Involuntary civil commitment for substance use disorders in puerto rico: Neglected rights violations and implications for legal reform

Laws facilitating the involuntary civil commitment (ICC) of people with substance use disorders vary considerably internationally and across the United States. Puerto Rico, a colonial territory of the United States since 1898, currently harbors the most punitive ICC legislation in the country. It is the only place in the United States where self-sufficient adults who pose no grave danger to themselves or others can be involuntarily committed to restrictive residential facilities for over a year at a time without ever being assessed by a health care professional. The involuntary commitment of otherwise-able citizens—many of whom have never been diagnosed with a substance use disorder—continues to be ignored nationally and internationally. In this paper, we specify how Puerto Rican ICC law and procedures systematically violate rights and liberties that are supposed to be guaranteed by Puerto Rico’s Mental Health Act, the US Federal Supreme Court, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. To ensure that Puerto Rico’s ICC procedures conform to prevailing local, national, and international standards, we propose a series of legislative reforms. Finally, we highlight the importance of addressing the preponderance of poorly constructed ICC laws both within the United States and internationally

The Unusual Distributions of Ionized Material and Molecular Hydrogen in NGC 6881: Signposts of Multiple Events of Bipolar Ejection in a Planetary Nebula

The planetary nebula NGC 6881 displays in the optical a quadrupolar morphology consisting of two pairs of highly collimated bipolar lobes aligned along different directions. An additional bipolar ejection is revealed by the hydrogen molecular emission, but its wide hourglass morphology is very different from that of the ionized material. To investigate in detail the spatial distribution of molecular hydrogen and ionized material within NGC 6881, and to determine the prevalent excitation mechanism of the H2 emission, we have obtained new near-IR Br-gamma and H2 and optical H-alpha and [N II] images, as well as intermediate resolution JHK spectra. These observations confirm the association of the H2 bipolar lobes to NGC 6881 and find that the prevalent excitation mechanism is collisional. The detailed morphology and very different collimation degree of the H2 and ionized bipolar lobes of NGC 6881 not only imply that multiple bipolar ejections have occurred in this nebula, but also that the dominant shaping agent is different for each bipolar ejection: a bipolar stellar wind most likely produced the H2 lobes, while highly collimated outflows are carving out the ionized lobes into the thick circumstellar envelope. The asymmetry between the southeast and northwest H2 bipolar lobes suggests the interaction of the nebula with an inhomogeneous interstellar medium. We find evidence that places NGC 6881 in the H II region Sh 2-109 along the Orion local spiral arm.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 4 table

Reproductive success through high pollinator visitation rates despite self incompatibility in an endangered wallflower

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Self incompatibility (SI) in rare plants presents a unique challenge—SI protects plants from inbreeding depression, but requires a sufficient number of mates and xenogamous pollination. Does SI persist in an endangered polyploid? Is pollinator visitation sufficient to ensure reproductive success? Is there evidence of inbreeding/outbreeding depression? We characterized the mating system, primary pollinators, pollen limitation, and inbreeding/outbreeding depression in Erysimum teretifolium to guide conservation efforts. METHODS: We compared seed production following self pollination and within- and between-population crosses. Pollen tubes were visualized after self pollinations and between-population pollinations. Pollen limitation was tested in the field. Pollinator observations were quantified using digital video. Inbreeding/outbreeding depression was assessed in progeny from self and outcross pollinations at early and later developmental stages. KEY RESULTS: Self-pollination reduced seed set by 6.5× and quadrupled reproductive failure compared with outcross pollination. Pollen tubes of some self pollinations were arrested at the stigmatic surface. Seed-set data indicated strong SI, and fruit-set data suggested partial SI. Pollinator diversity and visitation rates were high, and there was no evidence of pollen limitation. Inbreeding depression (δ) was weak for early developmental stages and strong for later developmental stages, with no evidence of outbreeding depression. CONCLUSIONS: The rare hexaploid E. teretifolium is largely self incompatible and suffers from late-acting inbreeding depression. Reproductive success in natural populations was accomplished through high pollinator visitation rates consistent with a lack of pollen limitation. Future reproductive health for this species will require large population sizes with sufficient mates and a robust pollinator community

