Standard Operating Procedures for Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT)

Abstract only version published due to proprietary Municipality of Anchorage materials.The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness for hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills. Using the training that they learn in the classroom and during the exercises, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event when professional responders are not immediately available to help. CERT members also are encouraged to support emergency response agencies by taking a more active role in emergency preparedness projects in their community. People who go through CERT training have a better understanding of the potential threats to their home, workplace and community and can take the right steps to lessen the effects of these hazards on themselves, their homes or workplace

Evaluation and Improvement of Capillary Microextraction of Volatiles Coupled to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for the Analysis of Ignitable Liquid Residues in Fire Debris

A key aspect of fire debris analysis is the ability to extract the remnants of an ignitable liquid from a matrix with a high degree of reliability and sensitivity. Although there are several robust, standardized methods, there is no single technique universally applicable to casework. In this work a novel extraction technique – Capillary Microextraction of Volatiles (CMV) – has been applied, for the first time, for ignitable liquid residue (ILR) extraction. A 20-minute dynamic sampling laboratory protocol from traditional 1 L paint cans was established and optimized based upon ASTM guidelines. The development of new adsorption phases for CMV use are also reported. A phenyl-modified sol-gel phase demonstrated up to 8-fold higher recoveries of BTEX compounds from headspace sampling compared to previously reported CMV phases and four additional differently functionalized phases were synthesized and evaluated. Preliminary comparisons of the CMV to activated charcoal strips (ACS) and to solid-phase microextraction (SPME) demonstrated equivalent or slightly higher extraction efficiency relative to SPME, and over two orders of magnitude greater extraction efficiency relative to ACS. The versatility of the CMV has also been extended to portable analytical instrumentation. The device was successfully coupled to a TRIDION-9 portable GC-MS when combined with a needle trap, and both were evaluated for their applicability to fire debris analysis. The CMV/NTD technique demonstrated extraction capabilities similar to the CMV alone; however, ILR analysis by the T9 was heavily impacted by the limited chromatographic resolution resulting in complicated data interpretation. The CMV was similarly coupled to a Griffin G510 for dual evaluation. Also presented for the first time is a field ILR headspace sampling protocol involving the use of a paper drinking cup. A five-minute sampling/extraction protocol was sufficient to recover six key gasoline analytes from a 0.01 µL spike of gasoline with typical mass recoveries of 4 – 24 ng. An overall 21-minute analytical method was developed using the CMV/Cup protocol capable of detecting several ILR-associated compounds at up to 10x greater sensitivity than traditional extraction techniques. This body of work demonstrates the overall versatility of the CMV as applied to the entire field of fire debris analysis

