Toward a Grand Vision: Early Implementation of California's Local Control Funding Formula

California has taken the first steps down an historic path that fundamentally alters how its public schools are financed, education decisions are made, and traditionally underserved students' needs are met. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), passed with bipartisan legislative support and signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown on July 1, 2013, represents the most comprehensive transformation of California's school funding system in 40 years. The LCFF significantly loosens the reins of state control over education. It all but eliminates categorical funding streams, subsituting a base of funding for all distraicts and adding dollars for low-income students, English language learners, and foster youth. The new system empowers school districts to determine how to allocate their dollars to best meet the needs of their students. Finally, by requiring all districts to engage parents and other education stakeholders in decisions about how to spend newly flexible funds, the LCFF represents a remarkable experiment in local democracy

Modulated voltage metastable ionization detector

The output current from a metastable ionization detector (MID) is applied to a modulation voltage circuit. An adjustment is made to balance out the background current, and an output current, above background, is applied to an input of a strip chart recorder. For low level concentrations, i.e., low detected output current, the ionization potential will be at a maximum and the metastable ionization detector will operate at its most sensitive level. When the detected current from the metastable ionization detector increases above a predetermined threshold level, a voltage control circuit is activated which turns on a high voltage transistor which acts to reduce the ionization potential. The ionization potential applied to the metastable ionization detector is then varied so as to maintain the detected signal level constant. The variation in ionization potential is now related to the concentration of the constituent and a representative amplitude is applied to another input of said strip chart recorder

A new comparison between solid-state thermionics and thermoelectrics

It is shown that equations for electrical current in solid-state thermionic and thermoelectric devices converge for devices with a width equal to the mean free path of electrons, yielding a common expression for intensive electronic efficiency in the two types of devices. This result is used to demonstrate that the materials parameters for thermionic and thermoelectric devices are equal, rather than differing by a multiplicative factor as previously thought

Mechanisms of pelvic floor muscle function and the effect on the urethra during a cough

Background: Current measurement tools have difficulty identifying the automaticphysiologic processes maintaining continence, and many questions still remainabout pelvic floor muscle (PFM) function during automatic events.Objective: To perform a feasibility study to characterise the displacement, velocity,and acceleration of the PFM and the urethra during a cough.Design, setting, and participants: A volunteer convenience sample of 23 continentwomen and 9 women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) from the generalcommunity of San Francisco Bay Area was studied.Measurements: Methods included perineal ultrasound imaging, motion trackingof the urogenital structures, and digital vaginal examination. Statistical analysisused one-tailed unpaired student t tests, and Welch’s correction was applied whenvariances were unequal.Results and limitations: The cough reflex activated the PFM of continent women tocompress the urogenital structures towards the pubic symphysis, which wasabsent in women with SUI. The maximum accelerations that acted on the PFMduring a cough were generally more similar than the velocities and displacements.The urethras of women with SUI were exposed to uncontrolled transverse accelerationand were displaced more than twice as far ( p = 0.0002), with almost twicethe velocity ( p = 0.0015) of the urethras of continent women. Caution regardingthe generalisability of this study is warranted due to the small number of women inthe SUI group and the significant difference in parity between groups.Conclusions: During a cough, normal PFM function produces timely compressionof the pelvic floor and additional external support to the urethra, reducing displacement,velocity, and acceleration. In women with SUI, who have weakerurethral attachments, this shortening contraction does not occur; consequently,the urethras of women with SUI move further and faster for a longer duratio

VLT and GTC observations of SDSS J0123+00: a type 2 quasar triggered in a galaxy encounter?

We present long-slit spectroscopy, continuum and [OIII]5007 imaging data obtained with the Very Large Telescope and the Gran Telescopio Canarias of the type 2 quasar SDSS J0123+00 at z=0.399. The quasar lies in a complex, gas-rich environment. It appears to be physically connected by a tidal bridge to another galaxy at a projected distance of ~100 kpc, which suggests this is an interacting system. Ionized gas is detected to a distance of at least ~133 kpc from the nucleus. The nebula has a total extension of ~180 kpc. This is one of the largest ionized nebulae ever detected associated with an active galaxy. Based on the environmental properties, we propose that the origin of the nebula is tidal debris from a galactic encounter, which could as well be the triggering mechanism of the nuclear activity. SDSS J0123+00 demonstrates that giant, luminous ionized nebulae can exist associated with type 2 quasars of low radio luminosities, contrary to expectations based on type 1 quasar studies.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter

Increasing concentrations of dichloromethane, CH2Cl2, inferred from CARIBIC air samples collected 1998–2012

