Six-Month Post-Release Outcomes for Inmates with Traumatic Brain Injury in Supported Community Programming

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a serious public health issue. The incidence of TBI is much higher in the incarcerated population than in the general population, making this a uniquely vulnerable population. Methods: This study looks at data from the Jail Based Behavioral Health Services (JBBS) to examine recidivism rates among inmates participating in supportive programming. It also uses data from a state brain injury program to examine the impact of case management on community engagement in the justice-involved population with a history of brain injury. Results: Statewide data for a population of inmates who elect to participate in jail-based behavioral health service program reflect a self-reported TBI history rate of 36.4%. Six-months after release from jail, 11.9% of those persons with TBI reported a reoffense relative to 8.5% of those individuals without a history of TBI. Recidivism rates comparing individuals with a history of TBI and those without a history of TBI were not significant. Participating inmates with a reported TBI history were 4.22 times more likely to have experienced trauma (χ2 = 35.58, p \u3c .001) and 3.52 times more likely to have a mental illness diagnosis relative to incarcerated persons without TBI (χ2 = 27.85, p \u3c .001). Six months after release, 56.8% of participating individuals with a history of TBI were receiving community treatment, 27.8% of these individuals were not in treatment, and 3.4% reported that they had completed treatment. Case management also appears to confer a protective benefit and prevent escalation of needs. A closer study of recently-released inmates receiving individual case management confirms that there is an extraordinarily high attrition rate from referral to receipt of services where 70% of people referred for case management fail to make a connection. For those that do receive services, these data suggest that it prevents an escalation of psychosocial needs. In this study, there were no differences in reported community participation as measured by M2PI scores (t24 = .497, p = 0.624) at intake and at six months of case management. Conclusions: The present study confirms that case management confers a benefit to persons with TBI who are released from the criminal justice system. Further, in a population of persons who elect to participate in jail-based behavioral health service program, the recidivism rates for the more vulnerable population of persons with TBI history are no different from the larger population of returning citizens. Future research should examine the degree to which these outcomes are directly impacted by the level or type of treatment. The limitations of the present study are discussed

Non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq effects in turbulent thermal convection in ethane close to the critical point

As shown in earlier work (Ahlers et al., J. Fluid Mech. 569, p.409 (2006)), non-Oberbeck Boussinesq (NOB) corrections to the center temperature in turbulent Rayleigh-Benard convection in water and also in glycerol are governed by the temperature dependences of the kinematic viscosity and the thermal diffusion coefficient. If the working fluid is ethane close to the critical point the origin of non-Oberbeck-Boussinesq corrections is very different, as will be shown in the present paper. Namely, the main origin of NOB corrections then lies in the strong temperature dependence of the isobaric thermal expansion coefficient \beta(T). More precisely, it is the nonlinear T-dependence of the density \rho(T) in the buoyancy force which causes another type of NOB effect. We demonstrate that through a combination of experimental, numerical, and theoretical work, the latter in the framework of the extended Prandtl-Blasius boundary layer theory developed in Ahlers et al., J. Fluid Mech. 569, p.409 (2006). The latter comes to its limits, if the temperature dependence of the thermal expension coefficient \beta(T) is significant.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figures, 3 table

Diagnostic and therapeutic-restorative procedures for masticatory dysfunctions

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) or craniomandibular disorders, respectively, involve diseases of the teeth and periodontia as well as the masticatory muscles, temporomandibular joints and associated structures. It has been shown in recent years that psychological, social and general medical influences are of enormous importance in the etiology of TMD in addition to anatomical, physiological, parafunctional and other biological causes. This signifies that therapists confronted with TMD should already include at an early stage other specialists such as pain therapists, neurologists, ENT physicians, psychotherapists and physiotherapists. Patients need to be referred to dentists specializing in TMD when ENT examinations yield no pathological findings. The treatment of TMD is subdivided into the following steps that are always related to underlying diagnoses: informing patients, self-observation, relaxation therapy, behavioral therapy, physiotherapy, drug therapy, therapeutic local anesthesia, splint therapy, and, if necessary, prosthetic and/or orthodontic therapy to restore a stable occlusion

Influence of Invasive Hybrid Cattails on Habitat Use by Common Loons

An invasive hybrid cattail species, Typha x glauca (T. x glauca), is rapidly expanding across the United States and Canada. Dense clonal stands of T. x glauca outcompete native wetland plants, reduce open-water habitats, and negatively affect native wetland plant diversity; however, effects of hybrid cattail expansions on native wildlife are still unclear. We used multiple surveys and single-season occupancy models to examine how the relative coverage of T. x glauca affected habitat use by common loons (Gavia immer) at 71 wetland sites in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA, during summer 2016. Delineated wetland sites (2 ha) were considered potential resource patches for common loons and positioned along a gradient of relative T. x glauca coverage. Detection of common loons was influenced negatively by the time of day surveys were conducted. Occupancy probabilities were greater at sites with deeper water levels, possibly indicating selection for areas with adequate water depths for pursuit-based foraging for fish. Contrary to our hypothesis, common loons appeared insensitive to the relative coverage of T. x glauca at wetland sites. Future research should focus on elucidating potential threshold-effects of T. x glauca expansions on additional loon demographic rates