Lessons in Funder Collaboration: What the Packard Foundation Has Learned about Working with Other Funders

As the Foundation approached its 50th anniversary this year, it asked The Bridgespan Group to assist in taking stock of what Packard can learn from its many collaborations. When it comes to the structure of collaborations, Bridgespan has identified five main models: knowledge exchange, coordination of funding, coinvesting in an existing entity, creating a new entity, and funding the funder. As with all taxonomies, these five categories are meant to serve as signposts along a continuum. Each collaboration differs in a variety of ways, whether it is the flow of funds, decision making, expectations and roles of funding partners, or legal structure. Bridgespan focused on Packard's collaborations that require alignment and more intensive coordination by program staff. Six case studies provide an in-depth look inside examples of all four types of collaboration that venture beyond exchanging knowledge

Needle-Moving Community Collaboratives: A Promising Approach to Addressing America's Biggest Challenges

Communities face powerful challenges -- a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy -- that require powerful solutions. In a climate of increasingly constrained resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative -- an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by enlisting all sectors to work together toward a common goal -- offers enormous promise to bring about broader, more lasting change across the nation

Such A Nice Girl Too

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/6773/thumbnail.jp

A 3D Biomechanical Model for Analysis of Upper Jaw Protrusion in Carassius Auratus (Goldfish)

This thesis studies upper jaw protrusion in carassius auratus (goldfish), a type of Cypriniformes. The presence of a unique sesamoid bone called kinethmoid, suspended by a network of ligaments, allows for more flexibility and longer periods of sustained suction flow speeds in Cypriniformes. Previous researchers used XROMM software to visualize highly accurate (±0.1 mm) re-animations of a carp’s 3D bones in vivo and EMG graphs to visualize muscle activation patterns. Based on those results, this thesis takes a reverse approach by building a working 3D model of a goldfish’s mouth and simulating it using Adams, a multibody dynamics software program. Since all buccal (mouth) parts act in synchrony during each feeding session, this simulation process allows us to vary one parameter at a time and observe how changes in each parameter affect the overall feeding process. Individual bone measurements taken in the lab were translated into a 3D model using Solidworks. The model consisted of five main bones, two maxillary muscles, A1α and A1β; and a network of ligaments that were modelled as linear springs. Four parameters were tested against mouth opening results. They were A1α, A1β, initial kinethmoid position and initial dentary position. The initial position of the dentary was a primary influence in opening the mouth regardless of the amount of A1 maxillary forces applied. At a minimum dentary angle of 49°, the mouth opened for as little as 1 dyne of A1β force. Also, increasing values of A1β as opposed to changing kinethmoid’s starting position had a greater effect on dentary rotation. A1α was the main driver in rotating the kinethmoid while increasing initial kinethmoid position from 130° to 150° increased the total rotational displacement of the kinethmoid by about 45°. All angles are measured counterclockwise to the part’s anteroposterior axis. Both actions led to protruding the premaxilla forward and opening of the mouth. The 5 kinematic patterns were on par with past experimental results, thereby validating the approach taken to creating a realistic 3D model

Evaluation of a programme of transferable skills development within the PhD: views of late stage students

Recent years have seen an increasing emphasis placed upon the development of transferable skills within PhD degree programmes. This paper reports on steps taken to evaluate a programme of transferable skills development at a research intensive university in the UK, focussing on the views of late stage PhD students in the science, engineering and medical disciplines. It shows that most students report a positive impact from having taken part in transferable skills initiatives and that they have a positive attitude towards them. Participants report an enduring positive impact on their behaviour and consider that the training meets their perceived needs as they progress as researchers. However, amongst the population as a whole, there were differences in views. For example, it was found that females, overseas students and those mainly motivated to do the PhD by career-related reasons attach the greatest importance to such opportunities to develop transferable skills

The role of the femoral chordotonal organ in motor control, interleg coordination, and leg kinematics in Drosophila melanogaster

