Remedying School Segregation: How New Jersey's Morris School District Chose to Make Diversity Work

Beyond the districtwide numbers, the Morris district has achieved remarkable diversity at the school building level. Since the district has only one middle school and one high school, these are not where the diversity rubber meets the road. Rather, the test is the elementary school populations. There, the Morris district shines. Despite the fact that students live in relatively homogeneous, segregated neighborhoods, the elementary schools they attend defy that pattern. For example, to achieve perfect racial balance between black and white students at the elementary school level, only about 2.6 percent would have to change their school assignments.The Morris district still struggles with two aspects of diversity, however. First,—in common with virtually every diverse school district in the country—it is still attempting to bring meaningful diversity to every program and course within its school buildings, from higher-level Honors and Advanced Placement courses to special education classifications and rosters of disciplinary actions. Second, in common with some but hardly all diverse districts across the country, the Morris district is trying to cope with the explosive growth of Hispanic students, many of them in recent years economically disadvantaged students from Central American countries where they often failed to receive a solid educational foundation in their own language and culture. Understandably, these students tend not to score well on standardized tests, especially in their early years in MSD. This contributes substantially to the Morris district's record of relatively poor achievement levels in three substantially overlapping student categories—Hispanic, English Language Learners (ELL), and economically disadvantaged students—as compared to its relatively strong achievement levels for white and black students.As to both challenges, the Morris district is manifesting a remarkably can-do spirit and a palpable will to succeed.In all these respects, the study of the Morris district reported on here is designed ultimately to extract lessons for other school districts in New Jersey and the rest of the nation. This report begins by exploring briefly the historical, political, and legal context of educational integration in New Jersey, and how that led to the creation of the Morris School District. It then analyzes and discusses the successes—and the challenges—of MSD's integration efforts. Along the way, it contrasts the successes of MSD with two other districts in New Jersey—Plainfield and New Brunswick—that attempted integration by district merger, but failed. It concludes by making recommendations not only for improvements in MSD's approach, but for school districts across New Jersey and the country that are seeking to integrate their schools and classrooms

Implementation of the frequency scatter index in clinical commercially available double-pass systems

A previous work has reported a methodology to quantify intraocular scattering using a high sensitivity double-pass instrument with a robust index, the frequency scatter index. The purpose of our study was to evaluate an adaptation of the frequency scatter index for use in clinical double-pass systems. A prospective observational study was carried out in a group of patients with nuclear cataracts (n = 52) and in a control group (n = 11) using conventional double-pass systems. The frequency scatter index and the objective scatter index were used to assess the scattering. The Spearman coefficient was calculated to assess the correlation between both indexes, obtained from the double-pass images. Simultaneous measurements were performed with a double-pass and with a Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensor in the control group. The root-mean-square wavefront error and the full width at half maximum of the double-pass image were used to quantify the residual aberrations introduced by the variations in pupil size and retinal eccentricity. Measurement in eyes with different grades of cataracts shows a strong correlation (¿ = 0.929, p .05). We have introduced and evaluated an adaptation of a methodology proposed recently for the measurement of intraocular scattering using the double-pass technique with a robust index, which is less affected by ocular aberrations. The frequency scatter index can be applied to conventional double-pass instruments available in clinical environments.Peer ReviewedPostprint (updated version

Brain glucose sensors play a significant role in the regulation of pancreatic glucose-stimulated insulin secretion.

As patients decline from health to type 2 diabetes, glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) typically becomes impaired. Although GSIS is driven predominantly by direct sensing of a rise in blood glucose by pancreatic β-cells, there is growing evidence that hypothalamic neurons control other aspects of peripheral glucose metabolism. Here we investigated the role of the brain in the modulation of GSIS. To examine the effects of increasing or decreasing hypothalamic glucose sensing on glucose tolerance and insulin secretion, glucose or inhibitors of glucokinase, respectively, were infused into the third ventricle during intravenous glucose tolerance tests (IVGTTs). Glucose-infused rats displayed improved glucose handling, particularly within the first few minutes of the IVGTT, with a significantly lower area under the excursion curve within the first 10 min (AUC0-10). This was explained by increased insulin secretion. In contrast, infusion of the glucokinase inhibitors glucosamine or mannoheptulose worsened glucose tolerance and decreased GSIS in the first few minutes of IVGTT. Our data suggest a role for brain glucose sensors in the regulation of GSIS, particularly during the early phase. We propose that pharmacological agents targeting hypothalamic glucose-sensing pathways may represent novel therapeutic strategies for enhancing early phase insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes

Super-Twisting control with zero crossing gain adaptation. Stability analysis and validation

