Coaches in the High School Classroom

Explores the choices and challenges faced by six literacy coaches working in Boston and Houston. Includes tools for assessment and analysis of coaching programs

Barrier formation at metal/organic interfaces: dipole formation and the Charge Neutrality Level

The barrier formation for metal/organic semiconductor interfaces is analyzed within the Induced Density of Interface States (IDIS) model. Using weak chemisorption theory, we calculate the induced density of states in the organic energy gap and show that it is high enough to control the barrier formation. We calculate the Charge Neutrality Levels of several organic molecules (PTCDA, PTCBI and CBP) and the interface Fermi level for their contact with a Au(111) surface. We find an excellent agreement with the experimental evidence and conclude that the barrier formation is due to the charge transfer between the metal and the states induced in the organic energy gap.Comment: 7 pages, Proceedings of ICFSI-9, Madrid, Spain (September 2003), special issue of Applied Surface Science (in press

Relativistic Thomas-Fermi description of Sm isotopes at finite temperature

The caloric curve (excitation energy per particle as a function of temperature) for finite nuclei is calculated within the non-linear Walecka model for different proton fractions and different parameterizations. The results obtained are compared with published experimental data and other theoretical results. Other properties related with the droplet formation as the surface energy, neutron skin thickness and binding energy per nucleon are also displayed as a function of temperature and their behaviours are discussed. It is shown that the caloric curve is sensitive to the proton fraction and to the Coulomb interaction. At T=0 the droplet properties do not depend on the parameterization used. At finite temperature however, the sensitivity appears.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figures, 9 table

Mental illness and parenthood: being a parent in secure psychiatric care

Background: Research into parenting and mental illness seldom includes forensic mental health service users, despite its relevance to therapeutic, family work and risk management. Aims: To understand the experiences of parents and the variety of parenting roles maintained during admission to a secure forensic hospital. Methods: Narrative interviews with eighteen parents (8 mothers, 10 fathers) at an English medium security hospital were analysed thematically, using the framework approach. The proportion of patients who are parents and their contact patterns with their children were estimated from records. Results: About a quarter of men and 38% of women were parents. Parenthood was of central importance to their emotional life, spanning experiences of loss, shame and failed expectations, joy, responsibility and hope. Fewer fathers maintained contact with their children than mothers, yet fatherhood remained a vital aspect of men’s identities, with impact on their self-esteem. Parenting during lengthy admissions - while constrained and dependent on professional support and surveillance – ranged from sending gifts and money to visits and phone calls. Offending was seen as a particularly shameful aspect of admission, contributing to distancing from own risk and difficulty explaining detention to children. Conclusions: Such complex experiences call for multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills. Provision of focused therapy, as well as appropriate visiting spaces, creative approaches to contact time, and support for patients in explaining their mental illness and detention to their children are recommended

A strategy for efficient preparation of genus-specific diagnostic antibodies for snakebites

As said by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, "Snakebite is the most important tropical disease you've never heard of." Listed as a priority neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization, snakebite envenoming (SBE) kills in excess of 125,000 people per year. However, due to the complexity and overlap of snake venom compositions, few reliable venom diagnostic methods for genus-/species-specific identification, which is crucial for successful SBE therapy, are available. Here, we develop a strategy to select and prepare genus-specific snake venom antibodies, which allows rapid and efficient clinical diagnosis of snakebite. Multi-omics approaches are used to choose candidate antigens from snake venoms and identify genus-specific antigenic epitope peptide fragments (GSAEPs) with ideal immunogenicity, specificity, and spatial accessibility. Double-antibody sandwich ELISA kit was established by matching a polyclonal antibody against a natural antigen and a monoclonal antibody that was prepared by natural protein as antigen and can specifically target the GSAEPs. The kit shows the ability to accurately identify venoms from similar genera of Trimeresurus and Protobothrops with a detection limit of 6.25 ng/ml on the snake venoms and a little cross-reaction, thus proving high feasibility and applicability.Animal science

Dependence of Bone Yield (Volume of Bone Formed per Unit of Cement Surface Area) on Resorption Cavity Size During Osteonal Remodeling in Human Rib: Implications for Osteoblast Function and the Pathogenesis of Age-Related Bone Loss

It is both a necessary and a sufficient condition for bone to be lost with age at any surface location that during remodeling the replacement of resorbed bone is incomplete. In both the ilium and the rib, the degree of such focal imbalance is smaller on the intracortical than on the endocortical or cancellous surfaces that are adjacent to bone marrow. The reason for this difference is unknown. To further examine this question, we measured various geometric variables in 1263 osteons in rib cross sections from 65 persons, including both sexes and age ranges 20 to 30 years and 60 to 70 years (four groups). Haversian canal (HC) area did not differ significantly between sexes or age groups. Percent osteonal refilling was close to 95% in all groups and did not differ between sexes but fell slightly with age. There was a very highly significant linear relationship between osteon bone area and (osteon area + HC area) in all groups, with coefficients of determination (r2) greater than 0.98. The regression slopes declined slightly with age in women but not in men. There was a very highly significant quadratic relationship between osteon bone area and osteon perimeter in all groups, with r2 values greater than 0.97. The ratio osteon bone area:osteon perimeter, an index of bone yield—the volume of bone deposited on each unit area of cement surface—was strongly related to osteon area and did not differ between sexes but was slightly less in the older groups. We conclude the following: (1) The high efficiency of intracortical remodeling in the rib is confirmed, with only trivial effects of age. (2) For HC area to be maintained within narrow limits and bone balance preserved, either initial osteoblast density or osteoblast capacity (the two determinants of bone yield) or, most likely, both must increase progressively with the size of the resorption cavity, suggesting that osteoblast recruitment (relative to available surface) and osteoblast lifespan increase with the volume of bone resorbed. (3) Intracortical remodeling in the rib is more efficient than marrow-adjacent remodeling at any site, possibly because of the different relationships to the circulation. In osteonal remodeling, all molecules released from resorbed bone must travel past the sites of osteoblast recruitment and operation, but in hemiosteonal remodeling, some molecules may not be subject to this constraint. (4) If marrow-adjacent remodeling became as efficient as rib intracortical remodeling, age-related bone loss would cease to be an important medical problem. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Researc