Variables affecting the collection and preservation of human scent components through instrumental and biological evaluations

In certain European countries and the United States of America, canines have been successfully used in human scent identification. There is however, limited scientific knowledge on the composition of human scent and the detection mechanism that produces an alert from canines. This lack of information has resulted in successful legal challenges to human scent evidence in the courts of law. ^ The main objective of this research was to utilize science to validate the current practices of using human scent evidence in criminal cases. The goals of this study were to utilize Headspace Solid Phase Micro Extraction Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC/MS) to determine the optimum collection and storage conditions for human scent samples, to investigate whether the amount of DNA deposited upon contact with an object affects the alerts produced by human scent identification canines, and to create a prototype pseudo human scent which could be used for training purposes. ^ Hand odor samples which were collected on different sorbent materials and exposed to various environmental conditions showed that human scent samples should be stored without prolonged exposure to UVA/UVB light to allow minimal changes to the overall scent profile. Various methods of collecting human scent from objects were also investigated and it was determined that passive collection methods yields ten times more VOCs by mass than active collection methods. ^ Through the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) no correlation was found between the amount of DNA that was deposited upon contact with an object and the alerts that were produced by human scent identification canines. Preliminary studies conducted to create a prototype pseudo human scent showed that it is possible to produce fractions of a human scent sample which can be presented to the canines to determine whether specific fractions or the entire sample is needed to produce alerts by the human scent identification canines. ^

Voluntary, Chronic Dehydration in Adolescent American Football Players

The purpose of the study was to determine whether voluntary acute or chronic dehydration occurs in a male adolescent athletic population during twicea- day American football practice sessions. We conclude that participants will voluntarily rehydrate themselves between practice sessions and will begin to acclimate within three to four days.

The effect of cross -age tutoring routines on the tutor's perception of self as reader

Perception of self as a non-reader has been identified as one of the factors why poor readers disengage from the reading process (Strang, 1967; Rosow, 1992), thus impeding progress. Perception and informational processes influence judgments of personal efficacy (Bandura, 1997). The student's sense of reading efficacy that influence effort expenditure and ultimately achievement, is often overlooked (Athey, 1985; Pajares, 1996). Academic routines within educational programs are implemented without adequate information on whether routines promote or impede efficacy growth. Cross-age tutoring, a process known to improve participants' academic achievement, motivation, and provide opportunities for authentic reading practice, has been successfully incorporated into reading instruction designs (Allen, 1976; Cohen, Kulik & Kulik, 1982; Labbo & Teale, 1990; Riessman, 1993). This study investigated the impact teacher-designed routines within a cross-age tutoring model, have on the tutor's sense of reading self-efficacy. ^ The Reader Self-Perception Scale (Henk & Melnick, 1992) was administered, pre- and post-treatment, to 118 fifth grade students. Preceding the initial survey administration intact classes were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 commonly utilized cross-age tutoring routines or designated as the non-treatment population. The data derived from the Reader Self-Perception Scale was analyzed using an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Results indicated that participation as a cross-age tutor does not significantly increase the tutor's perception of self as reader in 1 or more of the 4 modes of information influencing self-efficacy as compared to the non-treatment group. ^ The results of this study suggests that although a weekly tutoring session that delivers educationally credible routines impacts achievement and motivation, efficacy effect was not evident. Possible explanation and recommendations for future studies are proposed. ^

Diving Behaviour of Red-Eared Sliders (Trachemys Scripta Elegans) Under the Risk of Predation

Predation risk influences a variety of behavioral decisions of many organisms and results in animals having to trade-offs safety with other behaviors. The effects of predation, however, have been largely ignored in the study of vertebrates that forage underwater (divers). I tested the predictions of an on optimal diving model that incorporates the risk of predation, using red eared slider turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans). Specifically, I tested the hypothesis that divers will increase their surface time when instantaneous risk decreases with time at the surface. By using a model aerial predator and exposing turtles to both risk and no risk treatments, I tested how turtles perceive risk at the surface and whether they increase or decrease their surface time depending on how they assess risk. The model's predictions for situations in which risk at the surface is decreasing with time spent there-likely to be the case for aerial predation-were supported by the results. I found that surface time and time spent submerged per dive were significantly greater when turtles were at risk and that turtles also spent more time resting at the bottom when exposed to this treatment. Interestingly, turtles under risk engaged in vigilance behaviors while on the bottom just prior to surfacing. This behavior could have implications for model predictions and future experiments are needed to test whether subsurface vigilance may alter diving decisions made under risk.

