211 research outputs found
Catalyst Schools: The Catholic Ethos and Public Charter Schools
During the past decade, Catholic leaders have been exploring options to revitalize the faltering Catholic school system especially in urban centers. One route being explored by dioceses and religious orders is opening what have been called âreligious charter schools.â Though not technically religious schools, they integrate many of the same values and pedagogical approaches as found in faith-based schools. In this article, the authors examined three Chicago public charter schools that are modeled on the successful San Miguel Schools, which are run by the Christian Brothers and are located in impoverished urban areas. After interviewing 40 participants, observing 20 classrooms, and reviewing archival documents, the authors described the challenges faced, tensions experienced, and lessons learned while transferring a Lasallian (Christian Brother) educational model into the public sector.
Résumé
Au cours des dix derniĂšres annĂ©es, les responsables catholiques ont cherchĂ© par quels moyens revitaliser les Ă©coles catholiques en difficultĂ©, notamment dans les centres urbains. Lâune des voies explorĂ©es par les diocĂšses et congrĂ©gations religieuses consiste Ă ouvrir ce que lâon appelle des « Ă©coles religieuses sous contrat ». Bien quâil ne sâagisse pas vĂ©ritablement dâĂ©coles religieuses, elles intĂšgrent un grand nombre des valeurs et approches pĂ©dagogiques que lâon trouve dans les Ă©coles confessionnelles. Dans cet article, les auteurs ont examinĂ© trois Ă©coles publiques sous contrat Ă Chicago, qui ont pris comme modĂšle le succĂšs des Ă©coles de San Miguel, dirigĂ©es par les FrĂšres des Ă©coles chrĂ©tiennes et situĂ©es dans des secteurs urbains dĂ©shĂ©ritĂ©s. AprĂšs avoir interviewĂ© 40 participants, observĂ© 20 salles de classe et examinĂ© des documents dâarchives, les auteurs ont dĂ©crit les difficultĂ©s Ă surmonter, les tensions ressenties et les enseignements retirĂ©s lorsquâun modĂšle Ă©ducatif lassalien (les FrĂšres des Ă©coles chrĂ©tiennes) est transfĂ©rĂ© dans un Ă©tablissement public.
Resumen
Durante la Ășltima dĂ©cada, lĂderes catĂłlicos han explorado opciones para revitalizar el defectuoso sistema escolar catĂłlico, especialmente en centros urbanos. Las diĂłcesis y Ăłrdenes religiosas han explorado una ruta: abrir lo que se llaman âescuelas chĂĄrter religiosasâ. Aunque tĂ©cnicamente no son escuelas religiosas, integran muchos de los mismos valores y enfoques pedagĂłgicos tal y como se encuentran en las escuelas religiosas. En el presente artĂculo, los autores examinan tres escuelas chĂĄrter pĂșblicas de Chicago que se basan en el modelo exitoso de las escuelas San Miguel, gestionadas por los Christian Brothers (Hermanos Cristianos) y situada en zonas urbanas pobres. Tras entrevistar a 40 participantes, observar 20 aulas y revisar documentos de archivo, los autores describen los retos a los que se enfrentaron, las tensiones que experimentaron y las lecciones que aprendieron al transferir un modelo educativo lasaliano (Hermanos Cristianos) al sector pĂșblico
Agent-based and continuous models of hopper bands for the Australian plague locust: How resource consumption mediates pulse formation and geometry
Locusts are significant agricultural pests. Under favorable environmental
conditions flightless juveniles may aggregate into coherent, aligned swarms
referred to as hopper bands. These bands are often observed as a propagating
wave having a dense front with rapidly decreasing density in the wake. A
tantalizing and common observation is that these fronts slow and steepen in the
presence of green vegetation. This suggests the collective motion of the band
is mediated by resource consumption. Our goal is to model and quantify this
effect. We focus on the Australian plague locust, for which excellent field and
experimental data is available. Exploiting the alignment of locusts in hopper
bands, we concentrate solely on the density variation perpendicular to the
front. We develop two models in tandem; an agent-based model that tracks the
position of individuals and a partial differential equation model that
describes locust density. In both these models, locust are either stationary
(and feeding) or moving. Resources decrease with feeding. The rate at which
locusts transition between moving and stationary (and vice versa) is enhanced
(diminished) by resource abundance. This effect proves essential to the
formation, shape, and speed of locust hopper bands in our models. From the
biological literature we estimate ranges for the ten input parameters of our
models. Sobol sensitivity analysis yields insight into how the band's
collective characteristics vary with changes in the input parameters. By
examining 4.4 million parameter combinations, we identify biologically
consistent parameters that reproduce field observations. We thus demonstrate
that resource-dependent behavior can explain the density distribution observed
in locust hopper bands. This work suggests that feeding behaviors should be an
