Mobile remote manipulator system for a tetrahedral truss

The mobile remote manipulator system (MRMS) was initially developed for transit about the trusses of the delta space station; however, it can be utilized just as easily for transit about the trusses of the dual keel station. The MRMS is comprised of a mobile platform having a rail system formed of transversely disposed T-shaped tracks, which engage with guide pins located at the nodes of the trusses. The guide pins form a grid and the tracks are so designed as to permit travel in either of two orthogonal directions. The present invention provides a near-uniform traversing velocity with minimal dynamic loading on the system. Pivoting changers move the platform from one face to another

An Assay for the Estimation of Organic Content in Unknown Biological Samples

Potassium dichromate, in an acidic solution, will oxidize organic material. The reduction to the chromium ion is associated with a color change, which can be measured as a change in absorbance using a spectrophotometer. The degree of change is linearly related to the total energy contained in a sample and this information can be used to predict the energy content of unknown samples. However, the slopes of these relationships are significantly different for carbohydrates and proteins. It is hypothesized that these variations are due to differences in the reaction kinetics and that these differences can be used to predict the biochemical composition of mixtures of proteins and carbohydrates. Data collected to date indicate changes to the procedure are necessary for accurate estimation of biochemical content

Putting the Pieces Together: New York Early Learning Program Data Systems

Data collected by state and local agencies on young children and the programs serving them have enormous potential value. Families, service providers, policymakers, researchers, advocates and others can use these data to better understand children's needs, improve access to services, strengthen services, enhance the efficiency of services, and understand the short- and long-term impacts of services. In New York, as in most other states, this potential has gone largely unrealized. Early childhood data have typically been maintained in silos by agency and service — and sometimes by region — frustrating efforts to draw comprehensive, point-in-time pictures and comparisons. Usually, too, data have not been available longitudinally, hampering ability to follow children and services over time. All too frequently, data systems are under developed and fail to collect all the data that is needed for research and policy and program decisions. Recently, however, momentum to link early childhood data across agencies and across time is gathering in the states. A few pioneers — including Connecticut, Maryland, and Pennsylvania — have begun to integrate data systems for their state-funded prekindergarten and child care subsidy systems — linking child, program, and personnel databases. These states are also looking to develop linkages with other systems, notably health. Earlier, several states — including Wisconsin, South Carolina — built "data warehouses" to store, link, and provide access to historical data on services to children and adults. Federal actions are stimulating this movement. State Early Childhood Advisory Councils, established under the Head Start Reauthorization Act of 2008, are charged with developing recommendations for "establishing or improving core elements of the State early childhood system, such as a statewide unified data collection system." Statewide Longitudinal Data System grants, begun in 2001, at first focused on elementary and secondary education, but more recent grants, like New York's that began in 2010, include links to preschool data. Further, as a condition of receiving State Fiscal Stabilization Funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, all state education agencies have committed to build statewide longitudinal data systems to follow individual students from pre-school, through K-12 and postsecondary education, and into the workforce. Also, states successful in the Race to the Top education grant competition, including New York in 2010, had to show "significant progress" toward development of longitudinal P-20 data systems. A consortium of national organizations, the Early Childhood Data Collaborative, has convened to help states build, link, and use early childhood data systems. One of the Collaborative's first efforts has been to articulate a set of key policy questions that a well-crafted early childhood data system can help answer. Their initial questions focus on early care and education data, while anticipating subsequent links to data on other services. This report represents an important first step to help New York answer these questions through a coordinated early childhood data system

Father Involvement Among Nonresident Dads: Does Paternity Leave Matter?

ObjectiveThis article examines whether paternity leave influences father involvement among nonresident fathers, if associations differ by coresidential status, and whether leave is a stronger predictor of nonresident father involvement than other indicators of father identity or interest.BackgroundFathering promotes child development, yet many children are born to unmarried parents and do not live with their fathers. Paternity leave may increase fathering among nonresident fathers, but extant research has largely overlooked these fathers.MethodUsing the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N∼2,000), a longitudinal birth cohort of largely low‐income families, this study examines the link between paternity leave and parenting using regression analyses.ResultsLeave‐taking was associated with higher reports of engagement for both coresident and nonresident fathers, but for maternal reports of trust, coparenting, and responsibility, the positive associations with leave‐taking were concentrated among nonresident fathers. Nonresident fathers who took leave were more likely to provide in‐kind child support but not monetary support. Although leave, prenatal involvement, and being at the birth were all associated with greater involvement among nonresident fathers, mothers’ reports of fathering were more strongly influenced by prenatal involvement and being at the hospital for the birth than leave.ConclusionLeave‐taking is associated with maternal reports of trust, coparenting, and responsibility for nonresident fathers but not coresident fathers. Leave and prenatal involvement predict nonresident father involvement.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163467/2/jomf12677.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163467/1/jomf12677_am.pd

Features of Professional Development and On-site Assistance in Child Care Quality Rating Improvement Systems: A Survey of State-wide Systems

Quality Rating Improvement Systems (QRIS) are now operating state-wide in 18 states. An additional 13 states are implementing QRIS in selected regions or as pilot initiatives. While highly varied in their specific features, these systems all use a set of interrelated strategies that aim to raise the quality of early care and education programs. These strategies include quality standards that programs must meet to obtain ratings at different levels, financial incentives for programs to meet quality standards, and assistance to help center-based programs and homebased providers improve the quality of supports for children's well-being and early learning. As these systems increase in number across the states, ongoing examination of their characteristics and impacts can inform efforts to strengthen them. This report presents findings from an interview study that investigated features of the professional development and on-site assistance available to center-based staff and home-based providers who participate in states' Quality Rating Improvement Systems

Desirable Qualities, Attributes, and Characteristics of Successful Athletic Trainers -- A National Study

In an effort to determine the importance of desirable qualities, attributes and characteristics necessary for the success of interscholastic athletic trainers a Likert-type scale survey was mailed to all head athletic trainers of NCAA Division III institutions in the United States. The survey consisted of 24 statements allowing for the following responses: essential, very important, important, not very important, and irrelevant. The qualities that were deemed the most desirable by head athletic trainers were trustworthiness (76.2%), honesty (73.5%), dependability (66.4%), and possessing high ethical standards (66.4%). The two characteristics that were found to be the least essential were being a risk-taker (2.1%) and being a visionary (6.4%