A Qualitative Investigation of Secondary General Education Teachers\u27 Perspectives on their Involvement in Transition Services

This exploratory qualitative study was designed to examine the perspectives of secondary general education teachers’ involvement within the transition for all youth, including youth with disabilities. Youth with disabilities continue to find less success than peers without disabilities during postsecondary life. Research has examined special education teachers and transition professionals’ roles within the transition process, but limited research has been conducted relating to general education teachers’ roles. Qualitative data obtained through semi-structured interviews indicate the opportunity for more substantive involvement in transition planning for all students, including those with disabilities. Overall findings suggest that general educators have desired student outcomes for all students, develop relationships with students, expose students to postsecondary options and help them set goals, facilitate opportunities for students to develop needed skills for adult life, participate in IEP meetings, and communicate and collaborate. Implications for future research include special educators providing general education teachers with information and opportunities to engage in the transition process. KEYWORDS: Transition, Secondary, Student, Disabilit

Investigation of trace element concentration in diabetic rat's tissues

Diabetes is one of the most frequent diseases in developing countries and thus there is a significant interest in diabetes related studies. It was found that vanadium compounds have glucose-lowering properties in diabetes and therefore it is very important to estimate the vanadium dose in diabetes treatment. On the other hand, the proper estimation of vanadium concentration is important due to side effects that occur in vanadium supplementation. In this study the influence of V(IV) and V(V) compounds with different ligands on the concentration of K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Zn in selected rat’s tissues was investigated by means of proton induced X-ray emission technique. As a result of the measurements it was found that the concentration of vanadium depends on the organ. The highest value was determined in spleen while the lowest in pancreas. It was also found that the concentration of other elements depends on the presence of vanadium and its concentration. The most meaningful influence of vanadium presence was on iron concentration in spleen, on copper and zinc in kidney, and on manganese in pancreas

Biological applications of synchrotron radiation infrared spectromicroscopy.

Extremely brilliant infrared (IR) beams provided by synchrotron radiation sources are now routinely used in many facilities with available commercial spectrometers coupled to IR microscopes. Using these intense non-thermal sources, a brilliance two or three order of magnitude higher than a conventional source is achievable through small pinholes (<10 mu m) with a high signal to-noise ratio. IR spectroscopy is a powerful technique to investigate biological systems and offers many new imaging opportunities. The field of infrared biological imaging covers a wide range of fundamental issues and applied researches such as cell imaging or tissue imaging. Molecular maps with a spatial resolution down to the diffraction limit may be now obtained with a synchrotron radiation IR source also on thick samples. Moreover, changes of the protein structure are detectable in an IR spectrum and cellular molecular markers can be identified and used to recognize a pathological status of a tissue. Molecular structure and functions are strongly correlated and this aspect is particularly relevant for imaging. We will show that the brilliance of synchrotron radiation IR sources may enhance the sensitivity of a molecular signal obtained from small biosamples, e.g., a single cell, containing extremely small amounts of organic matter. We will also show that SR IR sources allow to study chemical composition and to identify the distribution of organic molecules in cells at submicron resolution is possible with a high signal-to-noise ratio. Moreover, the recent availability of two-dimensional IR detectors promises to push forward imaging capabilities in the time domain. Indeed, with a high current synchrotron radiation facility and a Focal Plane Array the chemical imaging of individual cells can be obtained in a few minutes. Within this framework important results are expected in the next years using synchrotron radiation and Free Electron Laser (FEL) sources for spectro-microscopy and spectral-imaging, alone or in combination with Scanning Near-field Optical Microscopy methods to study the molecular composition and dynamic changes in samples of biomedical interest at micrometric and submicrometric scales, respectively. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

X-ray absorption near edge structure and Mössbauer spectroscopy in study of iron valence states in tissues

