Use and Evaluation of a Statewide 4-H Volunteer Newsletter

The Ohio 4-H Cloverbud Connections newsletter is a statewide publication targeted for volunteers working with K - 2 youth. Two statewide surveys in Ohio were conducted with 4-H volunteers and 4-H Extension staff to measure the usefulness and utilization of the newsletter. Results indicated 4-H Cloverbud volunteers and 4-H staff utilize the newsletter and consider it a valuable resource. Ninety-seven percent of the 4-H Cloverbud volunteers and 4-H staff want the newsletter continued. Findings indicate the importance of 4-H Cloverbud activities for readers, need for more awareness of the newsletter Web site, and importance of 4-H Cloverbud volunteer training

State Takeover, School Restructuring, Private Management, and Student Achievement in Philadelphia

Following a state takeover of the Philadelphia public schools in 2002, 45 schools were turned over to private managers, making Philadelphia the site of the nation's largest experiment in the private management of public schools. This collaborative study by RAND Corporation and Research for Action examines achievement effects in the privately managed schools, as well as in schools with district-led interventions, and examines these effects in the context of districtwide trends in achievement

Star Formation from Galaxies to Globules

The empirical laws of star formation suggest that galactic-scale gravity is involved, but they do not identify the actual triggering mechanisms for clusters in the final stages. Many other triggering processes satisfy the empirical laws too, including turbulence compression and expanding shell collapse. The self-similar nature of the gas and associated young stars suggests that turbulence is more directly involved, but the small scale morphology of gas around most embedded clusters does not look like a random turbulent flow. Most clusters look triggered by other nearby stars. Such a prominent local influence makes it difficult to understand the universality of the Kennicutt and Schmidt laws on galactic scales. A unified view of multi-scale star formation avoids most of these problems. Ambient self-gravity produces spiral arms and drives much of the turbulence that leads to self-similar structures, while localized energy input from existing clusters and field supernovae triggers new clusters in pre-existing clouds. The hierarchical structure in the gas made by turbulence ensures that the triggering time scales with size, giving the Schmidt law over a wide range of scales and the size-duration correlation for young star fields. The efficiency of star formation is determined by the fraction of the gas above a critical density of around 10^5 m(H2)/cc. Star formation is saturated to its largest possible value given the fractal nature of the interstellar medium.Comment: accepted for ApJ, 42 pages, Dannie Heineman prize lecture, January 200

Primordialists and Constructionists: a typology of theories of religion

This article adopts categories from nationalism theory to classify theories of religion. Primordialist explanations are grounded in evolutionary psychology and emphasize the innate human demand for religion. Primordialists predict that religion does not decline in the modern era but will endure in perpetuity. Constructionist theories argue that religious demand is a human construct. Modernity initially energizes religion, but subsequently undermines it. Unpacking these ideal types is necessary in order to describe actual theorists of religion. Three distinctions within primordialism and constructionism are relevant. Namely those distinguishing: a) materialist from symbolist forms of constructionism; b) theories of origins from those pertaining to the reproduction of religion; and c) within reproduction, between theories of religious persistence and secularization. This typology helps to make sense of theories of religion by classifying them on the basis of their causal mechanisms, chronology and effects. In so doing, it opens up new sightlines for theory and research

To Test or to Treat? An Analysis of Influenza Testing and Antiviral Treatment Strategies Using Economic Computer Modeling

BACKGROUND: Due to the unpredictable burden of pandemic influenza, the best strategy to manage testing, such as rapid or polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and antiviral medications for patients who present with influenza-like illness (ILI) is unknown.\ud \ud METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We developed a set of computer simulation models to evaluate the potential economic value of seven strategies under seasonal and pandemic influenza conditions: (1) using clinical judgment alone to guide antiviral use, (2) using PCR to determine whether to initiate antivirals, (3) using a rapid (point-of-care) test to determine antiviral use, (4) using a combination of a point-of-care test and clinical judgment, (5) using clinical judgment and confirming the diagnosis with PCR testing, (6) treating all with antivirals, and (7) not treating anyone with antivirals. For healthy younger adults (<65 years old) presenting with ILI in a seasonal influenza scenario, strategies were only cost-effective from the societal perspective. Clinical judgment, followed by PCR and point-of-care testing, was found to be cost-effective given a high influenza probability. Doubling hospitalization risk and mortality (representing either higher risk individuals or more virulent strains) made using clinical judgment to guide antiviral decision-making cost-effective, as well as PCR testing, point-of-care testing, and point-of-care testing used in conjunction with clinical judgment. For older adults (> or = 65 years old), in both seasonal and pandemic influenza scenarios, employing PCR was the most cost-effective option, with the closest competitor being clinical judgment (when judgment accuracy > or = 50%). Point-of-care testing plus clinical judgment was cost-effective with higher probabilities of influenza. Treating all symptomatic ILI patients with antivirals was cost-effective only in older adults.\ud \ud CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study delineated the conditions under which different testing and antiviral strategies may be cost-effective, showing the importance of accuracy, as seen with PCR or highly sensitive clinical judgment.\ud \u

