Human Trafficking: Exploration of Best Practices for Restoration and Integration for Survivors in Southeastern United States

Domestic human trafficking, especially of minors, has become a serious though largely invisible issue in the United States. There are, however, organizations and policies in place that have become active in caring for, restoring and reintegrating those survivors who have been able to escape. Through the perspectives of service providers, this exploratory qualitative study examines the factors of vulnerability of victims, the issues that support reintegration for survivors and the best practices as well as indicators of success when caring for survivors. This was accomplished through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with representatives from various social service agencies in Georgia that are involved with human trafficking. This research fills the gap in literature by adding to the best practices for aftercare of survivors of human trafficking

Measuring Molecular, Neutral Atomic, and Warm Ionized Galactic Gas Through X-Ray Absorption

We study the column densities of neutral atomic, molecular, and warm ionized Galactic gas through their continuous absorption of extragalactic X-ray spectra at |b| > 25 degrees. For N(H,21cm) < 5x10^20 cm^-2 there is an extremely tight relationship between N(H,21cm) and the X-ray absorption column, N(xray), with a mean ratio along 26 lines of sight of N(xray)/N(H,21cm) = 0.972 +- 0.022. This is significantly less than the anticpated ratio of 1.23, which would occur if He were half He I and half He II in the warm ionized component. We suggest that the ionized component out of the plane is highly ionized, with He being mainly He II and He III. In the limiting case that H is entirely HI, we place an upper limit on the He abundance in the ISM of He/H <= 0.103. At column densities N(xray) > 5x10^20 cm^-2, which occurs at our lower latitudes, the X-ray absorption column N(xray) is nearly double N(H,21cm). This excess column cannot be due to the warm ionized component, even if He were entirely He I, so it must be due to a molecular component. This result implies that for lines of sight out of the plane with |b| ~ 30 degrees, molecular gas is common and with a column density comprable to N(H,21cm). This work bears upon the far infrared background, since a warm ionized component, anticorrelated with N(H,21cm), might produce such a background. Not only is such an anticorrelation absent, but if the dust is destroyed in the warm ionized gas, the far infrared background may be slightly larger than that deduced by Puget et al. (1996).Comment: 1 AASTeX file, 14 PostScript figure files which are linked within the TeX fil

Big Red Sat-1: Mission Overview and Future Opportunities for Perovskites in Low Earth Orbit

Perovskite solar cells are an emerging technology that holds the promise of reducing the size and weight of solar panels on satellites. While many research laboratories have produced perovskite solar cells and characterized their performance in laboratory conditions, few have endeavored to launch them into space. The Big Red Sat-1 (BRS-1) is one such satellite, designed to incorporate three different perovskite solar cell architectures along with custom curve tracing instrumentation for launch into low earth orbit through NASA\u27s CubeSat Launch Initiative. The curve tracer is realized using a precision resistor ladder with high quality current and voltage measurements. Perovskite solar cell samples were fabricated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and characterized in their facilities before shipment. These cells were recharacterized using flight hardware before integration into the Nanoracks launcher. In addition to the eighteen perovskite solar cell pixels, a gallium arsenide (GaAs) solar cell was included to trigger measurements when the BRS-1 is pointing at the sun. During nominal operations, the BRS-1 will continuously take J-V curves while the GaAs solar cell is illuminated and will be in a low power state otherwise. Future missions should include a sun vector sensor for precise solar flux measurements, active curve tracing for dark current measurements, and explore alternative perovskite solar cell architectures including tandem cells. All designs for BRS-1 have been made open source to benefit other student-led missions. BRS-1 is currently in-orbit and transmitting measurement data

Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients.

