Families, General Strain, Social Control and Adolescent Pain Killer Use

This study determines whether family structure or transitions alone influence adolescent use of pain killers, as previous studies in delinquency and substance use would suggest, or if there are potentially mediating factors. The theories of general strain and social control are drawn upon to create mediating variables of abuse and failing grade (general strain) as well as attachment and school suspension (social control). The study will use data from the National Survey of Adolescents (1995). Binary logistic regression was used to estimate if family structure leads to increased odds of being abused, having a failing grade, and being suspended from school. Youth from a “traditional” family structure received a protective benefit over all other family structures. The same results were found for youth who had experienced the divorce or separation of parents as well as the addition of a new stepparent. Hierarchical logistic regression determined whether standard demographic variables, or those listed above that are based upon general strain and social control, mediate the effect of family structure and transitions on adolescent pain killer use. While initially it appeared as though youth from cohabiting homes and those who experienced parents divorcing or separating were significant predictors of adolescent pain killer use, once all other variables were controlled for, the experiences of being abused or suspended school, as well as age, were the only statistically significant indicators for youth using pain killers. This suggests that concepts from general strain and social control theory can help explain why family structure and change may be related to pain killer abuse. The implications and limitations of the findings are discussed

Using discrete trial to teach functional play skills

This study examined the effects that discrete trial training could have on the functional play skills of four male preschool students diagnosed with autism. In order to determine the effectiveness of discrete trial training as an intervention, baseline data was first collected for two weeks on the four students through observations of a thirty minute group playtime in the morning of their MD preschool classroom. The baseline data demonstrated that all four students were only engaging in functional play for a limited amount of time. Next, a discrete trial training program was created for each individual student focusing on functional play skills. The teacher implemented discrete trial training as an intervention method for seven weeks. During these seven weeks, the four students continued to be observed once a week during the thirty minute group playtime to monitor how often each student was engaging in functional play. The results over the seven weeks demonstrated an increase in the amount of time all four students engaged in functional play. These results suggest that discrete trial training can increase the amount of time preschoolers spend engaged in functional play skills during group playtimes

Sex Offender Legislation Ex Post Facto: The History and Constitutionality of Michigan\u27s Sex Offenders Registration Act

Is Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (“MSORA”) constitutional? Until 2016, courts routinely said yes. In 2016, the Sixth Circuit in Does #1–5 v. Snyder held that the statute was an unconstitutional ex post facto law. In 2021, the Michigan Supreme Court echoed the Sixth Circuit’s holding in People v. Betts. In response, the Michigan legislature passed Public Law 295 of 2020 to amend MSORA, and courts treat the amended act as a “new” statute. Critical analysis of the amended statute’s legality is difficult because the state legislature has seemingly ignored constitutional issues with statutory proposals until after the fact, and consequently, the amended statute’s constitutionality is unclear. A class action challenging MSORA on multiple constitutional grounds is currently pending in federal court. The U.S. Solicitor General agreed with the Sixth Circuit that the old statute violated the federal Ex Post Facto Clause and Michigan’s Attorney implied that she believes the statute may not survive rational basis review. The 2021 amendments to MSORA preserved many of the provisions challenged by the plaintiffs in Does #1–5 v. Snyder. This Note evaluates potential constitutional challenges to MSORA, identifies challenges that could be successful, and suggests actions that the State could take to remedy constitutional repugnancies

Media disinformation and interpersonal intervention among teenagers.

Dept. of Communication Studies. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1980 .F988. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 40-07, page: . Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1980

Calculating CO2 and H2O eddy covariance fluxes from an enclosed gas analyzer using an instantaneous mixing ratio

