Juvenile delinquency, welfare, justice and therapeutic interventions: a global perspective

This review considers juvenile delinquency and justice from an international perspective. Youth crime is a growing concern. Many young offenders are also victims with complex needs, leading to a public health approach that requires a balance of welfare and justice models. However, around the world there are variable and inadequate legal frameworks and a lack of a specialist workforce. The UK and other high-income countries worldwide have established forensic child and adolescent psychiatry, a multifaceted discipline incorporating legal, psychiatric and developmental fields. Its adoption of an evidence-based therapeutic intervention philosophy has been associated with greater reductions in recidivism compared with punitive approaches prevalent in some countries worldwide, and it is therefore a superior approach to dealing with the problem of juvenile delinquency

Studying Cat (Felis catus) Diabetes: Beware of the Acromegalic Imposter

Naturally occurring diabetes mellitus (DM) is common in domestic cats (Felis catus). It has been proposed as a model for human Type 2 DM given many shared features. Small case studies demonstrate feline DM also occurs as a result of insulin resistance due to a somatotrophinoma. The current study estimates the prevalence of hypersomatotropism or acromegaly in the largest cohort of diabetic cats to date, evaluates clinical presentation and ease of recognition. Diabetic cats were screened for hypersomatotropism using serum total insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1; radioimmunoassay), followed by further evaluation of a subset of cases with suggestive IGF-1 (>1000 ng/ml) through pituitary imaging and/ or histopathology. Clinicians indicated pre-test suspicion for hypersomatotropism. In total 1221 diabetic cats were screened; 319 (26.1%) demonstrated a serum IGF-1>1000 ng/ml (95% confidence interval: 23.6-28.6%). Of these cats a subset of 63 (20%) underwent pituitary imaging and 56/63 (89%) had a pituitary tumour on computed tomography; an additional three on magnetic resonance imaging and one on necropsy. These data suggest a positive predictive value of serum IGF-1 for hypersomatotropism of 95% (95% confidence interval: 90-100%), thus suggesting the overall hypersomatotropism prevalence among UK diabetic cats to be 24.8% (95% confidence interval: 21.2-28.6%). Only 24% of clinicians indicated a strong pre-test suspicion; most hypersomatotropism cats did not display typical phenotypical acromegaly signs. The current data suggest hypersomatotropism screening should be considered when studying diabetic cats and opportunities exist for comparative acromegaly research, especially in light of the many detected communalities with the human disease

The impact of inter‐flood duration on non‐cohesive sediment bed stability

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Limited field and flume data suggests that both uniform and graded beds appear to progressively stabilize when subjected to inter-flood flows as characterized by the absence of active bedload transport. Previous work has shown that the degree of bed stabilization scales with duration of inter-flood flow, however, the sensitivity of this response to bed surface grain size distribution has not been explored. This article presents the first detailed comparison of the dependence of graded bed stability on inter-flood flow duration. Sixty discrete experiments, including repetitions, were undertaken using three grain size distributions of identical D50 (4.8 mm); near-uniform (σg = 1.13), unimodal (σg = 1.63) and bimodal (σg = 2.08). Each bed was conditioned for between 0 (benchmark) and 960 minutes by an antecedent shear stress below the entrainment threshold of the bed (τ*c50). The degree of bed stabilization was determined by measuring changes to critical entrainment thresholds and bedload flux characteristics. Results show that (i) increasing inter-flood duration from 0 to 960 minutes increases the average threshold shear stress of the D50 by up to 18%; (ii) bedload transport rates were reduced by up to 90% as inter-flood duration increased from 0 to 960 minutes; (iii) the rate of response to changes in inter-flood duration in both critical shear stress and bedload transport rate is non-linear and is inversely proportional to antecedent duration; (iv) there is a grade dependent response to changes in critical shear stress where the magnitude of response in uniform beds is up to twice that of the graded beds; and (v) there is a grade dependent response to changes in bedload transport rate where the bimodal bed is most responsive in terms of the magnitude of change. These advances underpin the development of more accurate predictions of both entrainment thresholds and bedload flux timing and magnitude, as well as having implications for the management of environmental flow design. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Impact of surface ocean conditions and aerosol provenance on the dissolution of aerosol manganese, cobalt, nickel and lead in seawater

