Parent Anxiety Causes and Consequences: Perspectives from Camp Program Providers

Although out-of-school time experiences such as camp contribute to youth development, youth in-volvement in these developmental experiences is largely dependent on parents who determine which activities are appropriate for their children. A contributing factor to parents’ decisions to send their child to camp is the amount of risk and non-clinical anxiety that parents associate with the camp experience, yet little attention has been paid to these issues, particularly from the perspective of camp program providers. It is unclear to what extent parent anxiety is an operational and pro-grammatic concern for camp program providers. Informed by risk perception and parent involve-ment theories, this study explores (1) causes of parent anxiety from the perspective of camp pro-gram providers; (2) operational and programmatic consequences associated with the management of parent anxiety; and (3) camp program practices used to reduce parent anxiety. Data were collect-ed from a sample of 248 camp program providers who completed an online survey that included open-ended questions related to perceptions and observations of parent anxiety, as well as strate-gies used to manage parents. Content analysis was used to code the data and to construct themes. Constructed themes suggested that parent anxiety is associated with parent-child separation, limited parent camp experience, lack of parent trust, the expression of overparenting behaviors, fear of lack of safety, and insufficient preparation. Constructed themes associated with operational or program-matic changes indicated that camp program providers use a range of strategies to reduce parent anxiety, broadly summarized as communication, staffing, access, and education. Implications for practice and future directions are explored

Morphological and molecular characterisation of a mixed Cryptosporidium muris/Cryptosporidium felis infection in a cat

To date Cryptosporidium muris has been identified by microscopy and genotyping in cats in two studies. We report morphological and genetic evidence of a mixed C. muris and C. felis infection in a cat and provide the first histological, immunohistochemical, in situ hybridisation and genetic confirmation of a C. muris infection in the stomach of a cat. The cat suffered persistent diarrhoea after the initial consultation, which remained unresolved, despite several medical interventions. Further studies are required to determine the range, prevalence and clinical impact of Cryptosporidium species infecting cats

Energetic proton spectra in the 11 June 1991 solar flare

The June 11, 1991 gamma-ray flare seen by the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory (CGRO) displays several features that make it a dynamic and rich event. It is a member of a class of long duration gamma-ray events with both 2.223 MeV and greater than 8 MeV emission for hours after the impulsive phase. It also contains an inter-phase between the impulsive and extended phases that presents a challenge to the standard gamma-ray line (GRL) flare picture. This phase has strong 2.223 MeV emission and relatively weak 4.44 MeV emission indicative of a very hard parent proton spectrum. However, this would indicate emission greater than 8 MeV, which is absent from this period. We present the application of new spectroscopy techniques to this phase of the flare in order to present a reasonable explanation for this seemly inconsistent picture

Gamma ray measurements of the 1991 November 15 solar flare

The 1991 November 15 X1.5 flare was a well observed solar event. Comprehensive data from ground-based observatories and spacecraft provide the basis for a contextual interpretation of gamma-ray spectra from the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO). In particular, spectral, spatial, and temporal data at several energies are necessary to understand the particle dynamics and the acceleration mechanism(s) within this flare. X-ray images, radio, Ca XIX data and magnetograms provide morphological information on the acceleration region [4,5], while gamma-ray spectral data provide information on the parent ion spectrum. Furthermore, time profiles in hard X-rays and gamma-rays provide valuable information on temporal characteristics of the energetic particles. We report the results of our analysis of the evolution of this flare as a function of energy (∼25 keV–2.5 MeV) and time. These results, together with other high energy data (e.g. from experiments on Yohkoh, Ulysses, and PVO) may assist in identifying and understanding the acceleration mechanism(s) taking place in this event

Central Executive Dysfunction and Deferred Prefrontal Processing in Veterans with Gulf War Illness.

Gulf War Illness is associated with toxic exposure to cholinergic disruptive chemicals. The cholinergic system has been shown to mediate the central executive of working memory (WM). The current work proposes that impairment of the cholinergic system in Gulf War Illness patients (GWIPs) leads to behavioral and neural deficits of the central executive of WM. A large sample of GWIPs and matched controls (MCs) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a varied-load working memory task. Compared to MCs, GWIPs showed a greater decline in performance as WM-demand increased. Functional imaging suggested that GWIPs evinced separate processing strategies, deferring prefrontal cortex activity from encoding to retrieval for high demand conditions. Greater activity during high-demand encoding predicted greater WM performance. Behavioral data suggest that WM executive strategies are impaired in GWIPs. Functional data further support this hypothesis and suggest that GWIPs utilize less effective strategies during high-demand WM

Improved COMPTEL maps of the milky way

In the course of the mission we have gradually developed an analysis method that separates in an iterative manner the celestial emission and the (a priori unknown) instrumental background. It has become our standard analysis tool for point sources. We illustrate here that this method is widely applicable now. It provides mutually consistent sets of model-fitting parameters (spectra) and sky maps, both for continuum and line studies. Because of the wide applicability, it has been possible to make various cross-checks while building up confidence in this procedure

Site-specific identification and quantitation of endogenous SUMO modifications under native conditions.

Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) modification regulates numerous cellular processes. Unlike ubiquitin, detection of endogenous SUMOylated proteins is limited by the lack of naturally occurring protease sites in the C-terminal tail of SUMO proteins. Proteome-wide detection of SUMOylation sites on target proteins typically requires ectopic expression of mutant SUMOs with introduced tryptic sites. Here, we report a method for proteome-wide, site-level detection of endogenous SUMOylation that uses α-lytic protease, WaLP. WaLP digestion of SUMOylated proteins generates peptides containing SUMO-remnant diglycyl-lysine (KGG) at the site of SUMO modification. Using previously developed immuno-affinity isolation of KGG-containing peptides followed by mass spectrometry, we identified 1209 unique endogenous SUMO modification sites. We also demonstrate the impact of proteasome inhibition on ubiquitin and SUMO-modified proteomes using parallel quantitation of ubiquitylated and SUMOylated peptides. This methodological advancement enables determination of endogenous SUMOylated proteins under completely native conditions

A New Perennial Legume to Combat Dryland Salinity in South-Western Australia

Dryland salinity has devastated large tracts of productive land in Australia. This has resulted from the clearing of native perennial vegetation and its replacement with annual crops and pastures. As annual plants are shallow rooted and only use water during their winter-spring growing season, unutilised rainwater leaks into groundwater tables which rise and bring stored salt to the soil surface. The adoption of deep rooted perennial pasture plants that increase the water use can help to manage dryland salinity whilst maintaining productivity. However, new plants are needed as few perennial pasture options currently exist. Preliminary research into the potential of hairy canary clover (Dorycnium hirsutum (L.) Ser.) to increase water use is presented

COMPTEL: Instrument description and performance

The imaging Compton telescope (COMPTEL) is one of the four gamma ray detectors aboard the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO). COMPTEL is sensitive to gamma rays from 800 keV to 30 MeV with a field of view of approximately 1 sr. Its angular resolution ranges between 1 and 2 degrees depending on the energy and incidence angle. The energy resolution of better than 10 percent FWHM enables COMPTEL to provide spectral resolution in the regime of astrophysical nuclear lines. The effective area varies typically from 10 to 50 cm(exp 2) depending on the energy and event selections made. In its telescope mode, COMPTEL is able to study a wide variety of objects, pointlike as well as extended in space. With 0.125 msec timing resolution, pulsed emission can be studied. In the single detector mode, COMPTEL uses two of its detectors to study the temporal spectral evolution of strong gamma ray bursts or transients