Growth and Survival of Perchlorate-Reducing Bacteria in Media Containing Elevated Perchlorate Concentrations and UV-C Conditions

Introduction: The identification of perchlorate (ClO4(-)) on Mars has led to the possibility that complete redox couples are available for microbial metabolism in contemporary surface environments. Perchlorate-reducing bacteria (PRB) utilize ClO4(-) and chlorate (ClO3(-)) as terminal electron acceptors due to the high reduction potential. Additionally, ClO4(-) salts have been suggested as a possible source of brines on Mars and spectral evidence indicates that the hydration of ClO4(-) salts in the regolith of Martian is linked to the surface recurring slope lineae (RSL). For these reasons PRB may serve as analog organisms for possible life on Mars. However, there is very little information on the viability of PRB in aqueous environments that contain high levels of perchlorate Microorganisms on or near the surface of Mars, such as in the RSL, would potentially be exposed to high-salinity and high ultraviolet radiation environments. Under these extreme conditions, microorganisms must possess mechanisms for maintaining continued high genome fidelity. To assess possible microbial viability in contemporary Mars analog environments we are investigating the tolerance of two PRB strains in aqueous conditions under high UV-C conditions and high ClO4(-) concentrations

Child protection and social inequality: Editorial

In the UK and internationally, reducing inequalities in health and education has become accepted across the political spectrum as an essential component of government policy [...

Blending video-reflexive ethnography with solution-focused approach: A strengths-based approach to practice improvement in health care

Professionals seldom discuss those things that go well-rather the focus is often on problems, poor outcomes, and what does not go well. Exnovation is about illuminating the invisible or hidden strengths of existing practices in order to improve practice and is central to the contemporary, qualitative elicitation method: video-reflexive ethnography (VRE). VRE is a method to explore and articulate the taken for granted by means of short video clips of one’s own work practice that provides a basis for sharing experiences, assumptions, questions, and concerns about the way things are done in order to effect practice improvement. Reflexivity is key to the method. The creation of a safe space for this shared reflexivity is essential. Improvement activities frequently draw upon problem-focused approaches that imply blame and fault. Such approaches can serve to close down discussion, give rise to anxiety, and inhibit the very improvements sought. In contrast, a strengths-based, solution-focused approach serves to create the safe place where shared practices, rather than individuals, are the center of attention. By focusing on what works well practitioners are encouraged to identify and build on existing strengths. A solution-focused approach used alongside VRE provides a scaffold for building improvement that is relevant to context. In this article, we discuss exnovation, the elicitation method of video-reflexivity, and the incorporation of a strengths-based solution-focused approach with VRE. We highlight the transformative and complementary qualities of these methods and draw upon practical examples from health care to demonstrate how they serve to strengthen and enhance each other

Paradoxical evidence on ethnic inequities in child welfare: towards a research agenda

This paper aims to compare developments in theory and evidence about ethnic disparities in the USA with findings from the Child Welfare Inequalities Project in England with a view to identifying key issues for a future research agenda. It has a particular focus on the relevance of the concept of the Hispanic Paradox for disparate intervention rates between ethnic populations in England. Three key theoretical dimensions for explaining such disparities are identified and outlined: artefactual, demand and supply factors. Findings from the study in England are then introduced to explore the relevance of these dimensions in a data set of over 14,000 individual children who were either on child protection plans (with substantiated child abuse or neglect) or who were ‘looked after children: in out-of-home care, at the 31st March 2015. While some ethnic populations were experiencing much more difficult average socio-economic circumstances (SEC) than others (using deprivation scores for small neighbourhoods as a proxy measure of family SEC), such factors were only a partial explanation for differential intervention rates between ethnic groups. Overall, large differences in intervention rates were found between ethnic categories and sub-categories which also confounded simply attributing disparities to either cultural differences, such as family patterns, or to individual or institutionalised discrimination. The potential for cost saving if intervention rates could match those ethnic groups with the lowest levels of service use would be considerable. More research is needed to ensure that data is comprehensive, reliable and valid, that there is better understanding of how socio-economic factors affect service demand and what characteristics of different ethnic populations and different approaches to service provision contribute to differential intervention rates. Key elements of such a research agenda are identified

Poverty, inequality, child abuse and neglect: changing the conversation across the UK in child protection?

