Mapping Ohio's Compassion

This report gives an overview of the state of the nonprofit sector in Ohio

Efficacy of a Laser Device for Hazing Canada Geese from Urban Areas of Northeast Ohio

Author Institution: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, Crane Creek Wildlife Research Station ; US Department of Agriculture, APHIS, Wildlife ServicesComplaints about Canada geese in Ohio have increased nearly 400% in the past decade, with 732 recorded in 2001. Harassment techniques such as pyrotechnics and mylar flagging have been used to reduce goose conflicts but are frequently ineffective, and initial experiments indicated that laser harassment may disperse Canada geese. We evaluated whether lasers could cause geese to abandon urban sites, the duration of site abandonment, and dispersal distance of harassed geese. One hundred ninety geese were banded and collared in June 2001 at 6 sites in northeast Ohio. Radio transmitters were attached to 40 collars. We conducted nocturnal laser harassment of geese in four 5-day periods from July 2001 through January 2002 at 3 treatment sites. No harassment occurred at 3 control sites. One-day surveys of collared geese were conducted 2 weeks prior to the 5-day hazing period, during the hazing period, and 2 weeks post-hazing. Geese were located through radio telemetry using air- and ground-based receivers during all 3 time periods. Laser harassment caused geese to leave the site after a mean of 4.6 (SE = 0.8) minutes of treatment. Over the 5-day treatment period, the mean number of geese observed at night decreased from 92 to 14; however, we found no differences between numbers of geese observed 2 weeks prior to initial harassment and those observed post-harassment. Telemetry indicated that geese moved <2.0 km from all but one banding site. Laser harassment was more effective in reducing goose numbers at night rather than reducing numbers during the day. Site characteristics such as ambient lighting, human disturbance, and size of pond appeared to be the primary factors determining the laser’s effectiveness

Strengthening the Street Saints: Intermediaries Providing Capacity-Building Assistance to Faith-Based Organizations

The intermediary's work is invaluable if the scope, scale, and effectiveness of grassroots faith-based organizations (FBOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) are to be increased dramatically. And in the era of welfare devolution, the provision of social services and the strengthening of the social safety net by CBOs and FBOs are more important than ever. Currently, with a sluggish economy and many families approaching their 5-year, lifetime limit on federal cash welfare assistance, low-income communities around the nation face sobering challenges. Ramping up the capacity of FBOs and CBOs to expand the number of clients they can serve is crucial. And, because many such agencies place a philosophical "cap" on growth (at some point, bigger is not better, as bigger can begin to change the relational character of the services these frontline groups offer), a need exists for new FBOs and CBOs to be launched. Faith-based intermediaries across the country are addressing both these needs: expanding the capacity of existing service organizations and helping create new ones

Substrate Scope Analysis of Biocatalytic Halogenation on Complex Substrates

Malbrancheamide is a fungal natural product with significant vasorelaxation effects and potential as a cardiovascular therapeutic. The dichlorination of the indole ring is key for its biological activity, and this transformation is performed by the flavin dependent halogenase MalA. This enzyme utilizes a proposed chloramine lysine intermediate to iteratively and selectively chlorinate its natural substrate premalbrancheamide. Halogenases can provide orthogonal selectivity to many chemical methods, making them useful for pharmaceutical applications, while providing selective methods for late-stage functionalization. This investigation focuses on the substrate scope of the halogenase on complex pharmaceutically relevant substrates in collaboration with the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. The bromination and chlorination reaction conditions were optimized, and the products were structurally characterized by NMR spectroscopy to gain further understanding of the versatility of the wild type enzyme and its mutants

Substrate Scope Analysis of Biocatalytic Halogenation on Complex Substrates

Malbrancheamide is a fungal natural product with significant vasorelaxation effects and potential as a cardiovascular therapeutic. The dichlorination of the indole ring is key for its biological activity, and this transformation is performed by the flavin dependent halogenase MalA. This enzyme utilizes a proposed chloramine lysine intermediate to iteratively and selectively chlorinate its natural substrate premalbrancheamide. Halogenases can provide orthogonal selectivity to many chemical methods, making them useful for pharmaceutical applications, while providing selective methods for late-stage functionalization. This investigation focuses on the substrate scope of the halogenase on complex pharmaceutically relevant substrates in collaboration with the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research. The bromination and chlorination reaction conditions were optimized, and the products were structurally characterized by NMR spectroscopy to gain further understanding of the versatility of the wild type enzyme and its mutants

