Going To See The Elephant

Four pioneer women deal with the harsh realities of life on the American frontier.https://griffinshare.fontbonne.edu/mst-programs/1018/thumbnail.jp

Aperture efficiency of chemically etched horns at 93 GHz

The aperture efficiency of monolithic two-dimensional horn imaging arrays has been optimized at 93 GHz. The imaging arrays consist of several silicon wafers into which arrays of pyramidal horns are etched chemically. Dipole antennas and detectors are suspended on thin silicon oxynitride membranes on one of the central silicon wafers about halfway down the horns. The devices are 7×7 arrays with a 1 λ opening and a 71° flare angle. Antenna impedances have been measured on a low-frequency model. A variety of millimeter-wave dipole antennas and bolometers have been designed and tested. A large-area bismuth thin-film power meter is used to obtain accurate absolute power. The measured aperture efficiency improved from 44% to 72%. The highest system coupling efficiency with a lens was 36% including lens absorption and reflection losses

Exploring the feasibility of a consolidated Joint Civil Augmentation Program (JCAP)

MBA Professional ReportStudies performed by the GAO (1997), Dowling and Feck (1999), and Culkin (2004) suggest that the services, the Government, and the taxpayer may be better served by consolidating the efforts of the separate Civil Augmentation Programs (CAPs) into one, joint program. This study examines five potential efficiency areas-Planning, Capabilities Provided, Financial Processes, Command and Control, and Ease of Use-using Cost Effectiveness Analysis (CEA) to determine the potential cost savings and streamlining that might exist under a Joint Civil Augmentation Program (JCAP). The results show that significant cost savings will be realized by a JCAP, particularly in the area of Planning. Beyond monetary benefits, having one program standardizes and streamlines Planning, Financial Processes, and Command and Control functions. Standardization and streamlining ultimately increase Ease of Use. Finally, having a single logistics support program eliminates duplicative capabilities, processes, and program management and administration offices while simultaneously bridging existing capability gaps (thus ensuring all military services have access to the full range of support functions). The study examines three courses of action-Do Nothing, Create a CAP Executive Lead Board (CELB), or Create a JCAP. The examination details the advantages, disadvantages, and cultural barriers/implications of each alternative. The recommendation is to establish a formal JCAP as soon as practicable.http://archive.org/details/exploringfeasibi1094510402Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

Development, validation and reproducibility of a food frequency questionnaire to measure flavonoid intake in older Australian adults

Aim: To develop and assess the validity and reproducibility of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to measure total flavonoid intake, and individual flavonoid subclasses, in older adults. Methods: Retrospective analysis of flavonoid intake in older adults informed the development of a FFQ to measure flavonoid intake and determine the flavonoid subclasses consumed (anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, flavones, flavonols and flavanones). Older adults (n = 42, mean age 75.3 8.6 years) attended two interviews 1 month apart where anthropometrics (height and weight), blood pressure (BP), demographic data and a 93-item self-administered FFQ were collected. A 4-day food record (FR) was randomly administered between the two interview dates, and each food item was assigned a flavonoid and flavonoid subclass content using the United States Department of Agriculture flavonoid database. The criterion validity and reproducibility of the FFQ was assessed against a 4-day FR using the Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test, Spearman’s correlation coefficient (r), Bland-Altman Plots and Cohen’s kappa. Results: Total flavonoid intake was determined (median intake FFQ = 919.3 mg/day, FR = 781.4 mg/day). Tests of validity indicated that the FFQ consistently overestimated total flavonoid intake compared with the 4- day FR. There was a significant difference in estimates between the FFQ and the 4-day FR for total flavonoid intake (Wilcoxon signed-rank sum P 0.05; Spearman’s r 0.91, P < 0.001; Bland-Altman plots visually showed small, non-significant bias and wide limits of agreement; and Cohen’s kappa κ = 0.619, P < 0.001), with a small mean percentage difference (6.7%). For individual flavonoid subclasses, the tests of reproducibility between FFQ1 and FFQ2 showed similarly high reproducibility. Conclusions: The developed FFQ appears suitable for satisfactorily ranking individuals according to total flavonoid intake. The FFQ shows limitations for estimating absolute total flavonoid intake and intake of flavonoid subclasses in comparison to a 4-day FR in terms of overestimating intake. Refinement and further validation of this tool may be required

Service-Learning: A Venue for Enhancing Pre-ServiceEducators’ Knowledge Base for Teaching

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research examining the impact of service-learning on student’s personal qualities has shown positive results. Findings indicate that students participating in high quality service-learning programs show increases in their perceptions of self-efficacy, civic responsibility, social justice, and diversity awareness. Less information regarding the effect of participation in service-learning on student’s intellectual and knowledge outcomes is known. This case study examined the influence of participation in a service-learning program on pre-service educators’ knowledge base for teaching. Participants included 31 undergraduate physical education majors enrolled in a Motor Skill Development for Children course at a large state university in the southwestern United States. Findings from multiple data sources (i.e., journals, interviews, and observations of instruction) revealed that pre-service educators participating in a service-learning program enhanced their pedagogical content knowledge. Teacher education programs should enhanced their pedagogical content knowledge. Teacher education programs should enhanced their pedagogical content knowledge. Teacher education programs should consider implementing service-learning programs within the curriculum to benefit pre-service educators’ knowledge base for teaching

Generating health technology assessment evidence for rare diseases

Objectives: Rare diseases are often heterogeneous in their progression and response to treatment, with only a small population for study. This provides challenges for evidence generation to support HTA, so novel research methods are required. Methods: Discussion with an expert panel was augmented with references and case studies to explore robust approaches for HTA evidence generation for rare disease treatments. Results: Traditional RCTs can be modified using sequential, three-stage or adaptive designs to gain more power from a small patient population or to focus trial design. However, such designs need to maintain important design aspects such as randomization and blinding and be analyzed to take account of the multiple analyses performed. N-of-1 trials use within-patient randomization to test repeat periods of treatment and control until a response is clear. Such trials could be particularly valuable for rare diseases and when prospectively planned across several patients and analyzed using Bayesian techniques, a population effect can be estimated that might be of value to HTA. When the optimal outcome is unclear in a rare disease, disease specific patient reported outcomes can elucidate impacts on patients’ functioning and wellbeing. Likewise, qualitative research can be used to elicit patients’ perspectives, with just a small number of patients. Conclusions: International consensus is needed on ways to improve evidence collection and assessment of technologies for rare diseases, which recognize the value of novel study designs and analyses in a setting where the outcomes and effects of importance are yet to be agreed.</p

Mostly Minnesota Art Song: Songs by Barber, Campbell, Erickson, Larsen, Maurer, Phipps-Kettlewell, Rossi, and Thomas

Tracks 1-6 are from David Evan Thomas\u27 Divine Images collection, based on the poetry of William Blake. Tracks 16-20 are from Brian G. Campbell\u27s collection This is My Letter to the World: Five Emily Dickinson Songs.https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/music_recordings/1014/thumbnail.jp