Views on alternatives to imprisonment: a citizens jury approach

Abstract Alarming over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australian prisons, combined with high recidivism rates and poor health and social outcomes among those released from prison, has led many to claim that incarceration is a social policy failure. An important obstacle to a reform agenda in the criminal justice area is public opinion. The public are often perceived to hold punitive attitudes towards offenders, a situation often exploited by politicians to perpetuate punitive penal policies at the expense of developing decarceration initiatives. However, alternatives to public opinion surveys/polls are needed to assess the public’s views, as survey/poll-based methods typically present shallow, unconsidered public opinion and thwart good policy development and reform. Citizens Juries offer an alternative method to assess the public’s views, views that are critically informed and thus better aid policy development. This project aimed to explore, through Citizens Juries, the views of a critically informed public in three states/territories towards how we, as a community, should address offenders in terms of incarceration and incarceration alternatives. The research focused on a range of incarceration alternatives including Justice Reinvestment. The study also aimed to examine the thoughts of senior policymakers on the outcomes of Citizens Juries. This research provides important information and evidence in the offender health area and contributes to the Justice Reinvestment debate among offender health, criminal justice, political and community stakeholders.&nbsp

Vol. 36, No. 3

A New Day for Illinois: Expectations on the Impacts of the J. B. Pritzker Administrationhttps://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/iperr/1110/thumbnail.jp

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of Australian trainee childcare educators regarding their role in the feeding behaviours of young children

Background: Early childhood (2–5 years) is acknowledged as a critical time for the establishment of healthy behaviours. The increasing number of children and amount of time spent in childcare provides strong rationale to explore the important role that childcare services and childcare educators play in influencing healthy eating behaviours of young children in their care. Methods: This study used a qualitative exploratory approach to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Australian childcare trainee educators’ regarding their role in the feeding of young children. Results: All participants agreed that feeding of young children was an important part of their role, but described challenges to the promotion of healthy eating and the adoption of responsive child feeding practices. These included personal beliefs and experiences with food, the bi-directional nature of child feeding, conflicting parental requests and/or unsupportive centre-based policies and procedures. Conclusion: Training about responsive child feeding practices within the childcare sector should include all childcare staff; aim to enhance relational efficacy and communication skills with parents; and empower childcare staff to lead organisational change. To support this, childcare centres need to provide coherent centre-based healthy eating policies inclusive of healthy food provision and desirable feeding practices

Normal sleep bouts are not essential for C. elegans survival and FoxO is important for compensatory changes in sleep

Additional file 6: Decreased lag-2 function does not slow vulval development. The progeny of wild type and lag-2(q420) animals raised at 25.5 °C were selected at the L4 stage, prior to lethargus entry. Vulval eversion was scored after 3 h; the percentage of animals completing vulval eversion was recorded. Significance was assessed by student’s two-tailed t-test p value < 0.5; error bars represents SEM from 3 trials. Total number of animals: wild type n = 45 and lag-2(q420) n = 42

Characterization and Quantification of Major Flavonol Glycosides in Ramps (Allium tricoccum)

The ramp (Allium tricoccum) is a traditional plant in the eastern Appalachian Mountains. Ramps have been used in traditional medicine for their health-promoting roles in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Information on the chemical composition of the potentially bioactive components in ramps is limited. Therefore, the aim of this work was to characterize and quantify major flavonols in ramps. Flavonoids were extracted in 50% methanol and 3% acetic acid. Characterization was conducted using UHPLC-PDA-MS and MS/MS, and quantification was performed using UHPLC-PDA detection. The major flavonol glycosides were kaempferol sophoroside glucuronide, quercetin sophoroside glucuronide, kaempferol rutinoside glucuronide, quercetin hexoside glucuronide, quercetin sophoroside, and kaempferol sophoroside. All conjugates were detected in leaves. Quercetin and kaempferol sophoroside glucuronide conjugates were detected in the stem, but no flavonol glycosides were detected in the bulb. The total amounts of the identified quercetin and kaempferol conjugates in whole ramps were 0.5972 ± 0.235 and 0.3792 ± 0.130 mg/g dry weight, respectively. Flavonol conjugates were concentrated in the leaves. To our knowledge, this work is the first to identify and quantify the major flavonol glycosides in ramps. Our findings suggest that specifically the leaves may harbor the potentially bioactive flavonols components of the plant

Suicide Awareness, Prevention, and Intervention Education of Middle School Teachers in North Carolina

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for fifteen to thirty-four year olds and the third leading cause for individuals aged ten to fourteen. Research suggests that community-based trainings and overall willingness to discuss the topic of suicide leads to a decrease in suicidal behaviors and attempts in the teenage population. The majority of suicide prevention programs are targeted at the high school population, though experts suggest that earlier intervention in middle school could help in reducing the amount of youth suicide. This research attempted to gauge current attitudes towards suicide prevention in middle schools. One hundred and twenty-five middle school teachers from across the state of North Carolina were surveyed on their attitude about how important of an issue youth suicide was in their experience, the climate of their current school at addressing suicide, the amount of training they have received over the course of their career to equip them with dealing with the topic of suicide with their students, and what suggestions they had for improving teacher development on the topic. Results showed that teachers recognized that they served as important emotional supports and advocates for their students, they were not extremely confident in identifying or approaching students who may be suicidal, and they desired more professional development and training in the area of suicide prevention and intervention. This information can help to reform policy in training administration, teachers, and pre-service teachers as it pertains to mental health in general, and to help develop suicide intervention programs.Bachelor of Art

An Experimental Investigation of Strain Rate, Temperature and Humidity Effects on the Mechanical Behavior of a Perfluorosulfonic Acid Membrane

The time-dependent hygro-thermal mechanical behavior of a perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membrane (Nafion® 211 membrane) commonly used in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) is investigated at selected strain rates for a broad range of temperatures and humidities. Tensile tests and relaxation tests are conducted to determine Young’s modulus and proportional limit stress as functions of strain rate, temperature and humidity. The results show that Young’s modulus and proportional limit stress increase as the strain rate increases, and decrease as the temperature or humidity increases. The results also show that the mechanical response of Nafion® 211 membrane is more sensitive to typical changes in strain rate or temperature than to typical changes in humidity. In addition, two temperature/humidity cycles are conducted to determine the steady state swelling behavior of Nafion® 211 membrane as a function of temperature and humidity. The results show that the membrane swells with increasing temperature and humidity, and that there is little or no hygro-thermal history effect for the swelling strains

An Experimental Investigation of Strain Rate, Temperature and Humidity Effects on the Mechanical Behavior of a Perfluorosulfonic Acid Membrane

The time-dependent hygro-thermal mechanical behavior of a perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membrane (Nafion® 211 membrane) commonly used in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) is investigated at selected strain rates for a broad range of temperatures and humidities. Tensile tests and relaxation tests are conducted to determine Young’s modulus and proportional limit stress as functions of strain rate, temperature and humidity. The results show that Young’s modulus and proportional limit stress increase as the strain rate increases, and decrease as the temperature or humidity increases. The results also show that the mechanical response of Nafion® 211 membrane is more sensitive to typical changes in strain rate or temperature than to typical changes in humidity. In addition, two temperature/humidity cycles are conducted to determine the steady state swelling behavior of Nafion® 211 membrane as a function of temperature and humidity. The results show that the membrane swells with increasing temperature and humidity, and that there is little or no hygro-thermal history effect for the swelling strains