Perfect Snap

Taking group photos during important events is a common practice. Group photos are taken to remember cheerful times when people had an opportunity to meet many other people. However, an unappealing facial expression of one person can easily ruin the entire photo. Capturing the wrong moments when a person doesn’t look attractive can leave him/ her displeased from the complete event experience. A solution is to develop a mobile app that captures the moment when everyone is smiling with eyes wide open. Our solution aims to develop an iPhone app that will preclude users from worrying about not having a great group picture

Predicting off-site deposition of spray drift from horticultural spraying through porous barriers on soil and plant surfaces

New Zealand is a recognised leader in horticultural practices which include the use of boundary shelterbelts around orchards. These shelterbelts were primarily established to provide protection to the crop but are also an effective means of ameliorating agrichemical spray drift that may arise from the crop production area. Shelterbelt structure ranges from large trees (ranging from broad leaf to needle in structure) to hedgerows and artificial netting. The efficiency of the shelterbelt in capturing spray drift is known to depend on factors such as spray drift droplet size, wind velocity and the vegetation structure. However more specific information and models are required to define the capture efficiency to form part of a comprehensive spray drift management system

Sealing over as a recovery style: a response to the trauma of psychosis?

Integration and sealing over have been described as clinically distinct coping styles after psychosis. An integrative recovery is characterised by the patients awareness of the continuity of their mental activity and personality before and through recovery from psychosis. Patients who seal over at recovery tend to isolate the psychotic experience. They view it as alien and disruptive to their lives and consequently seek to encapsulate it (McGlashan, 1975). These descriptions represent opposite ends of a continuum where people who tend to seal over generally have poorer long term functional outcomes (McGlashan, 1987). The symptomatic aspects of psychosis could be described as traumatic as could the experiences often associated with a psychotic episode, e.g. involuntary hospitalisation, seclusion or sedation. Further, sealing over appears to parallel the avoidance component of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study is an attempt to investigate possible links between recovery style after psychosis and experience of psychosis as a traumatic event. It is hypothesised that people who seal over after psychosis are more likely to have experienced their psychosis as traumatic, to have low perceived control over illness, and be more likely to be depressed. Subjects who had experienced a psychosis within the last year were given four self report questionnaires to complete: the Impact of Event Scale (Horowitz, 1979), the Personal Beliefs about Illness Questionnaire (Birchwood, Mason, MacMillan and Healy, 1993), the Recovery Styles Questionnaire (Drayton, Birchwood and Trower, 1998), and the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck & Beamesderfer, 1974). Integration and sealing over was also measured by an independent rater using the Integration/Sealing Over Scale (McGlashan, 1987). Statistical analysis was completed. Results indicated that intrusions were predictive of a tendency towards sealing over; intrusions, avoidance and low perceived control over illness were predictive of depression. Conclusions were drawn and discussed in the context of the relevant literature

Improving the Lives of Transgender Older Adults: Recommendations for Policy and Practice

Transgender and gender non-conforming adults face a myriad of challenges as they age. While very limited, the existing research on transgender people paints a picture of many people aging in isolation and without a network of knowledgeable or welcoming providers in the aging, health and social services arenas. Further, transgender elders often experience extreme disparities in access to health care and low rates of health insurance coverage due in large part to systemic discrimination from providers and insurance companies, as well as economic instability resulting from discrimination in employment and housing, among other areas. An overarching challenge for policymakersand practitioners isthe dearth in research examining the challenges facing this population--and the types of policies and programmatic interventions that would improve their lives. While the need for better data and more research on lesbian, gay and bisexual communities has gained support over the last few years, gender identity remains largely absent from the scope of social research and analysis. Moreover, few studies have addressed the specific challenges facing transgender elders. Research focused on transgender people of color is even more limited, despite some studies suggesting that they experience high levels of violence and discrimination

A Chromosomal Deletion and New Frameshift Mutation Cause ARSACS in an African-American

Autosomal Recessive Spastic Ataxia of Charlevoix-Saguenay (ARSACS) is a rare, progressive, neurodegenerative disease characterized by ataxia, spasticity and polyneuropathy. First described in the French-Canadian population of Quebec in 1978, ARSACS has since been identified in multiple patients worldwide. In this clinical case report, we describe the evaluation of an 11-years-old African-American male who presented to neuromuscular clinic for assessment of a gait abnormality. He had a history of gross motor delay since early childhood, frequent falls and a below average IQ. Chromosomal microarray revealed a 1.422 megabase loss in the 13q12.12 region, which includes the SACS gene. Next Generation Sequencing then showed a novel, predicted to be pathogenic missense mutation (c.11824dup) of this gene. His clinical presentation and neurological imaging further confirmed the diagnosis of ARSACS. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of this disease in the African-American population of the United States. This case report further highlights the growing trend of identifying genetic diseases previously restricted to single, ethnically isolated regions in many different ethnic groups worldwide

