Help-Seeking for Children\u27s Behavioral Health Concerns

Approximately 30% to 60% of children experience a behavioral health problem such as picky eating, toileting, or sleep difficulties; however, less than half of those individuals receive the necessary services to improve their symptoms and functioning. Examining the pathway through which children access behavioral health care is crucial to understanding the gap between the need for services and actual service use. Help-seeking process models suggest that for a child to receive care, caregivers must go through a series of linear stages: problem recognition, decision to seek help, and service selection. This help-seeking process has not been previously examined for sleep, picky eating, and toileting challenges, which leaves a gap in our knowledge about how children receive access to important behavioral health care. The current study aimed to fill gaps in the literature regarding help-seeking for behavioral health concerns. Survey data was collected through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Participants were 151 caregivers of children ages 5 to 10 years who provided information about help-seeking and child behavioral health symptoms. Rates of caregiver problem recognition for children who exhibited clinically significant concerns were 39% for sleep, 70% for picky eating, and 52% for toileting. When caregivers identified a problem, rates of help-seeking ranged from 53% (sleep) to 69% (toileting). The severity of the child’s problem predicted caregiver problem identification and help-seeking across all concerns. Caregiver past experience with mental health predicted problem identification and help-seeking for sleep and for picky eating. Family disorganization also predicted identification of picky eating problems. Caregivers demonstrated low knowledge of treatment options for behavioral health, and specialty behavioral health services were underutilized across problem areas with 69% to 75% of caregivers in the sample indicating that they had or would seek help from a pediatrician and only 11% to 19% indicating that they had or would seek help from a therapist or psychologist. Caregivers also reported low rates of pediatrician screening for these behavioral health concerns, and results suggest that caregivers are not fully satisfied with how pediatricians address their concerns. Overall, results support and add to the findings in the literature that suggest child behavioral health problems are under- recognized and under-treated. Future research is needed to close the gap between the need for services and service use

Studies on molecular and morphological evolution and biogeography of squids

The cephalopod clade Decapodiformes consists of Spirulida (ram’s horn squid), Sepiolida (bobtail squids), Sepiida (cuttlefishes), Myopsida (inshore squids), and Oegopsida (oceanic squids). While many unanswered questions remain regarding this clade, a thorough examination requires a multi-level taxonomic approach due to uneven data coverage within. This dissertation explores a diverse set of topics in decapodiform evolution and biogeography with a hierarchical approach, starting with the “superorder” Decapodiformes, moving to the “order” Oegopsida, and finally zooming in to the family level with Pyroteuthidae. addressing four main questions: 1) Does RNA editing affect the use of transcriptomics in cephalopod phylogenetics? 2) What is the evolutionary history of ammoniacal buoyancy in oegoposids? 3) What are the present and future niches of pyroteuthid squids? 4) What is the biogeographic history of pyroteuthid squids

DEVELOPMENT OF A RESPONSE SPECTRUM MODEL FOR BIFENTHRIN USING JUVENILE CHINOOK SALMON (ONCORHYNCHUS TSHAWYTSCHA)

Long-term declines in salmonid populations observed in California Central Valley have prompted efforts to enhance the understanding of how environmental stressors impact sensitive species. Bifenthrin, a current-use insecticide, has been consistently detected throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) and has been linked to detrimental effects in salmon. Traditionally, aqueous concentration is used in toxicological studies to evaluate the effects of pesticides on aquatic organisms, which assumes that concentration of the toxicant in water is a valid surrogate for dose. The critical body residue approach was established as an improved technique for assessing toxicity of hydrophobic contaminants, but there is a lack of data to support the application of this method in assessing risk of contaminant exposure in the environment. The current study creates a response spectrum model (RSM) demonstrating the relationship between internal residue and effects observed in Chinook Salmon from laboratory-based exposures. To develop the RSM, a series of behavioral and physiological endpoints were measured using bifenthrin-dosed Chinook Salmon to use with previously generated mortality data for incorporation in the model. The most sensitive endpoints were locomotion and shoaling behavior, followed by anxiety, growth, swim performance, upper thermal sensitivity, olfactory response, and lethality. The RSM endpoints were compared to bifenthrin residues in field-collected juvenile Chinook Salmon collected in 2019-2020 as part of our earlier studies. We found bifenthrin tissue residues were at similar levels to the most sensitive endpoints featured in the RSM, suggesting that bifenthrin exposure in the field is likely to cause behavioral effects to salmon as they out-migrate through the Delta. The developed RSM is a tool that could be used by water quality managers to evaluate the extent to which bifenthrin exposure may impact behavior and performance in juvenile salmon, providing a field-based verification of its effects on outmigration

Second Guessing Second Chances: The Relationship Convicted Offense and Sociodemographic Factors Have on Employment Outcomes for the Justice-Impacted

