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A basic premise of charter school reform in public education is offering more autonomy in the use of funds and the design of curriculum in exchange for greater accountability in academic and financial outcomes. This premise poses a significant policy challenge for state policymakers to establish an appropriate level of regulation; charter schools must be sufficiently independent yet still conform to most state and federal education and financial management laws. This guide examines the laws, policies, and programs that states use to establish consequences for financial mismanagement in charter schools. It discusses how states define the financial conditions for intervention. It also describes the approaches to corrective actions for deficient charter schools and the procedures for closing charter schools. The guide reviews the prevalent policy options and provides examples from existing state laws and practices. It also raises issues that state policymakers may want to consider when adopting or amending approaches to establishing consequences for charter school financial mismanagement. Specifically, this guide will help state policymakers consider the various policy options for defining financial conditions for state intervention, determining appropriate corrective actions for deficient schools, and establishing procedures for closing schools. The guide concludes by stating that policymakers must create appropriate oversight procedures and processes for intervention and closure that are clear, fair, and effective. (Contains 4 footnotes and a list of resources.) [This publication was written with Nina Salomon and William Schmid and produced by the National Resource Center on Charter School Finance and Governance, a collaborative effort of the Center on Educational Governance at the University of Southern California, The Finance Project, and WestEd.]

This document presents North Dakota guidelines to help transitions of young children with disabilities. It identifies two critical service delivery transitions for these children: first, when the child enters early childhood special education services (ECSE) and second, when the child exits those services. Following an introduction, there is a discussion of the role of transition when the child first enters the program including development of the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP). The following section focuses on the second transition, when the child exits the ECSE program, with sub-sections on the role of transition agreements and the role of curriculum. Appendices comprise the major portion of the document and include: a chart showing the transition process from infant development programs, a summary of notice/consent needs during the transition process, a comparison of federal requirements for the IFSP and the IEP (Individualized Education Program), the recommended 3-5 transition process from ECSE programs to school-age programs, a list of potential differences between ECSE and kindergarten programs, a list of social/survival skills critical for successful transitions, a kindergarten classroom checklist, and a preschool/kindergarten teacher questionnaire. (DB)

This training module focuses on the paraprofessional's role in the transition of students with disabilities from school to the adult world. The module is comprised of two components, a facilitator's guide and a student's guide. The facilitator's guide provides the full text of the student's edition as well as chapter goals to be accomplished by students, an outline of topics covered in each text section, materials necessary to teach each chapter (such as transparencies, handouts, and supplemental readings), discussion questions, suggested activities to be completed by students outside of class, and lists of resources (many in Minnesota). Individual chapters cover the following topics: (1) transition from school to adult life; (2) interagency collaboration; (3) roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals; (4) communication and problem solving; (5) assessment and goal setting; (6) student and family involvement; (7) employment; (8) home living; (9) postsecondary education; (10) community participation; and (11) recreation and leisure. Five appendices include an Individualized Education Plan form, information from the Minnesota Paraprofessional Consortium, a summary of disability-related legislation, an outline of the personal futures planning process, and a listing of transition resources. (Contains 19 references.) (DB)

The American Association for Higher Education is interested in how computers and online communication technologies can help contribute to the teaching and learning process. There are ways, the organization believes, for professors to incorporate online services into their courses without having to rethink their approaches to teaching. This paper raises the issue as to whether advertising and public relations curricula have kept up with the advances in this technology. The paper discusses the need for, and the merits of, incorporating the Internet and related services into the teaching of campaigns and techniques courses and offers some classroom applications. Contains 24 references. (Author/RS)

Presents a learning project in which students prepare a guided, multisensory rain forest tour representing its ecology. Develops five stop points presenting a theme or an important aspect of the rain forest. Includes a list of selected resources for rain forest studies. (YDS)

Fiction, journal, and creative writing can help highlight the positive qualities of diverse minority children. Educational psychology often diagnoses difference as disability. Analyzes traditional writing in social science as a type of literature, demonstrating how imaginative writing about students casts doubt on the validity of psychometrics and diagnostics in school reports, records, and discussions as complete portraits of students' abilities. (SM)