Semiochemical-based alternatives to synthetic toxicant insecticides for pollen beetle management

There is an urgent need to develop sustainable pest management systems to protect arable crops in order to replace the current over-reliance on synthetic insecticides. Semiochemicals are insect- or plant-derived chemicals that are used by organisms as information signals. Integrated pest management tools are currently in development that utilise semiochemicals to manipulate the behaviour of pest insects and their natural enemies to provide effective control of pests within the crop. These innovative tools usually require fewer inputs and can involve multiple elements therefore reducing the likelihood of resistance developing compared with use of synthetic toxicants. We review here the life cycle of the pollen beetle Brassicogethes aeneus (previously known as Meligethes aeneus) which is a pest insect of oilseed rape (Brassica napus) and describe the current knowledge of any behaviour mediated by semiochemicals in this species. We discuss the behavioural processes where semiochemical-based control approaches may be appropriate and consider how these approaches could be integrated into an integrated pest management strategy for this important arable crop

Human Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Exhibit Heterogeneous CD52 Expression Levels and Show Differential Sensitivity to Alemtuzumab Mediated Cytolysis

Alemtuzumab is a monoclonal antibody that targets cell surface CD52 and is effective in depleting lymphocytes by cytolytic effects in vivo. Although the cytolytic effects of alemtuzumab are dependent on the density of CD52 antigen on cells, there is scant information regarding the expression levels of CD52 on different cell types. In this study, CD52 expression was assessed on phenotypically distinct subsets of lymphoid and myeloid cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from normal donors. Results demonstrate that subsets of PBMCs express differing levels of CD52. Quantitative analysis showed that memory B cells and myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) display the highest number while natural killer (NK) cells, plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and basophils have the lowest number of CD52 molecules per cell amongst lymphoid and myeloid cell populations respectively. Results of complement dependent cytolysis (CDC) studies indicated that alemtuzumab mediated profound cytolytic effects on B and T cells with minimal effect on NK cells, basophils and pDCs, correlating with the density of CD52 on these cells. Interestingly, despite high CD52 levels, mDCs and monocytes were less susceptible to alemtuzumab-mediated CDC indicating that antigen density alone does not define susceptibility. Additional studies indicated that higher expression levels of complement inhibitory proteins (CIPs) on these cells partially contributes to their resistance to alemtuzumab mediated CDC. These results indicate that alemtuzumab is most effective in depleting cells of the adaptive immune system while leaving innate immune cells relatively intact

Molecular Characterization of Podoviral Bacteriophages Virulent for Clostridium perfringens and Their Comparison with Members of the Picovirinae

Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacterium responsible for human food-borne disease as well as non-food-borne human, animal and poultry diseases. Because bacteriophages or their gene products could be applied to control bacterial diseases in a species-specific manner, they are potential important alternatives to antibiotics. Consequently, poultry intestinal material, soil, sewage and poultry processing drainage water were screened for virulent bacteriophages that lysed C. perfringens. Two bacteriophages, designated ΦCPV4 and ΦZP2, were isolated in the Moscow Region of the Russian Federation while another closely related virus, named ΦCP7R, was isolated in the southeastern USA. The viruses were identified as members of the order Caudovirales in the family Podoviridae with short, non-contractile tails of the C1 morphotype. The genomes of the three bacteriophages were 17.972, 18.078 and 18.397 kbp respectively; encoding twenty-six to twenty-eight ORF's with inverted terminal repeats and an average GC content of 34.6%. Structural proteins identified by mass spectrometry in the purified ΦCP7R virion included a pre-neck/appendage with putative lyase activity, major head, tail, connector/upper collar, lower collar and a structural protein with putative lysozyme-peptidase activity. All three podoviral bacteriophage genomes encoded a predicted N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase and a putative stage V sporulation protein. Each putative amidase contained a predicted bacterial SH3 domain at the C-terminal end of the protein, presumably involved with binding the C. perfringens cell wall. The predicted DNA polymerase type B protein sequences were closely related to other members of the Podoviridae including Bacillus phage Φ29. Whole-genome comparisons supported this relationship, but also indicated that the Russian and USA viruses may be unique members of the sub-family Picovirinae