In recent years, schools and districts have increasingly become reliant on state categorical funds, which have restricted local financial control and have caused many schools and districts to look ...for alternative sources of revenue. One of these alternative sources is private contributions. While public schools and districts have always attracted private support, anecdotal reports and a limited body of documented research suggest they are now pursuing private support with increased sophistication and aggressiveness. Current reports and research provide a limited accounting of private support of public education and no framework for thinking about such support. This pilot study is designed to provide schools and districts with information on the type of public-private partnerships that have been developed and the mechanisms used to attract private support.
Although present incidence and prevalence rates are still low, dramatic increases have been noted in the percentages of American Indians (AIs) diagnosed with HIV and AIDS, perhaps indicating groups ...that are increasing in their risk for the infection. High rates of sexually transmitted diseases among AIs who are 20-24 years old also raise concern about the vulnerability of these young adults. In a community-based group of 706 AI young adults, knowledge about sexuality and HIV transmission was rather low; efficacy and outcome expectations were high. Levels of some risk behaviors (e.g., exchanging sex for drugs or money) were low, while others (e.g., inconsistent condom use) were considerably higher. Knowledge and attitudes were modestly related; neither was related to risk behaviors. Suggestions are made about interventions focusing on specific high-risk groups and broad-based knowledge and skill-based interventions.
Kallmann syndrome and schizophrenia share several clinical features, including dysfunctional olfactory ability, hypogonadotrophic hypogonadism, an excess of affected males, and psychiatric ...presentation. Because of this congruence, it has been proposed that up to 70% of male schizophrenics might have mutations affecting the function or expression of the gene mutated in Kallmann syndrome, KAL-X. We identified and studied 9 unrelated males with schizophrenia (as defined by DSM-IIIR criteria) who also have severe anosmia (first percentile of normal range) and low sex drive (seventh percentile of the normal range), and we sequenced the exons and the intron-exon junctions of the KAL-X gene for each. We found no mutations, and conclude that schizophrenia is rarely, if ever, due to a mutation in the coding sequence or splice junctions of KAL-X.
The effectiveness of diuron, atrazine, procyazine, and cyanazine were compared in controlling growth of redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus L.) in hydroponic culture. A very marked differential ...inhibition response was observed for atrazine between resistant and susceptible biotypes. Procyazine and cyanazine exhibited less dramatic differential responses, whereas diuron was equally effective in controlling growth in both biotypes. Photosystem II activity of chloroplasts from both triazine-resistant and triazine-susceptible biotypes was inhibited by diuron but only the chloroplasts from triazine-susceptible biotypes were inhibited significantly by atrazine. The photochemical activity of chloroplasts from triazine-resistant biotypes was partially resistant to procyazine or cyanazine inhibition. The parallel lack of diuron differential effects, partial procyazine and cyanazine differential response, and very marked atrazine differential response in both whole plant and chloroplast assays indicates that the chloroplast is the site of selective herbicide tolerance in these triazine-resistant redroot pigweed biotypes. Photosystem II photochemical properties were characterized by analysis of chlorophyll fluorescence transients in the presence or absence of herbicides. Data with susceptible chloroplasts indicated that both diuron and atrazine inhibit electron flow very near the primary electron acceptor of photosystem II. Only diuron altered the fluorescence transient in resistant chloroplasts. In untreated preparations there were marked differences in the fast phases of the fluorescence increase in resistant vs. susceptible chloroplasts; these data are interpreted as showing that the resistant plastids have an alteration in the rate of reoxidation of the primary photosystem II electron acceptor. Electrophoretic analysis of chloroplast membrane proteins of the two biotypes showed small changes in the electrophoretic mobilities of two polypeptide species. The data provide evidence for the following herbicide resistance mechanism: genetically controlled modification of the herbicide target site.
Approximately 70% of patients aged 65 and older, and 32% of patients 75 year and older, are discharged from the ED.16 However, preliminary results show that within one week of visiting the ED, 40% of ...geriatric patients report additional functional decline, 50% require additional nursing care and support services, and 15% returned to the ED.\n Researchers agree that best practice screening is a multifaceted approach.22 Depending on the patient, co-morbidities, environment, and other factors, multiple domains may need to be evaluated. In order to change the grim statistics on falls and fall related injuries, we also must raise awareness and educate communities, other health care providers, and health care systems about fall prevention initiatives, work to implement effective screenings and subsequent intervention programs, and educate the public and other stakeholders about the role of physical therapists.
In an era of dependence on nonflexible funding by states, private support is a desirable source of funding. Anecdotal reports and a limited body of documented research suggest districts and schools ...are pursuing private support with increased sophistication and aggressiveness. This pilot study is designed to provide schools and school districts with information on the types of public-private partnerships that have been developed and the mechanisms used to attract private resources. Specifically, private support giving in the Los Angeles-area schools is examined. The results are based on interviews of superintendents, principals, school district staff, and local education foundation representatives in fall and winter 2000. Section 1 is an introduction. Section 2 examines what is currently known about private support of public schools. Section 3 explains the research methodology. Section 4 summarizes the answers to several questions: Who are the private givers? How do schools attract private support? What type of support is provided, and how are the contributions used? Section 5 shares the lessons learned about effectively raising private support. In addition to numerous tables of data, three appendices explain interview protocols. (Contains 100 references and 27 endnotes.) (RKJ)
The report analyzes an array of issues pertaining to student achievement, governance, operation, and accessibility of charter schools in California. Four specific research questions are investigated: ...(1) Is student achievement higher in charter schools than in conventional public schools? (2) What oversight and support do the chartering authorities provide? (3) How do charter schools differ from their conventional public school counterparts in terms of their operation, including finances, academic achievement, and staffing? (4) What population of students attend charter schools? One main finding is that there is no single charter school model-charter schools are not a homogeneous group and vary across many important dimensions. Regarding student achievement, results are mixed. Students in charter schools generally have comparable or slightly lower test scores than students in conventional public schools, but there is variation among the types of charter schools. With respect to governance, only a small proportion of chartering authorities are collecting accountability information such as student grades, promotion rates, and dropout rates. A major finding from examining the operation of charter schools suggests that these schools, particularly newly created charter schools, receive fewer public resources per student because of their lack of participation in categorical programs. Finally, in evaluating accessibility, we compare the average ethnic/racial makeup of charter and conventional schools within the same district. We find that charter students are more likely to be black and less likely to be Hispanic or Asian, but no more likely to be white.
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