X-ray absorption near edge structure Fe K-edge spectra and $\text{}^{57}$Fe Mössbauer spectra of selected standard compounds were recorded at room temperature. Valence and spin states of Fe in these samples known from Mössbauer spectroscopy were correlated with the shapes of X-ray absorption near edge structure spectra in search of possible application of X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy as analytical tool determining local electronic states of iron in tissues. As an example, the X-ray absorption near edge structure spectra of healthy and cancerous tissues of prostate are shown, suggesting Fe$\text{}^{3+}$ in cancerous tissues

X‐Ray Spectroscopy on Biological Systems

In the field of biological studies, next to the standard methods, new tools are offered by contemporary physics. X‐ray spectroscopic techniques enable probing electronic structure of occupied and unoccupied states of studied atom and distinguish the oxidation state, local geometry, and ligand type of elements that occur in biological material. Direct analysis using X‐ray spectroscopy avoids many chemical preparation steps that might modify biological samples. The information obtained gives us insight into important biochemical processes all under physiological conditions. In this chapter we focus our attention to the application of X‐ray spectroscopy to the study of biological samples, with special emphasis on mechanisms revealing interaction between DNA and different cytotoxic agents and in the determination of changes in oxidation state of different elements in pathologically altered human cells and tissue

Effects of vanadium complexes supplementation on V, Cu, Mn, K, Fe, Zn, and Ca concentration in STZ diabetic rats pancreas

The objective of the study was to assess the effects of Na[V V O(O 2 ) 2 (2,2í-bpy)] ◊ 8 H 2 O (complex 1), Na[V V O(O 2 ) 2 (1,10í-phen)] ◊ 5 H 2 O (complex 2 ), Na[V V O(O 2 ) 2 (4,4í-Me-2,2í-bpy)] ◊ 8 H 2 O (complex 3 ), [ V IV O(SO 4 )(1,10í-phen)] ◊ 2 H 2 O, (complex 4 ), [ V IV O(SO 4 )(2,2í-bpy)] ◊ H 2 O (complex 5 ), where: 2,2í-bpy = 2,2í-bipyridine, 1,10í-phen = 1,10í-phenanthroline, 4,4í-Me-2,2í-bpy = 4,4í-dimethyl-2,2í-bipyridine and a small insulin injection on V, Cu, Mn, K, Fe, Zn, and Ca concentration in the STZ (streptozotocin) diabetic rats pancreas during a 5-week treatment with the tested complexes. In all groups of animals metal concentration in the pancreas was investigated by means of Proton Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) method. Maximum con- centration of vanadium was observed in the pancreas for complex 5 (1.69 ± 0.09 mg/kg dry weight), lower for complex 3 (1.51 ± 0.10 mg/kg dry weight), and the lowest for complex 1 (1.21 ± 0.27 mg/kg dry weight) sup- plementation. The influence of vanadium administration on other metalsí concentration in the ratsí pancreas was also investigated. All vanadium-tested complexes showed an increase of zinc concentration in the exam- ined pancreas in comparison to the diabetic animals not treated with vanadium. The results were the highest for complex 1 and the lowest for complex 5. The concentration of Fe, Cu, Mn, K and Ca in the pancreas is not evi- dently influenced by administration of the vanadium complexe

Metre-scale damage zone characterization using S-coda waves from active ultrasonic transmission measurements in the STIMTEC project, URL Reiche Zeche, Germany

