Very short-lived bromomethanes measured by the CARIBIC observatory over the North Atlantic, Africa and Southeast Asia during 2009-2013

Short-lived organic brominated compounds make up a significant part of the organic bromine budget in the atmosphere. Emissions of these compounds are highly variable and there are limited measurements, particularly in the extra-tropical upper troposphere/lower stratosphere and tropical troposphere. Measurements of five very short-lived bromomethanes (VSLB) were made in air samples collected on the CARIBIC project aircraft over three flight routes; Germany to Venezuela/Columbia during 2009-2011, Germany to South Africa during 2010 and 2011 and Germany to Thailand/Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during 2012 and 2013. In the tropical troposphere, as the most important entrance region to the stratosphere, we observe a total mean organic bromine derived from these compounds across all flights at 10-12 km altitude of 3.4 ± 1.5 ppt. Individual mean tropical tropospheric mixing ratios across all flights were 0.43, 0.74, 0.14, 0.23 and 0.11 ppt for CHBr3, CH2Br2, CHBr2Cl, CHBrCl2 and CH2BrCl respectively. The highest levels of VSLB-derived bromine (4.20 ± 0.56 ppt) were observed in flights between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur indicating that the South China Sea is an important source region for these compounds. Across all routes, CHBr and CHBr2 accounted for 34% (4.7-71) and 48% (14-73) respectively of total bromine derived from the analysed VSLB in the tropical mid-upper troposphere totalling 82% (54-89). In samples collected between Germany and Venezuela/Columbia, we find decreasing mean mixing ratios with increasing potential temperature in the extra-tropics. Tropical mean mixing ratios are higher than extra-tropical values between 340-350 K indicating that rapid uplift is important in determining mixing ratios in the lower tropical tropopause layer in the West Atlantic tropics. O3 was used as a tracer for stratospherically influenced air and we detect rapidly decreasing mixing ratios for all VSLB above ∼100 ppb O3 corresponding to the extra-tropical tropopause layer

Cortex, countercurrent context, and dimensional integration of lifetime memory

The correlation between relative neocortex size and longevity in mammals encourages a search for a cortical function specifically related to the life-span. A candidate in the domain of permanent and cumulative memory storage is proposed and explored in relation to basic aspects of cortical organization. The pattern of cortico-cortical connectivity between functionally specialized areas and the laminar organization of that connectivity converges on a globally coherent representational space in which contextual embedding of information emerges as an obligatory feature of cortical function. This brings a powerful mode of inductive knowledge within reach of mammalian adaptations, a mode which combines item specificity with classificatory generality. Its neural implementation is proposed to depend on an obligatory interaction between the oppositely directed feedforward and feedback currents of cortical activity, in countercurrent fashion. Direct interaction of the two streams along their cortex-wide local interface supports a scheme of "contextual capture" for information storage responsible for the lifelong cumulative growth of a uniquely cortical form of memory termed "personal history." This approach to cortical function helps elucidate key features of cortical organization as well as cognitive aspects of mammalian life history strategies

Maternity care for trafficked women : survivor experiences and clinicians’ perspectives in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service

Background Although trafficked women and adolescents are at risk of unprotected or forced sex, there is little research on maternity care among trafficking survivors. We explored health care needs, service use and challenges among women who became pregnant while in the trafficking situation in the United Kingdom (UK) and clinicians’ perspectives of maternity care for trafficked persons. Methods Cross-sectional survey and qualitative interviews with trafficking survivors recruited from statutory and voluntary sector organisations in England and qualitative interviews with maternity clinicians and family doctors undertaken to offer further insight into experiences reported by these women. Findings Twenty-eight (29%) of 98 women who took part in a large study of trafficking survivors reported one or more pregnancies while trafficked, whose data are reported here. Twelve (42.8%) of these women reported at least one termination of pregnancy while in the trafficking situation and 25 (89.3%) experienced some form of mental health disorder. Nineteen (67.9%) women experienced pre-trafficking physical abuse and 9 (32.%) sexual abuse. A quarter of women were trafficked for sexual exploitation, six for domestic servitude and two for manual labour. Survivors and clinicians described service challenges, including restrictions placed on women’s movements by traffickers, poor knowledge on how to access maternity care, poor understanding of healthcare entitlements and concerns about confidentiality. Maternity care clinicians recognised potential indicators of trafficking, but considered training would help them identify and respond to victims. Main limitations include that findings reflect women who had exited the trafficking situation, however as some had only recently exited the trafficking situation, difficulties with recall were likely to be low. Conclusions More than one in four women became pregnant while trafficked, indicating that maternity services offer an important contact point for identification and care. Given the prevalence of sexual exploitation and abuse among trafficking survivors, clinicians should ensure antenatal care and screening for sexually transmitted infections can be readily accessed by women. Clinicians require specialised training alongside designated pathways and protocols with clear referral options to ensure confidential maternity care tailored to each woman’s needs

