Transmission of AIDS Prevention Messages in Black Families with Adolescent Children

The study assessed the level of AIDS knowledge in Black families with adolescent children, and identified the cognitive-behavioral skills associated with such knowledge. The assessment focused upon general AIDS knowledge, and knowledge of transmission and prevention. Subjects are 129 male and female household heads, currently residing in an inner-city public housing project. The housing project is located in Harlem, an urban community within New York City. Subjects were recruited through the use of flyers and periodic announcements within the housing complex. An AIDS knowledge and Attitude Schedule was used to measure the level of AIDS knowledge in three areas, general knowledge, knowledge of AIDS transmission and knowledge of prevention. The Frequency of Self-Reinforcement Questionnaire was used to measure the extent to which respondents used self-reinforcement. The Problem-Solving Inventory was used to measure how individuals perceived themselves to have reacted to problems faced on a daily basis. The Simple Rathus Assertiveness Schedule was used to measure the assertiveness. The respondents manifested misconceptions about how AIDS is transmitted and prevented. The respondents were less knowledgeable about AIDS when compared with a national sample of Black Americans. General AIDS knowledge and knowledge of transmission are correlated with assertiveness. Knowledge of AIDS transmission is correlated with perceived problem-solving ability. Respondent's perceived comfort in discussing AIDS and sex with their children is correlated with perceived problem-solving ability

Bosonization in Higher Dimensions

Using the recently discovered connection between bosonization and duality transformations (hep-th/9401105 and hep-th/9403173), we give an explicit path-integral representation for the bosonization of a massive fermion coupled to a U(1) gauge potential (such as electromagnetism) in d space (D=d+1 spacetime) dimensions. The bosonic theory is described by a rank d-1 antisymmetric Kalb-Ramond-type gauge potential. We construct the bosonized lagrangian explicitly in the limit of large fermion mass. We find that the resulting action is local for d=2 (and given by a Chern-Simons action), but nonlocal for d larger than 3. By coupling to a statistical Chern-Simons field for d=2, we obtain a bosonized formulation of anyons. The bosonic theory may be further dualized to a theory involving purely scalars, for any d, and we show this to be governed by a higher-derivative lagrangian for which the scalar decouples from the U(1) gauge potential.Comment: (We had omitted some references and had misspelled `aficionados') plain TeX, 11 pages, McGill-94/33, NEIP-94-006, OSLO-TP 10-9

A simulation framework for enhancing natural attenuation for the remediation of subsurface organic contaminants using targeted PAT intervention

A remediation approach which uses pump and treatment (PAT) to enhance the biodegradation of organic contaminant plumes in groundwater was evaluated for a phenol-contaminated aquifer using a novel reactive transport model, which simulates kinetic reactions the groundwater. The influence of system design and operation on plume remediation to enhance contaminant mass removal by biodegradation was examined. Increasing the distance of an extraction or injection well from the plume interior enhances biodegradation by increasing the dispersive mixing of the plume with the groundwater. An extraction well far away from the plume enhances biodegradation to a greater degree than an extraction well on the fringes. In the best performing single well scenario (injection of EAs at the fringes of the plume), biodegradation was enhanced by 128%, compared with no intervention (intrinsic NA) over the same time period. It was discovered that wells placed too closely together do not promote mixing and often do not enhance biodegradation as much as a single well. A series of 10 increasingly complex multiwell modelling scenarios were designed to conduct a more in-depth investigation. Analysis of this phenomenon discovered a configuration of 4 injection wells which enhanced biodegradation by 520% over no intervention over 10 years. It was hypothesized that enhancement of in situ NA could potentially reduce of the total operational cost of site remediation. Six other modelling scenarios, with the goal of remediating 90% of the contaminant over 60 years through a combination of mass removal through PAT and enhanced in situ NA. The arguably best performing scenario enhanced biodegradation by 285%, degraded 15% of total phenol mass, and reduced the cost of remediation by $66,000, but incurred$85,000 in electricity costs and $540,000 in treatment costs over 40 years. It was determined that this approach examined in this study was limited by the concentration of the contaminant, which is orders of magnitude higher than the concentration of the oxidants, in addition to the slow biodegradation kinetics. However, this framework may remediate contaminants that are more readily biodegradable under aerobic conditions, such as BTEX

Indoor environment quality and occupant productivity in the CH2 building

This paper presents a summary of the results from a post-occupancy evaluation study on indoor environment quality (lEO) and occupant health, wellbeing and productivity in the Council House 2 (CH2) building, which is owned and occupied by the City of Melbourne. This case study has highlighted that the productivity of office building occupants can potentially be enhanced through good building design, and provision of a high quality, healthy, comfortable and functional interior environment, that takes account of basic occupant needs.<br /

Single Proton Knock-Out Reactions from 24,25,26F

The cross sections of the single proton knock-out reactions from 24F, 25F, and 26F on a 12C target were measured at energies of about 50 MeV/nucleon. Ground state populations of 6.6+-.9 mb, 3.8+-0.6 mb for the reactions 12C(24F,23O) and 12C(25F,24O) were extracted, respectively. The data were compared to calculations based on the many-body shell model and the eikonal theory. In the reaction 12C(26F,25O) the particle instability of 25O was confirmed

Examining Affect in Psychometric Schizotypy Using Behavioral Experience Sampling Methodology

poster abstractIn schizophrenia, patients often experience more negative emotions in the form of anger, sadness, and anxiety when compared to the general population. One unique way of measuring affect outside of the laboratory has been to use Experience Sampling Methods (ESM) to assess how individuals perceive current emotions in their daily life. However, these methods are still subject to self-report bias. In this study, we examined affect using traditional ESM methods while also implementing the Electronically Activated Recorder (EAR), a behaviorally-based ESM measure that provides real-world assessments of speech. To examine the EAR, we evaluated affect in schizotypy and non-schizotypy groups. Research shows that schizophrenia-like experiences, like increased negative affect, run along a continuum. Schizotypy is a category on the healthier end of the schizophrenia-spectrum; it applies to individuals who are thought to have a putative genetic liability for schizophrenia. Using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), we compared affective word usage among schizotypy and non-schizotypy groups to provide a real-world, behavioral ESM measure. When traditional ESM measures were used, we found individuals with schizotypy reported less negative emotions compared to the non-schizotypy group, but results did not reach the level of significance. We also observed that non-schizotypy individuals reported slightly higher positive emotions, and the schizotypy group reported slightly higher negative emotions. A similar pattern was observed when examining EAR data. Overall, results suggested that traditional and behavioral ESM measures of affect had significant overlap. In general, those with schizotypy demonstrated slightly more negative emotion and slightly less positive emotion than the non-schizotypy group. Findings did not reach the level of significance. This study demonstrates that the EAR provides behavioral ratings of affect that are on par with traditional ESM ratings. Future work should examine the EAR at different points on the schizophrenia-spectrum