Who is failing abused and neglected children?

This is a response to an article by Nigel Speight and Jane Wynne, ‘Is the Children Act failing severely abused and neglected children?’, published in this journal in March 2000.1 Overall, we consider the article to be polemical and inadequately argued. Many of the points made are unsubstantiated and there are errors of fact. Where does evidence based practice go if senior practitioners prefer anecdotes and personal belief to research findings? Restrictions on space preclude an exhaustive reply to all the points Speight and Wynne raise, so we have confined ourselves to addressing those considered most significant

Structural relaxation in the hydrogen-bonding liquids N-methylacetamide and water studied by optical Kerr-effect spectroscopy

Structural relaxation in the peptide model N-methylacetamide (NMA) is studied experimentally by ultrafast optical Kerr-effect spectroscopy over the normal-liquid temperature range and compared to the relaxation measured in water at room temperature. It is seen that in both hydrogen-bonding liquids, beta relaxation is present and in each case it is found that this can be described by the Cole-Cole function. For NMA in this temperature range, the alpha and beta relaxations are each found to have an Arrhenius temperature dependence with indistinguishable activation energies. It is known that the variations on the Debye function, including the Cole-Cole function, are unphysical, and we introduce two general modifications: one allows for the initial rise of the function, determined by the librational frequencies, and the second allows the function to be terminated in the alpha relaxation

Spectrum of slow and super-slow (picosecond to nanosecond) water dynamics around organic and biological solutes

Water dynamics in the solvation shell of solutes plays a very important role in the interaction of biomolecules and in chemical reaction dynamics. However, a selective spectroscopic study of the solvation shell is difficult because of the interference of the solute dynamics. Here we report on the observation of heavily slowed down water dynamics in the solvation shell of different solutes by measuring the low-frequency spectrum of solvation water, free from the contribution of the solute. A slowdown factor of ~50 is observed even for relatively low concentrations of the solute. We go on to show that the effect can be generalized to different solutes including proteins

Transonic wind-tunnel tests of a lifting parachute model

Wind-tunnel tests have been made in the Langley transonic dynamics tunnel on a 0.25-scale model of Sandia Laboratories' 3.96-meter (13-foot), slanted ribbon design, lifting parachute. The lifting parachute is the first stage of a proposed two-stage payload delivery system. The lifting parachute model was attached to a forebody representing the payload. The forebody was designed and installed in the test section in a manner which allowed rotational freedom about the pitch and yaw axes. Values of parachute axial force coefficient, rolling moment coefficient, and payload trim angles in pitch and yaw are presented through the transonic speed range. Data are presented for the parachute in both the reefed and full open conditions. Time history records of lifting parachute deployment and disreefing tests are included

Marine Algae of Amchitka Island (Aleutian Islands). II. Bonnemaisoniaceae

Pleuroblepharis stichidophora gen. et sp. nov., from Amchitka Island in the Aleutian Island s, is described as new to science. This taxon is the only representative of the Bonnemaisoniaceae (Nemaliales, Rhodophyta) collected at Amchitka. It is distinguished from other members of the family by the presence of macroscopic tetrasporophytes with compound tetrasporangial stichidia arising along the margins of laminate axes. These tetrasporic branchlets are homologous to indeterminate branches. Gland cells with brownish contents are present over the surface of the laminate axes and also on the stichidia . Although numerous specimens have been collected, tetrasporic plants are the only fertile stages observed so far

Further connections between the benthic marine algal floras of the northern Arabian Sea and Japan

Identifications made on some recent collections of benthic marine algae from the Sultanate of Oman, northern Arabian Sea, have revealed several new records for this region. A total of eight species, representing five species of Rhodophyceae, two species of Phaeophyceae, and a single species each of Chlorophyceae, are newly reported for Oman. Of particular interest is the fact that these species represent new records for the Indian Ocean, some of which had previously been known from Japan and environs.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73555/1/j.1440-1835.2000.00205.x.pd

Chrysymenia tigillis sp . nov. (Rhodymeniales, Rhodophyta) from the Sultanate of Oman, with a census of currently recognized species in the genus Chrysymenia

Chrysymenia tigillis sp. nov. is described on the basis of a few specimens collected from Dhofar, Sultanate of Oman. The new species is known only from southern Oman, a region of the northern Arabian Sea that is strongly impacted by the upwelling from the summertime monsoon. It is distinguished from other species of the genus by the simple nature of the blades, their dimensions (to 75 cm in length and to 21 cm in width), the rough, bumpy surface of the blades, and the presence of internal struts connecting the inner sides of the blades. A census of the currently recognized species in the genus Chrysymenia is provided.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/71594/1/j.1440-183.2005.00388.x.pd

Typification of the name Opephyllum martensii Schmitz (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta)

Six slides labelled "Nitophyllum martensioides", located in the slide collection of Schmitz’s red algal types in the Natural History Museum, London (BM), can be identified as Opephyllum martensii Schmitz (Schmitz & Hauptfleisch, 1897). Label data fully correspond to the protologue of O. martensii (collected by Martens from Mindanao, Philippines). This collection of six slides from a single gathering is, therefore, interpreted to be the holotype for the name Opephyllum martensii, superseding the neotype recently proposed by Lin & al. (2001).Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147218/1/tax1554873.pd

(2175) Proposal to conserve the name Moorea Engene & al. (Cyanophyceae)

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146894/1/tax6241.pd