Legged locomotion in terrestrial animals is often essential for mating and survival, and locomotor behavior must be robust and adaptable in order to be successful. The behavioral plasticity demonstrated by animals’ ability to locomote across diverse types of terrains and to change their locomotion in a task-dependent manner highlights the flexible and modular nature of locomotor networks. The six legs of insects are under the multi-level control of local networks for each limb and limb joint in addition to over-arching central control of the local networks. These networks, consisting of pattern-generating groups of interneurons, motor neurons, and muscles, receive modifying and reinforcing feedback from sensory structures that encode motor output. Proprioceptors in the limbs monitoring their position and movement provide information to these networks that is essential for the adaptability and robustness of locomotor behavior. In insects, proprioceptors are highly diverse, and the exact role of each type in motor control has yet to be determined. Chordotonal organs, analogous to vertebrate muscle spindles, are proprioceptive stretch receptors that span joints and encode specific parameters of relative movement between body segments. In insects, when leg chordotonal organs are disabled or manipulated, interleg coordination and walking are affected, but the simple behavior of straight walking on a flat surface can still be performed. The femoral chordotonal organ (fCO) is the largest leg proprioceptor and monitors the position and movements of the tibia relative to the femur. It has long been studied for its importance in locomotor and postural control. In Drosophila melanogaster, an ideal model organism due its genetic tractability, investigations into the composition, connectivity, and function of the fCO are still in their infancy. The fCO in Drosophila contains anatomical subgroups, and the neurons within a subgroup demonstrate similar responses to movements about the femur-tibia joint. Collectively, the experiments laid out in this dissertation provide a multi-faceted analysis of the anatomy, connectivity, and functional importance of subgroups of fCO neurons in D. melanogaster. The dissertation is divided into four chapters, representing different aspects of this complex and intriguing system. First, I present a detailed analysis of the composition of the fCO and its connectivity within the peripheral and central nervous systems. I demonstrate that the fCO is made up of anatomically distinct groups of neurons, each with their own unique features in the legs and ventral nerve cord. Second, I investigated the neuropeptide profile of the fCO and demonstrate that some fCO neurons express a susbtance that is known to act as a neuromodulator. Third, I demonstrate the sufficiency of subsets of fCO neurons to elicit reflex responses, highlighting the role of the Drosophila fCO in postural control. Lastly, I take this a step further and look into the functional necessity of these neuronal subsets for intra- and interleg coordination during walking. The importance of the fCO in motor control in D. melanogaster has been considered rather minor, though research into the topic is very limited. In the work laid out herein, I highlight the complexity of the Drosophila fCO and its role in the determination of locomotor behavior

The battle of Belleau Wood : America's indoctrination into 20th century warfare.

The battle of Belleau Wood serves as a microcosm of the American experience in the Great War. Several misconceptions surrounding the battle, born largely out of its propaganda value, created a legacy that overshadows the significance of the battle as a baptismal of modern twentieth-century warfare. The experience, unprecedented in the annals of American military history, placed largely inexperienced troops into a situation where poor decisions, inferior tactics and faulty communication methods delayed orders and sent unsuspecting men into a cauldron of chaos and terror. Historians have painted a picture that implies that the battle had epic ramifications in that it halted the German drive on Paris. This myth is born out of the desire of the American Expeditionary Force commanders to obtain a decisive victory on the battlefield. Belleau Wood provided that opportunity and gave birth to a legendary story of American military arms devoid of the dreadfulness and futility that characterizes so much of the fight. These depictions overshadow the horrific nightmares of the fighting that men carried with them through the remainder of their lives. Those terrible sights and sounds baptized participants and an entire nation into the horrors of a new age of warfare. The main focus of this thesis rests largely on first-hand accounts of the fighting at Belleau Wood. Examination of several eye-witness reports and unpublished memoirs and oral histories reveal the true cost which bought in blood the glory that dictates most interpretations of the engagement. This work also assesses human stories behind this epic battle in context to the common myth which depicts the fight simply as the engagement which saved Paris

Marketing Hay in Arizona

This item is part of the Agricultural Experiment Station archive. It was digitized from a physical copy provided by the University Libraries at the University of Arizona. For more information, please email CALS Publications at [email protected]