A conviction is a ramification that extends beyond the correctional facility. An extensive amount of research has explored the barriers the justice-impacted experience once they are released from prison. One of the most immediate and impactful barriers is their ability to secure employment, due to it being quintessential in reducing their likelihood to recidivate and engage in illegal activity post-release. While much research has specifically focused on former prisoners’ ability to secure employment post-release, very limited researched exists that examines how convicted offense impacts employment. Utilizing the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative (SVORI) multi-site impact evaluation as its secondary dataset, the present study aimed to explore the impact violent offenses (non-sex), sex offenses, white-collar offenses, property offenses, drug offenses, and confounding sociodemographic factors have on securing employment three months post-incarceration. This study hypothesized there is a significant association between employment status and convicted offenses/convicted offense types among the justice-impacted, even when accounting for confounding sociodemographic factors. Through binary logistic regression analysis and multiple imputations, the results from the study reveal statistical significance for the relationship between convicted offenses (assault, car theft, drug dealing, drug possession, and forgery), convicted offense types (drug and white-collar), and confounding sociodemographic factors (age, education, and race) with employment 3 months post-incarceration. It is hoped these results reveal how stifling deficits are to securing employment for the justice-impacted, and the need for further policy and programming application to decrease these challenges

When Prohibition is Not Regulation: Analyzing the Court\u27s Decision in Wallach v. Town of Dryden, 16 N.E.3D 1188 (N.Y. 2014)

The increased use of hydraulic fracturing has led to concerns about possible environmental harm. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a resource extraction technique that aims to improve well productivity by pumping fracturing fluids containing a mixture of water, other chemicals, and sand, into an oil or gas well under high pressure. Public opposition to hydraulic fracturing has led to bans and proposed bans on the practice in many American cities and towns. The Town of Dryden, New York, enacted an amendment to its zoning ordinance prohibiting all oil and gas exploration and production within its boundaries. New York state law regulates the oil, gas, and solution mining industry, and the state statute contains a supersession clause that preempts local regulation of these industries. In Wallach v. Town of Dryden, the New York Court of Appeals held the zoning ordinance was a valid regulation of land use, rather than a regulation of the oil and gas industry, and that state law did not preempt the zoning ordinance. This Note examines Wallach v. Town of Dryden in light of the risks and benefits of hydraulic fracturing and prior New York statutes and case law. It explains the hydraulic fracturing process and its history, and explains the approaches Colorado and Pennsylvania have taken to supersession. It also explains the New York statutes and case law relating to municipal authority to regulate land use, and the New York statute regulating the oil and gas industries. Finally, this Note argues the court correctly interpreted precedent in a way that maintains municipal authority to regulate land use while preserving the legislature’s authority to regulate industry, resulting in an appropriate balance of state and local authority that serves public policy. This Note concludes by urging Illinois courts to follow the example set in Wallach v. Town of Dryden when deciding cases challenging local ordinances prohibiting hydraulic fracturing

Reforming Illinois Paternity/maternity/parentage Acknowledgment Laws

In the 1990s, due to a surge in nonmarital births and the related increase in child support assistance, Congress passed laws making federal aid to states contingent on accessible and standardized paternity establishment processes. This led to in-hospital voluntary paternity acknowledgments (VAPs), which made establishing paternity for child support easier. Federal funding required strict VAP processes, including a sixty-day rescission period and limited grounds for post-rescission challenges. Voluntary parentage acknowledgments have since expanded to include non-genetic parents, like spouses and intended parents through assisted reproduction. Illinois\u27 Parentage Act of 2015 regulates these acknowledgments. However, the Illinois Appellate Court case, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services ex rel. Hull v. Robinson, revealed complexities with VAPs, particularly when a non-genetic father signed an Iowa VAP, leading to a child support reimbursement challenge from the actual genetic father in Illinois. This Article critiques Illinois laws on voluntary paternity acknowledgments, proposing critical reforms. It starts with the Robinson case, exploring both explicit and implicit VAP issues. It then delves into Illinois\u27 broader parentage acknowledgment framework, considering acknowledgments for children born from consensual sex and from nonsurrogacy and surrogacy assisted reproduction. The Article extends its analysis to the 2000 and 2017 Uniform Parentage Acts (UPAs) and other states\u27 laws, providing a context for Illinois lawmakers. The Article posits reforms of Illinois laws on both paternity and maternity acknowledgments (i.e., those with relevant genetic ties) and on other parentage acknowledgments (i.e., those with no genetic ties), though recognizing a need for differentiating between the two types of acknowledgments

DERMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF WORKING ANIMALS DURING VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

The dermal barrier is the first line of defense for working animals, however, little is known on how it fluctuates and reacts to day-to-day events. Many are pursuing dermatological research including nutritional supplementation, decontamination strategies, and treatments of dermatological disease. However, without an in-depth understanding on how the dermal barrier and its resident microbiota fluctuate in response to the environment and basic maintenance practices, these research pursuits may lack accuracy. The presented works provide some preliminary insight into how common measures of dermal barrier such as cutaneous pH and trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) fluctuate throughout the day and their natural response to changes in temperature and humidity in both acclimated and non-acclimated settings. Additionally, the works pursue how these dermal measures fluctuate following an antimicrobial bath with a common veterinary cleanser and if there are associations with the changes seen to the dermal microbiota. These findings have both implications for future research as well as for working animal decontamination procedures