Impact of anti‐immigrant rhetoric and policies on frontline health and social service providers in Southeast Michigan, U.S.A

Rising hostility towards immigrants characterised the 2016 Presidential election in the United States (US) and subsequent policy priorities by the new presidential administration. The political shift towards aggressive policies targeting undocumented immigrants is far‐reaching and extends into other communities that convive con—or coexist with—immigrant communities. Our study aims to examine the rippling effects of these anti‐immigrant policies and rhetoric on health and social service providers in Southeast Michigan who predominantly serve Latino immigrants. Between April and August 2018, we conducted in‐depth individual interviews in two Federally Qualified Health Centers and a non‐profit social service agency at a county health department. We interviewed 28 frontline health and social service providers. After coding and thematic analyses, we found that staff members’ experiences in supporting immigrant clients was congruent with definitions of secondary trauma stress and compassion fatigue, whereby exposure to clients’ trauma combined with job burden subsequently impacted the mental health of providers. Major themes included: (a) frontline staff experienced a mental and emotional burden in providing services to immigrant clients given the restrictive anti‐immigrant context; and (b) this burden was exacerbated by the increased difficulties in providing these services to their clients. Staff described psychological and emotional distress stemming from exposure to clients’ immigration‐related trauma and increased mental health needs. This distress was exacerbated by an increased demand to meet clients’ needs, which involved explaining or translating documents into English, assisting with legal paperwork, referring clients to mental health resources, addressing increased transportation barriers, and reestablishing trust with the community. Our findings add qualitative data on the mental health implications for frontline providers who support Latino immigrant clients impacted by immigration and highlights the need for further research and resources that address the workplace‐related stress generated by heightened immigration enforcement.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163387/2/hsc13012.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163387/1/hsc13012_am.pd

Wie beeinflussen Umwelterfahrungen unser Genom? Regulation auf molekularer Ebene durch epigenetische Prozesse

Differenzierte Zelllinien, Organismen in verschiedenen Metamorphose-Stadien, Bienenköniginnen und -Arbeiterinnen – bei all diesen Beispielen ist die Basenabfolge der DNA jeweils (größtenteils) identisch, die Phänotypen zeigen jedoch extreme Abweichungen untereinander. Im letzten Beispiel ist der Effekt sogar von Umwelteinflüssen induziert. Versucht man diese Phänomene zu erklären, stößt man schnell an die Grenzen klassischer molekulargenetischer Konzepte. Denn die Organisation des Genoms, die Regulation der Transkription, die variable Anpassung auf Umweltreize bis hin zur Vererbung solcher Anpassungen werden epigenetisch vermittelt. Aufgrund der rasanten Entwicklung dieses Forschungsgebiets ist es meist schwer die Übersicht über “die Epigenetik” zu wahren. Dieser Beitrag stellt die wichtigsten fachlichen Grundlagen der molekularen Mechanismen zusammen, skizziert einen Unterrichtsvorschlag im Flipped-Classroom-Format und stellt eine Vielzahl von Arbeitsmaterial zur Verfügung

Fangschreckenkrebse – Superlative in der Tierwelt: Präparation eines Gliederfüßers zur Erarbeitung von Struktur-Funktionszusammenhängen

Superlative begeistern Kinder und Jugendliche. Fangschreckenkrebse (Stomatopoden) zeigen einige Merkmale, die man als „Superlative“ bezeichnen könnte. Zunächst fallen dabei die Fangmechanismen der Stomatopoden auf. Man unterscheidet gemein gebräuchlich sogenannte “Speerer” und “Boxer”. Die “Speerer” erreichen mit ihrem großen Raubbein eine Geschwindigkeit von über 100 km/h beim Beutefang, eine der schnellsten muskelvermittelten Bewegungen in der Tierwelt. Die “Boxer“ erzeugen eine Krafteinwirkung ähnlich einem Wolfsbiss oder einer Kleinkaliberkugel mit darauffolgender Druckwelle zum Zertrümmern der Schalen von Beutetieren. Außerdem ist der Besitz eines der besonderen optischen Apparate mit den meisten Fotorezeptortypen im gesamten Tierreich beeindruckend (Cronin et al. 2017).  Doch nicht nur diese Superlative machen die Fangschreckenkrebse für den Unterricht interessant. Fangschreckenkrebse sind leicht und kostengünstig zu besorgen und  mit einer Verkaufsgröße von bis zu ca. 25 cm sind die Extremitäten gut und anschaulich zu präparieren.  Die Extremitäten weisen eine morphologische Vielfalt auf, die als Angepasstheiten an die unterschiedlichen Funktionen zu verstehen sind.   So lassen sich die vielfältigen Variationen einer grundlegenden Körperorganisation am Original zeigen

A qualitative study on the impact of the 2016 US election on the health of immigrant families in Southeast Michigan