© 2017. Atmospheric deposition is an important pathway by which bioactive trace metals are delivered to the surface ocean. The proportions of total aerosol trace metals that dissolve in seawater, and thus become available to biota, are not well constrained and are therefore a key uncertainty when estimating atmospheric fluxes of these elements to surface waters. The aim of this study was to elucidate the main physico-chemical controls on the dissolution of the bioactive trace metals manganese (Mn), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb). To this end, aerosol and surface seawater samples were collected in the Sargasso Sea and subsequently used in sequential seawater leach dissolution experiments to assess the role of aerosol source, seawater temperature, pH, and concentrations of dissolved oxygen and organic ligands, on aerosol trace metal dissolution.Results reveal that changes in key physico-chemical parameters in seawater leaches had little effect on the proportions of Mn, Co, Ni and Pb released from aerosols, although organic ligand amendments impacted the size distribution of aerosol-derived Mn in solution. Conversely, aerosol source and composition had the most significant effect on the dissolution of aerosol Co and Pb, with the most 'anthropogenic' aerosol samples displaying the highest fractional solubilities in seawater (up to 58% for Co and 112% for Pb).Fractional solubilities over the range of samples and conditions tested were in the range of 50-104% for Mn, 29-58% for Co, 40-85% for Ni and 67-112% for Pb. A large proportion (36-100%, median 89%) of the total dMn, dCo, dNi and dPb was mobilised rapidly during the first leaching step (5. min), with less dTM being released in leaches 2 through 4. Furthermore, investigation of the size distribution of the aerosol-derived trace metals in seawater showed that dissolved Pb was mostly colloidal (0.02-0.4. μm), dissolved Mn and Co were mostly soluble ( < . 0.02. μm), and dissolved Ni displayed a mixed size distribution. Good empirical relationships were observed between enrichment factors for aerosol antimony (Sb) and the fractional solubilities of aerosol Fe, Co and Pb, suggesting total aerosol Sb can be useful in estimating and modelling the fractional solubility of these metals using total aerosol trace metal concentrations from historical data

Patterns of impact resulting from a 'sit less, move more' web-based program in sedentary office employees.

PURPOSE: Encouraging office workers to 'sit less and move more' encompasses two public health priorities. However, there is little evidence on the effectiveness of workplace interventions for reducing sitting, even less about the longer term effects of such interventions and still less on dual-focused interventions. This study assessed the short and mid-term impacts of a workplace web-based intervention (Walk@WorkSpain, W@WS; 2010-11) on self-reported sitting time, step counts and physical risk factors (waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure) for chronic disease. METHODS: Employees at six Spanish university campuses (n=264; 42±10 years; 171 female) were randomly assigned by worksite and campus to an Intervention (used W@WS; n=129; 87 female) or a Comparison group (maintained normal behavior; n=135; 84 female). This phased, 19-week program aimed to decrease occupational sitting time through increased incidental movement and short walks. A linear mixed model assessed changes in outcome measures between the baseline, ramping (8 weeks), maintenance (11 weeks) and follow-up (two months) phases for Intervention versus Comparison groups. RESULTS: A significant 2 (group) × 2 (program phases) interaction was found for self-reported occupational sitting (F[3]=7.97, p=0.046), daily step counts (F[3]=15.68, p=0.0013) and waist circumference (F[3]=11.67, p=0.0086). The Intervention group decreased minutes of daily occupational sitting while also increasing step counts from baseline (446±126; 8,862±2,475) through ramping (+425±120; 9,345±2,435), maintenance (+422±123; 9,638±3,131) and follow-up (+414±129; 9,786±3,205). In the Comparison group, compared to baseline (404±106), sitting time remained unchanged through ramping and maintenance, but decreased at follow-up (-388±120), while step counts diminished across all phases. The Intervention group significantly reduced waist circumference by 2.1cms from baseline to follow-up while the Comparison group reduced waist circumference by 1.3cms over the same period. CONCLUSIONS: W@WS is a feasible and effective evidence-based intervention that can be successfully deployed with sedentary employees to elicit sustained changes on "sitting less and moving more"