Physical Fitness of Police Cadets: Baseline Characteristics and Changes during A 16-Week Academy

Police academies traditionally emphasize the importance of being physically fit. The purpose of this research was to determine cadet baseline physical fitness characteristics and assess effectiveness of a 16-week training program. Sixty-eight cadets (61 men, 7 women) volunteered to have baseline physical fitness characteristics assessed, and 55 cadets (49 men, 6 women) completed further testing at weeks 8 and 16. The testing comprised hand grip (strength), arm crank (upper-body power), 30 seconds Wingate (lower body power), sum of skinfolds and percentage body fat (body composition), 40-yard dash (sprint speed), 1 repetition maximum bench press (strength), T-test (agility), and sit-and-reach (flexibility). In addition, cadets completed standardized state testing (push-ups, sit-ups, vertical jump, and half-mile shuttle run). The training program consisted of 1 hour sessions, 3 d·wk, including aerobic, plyometrics, body weight, and resistance exercise. Significant changes were found in agility (p \u3c 0.01), upper-body and lower-body peak power (p ≤ 0.05), sit-ups (p \u3c 0.01), push-ups (p ≤ 0.05) across the first 8 weeks, and in agility (p ≤ 0.05), lower-body peak power (p ≤ 0.05), sit-ups (p \u3c 0.01), push-ups (p ≤ 0.05), half-mile shuttle run (p \u3c 0.01) across the full 16 weeks. However, none of the variables showed significant change across the second half of the program (weeks 8-16). A number of individual parameters of physical fitness showed evidence of improvement in the first 8 weeks, whereas none of the variables showed significant improvement in the second 8 weeks. This suggests modifications could be made to increase overall effectiveness of cadet physical training specifically after the 8-week mark

Evaluating bodily self-consciousness and the brain using multisensory perturbation and fMRI

In this article, we consider the usefulness of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and perturbation in evaluating causal relationships between bodily self-consciousness and the brain. We argue that fMRI research is not always restricted to correlational statements when it is combined with perturbation techniques and can sometimes permit some degree of causal inferencing, such as when bodily illusions are examined with fMRI. In these instances, one is changing a participant’s conscious bodily self by experimentally perturbing mechanisms that are involved in multisensory integration

Measurement of the hyperfine coupling constants and absolute energies of the 8p 2P1/28p \ ^2P_{1/2} and 8p 2P3/28p \ ^2P_{3/2} levels in atomic cesium

We report measurements of the hyperfine coupling constant for the $8p \ ^2P_{1/2}$level of atomic cesium,$^{133}$Cs, with a relative uncertainty of$\sim$0.019\%. Our result is$A = 42.933 \: (8)$MHz, in good agreement with recent theoretical results. We also examine the hyperfine structure of the$8p \ ^2P_{3/2}$state, and derive new values for the state energies of the$8p \ ^2P_{1/2}$and$8p \ ^2P_{3/2}$ states of cesium.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, 5 table

Ultra-stable long distance optical frequency distribution using the Internet fiber network

We report an optical link of 540 km for ultrastable frequency distribution over the Internet fiber network. The stable frequency optical signal is processed enabling uninterrupted propagation on both directions. The robustness and the performance of the link are enhanced by a cost effective fully automated optoelectronic station. This device is able to coherently regenerate the return optical signal with a heterodyne optical phase locking of a low noise laser diode. Moreover the incoming signal polarization variation are tracked and processed in order to maintain beat note amplitudes within the operation range. Stable fibered optical interferometer enables optical detection of the link round trip phase signal. The phase-noise compensated link shows a fractional frequency instability in 10 Hz bandwidth of 5x10-15 at one second measurement time and 2x10-19 at 30 000 s. This work is a significant step towards a sustainable wide area ultrastable optical frequency distribution and comparison network

Differentiating Mathematics Instruction for Multilingual Students using Critical Sociocultural Practices

This paper defines and elaborates on a three-tiered transformative approach to differentiating mathematics instruction for multilingual learners, which includes increasing use of small group instruction, improving the quality of assistance during learning, and creating a culture of recognition that affirms all learners. Using supporting evidence from instructional coaching studies, this paper identifies challenges faced by general education mathematics teachers at each tier of differentiation. While coached elementary and secondary teachers made significant gains in implementing this approach to differentiation, secondary mathematics teachers, in particular, had significantly less growth. Implications for increasing mathematics teachers’ knowledge and skills in differentiating instruction for multilingual learners are addressed