Prison Abuse and Mental Health

Abuse among mentally ill inmates is a relevant issue in prison systems worldwide. This presentation will focus on the pervasiveness and severity of this abuse in the US and abroad. Pertinent statistics regarding the prevalence of abuse among the mentally ill in prison systems, as well as the obstacles to obtaining such statistics will be presented. Following the major deinstitutionalization of mental hospitals in the 1970s, the mentally ill inmate population has seen exponential increase in the United States. Abuse statistics of the mentally ill in United Kingdom prisons will also be presented and analyzed, including concerns in prison staff training, support, and supervision. A large portion of the presentation will also focus on the discontinuity between current Bureau of Prisons legislation and the current state of affairs in the American prison system - highlighting problems with maximum security exploitation, disproportional staff-to-inmate ratios, and police brutality resulting from a lack of education. In closing, opportunities for advocacy will be explored

The rise of dentine hypersensitivity and tooth wear in an ageing population

Our understanding of the aetiology of dentine hypersensitivity (DH) has changed dramatically over the past few decades. It is no longer an enigma, but other problems exist. The prevalence of DH in the world and in particular in the UK is increasing, predominately due to increases in tooth wear and the erosive dietary intake in the younger population. DH is increasingly reported in all age groups and is shown to provide clinical indication of an active erosive tooth wear. As the population ages and possibly retain teeth for longer, the likelihood of tooth wear and DH could increase. This paper describes the prevalence, aetiology, diagnosis and management of DH in relation to tooth wear, which work together through a surface phenomenon. The aim is to raise awareness of the conditions and to help inform a prevention strategy in an ageing population, which starts from younger age groups to reduce disease into older age

City life makes females fussy : sex differences in habitat use of temperate bats in urban areas

Urbanization is a major driver of the global loss of biodiversity; to mitigate its adverse effects, it is essential to understand what drives species' patterns of habitat use within the urban matrix. While many animal species are known to exhibit sex differences in habitat use, adaptability to the urban landscape is commonly examined at the species level, without consideration of intraspecific differences. The high energetic demands of pregnancy and lactation in female mammals can lead to sexual differences in habitat use, but little is known of how this might affect their response to urbanization. We predicted that female Pipistrellus pygmaeus would show greater selectivity of forging locations within urban woodland in comparison to males at both a local and landscape scale. In line with these predictions, we found there was a lower probability of finding females within woodlands which were poorly connected, highly cluttered, with a higher edge : interior ratio and fewer mature trees. By contrast, habitat quality and the composition of the surrounding landscape were less of a limiting factor in determining male distributions. These results indicate strong sexual differences in the habitat use of fragmented urban woodland, and this has important implications for our understanding of the adaptability of bats and mammals more generally to urbanization.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Prospective observational study of the use of omeprazole and maropitant citrate in veterinary specialist care

The proton pump inhibitor omeprazole is administered to dogs with gastroduodenal ulceration or oesophagitis, whereas the neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist maropitant citrate is licensed as an antiemetic drug. In people, omeprazole is overprescribed in hospitals, increasing the risk of adverse effects and imposing unnecessary costs in healthcare. To investigate the use of omeprazole and maropitant in our veterinary specialist hospital, we conducted a prospective observational study in its Medicine and Surgery wards, recording patient data and obtaining contemporaneous information from clinicians about their reasons for administering either drug. In doing so, we find omeprazole and maropitant are administered to a large proportion of dogs, including to many of those with no presenting signs suggestive of gastrointestinal disease. We find prescribing clinicians consider both drugs safe but often underestimate their financial cost. We find the stated reasons and objective predictors of administration of both drugs vary according to clinical setting but that these modalities yield concordant results. Reviewing the manner of administration and stated indications for use of both drugs, we find omeprazole is often administered outside dosing recommendations, and both drugs are frequently administered for aims that are unlikely to be achieved when considering their known biological effects in dogs. In conclusion, our work reveals probable overprescribing of omeprazole and maropitant citrate in hospitalised dogs, highlighting a need for initiatives to decrease inappropriate prescribing

A 5 - year surveillance of wound infections at a rural tertiary hospital in Nigeria

Background: Wound infections are associated with increased morbidity and mortality.Objectives: To determine the prevalence, aetiology and susceptibility profile of bacterial agents of wound infection among in- and- out patients at a rural tertiary hospital in Nigeria, within a 5 year period.Methods: Wound swabs collected from 156 out-patients and 353  in-patients were, cultured and microbial isolates identified using standard methods. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was done on bacterial isolates.Results: The prevalence of wound infection in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 was 71.4%, 76.2%, 74.5%, 61.5%, and 67.0% respectively. The overall prevalence of wound infection was 70.1%. In all the years studied, out-patients had a higher prevalence of wound infection, but this was  significant in 2007, 2009, and 2010 only. Staphylococcus aureus was the most prevalent pathogen in both in- and out - patients with the exception of 2009 where both Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa had the same prevalence (24.4%) among in - patients. The  flouroquinolones were the most potent antimicrobial agents against bacterial isolates from both in – and out –patients.Conclusions: Staphylococcus aureus was the most predominant etiologic agent of wound infection among in and out patients. A generally higher resistance pattern was observed among nosocomial bacterial pathogens. Prudent use of antibiotics is recommended.Keywords: prevalence, wound infection, antibiotic resistances, rural community, Nigeri