Making or Breaking the Heart: From Lineage Determination to Morphogenesis

The cues governing cardiac cell-fate decisions, cardiac differentiation, and three-dimensional morphogenesis are rapidly being elucidated. Several themes are emerging that are relevant for childhood and adult heart disease and the growing field of stem cell biology. This review will consider our current understanding of cardiac cell-fate determination and cardiogenesis—largely derived from developmental studies in model organisms and human genetic approaches—and examine future implications for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of heart disease in the young and old

Davey Marlin-Jones: Director, educator, visionary

This is a biographical thesis on Davey Marlin-Jones which includes chapters on the following: (1) His early life and his love of magic. (2) His directing experience in professional and regional theatre. (3) Interviews with many of his collaborators. (4) His directing methodology. (5) His philosophy, his future thoughts, and a summary by the author; An appendix includes 874 directing credits accumulated by Marlin-Jones from his college days to the present, spring of 1992; The research methods used were mostly primary consisting of taped interviews with Marlin-Jones, his many collaborators, and a few of his critics. The methodology chapter compares the directing methods of Marlin-Jones to other well-known directors; The endeavor of this thesis is to present an honest, thoroughly researched work on Davey Marlin-Jones, director, visionary, educator, and person, and in the process his contributions to the American theatre community will be revealed

Exploring Practice-Based Clinical–Research Partnerships in Speech-Language Pathology: A Scoping Review

Collaborative partnerships between speech-language pathologists and researchers present an opportunity for practice-based research. For practice-based research to become more widely used in speech-language pathology, a crucial step is outlining the potential purposes and outcomes of these partnership projects. The current article is two-fold. First, we describe a model for practice-based partnerships between researchers and speech-language pathologists. The practice-based research cocreation model developed for this project includes three distinct partnership outcomes: (a) creating practice, (b) capturing current practice, and (c) changing practice. Then, informed by our model, we completed a scoping review to explore the extent and type of practice-based research in the field of speech-language pathology to date. A literature database search identified 3510 articles meeting our inclusion criteria. Two independent readers reviewed abstracts and titles to determine articles for further review. Fifty-three articles were reviewed in full and 18 of these were excluded. Data were extracted from the remaining 35 articles. Level of partnership (creating, capturing, or changing) and type of partnership (collaborative or consultative) were coded. A thematic analysis revealed that three of the 35 articles involved creating practice, 19 captured current practice, and 13 were aimed at changing practice. Of the 27 articles in which details were provided about the partnerships between researchers and clinicians, 18 partnerships were collaborative and 9 were consultative. This review offers an initial step in examining the use of practice-based research in speech-language pathology, thereby demonstrating to researchers and clinicians how they can support each other to cocreate clinically relevant researc

