An Analysis of Environmental and Anthropogenic Controls on Indoor Radon Distribution in Grand Forks, North Dakota

Indoor radon may be a potential health threat in a significant number of homes in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Ninety-three percent of the homes tested in 1988 to 1993 contained indoor radon levels greater than the Environmental Protection Agency’s recommended action level of 4 picoCuries per liter. In addition, the average reading of indoor radon concentrations was 18.9 picoCuries per liter, well above the action level guidelines. Several variables were examined through the use of regression analysis and a Geographic Information System in an attempt to characterize the controls on indoor radon levels in Grand Forks. The results of the analysis indicated no significant relationship with any of the variables tested: soil permeability, distance to surface water bodies, and house age. Bedrock and surficial geology are mainly homogeneous in nature and contain primarily shale, limestone, and sandstone which have been found to have high uranium concentrations. Therefore the bedrock and surficial geology play an important role in influencing high indoor radon levels. The outcome of the study led to the formulation of several alternative hypotheses for future studies. Studies investigating meteorological factors as well as building materials may prove to have a positive relationship with indoor radon levels in viii Grand Forks

Impulsivity and risk-taking in clinical and non-clinical populations

Various aspects of impulsivity, including risk-taking, were investigated by comparing the responses of control groups with those of three populations that were believed to exhibit problems with impulse regulation: those with eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and recreational drug users. Impulsivity was regarded as a multi-dimensional construct, tests were selected or developed to tap into various aspects of impulsivity, including self-report questionnaires, a novel discrete trials delayed reinforcement operant choice paradigm, a novel measure of financial risk-taking, and the continuous performance test which provides measures of both inattention and impulsivity. These tests varied in their ability to discriminate between groups, and the correlations between measures, as in previous studies, were typically low and mostly non-significant. Findings supported the proposal that impulsivity is a multidimensional construct that must be assessed using a wide range of measures including self-report questionnaires and more objective behavioural measures. The profile of effects found in the three targeted groups supported the proposal that impulsivity manifests itself differently in different populations. Women with anorexia nervosa scored low on impulsiveness and venturesomeness, and demonstrated behavioural impulsivity. Recreational drug users scored high on impulsiveness, venturesomeness and risk-taking, whereas ADHD individuals were inattentive and scored high on impulsiveness and risk-taking taking, but not venturesomeness. Overall the findings highlight the complexity of the impulsivity concept and demonstrate the need to acknowledge its multi-dimensional nature by using a variety of tests to capture its variable expression. Whether impulsivity in particular groups reflects state or trait remains to be determined

School-wide Discipline Plan: Teachers Perceptions as to how it Effects School Climate

The organizational climate of elementary schools has been extensively studied since the early 1960s. Much publicity has recently been given to methods of student management in the public schools

We do overcome : resilient Black college males.

The proposed work is grounded in research from two areas: (a) stress-resistant or resilient youth, and (b) victimology. These literatures have been combined to address the issue of resilience in Black college students, given their ethnic heritage of oppression. This cultural heritage is thought to produce assumptive world beliefs in Blacks similar to those of persons who have experienced individual incidents of victimization. Blacks as a group view the world as less benevolent than do Whites and report less felt control than do Whites over the distribution of good and bad events. The question arises then of characteristics of the individual or environment that allow a subset of young Blacks to maintain a high self-esteem and personal efficacy, particularly in the face of mainstream culture which continues to devalue Black status? The present research will attempt to explore Afrocentrism, presence of a close/confiding relationship, attributional style and family environ as variables which contribute to resilience in Black college students. Participants in the study will be Black undergraduate students. More versus less resilient subjects will be discerned on the basis of grade point average, leisure activities, social relationships, self-esteem and personal efficacy. Paper and pencil questionnaires will be utilized by this investigator in several group administrations. A group aggregate analysis will be used to report the results. It is predicted that Black students characterized as more resilient will manifest a more integrated personal (high self-esteem) and group (high racial esteem) identity, be more likely to have a close/confiding relationship with a significant adult figure, and have a more well defined sense of their own efficacy, than will Black students characterized as less resilient