[EN] In the latest years, the Second Order Sliding Mode (SOSM) control have been emerged as a powerful alternative to traditional sliding mode control. Within this kind of algorithms, the SOSM Super-Twisting Algorithm (STA) allows to significantly reduce the control chattering (high frequency oscillations), through its continuous control action, while preserving conventional SMC's features of robustness and finite time convergence. However, in practical implementation, it is sometimes required to oversize the STA gains, in order to allow the system controller to deal with large, but commonly sporadic, disturbances. This situation produces an inevitable increment of control effort and, in consequence, and increment of control chattering. In this framework, in the present paper the stability analysis and validation of an adaptation mechanism for the Super-Twisting Algorithm are developed. It is based on the zero crossing gain adaptation approach developed by Pisano et al. for systems of relative degree 2. Firtsly, the proposed algorithm is validated by simulation for its application on a power converter system. Then, the controlled system is implemented on a experimental 700W power platform. The results showed an important reduction of control chattering, and similar features of robustness, in comparison with the conventional Super-Twisting Algorithm.[ES] En los últimos años, los algoritmos de control diseñados a partir de técnicas por Modos Deslizantes de Segundo Orden (MDSO) se han consolidado como una importante alternativa al modos deslizantes tradicional. Dentro de estos algoritmos, el control por MDSO Super-Twisting permite una importante reducción del chattering (oscilaciones de alta frecuencia), gracias a su acción de control continua, manteniendo las características de robustez y convergencia en tiempo finito deseadas. Sin embargo, en su implementación práctica, en ciertas ocasiones es necesario sobredimensionar las ganancias del controlador, con el objetivo de permitir el rechazo de grandes, aunque usualmente esporádicas, perturbaciones. Esto redunda inevitablemente en un incremento en el esfuerzo del controlador y, por ende, en un incremento del chattering del sistema. De esta manera, en este trabajo se presenta el análisis de estabilidad y validación de un mecanismo de Adaptación de Ganancias para un algoritmo de control por MDSO Super-Twisting. El mismo, continúa con el enfoque de adaptación basada en cruce por cero desarrollado por Pisano et al. para sistemas con grado relativo 2. El algoritmo propuesto es evaluado, en primera instancia. por simulación para el caso de aplicación de un sistema de potencia. Posteriormente, el sistema controlado es implementado y validado experimentalmente en una plataforma de 700W. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron una importante reducción del chattering y similares características de robustez, en comparación con el algoritmo Super-Twisting tradicional.Este trabajo fue realizado bajo el apoyo de la FI-UNLP, CONICET y Agencia I+D+i. El trabajo fue parcialmente financiado por el proyecto nacional de España DOVELAR ref. RTI2018-096001-B-C32 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), la Agencia Nacional de Investigación de España a través del Sello de Excelencia María de Maeztu al IRI (MDM-2016-0656) y la Asociación Universitaria Iberoamericana de Postgrado (AUIP).Anderson, JL.; Moré, JJ.; Puleston, PF.; Roda, V.; Costa-Castelló, R. (2022). Control Super-Twisting con adaptación basada en cruce por cero. Análisis de estabilidad y validación. Revista Iberoamericana de Automática e Informática industrial. 20(1):104-114. https://doi.org/10.4995/riai.2022.1721410411420

Cervical Human Papillomavirus Screening among Older Women

Rates of acquisition and clearance of cervical human papillomavirus (HPV) during a 3-year period in women 51 years of age were compared with rates in younger women to provide data on cervical screening for women >50 years of age. Paired, cytologically negative, archived cervical smears taken 3 years apart from 710 women in Nottingham, United Kingdom, were retrieved and tested for HPV infection with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with GP5+/6+ primers. Seventy-one (21.3%) of 333 women 51 years of age who were HPV negative at baseline were positive 3 years later. This percentage was higher than the corresponding acquisition rates among women 21 (15.2%), 31 (14.1%), and 41 (13.3%) years of age, although these differences were not significant. This retrospective study shows that HPV-negative women >50 years of age can acquire HPV and, therefore, require cervical screening

Forests for the New Millennium - MAKING FORESTS WORK FOR PEOPLE AND NATURE

THE WAYS IN WHICH FORESTS ARE PERCEIVED AND USED HAVE CHANGED DRAMATICALLY OVER RECENT YEARS. FORESTS ARE NO LONGER SEEN SIMPLY AS A SOURCE OF TIMBER, BUT AS COMPLEX ECOSYSTEMS WHICH SUSTAIN LIVELIHOODS AND PROVIDE A RANGE OF PRODUCTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES. IT IS NOW WIDELY RECOGNISED THAT FORESTS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION.Forest, economics, livelihoods