Hardware-Assisted Secure Computation

The theory community has worked on Secure Multiparty Computation (SMC) for more than two decades, and has produced many protocols for many settings. One common thread in these works is that the protocols cannot use a Trusted Third Party (TTP), even though this is conceptually the simplest and most general solution. Thus, current protocols involve only the direct players---we call such protocols self-reliant. They often use blinded boolean circuits, which has several sources of overhead, some due to the circuit representation and some due to the blinding. However, secure coprocessors like the IBM 4758 have actual security properties similar to ideal TTPs. They also have little RAM and a slow CPU.We call such devices Tiny TTPs. The availability of real tiny TTPs opens the door for a different approach to SMC problems. One major challenge with this approach is how to execute large programs on large inputs using the small protected memory of a tiny TTP, while preserving the trust properties that an ideal TTP provides. In this thesis we have investigated the use of real TTPs to help with the solution of SMC problems. We start with the use of such TTPs to solve the Private Information Retrieval (PIR) problem, which is one important instance of SMC. Our implementation utilizes a 4758. The rest of the thesis is targeted at general SMC. Our SMC system, Faerieplay, moves some functionality into a tiny TTP, and thus avoids the blinded circuit overhead. Faerieplay consists of a compiler from high-level code to an arithmetic circuit with special gates for efficient indirect array access, and a virtual machine to execute this circuit on a tiny TTP while maintaining the typical SMC trust properties. We report on Faerieplay\u27s security properties, the specification of its components, and our implementation and experiments. These include comparisons with the Fairplay circuit-based two-party system, and an implementation of the Dijkstra graph shortest path algorithm. We also provide an implementation of an oblivious RAM which supports similar tiny TTP-based SMC functionality but using a standard RAM program. Performance comparisons show Faerieplay\u27s circuit approach to be considerably faster, at the expense of a more constrained programming environment when targeting a circuit

Examining the impact of trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy on perinatal mental health outcomes among survivors of intimate partner violence (the PATH study): Protocol for a feasibility study

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pervasive public health problem, impacting the health and quality of life of survivors worldwide. The trauma of IPV is associated with a high incidence of mental illness, namely depressive and anxiety disorders, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Moreover, literature endorses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) interventions as a gold standard for those with symptomatology consistent with anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and PTSD. However, efficacy has not been evaluated among a population of pregnant survivors of IPV. Objective: We present the protocol that will be used to explore the efficacy of trauma-informed cognitive behavioral therapy on maternal and child health outcomes for pregnant women with PTSD, depression, or anxiety symptomatology resulting from IPV. A secondary aim will be to test the validity and feasibility of study methodology to support the successful implementation of a full-scale randomized controlled trial. Methods: The Promoting Attachment Through Healing (PATH) study will use a mixed-methods approach grounded in an intersectional feminist framework to explore the effectiveness of trauma-informed CBT for pregnant survivors of IPV. Study participants will be recruited through the hospital-based Perinatal Mental Health Clinic (London, Ontario, Canada). A feasibility sample of 20 pregnant women (cohort 1) will be selected to engage in an eight-session antenatal CBT intervention facilitated by the program\u27s perinatal clinical nurse specialist, with evaluation at baseline, at two months postpartum (intervention and online questionnaire), and at six and twelve months postpartum (online questionnaire only). Concurrently, we will conduct a retrospective audit of 100 medical charts (cohort 2; 50 charts of perinatal women who received CBT and 50 charts of women who did not receive perinatal CBT) from the past five years. The efficacy of the intervention will be based on a reduction of mental illness symptomatology, improved maternal-infant attachment, maternal coping, and maternal quality of life. Additionally, the feasibility of the protocol and acceptability of the intervention from the women\u27s perspective will be examined. Inductive content analysis of all qualitative data will be used to determine common themes. Additionally, descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency and dispersion, will be computed for all continuous variables. Alternatively, frequency tables will be constructed for all categorical variables. Results: The work reported here is in the proposal phase. Once the protocol is implemented, we will report the results in a follow-up paper. Participant recruitment for cohort 1 has started and we have finished data collection for cohort 2. It is anticipated that the results will be available by the end of 2018. Conclusions: Findings will assess the acceptability of the study methodology and protocol for a full-scale randomized controlled trial. Furthermore, if CBT is proven effective for pregnant survivors of IPV, this intervention could be readily adopted by health care and social support services, thereby contributing to an improved standard of care for this unique population