The Art & Science of Creating Effective Youth Programs

"The Art & Science of Creating Effective Youth Programs" utilizes findings from a national collective impact study conducted by Algorhythm through their Youth Development Impact Learning System (YDiLS), which surveyed 27 organizations, 80 programs and more than 3,000 youth. The YDiLS is an online evaluation tool through which youth complete pre and post surveys that measure the growth in six, research-based "Social and Emotional Learning" (SEL) capacities proven to be foundational to long-term success in life:1. Academic Self-Efficacy 2. Contribution 3. Positive Identity 4. Self-Management 5. Social Capital 6. Social Skill

Human Factor in Conversation Between Subordinates and Managers

Communication between a pilot and air traffic controller (ATC) is one of the most important factors in the aviation safety. Communication is the exchange of information based on mutual reliance, information precision and accuracy of on both communicating parties

Variation in Foliage Yield and Yield Component Traits and Preference for Leaf Quality Traits in Amaranthus Cruentus [L.] Genotypes

Amaranthus cruentus is a traditional leaf vegetable in Nigeria. At present, there are few commercial varieties. Development of new varieties requires systematic assessment of foliage yield and yield contributing traits. The objectives of this study are to evaluate variation for foliage yield and yield traits, determine the influence of time of harvest (4 or 5 weeks after sowing) on foliage yield, and assess preference for genotypes, leaf yield and leaf quality traits. Nine Amaranthus cruentus genotypes were grown in a randomized complete blocks design with three replications. Sunken beds were made at 1 m x 2 m, each bed was separated by alley of 1m. A total of 16 beds constituted a replicate, 8 beds were allotted to harvest at 4 weeks, another 8 beds to harvest at 5 weeks. Each bed was treated with 4 Kg of matured farmyard manure. Combined analysis of variance was performed on mean data. Participatory selection was conducted to identify preferred genotypes and horticultural traits. Genotypes were similar or dissimilar for foliage yield and yield component traits at 4 and 5 weeks harvest. Genotype by Year Interaction revealed statistically significant mean squares at 4 and 5 weeks harvest for some traits. Considering multiple traits at 4 weeks harvest, AM 25 and AM 45 performed best for leaves/plant and leaf dry weight, while AM 42 is promising for leaf yield, leaf length and leaf width. At 5 weeks harvest, AM 45 performed best for leaf yield, leaf fresh weight and dry weight. AM 25, AM 42, AM 45 and AMLOC are capable of developing rapidly and producing large quantities of biomass under short cycle harvest

Cerebral Vasoreactivity Is Impaired Beyond Symptom Resolution Following Concussion in Collegiate Athletes

Compromised cerebral blood flow (CBF) regulation is linked to impaired functional outcome following concussion. Cerebral vasoreactivity (CVR), an important mechanism in CBF regulation, is the ability of cerebral blood vessels to alter blood flow during dynamic changes in arterial carbon-dioxide (CO₂). PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine CVR in an ongoing prospective cohort of collegiate athletes during acute (day-3) and sub-acute (day-21) phases following concussion and compare them with non-injured athletes. METHODS: Sixteen male and female collegiate athletes (21±1 years) with sports-related concussion and 16 sports matched non-injured controls (21±1 years) were enrolled in the study. For injured athletes, data was collected during the acute and sub-acute phase following concussion and for the controls data was collected at one time point. Symptom severity and cognition were assessed using the Sports Concussion Assessment Tool-3rd Edition. Continuous middle cerebral artery blood flow velocity (MCAV) was obtained with transcranial Doppler ultrasonography (TCD) while subjects were seated in an upright position. End-tidal CO₂ (PetCo₂) was measured with an infrared CO₂ analyzer attached to a nasal cannula. MCAV was evaluated in response to changes in PetCo₂ for 2-minutes each during normal breathing (normocapnia), inspiring a gas mixture containing 8% CO₂, 21% oxygen (hypercapnia) and, hyperventilating (hypocapnia). CVR was analyzed as the slope of the linear relationship between PetCo₂ and MCAV, which was expressed as the percent change in CBF velocity per mmHg change in PetCo₂. Independent and paired t-tests were used to compare symptom severity, and CVR between acute and sub-acute phase following concussion with the controls. RESULTS: As anticipated, concussed athletes exhibited higher symptom severity (26.3±0.5 versus 5±7 P= 0.0007) and lower cognition (26.5±1.6 versus 28.3±2.4 P=0.03) during acute phase compared to the controls. Although symptoms and cognition were resolved during the sub-acute phase, CVR was lower in the acute phase compared to the non-injured controls (1.7±0.5U versus 2.3±0.3U, P=0.0006) and it continued to be blunted in the sub-acute phase following concussion (1.9±0.5U P=0.04). CONCLUSION: Despite improvements in symptom and cognition, cerebral vasoreactivity appears to be impaired in the sub-acute phase following concussion. Cerebral vasoreactivity utilizing TCD may be a useful vascular biomarker for physiological recovery and aid in accurate return-to play decision-making

Up to the challenge?: hormonal and behavioral responses of free-ranging male Cassin's sparrows, Peucaea cassinii, to conspecific song playback