The handbook is designed to aid the educator-counselor in formulating and implementing a workable secondary school career guidance program. A brief introduction presents definitions, the philosphy of career development on which the program is based, and a glossary of terms. Information is organized into 10 sections. Needs assessment, the first section, explains the planning cycle, describes activities in the process, and contains a pool of items for constructing a needs assessment questionnaire. The second section, program organization and management, addresses the sequence of activities needed in organizing a career guidance effort. An extensive collection of student learning activities and other materials for use by teachers and counselors are contained in the third section. The tested activities were developed around the three major components of the New Hampshire conceptual model of career education: attitudes and values, decision making, and world of work. The remaining seven sections of the handbook detail the processes involved in incorporating career information resource centers, community resources, counseling services, placement services, program evaluation, and follow-up services into the program. Planning steps and models, sample materials, and reference lists and sources are included throughout these sections. (Author/MS)

This curriculum guide for secondary students contains learning activities on population and social change. The guide revolves around four major concepts. The first concept is population change which refers to the numerical increase or decrease of population. Population distribution is the second major concept which refers to the patterns of where people live. Included are references to economic, cultural, geographic, and psychological factors. The third concept is the effects of population change on both the natural and man-made environments. Planning for the future is the last concept covered in the curriculum guide. For each of the concepts, one major learning activity is included with questions, supporting concepts, and evaluation. The guide lists suggested instructional objectives as well as an evaluation form for teachers to rate the curriculum guide. Ideas for additional learning experiences and sources of further information conclude the document. (Author/JR)

This module is intended to help guidance personnel in a variety of educational and agency settings plan and develop successful proposals to assist in financing the improvement of existing or future career guidance programs. The module is one of a series of competency-based guidance program training packages focusing upon specific professional and paraprofessional competencies of guidance personnel. Patterned after the Performance Based Teacher Education Modules developed at the National Center for Research in Vocational Education, the modules teach competencies for planning, supporting, implementing, operating, and evaluating guidance programs. The module follows a standard format that includes the following components: (1) an introduction that gives the user an overview of the purposes and content of the module; (2) a section that provides information about the module goal and a list of the competencies covered in the module; (3) a reading containing information on each of the competencies; (4) learning experiences consisting of an individual activity, individual feedback, and a group activity; (5) evaluation techniques that can be used to measure what workshop participants need prior to training and what they have accomplished through training; and (6) an annotated list of resources. Topics include maintaining sources of support, developing a rationale, selecting funding sources, writing a proposal outline, drafting a budget, and drafting a full proposal. (KC)

This introduction to the library system at the College of Wooster in Ohio provides pertinent advice and information that is designed to enable the student with a specific learning disability to become an effective library user. Following the introductory chapter, which includes descriptions of the audience for whom the manual is written and how it is to be used, the following topics are covered: (1) library environment strategies for specific personality preferences; (2) learning locations in the library; (3) asking for assistance; (4) finding information and taking notes; (5) understanding call number symbols and finding sources; (6) developing an efficient library search strategy; and (7) allowing enough time for library research. Four appendixes include worksheets for students; a discussion of the characteristics of persons with specific learning disabilities; a check list for determining the preferred learning styles of individuals; and a bibliography of recommended readings and other related research sources. (CGD)

This introduction to the library system at the College of Wooster in Ohio advises the user to keep a number of goals in mind in order to become an effective library user: (1) get to know the librarians and special assistants and how each can be of service; (2) learn the layout of the building and locations of the various service departments and departmental offices; (3) learn about the services, materials, functions, and policies of each library department; (4) develop a systematic method or research strategy for locating the needed information; and (5) learn what reference sources are available and how they work in order to find the information needed. Designed to help the user solve the information puzzle, this handbook provides the necessary information relative for each of the delineated goals. Both a table of contents and an index of titles discussed are provided for quick and easy access to specific items of content. Also included are floor plans for the five levels of the library, sections on special research collections that are owned by the library, and a glossary of library terms. (CGD)

Describes a two or three-class period length secondary simulation exercise designed to teach about federalism and the system of checks and balances. Provides a list of the roles to assigned to or picked by students. Includes models of two bills to be submitted to Congress during the simulation. (CFR)

