Evaluation of fingerprint development reagents for biological stain detection

Some latent fingerprint development techniques rely on the reaction with amino acids within the fingerprint and then either change in color or fluoresce to help visualize this fingerprint. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and are present in all biological fluid. Thus, these developers should be able to also locate biological stains. In a previous study, ninhydrin was shown to be able to locate biological stains. Two more latent fingerprint developers are introduced as possible universal biological stain detectors: 1,8-diazafluoren-9-one (DFO), and 1,2-indanedione (1,2-IND). Five biological stains were used to test these chemicals: 1:500 diluted blood, saliva, semen, sweat, and urine. A new heating method was also introduced for a more portable application. The hair dryer heating method was optimized for the three chemicals with two traditional oven heating methods: the oven setting at 70oC and the oven setting at 100oC. These chemicals were also examined for their effectiveness on aged samples. Samples aged for three different time intervals were used: 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks. The hair dryer heating method was found to be viable for all three chemicals for each of the biological stains except the 1:500 diluted blood. With the application of the hair dryer for less than 3 minutes, most stains were visible for all three chemicals. 1,2-IND gave slightly different color changes for sweat and the other biological stains. This property can possibly be used to guide subsequent specific body fluids testing. All three chemicals lost their effectiveness as the stain became older. One-month-old stains still gave similar results as fresh stains, but after 2 months, the color became fainter and was barely visible after 4 months. The next stage of this study applied these chemicals as a guide for wearer DNA extraction from worn clothing. Sampling for wearer DNA has mostly been an educated guess with little guidance as to where an abundance of DNA is located. Fingerprint developers can react with amino acids, and cells contain abundant amino acids. Thus, these chemicals may react more to areas with abundant cells. Wearer DNA was extracted from collars of donated shirts before and after the chemical applications to determine the effectiveness of these chemicals as DNA detectors. Of the three collars tested, ninhydrin reacted completely with two of the collars, making any distinction between areas with abundant DNA and areas with no DNA difficult. In addition, the quantitation data of the ninhydrin samples showed no advantage in using ninhydrin as a wearer DNA locator. DFO was shown to have some detrimental effects on the DNA or the DNA extraction and quantitation process. The quantitation data for DFO also showed no advantage in using DFO as a wearer DNA locator. 1,2-IND showed promising results and was the most likely candidate as a wearer DNA locator. All areas that reacted with 1,2-IND produced at least one sample having higher than 0.01 nanograms per microliter of DNA and would be considered viable for DNA profiling

INCREASING PEDIATRIC INFLUENZA VACCINATION RATES IN A COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC

D.N.P.D.N.P. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 201

Essentials of Osteoporosis: Early Prevention, Screening, and Management of this Silent Disease

Osteoporosis is a common skeletal condition caused by loss of bone mineral density. The progressive thinning and loss of bone architecture places patients at increased risk of fractures over time. Current guidelines suggest screening for osteoporosis at 65 years of age or earlier if risk factors are present. Without early recognition of risk factors, however, many individuals often go undiagnosed for years until a potentially life-threatening fracture occurs. The incidence of osteoporotic fractures is only expected to rise with the growth of the aging population. Thus, early recognition of risk factors is critical for initiating timely care. This article is intended to educate clinicians on often overlooked risk factors associated with osteoporosis and the appropriate screening and treatment tools to prevent future fractures

Pediatric Liver Transplantation: Then and Now

This paper reviews the past 50 years of liver transplantation in children from the perspective of patient demographics, perioperative patient management, surgical techniques, immunosuppression and patient outcomes

A METHOD OF REAL-TIME NURBS INTERPOLATION WITH CONFINED CHORD ERROR FOR CNC SYSTEMS

This paper presents a method of real-time CNC interpolation for free-form NURBS curves. The interpolation algorithm is based on second order Taylor’s expansion with the principle part being a formula for updating the parametric value u after each sampling period. With the updated value of u, a new interpolated point is calculated based on the DeBoor’s algorithm. In this paper, an efficient method of limiting chord error introduced by the interpolation algorithm is also presented with the basic idea of reducing machining feedrate at positions with a radius of curvature smaller than a critical value