Atmospheric concentrations of dichloromethane, CH2Cl2, a regulated toxic air pollutant and minor contributor to stratospheric ozone depletion, were reported to have peaked around 1990 and to be declining in the early part of the 21st century. Recent observations suggest this trend has reversed and that CH2Cl2 is once again increasing in the atmosphere. Despite the importance of ongoing monitoring and reporting of atmospheric CH2Cl2, no time series has been discussed in detail since 2006. The CARIBIC project (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) has analysed the halocarbon content of whole-air samples collected at altitudes of between ~10–12 km via a custom-built container installed on commercial passenger aircraft since 1998, providing a long-term record of CH2Cl2 observations. In this paper we present this unique CH2Cl2 time series, discussing key flight routes which have been used at various times over the past 15 years. Between 1998 and 2012 increases were seen in all northern hemispheric regions and at different altitudes, ranging from ~7–10 ppt in background air to ~13–15 ppt in regions with stronger emissions (equating to a 38–69% increase). Of particular interest is the rising importance of India as a source of atmospheric CH2Cl2: based on CARIBIC data we provide regional emission estimates for the Indian subcontinent and show that regional emissions have increased from 3–14 Gg yr^-1 (1998–2000) to 16–25 Gg yr^-1 (2008). Potential causes of the increasing atmospheric burden of CH2Cl2 are discussed. One possible source is the increased use of CH2Cl2 as a feedstock for the production of HFC-32, a chemical used predominantly as a replacement for ozone-depleting substances in a variety of applications including air conditioners and refrigeration

Antihyperglycaemic and hypolipidemic effect of methanol extracts of Ageratum conyzoides L (Asteraceae) in normal and diabetic rats

Purpose: To investigate the antihyperglycaemic and hypolipidemic potential of the methanol extracts of leaf, stem and root of Ageratum conyzoides in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats.Methods: The extract of each of the plant part was obtained by extraction in methanol. A total of 60 male Wistar albino rats (30 induced with diabetes and 30 normoglycaemic) were assigned into diabetic and normoglycaemic groups of 6 rats each. Methanol extracts of leaf, stem and root of Ageratum conyzoides were administered orally at a dose of 100 mg/kg to the rats for a period of 14 days, with glibenclamide as the standard drug (1 mg/kg). Fasting blood glucose and lipid profile were determined to ascertain the antihyperglycaemic and hypolipidemic activities of the different parts of the plant.Results: Ageratum conyzoides significantly (p < 0.05) reduced fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels in diabetic rats by 38.71 ± 19.41 % (leaf), 25.64 ± 20.53 % (stem), and 34.76 ± 18.03 % (root) on day 14 of the treatment, compared with untreated diabetic rats where FBG increased by 11.33±8.91 %. Total cholesterol (leaf, 119.10 ± 8.12 mg/dl; stem, 109.28 ± 8.13 mg/dl) and triglycerides (leaf, 61.71 ± 9.37 mg/dl; stem, 72.45 ± 3.39 mg/dl) levels were also significantly (p < 0.05) lowered in diabetic rats. Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (leaf, 77.21 ± 8.12 mg/dl; stem, 64.76 ± 8.04 mg/dl; root, 79.08 ± 10.61mg/dl) levels were significantly (p < 0.05) lowered in all treated diabetic groups compared with the untreated diabetic rats (103.19 ± 6.08 mg/dl).Conclusion: The results from this study indicate that Ageratum conyzoides has hypoglycaemic and hypolipidemic properties in rats, and this probably justifies its reported use in the traditional management of diabetes mellitus.Keywords: Ageratum conyzoides, Diabetes mellitus, Antihyperglycaemic, Hypolipidemi

New Clock Comparison Searches for Lorentz and CPT Violation

We present two new measurements constraining Lorentz and CPT violation using the Xe-129 / He-3 Zeeman maser and atomic hydrogen masers. Experimental investigations of Lorentz and CPT symmetry provide important tests of the framework of the standard model of particle physics and theories of gravity. The two-species Xe-129 / He-3 Zeeman maser bounds violations of CPT and Lorentz symmetry of the neutron at the 10^-31 GeV level. Measurements with atomic hydrogen masers provide a clean limit of CPT and Lorentz symmetry violation of the proton at the 10^-27 GeV level.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of the 3rd International Symposium on Symmetries in Subatomic Physic

The Glassy Wormlike Chain

We introduce a new model for the dynamics of a wormlike chain in an environment that gives rise to a rough free energy landscape, which we baptise the glassy wormlike chain. It is obtained from the common wormlike chain by an exponential stretching of the relaxation spectrum of its long-wavelength eigenmodes, controlled by a single stretching parameter. Predictions for pertinent observables such as the dynamic structure factor and the microrheological susceptibility exhibit the characteristics of soft glassy rheology and compare favourably with experimental data for reconstituted cytoskeletal networks and live cells. We speculate about the possible microscopic origin of the stretching, implications for the nonlinear rheology, and the potential physiological significance of our results.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. Minor correction