Explosives detection research

Baggage Check
Technology strives to detect explosives faster

by DWAYNE STEWARD
Features Writer
Perspectives
Thursday May 31, 2007



Anyone who has traveled by air recently knows the frustration of passing through security checkpoints, where long lines and luggage searches have become commonplace. Airports have sought to improve security since September 11 and other terrorist attacks, and have looked at a variety of high-tech equipment that could eliminate vulnerabilities in the baggage screening process.

One innovative project in development at Ohio University is attempting to dramatically improve forensic chemistry techniques to detect explosives at a faster, more accurate rate.

“The technology used in airports takes about seven seconds but doesn’t contain a confirmatory technique to detect false positives,” says Glen Jackson, an assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry. “Our system has cut down the number of false positives but it takes longer to complete the process.”

Jackson and his team must find a way to make the detection process quicker — the FBI, working on a similar technique, aims for 10 seconds. Jackson thinks the government might consider using the university’s technology someday, but the researchers must get it to work in less than a minute. What they’ve accomplished so far, however, is still much more precise than what’s currently used, Jackson says.

Airports employ a device called an ion mobility spectrometer. After a security agent swabs a suitcase, she places the cotton swab on a small heated platform, which is sucked into the machine. It breaks down the molecules and measures the time it takes the molecules to drift through the device. Each explosive takes a known amount of time to drift through the spectrometer, which is how they are identified. Once
the sample reaches the end, a red or green light flashes, showing whether or not it’s an explosive.

“The problem with the ion mobility spectrometer is that some molecules in hand lotions may have the same reading as RDX or TNT, which is why there are false positives,” says Jackson, who is working with the Ohio University Technology Transfer Office to secure a patent for the research.

The device Jackson and his students use is called a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer or GC-MS. It has been used for many years in courtrooms but has traditionally taken 25 minutes to process the data. The university’s researchers have cut that down to less than two and a half minutes.

The process mixes the material on the cotton swab with a liquid and sends it through a very thin tube in an oven, where it undergoes separation. When the compounds exit the gas chromatograph, the mass spectrometer then measures the molecular mass of each of the explosives present in the sample. That’s important, because the mass of an ion is unique and can help distinguish it from interferences, or false positives.

“It’s so selective that it’s essentially blind to interference and cuts out false positives,” says Jackson, who has published part of the findings in the Journal of Forensic Sciences and also presented the research at the Federation of Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy Societies in Orlando, Florida.

Eliminating inaccurate readings and cutting down the process, however, will not get the
university’s new device rushed into airports. At this point the GC-MS produces only a readout with charts and figures that must be interpreted by a specialist with an advanced degree in chemistry — someone not typically found on TSA or airport staff.

“The ultimate goal,” Jackson says, “is to create some sort of intelligence that interprets the data the GC-MS produces so that a green light or red light reading makes the presence of a chemist unnecessary.”

ADHD Research

Change of Perception

Kids with ADHD accurately judge others' skills but misperceive their own

by DWAYNE STEWARD
Features Writer
Perspectives
Monday May 21, 2007



Though scientists know that there is a biological basis to attention-defi cit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which affects 3 to 7 percent of kids in America, other researchers continue to examine the psychological aspects of the condition in the hopes of improving behavioral treatments for these children.

Previous studies have shown that children with ADHD overestimate how well they perform certain tasks, which psychologists call the “positive illusory bias.” Nicole Evangelista, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at Ohio University, decided to explore the idea further by not only examining how ADHD kids perceive themselves but also how accurately they judge the skills of other children.

The work builds on the research of her adviser, Assistant Professor of Psychology Julie Owens. Owens is the founder and director of the Youth Experiencing Success in School (Y.E.S.S.) Program, a school-based mental health program for elementary school age children and families in Athens, Gallia, and Hocking counties.

For her project, Evangelista studied children with two types of ADHD, as well as nonimpaired children. She asked the students to fill out a questionnaire about their perceptions of their own academic, social, and athletic competence. She also gave surveys to the children’s teachers and parents about the students’ academic and social performance and behavior.

“This is one of the places where we find discrepancies,” Evangelista says. “Teachers rate the student as doing poorly in school, while the student thinks he or she is doing well.”

