Isoprene nitrates: preparation, separation, identification, yields, and atmospheric chemistry

Isoprene is an important atmospheric volatile organic compound involved in ozone production and NO<sub>x</sub> (NO+NO<sub>2</sub>) sequestration and transport. Isoprene reaction with OH in the presence of NO can form either isoprene hydroxy nitrates ("isoprene nitrates") or convert NO to NO<sub>2</sub> which can photolyze to form ozone. While it has been shown that isoprene nitrate production can represent an important sink for NO<sub>x</sub> in forest impacted environments, there is little experimental knowledge of the relative importance of the individual isoprene nitrate isomers, each of which has a different fate and reactivity. In this work, we have identified the 8 individual isomers and determined their total and individual production yields. The overall yield of isoprene nitrates at atmospheric pressure and 295 K was found to be 0.070(+0.025/−0.015). Three isomers, representing nitrates resulting from OH addition to a terminal carbon, represent 90% of the total IN yield. We also determined the ozone rate constants for three of the isomers, and have calculated their atmospheric lifetimes, which range from ~1–2 h, making their oxidation products likely more important as atmospheric organic nitrates and sinks for nitrogen

Psychological Responses Prior to a Strenuous Task Involving an Injured Joint

Injuries are an inherent risk of sport participation. Roughly 68% of athletes experience an athletic injury during their college career, with over half being injuries to the lower extremity (Hootman, Dick & Agel, 2007). While much attention has been given to the physical effects of an injury, the psychological ramifications can also affect an athlete’s recovery from injury. According to Quinn & Fallon (2008), an athlete can physically recover from an injury however they may not attain a complete psychological recovery. An athlete’s performance can be affected negatively if they return to sport participation without recovering psychologically from their injury, which can also lead to a risk of re-injury or receiving additional injuries (Quinn & Fallon, 2008). Two variables related to psychological recovery include re-establishment of confidence and a decrease in fear of re-injury (Magyar & Duda, 2000; Walker & Heaney, 2013). Additionally, an athlete may feel reluctance to perform skills that require the site of injury to be used which affects subsequent performance. An athlete’s fear of re-injury can negatively affect athletes’ performance by undermining an athlete’s confidence in obtaining their pre-injury sport performance (Arden, Taylor, Feller & Webster, 2012). The purpose of this study was to determine how psychological responses to injury, namely sport resumption confidence, fear of re-injury, and injury perception change throughout the rehabilitation process. These variables were examined in relation to performing a strenuous isokinetic dynamometer task on an injured joint (e.g., knee, ankle). Participants (N=21; 62% female) completed psychometrically sound measures designed to assess confidence, fear and injury perception across three groups of athletes: healthy (n = 9), injured (n = 6), and rehabilitated (n = 6). All subjects were told they would be completing a maximal isokinetic contraction task on the lower extremity that had been injured before completing the survey. Only healthy and rehabilitated athletes actually performed the task at the completion of the survey. ANOVA was utilized to compare group differences on study variables. There was a significant difference between groups with regard to fear (healthy=1.62 ± 0.03; injured=4.09 ± 0.10; rehabilitated=3.17 ± 0.61; p \u3c .05) and confidence (healthy=5.82 ± 0.68; injured=2.99 ± 0.06; rehabilitated=4.06 ± 0.58; p \u3c .01) where healthy athletes reported the highest confidence and lowest fear across groups. Additionally, injured athletes reported the lowest confidence and highest fear across groups. There were no group differences found with regard to injury perception (healthy=0.00 ± 0.00; injured=1.01 ± 0.41; rehabilitated=0.07 ± 0.09). This study extends the current sport injury research base by identifying changes in key psychological variables across the healthy-injured-rehabilitated continuum of the collegiate sport experience

Anthropogenic Control over Wintertime Oxidation of Atmospheric Pollutants

Anthropogenic air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NO(x) = NO + NO(2)), sulfur dioxide (SO(2)), and volatile organic compounds (VOC), among others, are emitted to the atmosphere throughout the year from energy production and use, transportation, and agriculture. These primary pollutants lead to the formation of secondary pollutants such as fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and ozone (O(3)) and perturbations to the abundance and lifetimes of short-lived greenhouse gases. Free radical oxidation reactions driven by solar radiation govern the atmospheric lifetimes and transformations of most primary pollutants and thus their spatial distributions. During winter in the mid and high latitudes, where a large fraction of atmospheric pollutants are emitted globally, such photochemical oxidation is significantly slower. Using observations from a highly instrumented aircraft, we show that multi-phase reactions between gas-phase NO(x) reservoirs and aerosol particles, as well as VOC emissions from anthropogenic activities, lead to a suite of atypical radical precursors dominating the oxidizing capacity in polluted winter air, and thus, the distribution and fate of primary pollutants on a regional to global scale

The Effects of Keyboarding to Increase Spelling Test Proficiency in Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this study is to compare students' performance on a traditional paper and pencil spelling test with a spelling test taken using a keyboard. For the purpose of this study, students with learning disabilities refer to students who have symbolic processing delays or dyslexia. The hypothesis for this study is that the use of keyboards significantly increases the performance of students with learning disabilities as compared to a traditional paper and pencil spelling test. The goal is to demonstrate that when students with learning disabilities take spelling tests using keyboards, they will make significant gains in spelling proficiency. The null hypothesis for this study is that there is no significant difference between the use of keyboards and the traditional pencil and paper method on the tested spelling proficiency of students with learning disabilities. A growing number of studies indicate that the use of assistive technologies, such as keyboards, is an effective way to promote spelling proficiency in students with learning disabilities. Traditional remediation practices in spelling include repetition, kinesthetic letter models, phonemic placement models, and the cloze method (Mercer & Mercer, 1998). These methods have shown significant success in special education settings, but limited research has been conducted in general education classrooms (Ruetzel & Cooter, 1996). With an increasing emphasis for inclusion, students with learning disabilities are spending time in general education classrooms more than ever. This trend is also accelerated by the requirement of students with learning disabilities to participate in district and statewide assessments. One potential method of teaching students with learning disabilities in general education classrooms is using an assistive technology device (i.e., keyboards). However, there is limited research to examine how students perform on a spelling test using keyboards

