Oregon Mathematics Leadership Institute Project: Evaluation Results on Teacher Content Knowledge, Implementation Fidelity, and Student Achievement

The Oregon Mathematics Leadership Institute (OMLl) National Science Foundation Mathematics and Science Partnership project partners are Oregon State University, Portland State University, Teachers Development Group, and ten Oregon school districts. The primary activities of the project were a sequence of three intensive three-week residential institutes emphasizing mathematics content knowledge for teaching, collegial leadership, and the building of Professional Learning Communities. Teachers at all levels of grades K-12 participated together in the mathematics content courses. By the conclusion of the. third Summer Institute, teachers had shown significant improvements in mathematical content knowledge for teaching. Analysis of student achievement data in participating schools was initially inconclusive. However, once implementation fidelity traits were taken into account, a positive relationship between project participation and student achievement emerged. The degree to which schools implement the practices promoted by the OMLI project is a significant positive predictor of student perfomiance above and beyond what can be explained by the socioeconomic factor as indicated by the percentage of students who qualify for the free and reduced lunch program. This relationship is particularly acute at secondary levels, but additional factors appear to be at play at elementary grade levels

Energy Spectrum Evolution of a Diffuse Field in Elastic Body Caused by Weak Nonlinearity

We study the evolution of diffuse elastodynamic spectral energy density under the influence of weak nonlinearity. It is shown that the rate of change of this quantity is given by a convolution of the linear energy at two frequencies. Quantitative estimates are given for sample aluminum and fused silica blocks of experimental interest.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures; revised for better presentatio

Experiences of parenting and clinical intervention for mothers affected by personality disorder: a pilot qualitative study combining parent and clinician perspectives

Background: Evidence-based parenting programmes are recommended for the treatment of child mental health difficulties. Families with complex psychosocial needs show poorer retention and outcomes when participating in standard parenting programmes. The Helping Families Programme (HFP) is a 16-week community-based parenting intervention designed to meet the needs of these families, including families with parental personality disorder. This study aimed to explore the help seeking and participatory experiences of parents with a diagnosis of personality disorder. It further aimed to examine the acceptability of referral and intervention processes for the HFP from the perspectives of (i) clinicians referring into the programme; and (ii) referred parents. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents recruited to receive HFP (n = 5) as part of a research case series and the referring NHS child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) clinicians (n = 5). Transcripts were analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. Results: Four themes were identified for parents: (i) the experience of parenthood, (ii) being a parent affected by personality disorder, (iii) experience of the intervention, and (iv) qualities of helping. Three themes emerged for clinicians: (i) challenges of addressing parental need, (ii) experience of engaging parents with personality disorders and (iii) limited involvement during HFP. Comparison of parent and clinician themes led to the identification of two key interlinked themes: (i) concerns prior to receiving the intervention, and (ii) the challenges of working together without a mutual understanding. Conclusions: This pilot study identifies potentially significant challenges of working with parents affected by personality disorder and engaging them in HFP and other similar interventions. Results have important wider clinical implications by highlighting potential barriers to engagement and participation and providing insights on how these barriers might be overcome. Findings have been used to inform the referral and intervention processes of a pilot RCT and further intervention development

The Design, Testing, and Implementation of a Halon 1301 Fire Extinguishment System for Use in the Service Lunar Adapter at KSC Launch Complex 39

Since the advent of hypergolic fuels usage at the Kennedy Space Center and the Kennedy Air Force Station, personnel safety during fueling operations has been provided by limiting the number of persons having access to hazardous areas to those who were essential to the operation, and by providing these people with protective clothing. With the Apollo Program, a new problem has introduced itself; the Lunar Module (LM) (Fig. 1) is actually two launch vehicles which leave the launch pad as part of the Apollo payload. Fueling of these launch vehicles takes place approximately two weeks before the launch of the Apollo/Saturn V. Personnel are required to continue servicing the LM after fueling; this requires them to be enclosed within the Saturn/ Lunar Module Adapter (SLA) . Special egress equipment has been installed but will not be discussed in this presentation. To minimize the hazard of a flash fire resulting from the ignition of a spilled hypergol, a Halon 1301 (bromotriflouromethane) protection system has been designed and has been available during the launches of AS-204 and AS-504. Since improvements over the original system which was installed at Launch Complex 37 were incorporated into the design of the system for Launch Complex 39, our discussion will deal only with the Launch Complex 39 system

Influences on recruitment to randomised controlled trials in mental health settings in England: a national cross-sectional survey of researchers working for the Mental Health Research Network

