Patterns of Mental Health Service Contacts for Young People Deemed Eligible for Court Diversion

Past research suggests that diverting young people away from the criminal justice system and into mental health services can reduce subsequent reoffending, but the impact of such programs on the rates of timely mental health service contact are largely unknown. In this study, we examined a sample of 523 young people who were deemed eligible for mental health diversion between 2008 and 2015. Around half (47%) of these young people were granted diversion by a Magistrate. Overall, the levels of timely mental health service contact after court finalization, even for those who were granted diversion, appeared low given that the purpose of diversion is to facilitate such contact for all those diverted. Specifically, only 22% of those who were granted community-based diversion and 62% of individuals granted inpatient-based diversion had mental health service contact within 7 days of court finalization. Rates of health contact were much lower for those who were not granted either type of diversion (8% and 23%, respectively). Diversion was associated with a significant reduction in reoffending rates, but the impact of early mental health service contact was less clear. There is a need to understand the reasons why many young people are not accessing appropriate mental health services following diversion in order to improve outcomes and fully realize the intended benefits of mental health court diversion

The prevalence of mental illness in young people in custody over time: a comparison of three surveys in New South Wales

Few studies have examined the prevalence of mental illness in young people over time within the same jurisdiction. In the current study, we compared data from three large surveys of youth in custody in New South Wales, conducted in 2003, 2009 and 2015. We examined rates of mental illness, self-harm and suicidal behaviours, substance use and childhood trauma and found little consistent change over time, though some fluctuations were observed regarding certain mental illnesses and substance use. We also descriptively compared findings with observed rates for the general population and found that young people in custody showed higher levels of all examined variables. In sum, these data suggest little improvement in the well-being of young people in custody in New South Wales over time. Better identification and treatment of these issues are vital if young people are to be prevented from becoming enmeshed in the criminal justice system

Brood patch and sex-ratio observations indicate breeding provenance and timing in New Zealand storm petrel (Fregetta maoriana)

We used measurements of brood patch and moult status to estimate the breeding phenology of New Zealand Storm-Petrel, using birds caught at sea within the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park near Auckland, New Zealand. Birds caught October–January had completely downy brood patches, whereas birds caught February–April had bare brood patches with an observed male bias in the February sex-ratio, consistent with a female pre-laying exodus typical of petrels and with the existence of an unknown colony in the region. No birds captured exhibited primary moult, which is known to occur in storm-petrels during their non-breeding season. Our data support the conclusion that the New Zealand storm-petrel breeds during January–June in northern New Zealand and that field surveys for the species on offshore islands in this region during this period are warrante

Evaluating on-land capture methods for monitoring a recently rediscovered seabird, the New Zealand Storm-Petrel Fregetta maoriana

We provide a first assessment of various on-land capture methods for a procellarid seabird, the New Zealand Storm-Petrel Fregetta maoriana, which had been presumed extinct but for which a breeding site has just been discovered on Little Barrier Island. In the vicinity of an active breeding site, playback only, also involving a newly isolated call from in situ deployed sound-recording devices, could efficiently be employed for capture, while light attraction in combination with playback achieved comparable capture success further afield. We consider that these findings can be relevant for breeding ground searches and capture operations in other storm-petrel species, and more generally in seabirds that visit their breeding sites at night

It takes two to tango: two TatA paralogues and two redox enzyme-specific chaperones are involved in the localization of twin-arginine translocase substrates in Campylobacter jejuni.

The food-borne zoonotic pathogen Campylobacter jejuni has complex electron transport chains required for growth in the host, many of which contain cofactored periplasmic enzymes localized by the twin-arginine translocase (TAT). We report here the identification of two paralogues of the TatA translocase component in C. jejuni strain NCTC 11168, encoded by cj1176c (tatA1) and cj0786 (tatA2). Deletion mutants constructed in either or both of the tatA1 and tatA2 genes displayed distinct growth and enzyme activity phenotypes. For sulphite oxidase (SorAB), the multi-copper oxidase (CueO) and alkaline phosphatase (PhoX), complete dependency on TatA1 for correct periplasmic activity was observed. However, the activities of nitrate reductase (NapA), formate dehydrogenase (FdhA) and trimethylamine N-oxide reductase (TorA) were significantly reduced in the tatA2 mutant. In contrast, the specific rate of fumarate reduction catalysed by the flavoprotein subunit of the methyl menaquinone fumarate reductase (MfrA) was similar in periplasmic fractions of both the tatA1 and the tatA2 mutants and only the deletion of both genes abolished activity. Nevertheless, unprocessed MfrA accumulated in the periplasm of the tatA1 (but not tatA2) mutant, indicating aberrant signal peptide cleavage. Surprisingly, TatA2 lacks two conserved residues (Gln8 and Phe39) known to be essential in Escherichia coli TatA and we suggest it is unable to function correctly in the absence of TatA1. Finally, only two TAT chaperones (FdhM and NapD) are encoded in strain NCTC 11168, which mutant studies confirmed are highly specific for formate dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase assembly, respectively. Thus, other TAT substrates must use general chaperones in their biogenesis

