New Releases by Rachel Williams

In an era of rapid charter school growth, this study sought to examine rational decision making for special populations in Texas urban charter schools. To investigate differences among charters, I categorized the schools into three groups: network corporate charters, community corporate charters, and intergovernmental charters. Quantitative analysis, including the use of ANOVAs and Tukeys, helped identify differences in expenditures among the three charter groups. Intergovernmental charters focused their spending on teachers and student programs, including programs for students with disabilities and ESL and bilingual programs. Community corporate charters spent less in most categories, except, in the majority of years, for social work, food services, cocurricular activities, and data processing. Network charters channeled their funding into areas such as school leadership, facilities, security and monitoring, and accelerated education. I then used qualitative analysis to understand how charter school administrators decide to spend their money in a way that is most cost-effective for their operations relative to their student populations. I completed 20 interviews with charter school administrators in four Texas cities. Administrators in charters were aware of the competitive accountability and fiscal environment in which they were running their schools. This resulted in cost-effective rational decision making. Charter administrators were also under significant financial stress and did not believe that their schools were adequately funded, though some charters still sought to make a profit or increase their net assets. To make up the difference in funding, some charters have relied on grants and donations from other corporations. Administrators also discussed special populations of students, such as ESL/bilingual students and students with disabilities.

"En este libro descubrirás los animales más sorprendentes del planeta, por su antigüedad, por su tamaño, por su velocidad, por sus hábitos, por sus defensas. Además, encontrarás más información de sus asombrosas características en las notas de campo junto a los bocetos."--Back cover.

Uranium contaminations of the subsurface in the vicinity of nuclear materials processing sites pose a health risk as the uranyl ion in its oxidized state, U(VI), is highly mobile in aquifers. Current remediation strategies such as pump and treat or excavation are invasive and expensive to implement on a large scale. In situ bioremediation represents an alternative strategy that uses the ability of local microbial communities to immobilize contaminants and is actively studied for uranium remediation. The immobilization of U(VI) in groundwater is achieved either by bioreduction to solid uraninite (U(IV)), adsorption to the soil matrix, or non-reductive precipitation of uranium phosphate minerals through the activity of bacterial phosphatases. Bioreduction has been widely studied for remediation of the saturated zone, as anaerobic conditions typically prevail in these environments. This process is only efficient at circumneutral pH, however, and the end product uraninite is unstable under aerobic conditions or in the presence of manganese oxides, nitrite, or even freshly formed iron oxides. Although non-reductive biomineralization of uranium catalyzed by bacterial phosphatase activity successfully removes uranium from the vadose zone, further studies are needed to assess the ability of microbial communities to hydrolyze organophosphate compounds in the saturated zone where oxygen is often depleted and uranium bioreduction may be significant. To investigate this process under anaerobic conditions, low pH soil samples from a uranium contaminated site at the Oak Ridge Field Research Center were incubated anaerobically in flow through reactors in the presence of exogenic organophosphate compounds to stimulate the natural microbial communities in the original soil matrix. Aqueous uranium was injected continuously in the reactors to determine the fraction of uranium removed during these incubations. The reactors amended with organophosphate produced inorganic phosphate in the effluent, suggesting that bacterial phosphatase activity can be stimulated even in anaerobic environments at low pH. Removal of U(VI) in a control amended with organophosphate over a short time period was similar compared to reactors amended with organophosphate for long times suggesting that adsorption may also play a role in U(VI) immobilization. A sequential extraction technique was optimized to differentiate the fraction of uranium loosely adsorbed and the fraction of uranium precipitated as phosphate minerals and batch adsorption experiments were performed to obtain thermodynamic parameters that could be used to predict the fraction of U(VI) adsorbed onto the soil matrix. Results indicated that 100% uranium adsorption was favorable from pH 5 to 10 (without the presence of phosphate), and that most of the solid phase uranium was extracted in the step defined for the strongly adsorbed/uranium phosphate mineral in both long and short-term amended reactors. Overall, these results demonstrate that the biomineralization of uranium phosphate minerals is a viable bioremediation strategy in both the vadose and saturated zones of aquifers at both low and high pH, provided an organophosphate source is available.

Animals are used to demonstrate the letters of the alphabet that begin their names; also includes brief profiles of each animal.

Because of their relative inexperience in performing procedures and handling sharps devices, medical students and resident physicians are considered to be at high risk for sharps injuries. A higher rate of sharps injuries for medical trainees implies a higher risk for occupationally-acquired infection with bloodborne pathogens and may have financial and legal implications for training institutions. This study examines the prevalence of sharps injuries among US medical students and resident physicians. A systematic review of the literature yielded 10 studies that gave data on sharps injuries for US medical students or residents, and those data were combined with data from our institution to produce pooled prevalences. Results from our institution showed that residents had a significantly higher risk of sharps injuries than medical students. While sharps injuries increased with students'' years of training, residents'' rates decreased with increasing level of training. Resident rates were highest in the department of Surgery and lowest for Pediatrics. Comparing pooled prevalences of US trainees revealed that residents were 6 times more likely than medical students to have a sharps injury. This information can be used by training programs to inform changes in residency training curricula and infection control policies, as well as to forecast Worker''s Compensation and long-term disability insurance coverage requirements. Medical training institutions must continue to provide opportunities for students and residents to perfect their procedural skills, but at the same time, trainees must be protected from the risk of sharps injuries and exposure to bloodborne pathogens.