Measurement error and misclassification of variables frequently occur in epidemiology and involve variables important to public health. Their presence can impact strongly on results of statistical analyses involving such variables. However, investigators commonly fail to pay attention to biases resulting from such mismeasurement. We provide, in two parts, an overview of the types of error that occur, their impacts on analytic results, and statistical methods to mitigate the biases that they cause. In this first part, we review different types of measurement error and misclassification, emphasizing the classical, linear, and Berkson models, and on the concepts of nondifferential and differential error. We describe the impacts of these types of error in covariates and in outcome variables on various analyses, including estimation and testing in regression models and estimating distributions. We outline types of ancillary studies required to provide information about such errors and discuss the implications of covariate measurement error for study design. Methods for ascertaining sample size requirements are outlined, both for ancillary studies designed to provide information about measurement error and for main studies where the exposure of interest is measured with error. We describe two of the simpler methods, regression calibration and simulation extrapolation (SIMEX), that adjust for bias in regression coefficients caused by measurement error in continuous covariates, and illustrate their use through examples drawn from the Observing Protein and Energy (OPEN) dietary validation study. Finally, we review software available for implementing these methods. The second part of the article deals with more advanced topics.

We continue our review of issues related to measurement error and misclassification in epidemiology. We further describe methods of adjusting for biased estimation caused by measurement error in continuous covariates, covering likelihood methods, Bayesian methods, moment reconstruction, moment-adjusted imputation, and multiple imputation. We then describe which methods can also be used with misclassification of categorical covariates. Methods of adjusting estimation of distributions of continuous variables for measurement error are then reviewed. Illustrative examples are provided throughout these sections. We provide lists of available software for implementing these methods and also provide the code for implementing our examples in the Supporting Information. Next, we present several advanced topics, including data subject to both classical and Berkson error, modeling continuous exposures with measurement error, and categorical exposures with misclassification in the same model, variable selection when some of the variables are measured with error, adjusting analyses or design for error in an outcome variable, and categorizing continuous variables measured with error. Finally, we provide some advice for the often met situations where variables are known to be measured with substantial error, but there is only an external reference standard or partial (or no) information about the type or magnitude of the error.

Introduction Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy is a known cause of microcephaly and other congenital and developmental anomalies. In the absence of a ZIKV vaccine or prophylactics, principal investigators (PIs) and international leaders in ZIKV research have formed the ZIKV Individual Participant Data (IPD) Consortium to identify, collect and synthesise IPD from longitudinal studies of pregnant women that measure ZIKV infection during pregnancy and fetal, infant or child outcomes. Methods and analysis We will identify eligible studies through the ZIKV IPD Consortium membership and a systematic review and invite study PIs to participate in the IPD meta-analysis (IPD-MA). We will use the combined dataset to estimate the relative and absolute risk of congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), including microcephaly and late symptomatic congenital infections; identify and explore sources of heterogeneity in those estimates and develop and validate a risk prediction model to identify the pregnancies at the highest risk of CZS or adverse developmental outcomes. The variable accuracy of diagnostic assays and differences in exposure and outcome definitions means that included studies will have a higher level of systematic variability, a component of measurement error, than an IPD-MA of studies of an established pathogen. We will use expert testimony, existing internal and external diagnostic accuracy validation studies and laboratory external quality assessments to inform the distribution of measurement error in our models. We will apply both Bayesian and frequentist methods to directly account for these and other sources of uncertainty. Ethics and dissemination The IPD-MA was deemed exempt from ethical review. We will convene a group of patient advocates to evaluate the ethical implications and utility of the risk stratification tool. Findings from these analyses will be shared via national and international conferences and through publication in open access, peer-reviewed

This publication provides the elementary teacher with sequential and developmental objectives in the areas of plants, animals, ecology, and physiology. At least one motivating "hands-on" activity is included for each objective. Age level (5-8, 8-10, 10-12), process emphasized (classification, experimenting, etc.), and group size (independent study, small group, etc.), are indicated for each activity. Also, materials, procedures, indication of mastery, variations and extensions, interest span, related subjects, and practical hints are given for each activity. The teacher may use this publication as a source of science activities or for an elementary science program. (MR)

General research designs and procedures, special methods applicable to libraries and media centers, and research techniques from educational technology are discussed in this guide to research applications in the school media center. Topics covered include the nature of the research process; the identification and definition of researchable questions and accompanying hypotheses; the location of information, particularly in publications relevant to media library researchers; types of personal information systems; the evaluation of existing research; the elements of survey research and 10 additional research designs; the analysis and interpretation of data; and summarizing and reporting results. A research case study on the subject of children's preference for two types of book bindings and a 52-item bibliography are also provided. Appendices comprise a discussion of time and cost data collection instruments with a sample data collection instrument given; a series of pathfinders to related literature and other sources of information in the areas of audiovisual equipment, computers in education, educational technology, instructional design, and school media centers; a list of resources for locating reference materials, research reports, statistics, and other information; and a sample form for the evaluation of existing research. A feedback form concludes the guide. (ESR)

