Paws in Prison: A Second Chance

The documentary film Paws in Prison: A Second Chance takes an in-depth look at a program that has been incorporated in seven Arkansas prisons since 2011. Select inmates housed in these prisons are chosen to learn how to become dog trainers during their sentences. They spend 24 hours a day with dogs that were rescued from shelters where they may have been euthanized. This project incorporates interviews with inmates in the Paws in Prison program, wardens at the Maximum Security Unit and the Tucker Unit, and volunteers who spend time teaching inmates how to train and socialize their dogs. The film includes footage I shot inside two Arkansas prisons. This 23-minute film, submitted as a supplemental file to this paper, tells the story of one inmate, who is new to the program, and the first dog he is assigned to train, and another inmate who is scheduled to be released on parole in August. The documentary explores the impact the Paws in Prison program is having on incarcerated individuals and institutions. It illustrates both positive and potential negatives aspects of programs such as these in the prison system. The goal of this film is to answer questions about how these programs work, how the community perceives the programs and what, if anything, have the inmates learned from being a part of Paws in Prison. The target audience for this film includes anyone interested in the Arkansas penal system and the ways in which prisoners are rehabilitated while incarcerated. I believe viewers who are interested in saving animals would also be included in the target audience

Childhood Maltreatment Predictors of Trait Impulsivity

This chapter provides a summary of empirical evidence linking childhood maltreatment and trait impulsivity. While biological contributors to impulsivity may be substantial, this review speculates that childhood and adolescent contributors may potentially alter the developmental trajectory of this personality trait in important ways. An analysis of original data (N = 401) regarding child maltreatment associations (childhood sexual abuse, physical abuse, sibling abuse, peer bullying, corporal punishment, and exposure to domestic violence) with trait impulsivity as measured by the Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 was also conducted. Adult respondents were assigned to extreme child abuse categories based on their retrospective self-reports. Co-occurrence rates for the various forms of maltreatment were modest (around 10%). While childhood sexual abuse was more closely associated with adult impulsivity among the men than the women, gender differences in these maltreatment relationships were otherwise minimal. Extreme childhood sexual abuse was a significant predictor of trait impulsivity and all other facets of the PID-5 Disinhibition domain (ds ranging from .52 to .80). Adult impulsivity was predicted by both childhood physical abuse (ds ranging from .23 to .28) and exposure to domestic violence during childhood (ds ranging from .21 to .32). The relative risk of adult respondents showing an elevation (\u3e 1.5 SDs) in trait Impulsivity was raised substantially by childhood histories of extreme sexual abuse (RR = 8.68), physical abuse (RR = 3.31), or exposure to parental domestic violence (RR = 4.08). Higher order interactions between these various forms of childhood maltreatment and Impulsivity were not found. The developmental psychopathology implications of these findings are discussed along with suggested directions for future research

Childhood Maltreatment and Adult Dispositional Mindfulness

Dispositional mindfulness has been conceptualized as both a trait and skill set for managing life stress. Levels of dispositional mindfulness appear to provide a meaningful barometer of emotional well-being and behavioral functioning. This chapter reviews selected literature regarding the potential effects of early life experience on the development of this important trait and coping skill. Empirical data regarding the developmental sources of this important psychological attribute has been surprisingly limited. Some prior research has implicated childhood maltreatment as disruptive to the development of this important coping skill. The present study examined the potential impact of six different forms of childhood maltreatment on dispositional mindfulness development. A number of parental relationship and resiliency protective factors were also added to the analysis. Survey respondents in this college sample (N = 978) completed indices of dispositional mindfulness, childhood maltreatment, parental relationship qualities, and resiliency factors. Respondents who described histories of sexual abuse, peer abuse, or sibling maltreatment showed lower levels of dispositional mindfulness. Parental temper was inversely related to dispositional mindfulness. Spirituality and larger childhood friendship circles provided favorable indicators. These results should encourage continued efforts to examine childhood maltreatment, early parent-child relationship qualities, and resiliency factors as potential sources of dispositional mindfulness development

An Efficient, Green Chemical Synthesis of the Malaria\ud Drug, Piperaquine

To provide a robust, efficient synthesis of the malaria drug piperaquine for potential use in resource-poor settings. We used in-process analytical technologies (IPAT; HPLC) and a program of experiments to develop a synthesis of piperaquine that avoids the presence of a toxic impurity in the API and is optimized for overall yield and operational simplicity. A green-chemical synthesis of piperaquine is described that proceeds in 92 – 93 % overall yield. The chemistry is robust and provides very pure piperaquine tetraphosphate salt (> 99.5 %). The overall process utilizes modest amounts (about 8 kg/kg) of 2-propanol and ethyl acetate as the only organic materials not incorporated into the API; roughly 60 % of this waste can be recycled into the production process. This process also completely avoids the formation of a toxic impurity commonly seen in piperaquine that is otherwise difficult to remove. An efficient synthesis of piperaquine is described that may be useful for application in resource-poor settings as a means of expanding access to and reducing the cost of ACTs

