An Analysis of and Revision of the Board Policy Manual of Red Hill Community Unit #10

The purpose of this field experience was to analyze current board policy manuals in school districts surrounding Red Hill Community Unit School District #10 in Illinois and to revise and update the board policy manual of Red Hill Community Unit School District #10. This field experience was significant because the author believes a current board policy manual that is organized helps insure the efficient operation of a local school district in the state of Illinois. The job of school governance today is difficult and principles for school governance are essential. The development of policy statements is a practice that must be a never-ending task for a board of education. The policy statements indicate that the board of education is running a business-like operation. Frequently school districts are the largest businesses in a community and should adhere to sound business principles. Taxpayers are demanding accountability and justifiably so. The successful completion of this field experience will help the Board of Education of Red Hill Community Unit School District #10 establish that accountability. The board policy manual of Red Hill Community Unit School District #10 was not current, was unorganized, and needed to be revised according to a recently completed evaluation of the Red Hill Community Unit School District #10 schools for state recognition and supervision. The board policy manuals of four school districts surrounding the Red Hill Community Unit #10 School District were examined and analyzed. The Board policy manuals of East Richland Community Unit School District #1, Lawrence Community Unit School District #20, Oblong Community Unit School District #4, and Wabash Community Unit School District #348 were utilized in this field study. In addition, this study resulted in the development of an updated, organized and revised board policy manual for Red Hill Community Unit School District #10. The final recommendation of this field study was for the Red Hill Community Unit #10 School District Board of Education to adopt the updated, organized, and revised board policy manual as it was presented

Effects of DDT on the Density and Diversity of Tardigrades

Twenty lichen-bearing tree bark samples were collected from DDT sprayed American elm trees (Ulmus Americana L.) in central Iowa. Twenty comparable samples were collected from an adjacent nontreated habitat. A tardigrade density of 4 individuals collected from the treated habitat was found to differ significantly (P \u3c .01) from a density of 97 individuals collected from the non-treated area. Margalef\u27s diversity index (D=S-1/1n N) determinations were found to be 0.00 and 0.44 for the treated and non-treated habitats, respectively. Tardigrade species organization within the nontreated habitat did not differ significantly from that as predicted by MacArthur\u27s broken-stick model, suggesting that tardigrade species occupy contiguous, non-overlapping niches within a lichen-bearing tree bark ecosystem. It is suggested that measurements depicting microfauna-lichen-tree bark relationships might serve as useful criteria in evaluating pesticide stress effects on total forest ecosystems

Josephson Coupling through a Quantum Dot

We derive, via fourth order perturbation theory, an expression for the Josephson current through a gated interacting quantum dot. We analyze our expression for two different models of the superconductor-dot-superconductor (SDS) system. When the matrix elements connecting dot and leads are featureless constants, we compute the Josephson coupling J_c as a function of the gate voltage and Coulomb interaction. In the diffusive dot limit, we compute the probability distribution P(J_c) of Josephson couplings. In both cases, pi junction behavior (J_c < 0) is possible, and is not simply dependent on the parity of the dot occupancy.Comment: 9 pages; 3 encapsulated PostScript figure

Quickest Paths in Simulations of Pedestrians

This contribution proposes a method to make agents in a microscopic simulation of pedestrian traffic walk approximately along a path of estimated minimal remaining travel time to their destination. Usually models of pedestrian dynamics are (implicitly) built on the assumption that pedestrians walk along the shortest path. Model elements formulated to make pedestrians locally avoid collisions and intrusion into personal space do not produce motion on quickest paths. Therefore a special model element is needed, if one wants to model and simulate pedestrians for whom travel time matters most (e.g. travelers in a station hall who are late for a train). Here such a model element is proposed, discussed and used within the Social Force Model.Comment: revised version submitte

Doing gender locally: The importance of ‘place’ in understanding marginalised masculinities and young men’s transitions to ‘safe’ and successful futures

Observable anxieties have been developing about the position of boys and young men in contemporary society in recent years. This is expressed as a crisis of masculinity, in which place is often implicitly implicated, but is rarely considered for its role in the shaping of young men’s practices, trajectories and aspirations. Drawing on research conducted with young people who accessed a range of social care support services, this article argues that transition means different things for young men in different locales and that local definitions of masculinity are required to better understand young men’s lives and the opportunities available to them. The authors argue that home life, street life, individual neighbourhoods, regions and nations all shaped the young men’s identities and the practices they (and the staff working with them) drew on in order to create successful futures and ‘safe’ forms of masculinity. It is suggested that this place-based approach has the potential to re-shape the ‘crisis’ discourse surrounding masculinity and the anxieties associated with young men