Next she administered an achievement test on reading, math, and spelling. Students also watched a 16-part series of 30-second video clips created by Evangelista, featuring child actors who performed different academic and social tasks. The children in the study also viewed 20- to 30-second clips, and then completed a four-part questionnaire about how well the child actors performed the tasks.

Evangelista’s study provided more confirmation for the positive illusory bias, as childrenwith ADHD significantly overestimated their academic competence, while children without the disorder did not.

The project did find for the first time, however, that the ADHD children could accurately evaluate other kids’ skills, even if they couldn’t correctly judge their own. This might suggest that the positive illusory bias could be a form of self-protection for these children, Evangelista says.

The big picture, she notes, is that if children with ADHD don’t perceive their own behavior or academic difficulties accurately, behavior therapists may have a more difficult time motivating them to change.

Evangelista has presented her research at The Kansas Conference in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology and the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies in New Orleans, and is preparing her thesis for publication. She hopes to secure additional grant funding to continue the research in the hopes of ultimately finding better treatment options for the many children in America diagnosed with ADHD.

Verna's Back!

Catching up with…Verna Thompson, CQS class of 1999

By Dwayne Steward
Special to chipsquinn.org
May 25, 2007



Verna Thompson views her eight years at The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., where she has worked since she graduated from college, as an elongated stepping stone.

“After college I was an intern (at The News Journal) and I kind of got used to Delaware so I stayed,” Thompson said. “It’s close to everything (New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.) and there are some really good people here.

“But I don’t see myself staying in journalism,” she added.

Thompson, a Web producer at the paper, eventually hopes to follow her dreams to the West Coast and the world of advertising or Web design.

Even early on, she said, her goal “wasn’t always journalism.”

A New York City native, Thompson was a fine-arts major at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan.

“I thought I’d become a fashion designer,” she said, “but I couldn’t find a college that I could afford that had a good design school. My brother suggested graphic design, so I went to Norfolk State University (in Virginia), where my major was journalism. I minored in advertising.”

By the time she graduated, Thompson was not only writing for, but also running her college newspaper, The Spartan Echo.

“One of my professors kind of forced me into (writing for the campus paper). I found that I loved the people and by my sophomore year I was the news section editor,” she said.



From Chips Quinn to a permanent job

During her senior year in 1999, the adviser to The Spartan Echo recommended she apply to the Chips Quinn Scholars program. She landed an internship at The News Journal as a graphics artist and page designer.

“It was coming to the end of the summer internship and I didn’t have a job,” Thompson recalled. “I started to freak out.”

She applied to a few places and, after not receiving many replies, she panicked, she said. Little did she know she had no reason to be in a frenzy over possible unemployment: Her work was impressing the bigwigs at The News Journal.

Her editor pulled her aside one day and told her the paper wanted to hire her full time. Thompson was elated and accepted the job.

At the same time, she was thinking about her career path.

“I didn’t see a future in page design except if I became a manager and that’s not what I wanted to do,” she said. “I basically taught myself most of the Web stuff but soon realized that what I knew on my own wasn’t good enough to get a good amount of freelance work, so I went back to school.”

She has continued to keep her journalism skills fresh by attending The Art Institute of Philadelphia to earn a degree in new media and Web design.

At The News Journal, she transferred from page design to the fast-paced world of newspaper Web producing.

The paper has featured her blog, “Verna Vision” on its Web site for well over two years. In it, Thompson provides an informal, urbanized view of what goes on around Delaware, with pictures and commentary.

She also has started doing some freelance work.

Looking ahead

At 30, Thompson is still dreaming big, which sets her apart from many of her peers, she said.

“I’ve always wanted to see what life is like on the West Coast. I’m planning to move to California in the next couple of years,” she said.

She envisions working in advertising, designing Web ads or commercials, or focusing on producing online products. “Eventually I’d like to take my freelancing and focus it more and become an entrepreneur,” she said.

In any case, she said, “Once I leave here, I’m done with newspapers. I don’t see what else I could learn or gain.”

On the non-career front, she wants to have children but doesn’t have a strong desire to marry.

“Marriage isn’t really on my ‘to do’ list; if it happens it happens,” she said. “But I definitely want kids.”