Controlling morphology using low molar mass nucleators

This chapter focuses on the use of low molar mass compounds which self-assemble in to fibrillar structures within a polymer melt. Application of modest shear rate to the system will result in a common alignment of these fibrils which can serve as row nuclei for the subsequent crystallisation of the polymer matrix. Thus the combination of small quantities of a low molar mass compound and modest shear flow leads to a semi-crystalline morphology with a well defined anisotropy and morphology

Effect of temperature and salinity stress on growth and lipid composition of Shewanella gelidimarina

The maximum growth temperature, the optimal growth temperature, and the estimated normal physiological range for growth of Shewanella gelidimarina are functions of water activity (a(w)), which can be manipulated by changing the concentration of sodium chloride. The growth temperatures at the boundaries of the normal physiological range for growth were characterized by increased variability in fatty acid composition. Under hyper- and hypoosmotic stress conditions at an a(w) of 0.993 (1.0% [wt/vol] NaCl) and at an a(w) of 0.977 (4.0% [wt/vol] NaCl) the proportion of certain fatty acids (monounsaturated and branched-chain fatty acids) was highly regulated and was inversely related to the growth rate over the entire temperature range. The physical states of lipids extracted from samples grown at stressful a(w) values at the boundaries of the normal physiological range exhibited no abrupt gel-liquid phase transitions when the lipids were analyzed as liposomes. Lipid packing and adaptational fatty acid composition responses are clearly influenced by differences in the temperature-salinity regime, which are reflected in overall cell function characteristics, such as the growth rate and the normal physiological range for growth.Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de La Plat

Terrace reconstruction and long profile projection: a case study from the Solent river system near Southampton, England

River terrace sequences are important frameworks for archaeological evidence and as such it is important to produce robust correlations between what are often fragmentary remnants of ancient terraces. This paper examines both conceptual and practical issues related to such correlations, using a case study from the eastern part of the former Solent River system near Southampton, England. In this region two recent terrace schemes have been constructed using different data to describe the terrace deposits: one based mainly on terrace surfaces; the other on gravel thicknesses, often not recording the terrace surface itself. The utility of each of these types of data in terrace correlation is discussed in relation to the complexity of the record, the probability of post-depositional alteration of surface sediments and comparison of straight-line projections with modern river long profiles. Correlation using age estimates is also discussed, in relation to optically-stimulated luminescence dating of sand lenses within terrace gravels in this region during the PASHCC project. It is concluded that the need for replication at single sites means that this approach has limited use for correlative purposes, although dating of sediments is important for understanding wider landscape evolution and patterns of human occupation

3D simulation of the Hierarchical Multi-Mode Molecular Stress Function constitutive model in an abrupt contraction flow

YesA recent development of the Molecular Stress Function constitutive model, the Hierarchical Multi-Mode Molecular Stress Function (HMMSF) model has been shown to fit a large range of rheometrical data with accuracy, for a large range of polymer melts. We develop a 3D simulation of the HMMSF model and compare it to experimental data for the flow of Lupolen 1840H LDPE through an abrupt 3D contraction flow. We believe this to be the first finite element implementation of the HMMSF model. It is shown that the model gives a striking agreement with experimental vortex opening angles, with very good agreement to full-field birefringence measurements, over a wide range of flow rates. A method to give fully-developed inlet boundary conditions is implemented (in place of using parabolic inlet boundary conditions), which gives a significantly improved match to birefringence measurements in the inlet area, and in low stress areas downstream from the inlet. Alternative constitutive model parameters are assessed following the principle that extensional rheometer data actually provides a ‘lower bound’ for peak extensional viscosity. It is shown that the model robustly maintains an accurate fit to vortex opening angle and full-field birefringence data, provided that both adjustable parameters are kept such that both shear and extensional data are well fitted

An experimental and simulation comparison of a 3-D abrupt contraction flow using the Molecular Stress Function constitutive model

YesThe Molecular Stress Function (MSF) constitutive model with convective constraint release mechanism has been shown to accurately fit a large range of viscometric data, and also shown to give strong vortex growth in flows of LDPE through planar and axisymmetric contractions. This work compares simulation and experimental results for 3-D flows of Lupolen 1840H LDPE through a contraction slit; 3-D effects are introduced by using a slit with a low upstream aspect ratio of 5:3. Comparisons are made with vortex opening angles obtained from streak photography, and also with stress birefringence measurements. The comparisons are made with two versions of the convective constraint release (CCR) mechanism. The simulated vortex angles for one version of the CCR mechanism are found to approach what is seen experimentally. The best-fit value for the stress optical coefficient was found to vary between CCRs and to decrease with flow rate. This is partially explained by different centreline elongational rates with the two CCRs, which in turn is related to different opening angles. A 3-D simulation is compared to the corresponding 2-D simulation. It is shown that both velocity vectors and birefringence show only small changes to around 60% of the distance to the side wall