Considering Parental Alienation When Assessing Best Interest of the Child

As the divorce rate in the United States remains steady at 50%, the last few decades have shown an increase in child custody disputes. Within these litigations, interparental conflict can reach high levels and incite behaviors that wreak havoc on the children who are caught in the middle. When considering custody arrangements, judges and other evaluators use the Best Interest of the Child Standard (BICS), a jurisdictionally-specific framework that examines several factors that contribute to a child’s health and well-being. Parents who allow their resentments to get the better of them sometimes engage in behavior that encourages their child to become alienated from the other parent, known as Parental Alienation (PA) —a form of psychological abuse that can result in emotional and behavioral consequences for the child. While some states investigate components relevant to PA during a BICS evaluation, none include criteria that directly addresses this construct. Therefore, to achieve the intended outcome of BICS, which is to create a custody arrangement that will best meet a child’s needs, recognizing and addressing the presence of PA within a family system is required

Transient Trunk Flexion: The Potential to Alleviate Low Back Pain During Prolonged Standing

The current study examined potential benefits of intermittent, short-term periods of full trunk flexion on the development of low back pain (LBP) over two hours of standing. Sixteen participants completed a 2-hour standing protocol, on two separate days. On one day, participants stood statically for 2 hours; on the other day participants bent forward to full spine flexion for 5 seconds every 15-minutes. During both protocols, participants reported LBP using a 100mm visual analogue scale every 15-minutes. During the flexion trials, erector spinae muscle activation was monitored. Ultimately, intermittent trunk flexion reduced LBP by 36% (10mm) at the end of a 2-hour period of standing. Further, muscle quieting was observed in 91% of the flexion trials indicating that periods of rest occurred which may have contributed to the reduction in LBP observed. Since flexion periods do not require any aids, they can be performed in most workplaces thereby increasing applicability

Controlling the microenvironment of human embryonic stem cells: maintenance, neuronal differentiation, and function after transplantation

Precise control of stem cell fate is a fundamental issue in the use of human embryonic stem (hES) cells in the context of cell therapy We examined three ways in which the microenvironment can be controlled to alter hES cell behavior, providing insight into the best conditions for maintenance of pluripotency and neural differentiation in developmental and therapeutic studies. We first examined the effects of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) growth surfaces on hES cell survival and maintenance of pluripotency. Lightly cured, untreated PDMS was shown to be a poor growth surface for hES cells. Some of the adverse effects caused by PDMS could be mitigated with increased curing or UV treatment of the surface, but neither modification provided a growth surface that supported pluripotent hES cells as well as polystyrene. This work provides a basis for further optimizing PDMS for hES cell culture, moving towards the use of microdevices in establishing precise control over stem cell fate. The second study explored the use of an easily constructed diffusion-based device to grow hES cells in culture on a defined, physiologic oxygen (O₂) gradient. We observed greater hES cell survival and higher levels of pluripotency markers in the lower O₂ regions of the gradient. The greatest benefit was observed at O₂ levels below 5%, narrowing the potential optimal range of O₂ for the maintenance of pluripotent hES cells. Finally, we developed a small molecule-mediated adherent and feeder-free neural differentiation protocol that reduced the cost and time scale for in vitro differentiation of neural precursors and functional neurons from human pluripotent cells. hES cell-derived neural precursors transplanted into a murine model of focal ischemic stroke survived, improved neurogenesis, and differentiated into neurons. Transplant also led to a more consistent and measurable sensory recovery after stroke as compared to untransplanted controls. This protocol represents a potentially translatable method for the generation of CNS progenitors from human pluripotent stem cells.PhDCommittee Co-Chair: Larry McIntire; Committee Co-Chair: Ling Wei; Committee Member: Hang Lu; Committee Member: Marie Csete; Committee Member: Michel Maharbiz; Committee Member: Todd McDevit

Parenting Stress, Perceived Child Regard, and Depressive Symptoms Among Stepmothers and Biological Mothers

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/88071/1/j.1741-3729.2011.00665.x.pd

NASA Ames Institutional Scientific Collection (ISC)

NASA's current human space flight research is directed towards enabling human space exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO). The Space Flight Payload Projects; Rodent Research, Cell Science, and Microbial Labs, flown on the International Space Station (ISS), benefit both the global life sciences and commercial space communities. Verified data sets, science results, peer-reviewed publications, and returned biospecimens, collected and analyzed for flight and ground investigations, are all part of the knowledge base within NASAs Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorates Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications (SLPSRA) Division, specifically the Human Research and Space Biology Programs. These data and biospecimens are made available through the public LSDA website. The Ames Institutional Scientific Collection (ISC), or ARC Biobank, stores flight and ground biospecimens from Space Shuttle and ISS programs. These specimens are curated and managed by the Ames Life Sciences Data Archive (ALSDA), an internal node of NASA's Life Sciences Data Archive (LSDA). The ARC Biolbank stores over 15,000 specimens from experiments dating from 1984 to present. Currently available specimens include tissues from the circulatory, digestive, endocrine, excretory, integumentary, muscular, neurosensory, reproductive, respiratory and skeletal systems. The most recent contributions include RNA, DNA and protein extracts from Rodent Research 1 and tissues from Rodent Research 4. NASA's biospecimen collection represents a unique and limited resource. The use of these biospecimens maximizes utilization and scientific return from these unique spaceflight payload and ground control research subjects. These biospecimens are harvested following complex, costly NASA research activities to meet primary scientific objectives. Once the primary scientific objectives have been met, the remaining specimens are made available to provide secondary opportunities for complementary studies or new investigations to broaden research without large expenditures of time or resources. Innovative ways of sharing this information ultimately advances the frontiers of human space exploration as well as scientific understanding of the effects of gravity on life on earth

Generation of Pseudoprimes

UROP paper, 2012, Math and StatisticsUndergraduate Research Opportunities Program, University of Minnesota Dulut

Generation of Pseudoprimes

University of Minnesota Duluth 2014 UROP paperSwenson College of Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota Dulut

Assessment in Action: A Journey through Campus Collaboration, a Learning Community, and Research Design

Members of the first cohort (2014) of the Association of College and Research Libraries’ (ACRL) Assessment in Action (AiA) learning community share the impact of the AiA program on library and university assessment initiatives. This article shares brief examples of effective and challenging cross-campus collaborative assessment projects and the five best practices the authors developed through the year-long experience of examining student success in three different academic library environments

Processing and Punishment: Examining the Relationship between Time to Disposition, Mode of Conviction, and Sentence Severity

The literature on sentencing assumes a strong relationship between processing time and case outcomes, both directly and in connection with the mode of conviction. Yet, the role of time has largely been ignored in research on court actor decision making. The current study examines this important, although rarely empirically tested, dimension of the criminal justice process. By combining data from the Maryland State Commission on Criminal Sentencing Policy with information from court records, this study explores the effect of time to disposition on sentence severity and assess the impact that controlling for time to disposition has on mode of conviction effects. Findings support the importance of time to sentencing, demonstrating a significant, positive effect of time to disposition on sentence severity. Time to disposition, however, does not mediate the effects of mode of conviction, which raises important theoretical questions about the mechanisms driving trial penalties