Four Short Stories about a Four Letter Word

This thesis falls under the creative category of the Honors Capstone Project and is a compilation of four short stories all written within the past year and a half. It draws from the author’s educational background of English Textual Studies and the screenwriting track within the Television/Radio/Film major. It combines the learned technical aspects of the English language from the former and the creative, story-telling techniques from the latter. Though the author has always been an avid writer, both academically and leisurely, it wasn’t until the summer of 2007 after sophomore year of college that she became interested in short fiction writing. She had written full length feature scripts, started over half a dozen novels, but had never actually written a finished short story. An online fiction writing workshop changed that. After writing her first short story and having it workshopped by her classmates and professor, the short story medium became another outlet for her imagination. The goal of this thesis project was to showcase the author’s creative writing skills and produce a tangible work of art that others could read (the author having never published anything before this). Writing style, just like the English language, evolves over time for an author, and the Capstone Thesis is where this particular author chose to experiment and display the many facets of her writing garnered throughout her three years of college. The art of story-telling is not easy. Many separate components make up a story: style, voice, narration, tone, point of view, dialogue, character development, exposition, story arc, syntax, diction, etc. They all must flow together, combine, and interact in order for the story to work as a whole, like mixing ingredients for recipe. It is not just the sentences that make up a story, nor the paragraphs one after the other; every single word comes into consideration. For this thesis, the author wanted to write four different stories that would incorporate various components, essentially creating four different recipes to dishes that all would go into one single dinner. That is why two stories are written in third person point of view, past tense—one with the voice of the protagonist, the other with the voice of an impartial narrator. Two are written in present tense, first person—one from the viewpoint of a female character, the other from the perspective of a male character. Two of the stories are meant to be more light-hearted and funny. The other two have a more serious tone to the subject matter. At first, there was no planned underlying theme or style intertwining all four stories. It was just to be a collection of short fiction based on the author’s own preferences and inspired ideas. However, upon reflection and analysis before the last story “Once Upon a Time” was written, the theme of love was found to be unwittingly present throughout the three (hence the title of the thesis and the acronym of L-O-V-E that the individual story titles spell out). As the thesis project evolved, this theme became more and more apparent. The last piece was written with the theme of love and all its forms in mind. After that, it truly became a cohesive thesis that had similarities among the separate stories while at the same time maintaining the individual uniqueness that had been planned. The entire thesis became an exploration of love and human relationships in every form. The first story “Lake” deals with romantic love, the abiding love between a husband and a wife. The second story “Once Upon a Time” is a little different in that it promotes love for oneself: respecting one’s own self-worth. The third story “Victoria Madeline” focuses on familial love, specifically the bond between sisters. And the fourth and final story “Escapades of a Zookeeper” centers on the love between friends—the trust and loyalty that comes from being dependent on someone (or something) else. Each story was crafted at different times, but the editing and revisions of them overlapped when trying to compile them together into one thesis. “Lake,” “Escapades of a Zookeeper,” and “Victoria Madeline” were all workshopped formally in separate classes with Professors Phil LaMarche, Sarah Harwell, and Arthur Flowers respectively. Though writing processes vary with each writer, this author develops her stories mainly through her characters then builds the story from there. Because of the author’s education in film as well, she also tends to visualize scenes in her head first then strings them together into a full plot. The following short stories can be viewed separately, one without the others, hopefully still with enjoyment. However, together they form the basis of this thesis. Together they explore the age old concept of love and its intricacies affecting life. And only together do they represent the author’s true writing ability and developed style, which has evolved throughout her college career and which will still continue to evolve long after

Monarch

Ben is my partner, but this piece isn’t about our love. Our personal relationship has impacted my life in such a way that its existence marks the death of an old way of life for me. Portraiture has always been a way for me to nurture relationships and feelings for characters/individuals I imagine as perfect. Creating drawings in graphite, charcoal and ink let me indulge in my desire to get closer to the subject, connecting physically with paper in substitute of the subject. Monarch is my first divergence from my usual idealization of a person -- I have learned to appreciate the raw and uncensored reality of one. Prints of digitally-captured photos juxtapose the reality of their being to the image of them in my head. This first, true physical connection demands a more layered landscape -- a penetrating sensation in order to be visually translated. Although featured in memorial-style drawings and above an altar, the subject is not dead. The figure is alive yet celebrated as a monarch that is more than man -- the altar is put on display in memorial of my past. Expressions, phrases and form were put together as the connective tissues within the installation -- contributions from me and our personal relationship. In the piece I am able to self-reflect -- the project could not be complete without me, I recognize that I am a vital part of it. As realistic as his depiction is on this wall, this is still my perspective and the piece is limited/warped by that

Possible Pathologic Effect of HMGB1 on P. gingivalis Induced Inflammatory Response by Macrophages

