Evaluation of the Valley Transportation Authority’s DO IT! Program A “Ladders of Opportunity Initiative” Program Funded by the Federal Transit Administration

The U.S. Department of Transportation has increasingly demonstrated interest in developing programs that will enhance the workforce capacity of future transportation systems. To that end, the Department sponsored the 2015 Innovative Public Transportation Workforce Development program, directed by the Federal Transit Administration. This program sought to enhance the availability of skilled workers from targeted groups, including the underserved, underemployed, and/or minority groups into possible transit-oriented career paths. One of the 19 programs selected for funding was the “DO IT!” project proposed and developed by the Valley Transit Authority (VTA). VTA proposed to create an innovative education and training program that focused on attracting and ultimately hiring underserved, underemployed, and/or minority groups in its service area of Santa Clara County. The program was created with two major goals in mind: (1) to enable VTA to work with local youth who may not otherwise have the opportunity to be exposed to a career in public transportation – specifically in the area of transportation planning; and (2) to provide a ladder of opportunity into the middle class which will help strengthen our workforce and our intercity communities by building the critical skillset needed to maintain a competitive and efficient public transportation service. This report provides an evaluation of the “Do It! Program and presents recommendations for program replication or improvement

Potentials for soft wall AdS/QCD

Soft-wall models in AdS/QCD generally have dilaton and scalar fields that vary with the fifth-dimension coordinate. These fields can be parameterized to yield hadron mass spectra with linear radial trajectories and to incorporate spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry. We show how to construct scalar potentials which lead to such solutions.Comment: 21 pages. Version 3 matches that accepted for publication. Typos have been corrected and references added. Substantial discussion has been added in order to clarify our approach and the issue of the dilaton mass in Sec. 4. Central results and conclusions remain unchanged

Переклад у галузі електроенергетики. Методичні рекомендації до практичних занять з дисципліни для студентів спеціальності 7.030507 «Переклад» напряму підготовки 035 «Філологія»

Методичні матеріали призначено для самостійної роботи студентів спеціальності 7.030507 “Переклад” напряму підготовки 035 «Філологія» для організації практичних занять із дисципліни «Переклад у галузі електроенергетики». Рекомендації орієнтовано на вдосконалення навичок перекладу науково-технічних текстів

Asteroseismic effects in close binary stars

Turbulent processes in the convective envelopes of the sun and stars have been shown to be a source of internal acoustic excitations. In single stars, acoustic waves having frequencies below a certain cutoff frequency propagate nearly adiabatically and are effectively trapped below the photosphere where they are internally reflected. This reflection essentially occurs where the local wavelength becomes comparable to the pressure scale height. In close binary stars, the sound speed is a constant on equipotentials, while the pressure scale height, which depends on the local effective gravity, varies on equipotentials and may be much greater near the inner Lagrangian point (L_1). As a result, waves reaching the vicinity of L_1 may propagate unimpeded into low density regions, where they tend to dissipate quickly due to non-linear and radiative effects. We study the three dimensional propagation and enhanced damping of such waves inside a set of close binary stellar models using a WKB approximation of the acoustic field. We find that these waves can have much higher damping rates in close binaries, compared to their non-binary counterparts. We also find that the relative distribution of acoustic energy density at the visible surface of close binaries develops a ring-like feature at specific acoustic frequencies and binary separations

ADHD: The Lifespan and Effects from Adolescence through Adulthood

ADHD: THE LIFESPAN AND EFFECTS 4 Abstract The purpose of this paper is to help educate individuals on the choices that aid in the treatment plans, for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, that are available and the long term impacts in which treatment could have on their physical body, social life, emotional well being. This paper explores the cause, symptoms, and treatments available for individuals with ADHD. Current treatment options include medication, essential oils, and multiple therapies that include, fantasy play, cognitive, behavior, etc. This paper, also, identifies the impact of the different symptoms on a gender basis and across the life-span including infancy, early childhood, adolescence, adults, and the elderly. Academic and social supports that are available throughout an individual\u27s time at school (primary through college) are also discussed. This paper also explores the impact on an individual with ADHD’s educational and professional experiences in order to look at the disorder as a whole in part and not just it’s components. Keywords: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, medications, long term effects, brain disorder

Xylose metabolism in the fungus Rhizopus oryzae : effect of growth and respiration on l (+)-lactic acid production

The fungus Rhizopus oryzae converts both glucose and xylose under aerobic conditions into chirally pure l(+)-lactic acid with by-products such as xylitol, glycerol, ethanol, carbon dioxide and fungal biomass. In this paper, we demonstrate that the production of lactic acid by R. oryzae CBS 112.07 only occurs under growing conditions. Deprivation of nutrients such as nitrogen, essential for fungal biomass formation, resulted in a cessation of lactic acid production. Complete xylose utilisation required a significantly lower C/N ratio (61/1) compared to glucose (201/1), caused by higher fungal biomass yields that were obtained with xylose as substrate. Decreasing the oxygen transfer rate resulted in decline of xylose consumption rates, whereas the conversion of glucose by R. oryzae was less affected. Both results were linked to the fact that R. oryzae CBS 112.07 utilises xylose via the two-step reduction/oxidation route. The consequences of these effects for R. oryzae as a potential lactic acid producer are discussed