80,000,000 hooligans. Discourses of resistance to racism and xenophobia in German punk lyrics 1991-1994

The late eighties and early nineties in Germany were not only marked by the fall of the Wall and German unification, but also by the dramatization of the political issue of asylum, resulting in outbreaks of xenophobic violence. In the context of the asylum debate of the early nineties, a number of punk bands produced songs between 1991 and 1994 which criticise the xenophobic climate created by the asylum debate and undermine an exculpatory official discourse about the violent attacks. The lyrics of these songs will be analysed as instances of counter-discourse emerging from a subcultural sphere that nurtures a critical distance towards hegemonic public and political discourse, arguing that Critical Discourse Analysis should pay more attention to defiance of hegemonic discourse

Ghosts of other stories: a synthesis of hauntology, crime and space

Criminology has long sought to illuminate the lived experience of those at the margins. More recently, there has been a turn toward the spatial in the discipline. This paper sets out an analytical framework that synthesizes spatial theory with hauntology. We demonstrate how a given space's violent histories can become embedded in the texts that constitute it and the language that describes it. The art installation ‘Die Familie Schneider’ is used as an example of how the incorporation of social trauma can lead to the formation of a spatial “crypt”. Cracking open this “crypt” allows us to draw out Derrida's notion of the specter within the context of a “haunted” city space

The Aminopeptidase CD13 Induces Homotypic Aggregation in Neutrophils and Impairs Collagen Invasion.

Aminopeptidase N (CD13) is a widely expressed cell surface metallopeptidase involved in the migration of cancer and endothelial cells. Apart from our demonstration that CD13 modulates the efficacy of tumor necrosis factor-α-induced apoptosis in neutrophils, no other function for CD13 has been ascribed in this cell. We hypothesized that CD13 may be involved in neutrophil migration and/or homotypic aggregation. Using purified human blood neutrophils we confirmed the expression of CD13 on neutrophils and its up-regulation by pro-inflammatory agonists. However, using the anti-CD13 monoclonal antibody WM-15 and the aminopeptidase enzymatic inhibitor bestatin we were unable to demonstrate any direct involvement of CD13 in neutrophil polarisation or chemotaxis. In contrast, IL-8-mediated neutrophil migration in type I collagen gels was significantly impaired by the anti-CD13 monoclonal antibodies WM-15 and MY7. Notably, these antibodies also induced significant homotypic aggregation of neutrophils, which was dependent on CD13 cross-linking and was attenuated by phosphoinositide 3-kinase and extracellular signal-related kinase 1/2 inhibition. Live imaging demonstrated that in WM-15-treated neutrophils, where homotypic aggregation was evident, the number of cells entering IL-8 impregnated collagen I gels was significantly reduced. These data reveal a novel role for CD13 in inducing homotypic aggregation in neutrophils, which results in a transmigration deficiency; this mechanism may be relevant to neutrophil micro-aggregation in vivo.This work was funded by a Medical Research Council Research Training Fellowship to CAF (G0900329), Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), CUHNHSFT, Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. CAF received a Raymond and Beverly Sackler Studentship.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from the Public Library of Science via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.016010

Laser Spectroscopy for Atmospheric and Environmental Sensing

Lasers and laser spectroscopic techniques have been extensively used in several applications since their advent, and the subject has been reviewed extensively in the last several decades. This review is focused on three areas of laser spectroscopic applications in atmospheric and environmental sensing; namely laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS), and photoluminescence (PL) techniques used in the detection of solids, liquids, aerosols, trace gases, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

Practice-based competencies for accreditation of and training in graduate programs in genetic counseling

In January 1996, the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC) adopted 27 practice-based competencies as a standard for assessing the training of graduate students in genetic counseling. These competencies were identified and refined through a collective, narrative process that took place from January through November 1994, and included directors of graduate programs in genetic counseling, ABGC board members and expert consultants. These competencies now form the basis of the document “Requirements for Graduate Programs in Genetic Counseling Seeking Accreditation by the American Board of Genetic Counseling” (American Board of Genetic Counseling, 1996). The competencies are organized into four domains and are presented and discussed in this article.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44929/1/10897_2005_Article_BF01408656.pd

Methylphenidate and Dextroamphetamine Abuse in Substance-Abusing Adolescents

Sherpa Romeo green journal. Permission to archive accepted author manuscriptThe prevalence of methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine misuse and abuse was examined in 450 adolescents referred for substance abuse treatment. Twenty three percent reported nonmedical use of these substances and six percent were diagnosed as methylphenidate or dextroamphetamine abusers. Abuse was more common in individuals who were out of school and had an eating disorder. Methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine abuse appears to be much less common than abuse of most other substances. It does occur, however, and parents and schools need to exert greater control over the dispensing of these medications. Physicians are advised to prescribe non-stimulant medications (e.g., bupropion) when treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in substance-abusing individuals.Ye