Closer Look at Visitation Hour Policies in Intensive Care Units

Micheal Banh is from Wichita, Kansas. While attending the School of Nursing he received a clinical excellence award for his work in the pediatrics clinical and honorable mentions for his work in his obstetrics clinical. He is a graduate of the School of Nursing Honors Program. He plans on starting his nursing career in Denver Colorado. His future plans include returning to school for a Doctorate of Nursing Practice with long range plans to work in both an urban and a rural environment through the use of telenursing.Visitation policies on intensive care units establish the groundwork for balancing the needs of a critical patient and family members as well as the unit staff. The unit's specific policy on visitation hours sets the tone for interactions between all parties and can have a significant effect on patient outcomes, family satisfaction, and stress for nursing staff. A growing body of evidence points toward better outcomes for patients and families on units with more open visitation policies yet there are a number of hospitals, patient care units, and individual nurses that still support restricted visitation hours. While many intensive care units have legal backing to establish visitation policies, it becomes an ethical battle when balancing the needs and satisfaction of nursing staff, patients, and family. It is important to understand the rationale behind arguments on both sides to better address the issue, especially to understand why some units do not follow evidence-based practice guidelines that support open visitation policies. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relevant research regarding visitation policy on intensive care units to better understand the status quo and to clarify major rationales. This will be accomplished by a review of literature that will discuss the topic and a conclusion that provides nursing implications for practice in light of the research presented.UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS SCHOOL OF NURSING BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN NURSING PROGRAM AND DELTA CHAPTER OF SIGMA THETA INTERNATIONALEditorial. Closer Look at Visitation Hour Policies in Intensive Care Units -- Banh, M. Expanding Donor Criteria: Is it Safe? -- Barkman, A. Intimate Partner Violence Screening: A Nursing Concern? -- Friesen, K. Taking the Guess Out of the Gender Game: Ethical Issues in Pre-Conception Sex Selection -- McShane, F. Let's Talk About Sex -- Mikulan, K. Legal and Ethical Issues Concerning Pro_Life Choices -- O'Malley, C. Medical Marijuana: The Legal and Clinical Facts Regarding Medical Use -- Ramsey, A. The Benefits of Psychedelic Drug Application for Clinical Treatment of Mental Illness -- Shumate, T. Ethical Issues of Children as Research Subjects -- Truong, M. N

The Role of MMPs, Smad3 and Heat Shock Proteins in TGF-β-Induced Anterior Subcapsular Cataract Development

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) has been implicated in anterior subcapsular cataract (ASC) development. In the first section of this thesis, an in-vitro rat lens model was used to determine the role of matrix metalloproteinases during TGF-β-induced ASC. In the second part, an in-vivo TGF-β transgenic and Smad3 knockout model was used to examine the role of Smad3 signaling pathway in TGF-β-induced ASC development. Lastly, an in-vitro rat lens epithelial explant culture model was used to investigate the potential role of heat shock proteins (Hsps) in TGF-β-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Optical, morphological and molecular changes were analyzed in theses studies. Results from cultured rat lenses show a significant increase of back vertex distance variability (decrease of sharpness and focus) during ASC development. Inhibition of MMPs eliminated the TGF-β-induced plaque formation. Similarly, the overexpression of TGF-β1 in transgenic mouse lenses leads to ASC formation and a decrease in lens optical quality in comparison to wild-type lenses, while TGF-β1/Smad3-/- (null) lenses show diminished TGF-β-induced effects. The plaques formed in the TGF-β1/Smad3-/- lenses are substantially smaller than in the TGF-β1/Smad3+/+ lenses. The morphological and molecular changes of TGF-β2/FGF-2 treated rat lens epithelial explants are similar to those found in the TGF-β2 treated rat lenses and transgenic TGF-β1 mouse lenses. Heat shock treatment prior to TGF-β treatment significantly reduced the effects of EMT in rat LECs. In conclusion, MMP inhibition prevented TGF-β-induced ASC formation whereas heat shock treatment and the absence of Smad3 protein expression only reduced the severity of TGF-β-induced effects

Artificial Intelligence for Sign Language Translation – A Design Science Research Study

Although our digitalized society is able to foster social inclusion and integration, there are still numerous communities having unequal opportunities. This is also the case with deaf people. About 750,000 deaf people only in the European Union and over 4 million people in the United States face daily challenges in terms of communication and participation, such as in leisure activities but more importantly in emergencies too. To provide equal environments and allow people with hearing handicaps to communicate in their native language, this paper presents an AI-based sign language translator. We adopted a transformer neural network capable of analyzing over 500 data points from a person’s gestures and face to translate sign language into text. We have designed a machine learning pipeline that enables the translator to evolve, build new datasets, and train sign language recognition models. As proof of concept, we instantiated a sign language interpreter for an emergency call with over 200 phrases. The overall goal is to support people with hearing inabilities by enabling them to participate in economic, social, political, and cultural life