Broken Bonds: Understanding and Addressing the Needs of Children With Incarcerated Parents

Describes the shared characteristics of children with parents in prison, reviews current research on the emotional and behavioral challenges they face, and discusses what charities, practitioners, and policy makers can do to address those challenges

Understanding the Experiences and Needs of Children of Incarcerated Parents: Views From Mentors

Provides qualitative insights from mentors on how parental incarceration affects children emotionally, behaviorally, and developmentally, as well as their relationships with their parents, and how their needs differ from those of other at-risk children

Unpacking diversity: barriers and incentives to standing for elections to the National Assembly for Wales

This report was commissioned by the Remuneration Board of the National Assembly for Wales to look at barriers and incentives for people who have been deterred from standing to the National Assembly and to address the question of whether ‘a diverse range of persons with the appropriate skills and interest are in practice deterred from standing for election to the National Assembly by any aspect of the remuneration package (salary, pension, child care, and office and staffing allowances) and what may provide the incentives to do so’. The research was conducted in two stages; through a review of evidence that explored academic and practical aspects of diversity and political recruitment, and a field study that used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to discover the lived experiences and perceptions of prospective candidates. This was done through survey, focus groups, one-to-one interviews, and an online engagement platform. The research, identifies three pathways into political office and delineates structural, institutional, individual, political, and cultural barriers for candidates in all three. It highlights structural barriers in terms of the cost, time, and accessibility to standing, which are particular deterrents for underrepresented groups. Cultural, structural, and political factors, in terms of candidate selection and the electoral system and process were also seen as barriers to diverse representation. Wider contemporary political and cultural factors including a climate of toxicity in politics and the lack of understanding of the value of diversity, were raised as societal barriers. The report makes recommendations that are directly relevant to the Board and its strategic objectives. It also makes broader recommendations where the Board can influence and inform others, or bring diversity matters on the agenda. The report suggests a theory of change through which the Board can achieve its strategic objectives by focusing on: improving information for potential candidates; improving the engagement strategy; providing for flexible working arrangements; and, potential of job share arrangements

Northern Welsh:Illustrations of the IPA

Open access articleThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Assessing the Efficacy of Nano- and Micro-Sized Magnetic Particles as Contrast Agents for MRI Cell Tracking

Iron-oxide based contrast agents play an important role in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of labelled cells in vivo. Currently, a wide range of such contrast agents is available with sizes varying from several nanometers up to a few micrometers and consisting of single or multiple magnetic cores. Here, we evaluate the effectiveness of these different particles for labelling and imaging stem cells, using a mouse mesenchymal stem cell line to investigate intracellular uptake, retention and processing of nano- and microsized contrast agents. The effect of intracellular confinement on transverse relaxivity was measured by MRI at 7 T and in compliance with the principles of the ‘3Rs’, the suitability of the contrast agents for MR-based cell tracking in vivo was tested using a chick embryo model. We show that for all particles tested, relaxivity was markedly reduced following cellular internalisation, indicating that contrast agent relaxivity in colloidal suspension does not accurately predict performance in MR-based cell tracking studies. Using a bimodal imaging approach comprising fluorescence and MRI, we demonstrate that labelled MSC remain viable following in vivo transplantation and can be tracked effectively using MRI. Importantly, our data suggest that larger particles might confer advantages for longer-term imaging

Coccolithophore biodiversity controls carbonate export in the Southern Ocean

Southern Ocean waters are projected to undergo profound changes in their physical and chemical properties in the coming decades. Coccolithophore blooms in the Southern Ocean are thought to account for a major fraction of the global marine calcium carbonate (CaCO3) production and export to the deep sea. Therefore, changes in the composition and abundance of Southern Ocean coccolithophore populations are likely to alter the marine carbon cycle, with feedbacks to the rate of global climate change. However, the contribution of coccolithophores to CaCO3 export in the Southern Ocean is uncertain, particularly in the circumpolar subantarctic zone that represents about half of the areal extent of the Southern Ocean and where coccolithophores are most abundant. Here, we present measurements of annual CaCO3 flux and quantitatively partition them amongst coccolithophore species and heterotrophic calcifiers at two sites representative of a large portion of the subantarctic zone. We find that coccolithophores account for a major fraction of the annual CaCO3 export, with the highest contributions in waters with low algal biomass accumulations. Notably, our analysis reveals that although Emiliania huxleyi is an important vector for CaCO3 export to the deep sea, less abundant but larger species account for most of the annual coccolithophore CaCO3 flux. This observation contrasts with the generally accepted notion that high particulate inorganic carbon accumulations during the austral summer in the subantarctic Southern Ocean are mainly caused by E. huxleyi blooms. It appears likely that the climate-induced migration of oceanic fronts will initially result in the poleward expansion of large coccolithophore species increasing CaCO3 production. However, subantarctic coccolithophore populations will eventually diminish as acidification overwhelms those changes. Overall, our analysis emphasizes the need for species-centred studies to improve our ability to project future changes in phytoplankton communities and their influence on marine biogeochemical cycles.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Unpacking diversity: Barriers and incentives to standing for election to the National Assembly for Wales

This report was commissioned by the Remuneration Board of the National Assembly for Wales to look at barriers and incentives for people who have been deterred from standing to the National Assembly and to address the question of whether ‘a diverse range of persons with the appropriate skills and interest are in practice deterred from standing for election to the National Assembly by any aspect of the remuneration package (salary, pension, child care, and office and staffing allowances) and what may provide the incentives to do so’. The report sets out different forms of socialisation into politics from three different groups of people; those who are party politically active, local councillors, and newcomers to formal politics. Barriers for moving from being eligible to an aspirant candidate partly depended on the pathway, with those on a party-political pathway at a distinct advantage in terms of support, information, and knowledge of processes. The research, however, identifies structural, institutional, individual, political, and cultural barriers for candidates in all three pathways. It highlights structural barriers in terms of the cost, time, and accessibility to standing, which are particular deterrents for underrepresented groups. Cultural, structural, and political factors, in terms of candidate selection and the electoral system and process were also seen as barriers to diverse representation. Wider contemporary political and cultural factors including a climate of toxicity in politics and the lack of understanding of the value of diversity, were raised as societal barriers