For the moment, Thompson isn’t terribly eager for change but will be ready for it when it comes. Like everyone else, she’s simply trying to get into her element, she said. “I like to think I’m career oriented,” Thompson said. “People say I work too hard, but I’m just trying to find that balance right now between my career and having a social life outside of it.”

Minority Squared

Commentary: Being black and gay on a white and straight campus

Dwayne Steward
The Post
Freelance
Wed., April 18, 2007

Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Athens.

Micah lies on a small cot, cold. He shivers uncontrollably while in the Lighthouse, a shelter for runaway and homeless youth in Cincinnati. A gentle hand touches his shoulder; he turns and immediately hugs his older brother, who has come to pick him up. Micah pulls away and realizes it’s time. He hesitates, his eyes water, a single tear falls down his cheek.

“I’m gay,” he says.

Silence.

His brother, more than 17 years his senior, bursts into tears, sobbing in his lap like a child. “I will always love you. I just want you to know that.” The rest of Micah’s frozen interior melts completely. This relief is suddenly dashed.

“But, I don’t want you to expose the boys to this,” he whispers in Micah’s ear. He realizes his brother is referring to his young nephews. Micah’s heart breaks, knowing his nephews may never truly know him.

Ohio University sophomore Micah Brown returned from memory lane, looked up at me and smiled, but only slightly.

“My relationship with my brother is stronger then ever. We never hugged before, and now he hugs me every time I see him,” Brown chuckled. “But it really hurts sometimes, because I still can’t always be myself around my nephews.”

Although I’ve never been through anything close to what Brown’s endured, I know this feeling of being accepted, but with exceptions. Being black and gay in a predominantly white and straight society makes it difficult to be completely oneself without encountering rejection.

In 2005, 56 percent of reported hate crimes were racially motivated, and 14 percent were targeted because of the victim’s sexual orientation, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2005 Hate Crimes Statistics. Not only must we worry about the threats of being targeted for being black, but also about hate groups with a homophobic agenda.

Of the 1.6 million homeless youth in America, 20 to 30 percent of them are a part of the LGBT community, according to a study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Fifty percent of gay teens experience a negative reaction after coming out to their parents, with 26 percent claiming they were forced from their homes. A support system becomes immediately vital, but for some, it’s not usually until they reach college campuses that they finally can find a more liberal and inclusive environment.

But 36 percent of LGBT students nationally experienced some sort of harassment on a college campus for being gay in the past year, forcing 51 percent to stay in the closet, according to the task force. This statistic is probably even larger for those who are a two-tiered minority.
We are forced to reach out to a predominantly white, gay community, which will never understand our racial battle, or to the multicultural community, which will never fully comprehend our sexual orientation.

Brown and I are some of the lucky ones.

The animated and outspoken Cincinnati native experienced rejection because of his sexuality many times as an adolescent. Ultimately he found a group of students that would replace the void his family could not fill.

When he’d first arrived at OU — among the top 100 most gay-friendly colleges nationwide, according to The Princeton Review — Brown quickly established himself among his black peers. In turn he said he had to face homophobia on a regular basis, a trend in OU’s — and America’s — black

culture. The extinction of this pattern of thinking is long overdue.Brown had a longing for something more. He knew exactly what it was — a space where he’d be accepted on both fronts — but didn’t think it at all possible.

In stepped sophomore Evan Robinson.

He was president of a new multicultural LGBT group called SHADES. Brown, while curious, hesitated before joining. But once Robinson convinced him to join SHADES, the group’s presence in Brown’s life became irreplaceable. When Robinson, a reserved socialite with urban-influenced style, stepped up and took the lead of SHADES without a moment’s hesitation, he saw great potential in what the group stood for and knew he had to be a large part of it.

“Many of us fall apart when we come out because of being both gay and black,” Robinson said. “I wish something like this group had been there for me to help pick up the pieces.”

SHADES, which has about a dozen members, and organizations like it are beginning to catch on at other universities. Cornell University has a group called Mosaic, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill houses United for New Ideas Towards Ethnic Diversity, also known as U.N.I.T.E.D.

These groups are starting to chip away at the double oppression that comes with being a racial minority and gay. With causes rooted in the campus culture, the idea is to ensure that no one is forced to remain closeted because of a fear of double rejection. There are others like you. You are not alone. These two realizations can change someone’s life. It changed Micah Brown’s. It changed mine.