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This manual, which presents the principles and steps involved in the two-year Citizen Involvement for Day Care Quality Project in Massachusetts, serves as a guide for developing a citizen network to address the need for quality day care. The Project was housed by the Office for Children (OFC), the state agency which licenses and monitors all day care facilities in Massachusetts, and funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children, Youth, and Families. Each chapter describes a component of the Project, including an overview of its beginnings and accomplishments. Then key principles and specific tips are extrapolated. These tips can apply to other contexts, such as volunteer recruitment and training, skill building, designing written materials, conflict resolution, designing and running successful meetings, and coalition building. Throughout the manual case examples illustrating technical skills and theoretical principles are introduced to show the complexity of the issues. In addition, users are encouraged to apply the techniques and principles to other issues and situations unique to day care needs in other states and communities. Specific chapters cover: the day care system in Massachusetts and its state agencies; citizen action: basic principles and strategies of the project; recruitment; improving day care quality; employer-supported day care; revising state standards; lobbying and policymaking; computerized resource services; project evaluation; and resources for evaluation of day care centers. (DST)

This workbook is designed for community partners working collaboratively to organize and deliver comprehensive employment services and draw on the best and most effective interventions that are available to help clients learn to manage their work life and work futures successfully. It focuses on building abundance by choosing and helping others choose interventions that build excellent employment services. This workbook can be used in a variety of ways, such as a first step tool in organizing a continuum of employment services; a planning process for employment service partners to identify and contribute best practices; a professional development tool for one or more partners to use proactively to plan training and future services; or in creative applications yet to be discovered which allow community partners to work better together on behalf of clients. It is organized into two parts. Part 1, "Matching Client Needs with Appropriate Interventions," discusses the organizing framework of employment service delivering; researching client needs; scanning employment services; evaluating interventions; matching for agency capacity; and dimensions of the framework in action--quality, clarity, diversity, and excellence. Part 1 provides 26 worksheets to be utilized with the interventions. Part 2, "Inventory of ToolKit Resources/Interventions," examines the context of the interventions; delivery to clients; working collaboratively; and building service quality. It includes four sample worksheets. (MKA)

An ω‐transaminase triggered intramolecular aza‐Michael reaction has been employed for the preparation of cyclic β‐enaminones in good yield and excellent enantio‐ and diastereoselectivity, starting from easily accessible prochiral ketoynones and commercially available enzymes. The powerful thermodynamic driving force associated with the spontaneous aza‐Michael reaction effectively displaces the transaminase reaction equilibrium towards product formation, using only two equivalents of isopropylamine. To demonstrate the potential of this methodology, we have combined this biocatalytic aza‐Michael step with annulation chemistry, affording unique stereo‐defined fused alkaloid architectures.

An alcohol dehydrogenase‐mediated asymmetric reduction and subsequent intramolecular oxa‐Michael reaction has been developed for the preparation of tetrahydropyrans (or oxanes) and tetrahydrofurans, in excellent conversion, yield and high enantiomeric and diastereomeric excess. To highlight the utility of the methodology, we report the synthesis of an analogue of the fungal antioxidant brocaketone A. Also described is the preparation of the (‐)‐(R,R)‐enantiomer of the natural product, (+)‐(S,S)‐(cis‐6‐methyltetrahydropyran‐2‐yl)acetic acid.