The Contract for College

Rising college costs, combined with major policy changes in financial aid, have made college less affordable for today's generation of young people. The Contract for College would unify the existing three strands of federal financial aid--grants, loans and work-study--into a coherent, guaranteed financial aid package for students

Citizens at the Center: A New Approach to Civic Engagement

Offers specific recommendations for giving citizens the tools they need to identify problems and develop solutions in their communities -- and warns against top-down solutions that require people to "plug into" existing programs or campaigns

Computer program ETC improves computation of elastic transfer matrices of Legendre polynomials P/0/ and P/1/

Computer program ETC improves computation of elastic transfer matrices of Legendre polynomials P/0/ and P/1/. Rather than carrying out a double integration numerically, one of the integrations is accomplished analytically and the numerical integration need only be carried out over one variable

Risk management and the corporate real estate portfolio

In a global business economy, firms have a broad range of corporate real estate needs. During the past decade, multiple strategies and tactics have emerged in the corporate real estate community for meeting those needs. We propose here a framework for analysing and prioritising the various types of risk inherent in corporate real estate decisions. From a business strategy perspective, corporate real estate must serve needs beyond the simple one of shelter for the workforce and production process. Certain uses are strategic in that they allow access to externalities, embody the business strategy, or provide entrée to new markets. Other uses may be tactical, in that they arise from business activities of relatively short duration or provide an opportunity to pre-empt competitors. Still other corporate real estate uses can be considered “core” to the existence of the business enterprise. These might be special use properties or may be generic buildings that have become embodiments of the organisation’s culture. We argue that a multi-dimensional matrix approach organised around three broad themes and nine sub-categories allow the decision-maker to organise and evaluate choices with an acceptable degree of rigor and thoroughness. The three broad themes are Use (divided into Core, Cyclical or Casual) – Asset Type (which can be Strategic, Specialty or Generic) and Market Environment (which ranges from Mature Domestic to Emerging Economy). Proper understanding of each of these groupings brings critical variables to the fore and allows for efficient resource allocation and enhanced risk management

Expanding the toolbox for nanoparticle trapping and spectroscopy with holographic optical tweezers

We have developed a workstation based on holographic tweezers to optically trap, move and characterize metal nanoparticles. Our advanced darkfield imaging system allows us to simultaneously image and take spectra of single trapped metal nanoparticles. We take advantage of the beamshaping abilities of the spatial light modulator and correct for aberrations of the trapping optics. We monitor the improvement of the optical trap with video-based nanoparticle tracking. Furthermore we theoretically assess the capabilities and limitations of video-based tracking for nanoparticle position detection, in particular with respect to acquisition frequencies below the corner frequency

ETC - A Fortran 4 program for computing the multigroup P/0/ and P/1/ elastic transfer coefficients

Fortran 4 program for calculating multigroup elastic transfer coefficient

Room temperature self-assembly of mixed nanoparticles into complex material systems and devices

The ability to manufacture nanomaterials with complex and structured composition using otherwise incompatible materials increasingly underpins the next generation of technologies. This is translating into growing efforts integrating a wider range of materials onto key technology platforms1 - in photonics, one such platform is silica, a passive, low loss and robust medium crucial for efficient optical transport2. Active functionalisation, either through added gain or nonlinearity, is mostly possible through the integration of active materials3, 4. The high temperatures used in manufacturing of silica waveguides, unfortunately, make it impossible to presently integrate many organic and inorganic species critical to achieving this extended functionality. Here, we demonstrate the fabrication of novel waveguides and devices made up of complex silica based materials using the self-assembly of nanoparticles. In particular, the room temperature fabrication of silica microwires integrated with organic dyes (Rhodamine B) and single photon emitting nanodiamonds is presented.Comment: Key words: nanotechnology, nanoparticles, self-assembly, quantum science, singel photon emitters, telecommunications, sensing, new materials, integration of incompatible materials, silica, glass, breakthrough scienc

Gender differences in health-related quality of life following total laryngectomy

Background: The impact of a total laryngectomy on an individual's life has primarily been measured from a male viewpoint reflecting the demographics of a diagnosis of laryngeal cancer. A small number of studies have looked specifically at females, but very few are comparison studies. Consequently, there is little consistent research regarding any potential gender differences. Aims: To investigate whether there are gender differences in perceptions of health-related quality of life and functional abilities following total laryngectomy. Methods & Procedures: A total of 43 participants (22 males, 21 females), who had undergone a total laryngectomy procedure at least one year previously, took part in the study. They completed The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Questionnaire Version 3.0 (EORTC QLQ-C30) in conjunction with the disease-specific Head & Neck Cancer Module (QLQ-H&N35). Outcomes & Results: There were no significant differences between males and females on demographic and disease-related variables, except for the following: significantly more females lived alone and changed their employment status following surgery. Males had a significantly higher global health status/quality of life than females (p < 0.05) and significantly higher levels of physical (p = 0.01), emotional (p < 0.01), cognitive (p < 0.05) and social functioning (p < 0.05). After adjusting for differences in living arrangements and change in employment status, differences in emotional and social functioning remained significant. There was a general trend for females to have higher symptom/impairment levels and to report more treatment-related problems, but the majority of these differences were not significant. Conclusions & Implications: Following total laryngectomy, females appear to be worsely affected in aspects of quality of life than males. Emotional and social functioning are particularly vulnerable. The findings imply that rehabilitation programmes after total laryngectomy need to evaluate quality of life and address these specific areas in order to improve patient-reported long-term outcomes