1,481 research outputs found
Review of The Impact of a Universal Class-Size Reduction Policy: Evidence from Florida's Statewide Mandate
No full textA new Think Twice review released today finds that a recent report on the effect of Florida's class-size reduction reform on student achievement does not actually study the impact of class-size reduction.The Impact of a Universal Class-Size Reduction Policy: Evidence from Florida's Statewide Mandate, written by Matthew M. Chingos for the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University's Kennedy School, was reviewed for the Think Twice think tank review project by Professor Jeremy Finn of the University at Buffalo-SUNY. Finn, a statistics expert, was a lead researcher of Tennessee's Project STAR, a large, randomized experiment in class-size reduction (CSR). In 2002, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment mandating CSR throughout that state's schools.The Chingos study compares student test scores in districts that already had average class sizes smaller than required by the amendment with student scores in districts with average class sizes larger than required by the amendment. Districts that already had smaller class sizes received the same additional funding but could use the money as they saw fit, while those with larger class sizes were required to use the state CSR funds to reduce class sizes. Chingos concludes that "mandated CSR in Florida had little, if any, effect on cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes" in the students examined. Finn, however, points out that the study doesn't actually address the effect of CSR on student achievement. Instead the study compares the results of schools that reduced class size with a group of schools that received monies to use as they wished. Both sets of districts in the study had small class sizes. According to Finn, the study's finding would more accurately be stated as "administrative discretion in spending state class-size reduction funds did not affect students' academic performance."Finn's review also points out that there are other flaws in the Chingos study: It uses the broad brush of school and district averages rather than student-level information about class sizes and test scores. Also, the actual class-size differences between the two groups were too small to make an educational difference; both of the groups had small average class sizes.Finn concludes, "Despite its title, this report does not address the issue of class-size reduction. By being presented as an evaluation of Florida's mandated class size limits, it may lead parents, educators, or policy makers to draw faulty conclusions about the impact of the program.
Selective anticancer activity of a hexapeptide with sequence homology to a non-kinase domain of Cyclin Dependent Kinase 4
No full textBackground: cyclin-dependent kinases 2, 4 and 6 (Cdk2, Cdk4, Cdk6) are closely structurally homologous proteins which are classically understood to control the transition from the G1 to the S-phases of the cell cycle by combining with their appropriate cyclin D or cyclin E partners to form kinase-active holoenzymes. Deregulation of Cdk4 is widespread in human cancer, CDK4 gene knockout is highly protective against chemical and oncogene-mediated epithelial carcinogenesis, despite the continued presence of CDK2 and CDK6; and overexpresssion of Cdk4 promotes skin carcinogenesis. Surprisingly, however, Cdk4 kinase inhibitors have not yet fulfilled their expectation as 'blockbuster' anticancer agents. Resistance to inhibition of Cdk4 kinase in some cases could potentially be due to a non-kinase activity, as recently reported with epidermal growth factor receptor. Results: a search for a potential functional site of non-kinase activity present in Cdk4 but not Cdk2 or Cdk6 revealed a previously-unidentified loop on the outside of the C'-terminal non-kinase domain of Cdk4, containing a central amino-acid sequence, Pro-Arg-Gly-Pro-Arg-Pro (PRGPRP). An isolated hexapeptide with this sequence and its cyclic amphiphilic congeners are selectively lethal at high doses to a wide range of human cancer cell lines whilst sparing normal diploid keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Treated cancer cells do not exhibit the wide variability of dose response typically seen with other anticancer agents. Cancer cell killing by PRGPRP, in a cyclic amphiphilic cassette, requires cells to be in cycle but does not perturb cell cycle distribution and is accompanied by altered relative Cdk4/Cdk1 expression and selective decrease in ATP levels. Morphological features of apoptosis are absent and cancer cell death does not appear to involve autophagy. Conclusion: these findings suggest a potential new paradigm for the development of broad-spectrum cancer specific therapeutics with a companion diagnostic biomarker and a putative functional site for kinase-unrelated activities of Cdk4
Are inundation limit and maximum extent of sand useful for differentiating tsunamis and storms?: An example from sediment transport simulations on the Sendai Plain, Japan
