regulated by TGF-β at the transcriptional level (Akt and RhoB) or not at all (IQGAP1, mCalpain, actinin α3, Ikki, PP2A-PR53), were identified and their regulation by TGF-β verified by northern blotting. Cell cycle pathway examination demonstrated downregulation of cyclin D(2), c-myc, Id2, p107, E2F5, cyclin A, cyclin B, and cyclin H. Examination of cell adhesion-related genes revealed upregulation of c-Jun, α-actinin, actin, myosin light chain, p120cas catenin (Catns), α-integrin, integrin β5, fibronectin, IQGAP1, and mCalpain. CONCLUSION: Using a cDNA microarray to examine TGF-β-regulated gene expression in NMuMG cells, we have shown regulation of multiple genes that play important roles in cell cycle control and EMT. In addition, we have identified several novel TGF-β-regulated genes that may mediate previously unknown TGF-β functions