GEOSIM: A numerical model for geophysical fluid flow simulation

A numerical model which simulates geophysical fluid flow in a wide range of problems is described in detail, and comparisons of some of the model's results are made with previous experimental and numerical studies. The model is based upon the Boussinesq Navier-Stokes equations in spherical coordinates, which can be reduced to a cylindrical system when latitudinal walls are used near the pole and the ratio of latitudinal length to the radius of the sphere is small. The equations are approximated by finite differences in the meridional plane and spectral decomposition in the azimuthal direction. The user can specify a variety of boundary and initial conditions, and there are five different spectral truncation options. The results of five validation cases are presented: (1) the transition between axisymmetric flow and baroclinic wave flow in the side heated annulus; (2) the steady baroclinic wave of the side heated annulus; (3) the wave amplitude vacillation of the side heated annulus; (4) transition to baroclinic wave flow in a bottom heated annulus; and (5) the Spacelab Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell (spherical) experiment

Team Conflict contributing to Entrepreneurial Learning: understanding conflict as positive within an Effectual Problem Space

The impact of team conflict seems to depend upon context. Entrepreneurship literature suggests that learning from diverse perspectives in teams can contribute to entrepreneurial action (Harper 2008; West III 2007; Williams Middleton 2010), while management literature has shown that conflict in teams negatively affects creativity (Jehn et al. 2010). Recent research streams suggest that entrepreneurial learning might be better understood by applying an effectual logic perspective, instead of causal logic (Sarasvathy and Venkataraman 2011). This causes us to question whether conflict is experienced similarly in entrepreneurial versus managerial teams. We suggest negative consequences of team conflict found in management literature may be due to the causal logic underlying this literature, and thus not readily applicable to entrepreneurial learning. Through exploring relationships between team work, conflict in teams and effectuation, we propose that positive learning outcomes can emerge from experience of team conflict within an effectual and uncertain problem space

A case of bovine raw milk contamination with Listeria monocytogenes

peer-reviewedDuring routine sampling of bulk raw milk on a dairy farm, the pathogenic bacteria Listeria monocytogenes was found to be a contaminant, at numbers < 100 cfu/ml. A strain with an indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern was isolated from the bulk milk two months later. Environmental swabs taken at the dairy environment were negative for the presence of L. monocytogenes, indicating a possible case of excretion of the L. monocytogenes directly into the milk. Milk samples were collected from the individual cows and analysed, resulting in the identification of L. monocytogenes excretion (at 280 cfu/ml) from one of the 4 mammary quarters of one dairy cow out of 180. When the infected cow was isolated from the herd, no L. monocytogenes was detected from the remaining herd. The pulsed-field gel electrophoresis pattern of the strain from the individual cow was indistinguishable from that originally isolated from the bulk milk. The infected cow did not show any clinical signs of disease, nor did the appearance of the milk have any physical abnormalities. Antibiotic treatment of the infected mammary quarter was found to be ineffective. This study shows that there can be risks associated with direct contamination of raw milk with L. monocytogenes.Teagasc Walsh Fellowship; Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Food Institutional Research Measure (Irish Microbial Risk Assessment Network project); European Union (EU), 6th Framework Programme (BIOTRACER project)

Evaluation of Two Commercially Available Cannabidiol Formulations for Use in Electronic Cigarettes

Since 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana in some form, suppliers of legal marijuana have developed Cannabis sativa products for use in electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). Personal battery powered vaporizers, or e-cigarettes, were developed to deliver a nicotine vapor such that smokers could simulate smoking tobacco without the inherent pathology of inhaled tobacco smoke. The liquid formulations used in these devices are comprised of an active ingredient such as nicotine mixed with vegetable glycerin (VG) and/or propylene glycol (PG) and flavorings. A significant active ingredient of C. sativa, cannabidiol (CBD), has been purported to have anti-convulsant, anti-nociceptive, and anti-psychotic properties. These properties have potential medical therapies such as intervention of addictive behaviors, treatments for epilepsy, management of pain for cancer patients, and treatments for schizophrenia. However, CBD extracted from C. sativa remains a DEA Schedule I drug since it has not been approved by the FDA for medical purposes. Two commercially available e-cigarette liquid formulations reported to contain 3.3 mg/mL of CBD as the active ingredient were evaluated. These products are not regulated by the FDA in manufacturing or in labeling of the products and were found to contain 6.5 and 7.6 mg/mL of CBD in VG and PG with a variety of flavoring agents. Presently, while labeled as to content, the quality control of manufacturers and the relative safety of these products is uncertain