“Who’s Coming to Dinner?” – Understanding the Middle East Culture [6th grade]

The goal of this unit is for students to understand the cultures and conflicts that result from these cultures in the Middle East. Students will begin by learning about the geography of this region of the world through various mapping activities. They will begin to learn how the culture of this region is influenced by its geography and climate. Students will be able to explain how the predominance of Christianity, Judaism and Islam has led to conflicts in this region of the world. Students will also learn about the major impact that oil has had in the Middle East and how its discovery has led not only to economic growth but challenges as well. The performance task “Who’s Coming to Dinner” will provide a means for students to demonstrate their understanding of the unit by planning a dinner party that will include people from this region that represent different religions and cultures. In groups, customary food, clothing, and cultural traits will be portrayed through art, drama, and writing in preparing for this “dinner party”. Individually, students will also write an announcement for the school news program that airs daily, explaining what their experience was like from the perspective of an American student who’s returned back from this dinner party. Similarities and differences between the cultures as well as likes and dislikes of the region will be included in the report

Biomonitoring of complex occupational exposures to carcinogens: The case of sewage workers in Paris

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sewage workers provide an essential service in the protection of public and environmental health. However, they are exposed to varied mixtures of chemicals; some are known or suspected to be genotoxics or carcinogens. Thus, trying to relate adverse outcomes to single toxicant is inappropriate. We aim to investigate if sewage workers are at increased carcinogenic risk as evaluated by biomarkers of exposure and early biological effects.</p> <p>Methods/design</p> <p>This cross sectional study will compare exposed sewage workers to non-exposed office workers. Both are voluntaries from Paris municipality, males, aged (20–60) years, non-smokers since at least six months, with no history of chronic or recent illness, and have similar socioeconomic status. After at least 3 days of consecutive work, blood sample and a 24-hour urine will be collected. A caffeine test will be performed, by administering coffee and collecting urines three hours after. Subjects will fill in self-administered questionnaires; one covering the professional and lifestyle habits while the a second one is alimentary. The blood sample will be used to assess DNA adducts in peripheral lymphocytes. The 24-hour urine to assess urinary 8-oxo-7, 8-dihydro-2'-deoxy-Guanosine (8-oxo-dG), and the in vitro genotoxicity tests (comet and micronucleus) using HeLa S3 or HepG2 cells. In parallel, occupational air sampling will be conducted for some Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Volatile Organic Compounds. A weekly sampling chronology at the offices of occupational medicine in Paris city during the regular medical visits will be followed. This protocol has been accepted by the French Est III Ethical Comitee with the number 2007-A00685-48.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Biomarkers of exposure and of early biological effects may help overcome the limitations of environmental exposure assessment in very complex occupational or environmental settings.</p

ECVAM retrospective validation of in vitro micronucleus test (MNT)

In the past decade several studies comparing the in vitro chromosome aberration test (CAT) and the in vitro micronucleus test (MNT) were performed. A high correlation was observed in each of the studies (>85%); however, no formal validation for the micronucleus in vitro assay had been carried out. Therefore, a working group was established by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) to perform a retrospective validation of the existing data, in order to evaluate the validity of the in vitro MNT on the basis of the modular validation approach. The primary focus of this retrospective validation was on the evaluation of the potential of the in vitro MNT as alternative to the standard in vitro CAT. The working group evaluated, in a first step, the available published data and came to the conclusion that two studies [German ring trial, von der Hude, W., Kalweit, S., Engelhardt, G. et al. (2000) In-vitro micronucleus assay with Chinese hamster V79 cells: results of a collaborative study with 26 chemicals. Mutat. Res., 468, 137–163, and SFTG International Collaborative Study, Lorge, E., Thybaud, V., Aardema, M., Oliver, J., Wataka, A., Lorenzon, G. and Marzin, D. (2006) SFTG International Collaborative Study on in-vitro micronucleus test I. General conditions and overall conclusions of the study. Mutat. Res., 607, 13–36] met the criteria for a retrospective validation according to the criteria previously defined by the working group. These two studies were evaluated in depth (including the reanalysis of raw data) and provided the information required for assessing the reliability (reproducibility) of the test. For the assessment of the concordance between the in vitro MNT and the in vitro CAT, additional published data were considered. Based on this retrospective validation, the ECVAM Validation Management Team concluded that the in vitro MNT is reliable and relevant and can therefore be used as an alternative method to the in vitro CAT. Following peer review, these conclusions were formally endorsed by the ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee

Crystallisation and Gelation of Waxy Crude Oils under Flowing Conditions

International audienceNo abstract availabl

A Comparison of Tabular Expression-Based Testing Strategies

Tabular expressions have been proposed as a notation to document mathematically precise but readable software specifications. One of the many roles of such documentation is to guide testers. This paper a) explores the application of four testing strategies (the partition strategy, decision table-based testing, the basic meaningful impact strategy, and fault-based testing) to tabular expression-based specifications, and b) compares the strategies on a mathematical basis through formal and precise definitions of the subsumption relationship. We also compare these strategies through experimental studies. These results will help researchers improve current methods and will enable testers to select appropriate testing strategies for tabular expression-based specifications

Behavioral procedure and 60 Hertz exposure system for determining field detection by rats

A new system has been constructed to determine the threshold for detecting 60 Hertz electric fields by the rat. A variant of the Method of Constant Stimuli, which has been studied intensively by other investigators for determining the thresholds of animals to a variety of stimuli, will be used in the present study. The present report describes significant features of both the exposure system and behavioral paradigm designed to study the sensitivity of the rat to 60 Hertz electric fields