Eddy covariance flux research has relied on open- or closed-path gas analyzers for producing estimates of net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water vapor (H₂O). The two instruments have had different challenges that have led to development of an enclosed design that is intended to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses of both traditional designs. Similar to the closed-path analyzer, the enclosed design leads to minimal data loss during precipitation events and icing, and it does not have surface heating issues. Similar to the open-path design, the enclosed design has good frequency response due to small flux attenuation loss in the short intake tube, does not need frequent calibration, has minimal maintenance requirements, and can be used in a very low power configuration. Another important feature of such a design is the ability to output instantaneous mixing ratio, or dry mole fraction, so that instantaneous thermal and pressure-related expansion and contraction, and water dilution of the sampled air have been accounted for. Thus, no density corrections should be required to compute fluxes during post-processing. Calculations of CO₂ and H₂O fluxes via instantaneous mixing ratio from the new enclosed CO₂/H₂O gas analyzer were tested in nine field experiments during 20092010 in a wide range of ecosystems and setups. Fluxes computed via a mixing ratio output from the instrument without applying density corrections were compared to those computed the traditional way using density corrections. The results suggest that with proper temperature, water vapor, and pressure measurements in the cell, gas fluxes can be computed confidently from raw covariance of mixing ratio and vertical wind speed, multiplied by a frequency response correction. This has important implications for future flux measurements, because avoiding hourly density corrections could have the advantages of increasing flux measurement quality and temporal resolution, reducing the magnitude of minimum detectable flux, unifying data processing steps, and assuring better intercomparison between different sites and networks.Keywords: H[subscript 2]O flux, Mixing ratio, Carbon dioxide exchange, Open path, WPL, CO[subscript 2] flux, Density correction, Flux, Closed path, Eddy covariance, Gas analyzer, Enclosed analyze

Near-Infrared Surface-Enhanced Fluorescence Using Silver Nanoparticles in Solution

Fluorescence spectroscopy is a widely used detection technology in many research and clinical assays. Further improvement to assay sensitivity may enable earlier diagnosis of disease, novel biomarker discovery, and ultimately, improved outcomes of clinical care along with reduction in costs. Near-infrared, surface-enhanced fluorescence (NIR-SEF) is a promising approach to improve assay sensitivity via simultaneous increase in signal with a reduction in background. This dissertation describes research conducted with the overall goal to determine the extent to which fluorescence in solution may be enhanced by altering specific variables involved in the formation of plasmonactive nanostructures of dye-labeled protein and silver nanoparticles in solution, with the intent of providing a simple solution that may be readily adopted by current fluorescence users in the life science research community. First, it is shown that inner-filtering, reabsorption of the emitted photons, can red-shift the optimal fluorophore spectrum away from the resonant frequency of the plasmon-active nanostructure. It is also shown that, under certain conditions, the quality factor may be a better indicator of SEF than the commonly accepted overlap of the fluorophore spectrum with the plasmon resonance of the nanostructure. Next, it is determined that streptavidin is the best choice for carrier protein, among the most commonly used dye-labeled detection antibodies, to enable the largest fluorescence enhancement when labeled with IRDye 800CW and used in combination with silver nanoparticles in solution. It is shown that the relatively small and symmetric geometry of streptavidin enables substantial electromagnetic-field confinement when bound to silver nanoparticles, leading to strong and reproducible enhancement. The role of silver nanoparticle aggregation is demonstrated in a dropletbased microfluidic chip and further optimized in a standard microtiter-plate format. A NIR-SEF technology based on aggregation with optimized salt concentration demonstrates a fluorescence signal enhancement up to 2530-fold while improving the limit-of-detection over 1000-fold. Finally, the NIR-SEF technology is applied to demonstrate 42-fold improvement in sensitivity of the clinically-relevant biomarker, alpha-fetoprotein, along with a 16-fold improvement in limit-of-detection. Advisor: Gregory R. Bashfor

Sex Offender Legislation Ex Post Facto: The History and Constitutionality of Michigan\u27s Sex Offenders Registration Act

Is Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (“MSORA”) constitutional? Until 2016, courts routinely said yes. In 2016, the Sixth Circuit in Does #1–5 v. Snyder held that the statute was an unconstitutional ex post facto law. In 2021, the Michigan Supreme Court echoed the Sixth Circuit’s holding in People v. Betts. In response, the Michigan legislature passed Public Law 295 of 2020 to amend MSORA, and courts treat the amended act as a “new” statute. Critical analysis of the amended statute’s legality is difficult because the state legislature has seemingly ignored constitutional issues with statutory proposals until after the fact, and consequently, the amended statute’s constitutionality is unclear. A class action challenging MSORA on multiple constitutional grounds is currently pending in federal court. The U.S. Solicitor General agreed with the Sixth Circuit that the old statute violated the federal Ex Post Facto Clause and Michigan’s Attorney implied that she believes the statute may not survive rational basis review. The 2021 amendments to MSORA preserved many of the provisions challenged by the plaintiffs in Does #1–5 v. Snyder. This Note evaluates potential constitutional challenges to MSORA, identifies challenges that could be successful, and suggests actions that the State could take to remedy constitutional repugnancies