Interprofessional Collaboration Between Criminal Justice And Mental Health Practitioners Regarding Mentally Ill Offenders: Perception of Collaboration

The federal program of deinstitutionalizing psychiatric facilities has resulted in a well documented, ever-increasing mentally ill population in the nation\u27s prisons and jails. Historically, the criminal justice system has maintained a laissez-faire attitude toward the mentally ill, and only became involved with the mentally ill when a crime had been committed. As such, the President\u27s Mental Health and Criminal Justice Consensus Project was developed to explore ways that the two systems could work together to address the growing problem of the mentally ill offender. However, challenges arise because the criminal justice system has typically been viewed as a loosely coupled, fragmented system that is unwilling or unable to address the social issue of the mentally ill offender. The concept of coupling between agencies has serious ramifications for the ability of agencies to successfully collaborate. Theoretical foundations for collaboration between mental health and criminal justice agencies lie partly in labeling theory and the drive to avoid the negative stigmatization of the mentally ill by the formal criminal justice system. A second theoretical foundation is found in developmental theories, which seek to explain the development of organizational knowledge and skills, in handling mentally ill offenders, through interaction between the mental health and criminal justice systems. In this study, it is asserted that agencies that are appropriately coupled and have experience with collaboration will perceive greater benefits from the collaborative exchange. Furthermore, this leads to the main hypothesis of the current study that agency coupling and collaborative experience will increase the perception of benefits of collaboration and support of collaborative efforts that deal with mentally ill offenders. To assess the main hypothesis of the current study, a modified Dillman methodology was utilized. The research population consisted of a complete enumeration of the 20 Florida State\u27s Attorneys Offices, the 66 County Sheriffs, the 54 Probation Office Managers, and the 313 municipal law enforcement agencies for a total study population of 453 possible respondents, of which 49% responded. Overall, the findings of the current study illustrate a willingness of agencies to couple with outside agencies to address the phenomenon of the mentally ill offender. The results provide theoretical support for the need to reduce the negative stigma of a mentally ill individual being additionally labeled a criminal offender. The results additionally bolster the belief that the knowledge and skills to do this can best be accomplished through interaction with outside agencies

Looking For Mr Wednesday: Towards An Odian Philosophical Framework

The thesis explores the theory and praxis of Odianism in order to articulate the fundamentals of a possible philosophical framework underpinning the Odian paradigm of reality. It is argued that Odian magical praxis needs to be understood as a discrete category of experience offering a specific understanding of and a particular route to selfbecoming. Magic is a problematic category to define and shares fuzzy boundaries with a number of other concepts related to non-ordinary states of consciousness. The thesis seeks initially to clarify the specific nature of magic and to contextualise Odianism within the broader Western Mystery Tradition. The main body of the thesis considers the philosophical framework proposed by contemporary Odianism. This narrowing of focus is inevitably limiting, but necessary to allow a sufficiently detailed examination of a particular approach to magical praxis. The thesis explores Odian epistemological, ontological and ethical positions. Odian magical praxis is examined in the context of those philosophical perspectives. Particular attention is paid to the concept of Odian self-development or Self-becoming. It is argued that Odianism regards non-ordinary consciousness as essential to all forms of magical praxis. The thesis concludes by exploring the wider relevance and value of Odian perspectives and of magical praxis in general

An Evaluation of Facility Maintenance and Repair Strategies of Select Companies

Although initial construction costs are high, the cost of operation and maintenance over a facilities life-cycle is significantly higher. A common challenge for facility maintenance professionals is balancing the cost of facility Maintenance and Repair (M&R) with the benefits derived from those facilities. This thesis documents how a selection of companies implemented that balance by determining their facilities requirements based on their chosen facility condition level and how they then allocated funds. The research effort consisted of interviews with facility maintenance professionals at each company selected. The data was then used to perform a multiple case study analysis and comparison with the methods currently used by the USAF. Results indicate that companies that methodically identified their requirements and used those requirements as the basis for allocating funds to meet those requirements incurred the least impact from facility problems on their daily operations. In comparison, companies that allocated funds based on methods other than M&R requirements typically under-funded those requirements, resulting in facilities that did not meet their needs, required work around conditions, and increased their cost of doing business. Finally, the data suggests that a commitment to facility maintenance does not impede a company s ability to compete within their market

Chronic exposure to neonicotinoids increases neuronal vulnerability to mitochondrial dysfunction in the bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

This work was funded jointly by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Natural Environment Research Council, the Scottish Government, and The Wellcome Trust, under the Insect Pollinators Initiative (United Kingdom) Grant BB/ 1000313/1 (to C.N.C.).The global decline in the abundance and diversity of insect pollinators could result from habitat loss, disease, and pesticide exposure. The contribution of the neonicotinoid insecticides (e.g., clothianidin and imidacloprid) to this decline is controversial, and key to understanding their risk is whether the astonishingly low levels found in the nectar and pollen of plants is sufficient to deliver neuroactive levels to their site of action: the bee brain. Here we show that bumblebees (Bombusterrestris audax) fed field levels [10 nM, 2.1 ppb (w/w)] of neonicotinoid accumulate between 4 and 10 nM in their brains within 3 days. Acute (minutes) exposure of cultured neurons to 10 nM clothianidin, but not imidacloprid, causes a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-dependent rapid mitochondrial depolarization. However, a chronic (2 days) exposure to 1 nM imidacloprid leads to a receptor-dependent increased sensitivity to a normally innocuous level of acetylcholine, which now also causes rapid mitochondrial depolarization in neurons. Finally, colonies exposed to this level of imidacloprid show deficits in colony growth and nest condition compared with untreated colonies. These findings provide a mechanistic explanation for the poor navigation and foraging observed in neonicotinoid treated bumblebee colonies.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Dual optical force plate for time resolved measurement of forces and pressure distributions beneath shoes and feet

Frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) imaging was used to perform remote optical measurements of the forces/pressures exerted beneath shoes and feet during a number of different training activities including countermovement jumps, jogging and drop jumps. A single camera was used to simultaneously image two acrylic, FTIR waveguide imaging elements from below, at frame rates up to 200 frames per second. The images obtained using the camera were converted into pressure/force maps using a previously developed theory which combines the mechanics of contact of soft objects and the scattering of evanescent waves. The forces obtained from the optical measurements were shown to be in good agreement with measurements obtained from load cells placed beneath the FTIR imaging elements. The ability to produce accurate spatial maps of the force/pressure distribution beneath soft contacting objects such as feet and shoe outsoles at high frame rates has numerous potential applications in sports sciences and medicine

Inflammation Combined with Ischemia Produces Myelin Injury and Plaque-Like Aggregates of Myelin, Amyloid-β and AβPP in Adult Rat Brain.

BackgroundIschemia, white matter injury, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathologies often co-exist in aging brain. How one condition predisposes to, interacts with, or perhaps causes the others remains unclear.ObjectivesTo better understand the link between ischemia, white matter injury, and AD, adult rats were administered lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to serve as an inflammatory stimulus, and 24 h later subjected to 20-min focal cerebral ischemia (IS) followed by 30-min hypoxia (H).MethodsMyelin and axonal damage, as well as amyloid-β (Aβ) and amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) deposition were examined by Western blot and immunocytochemistry following LPS/IS/H. Findings were compared to the 5XFAD mouse AD brain.ResultsMyelin/axonal injury was observed bilaterally in cortex following LPS/IS/H, along with an increase in IL-1, granzyme B, and LPS. AβPP deposition was present in ischemic striatum in regions of myelin loss. Aβ(1-42) and AβPP were deposited in small foci in ischemic cortex that co-localized with myelin aggregates. In the 5XFAD mouse AD model, cortical amyloid plaques also co-localized with myelin aggregates.ConclusionsLPS/IS/H produce myelin injury and plaque-like aggregates of myelin. AβPP and Aβ co-localize with these myelin aggregates

An investigation of molecular opacities for late-type stars

This work investigates molecular opacities under conditions appropriate to the atmospheres of late-type stars. Given a specified initial abundance of the chemical elements, the equations of atomic ionization and molecular dissociation are solved by iteration for various temperatures and densities. With the abundances of the atomic and molecular species so determined at a particular temperature and density, the continuous absorption coefficient due to a number of processes is first computed, then the molecular band absorption coefficient is computed line-by-line superimposed for diatomic and triatomic molecules considered separately. The band calculations for the diatomic molecules include all possible isotopic variants, but computing resources did not permit this degree of detail for triatomic molecules, nor diatomic and triatomic molecules to be considered together. These calculations are performed for a number of different temperatures and densities. The theory for calculating the spectral lines due to molecules is discussed in some detail, with various methods being investigated for computing opacities including the contributions from these spectral lines. With the computing resources available, the best method for the calculation of the opacity due to the molecular absorption is found to be that of opacity sampling, sampling is adequate, provided the frequency of sampling is adequate. From the results presented in this thesis, a number of important conclusions can be drawn. At low temperatures and high densities, pressure-induced absorption due to molecular hydrogen is an important source of continuous opacity. Isotopic variants of at least diatomic molecules pave to be considered in any calculations, as they can significantly affect the contribution that diatomic molecules make to the Rosseland mean opacities. Also at low temperatures, water is a major source of absorption. Finally, tables of some thermodynamic quantities for the molecular gas are given for a number of temperatures and densities

Extending Diversity in the Classroom: How Librarians Contribute

Six ULS librarians participated in the 2017-2018 University of Pittsburgh Extended Diversity Experience on the Oakland campus. This presentation highlights a selection of the library's expertise, resources, and services that were incorporated by our faculty fellows in the program

Wave Energy Converter Array Optimization : Array Economic Analysis and Preliminary Results of a Genetic Algorithm Approach Introducing Cost Factors

With the need to integrate renewable energy sources into the current energy portfolio and the proximity of many population centers to an ocean coastline, it is pressing that marine energy systems, specifically wave energy converters (WECs), are evaluated as potential solutions for meeting energy needs. In order to best understand power development, economics, grid integration requirements, and other aspects prior to installation, the ability to model these systems computationally is vital to their eventual deployment. However, the research area of WEC array optimization is young, and as such, results from previously implemented optimization methods are both few in number and preliminary in nature. The goal of this research is to investigate the economics of implementing WEC arrays, determine viable cost models, create an optimization framework for WEC arrays that will enable developers to - for the first time - understand the tradeoff between power development and cost for potential WEC arrays, and to explore preliminary systems-level issues, such as WEC layout and device spacing. A genetic algorithm approach that utilizes an analytic hydrodynamic model and introduces the use of an array cost model is presented. The resulting optimal layouts for two studies are then discussed. This work is integral in providing an understanding of device layout and spacing and is a foundational starting point for subsequent and more advanced WEC array optimization research