In December 2017, the National Academy of Neuropsychology convened an interorganizational Summit on Population Health Solutions for Assessing Cognitive Impairment in Geriatric Patients in Denver, Colorado. The Summit brought together representatives of a broad range of stakeholders invested in the care of older adults to focus on the topic of cognitive health and aging. Summit participants specifically examined questions of who should be screened for cognitive impairment and how they should be screened in medical settings. This is important in the context of an acute illness given that the presence of cognitive impairment can have significant implications for care and for the management of concomitant diseases as well as pose a major risk factor for dementia. Participants arrived at general principles to guide future screening approaches in medical populations and identified knowledge gaps to direct future research. Key learning points of the summit included: recognizing the importance of educating patients and healthcare providers about the value of assessing current and baseline cognition;emphasizing that any screening tool must be appropriately normalized and validated in the population in which it is used to obtain accurate information, including considerations of language, cultural factors, and education; andrecognizing the great potential, with appropriate caveats, of electronic health records to augment cognitive screening and tracking of changes in cognitive health over time

Human Trafficking: Exploration of Best Practices for Restoration and Integration for Survivors in the Southeastern United States

Domestic Human Trafficking, especially of minors, has become a serious though largely invisible issue in the United States. There are, however, organizations and policies in place that have become active in caring for, restoring and reintegrating those survivors who have been able to escape. Through the perspectives of service providers, this explorative qualitative study examines the factors of vulnerability of victims, the factors that support reintegration for survivors and the best practices as well as indicators of success when caring for survivors. This was accomplished through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with representatives from various social service agencies that are involved with human trafficking. This research fills the gap in literature by adding to the service providers’ perceptions of best practice for aftercare of survivors of Human Trafficking. As the study progressed three main themes emerged: Factors of Exploitation, Barriers to Services and Empowerment through Aftercare Environment and Best Practice. Young women who have fled from emotionally and physically harmful situations in their family homes are very vulnerable to traffickers who seemed to offer security. It was often noted that many victims had begun in or believed themselves to be in a ‘relationship’ with the man who was effectively their trafficker. Most survivors are trapped by personal barriers due to the impact of exploitation and the lack of awareness and resources to meet the need. An environment that promoted empowerment and restoration through therapy and continued enforcement of policies that facilitate care and protection for survivors are most prominently recommended. As this study only interviewed a few social service agencies it is not a comprehensive examination of best practice, however, it does provide valuable insight into the issues surrounding survivors of Human Trafficking and potential best practices for their aftercare and integration

Counteracting Deference to the City: Exploring Rural Persistent Poverty

This research project uses a community assessment framework to evaluate persistent poverty in a county in the Southern United States that has an active college community. This community assessment strategy evolves from an ecological framework that considers the local resources, the power structures, the strengths, and the barriers to growth in this locality. This research stays true to the ecological perspective by interviewing local community leaders to gain an understanding of their perspectives on this county’s specific experiences with persistent poverty. With an understanding of the community as a whole, this research has the goal of making holistic recommendations to alleviate this county’s poverty. This research is justified by the overwhelming tendency of state and federal governments to focus almost explicitly on urban policy. Unfortunately, researchers have also fallen into this trap of exploring urban poverty at much greater rates than rural poverty. As such, this research addresses not only a gap in state and federal politics, but also a gap in the academic literature. This gap is further exacerbated by the many faces of rural poverty, as rurality is most frequently defined as any area that is not urban or metropolitan. The vagueness of the definition of rurality encourages an ecological framework that addresses this community’s unique issues with poverty. This project is an on-going endeavor, but significant information has already been gathered regarding the community’s resources, policies, leaders, and areas for improvement. Currently, the research team is conducting interviews and analyzing the data that has already been gathered. We have identified several areas for improvement, including workforce development initiatives and the creation of a comprehensive transportation plan. Although we have identified room for growth, our approach is a strength-based approach, which reaffirms using the community’s current strengths in order to work on the initiatives that require more attention. Ultimately, our findings are part of a larger project carried on by the Southern Sociological Society entitled Persistent Poverty in the South. Our findings, however, will be used on a local level to generate public discourse and public initiatives with the hope of addressing the concerns raised by this study