Flight Programs and X-ray Optics Development at MSFC

The X-ray astronomy group at the Marshall Space Flight Center is developing electroformed nickel/cobalt x-ray optics for suborbital and orbital experiments. Suborbital instruments include the Focusing X-ray Solar Imager (FOXSI) and Micro-X sounding rocket experiments and the HERO balloon payload. Our current orbital program is the fabrication of a series of mirror modules for the Astronomical Roentgen Telescope (ART) to be launched on board the Russian-German Spectrum Roentgen Gamma Mission (SRG.) The details and status of these various programs are presented. A second component of our work is the development of fabrication techniques and optical metrology to improve the angular resolution of thin shell optics to the arcsecond-level. The status of these x-ray optics technology developments is also presented

Astrophysical Observations with the HEROES Balloon-borne Payload

The High Energy Replicated Optics to Explore the Sun (HEROES) payload flew on a balloon from Ft. Sumner, NM, September 21-22, 2013. HEROES is sensitive from about 20-75 keV and comprises 8 optics modules, each consisting of 13-14 nickel replicated optics shells and 8 Xenon-filled positionsensitive proportional counter detectors. HEROES is unique in that it is the first hard X-ray telescope that will observe the Sun and astrophysical targets in the same balloon flight. Our astrophysics targets include the Crab nebula and pulsar and the black hole binary GRS 1915+105. In this presentation, I will describe the HEROES mission, the data analysis pipeline and calibrations, and preliminary astrophysics results

Interferon alpha on NZM2328.Lc1R27: Enhancing autoimmunity and immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis without end stage renal failure

Interferon alpha (IFN alpha) may play a significant role in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) pathogenesis. Recent literature suggests that IFN alpha does not correlate with disease activities and blockade of IFN alpha is not effective in treating SLE. This study aims to delineate further the role of IFN alpha in SLE. 12-week old NZM2328 and its congenic NZM2328.Lc1R27 (R27) female mice were challenged with adenovirus-IFN alpha (adeno-IFN alpha) or adenovirus-LacZ (adeno-LacZ). Only adeno-IFN alpha treated NZM2328 developed severe proteinuria and died of chronic glomerulonephritis (GN) and end stage renal disease. Adeno-IFN alpha treated R27 did develop immune complex-mediated GN but had normal renal function. Adeno-LacZ treated NZM2328 showed enlarged glomeruli and increased cellularity without immune complex deposition. Adeno-LacZ treated R27 did not show serological and histological abnormalities. Adeno-IFN alpha induced anti-dsDNA and anti-kidney autoantibodies in NZM2328 and R27. These results suggest that end organ damage is host-dependent and less related to autoimmunity and may have significant implications in SLE pathogenesis. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Inc

A study to evaluate the potential contribution of medication use to falls in elderly patients presenting to an acute hospital

Introduction: Falls in elderly patients is a growing burden on healthcare resources globally. 10-15% of presentations in those ≥65 years at acute hospital services is due to falls. Medicines and polypharmacy are modifiable risk factors for falls. Different classes of medicines increase the risk of falling to differing extents. Aims: The aim was to review the role of medicines in falls in elderly at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda (OLOL). The objectives were: 1: Examine polypharmacy. 2: Examine the implication of the top five classes of falls risk increasing drugs (FRIDs) as potential causative factors in falls. 3: Determine is there a difference in medicine profile between those residing at home and in Long Term Care Facilities (LTCFs). 4: Has the Clinical Pharmacist a role in reducing patients’ risk of future falls. Methods: Admission records in OLOL were checked daily for elderly patients admitted due to a fall. When consent was granted data was collected from their records. Results: 94 patients met the inclusion criteria. 53 were recruited, 41 were excluded. Only 1 LTCF resident was recruited for the study, therefore objective 3 could not be examined. The Falls Risk Odds Ratio (FROR) was reduced for benzodiazepines, ACEi’s, ARB’s and diuretics but it was not a statistically significant reduction in FROR (p=0.22). Polypharmacy: Patients on ≥ 5 medicines on admission (41) 77%; Patients on ≥ 5 medicines on review (44) 83%; Polypharmacy by Medicine Class : Antipsychotics 100%; Benzodiazepines 100% ; Sedatives 100% Antidepressants 94%; Antihypertensives 76%. No of patients on ≥1 FRID: 94.3%. FRID prescribing by class: Antihypertensives 79.2%; Antidepressants 30.2%; Benzodiazepines 13.2%; Sedatives 11.3% ; Antipsychotics 1.9%. Clinical Pharmacist Recommendations Actioned Overall 41.7%. Actioned per FRID class: Antihypertensives 57.9%; Benzodiazepines 28.7%. Conclusions: Pharmacists have a role to play in highlighting polypharmacy and the prescribing of FRIDs