Abstract Background Given the anti-immigrant rhetoric and policy proposals by President Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign and afterwards, his election to president in November 2016 and subsequent policy changes has affected immigrant families. In this study, we aim to better understand how post-election policy change may have impacted the health and well-being, including health and social service utilization, of Latino immigrants in Southeastern Michigan. Methods We conducted 28 in-depth interviews with frontline staff at two Federally Qualified Health Centers and a non-profit agency. These staff had intimate knowledge of and insights into the lived experiences of the mixed-status immigrant families they serve. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically. Results Our findings show three major themes: (1) An increased and pervasive fear of deportation and family separation among mixed-status immigrant clients, (2) The fear of deportation and family separation has resulted in fractures in community cohesion, and (3) Fear of deportation and family separation has had an impact on the healthcare utilization and health-related behaviors of mixed-status families. Staff members report that these three factors have had an impact on physical and mental health of these immigrant clients. Conclusions These results add to previous literature on the effect of immigration policies on the health and provide key insights for interventions to improve the health of immigrants within this socio-political environment.https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152129/1/12889_2019_Article_7290.pd

Deep Drilling in the Time Domain with DECam: Survey Characterization

This paper presents a new optical imaging survey of four deep drilling fields (DDFs), two Galactic and two extragalactic, with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) on the 4 meter Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). During the first year of observations in 2021, $>$4000 images covering 21 square degrees (7 DECam pointings), with $\sim$40 epochs (nights) per field and 5 to 6 images per night per filter in $g$, $r$, $i$, and/or $z$, have become publicly available (the proprietary period for this program is waived). We describe the real-time difference-image pipeline and how alerts are distributed to brokers via the same distribution system as the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). In this paper, we focus on the two extragalactic deep fields (COSMOS and ELAIS-S1), characterizing the detected sources and demonstrating that the survey design is effective for probing the discovery space of faint and fast variable and transient sources. We describe and make publicly available 4413 calibrated light curves based on difference-image detection photometry of transients and variables in the extragalactic fields. We also present preliminary scientific analysis regarding Solar System small bodies, stellar flares and variables, Galactic anomaly detection, fast-rising transients and variables, supernovae, and active galactic nuclei.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figures, 2 tables. Accepted to MNRA

Two new dimorphic genera and species of soft coral (Coelenterata: Octocorallia: Nidaliidae)

We describe two new dimorphic genera and species of Nidaliidae with some similarities to the genus Nidaliopsis Kükenthal, 1906. One was collected at Heard Island in the Southern Ocean and is unusual in that it has siphonozooids with calyces, and the other was collected off the Kimberley coast of Western Australia and is notable for the large sclerites in the armature of the autozooid polyps. Both taxa were collected at a depth close to 500 m

Deceptive Desmas: Molecular Phylogenetics Suggests a New Classification and Uncovers Convergent Evolution of Lithistid Demosponges

Reconciling the fossil record with molecular phylogenies to enhance the understanding of animal evolution is a challenging task, especially for taxa with a mostly poor fossil record, such as sponges (Porifera). 'Lithistida', a polyphyletic group of recent and fossil sponges, are an exception as they provide the richest fossil record among demosponges. Lithistids, currently encompassing 13 families, 41 genera and >300 recent species, are defined by the common possession of peculiar siliceous spicules (desmas) that characteristically form rigid articulated skeletons. Their phylogenetic relationships are to a large extent unresolved and there has been no (taxonomically) comprehensive analysis to formally reallocate lithistid taxa to their closest relatives. This study, based on the most comprehensive molecular and morphological investigation of 'lithistid' demosponges to date, corroborates some previous weakly-supported hypotheses, and provides novel insights into the evolutionary relationships of the previous 'order Lithistida'. Based on molecular data (partial mtDNA CO1 and 28S rDNA sequences), we show that 8 out of 13 'Lithistida' families belong to the order Astrophorida, whereas Scleritodermidae and Siphonidiidae form a separate monophyletic clade within Tetractinellida. Most lithistid astrophorids are dispersed between different clades of the Astrophorida and we propose to formally reallocate them, respectively. Corallistidae, Theonellidae and Phymatellidae are monophyletic, whereas the families Pleromidae and Scleritodermidae are polyphyletic. Family Desmanthidae is polyphyletic and groups within Halichondriidae - we formally propose a reallocation. The sister group relationship of the family Vetulinidae to Spongillida is confirmed and we propose here for the first time to include Vetulina into a new Order Sphaerocladina. Megascleres and microscleres possibly evolved and/or were lost several times independently in different 'lithistid' taxa, and microscleres might at least be four times more likely lost than megascleres. Desma spicules occasionally may have undergone secondary losses too. Our study provides a framework for further detailed investigations of this important demosponge group

Digitate and capitate soft corals (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Alcyoniidae) from Western Australia with reports on new species and new Australian geographical records

Bryce, Monika, Poliseno, Angelo, Alderslade, Philip, Vargas, Sergio (2015): Digitate and capitate soft corals (Cnidaria: Octocorallia: Alcyoniidae) from Western Australia with reports on new species and new Australian geographical records. Zootaxa 3963 (2): 160-200, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3963.2.