Due Process Hearing Officers: Characteristics, Needs, and Appointment Criteria

This is the publisher's version, also found here: http://sped.org/Characteristics and training needs of due process hearing officers in North Carolina were surveyed. It was found that current regulations governing appointments of hearing officers are insufficient to ensure appointment of qualified and impartial persons. Criteria were analyzed and suggestions for training and appointments are made

Procedural Due Process: The Two-edged Sword That the Untrained Should Not Unsheath

The issue of procedural due process is examined in this article by first analyzing the associated legal requirements of P.L. 94-142 and then identifying the "triggers" which professionals and parents can use to initiate a due process hearing. Problems and unresolved issues associated with interpreting and applying due process safeguards in terms of initiating, conducting, and governing the hearing and hearing officer are discussed. The concluding section of the article identifies specific training implications and creeds of due process hearing officers

Generation and delivery of free hydroxyl radicals using a remote plasma

We demonstrate a new gas-based generation source using a low power radio frequency driven atmospheric pressure plasma configured to deliver the radical flux into the far effluent region, well away from interference from other plasma factors such as electric fields, currents, and ultraviolet radiation. Using He–H2O gas chemistry isolated from the laboratory air, the plasma generated flux contains and other radicals including, O and HO2 as well as H2O2 which, along with, was found to vary with H2O vapour content and absorbed power density. Peak flux values were 2.3 nmol s−1 and 0.23 nmol s1 for H2O2 and respectively at a distance of 50 mm from the plasma, with 790 ppmv H2O and a power density of ∼108 W m−3. The maximum flux density was 4.5 × 1019 m−2s−1 falling to 1.7 × 1019 m2 s1 at 110 mm, equivalent to generation rates of 74 µM s1 and 28 µM s−1. Despite high recombination rates at the plasma exit, the escaping flux is still significant, indicating a viable delivery capability to downstream targets. Its performance with regard to generation rates compares well with traditional generation techniques such as radiolysis, advanced oxidation processes and enhanced Fenton-chemistry approaches where production rates are sub-µM s−1. Delivering precisely quantifiable fluxes provides new opportunities for scientific studies and technological opportunities in cell biology, atmospheric chemistry, protein unfolding and systematic dose studies for plasma-based and other related potential medical treatments

An equilibrium model for RFP plasmas in the presence of resonant tearing modes

The equilibrium of a finite-beta RFP plasma in the presence of saturated-amplitude tearing modes is investigated. The singularities of the MHD force balance equation JXB=grad(p) at the modes rational surfaces are resolved through a proper regularization of the zeroth-order (equilibrium) profiles, by setting to zero there the gradient of the pressure and parallel current density. An equilibrium model, which satisfies the regularization rule at the various rational surfaces, is developed. The comparison with the experimental data from the Reversed Field eXperiment (RFX) gives encouraging results. The model provides an easy tool for magnetic analysis: many aspects of the perturbations can be analyzed and reconstructed.Comment: Final accepted version. 36 page

Relativistic precession and spin dynamics of an elliptic Rydberg wave packet

Time evolution of wave packets built from the eigenstates of the Dirac equation for a hydrogenic system is considered. We investigate the space and spin motion of wave packets which, in the non-relativistic limit, are stationary states with a probability density distributed uniformly along the classical, elliptical orbit (elliptic WP). We show that the precession of such a WP, due to relativistic corrections to the energy eigenvalues, is strongly correlated with the spin motion. We show also that the motion is universal for all hydrogenic systems with an arbitrary value of the atomic number Z.Comment: Latex2e, uses IOP style files (included), 10 pages, 5 jpg figures, 1 postscript figure. Relation between precession time and radiative liftime added (eq.(12)). Accepted for publication in J. Phys.

Systematic review of the behavioural assessment of pain in cats

Objectives The objectives were to review systematically the range of assessment tools used in cats to detect the behavioural expression of pain and the evidence of their quality; and to examine behavioural metrics (considering both the sensory and affective domains) used to assess pain. Methods A search of PubMed and ScienceDirect, alongside articles known to the authors, from 2000 onwards, for papers in English was performed. This was followed by a manual search of the references within the primary data sources. Only peer-reviewed publications that provided information on the assessment tool used to evaluate the behavioural expression of pain in cats, in conscious animals (not anaesthetised cats), were included. Results No previous systematic reviews were identified. One hundred papers were included in the final assessment. Studies were primarily related to the assessment of pain in relation to surgical procedures, and no clear distinction was made concerning the onset of acute and chronic pain. Ten broad types of instrument to assess pain were identified, and generally the quality of evidence to support the use of the various instruments was poor. Only one specific instrument (UNESP-Botucatu scale) had published evidence of validity, reliability and sensitivity at the level of a randomised control trial, but with a positive rather than placebo control, and limited to its use in the ovariohysterectomy situation. The metrics used within the tools appeared to focus primarily on the sensory aspect of pain, with no study clearly discriminating between the sensory and affective components of pain. Conclusions and relevance Further studies are required to provide a higher quality of evidence for methods used to assess pain in cats. Furthermore, a consistent definition for acute and chronic pain is needed. Tools need to be validated that can detect pain in a range of conditions and by different evaluators (veterinary surgeons and owners), which consider both the sensory and emotional aspects of pain