intrinsic part of future modeling efforts.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, 3 appendices with 1 figure; revised
Introduction, Sec 1.1, and Discussion; cosmetic changes to figures; fixed
typos and made clarifications throughout; results unchange
Chandra follow-up of the SDSS DR8 Redmapper catalog using the MATCha pipeline
For abstract see published article
A Randomized Phase II Study to Assess the Efficacy of Pemetrexed or Sunitinib or Pemetrexed Plus Sunitinib in the Second-Line Treatment of Advanced NonâSmall-Cell Lung Cancer
Second-line chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) improves survival modestly but new strategies are needed. This trial was designed to evaluate an antivascular endothelial growth factor strategy with or without standard chemotherapy in previously treated NSCLC
Early signals of vaccine driven perturbation seen in pneumococcal carriage population genomic data
BACKGROUND: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) have reduced pneumococcal diseases globally. Pneumococcal genomic surveys elucidate PCV effects on population structure but are rarely conducted in low-income settings despite the high disease burden. METHODS:We undertook whole genome sequencing of 660 pneumococcal isolates collected through surveys from healthy carriers two years from PCV14 introduction and one-year post-rollout in northern Malawi. We investigated changes in population structure, within-lineage serotype dynamics, serotype diversity, and frequency of antibiotic resistance (ABR) and accessory genes. RESULTS:In the under-fives, frequency and diversity of vaccine serotypes (VT) decreased significantly post-PCV but no significant changes occurred in over-fives. Clearance of VT serotypes was consistent across different genetic backgrounds (lineages). There was an increase of non-vaccine serotypes (NVT) namely 7C, 15B/C, 23A in under-fives but 28F increased in both age groups. While carriage rates have been recently shown to remain stable post-PCV due replacement serotypes, there was no change in diversity of NVTs. Additionally, frequency of intermediate-penicillin-resistant lineages decreased post-PCV. While frequency of ABR genes remained stable, other accessory genes especially those associated with MGEs and bacteriocins showed changes in frequency post-PCV. CONCLUSIONS:We demonstrate evidence of significant population restructuring post-PCV driven by decreasing frequency of vaccine serotypes and increasing frequency of few NVTs mainly in under-fives. Continued surveillance with WGS remains crucial to fully understand dynamics of the residual VTs and replacement NVT serotypes post-PCV
Population genetic structure, antibiotic resistance, capsule switching and evolution of invasive pneumococci before conjugate vaccination in Malawi
INTRODUCTION:
Pneumococcal infections cause a high death toll in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) but the recently rolled out pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) will reduce the disease burden. To better understand the population impact of these vaccines, comprehensive analysis of large collections of pneumococcal isolates sampled prior to vaccination is required. Here we present a population genomic study of the invasive pneumococcal isolates sampled before the implementation of PCV13 in Malawi.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
We retrospectively sampled and whole genome sequenced 585 invasive isolates from 2004 to 2010. We determine the pneumococcal population genetic structure and assessed serotype prevalence, antibiotic resistance rates, and the occurrence of serotype switching.
RESULTS:
Population structure analysis revealed 22 genetically distinct sequence clusters (SCs), which consisted of closely related isolates. Serotype 1 (ST217), a vaccine-associated serotype in clade SC2, showed highest prevalence (19.3%), and was associated with the highest MDR rate (81.9%) followed by serotype 12F, a non-vaccine serotype in clade SC10 with an MDR rate of 57.9%. Prevalence of serotypes was stable prior to vaccination although there was an increase in the PMEN19 clone, serotype 5 ST289, in clade SC1 in 2010 suggesting a potential undetected local outbreak. Coalescent analysis revealed recent emergence of the SCs and there was evidence of natural capsule switching in the absence of vaccine induced selection pressure. Furthermore, majority of the highly prevalent capsule-switched isolates were associated with acquisition of vaccine-targeted capsules.
CONCLUSIONS:
This study provides descriptions of capsule-switched serotypes and serotypes with potential to cause serotype replacement post-vaccination such as 12F. Continued surveillance is critical to monitor these serotypes and antibiotic resistance in order to design better infection prevention and control measures such as inclusion of emerging replacement serotypes in future conjugate vaccines
A high temperature gas flow environment for neutron total scattering studies of complex materials
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