Protogalactic Extension of the Parker Bound

We extend the Parker bound on the galactic flux $\cal F$ of magnetic monopoles. By requiring that a small initial seed field must survive the collapse of the protogalaxy, before any regenerative dynamo effects become significant, we develop a stronger bound. The survival and continued growth of an initial galactic seed field $\leq 10^{-9}$G demand that ${\cal F} \leq 5 \times 10^{-21} (m/10^{17} {GeV}) {cm}^{-2} {sec}^{-1} {sr}^{-1}$. For a given monopole mass, this bound is four and a half orders of magnitude more stringent than the previous `extended Parker bound', but is more speculative as it depends on assumptions about the behavior of magnetic fields during protogalactic collapse. For monopoles which do not overclose the Universe ($\Omega_m <1$), the maximum flux allowed is now $8 \times 10^{-19}$ cm^{-2} s^{-1} sr^{-1}, a factor of 150 lower than the maximum flux allowed by the extended Parker bound.Comment: 9 pages, 1 eps figur

Detecting Impression Management: Improving Conditional Reasoning Test Validity with Forced-Choice Survey

Whether you are an instructor trying to relate to their students, an employee trying to impress their boss, an athlete trying to intimidate their opponent, or anywhere in between; everyone uses impression management in some form or another. The primary purpose of our study is to develop a conditional reasoning test that can detect an individual’s dominant impression management strategies as well as abnormal levels of impression management. The conditional reasoning test would be utilized by employers to detect the use of impression management strategies among job applicants, allowing employers parse potentially misleading or false information provided during the selection process. Currently, we have established a conditional reasoning test that should predict preferred impression management response types. Additionally, we are looking to create a secondary forced-choice survey to be administered after the conditional reasoning test. By forcing participants to select impression management responses, we believe this will provide valuable insight into participants preferred impression management strategies in an applicant-type position which can be compared to participants’ results of the conditional reasoning test in order to establish its validity

A new solution to the solar neutrino deficit

We reexamine the transition magnetic moment solution to the solar neutrino problem. We argue that the absence of large time variations in the Super-Kamiokande rate provides strong evidence against spin-flavor flip in the solar convective zone. Spin-flavor flip could, however, occur in the primordial magnetic field in the radiative zone. We compute the longest lived toroidal mode for this field and show that spin-flavor flip in the radiative zone can account for all available solar data.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, version accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic

Solar Neutrinos with Magnetic Moment: Rates and Global Analysis

A statistical analysis of the solar neutrino data is presented assuming the solar neutrino deficit to be resolved by the resonant interaction of the neutrino magnetic moment with the solar magnetic field. Four field profiles are investigated, all exhibiting a rapid increase across the bottom of the convective zone, one of them closely following the requirements from recent solar physics investigations. First a 'rates only' analysis is performed whose best fits appear to be remarkably better than all fits from oscillations. A global analysis then follows with the corresponding best fits of a comparable quality to the LMA one. Despite the fact that the resonant spin flavour precession does not predict any day/night effect, the separate SuperKamiokande day and night data are included in the analysis in order to allow for a direct comparison with oscillation scenarios. Remarkably enough, the best fit for rates and global analysis which is compatible with most astrophysical bounds on the neutrino magnetic moment is obtained from the profile which most closely follows solar physics requirements. Allowing for a peak field value of $3\times10^5G$, it is found in this case that $\Delta m^2_{21}=1.45\times10^{-8}eV^2$, $\mu_{\nu}=3.2\times10^{-12}\mu_{B}$ (65%CL). The new forthcoming experiments on solar neutrino physics (Kamland and Borexino) will be essential to ascertain whether this fact is incidental or essential.Comment: Latex, 16 pages, 3 figure

First Results from Sentinel-1A InSAR over Australia: Application to the Perth Basin

