On being one of the boys: An exploratory study of women's professional and domestic role definitions

In this study, I analysed the definitions of male and female professionals' domestic responsibilities, and the consequences of these definitions for the career histories of these male and female professionals. The architectural profession was used as the illustrative case. I surveyed a cohort of women and men who graduated from architectural schools in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and conducted in-depth interviews with selected men and women. The findings showed that role perceptions and career histories differed for male and female professionals in a number of significant respects.     

Body Morph: Feasibility Testing of an Interactive CD-ROM to Teach Young Adolescents about Puberty

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the feasibility of an interactive computer program among 34 sixth and seventh grade children and to assess the potential for knowledge acquisition about puberty. Based on a developmental self-esteem approach to teach children about their bodies, the Body Morph program was designed to maximize the educational experience by: (1) tailoring puberty information to boys or girls, and (2) creating a confidential experience. Preliminary results indicated that students significantly improved their knowledge about puberty after using the program. Satisfaction among boys and girls for this type of educational approach suggests that it is a compelling format from which to learn about puberty.This research project was funded with the support of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) 1R43DK061269-01A2 to develop an educational computer program to improve body image in middle schoolers.     

Budgeting for Time-Bombs: Recent General Accounting Office Reports on the Crises of the Nuclear Weapons Complex and the Savings and Loan Industry

This article discusses an emerging problem—how to budget for time-bombs. Time-bombs are a current or a potential disaster that requires enormous sums of funds to arrest, contain or fix. Two examples are provided: the savings and loan insolvencies and the nation's aging nuclear weapons complex. The author discusses the General Accounting Office reports on those subjects and analyzes how time-bomb budgeting has changed budget processes and decision making.     

Validation of a self-administered instrument to assess stage of adolescent development

Drawings were made from Tanner's photographs illustrating five stages of development each for male genitalia, testicular size, male pubic hair, female breasts, and female pubic hair. Forty-seven females and forty-eight males aged 12–16 years indicated on questionnaires which stage they were most like, and answered other questions related to their physical development. Afterwards they were examined by physicians who had not seen their answers. Pearson correlation coefficients were 0.6 or above for the physician's observations compared with the adolescents' answers for the drawings, with the exception of testicular size. Answers to questions concerning amount of underarm hair and general development also yielded high correlations.Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, Atlanta, Georgia, April 30, 1979.Received her M.D. from University of Colorado and her M.P.H. from Harvard University. Current interests are development of heterosexual behavior in adolescents, biosocial determinants of reproductive behavior, and maternal and child health services.Received his Ph.D. from University of Southern California. Current interests are interaction of biological and social factors in reproductive behavior, early adolescent sexual behavior, and couple decision-making in birth planning.     

Evaluation and classification of fentanyl-related compounds using EC-SERS and machine learning

Multiple analytical techniques for the screening of fentanyl-related compounds exist. High discriminatory methods such as GC–MS and LC–MS are expensive, time-consuming, and less amenable to onsite analysis. Raman spectroscopy provides a rapid, inexpensive alternative. Raman variants such as electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman scattering (EC-SERS) can provide signal enhancements with 10¹⁰ magnitudes, allowing for the detection of low-concentration analytes, otherwise undetected using conventional Raman. Library search algorithms embedded in instruments utilizing SERS may suffer from accuracy when multicomponent mixtures involving fentanyl derivatives are analyzed. The complexing of machine learning techniques to Raman spectra demonstrates an improvement in the discrimination of drugs even when present in multicomponent mixtures of various ratios. Additionally, these algorithms are capable of identifying spectral features difficult to detect by manual comparisons. Therefore, the goal of this study was to evaluate fentanyl-related compounds and other drugs of abuse using EC-SERS and to process the acquired data using machine learning—convolutional neural networks (CNN). The CNN was created using Keras v 2.4.0 with Tensorflow v 2.9.1 backend. In-house binary mixtures and authentic adjudicated case samples were used to evaluate the created machine-learning models. The overall accuracy of the model was 98.4 ± 0.1% after 10-fold cross-validation. The correct identification for the in-house binary mixtures was 92%, while the authentic case samples were 85%. The high accuracies achieved in this study demonstrate the advantage of using machine learning to process spectral data when screening seized drug materials comprised of multiple components.     

Capturing high-resolution digital images for use in forensic document examination

In the past, pattern disciplines within forensic science have periodically faced criticism due to their subjective and qualitative nature and the perceived absence of research evaluating and supporting the foundations of their practices. Recently, however, forensic scientists and researchers in the field of pattern evidence analysis have developed and published approaches that are more quantitative, objective, and data driven. This effort includes automation, algorithms, and measurement sciences, with the end goal of enabling conclusions to be informed by quantitative models. Before employing these tools, forensic evidence must be digitized in a way that adequately balances high-quality detail and content capture with minimal background noise imparted by the selected technique. While the current work describes the process of optimizing a method to digitize physical documentary evidence for use in semi-automated trash mark examinations, it could be applied to assist other disciplines where the digitization of physical items of evidence is prevalent. For trash mark examinations specifically, it was found that high-resolution photography provided optimal digital versions of evidentiary items when compared to high-resolution scanning.     

Additional predictions for forensic DNA phenotyping of externally visible characteristics using the ForenSeq and Imagen kits

Multiplex DNA typing methods using massively parallel sequencing can be used to predict externally visible characteristics (EVCs) in forensic DNA phenotyping through the analysis of single-nucleotide polymorphisms. The focus of EVC determination has focused on hair color, eye color, and skin tone as well as visible biogeographical ancestry features. In this study, we researched off-label applications beyond what is currently marketed by the manufacturer of the Verogen ForenSeq kit primer set B and Imagen primer set E SNP loci. We investigated additional EVC predictions by examining published genome wide sequencing studies and reported allele-specific gene expression and predictive values. We have identified 15 SNPs included in the ForenSeq kit panel and Imagen kits that have additional EVC prediction capabilities beyond what is published in the Verogen manuals. The additional EVCs that can be predicted include hair graying, ephelides hyperpigmented spots, dermatoheliosis, facial pigmented spots, standing height, pattern balding, helix-rolling ear morphology, hair shape, hair thickness, facial morphology, eyebrow thickness, sarcoidosis, obesity, vitiligo, and tanning propensity. The loci can be used to augment and refine phenotype predictions with software such as MetaHuman for missing persons, cold case, and historic case investigations.     

Lipophilicity of fentalogs: Comparison of experimental and computationally derived data

Although fentanyl and a small number of derivatives used for medical or veterinary procedures are well characterized, physiochemical properties have not been determined for many of the newer fentanyl analogs. Partition coefficients (Log P) were determined for 19 fentalogs using the shake-flask method and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). Experimentally determined partition coefficients were compared with computationally derived data using six independent software sources (ACD/LogP, LogKOWWIN v 1.69, miLogP 2.2, OsirisP, XLOGP 3.0, ALogPS 2.1). Fentalogs with a wide variety of structural modifications were intentionally selected, yielding Log P values ranging from 1.21 to 4.90. Comparison of experimental and computationally derived Log P values were highly correlated (R² 0.854–0.967). Overall, substructure-based modeling using fragmental methods or property-based topological approaches aligned more closely with experimentally determined Log P values. LC–MS/MS was also used to estimate pK_a values for fentalogs with no previously reported data. Lipophilicity and pK_a are important considerations for analytical detection and toxicological interpretation. In silico methods allow the determination of physicochemical information prior to certified reference materials being readily available for in vitro or in vivo studies. Computationally derived data can provide insight regarding physiochemical characteristics of future fentalogs and other classes of synthetic analogs that have yet to emerge.