Search

"The Irish religious censuses of the 1760s: Catholics and Protestants in eighteenth-century Ireland" is a book that examines the religious and ethnic breakdown of the Irish population in the 1760s. The editors suggest that the desire to know the religious composition of society may have been influenced by agrarian agitation and efforts to repeal anti-Catholic laws. The book presents two separate censuses conducted in 1764-1765 and 1766, providing information on the size and denomination of the population in different regions of Ireland. The volume includes maps and graphs that illustrate the denominational proportions across counties, offering valuable insights into the demographic history of Ireland. [Extracted from the article]

When do governments borrow policy ideas from the private sector, and how do policy innovations spread from one jurisdiction to another? We examine these questions through a case study of public Montessori programs in South Carolina. Using a policy diffusion framework, we study the expansion of Montessori education, typically available in private schools, to public school districts. Analyzing both quantitative Cox proportional hazards models and qualitative content analyses of newspaper coverage, the study reveals South Carolina's unique position as a national leader in public Montessori adoption. Results indicate a significant role for policy entrepreneurs, including state officials and local advocates, in driving the expansion of public Montessori. While proximity to existing public Montessori districts showed no significant relationship with adoption, the presence of private Montessori schools emerged as an important factor, with districts with more private Montessori programs being more likely to adopt public Montessori. Moreover, high-spending districts and those with a smaller proportion of low-income students were more likely to implement public Montessori, suggesting a link between financial resources, student demographics, and policy innovation. The findings underscore the complex interplay of factors shaping policy diffusion in education, emphasize the importance of considering both quantitative and qualitative analyses in understanding this process, and provide support for the notion that governments look to the private sector for policy innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we examine educational attainment levels for students in Milwaukee's citywide voucher program and a comparable group of public school students. Using unique data collected as part of a state-mandated evaluation of the program, we consider high school graduation and enrollment in postsecondary institutions for students initially exposed to voucher schools and those in public schools at the same time. We show that exposure to voucher schools was related to graduation and, in particular, to enrollment and persistence in a 4-year college. These differences are apparent despite controls for student neighborhoods, demographics, early-career test scores and--for a subsample of survey respondents--controls for parental education, income, religious behavior, and marital status. We conclude by stressing the implications for future scholarship and policy, including the importance of attainment outcomes in educational research. KEY WORDS: school vouchers, student attainment, public program evaluation, Introduction Policymakers and scholars alike have looked to studies of school choice programs for evidence that students do 'better' or 'worse' in alternatives to the traditional public sector. Nearly all [...]

Nine school voucher programs in seven states specifically provide choice for families with disabled children (see sidebar, page 18). In Florida, for example, more than 22,000 students with disabilities receive [...]

David Fleming In recent months, private sources of museum funding from wealthy individuals and in the form of corporate sponsorship--have become the subject of scrutiny and concerted campaigns. What does [...]

The extensive aeronautic application of structural bonding motivated the development of numerous analytical models over the past century. Most of these models consider the adhesive to be uniform and in pristine conditions. Real-life bonded joints often contain localized manufacturing defects – e.g., porosity, partial cure – and degradation under environmental conditions – e.g., humidity, temperature. These deviations can reduce joints' residual strength, contributing to premature failure in-service. This work proposes and evaluates two efficient continuum-mechanics-based closed-form methods for the stress analysis of complex bonded joints made of composite adherends and ductile adhesives in non-pristine conditions and subjected to general loading conditions. These models were based on a model for linear elastic functionally graded adhesives, which was generalized to incorporate adhesive plasticity using a linear equivalent modulus method and a non-linear deformation theory. The results indicate conservative residual strengths and strain distributions, agreeing with an existing analytical model for degraded joints and a detailed finite element model. Both proposed models demonstrated suitability for damage tolerance analyses and forensic investigations of real-life joints and repairs. The computational efficiency and robustness of the linear model are particularly applicable for sensitivity analyses and automated processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have previously proposed that intracrystalline proteins would increase intracellular proteolytic disruption and dissolution of calcium oxalate (CaOx) crystals. Chauvet MC, Ryall RL. J Struct Biol 151: 12-17, 2005; Fleming DE, van Riessen A, Chauvet MC, Grover PK, Hunter B, van Bronswijk W, Ryall RL. J Bone Miner Res 18: 1282-1291, 2003; Ryall RL, Fleming DE, Doyle IR, Evans NA, Dean CJ, Marshall VR. J Struct Biol 134: 5-14, 2001. The aim of this investigation was to determine the effect of increasing concentrations of intracrystalline protein on the rate of CaOx crystal dissolution in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCKII) cells. Crystal matrix extract (CME) was isolated from urinary CaOx monohydrate (COM) crystals. Cold and [[sup.14]C]oxalate-labeled COM crystals were precipitated from ultrafiltered urine containing 0-5 mg/1 CME. Crystal surface area was estimated from scanning electron micrographs, and synchrotron X-ray diffraction was used to determine nonuniform strain and crystallite size. Radiolabeled crystals were added to MDCKII cells and crystal dissolution, expressed as radioactive label released into the medium, was measured. Increasing CME content did not significantly alter crystal surface area. However, nonuniform strain increased and crystallite size decreased in a dose-response manner, both reaching saturation at a CME concentration of 3 mg/ and demonstrating unequivocally the inclusion of increasing quantities of proteins in the crystals. This was confirmed by Western blotting. Crystal dissolution also followed saturation kinetics, increasing proportionally with final CME concentration and reaching a plateau at a concentration of ~2 mg/1. These findings were complemented by field emission scanning electron microscopy, which showed that crystal degradation also increased relative to CME concentration. Intracrystalline proteins enhance degradation and dissolution of CaOx crystals and thus may constitute a natural defense against urolithiasis. The findings have significant ramifications in biomineral metabolism and pathogenesis of renal stones. nephrocalcinosis; urolithiasis

A new ground deicing hazard is described, consisting of the accretion of freezing drizzle onto jet engine fan blades and cowlings, and subsequent shedding of the accreted ice during takeoff leading to damage to jet engine fan blades. Cases of damage to aircraft from hazardous surface icing conditions at Denver, Colorado and Oslo, Norway are described. The two cases at Denver cost United Airlines over $2 million in damage to 12 B737-300 engines. The hazard is identified as heavy freezing drizzle through examination of National Weather Service observations of upper level temperature and humidity, satellite, radar, and freezing rain sensor data. The official National Weather Service observation during these cases, however, was either light snow and mist or light freezing drizzle. The reason for this misreport and underestimate of intensity lies in the current reporting rules for determining freezing drizzle intensity by visibility and not by precipitation rate. Theoretical relationships are presented that show that the variation in drizzle size distribution and the difference in determining visibility from day and night is the cause of the poor correlation of drizzle rate with visibility.

Abstract The purpose of the study was to determine the attitudes of middle school students toward their physical education teacher(s) and physical education class and relate the findings to a [...]