Significant Developments in the Immigration Laws of the United States 1981-1982

This Synopsis outlines the significant developments in immigration law from October 1981 to July 1982. The synopsis highlights several recent Supreme Court decisions, as well as decisions in the lowers courts, with respect to immigration issues, and also highlights recent Congressional legislation in the area

Quality Child Care Supports the Achievement of Low-Income Children: Direct and Indirect Pathways Through Caregiving and the Home Environment

Existing studies of child care have not been able to determine whether higher quality child care protects children from the effects of poverty, whether poverty and lower quality child care operate as dual risk factors, or whether both are true. The objective of the current study was to test two pathways through which child care may serve as a naturally occurring intervention for low-income children: a direct pathway through child care quality to child outcomes, and an indirect pathway through improvements in the home environment. Children were observed in their homes and child care settings at 6, 15, 24, and 36 months. An interaction between family income-to-needs ratio and child care quality predicted School Readiness, Receptive Language, and Expressive Language, as well as improvements in the home environment. Children from low-income families profited from observed learning supports in the form of sensitive care and stimulation of cognitive development, and their parents profited from unobserved informal and formal parent supports. Policy implications are discussed

Effect of grain interactions on the frequency dependence of magnetic susceptibility

Accepted versio

Unravelling the interrelationships between ecosystem services and human wellbeing in the Bangladesh delta

Coupled social and ecological systems need to be understood from a dynamic perspective in order to operationalise complexity concepts, such as tipping points, for sustainable ecosystem management. In this study, we strive to achieve this type of conceptual understanding through the analysis of the relationships (e.g. strength, nonlinearity) between the trends of ecosystem services (ES) and human wellbeing (HWB) between 1960 and 2010 in the south-west Bangladesh delta using generalized additive and logistic regression models. We use sequential principal components analysis to investigate the connectedness within the social–ecological system as a measure of resilience. We also use published literature to help develop a system dynamic framework in order to investigate how ES and HWB are interlinked. Overall, our results support previous work, which depicts that material wellbeing (basic materials for a good life) having a strong relationship with provisioning services, which in turn, show a weak relationship with the quality of life (security and health). Moreover, our analysis confirms the ‘Environmentalist’s Paradox’ that HWB has increased despite the deterioration in ES. However, our results suggest that provisioning services are not the only important reason for the increases in observed HWB, as these have also been substantially influenced by technology and capital investment (aid and subsidy). In addition, worsening trends in regulation services and in ‘slow’ variables such as climate suggest that the resilience of the overall social-ecological system is decreasing. Such changes may have severe consequences if they continue, for example, if temperatures exceed the upper physiological limits of key provisioning services (e.g. rice, fish) in the Bangladesh delta. These indicators all suggest that although in terms of HWB the deltaic social–ecological system may be successfully adapting to environmental change, it may also be close to transgressing critical ecological boundaries in the near future

Population dynamics, delta vulnerability and environmental change: comparison of the Mekong, Ganges–Brahmaputra and Amazon delta regions

Tropical delta regions are at risk of multiple threats including relative sea level rise and human alterations, making them more and more vulnerable to extreme floods, storms, surges, salinity intrusion, and other hazards which could also increase in magnitude and frequency with a changing climate. Given the environmental vulnerability of tropical deltas, understanding the interlinkages between population dynamics and environmental change in these regions is crucial for ensuring efficient policy planning and progress toward social and ecological sustainability. Here, we provide an overview of population trends and dynamics in the Ganges–Brahmaputra, Mekong and Amazon deltas. Using multiple data sources, including census data and Demographic and Health Surveys, a discussion regarding the components of population change is undertaken in the context of environmental factors affecting the demographic landscape of the three delta regions. We find that the demographic trends in all cases are broadly reflective of national trends, although important differences exist within and across the study areas. Moreover, all three delta regions have been experiencing shifts in population structures resulting in aging populations, the latter being most rapid in the Mekong delta. The environmental impacts on the different components of population change are important, and more extensive research is required to effectively quantify the underlying relationships. The paper concludes by discussing selected policy implications in the context of sustainable development of delta regions and beyond

Primary stenting of the superficial femoral and popliteal artery

ObjectivesOver the last decade, the number of endovascular procedures performed on the superficial femoral (SFA) and popliteal arteries (PA) has significantly increased. There is no consensus on the optimal form of intervention used in this arterial segment. While some have advocated balloon angioplasty alone, others have championed either selective or primary stenting of these lesions. It is the purpose of this study to determine the efficacy and durability of primary stenting of the superficial femoral and popliteal artery.MethodsAll patients undergoing peripheral angioplasty by a single vascular surgeon were prospectively enrolled in an Institutional Review Board-approved, primary-stenting protocol. During a 44-month period, all patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal angioplasty of the SFA or PA also received primary arterial stenting with bare, self-expanding nitinol stents. Patient demographics and risk factors were identified. TransAtlantic InterSociety Consensus (TASC) classifications were determined for all lesions. Loss of primary patency was said to have occurred when an occlusion or a 50% or greater stenosis in any treated arterial segment was diagnosed by arterial duplex or angiography. Only time to loss of primary patency was recorded. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were plotted and differences between groups tested by log rank method.ResultsBetween January 16, 2004 and August 13, 2007, 201 angioplasties with primary stenting were performed on 161 patients. One hundred twenty-three stents were placed for claudication, and 78 for critical limb ischemia. Forty-six segments treated were TASC A, 82 were TASC B, 38 were TASC C, and 35 were TASC D. Patient follow-up ranged from three to 1329 days (mean: 426 days). Primary patency rates for TASC A and B lesions were 79%, 67%, and 57% at 12, 24, and 36 months. For TASC C and D lesions, primary patency rates were 52.7%, 36%, and 19% at the same time intervals. Primary patency rates for TASC A and B lesions were significantly higher than for C and D lesions (P < .001). The limb salvage rate was 88.5% in patients with critical limb ischemia. Distal runoff did not influence patency (P = .827).ConclusionsPrimary stenting of the SFA and PA provides durable results in patients with TASC A and B lesions and may be an effective treatment strategy. This approach is significantly less effective when used in treating those with TASC C and D disease. Based on the results in this series, the use of primary stenting does not extend the anatomic limits of the current treatment recommendations for catheter-based intervention in patients with infrainguinal occlusive disease