The Challenge Hypothesis postulates that male vertebrates can respond to social challenges, such as simulated territorial intrusions (STI), by rapidly increasing their concentrations of plasma androgens, such as testosterone (T). This increase may facilitate the expression of aggressive behavior and lead to persistence of this behavior even after withdrawal of the challenge, thus potentially promoting territoriality and the probability of winning future challenges. The validity of the Challenge Hypothesis was investigated in socially monogamous free-ranging male Cassin’s Sparrows, Peucaea cassinii. Exposure to STI at the beginning of the vernal nesting season stimulated aggressive behavior but did not increase plasma T. Furthermore, plasma T did not correlate with the duration of exposure to STI and the behavioral response to STI did not differ in males that were challenged a second time shortly after the first challenge. As birds were investigated at a stage of their reproductive cycle when plasma T is presumably seasonally high due to photostimulation, the lack of hormonal response to STI may have been due to the hypothalamo-pituitary-gonadal axis secreting hormones at maximum rates. This was not the case, however, because administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone I (GnRH-I) rapidly stimulated the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and T, and treatment with ovine LH rapidly stimulated T secretion

The role of chromatin accessibility in directing the widespread, overlapping patterns of Drosophila transcription factor binding

Abstract Background In Drosophila embryos, many biochemically and functionally unrelated transcription factors bind quantitatively to highly overlapping sets of genomic regions, with much of the lowest levels of binding being incidental, non-functional interactions on DNA. The primary biochemical mechanisms that drive these genome-wide occupancy patterns have yet to be established. Results Here we use data resulting from the DNaseI digestion of isolated embryo nuclei to provide a biophysical measure of the degree to which proteins can access different regions of the genome. We show that the in vivo binding patterns of 21 developmental regulators are quantitatively correlated with DNA accessibility in chromatin. Furthermore, we find that levels of factor occupancy in vivo correlate much more with the degree of chromatin accessibility than with occupancy predicted from in vitro affinity measurements using purified protein and naked DNA. Within accessible regions, however, the intrinsic affinity of the factor for DNA does play a role in determining net occupancy, with even weak affinity recognition sites contributing. Finally, we show that programmed changes in chromatin accessibility between different developmental stages correlate with quantitative alterations in factor binding. Conclusions Based on these and other results, we propose a general mechanism to explain the widespread, overlapping DNA binding by animal transcription factors. In this view, transcription factors are expressed at sufficiently high concentrations in cells such that they can occupy their recognition sequences in highly accessible chromatin without the aid of physical cooperative interactions with other proteins, leading to highly overlapping, graded binding of unrelated factors

Flight Planning with Respect to Meteorological Conditions

The paper “Flight planning with respect to meteorological conditions” describes how flight planning in commercial air transport depends on meteorological conditions. In first part, the article describes satellite products for meteorological analyses such as IR technologies. In next parts authors are talking about thunderstorm, icing and volcanic ash detection methods in atmosphere. In the last part of the paper are shown some modern diagnostic system for identifying dangerous meteorological phenomena and their potential for flight panning

Construction and Safety Aspects of Glass Used in Aviation Transport

Glass is an essential component of several sectors which significantly form our present-day economy. These include machining, the chemical industry, the electrotechnology industry, construction, the automobile industry, the aviation industry and many others. The aim of this article is to provide some detail about and explain the technology used for manufacturing glass which is subsequently used in the automobile and aviation industries and the specific adaptations which help to improve its characteristics. A general trend is increasing the share of final products having high added value, which is done by finishing glass with special processes of surface modifications, mechanical treatment and thermodynamic processes with targeted special traits, including a wide scale of functional coatings

Comprehensive analysis of the chromatin landscape in Drosophila melanogaster.

Chromatin is composed of DNA and a variety of modified histones and non-histone proteins, which have an impact on cell differentiation, gene regulation and other key cellular processes. Here we present a genome-wide chromatin landscape for Drosophila melanogaster based on eighteen histone modifications, summarized by nine prevalent combinatorial patterns. Integrative analysis with other data (non-histone chromatin proteins, DNase I hypersensitivity, GRO-Seq reads produced by engaged polymerase, short/long RNA products) reveals discrete characteristics of chromosomes, genes, regulatory elements and other functional domains. We find that active genes display distinct chromatin signatures that are correlated with disparate gene lengths, exon patterns, regulatory functions and genomic contexts. We also demonstrate a diversity of signatures among Polycomb targets that include a subset with paused polymerase. This systematic profiling and integrative analysis of chromatin signatures provides insights into how genomic elements are regulated, and will serve as a resource for future experimental investigations of genome structure and function

Zebrafish Globin Switching Occurs in Two Developmental Stages and Is Controlled by the LCR

Globin gene switching is a complex, highly regulated process allowing expression of distinct globin genes at specific developmental stages. Here, for the first time, we have characterized all of the zebrafish globins based on the completed genomic sequence. Two distinct chromosomal loci, termed major (chromosome 3) and minor (chromosome 12), harbor the globin genes containing α/β pairs in a 5′–3′ to 3′–5′ orientation. Both these loci share synteny with the mammalian α-globin locus. Zebrafish globin expression was assayed during development and demonstrated two globin switches, similar to human development. A conserved regulatory element, the locus control region (LCR), was revealed by analyzing DNase I hypersensitive sites, H3K4 trimethylation marks and GATA1 binding sites. Surprisingly, the position of these sites with relation to the globin genes is evolutionarily conserved, despite a lack of overall sequence conservation. Motifs within the zebrafish LCR include CACCC, GATA, and NFE2 sites, suggesting functional interactions with known transcription factors but not the same LCR architecture. Functional homology to the mammalian α-LCR MCS-R2 region was confirmed by robust and specific reporter expression in erythrocytes of transgenic zebrafish. Our studies provide a comprehensive characterization of the zebrafish globin loci and clarify the regulation of globin switching.Stem Cell and Regenerative Biolog