Background: Recruitment to trials is complex and often protracted; selection bias may compromise generalisability. In the mental health field (as elsewhere), diverse factors have been described as hindering researcher access to potential participants and various strategies have been proposed to overcome barriers. However, the extent to which various influences identified in the literature are operational across mental health settings in England has not been systematically examined. Methods: A cross-sectional, online survey of clinical studies officers employed by the Mental Health Research Network in England to recruit to trials from National Health Service mental health services. The bespoke questionnaire invited participants to report exposure to specified influences on recruitment, the perceived impact of these on access to potential participants, and to describe additional positive or negative influences on recruitment. Analysis employed descriptive statistics, the framework approach and triangulation of data. Results: Questionnaires were returned by 98 (58%) of 170 clinical studies officers who reported diverse experience. Data demonstrated a disjunction between policy and practice. While the particulars of trial design and various marketing and dommunication strategies could influence recruitment, consensus was that the culture of NHS mental health services is not donducive to research. Since financial rewards for recruitment paid to Trusts and feedback about studies seldom reaching frontline services, clinicians were described as distanced from research. Facing continual service change and demanding clinical workloads, clinicians generally did not prioritise recruitment activities. Incentives to trial participants had variable impact on access but recruitment could be enhanced by engagement of senior investigators and integrating referral with routine practice. Comprehensive, robust feasibility studies and reciprocity between researchers and clinicians were considered crucial to successful recruitment. Conclusions: In the mental health context, researcher access to potential trial participants is multiply influenced. Gatekeeping clinicians are faced with competing priorities and resources constrain research activity. It seems that environmental adjustment predicated on equitable resource allocation is needed if clinicians in NHS mental health services are to fully support the conduct of randomised controlled trials. Whilst cultural transformation, requiring changes in assumptions and values, is complex, our findings suggest that attention to practical matters can support this and highlight issues requiring careful consideration

Slope Stabilization Measures for Kirkwood Penstock, Early Intake, California

Kirkwood Penstock, located in a deep, steep-sided canyon near .Yosemite National Park, California, is an integral part of the Hetch Hetchy system, which conveys water from the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the city of San Francisco, California. A heavy rainfall approximately 17 years following construction of the facility triggered settlement of the foundation. Measures undertaken to arrest this settlement included consolidation grouting, construction of facilities to divert surface runoff away from the penstock, and installation of a geomembrane to prevent infiltration of rainfall and snow melt in the vicinity of the penstock. No evidence of further settlement has been detected since completion of the remedial work

Duality in the Th17-Treg developmental decision

Each of the effector CD4 T-cell lineages - Th1, Th2, and the more recently identified Th17 - arises from pluripotent naïve precursors whose developmental fate is largely controlled by cytokines that act in concert with antigenic signals. Remarkably, development of the Th17 lineage has been linked to that of regulatory T cells, which obviate or downregulate Th17 responses to preserve immune homeostasis, through a shared requirement for the cytokine transforming growth factor-beta. Several new studies offer insights into the mechanism whereby the precursors of these subsets are directed into distinct lineages

Probing the mechanical properties of graphene using a corrugated elastic substrate

The exceptional mechanical properties of graphene have made it attractive for nano-mechanical devices and functional composite materials. Two key aspects of graphene's mechanical behavior are its elastic and adhesive properties. These are generally determined in separate experiments, and it is moreover typically difficult to extract parameters for adhesion. In addition, the mechanical interplay between graphene and other elastic materials has not been well studied. Here, we demonstrate a technique for studying both the elastic and adhesive properties of few-layer graphene (FLG) by placing it on deformable, micro-corrugated substrates. By measuring deformations of the composite graphene-substrate structures, and developing a related linear elasticity theory, we are able to extract information about graphene's bending rigidity, adhesion, critical stress for interlayer sliding, and sample-dependent tension. The results are relevant to graphene-based mechanical and electronic devices, and to the use of graphene in composite, flexible, and strain-engineered materials.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Potential for Controlling the Spread of \u3ci\u3eCentaurea maculosa\u3c/i\u3e with Grass Competition

ABSTRACT.-Spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa Lam.) is a major rangeland and roadside weed of the northern Rocky Mountains. It is often found in plant communities dominated by Pseudoroegneria spicatum or Festuca idahoensis, but it rarely invades roadsides dominated by Bromus inerrnis Leyss. Aboveground biomass of the 3 grass species grown in mixture with Centaurea was compared to growth in monoculture at a range of nitrogen input levels. The results suggest that Bromus is capable of suppressing the growth of Centaurea with the degree of suppression increasing with increasing nitrogen levels. The 2 native grasses had no impact on Centaurea under the controlled environment conditions of this study

The Fourth Positive System of Carbon Monoxide in the Hubble Space Telescope Spectra of Comets

The rich structure of the Fourth Positive System (A-X) of carbon monoxide accounts for many of the spectral features seen in long slit HST-STIS observations of comets 153P/Ikeya-Zhang, C/2001 Q4 (NEAT), and C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR), as well as in the HST-GHRS spectrum of comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake. A detailed CO fluorescence model is developed to derive the CO abundances in these comets by simultaneously fitting all of the observed A-X bands. The model includes the latest values for the oscillator strengths and state parameters, and accounts for optical depth effects due to line overlap and self-absorption. The model fits yield radial profiles of CO column density that are consistent with a predominantly native source for all the comets observed by STIS. The derived CO abundances relative to water in these comets span a wide range, from 0.44% for C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR), 7.2% for 153P/Ikeya-Zhang, 8.8% for C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) to 20.9% for C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake). The subtraction of the CO spectral features using this model leads to the first identification of a molecular hydrogen line pumped by solar HI Lyman-beta longward of 1200A in the spectrum of comet 153P/Ikeya-Zhang. (Abridged)Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, ApJ accepte