Despite a development in Swedish patient safety work in recent years, unambiguous results are missing. Here we propose some activities that will result in improved patient safety. Patients and employees are a strong driving force, and should be given a more important role. The level of education in patient safety must be raised in all levels in the system. Effective systems for learning, sharing and follow-up need to be reinforced. The understanding on how the health-care system adapts to varying circumstances, resilience, needs development. The knowledge basis of what constitutes and creates safety in psychiatry, paediatric care, primary care, and in care of the elderly must be developed., QC 20161114

Despite a development in Swedish patient safety work in recent years, unambiguous results are missing. Here we propose some activities that will result in improved patient safety. Patients and employees are a strong driving force, and should be given a more important role. The level of education in patient safety must be raised in all levels in the system. Efective systems for learning, sharing and follow-up need to be reinforced. The understanding on how the health-care system adapts to varying circumstances, resilience, needs development. The knowledge basis of what constitutes and creates safety in psychiatry, paediatric care, primary care, and in care of the elderly must be developed., QC 20151119

Chromosome 1R of rye is a useful source of genes for disease resistance and enhanced agronomic performance in wheat. One of the most prevalent genes transferred to wheat from rye is the stem rust resistance gene Sr31. The recent emergence and spread of a stem rust pathotype virulent to this gene has refocused efforts to find and utilize alternative sources of resistance. There has been considerable effort to transfer a stem rust resistance gene, SrR, from Imperial rye, believed to be allelic to Sr31, into commercial wheat cultivars. However, the simultaneous transfer of genes at the Sec-1 locus encoding secalin seed storage proteins and their association with quality defects preclude the deployment of SrR in some commercial wheat breeding programs. Previous attempts to induce homoeologous recombination between wheat and rye chromosomes to break the linkage between SrR and Sec-1 whilst retaining the tightly linked major loci for wheat seed storage proteins, Gli-D1 and Glu-D3, and recover good dough quality characteristics, have been unsuccessful. We produced novel tertiary wheat–rye recombinant lines carrying different lengths of rye chromosome arm 1RS by inducing homoeologous recombination between the wheat 1D chromosome and a previously described secondary wheat–rye recombinant, DRA-1. Tertiary recombinant T6-1 (SrR+ Sec-1–) carries the target gene for stem rust resistance from rye and retains Gli-D1 but lacks the secalin locus. The tertiary recombinant T49-7 (SrR– Sec-1+) contains the secalin locus but lacks the stem rust resistance gene. T6-1 is expected to contribute to wheat breeding programs in Australia, whereas T49-7 provides opportunities to investigate whether the presence of secalins is responsible for the previously documented dough quality defects.

Udgivelsesdato: 2005-Sep, Pre-treatment serum levels of sCD163 were measured in a cohort of 236 suspected tuberculosis (TB) cases from Guinea-Bissau, with a median follow-up period of 3.3 years (range 0-6.4 years). In 113 cases, the diagnosis of TB was verified by positive sputum microscopy and/or culture. Among the verified TB cases, a decreased survival rate was found in 27 patients with sCD163 levels above the upper reference limit (3.95 microg/mL). The difference in survival was significant during TB treatment (log rank, p<0.02) and after long-term follow-up (log rank, p<0.001). The decrease in survival rate during TB treatment remained significant in a multivariate Cox model controlling for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status, age and gender, with a mortality increase of 1.19 (95% CI, 1.04-1.36) per microg of sCD163, and a hazard ratio (HR) for sCD163 levels above the upper reference limit of 4.18 (95% CI, 1.06-16.4). The difference was not significant after excluding patients with concomitant HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection in Kaplan-Meier analyses (log rank, p 0.11). In contrast, the difference in survival remained significant in Kaplan-Meier analyses after long-term follow-up, even after excluding patients with concomitant HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection (log rank, p 0.002). In the Cox model, the mortality increase per microg of sCD163 was 1.27 (95% CI, 1.14-1.40), with an HR for elevated sCD163 levels of 2.85 (95% CI, 1.44-5.63). The HRs for concomitant HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection were 6.92 (95% CI, 3.28-14.58) and 2.48 (95% CI, 1.09-5.67), respectively. Thus, sCD163 levels appeared to be an independent predictor of survival in verified TB patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the serum level of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) carries prognostic information in individuals infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. DESIGN: suPAR was measured by ELISA in 262 individuals at the time of enrolment into a cohort based on suspicion of active tuberculosis and in 101 individuals after 8 months of follow-up. RESULTS: The suPAR levels were elevated in patients with active TB compared to TB-negative individuals (P < 0.001). suPAR levels were highest in patients positive for TB on direct microscopy (n = 84, median suPAR 3.17 ng/ml, P < 0.001), followed by patients negative on direct microscopy but culture positive (n = 35, median suPAR 2.41 ng/ml, P = 0.005) and by patients diagnosed on clinical grounds (n = 63, median suPAR 2.13 ng/ml, P = 0.06) compared to 64 TB-negative individuals (median suPAR 1.73 ng/ml). During the 8-month treatment period, 23 TB cases died. In a multivariate Cox model controlling for HIV status, age, sex, CD4 count and type of TB diagnosis, the mortality increase per ng suPAR was 1.25 (95%CI 1.12-1.40). After treatment, suPAR levels had decreased to the levels of TB-negative individuals. CONCLUSIONS: suPAR levels are elevated in TB patients and associated with mortality. Furthermore, suPAR may be a potential marker of treatment efficacy.