Past ground-based geodetic measurements in the Perth Basin, Australia, record small-magnitude subsidence (up to 7 mm/y), but are limited to discrete points or traverses across parts of the metropolitan area. Here, we investigate deformation over a much larger region by performing the first application of Sentinel-1A InSAR data to Australia. The duration of the study is short (0.7 y), as dictated by the availability of Sentinel-1A data. Despite this limited observation period, verification of Sentinel-1A with continuous GPS and independent TerraSAR-X provides new insights into the deformation field of the Perth Basin. The displacements recorded by each satellite are in agreement, identifying broad (>5 km wide) areas of subsidence at rates up to 15 mm/y. Subsidence at rates greater than 20 mm/y over smaller regions ( 2 km wide) is coincident with wetland areas, where displacements are temporally correlated with changes in groundwater levels in the unconfined aquifer. Longer InSAR time series are required to determine whether these measured displacements are representative of long-term deformation or (more likely) seasonal variations. However, the agreement between datasets demonstrates the ability of Sentinel-1A to detect small-magnitude deformation over different spatial scales (from 2 km–10 s of km) in the Perth Basin. We suggest that, even over short time periods, these data are useful as a reconnaissance tool to identify regions for subsequent targeted studies, particularly given the large swath size of radar acquisitions, which facilitates analysis of a broader portion of the deformation field than ground-based methods or single scenes of TerraSAR-X

Foot burns: A comparative analysis of diabetic and non-diabetic patients

Introduction: Foot burns represent a small part of the body with many challenges. The impact of diabetes on clinical outcomes adds further issues in management that clinicians must consider in their management. These factors have serious implications on morbidity and long term sequelae. Our aim is to analyse epidemiological trends of foot burns and examine the differences between diabetic and non-diabetics at Concord hospital from 2014 to 2019. Methods: A retrospective audit from 2014–19 at Concord General Repatriation Hospital Burns Unit summarised patient demographics, burn injury, diabetic status, operations and length of stay. All foot burn injuries from 2014–19 of all ages and gender that attended Concord burns hospital were included in this study. Results: We treated 797 patients who presented with foot burns, of which 16.2% were diabetic. The average age was higher in diabetics (60.72 years) than non-diabetics (39.72 years) and more males suffered burns compared to females in both groups (p \u3c 0.001). There was a larger portion of elderly patients (greater than 65 years old, 15.1% of total) who sustained foot burns in the diabetic group compared to the non-diabetic group (p \u3c 0.001). The most affected season was summer (27.0%), but diabetic patients were 1.7 times more likely to sustain injury in winter than non-diabetics. Diabetics were 3.8 times more likely to have contact burns compared to non-diabetic patients (p \u3c 0.001). In a multivariable linear regression analysis, factors that contributed to increased length of stay included elderly status, place of event, diabetic status, number of operations, ICU admission, wound infection, amputation, and admission [F (16, 757 = 41.149, p \u3c 0.001, R2 = 0.465]. Conclusions: With the increase of diabetes, our multidisciplinary approach to diabetic foot care should include nursing, medical and surgical disciplines to identify patients at risk. The data highlights that a focus on prevention and education for diabetes is central to optimize glycaemic control and burn management, whilst providing a multidisciplinary network on discharge

Plant-soil interactions during the native and exotic range expansion of an annual plant

We thank the greenhouse and technical staff at UC Santa Cruz and NIOO-KNAW for facilities and plant care, especially Jim Velzy and Sylvie Childress, and Renske Jongen and Freddy C. ten Hooven. We are grateful to Colby Cole, Asa Conover, Kelsey Songer, and Andrew Lopez for planting, harvesting, and root washing. Many thanks to Matthew Hartfield, Josie Borden, and Dante Park for their fieldwork assistance. We appreciate the permitting agencies that allowed us to collect seed and soil for this study: US Forest Service, Santa Clara County Parks, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District. Seeds were collected following the Nagoya Protocol (French certificate of compliance TREL2302365S/653) and imported into the United States using APHIS permit P37-18-01389. This research was funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Grant 2020-67013-31856 to I.M.P). N.L. acknowledges support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (Early.Postdoc mobility fellowship P2EZP3_178481), Natural Environment Research Council (Standard Grant NE/W006553/1), and the UKRI Horizon Europe Guarantee Research Scheme (Marie-Sklodowska-Curie European Fellowship EP/X023362/1). T.M.R.C. was funded by ENS de LyonPeer reviewe