Is Someone in this Office Available to Help Me?

Robots are increasingly autonomous in our environments, but they still must overcome limited sensing, reasoning, and actuating capabilities while completing services for humans. While some work has focused on robots that proactively request help from humans to reduce their limitations, the work often assumes that humans are supervising the robot and always available to help. In this work, we instead investigate the feasibility of asking for help from humans in the environment who benefit from its services. Unlike other human helpers that constantly monitor a robot’s progress, humans in the environment are not supervisors and a robot must proactively navigate to them to receive help. We contribute a study that shows that several of our environment occupants are willing to help our robot, but, as expected, they have constraints that limit their availability due to their own work schedules. Interestingly, the study further shows that an available human is not always in close proximity to the robot. We present an extended model that includes the availability of humans in the environment, and demonstrate how a navigation planner can incorporate this information to plan paths that increase the likelihood that a robot can find an available helper when it needs one. Finally, we discuss further opportunities for the robot to adapt and learn from the occupants over time.     

Immunohistochemical diagnosis of typhus rickettsioses using an anti-lipopolysaccharide monoclonal antibody

A monoclonal antibody directed against an epitope on the lipopolysaccharide of typhus-group rickettsiae was developed for the purpose of detecting this heat-stable, proteinase-resistant antigen in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. Rickettsia prowazekii organisms were identified in endothelium and macrophages in sections of the brains of three Egyptian men who died of epidemic louse-borne typhus in Cairo during World War II and in the brain from a recent case of typhus fever acquired in Burundi. R. typhi organisms were identified in endothelial cells from a fatal case of murine typhus and in experimentally infected mice. This approach is applicable not only to the study of archival tissues and experimental animal models but also could be used to establish a timely diagnosis of typhus-group rickettsiosis by immunohistochemical examination of cutaneous biopsies of rash lesions during the acute stage of illness.     

A mutational study of the peptide-binding domain of Hsc70 guided by secondary structure prediction

The abundant, cytoplasmic molecular chaperones of eukaryotic cells, of which mammalian Hsc70 is a member, have central roles in protein folding pathways in cells. Although substantial information is now available on substrate interactions and ATPase activity, neither the crystal structure of the intact Hsc70 molecule nor its isolated peptide-binding domain is known. Recently, the crystal structure of the isolated peptide-binding domain of an evolutionary relative of mammalian Hsc70, the DnaK protein of Escherichia coli, was solved. We have generated several rat Hsc70 mutants using site-directed and cassette mutagenesis guided by secondary structure predictions to test the hypothesis that the peptide-binding domains of mammalian Hsc70 and DnaK have similar molecular structures. Biochemical properties along with the ATPase and peptide binding activities of the resulting recombinant proteins were determined. Biochemical analyses included one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, electrospray mass spectrometry, and N-terminal amino acid sequencing. The results of our study suggest that the DnaK molecular structure is a useful working model for the mammalian Hsc70 peptide-binding domain. Evidence is provided that (i) small additions to the N terminus of Hsc70 alter the function of the peptide-binding domain, (ii) alterations in the C-terminal tetrapeptide EEVD result in dramatic increases in basal ATPase activity, (iii) polyalanine substitution of a helical connector segment compensates for changes at the C terminus to restore near-normal function, (iv) specific side chain interactions involving this connector segment are not required for peptide-stimulated ATPase activity, and (v) disruption of the cap homologue region inhibits peptide binding by Hsc70.     

Replication and extension of the Teacher Self-Control Rating Scale.

Relations among teacher ratings of self-control and adjustment were examined in this study and involved (a) a replication and extension of investigations of Humphrey's Teacher Self-Control Rating Scale (TSCRS) and (b) an analysis of the relation between teacher ratings of self-control and school adjustment across elementary school grades for urban and suburban children. Ratings were obtained from a stratified random sample of 407 urban and suburban children in first through fifth grades and from 108 classroom teachers. Findings include (a) replication and extension of previous TSCRS research findings and (b) consistent, significant patterns of relations between self-control and adjustment across elementary grades. (6 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cryptosporidiosis in Wisconsin: a case-control study of post-outbreak transmission

During March-April 1993, an estimated 403000 residents of the 5-county greater Milwaukee, Wisconsin area developed cryptosporidiosis after drinking contaminated municipal water. Although the number of cases dropped precipitously after the implicated water plant closed on 9 April, cases continued to occur. To investigate risk factors for post-outbreak cryptosporidiosis, 33 Milwaukee-area residents who had laboratory-confirmed Cryptosporidium infection with onset of diarrhoea between 1 May and 27 June 1993 were interviewed by telephone. Of these, 28 (85%) had onset of diarrhoea during May, 12 (36%) had watery diarrhoea during the outbreak, and 5(15%) were HIV-infected. In a neighbourhood-matched case-control study, immunosuppression (matched odds ratio (MOR) not calculable, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.0, infinity) and having a child less than 5 years old in the household (MOR = 17.0, CI 2.0, 395.0) were independently associated with infection. When persons who had diarrhoea during the outbreak were excluded, immunosuppression remained significantly associated with illness (MOR not calculable, CI 1.6, infinity). Cryptosporidium transmission continued after this massive waterborne outbreak but decreased rapidly within 2 months.     

Effects of adult and peer social initiations on the social behavior of withdrawn, maltreated preschool children.

The present study compared peer and adult social-initiation interventions that were designed to increase the positive social behavior of withdrawn, maltreated preschool children. Thirty-six maltreated subjects were randomly assigned to peer treatment, adult treatment, or control conditions. In the peer treatment conditions, peer confederates were trained to make play overtures to play-group dyads. Adult and peer confederates were matched in the number of positive initiations made during treatment. Conditions for the control group were identical to those for the other groups except the control-group peers or adults were not trained to make initiations. The results indicated significant pre–post differences favoring the peer treatment group in both treatment and generalization settings. School adjustment data supported these findings. Additionally, there were no significant differences between the adult treatment group and the control group on any measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)