The Experience of Psychology Paraprofessionals: Views of Peer Counselors and Peer Educators

This study was conducted to examine the experience of students as paraprofessionals in psychology. 102 peer counselors/educators from 10 universities across America were sampled. The research data generated was descriptive in nature. Paraprofessionals rated experience satisfaction and expressed opinions regarding their involvement in peer counseling and peer educating programs

The Economic Impacts of Cross-Border Retailing

An economic impact estimation of cross-border shopping from British Columbia to Whatcom County and forecast of the impact of future changes in retail shopping trends

Monetizing Some Benefits of Participation in NEXUS

There are many benefits of the NEXUS program, ranging from personal time savings to improved security. While monetizing those benefits is challenging, it is important to assess the value of NEXUS and provide information that can support further expansion of the program. This Border Brief quantifies certain individual economic benefits of membership in the NEXUS program using data from 2012 to 2014. We focus on the Peace Arch/Douglas crossing, where the traffic volume is high and a large percentage of travelers are enrolled in NEXUS

Managing the Socially Marginalized: Attitudes Towards Welfare, Punishment and Race

Welfare and incarceration policies have converged to form a system of governance over socially marginalized groups, particularly racial minorities. In both of these policy areas, rehabilitative and social support objectives have been replaced with a more punitive and restrictive system. The authors examine the convergence in individual-level attitudes concerning welfare and criminal punishment, using national survey data. The authors\u27 analysis indicates a statistically significant relationship between punitive attitudes toward welfare and punishment. Furthermore, accounting for the respondents\u27 racial attitudes explains the bivariate relationship between welfare and punishment. Thus, racial attitudes seemingly link support for punitive approaches to opposition to welfare expenditures. The authors discuss the implications of this study for welfare and crime control policies by way of the conclusion

Outbreak of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Peruvian Military Personnel Undertaking Training Activities in the Amazon Basin, 2010

ArticleMilitary personnel deployed to the Amazon Basin are at high risk for cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). We responded to an outbreak among Peruvian Army personnel returning from short-term training in the Amazon, conducting active case detection, lesion sample collection, and risk factor assessment. The attack rate was 25% (76/303); the incubation period was 2–36 weeks (median = 8). Most cases had one lesion (66%), primarily ulcerative (49%), and in the legs (57%). Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) identified Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis (59/61 = 97%) and L. (V.) guyanensis (2/61 = 3%). Being male (risk ratio [RR] = 4.01; P = 0.034), not wearing long-sleeve clothes (RR = 1.71; P = 0.005), and sleeping in open rooms (RR = 1.80; P = 0.009) were associated with CL. Sodium stibogluconate therapy had a 41% cure rate, less than previously reported in Peru (70%; P < 0.001). After emphasizing pre-deployment education and other basic prevention measures, trainees in the following year had lower incidence (1/278 = 0.4%; P < 0.001). Basic prevention can reduce CL risk in deployed militaries.The outbreak response was supported by the Peruvian Army Health Command COSALE and the Peruvian Ministry of Health through the General Epidemiology Directorate and the Health Directorate II, south Lima, and the. In addition, partial support was provided by grants CO497_11_L1 and CO466_11_L1 of the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (AFHSC/GEIS) of the U.S. Department of Defense and the training grant 2D43 TW007393 awarded to the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6 (NAMRU-6) by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (FIC/NIH). This study is part of the dissertation of Marianela Ore for a Masters in Epidemiological Research offered jointly by the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) and NAMRU-6

Assessment and Mitigation of Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Impacts at Short-pulse Laser Facilities

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) will be impacted by electromagnetic pulse (EMP) during normal long-pulse operation, but the largest impacts are expected during short-pulse operation utilizing the Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC). Without mitigation these impacts could range from data corruption to hardware damage. We describe our EMP measurement systems on Titan and NIF and present some preliminary results and thoughts on mitigation

A PfRH5-Based Vaccine Is Efficacious against Heterologous Strain Blood-Stage Plasmodium falciparum Infection in Aotus Monkeys