Molecular characterization of GcC8 alpha, the functional homologue of human C8 alpha in the shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum

The focus of this study is to elucidate the components of the nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) membrane attack complex (MAC), specifically complement component C8a (GcC8u). Nurse shark C8a gene was cloned, sequenced, and analyzed and Western blot analysis performed to identify components of shark MAC. GcC8a consists of 2341 nucleotides that translate into a 589 amino acid sequence that shares 41.1% and 47.4 % identity with human and xenopus C8a, respectively. GcC8a conserves the MAC modular architecture and cysteine-rich backbone characteristic of complement proteins, including the cysteine residue that forms the C8a-y bond as well as the indel that is unique to C8a. Conservation of MAC protein structure is evident from crossreactivity of antihuman-MAC antibodies with shark serum proteins in Western blots which confirmed the presence of C8 and C9-like proteins in shark serum, however, did not resolve the question of whether C6 and/or C7 like proteins are present in shark.

Typologies of teachers in Florida tobacco use prevention education (tupe) programs

This study described teacher perceptions of TUPE program effectiveness in Florida in an attempt to determine whether teacher training or teachers' perceptions of tobacco norms may predict teacher amenability. A statewide survey provided information about how teachers' perceptions of program effectiveness are affected by variables such as: tobacco use norms, training variables, and classroom activities. Data were obtained from a telephone survey conducted in Florida as part of the Tobacco Pilot Project (TPP). The sample included 296 middle school teachers and 282 high school teachers as well as 193 middle school principals and 190 high school principals. Correlational and hierarchical regression analyses identified correlates and predictors of teachers' ratings of effectiveness. Results suggest that the more teachers support TUPE and believe it to be valuable and effective, the more likely those teachers are to implement TUPE classroom activities. In conclusion, higher amenability appears to be associated with more effective implementation of TUPE.

Repercussão da integração de conteúdos das disciplinas nos trabalhos finais de graduação de CAU-UFRN (2003 a 2010)

The changes in the teaching of Architecture in Brazilian Universities, from the 1990s onwards, with the upgrading of the Architecture project as an object of research and scientific knowledge and more specifically, the adoption by the Architecture and Urbanism Course (CAU) from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) of the principle of content integration of the disciplines, aroused the interest in research on issues related to the Design process and the teaching of design in this context. After 20 years of its implementation and recognized as being a major step forward in teaching the teaching/learning process, the integration is the central focus of this research, which will seek to identify changes in the teaching design and its refutation in projects developed by students at the end of their course. In general, it is understood that the need to integrate knowledge from diverse areas of Architect’s professional activity, who seeks through an exercise of summary, identify solutions to the issues involved in a project. On the assumption that the integration of content of disciplines fosters the teaching/learning of Architecture project, which can be evident in the Final Course Assignment (FCA), it becomes necessary to understand, in the light of theories of education, such as the principles of curriculum organization, such as interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity and transversality are related to the term integration, is more understood and disseminated among the professors of the Architecture courses. The object of this study is consequently the relationship between the integration of subject content and Architecture projects developed by students from CAU-UFRN, in the context of Final Graduation projects (FCAs) completed in the period of duration of the Teaching Project A5-from 2003. The study has the main objective of investigating to what extent the integration of disciplinary content affects the development of the Final Assignment of UFRN, from the analysis of drawings and texts of the projects of the learners and the testimonies of teachers and undergraduate students. From a methodological point of view, the research “Architecture, Project and Knowledge Production: Academic Production – FCAs, Thesis and dissertations in PA/Brazil” carried out by the PROJETAR/UFRN team has been adopted as the basis for the construction of the analytical instruments. In order to identify aspects of their experience by various actors which were not recorded in FCA, electronic forms were applied between teachers and students, through the internet. The integration of subject content based Teaching Project of CAU-UFRN institutionalises the interdisciplinarity, organizing the curriculum by thematic semesters, in which the disciplines work the same focus and at the same site. The integrated work which derives from there tries to articulate the content of each discipline of the period and represents a general practice and has been evaluated by teachers and students, and considered as a facilitator of the teaching/learning process. The analysis of the data collected from the textual content and graphic of the sample of FCAs of CAU-UFRN suggests that the content of the various areas of knowledge are assimilated by the student and used as a resource for the design and development of Architecture projects. In other words, there is in the end product of the students record of the integration of content, whether in speech or in drawing, reaffirming the importance of the convergence of various knowledge in the Architectonic project. However, the integration of content from the point of view of their articulation and operationalization, which involves teachers and students in the same period, has as a condition sine qua non for the success of this educational principle, the provision of these to work as part of a team, for the dialogic practice, which creates areas of intersection not only between disciplines, but between the knowledge of each of the participants.