This article explores the evidence on the relationship between poverty, inequality and child abuse and neglect. It argues for the importance of developing further work on the implications of inequality, in particular, as this is a significantly underdeveloped area of study despite compelling evidence of its pertinence to the harms that children and their families experience. Drawing from the findings of a quantitative study that an 'inverse intervention law' seemed to be in operation with systematic unequal implications for children, the conceptual thinking behind a new qualitative study to explore why and how this law operates is explained. The implications for policy and practice are discussed in order to promote further debate about what is often a neglected or invisible aspect of child protection

Development of Solid-State Nanopore Technology for Life Detection

Biomarkers for life on Earth are an important starting point to guide the search for life elsewhere. However, the search for life beyond Earth should incorporate technologies capable of recognizing an array of potential biomarkers beyond what we see on Earth, in order to minimize the risk of false negatives from life detection missions. With this in mind, charged linear polymers may be a universal signature for life, due to their ability to store information while also inherently reducing the tendency of complex tertiary structure formation that significantly inhibit replication. Thus, these molecules are attractive targets for biosignature detection as potential "self-sustaining chemical signatures." Examples of charged linear polymers, or polyelectrolytes, include deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) as well as synthetic polyelectrolytes that could potentially support life, including threose nucleic acid (TNA) and other xenonucleic acids (XNAs). Nanopore analysis is a novel technology that has been developed for singlemolecule sequencing with exquisite single nucleotide resolution which is also well-suited for analysis of polyelectrolyte molecules. Nanopore analysis has the ability to detect repeating sequences of electrical charges in organic linear polymers, and it is not molecule- specific (i.e. it is not restricted to only DNA or RNA). In this sense, it is a better life detection technique than approaches that are based on specific molecules, such as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which requires that the molecule being detected be composed of DNA

Beyond the toxic trio : exploring demand typologies in children’s social care

Demand for children’s social care is often conflated with rates of intervention and associated with a limited constellation of parental risk factors. This article reports on a more comprehensive picture of demand obtained through a quantitative study of child welfare interventions in England. Longitudinal child-level data were combined from children’s social care services in six English local authorities over a four-year period (2015–2018). Latent class analysis was undertaken for a random sample of child episodes where an assessment was undertaken (n = 15,000). The results were tested for consistency across LAs and to identify the most appropriate number of classes. Conditional probabilities were used to interpret the demand represented by each class, and to explore the relationship between typologies and child characteristics such as age, gender and ethnicity. The analysis found seven classes, or typologies of demand, to be present in factors at assessment across all the LAs, which were linked to certain child characteristics and intervention pathways. The findings go beyond the ‘toxic trio’ terminology often used to profile risks to children and support the innovative use of administrative data to provide insight into patterns of demand. Implications are discussed for strategic responses to child welfare problems and the multi-agency context of prevention

Untangling child welfare inequalities and the ‘Inverse Intervention Law’ in England

This article addresses some potential limitations of key findings from recent research into inequalities in children’s social services by providing additional evidence from multilevel models that suggest the socioeconomic social gradient and ‘Inverse Intervention Law’ in children’s services interventions are statistically significant after controlling for possible confounding spatial and population effects. Multilevel negative binomial regression models are presented using English child welfare data to predict the following intervention rates at lower super output area-level: Child in Need (n = 2707, middle super output area [MSOA] n = 543, local authority [LA] n = 13); Child Protection Plan (n = 4115, MSOA n = 837, LA n = 18); and Children Looked After (n = 4115, MSOA n = 837, LA n = 18). We find strong evidence supporting the existence of a steep socioeconomic social gradient in child welfare interventions. Furthermore, we find certain local authority contexts exacerbate this social gradient. Contexts of low overall deprivation and high income inequality are associated with greater socioeconomic inequalities in neighbourhood intervention rates. The relationship between neighbourhood deprivation and children looked after rates is almost five times stronger in local authorities with these characteristics than it is in local authorities with high overall deprivation and low income inequality. We argue that social policy responses addressing structural determinants of child welfare inequalities are needed, and that strategies to reduce the numbers of children taken into care must address underlying poverty and income inequality at both a local and national level

The effects of social service contact on teenagers in England

Objective: This study investigated outcomes of social service contact during teenage years. Method: Secondary analysis was conducted of the Longitudinal Survey of Young People in England (N = 15,770), using data on reported contact with social services resulting from teenagers’ behavior. Outcomes considered were educational achievement and aspiration, mental health, and locus of control. Inverse-probability-weighted regression adjustment was used to estimate the effect of social service contact. Results: There was no significant difference between those who received social service contact and those who did not for mental health outcome or aspiration to apply to university. Those with contact had lower odds of achieving good exam results or of being confident in university acceptance if sought. Results for locus of control were mixed. Conclusions: Attention is needed to the role of social services in supporting the education of young people in difficulty. Further research is needed on the outcomes of social services contact