Efficacy of Mammographic Evaluation of Breast Cancer in Women Less Than 40 Years of Age: Experience from a Single Medical Center in Taiwan

Background/PurposeMammography is the standard imaging modality for breast cancer diagnosis. However, the value of mammographic diagnosis in breast cancer patients aged less than 40 years old has not been well assessed. The goal of our study was to determine the diagnostic efficacy of mammography for the detection of breast cancer in women under 40 years of age in a single medical center in Taiwan.MethodsOf 1766 women diagnosed with breast cancer in one medical center between 1999 and 2005, 227 (12.9%) who were younger than 40 years of age were enrolled, and 105 of these 227 patients had pre-biopsy mammograms available for analysis. The sensitivities for mammography at first (prospective) and second (retrospective) readings and for corresponding ultrasound were calculated. The distribution of different breast composition between the mammographic true-positive (TP) and false-negative (FN) lesions at the first and second readings was analyzed.ResultsOf the 105 patients, 104 presented with a palpable mass and the other one was asymptomatic. There were 109 pathologically proven breast cancers from the 105 patients; 92 of 109 cancerous lesions were detected at the first mammographic reading (sensitivity 84.4%), and the most common mammographic sign was microcalcifications (40.2%). The second reading detected seven additional cancers (99 of 109 lesions; sensitivity 90.8%). There was no significant difference between mammographic TP and FN lesions for the different breast composition on first and second readings. Ninety patients also had ultrasound available for correlation with 94 cancers diagnosed from them. The diagnostic sensitivity of ultrasound was 94.7% (89 of 94 lesions).ConclusionMammography has an acceptable sensitivity for the detection of breast cancer in women aged less than 40 years, regardless of different breast composition. Breast ultrasound can offer a higher sensitivity for such a population

Finding Needles in Haystacks: The Use of Quantitative Proteomics for the Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common and treatable disease if diagnosed early. Current population screening programs are suboptimal, and consequently, there is a need for the development of new methodologies for early diagnosis of CRC. In the past 10 years, unprecedented technological advancements in the field of mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics have progressively increased the sophistication and utility of these investigations, leading to the draft mapping of the human proteome. These exciting studies have shaped our mechanistic understanding of the human genome and begun to provide us with a suite of novel biomarkers to predict the onset, progression and severity of many debilitating diseases. Thus, sophisticated MS workflows coupled with revolutionary protein quantification techniques hold promise for the field of MS-based plasma proteomics, particularly valuable in the context of early stage identification of curable CRC. However, within the last 40 years, no new plasma protein biomarkers of CRC have been translated into clinical practice. Here. we discuss the application of proteomic technologies within the field of CRC, highlighting contemporary MS-based plasma proteomic strategies that could be exploited to deliver on the promise of a panel of sensitive and specific plasma-based biomarkers with which to non-invasively detect early stage CRC

Plastic neutron detectors.

This work demonstrated the feasibility and limitations of semiconducting {pi}-conjugated organic polymers for fast neutron detection via n-p elastic scattering. Charge collection in conjugated polymers in the family of substituted poly(p-phenylene vinylene)s (PPV) was evaluated using band-edge laser and proton beam ionization. These semiconducting materials can have high H/C ratio, wide bandgap, high resistivity and high dielectric strength, allowing high field operation with low leakage current and capacitance noise. The materials can also be solution cast, allowing possible low-cost radiation detector fabrication and scale-up. However, improvements in charge collection efficiency are necessary in order to achieve single particle detection with a reasonable sensitivity. The work examined processing variables, additives and environmental effects. Proton beam exposure was used to verify particle sensitivity and radiation hardness to a total exposure of approximately 1 MRAD. Conductivity exhibited sensitivity to temperature and humidity. The effects of molecular ordering were investigated in stretched films, and FTIR was used to quantify the order in films using the Hermans orientation function. The photoconductive response approximately doubled for stretch-aligned films with the stretch direction parallel to the electric field direction, when compared to as-cast films. The response was decreased when the stretch direction was orthogonal to the electric field. Stretch-aligned films also exhibited a significant sensitivity to the polarization of the laser excitation, whereas drop-cast films showed none, indicating improved mobility along the backbone, but poor {pi}-overlap in the orthogonal direction. Drop-cast composites of PPV with substituted fullerenes showed approximately a two order of magnitude increase in photoresponse, nearly independent of nanoparticle concentration. Interestingly, stretch-aligned composite films showed a substantial decrease in photoresponse with increasing stretch ratio. Other additives examined, including small molecules and cosolvents, did not cause any significant increase in photoresponse. Finally, we discovered an inverse-geometric particle track effect wherein increased track lengths created by tilting the detector off normal incidence resulted in decreased signal collection. This is interpreted as a trap-filling effect, leading to increased carrier mobility along the particle track direction. Estimated collection efficiency along the track direction was near 20 electrons/micron of track length, sufficient for particle counting in 50 micron thick films