This report is based on 1.851 adult patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS) of the extremities or trunk wall diagnosed between 1986 and 1997 and reported from all tertiary referral centers in Norway and Sweden. The median age at diagnosis was 65 years and the male-to-female ratio was 1.1:1. One third of the tumors were subcutaneous, one third deep, intramuscular and one third deep, extramuscular. The median size was 7 (1-35) cm and 75% were high grade (III-IV). Metastases at presentation were diagnosed in 8% of the patients. Two thirds of STS patients were referred before surgery and the referral practices have improved during the study. The preoperative morphologic diagnosis was made with fine-needle aspiration cytology in 81%, core-needle biopsy in 9% and incisional biopsy in 10%. The frequency of amputations has decreased from 15% in 1986-88 to 9% in 1995-1997. A wide surgical margin was achieved in 77% of subcutaneous and 60% of deep-seated lesions. Overall, 24% of operated STS patients had adjuvant radiotherapy. The use of such therapy at sarcoma centers increased from 20% 1986-88 to 30% in 1995-97. Follow-up has been reported in 96% of the patients. The cumulative local recurrence rate was 0.20 at 5 years and 0.24 at 10 years. The 5-year metastasis-free survival rate was 0.70.

This study was based on 459 adult patients with deep, high-grade, soft tissue sarcoma of extremities or trunk wall reported to the Scandinavian Sarcoma Group Register (1986-1993). All patients had their definitive surgery for primary tumor at a sarcoma center. The median follow-up was 7.5 (3-12) years. 204 patients are still alive. 68 patients had amputations and 391 underwent limb-sparing surgery. Among 183 patients with intralesional or marginal margins after limb-sparing surgery, 65% had postoperative radiotherapy and 9% of the 198 patients with wide margins. The local recurrence rate after limb-sparing surgery was 26%. The rate with an intralesional or marginal margin was 39% without postoperative radiotherapy versus 24% when radiotherapy was given. It was 25% after a wide margin, and no recurrences were noted among the 10 patients with a compartmental surgical margin. Among patients with a wide margin, a subset fulfilling criteria for a myectomy was defined. The local recurrence rate was 26% among these 62 and there was no advantage of myectomy over other wide margins. More radical surgical margins would improve the local recurrence rate, but this can hardly be achieved in center-operated patients without increasing the amputation rate. Instead, increased use of radiotherapy in all patients with inadequate margins, and to a larger extent in those with wide margins will improve local control.

An investigation showed distinct advantages to manufacturing chlorate candles by a hot-pressing technique, omitting water as a binder. Small quantities of water trapped in a chlorate candle can result in the production of significant quantities of chlorine. By the hot-pressing method, high-density candles (2.5 g/cc) were produced which yield the equivalent of 200 cu ft of oxygen (STP) from 490 cu in. of candle volume. Two methods can be used for forming candles: molding and extrusion. Molded candles are best formed at temperatures from 225 to 245 C at pressures from 10,000 to 5000 psi, respectively. A double-action ram can be used; with a single-action ram, successive pressing increments should be used to avoid uneven distribution of density. Use of a glass-wool blanket or oven annealing is recommended to avoid thermal stresses on cooling.