SummaryAntigenic diversity has posed a critical barrier to vaccine development against the pathogenic blood-stage infection of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. To date, only strain-specific protection has been reported by trials of such vaccines in nonhuman primates. We recently showed that P. falciparum reticulocyte binding protein homolog 5 (PfRH5), a merozoite adhesin required for erythrocyte invasion, is highly susceptible to vaccine-inducible strain-transcending parasite-neutralizing antibody. In vivo efficacy of PfRH5-based vaccines has not previously been evaluated. Here, we demonstrate that PfRH5-based vaccines can protect Aotus monkeys against a virulent vaccine-heterologous P. falciparum challenge and show that such protection can be achieved by a human-compatible vaccine formulation. Protection was associated with anti-PfRH5 antibody concentration and in vitro parasite-neutralizing activity, supporting the use of this in vitro assay to predict the in vivo efficacy of future vaccine candidates. These data suggest that PfRH5-based vaccines have potential to achieve strain-transcending efficacy in humans

Integrating protein similarity networks and orthogonal information for understanding protein origins and function

Biology's entrance into the genomic age has meant dramatic changes. Biologists once carried out painstaking, low-throughput experiments, but now often rely on massive high-throughput experimental centers and `big data'. In modern biology, the quantity of data scientists can create vastly outstrips their corresponding ability to analyze and understand its full meaning. This means that one of most pressing current challenges is to create methods that can manage, organize and visualize massive datasets with the goal of assisting biologists in creating and testing hypothesis.The computational solution presented in this dissertation is that of the protein similarity network (PSNs) and its implementation and usage. These networks are constructed by using an all-by-all pairwise comparison of a protein entity or feature, of which a network can be visualized. These networks assist in showing proteins of interest within their context, whether it is in a sequence, structure or functional context; and in creating hypothesis about how the data of interest relate to the much larger whole.First, Pythoscape will be presented which is a novel software framework for the creation, modification and output of large PSNs. It will be described along with an overview and description of the architecture of the framework, as well as an example using the glutathione transferase superfamily to show the power of the framework in investigating the sequence and structure relationships of large protein superfamilies.Second, an application of Pythoscape to the alkaline phosphatase superfamily is presented. PSNs are used to generate evolutionary hypothesis for this large protein superfamily. These networks, in conjunction with phylogenetic trees, are used to propose an evolutionary model that can annotate protein function more accurately and which also demonstrates the complexity of evolution in large mechanistically diverse enzyme superfamilies.Finally, an application of Pythoscape to the kinase superfamily is presented. We use PSNs to study how members of this superfamily are targeted by caspases, proteases that are activated during apoptosis. This preliminary research demonstrates that sequence similarity and function do not always track and that other orthogonal sources of information may be necessary for accurate annotation

The orchestral anthem in England, 1700-1775

The development of the verse anthem with strings in Restoration England has been thoroughly researched by many people, and such compositions by Henry Purcell, John Blow, Pelham Humphrey and others are well known. However, large-scale anthems with orchestral accompaniment continued to be written and performed throughout the following century. This study traces the history of orchestral anthems from Purcell's time through the remainder of the Baroque and up to the beginnings of the Classical era.Research was focused upon two primary objectives; first, the identification and cataloguing of all ascertainable anthems which include orchestra composed between 1700 and 1775, and second, placing them in historical and musical perspective. Nearly one hundred and twenty such anthems by twenty-seven different composers are listed and discussed.The most important composers of orchestral anthems were George Frideric Handel and Maurice Greene, who produced nearly fifty such works between them, followed by William Boyce, Johann Pepusch, and Benjamin Cooke who each composed around a dozen orchestral anthems. William Croft, John Alccok, Nicola Haym and Hester Needler each wrote four or five of these large sacred works, and many composers tried their hand at least once or twice in this genre.The various functions of orchestral anthems--for royal occasions, installations, state thanksgiving services, the annual Sons of the Clergy Festival and Three Choirs Meetings, degree presentations, programs of various music societies and so on--are discussed and documented. Musical descriptions of the formal structure, instrumental and vocal requirements, as well as key stylistic features are given for many of the listed works, along with over forty musical examples.The appendices include titles and publication information of eighteenth-century orchestral anthems which are available in modern edition, and a complete listing, with primary sources, of all anthems with orchestral accompaniment composed between 1700 and 1775.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio