Letter from Jennifer Rowe to Assistant Dean Robert J. Reilly

Letter from Principal Private Secretary Jennifer Rowe of the Lord Chancellor\u27s Department (1990-1993) to Assistant Dean Robert J. Reilly of Fordham University School of Law regarding The Advocate: Should He Speak or Write? by Lord Chancellor James Mackay of Great Britain (1987-1997).https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/events_programs_sonnett_miscellaneous/1007/thumbnail.jp

Schools Respond to Risk Management Programs for Asbestos, Lead in Drinking Water and Radon

Based on a study of the three EPA-initiated, public school risk management programs noted in the title, the authors find that state agency involvement is an important factor in the success of such programs. They also find, e.g., that school districts are justifiably reluctant to comply with tentative program

Enhancing General Chemistry Labs to Construct Engaging, Colorful Experiments

General Chemistry I (CHEM 121) sets the foundation for the chemistry education of Valparaiso students; therefore, it is critical that the CHEM 121 lecture and laboratory courses provide rich learning experiences that are meaningful, focused and both academically and visually engaging. In this project, two new or significantly revised laboratory experiments were incorporated into the curriculum during the Spring 2018 semester for the first time: 1) The Limiting Reagent in Action: Determining the Formula of a Precipitate and 2) The Analysis of Microplastic Pollution in Local Soil. The common goal of both labs were to increase student understanding of challenging general chemistry concepts by enhancing student engagement. In the case of Experiment 1, this was accomplished by improving the visual appeal of the reactions employed; in the case of Experiment 2, this was accomplished by directly connecting course material to study real-world pollution problems facing NW Indiana. Results of this experimentation and its impact on student learning in CHEM 121 are described

High-Risk Corneal Graft Rejection in the Setting of Previous Corneal Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV)-1 Infection

Acknowledgments The authors thank M. Robertson and R. Fordyce for technical support during the duration of the study. The work performed in Aberdeen was supported by grant from Action Medical Research UK (SP4328; London, England, UK), NHS Grampian Endowment grant (12/49; Aberdeen, Scotland, UK), and Saving Sight in Grampian (Charity No.SC002938; Aberdeen, Scotland, UK). The work performed in Pittsburgh was supported by a Fight for Sight Post-Doctoral Award (JEK; New York, NY, USA); unrestricted grants from the Western Pennsylvania Medical Eye Bank Foundation (Pittsburgh, PA, USA), Research to Prevent Blindness (New York, NY, USA), and the Eye and Ear Foundation of Pittsburgh (RLH; Pittsburgh, PA, USA); and National Institutes of Health Grants P30EY08098 (RLH; Bethesda, MD, USA) and EY10359 (RLH).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Literacy as a pathway between schooling and health-related communication skills: a study of Venezuelan mothers

This article addresses the mechanisms by which women’s schooling might affect the survival and health of their children. A theoretical model is proposed in which academic literacy skills serve as a pathway between formal schooling and maternal health-related behaviors. The model is tested through multivariate analyses of interview and literacy data from 161 mothers in a poor, urban community in Venezuela. Results show that the academic literacy skills women learned in school and retained into adulthood, predict their health-related communication skills above and beyond the amount of schooling they received. The importance of female schooling in developing countries is discussed

Finding Optimal-Path Maps for Path Planning Across Weighted Regions

This paper appeared in the International Journal of Robotics Research, 19, 2 (February 2000), pp. 83-95, with elaborating additions from [Rowe and Alexander, 1997]. The equations were redone for greatly improved clarity in 2008.Optimal-path maps tell robots or people the best way to reach a goal point from anywhere in a known terrain area, eliminating most of the need to plan during travel. We address the construction of optimal-path maps for twodimensional polygonal weighted-region terrain, terrain partitioned into polygonal areas such that the cost per unit distance traveled is homogeneous and isotropic within each polygon. This is useful for overland route planning across varied ground surfaces and vegetation. We propose a new algorithm that recursively partitions terrain into regions of similar optimal-path behavior, and defines corresponding "path subspaces" for these regions. This process constructs a piecewise-smooth function of terrain position whose gradient direction is everywhere the optimal-path direction, permitting quick finding of optimal paths. Our algorithm is more complicated than the current path-caching and wavefront-propagation algorithms, but gives more accurate maps requiring less space to represent. Experiments with an implementation confirm the practicality of our algorithm.This work was supported in part by the U.S. Army Combat Developments Experimentation Center under MIPR ATEC 88-86. This work was also prepared in part in conjunction with research conducted for the Naval Air Systems Command and funded by the Naval Postgraduate School.supported in part by the U.S. Army Combat Developments Experimentation Center under MIPR ATEC 88-86. This work was also prepared in part in conjunction with research conducted for the Naval Air Systems Command and funded by the Naval Postgraduate School.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited

A well-conserved Plasmodium falciparum var gene shows an unusual stage-specific transcript pattern

The var multicopy gene family encodes Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) variant antigens, which, through their ability to adhere to a variety of host receptors, are thought to be important virulence factors. The predominant expression of a single cytoadherent PfEMP1 type on an infected red blood cell, and the switching between different PfEMP1 types to evade host protective antibody responses, are processes thought to be controlled at the transcriptional level. Contradictory data have been published on the timing of var gene transcription. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) data suggested that transcription of the predominant var gene occurs in the later (pigmented trophozoite) stages, whereas Northern blot data indicated such transcripts only in early (ring) stages. We investigated this discrepancy by Northern blot, with probes covering a diverse var gene repertoire. We confirm that almost all var transcript types were detected only in ring stages. However, one type, the well-conserved varCSA transcript, was present constitutively in different laboratory parasites and does not appear to undergo antigenic variation. Although varCSA has been shown to encode a chondroitin sulphate A (CSA)-binding PfEMP1, we find that the presence of full-length varCSA transcripts does not correlate with the CSA-binding phenotype

Maternal literacy and health behavior: a Nepalese case study

This article addresses the question of whether literacy could be mediating the relationships of schooling to maternal health behavior in populations undergoing demographic transition. Recent studies in which literacy was directly assessed suggest a literacy pathway to demographic change. The literacy skills of 167 urban and rural mothers of school-aged children in Lalitpur District of the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal were assessed by tests of reading comprehension, academic language proficiency, health media skills and health narrative skill, as part of studies in the urban and rural communitiesthat included a maternal interview and ethnographic fieldwork on the contexts of family life, health care and female schooling. Regression analysis of the data indicates the retention of literacy skills in adulthood and their influence on health behavior; ethnographic evidence shows that selective bias in school attainment does not account for the results. Further direct assessment studies are recommended