Charter School Funding Inequities: Rochester, New York

Public charter schools are increasingly becoming part of both the broader national conversation about education policy as well as the local urban scene in the United States. The latter is certainly true in Rochester, New York, where charter schools serve more than 18 percent of the students who attend school in the city. Given the important role that charter schools play in educating Rochester’s students, we sought to learn if students who attend the city’s charter schools are funded equitably when compared to students in Rochester City School District (RCSD) schools

Spring Calving Suckler Beef Systems: Influence of Grassland Management System on Herbage Availability, Utilisation, Quality and Cow and Calf Performance to Weaning

Suckler beef systems in Ireland are primarily based on grass. Suckler systems vary in intensity but many operate low input systems and participate in REPS (Rural Environmental Protection Scheme). As there is a considerable cost associated with second-cut silage this research compared a two-cut system with a simplified low input one-cut system

Lawfare, standing and environmental discourse: a phronetic analysis

The Adani Carmichael Coal Mine in the Galilee Basin of Queensland isone of the largest open cut coalmine proposals in the world. Thedevelopment approval process for the mine has been deeply contentious,with opposition raised by environmental, farming and indigenous groups.Federal government approval of the mine has been successfully challengedin the Federal Court through judicial review. This led to a reconsiderationand subsequent re-approval of the project, combined with the FederalGovernment proposing statutory changes to standing rules to restrict thecapacity of civil society groups to bring judicial review actions. Given thebroad standing provisions for judicial review that have been present in theEnvironment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (Cth) (‘EPBCAct’) since its inception in 1999, what are the reasons behind this proposalfor significant change in Australian environmental law? Drawing onphronetic legal enquiry methodology, this article provides a case study ofthe ways in which societal discourses intersect with law and politicaleconomy in shaping the ability of civil society to challenge the approvalprocesses for major resource projects. This case study shows that theFederal Government’s agenda to reduce standing under the EPBC Actrepresents a decisive attempt to assert power and control by reducing thecapacity of dissentients to oppose economic development. In doing so, thiscase study highlights the value of phronetic legal inquiry as methodologyfor analysing processes of change, and attempted change, in law

The Stellar Content of Obscured Galactic Giant H II Regions IV.: NGC3576

We present deep, high angular resolution near-infrared images of the obscured Galactic Giant H II region NGC3576. Our images reach objects to ~3M_sun. We collected high signal-to-noise K-band spectra of eight of the brightest objects, some of which are affected by excess emission and some which follow a normal interstellar reddening law. None of them displayed photospheric features typical of massive OB type stars. This indicates that they are still enshrouded in their natal cocoons. The K-band brightest source (NGC3576 #48) shows CO 2.3 micron bandhead emission, and three others have the same CO feature in absorption. Three sources display spatially unresolved H_2 emission, suggesting dense shocked regions close to the stars. We conclude that the remarkable object NGC3576 #48 is an early-B/late-O star surrounded by a thick circumstellar disk. A number of other relatively bright cluster members also display excess emission in the K-band, indicative of reprocessing disks around massive stars (YSOs). Such emission appears common in other Galactic Giant H II regions we have surveyed. The IMF slope of the cluster, Gamma = -1.51, is consistent with Salpeter's distribution and similar to what has been observed in the Magellanic Cloud clusters and in the periphery of our Galaxy.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in A

Phospholipase D promotes Arcanobacterium haemolyticum adhesion via lipid raft remodeling and host cell death following bacterial invasion

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Arcanobacterium haemolyticum </it>is an emerging bacterial pathogen, causing pharyngitis and more invasive infections. This organism expresses an unusual phospholipase D (PLD), which we propose promotes bacterial pathogenesis through its action on host cell membranes. The <it>pld </it>gene is found on a genomic region of reduced %G + C, suggesting recent horizontal acquisition.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Recombinant PLD rearranged HeLa cell lipid rafts in a dose-dependent manner and this was inhibited by cholesterol sequestration. PLD also promoted host cell adhesion, as a <it>pld </it>mutant had a 60.3% reduction in its ability to adhere to HeLa cells as compared to the wild type. Conversely, the <it>pld </it>mutant appeared to invade HeLa cells approximately two-fold more efficiently as the wild type. This finding was attributable to a significant loss of host cell viability following secretion of PLD from intracellular bacteria. As determined by viability assay, only 15.6% and 82.3% of HeLa cells remained viable following invasion by the wild type or <it>pld </it>mutant, respectively, as compared to untreated HeLa cells. Transmission electron microscopy of HeLa cells inoculated with <it>A. haemolyticum </it>strains revealed that the <it>pld </it>mutant was contained within intracellular vacuoles, as compared to the wild type, which escaped the vacuole. Wild type-infected HeLa cells also displayed the hallmarks of necrosis. Similarly inoculated HeLa cells displayed no signs of apoptosis, as measured by induction of caspase 3/7, 8 or 9 activities.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These data indicate that PLD enhances bacterial adhesion and promotes host cell necrosis following invasion, and therefore, may be important in the disease pathogenesis of <it>A. haemolyticum </it>infections.</p