Peering beyond IRAS: The 100 to 350 micron dust emission from galaxies

Several arguments can be made to study the continuum emission from dust in galaxies at wavelengths between the cutoff of the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) survey (about 100 microns) and the shortest wavelength that is commonly accessible from the ground (about 350 microns). Some theoretical work (see the summary by Cox and Mezger 1989) indicates that there are very cool (T sub d less than or equal to 25 K) components to the dust emission that emit primarily at wavelengths between 100 and 250 microns. In fact, a significant fraction of the total luminosity, representing a large fraction of the dust mass in some types of galaxies, is emitted at long far-infrared wavelengths. In such cases, the cool dust must play a major role in regulation of the energy balance of the Interstellar Medium (ISM) and in shielding the cores of neutral clouds

Desert

This thesis examines the idea of desert as expounded in the work of John Rawls, and some of the implications of this conception of desert for moral and political philosophy. In this work, I analyse a series of arguments against retaining this particular conception of desert.I argue that none of these arguments sufficiently diminishes the force of Rawls’ argument for desert, while many of them do state, and I argue that they are correct in doing so, that this conception of desert is dangerous for political or moral philosophy to maintain. I argue that the moral, political and legal implications of accepting this account of desert severely undermine various institutions of differential treatment, and indeed, moral assessment. I regard it as obvious that societies must, on occasion, treat members of those societies differently, for moral, as well as practical reasons. The Rawlsian account of desert, and the account of responsibility on which it rests, however, will endanger the legitimacy of such procedures. I argue further that the Rawlsian account of desert requires that differences in wealth, and inheritance of wealth, influence and privilege be diminished, if not abolished, if we are to talk of any form of desert meaningfully. I argue that this is a strength of Rawls’ account, and further that any account of desert that is true to the philosophical tradition of the concept will require similar steps to be taken. The primary aim of this thesis is to show that Rawls’ arguments against desert are serious ones, both in terms of strength and scope, and that they must be addressed. I intend to show that these arguments are founded on strong moral intuitions, and that it is plausible that these intuitions may need revision. Finally,I intend to show that desert is an important moral and political concept, and that the disciplines of moral and political philosophy will be impoverished by the absence this concept. This absence, I will argue, is a natural consequence of the acceptance of the Rawlsian arguments

Recovery and self-identity development following a first episode of psychosis

Purpose: The onset of psychosis typically develops during adolescence, a crucial period for beginning the transition from family to independence and developing a stable sense of self. Recovery amongst adolescents experiencing early onset psychosis has not yet been investigated with reference to its influence on self-identity. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact living with early onset psychosis has on self-identity for adolescents in recovery. Design/methodology/approach: A purposive sample of ten adolescents aged between 16 and 18 years from an Early Intervention Service in the Scottish National Health Service were recruited. All had experienced at least one episode of psychosis and were within three years of first contact with the service. Semi-structured interviews were adopted to capture adolescents’ perspectives concerning their experiences of recovery from psychosis and the impact on self-identity. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Findings: Qualitative analysis of adolescents’ accounts revealed how recovery from psychosis involves working with individual explanatory frameworks concerning uncertain identities and status ambiguity, a decrease in referent points and unfavourable social comparisons (emphasising loss, grief and self-criticism). Research limitations/implications: Supporting adolescents experiencing early psychosis involves education, rebuilding relationships with self and others and providing access to psychotherapeutic interventions to aid self-identity development when needed. Originality/value: The originality of this paper lies in the importance of identity, recovery, human reconnection, advocacy and community reintegration for adolescents experiencing psychosis. Public mental health campaigns to tackle the stigma surrounding psychosis are essential to assisting adolescents in developing their sense of self through their recovery journeys

Whatcom County Adult Correction Facilities Environmental Impact Statement

Whatcom County is concerned with the current poor conditions of its adult correctional facilities and has proposed to construct a new facility. The new facility is proposed to hold up to 2,450 beds by 2050. For operational purposes, a horizontally designed facility is preferred