No full textWe examined the quantitative difference in the distribution of tsunami and storm deposits based on numerical simulations of inundation and sediment transport due to tsunami and storm events on the Sendai Plain, Japan. The calculated distance from the shoreline inundated by the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami was smaller than that inundated by storm surges from hypothetical typhoon events. Previous studies have assumed that deposits observed farther inland than the possible inundation limit of storm waves and storm surge were tsunami deposits. However, confirming only the extent of inundation is insufficient to distinguish tsunami and storm deposits, because the inundation limit of storm surges may be farther inland than that of tsunamis in the case of gently sloping coastal topography such as on the Sendai Plain. In other locations, where coastal topography is steep, the maximum inland inundation extent of storm surges may be only several hundred meters, so marine-sourced deposits that are distributed several km inland can be identified as tsunami deposits by default. Over both gentle and steep slopes, another difference between tsunami and storm deposits is the total volume deposited, as flow speed over land during a tsunami is faster than during a storm surge. Therefore, the total deposit volume could also be a useful proxy to differentiate tsunami and storm deposits.Hydraulic Structures and Flood Ris
Curing Cholera: Pathogens, Places and Poverty in South Asia
No full textIn this paper I will seek to provide a new understanding of endemicity of disease in India. Through a study of cholera research in the twentieth century I will argue that disease and its endemicity has to be understood in biological factors as well as within a wider social and economic context. I will discuss the medical efforts at locating the causality of cholera from the nineteenth century in Indian climate, water bodies and human anatomy to show that cholera is no more a biological phenomena than water is an ecological or environmental problem. Both are essentially political and economic questions
Patient-specific technology for in vivo assessment of 3-D spinal motion
No full textOne of the most common musculoskeletal problems affecting people is neck and low back pain. Traditional clinical diagnostic techniques such as fluoroscopic imaging or CT scans are limited due to their static and/or planar measurements which may not be able to capture all neurological pathologies. More advanced diagnostics have proven successful in assessing 3-D patient-specific spinal kinematics by combining a patient-specific 3-D spine model (CT or MRI) with bi-planar fluoroscopic imaging; however, custom, not clinically available advanced imaging equipment as well as an increase in radiation exposure is required to acquire a complete patient-specific spinal kinematic description. Hence, the purpose of this research was to develop a clinically viable bi-planar fluoroscopic imaging technique which acquires a complete patient-specific kinematic description of the spine with reduced radiation exposure.
Development of the proposed technique required evaluating the accuracy of 3-D kinematic interpolation techniques in reconstructing spinal kinematic data in order to reduce radiation exposure from bi-planar fluoroscopic diagnostic techniques. Several interpolation and sampling algorithms were evaluated in reconstructing cadaveric lumbar (L2-S1) flexion-extension motion data; ultimately, a new interpolation algorithm was proposed. Similarly, the success of the interpolation algorithm was evaluated in reconstructing spine-specific kinematic parameters.
Next, the interpolation algorithm was combined with a CT-based bi-planar fluoroscopic method. Accuracy of the proposed diagnostic technique was evaluated against previously validated work on an ex vivo optoelectronic 3-D kinematic assessment technique. Bi-planar fluoroscopic images were acquired during both flexion-extension and lateral bending motions of cadaveric cervical (C4-T1) and lumbar (L2-S1) spine. Registration of the bi-planar fluoroscopic images to the CT-based 3-D model was optimized using a gradient derived similarity function. Additionally, a stochastic approach, covariance matrix adaptive evolution strategy, was used as the optimizing function. The newly developed interpolation algorithm was used to reduce the sample size of the bi-planar fluoroscopic images which reduces radiation exposure. Experimental results illustrate the potential success of the technique, but ultimately improvements in registration and validation methods are needed before becoming clinically viable.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2019-05-01The student, Jeremy Goodsitt, accepted the attached license on 2017-02-17 at 01:23.The student, Jeremy Goodsitt, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2017-02-17 at 01:24.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2017-02-21 at 13:18.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #10526 on 2017-08-10 at 14:29:12Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-10T19:51:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 5
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Black Bone
No full textThe Appalachian region stretches from Mississippi to New York, encompassing rural areas as well as cities from Birmingham to Pittsburgh. Though Appalachia\u27s people are as diverse as its terrain, few other regions in America are as burdened with stereotypes. Author Frank X Walker coined the term Affrilachia to give identity and voice to people of African descent from this region and to highlight Appalachia\u27s multicultural identity. This act inspired a group of gifted artists, the Affrilachian Poets, to begin working together and using their writing to defy persistent stereotypes of Appalachia as a racially and culturally homogenized region.
