A Cryogenic Infrared Calibration Target

A compact cryogenic calibration target is presented that has a peak diffuse reflectance, $R \le 0.003$, from $800-4,800\,{\rm cm}^{-1}$ $(12-2\,\mu$m). Upon expanding the spectral range under consideration to $400-10,000\,{\rm cm}^{-1}$ $(25-1\,\mu$m) the observed performance gracefully degrades to $R \le 0.02$ at the band edges. In the implementation described, a high-thermal-conductivity metallic substrate is textured with a pyramidal tiling and subsequently coated with a thin lossy dielectric coating that enables high absorption and thermal uniformity across the target. The resulting target assembly is lightweight, has a low-geometric profile, and has survived repeated thermal cycling from room temperature to $\sim4\,$K. Basic design considerations, governing equations, and test data for realizing the structure described are provided. The optical properties of selected absorptive materials -- Acktar Fractal Black, Aeroglaze Z306, and Stycast 2850 FT epoxy loaded with stainless steel powder -- are characterized and presented

A screening of vision care for the elderly

A screening of vision care for the elderl

How Does a Principal Use Kentucky\u27s High Stakes Assessment To Monitor and Improve Student Learning?

This paper explores Kentucky\u27s Education Reform Act (KERA) for improving at-risk students\u27 scores to see if the strategies in one middle school improved standardized and state-performance-based assessment results. The study encompasses two purposes: to use a forced-entry regression model to detect which independent variables were predictors of success for at-risk students on the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS), and to offer an analytic model for principals to use in examining the impact of specific school reform initiatives and selected intervention strategies. The paper offers a literature review that discusses Effective Schools research, explains the background for KERA and KIRIS, and then describes the basis for the specific strategies addressed in a particular school for improving at-risk students\u27 scores. Results indicate a surprising contrast between two remedial programs: Title I and ESS. The paper presents two models that could be imitated by other schools and school councils in examining strategies for improving school results

Surveillance for Toxoplasma gondii in the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Ohio

Author Institution: Department of Entomology, The Ohio State UniversitySerum samples from 147 white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, were collected at deer-check stations and Columbus area metropolitan park deer hunts during November and December of Ohio's 1996-97 and 97-98 hunting seasons. These samples were tested for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies using a modified direct agglutination assay. Forty-four percent (65/147) of the samples tested positive. Sixteen percent had a titer of 25, 16% had a titer of 50, 3% had a titer of 250 and 9% had a titer of >500. Percentage of positive deer varied greatly between geographical locations. Fifty-five percent of 45 serum samples collected from Hocking County were positive while only 6% of the 18 deer sampled from Franklin County tested positive. No significant differences in infection rates were observed between sexes. This is the first report of T. gondii antibodies from a game animal in Ohio. Pregnant women should thoroughly cook venison before it is consumed to avoid complications from this pathogen

Measuring the Optical Properties of Astrophysical Dust Analogues: Instrumentation and Methods

Dust is found throughout the universe and plays an important role for a wide range of astrophysical phenomena. In recent years, new infrared facilities have provided powerful new data for understanding these phenomena. However, interpretation of these data is often complicated by a lack of complementary information about the optical properties of astronomically relevant materials. The Optical Properties of Astronomical Silicates with Infrared Techniques (OPASI-T) program at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is designed to provide new high-quality laboratory data from which we can derive the optical properties of astrophysical dust analogues. This program makes use of multiple instruments, including new equipment designed and built specifically for this purpose. The suite of instruments allows us to derive optical properties over a wide wavelength range, from the near-infrared through the millimeter, also providing the capability for exploring how these properties depend upon the temperature of the sample. In this paper, we discuss the overall structure of the research program, describe the new instruments that have been developed to meet the science goals, and demonstrate the efficacy of these tools

Enriched job design, high involvement management and organizational performance: The mediating roles of job satisfaction and well-being

The relationship between organizational performance and two dimensions of the 'high performance work system' - enriched job design and high involvement management (HIM) - is widely assumed to be mediated by worker well-being. We outline the basis for three models: mutual-gains, in which employee involvement increases well-being and this mediates its positive relationship with performance; conflicting outcomes, which associates involvement with increased stress for workers, accounting for its positive performance effects; and counteracting effects, which associates involvement with increased stress and dissatisfaction, reducing its positive performance effects. These are tested using the UK's Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2004. Job satisfaction mediates the relationship between enriched job design and four performance indicators, supporting the mutual gains model; but HIM is negatively related to job satisfaction and this depresses a positive relationship between HIM and the economic performance measures, supporting a counteracting effects model. Finally, HIM is negatively related to job-related anxiety-comfort and enriched job design is unrelated to it. © The Author(s) 2012

Protein and lipid kinase inhibitors as targeted anticancer agents of the Ras/Raf/MEK and PI3K/PKB pathways

The identification and characterization of the components of individual signal transduction cascades, and advances in our understanding on how these biological signals are integrated in cancer initiation and progression, have provided new strategies for therapeutic intervention in solid tumors and hematological malignancies. To this end, pharmaceutical efforts have been directed to target different components of the Ras/Raf/MEK and PI3K/PKB pathways. This review article covers recent salient achievements in the identification and development of Raf, MEK, and PI3K inhibitors

Natural Variation in the Thermotolerance of Neural Function and Behavior due to a cGMP-Dependent Protein Kinase

Although it is acknowledged that genetic variation contributes to individual differences in thermotolerance, the specific genes and pathways involved and how they are modulated by the environment remain poorly understood. We link natural variation in the thermotolerance of neural function and behavior in Drosophila melanogaster to the foraging gene (for, which encodes a cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG)) as well as to its downstream target, protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). Genetic and pharmacological manipulations revealed that reduced PKG (or PP2A) activity caused increased thermotolerance of synaptic transmission at the larval neuromuscular junction. Like synaptic transmission, feeding movements were preserved at higher temperatures in larvae with lower PKG levels. In a comparative assay, pharmacological manipulations altering thermotolerance in a central circuit of Locusta migratoria demonstrated conservation of this neuroprotective pathway. In this circuit, either the inhibition of PKG or PP2A induced robust thermotolerance of neural function. We suggest that PKG and therefore the polymorphism associated with the allelic variation in for may provide populations with natural variation in heat stress tolerance. for's function in behavior is conserved across most organisms, including ants, bees, nematodes, and mammals. PKG's role in thermotolerance may also apply to these and other species. Natural variation in thermotolerance arising from genes involved in the PKG pathway could impact the evolution of thermotolerance in natural populations