Studies of controlled hydraulic stimulation experiments with active and passive seismic monitoring conducted in Underground Research Laboratories (URLs) benefit from specific knowledge of hydraulic parameters, close by microseismic monitoring revealing structural details of the rock mass, and detailed evolution of seismicity in response to injection operations. Microseismic monitoring is commonly used to characterize a stimulated reservoir volume, for example, in terms of damage evolution of the rock mass. Since seismic attenuation is affected by damage of the rock volume, active seismic sources covering sizes from the centimetre to decimetre scale may help us to investigate space–time varying attenuation properties in a reservoir. This may allow us to monitor damage evolution of the stimulated rock volume in more detail, also since active seismic sources produce stronger signals leading to a broader frequency range that can be analysed compared to passive seismic signals. Within the STIMTEC project in the URL Reiche Zeche (URL-RZ) in Freiberg (Germany), more than 300 active Ultrasonic Transmission (UT) measurements were performed before and after hydraulic stimulations in two boreholes in the targeted rock volume, an anisotropic metamorphic gneiss. The signal-frequency content ranges between 1 and 60 kHz. Assuming scattering attenuation to dominate over intrinsic attenuation, we here apply the single isotropic scattering model. S-coda waves of 88 spatially representative UT measurements are used to estimate the coda quality factor (QC). We obtain stable QC estimates for centre frequencies of octave-width frequency bands between 3 and 21 kHz. We group neighbouring UT measurements to stabilize the observations and form eight UT groups in total, covering different depth intervals in three boreholes and four different time periods to investigate scattering attenuation changes in a spatiotemporal manner. Our final mean QC (⁠QC¯¯¯¯¯¯¯⁠) estimates show characteristic frequency-dependence as observed at the field scale in geological reservoirs. We find temporal variations of QC are strongly connected to hydraulic stimulation, and these variations are more significant than those resolved from velocity changes. QC¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ estimates at frequencies above 15 kHz indicate healing of injection-induced small-scale fractures during a two-months post-stimulation phase. Larger fractures, mostly sampled by lower frequencies (<15 kHz), seem to be more persistent with time (over 15 months). We observe spatial differences of QC¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ values near the mine galleries (driftway and vein drift) and relate these observations to different extents and characteristics of the galleries’ excavation damage zones. Our results further support previous assumptions based on borehole televiewer logs and mapped structures of an existing fault with larger damage zone that crosses the stimulated rock volume NW-SE between the galleries. We conclude that the coda analysis of active UT measurements complements established imaging methods used during experiments in URLs. In particular, coda analysis is a powerful tool for the detection of damage zones and for monitoring local fracture networks with immediate application for imaging georeservoirs considered for exploitation or underground storage of gases and liquids

First approach to studies of sulphur electron DOS in prostate cancer cell lines and tissues studied by XANES

Abstract Urological cancers comprise approximately one-third of all cancers diagnosed in men worldwide and out of these, prostate cancer is the most common one ( WHO World Cancer Report, 2008 ). Several risk factors such as age, hormone levels, environmental conditions and family history are suspected to play a role in the onset of this disease of otherwise obscure aetiology. It is therefore the medical need that drives multidisciplinary research in this field, carried out by means of various experimental and theoretical techniques. Out of many relevant factors, it is believed that sulphur can take an important part in cancer transformations. We have investigated the prostate cancer cell lines and tissues, along with selected organic and inorganic compounds used as references, by the X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy near the sulphur edge energy region. Particularly, the comparison of the experimental results collected during XANES measurements and theoretical calculations of electron density of states with use of the FEFF8 code and LAPW (linearised augmented plane-wave) method has been performed and in this work the first results of our studies are presented

Applications of the Cracow X-ray microprobe in tomography

A nuclear microprobe at the IFJ PAN in Cracow has found numerous applications in different fields of research, mostly in biophysics, medical sciences, geology, and material research. In order to extend the research possibilities, a new X-ray microprobe was constructed. This new microprobe consists of three experimental lines dedicated to: (i) X-ray irradiation of biological specimens, (ii) elemental analysis of samples by micro X-ray fluorescence or total reflection X-ray fluorescence methods and (iii) computer microtomography. In this paper the computer microtomography line was described. The line consists of an open type Hamamatsu L9191 X-ray tube with microfocusing to about 2 μm, a high resolution X-ray sensitive CCD camera, and a precise goniometer composed of six piezoelectric motors. Depending on the required X-ray energy, the Hamamatsu tube is used with Ti, Mo, Ag, or W targets. A small focus size and short focus-to-object distance enable to obtain images of samples with a magnification of more than 1000× and resolution of the order of 2 μm. The computer microtomography measurements are carried out using home developed codes combined with commercial software. Details of the microprobe construction and preliminary results of the computer microtomography experiments are presented