Active suspension development based on energy analysis

This research focuses on developing active suspension optimal controllers for two linear and non-linear half-car models. A detailed comparison between quarter-car and half-car active suspension approaches is provided for improving two important scenarios in vehicle dynamics, i.e. ride quality and road holding. Having used a half-car vehicle model, heave and pitch motion are analyzed for those scenarios, with cargo mass as a variable. The governing equations of the system are analysed in a multi-energy domain package, i.e., 20-Sim. System equations are presented in the bond-graph language to facilitate calculation of energy usage. The results present optimum set of gains for both ride quality and road holding scenarios are the gains which has derived when maximum allowable cargo mass is considered for the vehicle. The energy implications of substituting passive suspension units with active ones are studied by considering not only the energy used by the actuator, but also the reduction in energy lost through the passive damper. Energy analysis showed less energy was dissipated in shock absorbers when either quarter-car or half-car controllers were used instead of passive suspension. It was seen that more energy could be saved by using half-car active controllers than the quarter-car ones. Results also proved that using active suspension units, whether quarter-car or half-car based, under those realistic limitations is energy-efficient and suggested.

Does market upgrading benefit farmers? : market differentiation, contract farming, and professional cooperatives in China's pork processing industry

This study tested whether contract farming or farmers professional cooperatives (FPCs) improved the social benefit of pork production and income of breeding farmers in China. The main concern of this study is whether institutional arrangement like contract farming or FPCs actually improved the welfare of farmers as expected. To answer this question accurately, we estimated the differentiated market demand of pork products in order to quantify the benefit by transaction types. Our study finds that contract farming or FPCs improved the benefits of pork products, but farmer's income remained lower than that of traditional transaction types. This finding is new in terms of quantifying distribution of the economic values among sales outlets, agro-firms and farmers. It is more reliable because it explicitly captures impacts from both demand side and supply side by structural estimation. In practice, we need to keep it mind the bargaining power of small farmers will not improve instantly even when the contract farming or FPCs are introduced.

Age determination of sediment core NP90-52 (Table 1)

Data on glacial erosion have been compiled and synthesised using a wide range of sediment budget and sediment yield studies from the Svalbard-Barents Sea region. The data include studies ranging in timescale from 1 to 10**6 yr, and in size of drainage basin from 101 to 105 km**2. They show a clear dependence of sediment yield on the mode of glacierization. Polar glaciers erode at rates comparable to those found in Arctic fluvial basins, or about 40 t/km**-2/ yr or 0.02 mm/yr. In contrast, rates of erosion by polythermal glaciers are 800-1000 t/km**2/ yr (or ca 0.3-0.4 mm/yr), while rates from fast-flowing glaciers are slightly more than twice this: 2100 t/km**2/yr (or 1 mm/yr). Similar rates are also found for large glacierized basins like those in the southwestern parts of the Barents Sea. In contrast to the situation in fluvial basins, in which sediment yield typically decreases with increasing basin size, the tendency in glacierized basins is for erosion to be independent of basin size. In studies of sediment yield from glaciers it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between material actually dislodged from the bedrock by glaciers and material dislodged by other processes in interglacial times and simply transported to a depocenter by a glacier. Our data suggest that pulses of sediment resulting from advance of a glacier over previously-dislodged material last on the order of 10**3 yr, and result in inferred erosion rates that are approximately 25% higher than long-term average rates of glacial erosion. The maximum sediment fluxes from the large Storfjorden and Bear Island drainage basins occurred in mid-Pleistocene. The onset of this period of high sediment yield coincided with the onset of the 100 kyr glacial cycle. We presume that this was the beginning of a period of increased glacial activity, but one in which glaciers still advanced and retreated frequently. During the last two to four 100 kyr cycles, however, sediment yields appear to have decreased. This decrease may be the result of the submergence of the Barents Sea. Glacier erosion would be much higher for a subaerial Barents Sea setting than it would be for a present day subsea Barents Sea. A classical question in Quaternary Geology is whether glaciers are more erosive than rivers. We surmise that if factors such as the lithology and the available potential energy (mgh) of the precipitation falling at a given altitude, whether in liquid or solid form, are held constant, then glaciers are vastly more effective agents of erosion than rivers.

Efeitos da internacionalização no desvio da estrutura de capital alvo e na velocidade de ajuste