"The purpose of this project is to examine the realities of relational aggression among pre-adolescent and adolescent girls. Several facets of relational aggression will be explored including the current definition of relational aggression, the most common tactics used to enforce relational aggression, and profiles of bullies, victims, and bystanders. Additionally, this project dissects the possible ramifications of repeated exposure to or perpetuation of relational aggression. The project will then propose a yearlong curriculum aimed at combating relational aggression. The curriculum is an intervention as well as a prevention model that can be implemented for both upper elementary and middle school girls. The goal of the program is to work with girls in developing self-esteem, positive communication skills, and supportive relationship behaviors." -- Abstract, p. 1.

The Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is constantly exposed to microorganisms and pollutants in the surrounding environment. While cadmium (Cd) has been shown to alter specific immune defense mechanisms, the direct effect of Cd on the inactivation and degradation of bacteria in this animal is unknown. Furthermore, the roles of individual tissues in the distribution, inactivation and degradation of live bacteria introduced into the host remain unclear. First, we determined the effect of Cd on the immune responses of C. virginica at the organismal, cellular and molecular level. Following a chronic Cd exposure, oysters were injected in the adductor muscle with 105 live Vibrio campbellii. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) was used to quantify the number of intact bacteria, while selective plating was used to quantify the number of injected bacteria that remained culturable within the tissues and fluids of the whole animal at 10, 30 and 60 min after injection. While Cd did not alter the oyster''s ability to inactivate bacteria, Cd exposure induced a significant decrease in the numbers of circulating hemocytes and significant changes in the expression of selected genes as determined by microarray analysis. The gills, digestive gland and hemocytes mounted unique responses to chronic Cd exposure, yet the functional integrity of immune defense at the organismal level was maintained under these conditions. Second, we determined the relative contribution of individual tissues to the antibacterial response of C. virginica following injections of V. campbellii. Numbers of intact bacteria were used to identify sites of bacterial accumulation, while percentages of culturable bacteria were quantified to determine sites of bacteriostasis within the digestive gland, mantle, gills, adductor, gonadal tissues, labial palps and hemolymph at 10, 30, 60 and 120 min after injection. The gonadal tissues contained the greatest concentration of intact bacteria and the lowest percentage of culturable V. campbellii compared to all other tissues. We suggest that the gonadal tissues, when present, are the main site of bacterial accumulation and bacteriostasis. Overall, this study demonstrates the resilience of oysters to bacterial infections by their ability to inactivate bacteria.

This proposal was then examined in T-lymphocytes treated with glucocorticoid, a more physiologically relevant apoptotic stimulant, using similar techniques. The following observations corresponded to induction of membrane susceptibility: increased merocyanine 540 intercalation; phosphatidylserine flip-flop, detected by annexin binding; and alterations in laurdan fluorescence properties. These observations implied a relationship among sPLA2 susceptibility, lipid spacing, and phosphatidylserine exposure. To clarify this relationship, additional assays were also performed using dibutyryl-cAMP to induce apoptosis, a drug reported to induce apoptosis in S49 cells without the typical translocation of phosphatidylserine. Our results indicated that in cells treated with dibutyryl-cAMP, the merocyanine 540 response and its correlation with sPLA2 susceptibility was similar to that observed with dex-treated samples. This suggests that the underlying mechanisms which promote sPLA2 hydrolysis lead to alterations that may be facilitated by but do not require phosphatidylserine exposure. Taken together, all of the results suggest that direct regulation of the biophysical microenvironment of the membrane is the mode of control of membrane susceptibility to the hydrolytic activity of sPLA2.

Mark is the popular boy at school, who always has the latest trainers, the newest phone and the best MP3 player. He isn''t always very nice, and he can be a bit of a bully, but everyone wants to be his friend. But one day Mark picks on the wrong person: Alex may not have the latest, coolest designer trainers, and his parents may be divorced, but he is a much-loved Child of the Universe, and Archangel Michael is always there to help him when he''s unhappy or in trouble, and today is no exception.

Alex''s life is far from perfect: Mum thinks he doesn''t realise how unhappy she''s been since her boyfriend left, but he knows she cries late at night when she thinks no one can hear. Alex is powerless to help his mum until one day the voice of Archangel Michael answers his desperate plea for help! By teaching Alex to tune himself in to the universal energies, Archangel Michael shows Alex that he is a Child of the Universe who can even visualise Archangel Michael and enlist his healing powers. Who knows? Maybe between them they''ll manage to make Mum smile again.

Rachel Williams was the wife of Henry Williams, manager of the Colorado Smelter in Butte, Montana. Collection consists of a diary (1890-1904) documenting her life in Butte; and a German Gulch and Summit Mine employee account journal (1884-1886).