Industry Effects and Strategic Convergence: A Study of the Strategies of Independent Pharmacists

The pharmacy industry is experiencing significant change. With the increasing presence of regional discounters, the appearance of mail service and internet pharmacies, the continuing ascendancy of managed care (including HMOs and PPOs), third party reimbursement plans, and pharmacy benefit managers  (PBMs), the strategic  options for  independent pharmacies are dwindling. This exploratory study examines  the relationships  among generic  business level strategies of independent pharmacies, industry effects -- in terms  of consequences  of third party reimbursement plans -- and performance outcomes. It seems that the impact of managed care reimbursements more than off sets the various strategic efforts by pharmacies. The evidence indicates that different generic strategy  approaches  are  not  producing significant differences in performance. The findings suggest that industry effects may  he creating a situation of strategic convergence. The practical implications for the independent pharmacists   and future   research  are  addressed

Ultraviolet Imaging Polarimetry of the Large Magellanic Cloud. II. Models

Motivated by new sounding-rocket wide-field polarimetric images of the Large Magellanic Cloud, we have used a three-dimensional Monte Carlo radiation transfer code to investigate the escape of near-ultraviolet photons from young stellar associations embedded within a disk of dusty material (i.e. a galaxy). As photons propagate through the disk, they may be scattered or absorbed by dust. Scattered photons are polarized and tracked until they escape to be observed; absorbed photons heat the dust, which radiates isotropically in the far-infrared, where the galaxy is optically thin. The code produces four output images: near- UV and far-IR flux, and near-UV images in the linear Stokes parameters Q and U. From these images we construct simulated UV polarization maps of the LMC. We use these maps to place constraints on the star + dust geometry of the LMC and the optical properties of its dust grains. By tuning the model input parameters to produce maps that match the observed polarization maps, we derive information about the inclination of the LMC disk to the plane of the sky, and about the scattering phase function g. We compute a grid of models with i = 28 deg., 36 deg., and 45 deg., and g = 0.64, 0.70, 0.77, 0.83, and 0.90. The model which best reproduces the observed polarization maps has i = 36 +2/-5 degrees and g ~0.7. Because of the low signal-to-noise in the data, we cannot place firm constraints on the value of g. The highly inclined models do not match the observed centro-symmetric polarization patterns around bright OB associations, or the distribution of polarization values. Our models approximately reproduce the observed ultraviolet photopolarimetry of the western side of the LMC; however, the output images depend on many input parameters and are nonunique.Comment: Accepted to AJ. 20 pages, 7 figure

Rotational Dynamics of Vortices in Confined Bose-Einstein Condensates

We derive the frequency of precession and conditions for stability for a quantized vortex in a single-component and a two-component Bose-Einstein condensate. The frequency of precession is proportional to the gradient of the free energy with respect to displacement of the vortex core. In a two-component system, it is possible to achieve a local minimum in the free energy at the center of the trap. The presence of such a minimum implies the existence of a region of energetic stability where the vortex cannot escape and where one may be able to generate a persistent current.Comment: 6 Pages, 6 Figure

GASP II. A MUSE view of extreme ram-pressure stripping along the line of sight: kinematics of the jellyfish galaxy JO201

This paper presents a spatially-resolved kinematic study of the jellyfish galaxy JO201, one of the most spectacular cases of ram-pressure stripping (RPS) in the GASP (GAs Stripping Phenomena in Galaxies with MUSE) survey. By studying the environment of JO201, we find that it is moving through the dense intra-cluster medium of Abell 85 at supersonic speeds along our line of sight, and that it is likely accompanied by a small group of galaxies. Given the density of the intra-cluster medium and the galaxy's mass, projected position and velocity within the cluster, we estimate that JO201 must so far have lost ~50% of its gas during infall via RPS. The MUSE data indeed reveal a smooth stellar disk, accompanied by large projected tails of ionised (Halpha) gas, composed of kinematically cold (velocity dispersion <40km/s) star-forming knots and very warm (>100km/s) diffuse emission which extend out to at least ~50 kpc from the galaxy centre. The ionised Halpha-emitting gas in the disk rotates with the stars out to ~6 kpc but in the disk outskirts becomes increasingly redshifted with respect to the (undisturbed) stellar disk. The observed disturbances are consistent with the presence of gas trailing behind the stellar component, resulting from intense face-on RPS happening along the line of sight. Our kinematic analysis is consistent with the estimated fraction of lost gas, and reveals that stripping of the disk happens outside-in, causing shock heating and gas compression in the stripped tails.Comment: ApJ, revised version after referee comments, 15 pages, 16 figures. The interactive version of Figure 9 can be viewed at web.oapd.inaf.it/gasp/publications.htm