This dissertation investigates the effects of internationalization in two gaps related to the capital structure that have not been discussed by the Brazilian literature yet. To this, were developed two independent sections. The first examined what the effects of internationalization on the deviation from the target capital structure. The second examined what the effects of internationalization on speed of adjustment (SOA) of the capital structure. It used data from Brazil, multinational and domestic companies, from 2006 to 2014. The results of the first analysis indicate that internationalization helps reduce the difference between the target and the current debt. That is, to the extent that the level of internationalization increases; whether only export or a combination of export, assets and employees abroad, the gap between the current structure and the target structure decreases. This reduction is given as a function of internationalization as a consequence of the upstream effect of the upstream-downstream hypothesis. Thus, as the Market Timing theory, it can be seen as an opportunity for adjustment of the capital structure, and with the reduction of deviation, there is also a reduction in the cost of capital of the firm. The result of the second analysis indicates that internationalization is able to significantly increase the speed adjustment, ensuring for the multinational a faster adjustment of its capital structure. Exports increase the SOA in 9 to 23%. And when also kept active assets and employees abroad the increase is 8 to 20%. In terms of time, while domestic company takes more than three years to reduce half of the deviation that has, while multinacional companies take on average one and a half year to reduce the same proportion of the deviation. The validity of the upstream-downstream hypothesis for the effect of internationalization in SOA was confirmed by comparing the results for US companies. Thus, the phenomenon of internationalization increases SOA when companies are from less stable markets, such as Brazil; and it has a less significcative effect when companies are derived from more stable markets, because they already have a high speed of adjustmennt. In addition, the adequacy analysis of the estimators also showed the model pooled OLS (Ordinary Least Squares) presents the highest quality in predicting the SOA than the system GMM (Generalized Method of Moments). For future studies it is suggested to analyze the effect of international event, by itself, and to validate the hypothesis using samples of different markets and the use of other estimators.

The economic voter and economic crisis

Theories of economic voting have a long tradition in political science and continue to inspire a large group of scholars. Classical economic voting theory assumes a reward-and-punishment mechanism (Key, 1966). This mechanism implies that incumbents are more likely to stay in power under a good economy, but are cast out under a bad economy (Lewis-Beck and Stegmaier, 2000). The economy has repeatedly been shown to be a major determinant of electoral behavior (see especially the recent book by Duch and Stevenson, 2008), but the current economic crisis seems to provide a marked illustration of how the economy affects voting. In recent elections across the Western industrialized world, most ruling coalitions lost their majority. Opposition parties, on the other hand, whether right wing or left wing, have appeared to benefit from the economic downturn.

A transatlantic case: the derivative action as a corporate governance tool

The derivative action as a minority shareholder protection device seems to be almost a dead-letter law in the British Isles as compared with the United States. Whether it can or should be revived through legislative reform and judicial interpretation presents us with important governance questions at first instance, but also raises questions regarding the importance of law, as distinct from non-legally enforceable norms, to the development of corporate governance systems, in particular regarding the director-shareholder relationship.

Variables Affecting the Collection and Preservation of Human Scent Components through Instrumental and Biological Evaluations

In certain European countries and the United States of America, canines have been successfully used in human scent identification. There is however, limited scientific knowledge on the composition of human scent and the detection mechanism that produces an alert from canines. This lack of information has resulted in successful legal challenges to human scent evidence in the courts of law. The main objective of this research was to utilize science to validate the current practices of using human scent evidence in criminal cases. The goals of this study were to utilize Headspace Solid Phase Micro Extraction Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC/MS) to determine the optimum collection and storage conditions for human scent samples, to investigate whether the amount of DNA deposited upon contact with an object affects the alerts produced by human scent identification canines, and to create a prototype pseudo human scent which could be used for training purposes. Hand odor samples which were collected on different sorbent materials and exposed to various environmental conditions showed that human scent samples should be stored without prolonged exposure to UVA/UVB light to allow minimal changes to the overall scent profile. Various methods of collecting human scent from objects were also investigated and it was determined that passive collection methods yields ten times more VOCs by mass than active collection methods. Through the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) no correlation was found between the amount of DNA that was deposited upon contact with an object and the alerts that were produced by human scent identification canines. Preliminary studies conducted to create a prototype pseudo human scent showed that it is possible to produce fractions of a human scent sample which can be presented to the canines to determine whether specific fractions or the entire sample is needed to produce alerts by the human scent identification canines.

Three Essays on Taxation, Growth and Consumption

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine three distributional issues in macroeconomics. First I explore the effects fiscal federalism on economic growth across regions in China. Using the comprehensive official data set of China for 31 regions from 1952 until 1999, I investigate a number of indicators used by the literature to measure federalism and find robust support for only one such measure: the ratio of local total revenue to local tax revenue. Using a difference-in-difference approach and exploiting the two-year gap in the implementation of a tax reform across different regions of China, I also identify a positive relationship between fiscal federalism and regional economic growth. The second paper hypothesizes that an inequitable distribution of income negatively affects the rule of law in resource-rich economies and provides robust evidence in support of this hypothesis. By investigating a data set that contains 193 countries and using econometric methodologies such as the fixed effects estimator and the generalized method of moments estimator, I find that resource-abundance improves the quality of institutions, as long as income and wealth disparity remains below a certain threshold. When inequality moves beyond this threshold, the positive effects of the resource-abundance level on institutions diminish quickly and turn negative eventually. This paper, thus, provides robust evidence about the endogeneity of institutions and the role income and wealth inequality plays in the determination of long-run growth rates. The third paper sets up a dynamic general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents to investigate the causal channels which run from a concern for international status to long-run economic growth. The simulation results show that the initial distribution of income and wealth play an important role in whether agents gain or lose from globalization.