A new dawn for industrial photosynthesis

Several emerging technologies are aiming to meet renewable fuel standards, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and provide viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Direct conversion of solar energy into fungible liquid fuel is a particularly attractive option, though conversion of that energy on an industrial scale depends on the efficiency of its capture and conversion. Large-scale programs have been undertaken in the recent past that used solar energy to grow innately oil-producing algae for biomass processing to biodiesel fuel. These efforts were ultimately deemed to be uneconomical because the costs of culturing, harvesting, and processing of algal biomass were not balanced by the process efficiencies for solar photon capture and conversion. This analysis addresses solar capture and conversion efficiencies and introduces a unique systems approach, enabled by advances in strain engineering, photobioreactor design, and a process that contradicts prejudicial opinions about the viability of industrial photosynthesis. We calculate efficiencies for this direct, continuous solar process based on common boundary conditions, empirical measurements and validated assumptions wherein genetically engineered cyanobacteria convert industrially sourced, high-concentration CO2 into secreted, fungible hydrocarbon products in a continuous process. These innovations are projected to operate at areal productivities far exceeding those based on accumulation and refining of plant or algal biomass or on prior assumptions of photosynthetic productivity. This concept, currently enabled for production of ethanol and alkane diesel fuel molecules, and operating at pilot scale, establishes a new paradigm for high productivity manufacturing of nonfossil-derived fuels and chemicals

Dissolved iron in the Bermuda region of the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean: Seasonal dynamics, mesoscale variability, and physicochemical speciation

18 months embargo minus one day to account for leap year

Persistent acceleration in global sea-level rise since the 1960s

Previous studies reconstructed twentieth-century global mean sea level (GMSL) from sparse tide-gauge records to understand whether the recent high rates obtained from satellite altimetry are part of a longer-term acceleration. However, these analyses used techniques that can only accurately capture either the trend or the variability in GMSL, but not both. Here we present an improved hybrid sea-level reconstruction during 1900–2015 that combines previous techniques at time scales where they perform best. We find a persistent acceleration in GMSL since the 1960s and demonstrate that this is largely (~76%) associated with sea-level changes in the Indo-Pacific and South Atlantic. We show that the initiation of the acceleration in the 1960s is tightly linked to an intensification and a basin-scale equatorward shift of Southern Hemispheric westerlies, leading to increased ocean heat uptake, and hence greater rates of GMSL rise, through changes in the circulation of the Southern Ocean

The uptake and effect of a mailed multi-modal colon cancer screening intervention: A pilot controlled trial

Abstract Background We sought to determine whether a multi-modal intervention, which included mailing a patient reminder with a colon cancer decision aid to patients and system changes allowing direct access to scheduling screening tests through standing orders, would be an effective and efficient means of promoting colon cancer screening in primary care practice. Methods We conducted a controlled trial comparing the proportion of intervention patients who received colon cancer screening with wait list controls at one practice site. The intervention was a mailed package that included a letter from their primary care physician, a colon cancer screening decision aid, and instructions for obtaining each screening test without an office visit so that patients could access screening tests directly. Major outcomes were screening test completion and cost per additional patient screened. Results In the intervention group, 15% (20/137) were screened versus 4% (4/100) in the control group (difference 11%; (95%; CI 3%;18% p = 0.01). The cost per additional patient screened was estimated to be $94. Conclusion A multi-modal intervention, which included mailing a patient reminder with a colon cancer decision aid to patients and system changes allowing patients direct access to schedule screening tests, increased colon cancer screening test completion in a subset of patients within a single academic practice. Although the uptake of the decision aid was low, the cost was also modest, suggesting that this method could be a viable approach to colon cancer screening