BACKGROUND: Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease caused by poly-microbial infection that leads to destruction of connective tissue and alveolar bone. It is well documented that bacteria-derived virulent factors that can act on Toll-like receptors (TLRs), represented by Lipopolysaccharides (LPS), are engaged in the initiation of inflammatory responses. However, while LPS is also produced by the bacteria colonized in the healthy periodontal tissue, inflammation is not induced by LPS in those periodontal healthy subjects, suggesting the requirement of additional factor to upregulate the LPS-mediated inflammatory response in periodontal tissue. Recent studies revealed that novel class of endogenous proinflammatory mediator, high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein, can be released extracellularly from host cells in response to a variety of stimuli, such as pathogen invasion. Although, significantly elevated levels of HMGB1 are reported in gingival tissues and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of chronic periodontitis patients, its pathophysiological role in periodontitis is not clear. The herein study investigated the effects of HMGB1 on P. gingivalis-LPS (Pg-LPS)-elicited inflammation induced in macrophages using an in vitro assay system. OBJECTIVE: The present study examined the effects of the novel host danger alarming molecule, high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), on pro-inflammatory cytokine production by P. gingivalis-LPS (Pg-LPS)-stimulated macrophages. HYPOTHESIS: We hypothesized that HMGB1 forms complex with Pg LPS which can induce hyper inflammatory response by macrophages. HMGB1-Pg-LPS complex is expected to induce production of more pro-inflammatory cytokines (i.e. Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-alpha) and Interleukin 6 (IL-6)) than those induced by LPS or HMGB1 alone. MATERIALS AND METHODS: RAW264.7 macrophage cells (ATCC) were stimulated in vitro for 24 hours with HMGB1, P. gingivalis-LPS, E. coli-LPS or HMGB1 in a preformed complex with P. gingivalis-LPS or E. coli-LPS. Supernatants were collected and kept at -20°C until analysis. Chemical antagonists for TLR4, TLR2 and RAGE were applied to some cultures in the presence or absence of LPS and/or HMGB1. TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels in the culture supernatants were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). PAMP receptor genes analysis was performed to assess TLR2, TLR4 and RAGE mRNAs expressed in RAW264.7 cells by quantitative PCR technique. The levels of macrophage (RAW264.7) proliferations in response to stimulation to LPS with or without HMGB1 was determined by WST assay. RESULTS: Compared to E.coli-LPS that induced prominently elevated TNF-alpha production by RAW264.7 macrophages, Pg-LPS as well as HMGB1 showed significantly lower levels of TNF-alpha production. However, combination of HMGB1 with Pg-LPS, but not E.coli-LPS, showed a remarkable additive effect on TNF-alpha production by RAW264.7-macrophages which was abrogated by addition of TLR4-antagonist. Interestingly, additive effect was only found on production of TNF-alfa, but not IL-6. HMGB1-Pg-LPS complex also increased the proliferation of macrophages, whereas HMGB1-E.coli-LPS complex did not affect the proliferation of macrophages. According to the qPCR-based analysis of gene expressions for PAMP receptors, the macrophages used in this study expressed mRNAs for TLR2, TLR4 and RAGE as putative ligands for HMGB1. Pg-LPS alone or in combination with HMGB1 did not change the expression levels of all three PAMPs expressed by macrophages, indicating that elevated production of TNF-alpha by HMGB1-Pg-LPS complex was not mediated by modulation of PAMP receptors expressed on macrophages. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrated that HMGB1 can form a hyper-inflammatory complex with Pg-LPS, but not E. coli-LPS, that activates TLR4 and promotes TNF-alpha production from the macrophages, suggesting that locally released HMGB1 may up-regulate the pathogenic engagement of keystone pathogen, P. gingivalis, in periodontitis

Evaluación de los impactos ambientales generados a partir del establecimiento y operación del Centro de Recuperación y Regeneración de Gases Refrigerantes del eje cafetero en el municipio de Dosquebradas Risaralda