After years of growth, honors, and accomplishments, the group is acknowledging its silver anniversary with Black Bone. Edited by two newer members of the Affrilachian Poets, Bianca Lynne Spriggs and Jeremy Paden, Black Bone is a beautiful collection of both new and classic work and features submissions from Frank X Walker, Nikky Finney, Gerald Coleman, Crystal Wilkinson, Kelly Norman Ellis, and many others. This illuminating and powerful collection is a testament to a groundbreaking group and its enduring legacy.
Bianca Lynne Spriggs is a writer, multidisciplinary artist, and assistant professor of English at Ohio University. She is the recipient of a Kentucky Arts Council 2013 Al Smith Individual Arts Fellowship in Poetry, as well as a recipient of multiple artist enrichment grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women. Spriggs is the author or coeditor of a number of books, including Kaffir Lily, Call Her by Her Name, and The Galaxy Is a Dance Floor.
Jeremy Paden is an associate professor of Spanish and Latin American literature at Transylvania University. His poems have appeared in such places as the Atlanta Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Cortland Review, Louisville Review, Naugatuck River Review, pluck! and Rattle, among others. He is the author of two collections of poems, Broken Tulips and ruina montium.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_cr/1004/thumbnail.jp
Book Review: How the Army Made Britain a Global Power: 1688–1815
No full textAuthor: Jeremy Black
Reviewed by Dr. James D. Scudieri, senior research historian, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College
Senior research historian Dr. James D. Scudieri provides a detailed outline of Jeremy Black’s history of the British Army from 1688 to 1815, highlighting the author’s “theme that the British Army made the empire as much as the Royal Navy—through projecting Landpower.” Scudieri also notes the book’s value to American readers, writing, “American security professionals will see parallel insights from this small regular army within a parliamentary system” and that the “US Army’s evolution in a republic that centers the military establishment in Congress, including wartime expansion and peacetime reductions, developed from this British basis.”https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1073/thumbnail.jp
Deception in Democracies
No full textThis summer, I researched whether political deception could be exercised by the common people in democracies, and what that deception would entail. By answering this question, I hoped to gain a better understand political deception, democracies, and the role of the citizenry. To start my research, I first read through Interpersonal Deception Theory by psychologists David B. Buller and Judee K. Burgoon and Hypocrisy and Integrity by political theorist Ruth Grant. Then, I analyzed the novels Huckleberry Finn and Invisible Man, two seminal works of American literature that explore the political elements of everyday American life. I concluded that deception could in fact be exercised by non-elites. In democracies, political elites require and rely more on non-elites to build and maintain their coalition – this makes them more vulnerable to deception by non-elites. However, for non-elites to practice deception, they must be considered as part of society and a potential coalition member. Non-elites have a different motivation for exercising political deception; unlike political elites, who use deception in democracies to build and maintain coalitions, non-elites use deception to break out or surreptitiously move within coalitions. This use of deception tends to only benefit individuals; non-elites cannot use deception to break or move an entire class out of a coalition. This is because successful deception requires the appearance of conformity, which strengthens the regime overall in the present. On the flip side, visible non-conformance or visible manipulation of the system can shake the regime.Honors CollegePolitical Science, Department o
Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent
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