Lessons Learned for the National Children’s Study from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Centers for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research

This mini-monograph was developed to highlight the experiences of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Centers for Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research, focusing particularly on several areas of interest for the National Children’s Study. These include general methodologic issues for conducting longitudinal birth cohort studies and community-based participatory research and for measuring air pollution exposures, pesticide exposures, asthma, and neuro-behavioral toxicity. Rather than a detailed description of the studies in each of the centers, this series of articles is intended to provide information on the practicalities of conducting such intensive studies and the lessons learned. This explication of lessons learned provides an outstanding opportunity for the planners of the National Children’s Study to draw on past experiences that provide information on what has and has not worked when studying diverse multiracial and multi-ethnic groups of children with unique urban and rural exposures. The Children’s Centers have addressed and overcome many hurdles in their efforts to understand the link between environmental exposures and health outcomes as well as interactions between exposures and a variety of social and cultural factors. Some of the major lessons learned include the critical importance of long-term studies for assessing the full range of developmental consequences of environmental exposures, recognition of the unique challenges presented at different life stages for both outcome and exposure measurement, and the importance of ethical issues that must be dealt with in a changing medical and legal environment. It is hoped that these articles will be of value to others who are embarking on studies of children’s environmental health

Plasmodium Falciparum HRP2 Elisa for Analysis of Dried Blood Spot Samples in Rural Zambia

Background: Dried blood spots are commonly used for sample collection in clinical and non-clinical settings. This method is simple, and biomolecules in the samples remain stable for months at room temperature. In the field, blood samples for the study and diagnosis of malaria are often collected on dried blood spot cards, so development of a biomarker extraction and analysis method is needed. Methods: A simple extraction procedure for the malarial biomarker Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) from dried blood spots was optimized to achieve maximum extraction efficiency. This method was used to assess the stability of HRP2 in dried blood spots. Furthermore, 328 patient samples made available from rural Zambia were analysed for HRP2 using the developed method. These samples were collected at the initial administration of artemisinin-based combination therapy and at several points following treatment. Results: An average extraction efficiency of 70% HRP2 with a low picomolar detection limit was achieved. In specific storage conditions HRP2 was found to be stable in dried blood spots for at least 6 months. Analysis of patient samples showed the method to have a sensitivity of 94% and a specificity of 89% when compared with microscopy, and trends in HRP2 clearance after treatment were observed. Conclusions: The dried blood spot ELISA for HRP2 was found to be sensitive, specific and accurate. The method was effectively used to assess biomarker clearance characteristics in patient samples, which prove it to be ideal for gaining further insight into the disease and epidemiological applications

Evidence for Histidine-Rich Protein 2 Immune Complex Formation in Symptomatic Patients in Southern Zambia

Background: Rapid diagnostic tests based on histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) detection are the primary tools used to detect Plasmodium falciparum malaria infections. Recent conflicting reports call into question whether α-HRP2 antibodies are present in human host circulation and if resulting immune complexes could interfere with HRP2 detection on malaria RDTs. This study sought to determine the prevalence of immune-complexed HRP2 in a low-transmission region of Southern Zambia. Methods: An ELISA was used to quantify HRP2 in patient sample DBS extracts before and after heat-based immune complex dissociation. A pull-down assay reliant on proteins A, G, and L was developed and applied for IgG and IgM capture and subsequent immunoprecipitation of any HRP2 present in immune complexed form. A total of 104 patient samples were evaluated using both methods. Results: Immune-complexed HRP2 was detectable in 17% (18/104) of all samples evaluated and 70% (16/23) of HRP2-positive samples. A majority of the patients with samples containing immune-complexed HRP2 had P. falciparum infections (11/18) and were also positive for free HRP2 (16/18). For 72% (13/18) of patients with immune-complexed HRP2, less than 10% of the total HRP2 present was in immune-complexed form. For the remaining samples, a large proportion (≥ 20%) of total HRP2 was complexed with α-HRP2 antibodies. Conclusions: Endogenous α-HRP2 antibodies form immune complexes with HRP2 in the symptomatic patient population of a low-transmission area in rural Southern Zambia. For the majority of patients, the percentage of HRP2 in immune complexes is low and does not affect HRP2-based malaria diagnosis. However, for some patients, a significant portion of the total HRP2 was in immune-complexed form. Future studies investigating the prevalence and proportion of immune-complexed HRP2 in asymptomatic individuals with low HRP2 levels will be required to assess whether α-HRP2 antibodies affect HRP2 detection for this portion of the transmission reservoir