Colombia, como país firmante del Protocolo de Montreal se ha propuesto diferentes objetivos necesarios para lograr la disminución del consumo de SAO (sustancias agotadoras de ozono) en su territorio, en especial el consumo relacionado con refrigerantes de la familia de los CFC. La refrigeración hace parte hoy de las principales cadenas de consumo y se convierte en un renglón importante de la economía nacional. En medio de esta dinámica, surgen los técnicos como actores principales en la conservación, el mantenimiento y la reparación de los aparatos refrigeradores. El sector del servicio técnico y mantenimiento en refrigeración reporta, en Colombia, los mayores índices de consumo de CFC asociado con las necesidades propias de su oficio pero también con la práctica de procedimientos incorrectos y la ausencia de mecanismos eficaces para permitir la recuperación y reciclaje de los refrigerantes. De esta manera surge el establecimiento del CRRR-EC como alternativa para disminuir la liberación de gases refrigerantes a la atmosfera pero también para cubrir la demanda de los refrigerantes R134a y R-22 cuando la oferta en el mercado sea baja y reducir el consumo de refrigerante virgen, haciendo de la regeneración una herramienta económica y eficaz. Los servicios prestados por el centro se basan en la recuperación con una unidad móvil, la regeneración, las pruebas de calidad en laboratorio, asistencia técnica y capacitación. Por lo anterior se hace necesaria la realización de una evaluación de los impactos ambientales positivos y negativos que puedan generarse a partir del establecimiento y operación del CRRR-EC. Dicha EIA consiste en caracterizar cada una de las actividades y procesos que se ejecutan en el centro llevando a cabo la identificación, análisis y calificación de los aspectos e impactos ambientales presentes para posteriormente proponer medidas de manejo ambiental que permitan prevenir y mitigar las consecuencias negativas como también realizar seguimiento y monitoreo a las acciones positivas con el fin de maximizar su beneficio

Campaña mercadeo social trastornos psicológicos en la adolescencia

This work is based on the general study of sexual disorders, mainly what they are talking about and what treatments are in each of these. Additionally we make an emphasis on one type of sexual disorders that are sexual dysfunctions. We focalize the research on disorders such as oversexed as pornography in adolescents. The access today to internet is so easy and how pornography increases in youth around the world, especially in children from 9 years old. Demonstrating the possible causes and consequences of this disorderEste trabajo, se basa en el estudio general de los Trastornos Sexuales principalmente habla de qué se tratan y cuáles son los tratamientos en cada uno de estos. Además, se realiza un énfasis en uno de los tipos de Trastornos Sexuales que son las Disfunciones sexuales. Focalizando la investigación en los Trastornos hipersexuales como es la pornografía en adolescentes. El acceso al internet que hoy en día se maneja y cómo la pornografía cada vez se incrementa a nivel mundial en los jóvenes en especial en los niños a partir de los 9 años de edad. Demostrando principalmente las posibles causas y consecuencias de este trastorno

Computer Self Efficacy: A Replication After Thirty Years

This work replicates Compeau and Higgins (1995) study of computer self-efficacy (CSE). Nearly 30 years have passed since those data were collected, and the CSE concept and measurement instrument have been widely used with very limited change. This, despite extensive changes in both the technological and user environment. The original study was conducted using a mail survey of professional workers who learned to use computers for business related tasks in organizational settings. We conduct a conceptual replication with digital natives (undergraduate business students) who were learning to use computers for business related tasks in a university lab setting. We test the original model, with the measures adapted as needed to match the context. Our results confirm some but not all the initial study’s hypotheses (9 replication study vs. 16 original study). These findings suggest the need for additional investigation into the utility of the original CSE conceptualization and the implications of computer self-efficacy in computer use for contemporary IS contexts

Estrategias de control y estimación de estado por modos deslizantes para un horno eléctrico

Este artículo presenta el diseño de un observador por modos deslizantes de segundo orden para una planta con modelo lineal, asumiendo ruido en la variable medida. Adicionalmente se propone un controlador de alto orden por modos deslizantes para una de las variables de estado asociadas al proceso. Para finalizar, se realiza un ejemplo con las respectivas simulaciones. This paper presents the design of a sliding mode observer for a second order linear plant model, assuming noise in the measured variable. Additionally, high order controller for sliding for state variables associated with the process modes is proposed. Finally, an example is made with the respective simulations.Universidad Nacional de ColombiaCINVESTAVColciencia

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