Homelessness and Contact with the Criminal Justice System: Insights from Specialist Lawyers and Allied Professionals in Australia

Lawyers and allied professionals who have experience supporting, advising and representing people experiencing homelessness are uniquely placed to identify problems with the operation of the criminal justice system—from policing to courts to punishment—and to conceive reform options. This article reports the findings of qualitative interviews with lawyers and allied professionals in all Australian states and territories. Participants identified multiple points where decisions about criminal law enforcement fail to take adequate account of the complex factors that underlie ‘offending’ by people experiencing homelessness, producing outcomes that exacerbate disadvantage. They advanced a range of proposals for reform directed at breaking the nexus between homelessness and criminalisation, including re-conception of the role of police, adoption of therapeutic jurisprudence (or ‘solution-focused’) models in criminal courts, and major changes to the use of fines as a criminal punishment

2015 Hawaiian Digital Resource Series

Presentation slidesWith so much information on-line it is hard to grasp the depth and potential of some resources. In an effort to highlight the hard work of many dedicated individuals who are committed to preserving and perpetuating Hawaiian knowledge, five guest speakers representing four different digital repositories were invited to the Kahuku Public and School Library to present their tools. With the kokua of LIS classmates, staff and community support, the Hawaiian Digital Resource Series successfully increased the awareness of 'Ulu 'Ulu - Henry Giugni Moving Image Archive, Papakilo, Kipuka, and Ulukau in Ko'olauloa

Commissioning of upgrades to T6 to study giant planet entry

The scientific potential of a mission to the ice giants is well recognized and has been identified by NASA and ESA as a high priority on several occasions, most recently in the 2023–2032 Decadal Survey. The payload capacity of such a spacecraft is limited by the heat shield thickness, which must be sized conservatively due to a lack of reliable data for convective and radiative heat flux along the proposed entry trajectories. Major upgrades to the Oxford T6 Stalker Tunnel have been commissioned that allow study of giant planet entry trajectories, including a flammable gas handling system, a Mach 10 expansion nozzle, and a steel shock tube with optical access. Initial testing has been completed in shock tube and expansion tunnel modes, with peak shock speeds of 18.9 km/s achieved. Convective heat flux and surface pressure were measured at several locations on a 45° sphere cone model in expansion tunnel mode. Measurements of the radiating shock layer were made in shock tube mode to assess the effect of CH4 concentration. This work establishes the first high-enthalpy giant planet entry test bed in Europe

Landscape genetic connectivity in a riparian foundation tree is jointly driven by climatic gradients and river networks

Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremonti) is a foundation riparian tree species that drives community structure and ecosystem processes in southwestern U.S. ecosystems. Despite its ecological importance, little is known about the ecological and environmental processes that shape its genetic diversity, structure, and landscape connectivity. Here, we combined molecular analyses of 82 populations including 1312 individual trees dispersed over the species’ geographical distribution. We reduced the data set to 40 populations and 743 individuals to eliminate admixture with a sibling species, and used multivariate restricted optimization and reciprocal causal modeling to evaluate the effects of river network connectivity and climatic gradients on gene flow. Our results confirmed the following: First, gene flow of Fremont cottonwood is jointly controlled by the connectivity of the river network and gradients of seasonal precipitation. Second, gene flow is facilitated by mid-sized to large rivers, and is resisted by small streams and terrestrial uplands, with resistance to gene flow decreasing with river size. Third, genetic differentiation increases with cumulative differences in winter and spring precipitation. Our results suggest that ongoing fragmentation of riparian habitats will lead to a loss of landscape-level genetic connectivity, leading to increased inbreeding and the concomitant loss of genetic diversity in a foundation species. These genetic effects will cascade to a much larger community of organisms, some of which are threatened and endangered

Habilitation of children with cerebral palsy

Cerebralna paraliza je klinički entitet kojeg karakterizira poremećaj pokreta i položaja uzrokovan neprogresivnim oštećenjem nezrelog mozga. Mnogo je etioloških faktora zbog kojih dolazi do oštećenja mozga koja može uzrokovati cerebralnu paralizu. Posljedice oštećenja utječu na motoričku funkciju te mišićno-koštani i kognitivni razvoj, a javlja se i niz drugih pridruženih zdravstvenih poteškoća. Također, kada se govori o cerebralnoj paralizi, uvijek treba naglasiti da cerebralna paraliza predstavlja, ne samo medicinski problem, nego i psihološki i socijalni problem. Dijagnoza se postavlja kod djece kod koje je uočen usporeni razvoj motorike, a koji se potvrđuje nalazima magnetske rezonancije. Terapija djeteta s cerebralnom paralizom je usmjerena na ostvarivanje zadanog cilja. Dva glavna cilja su smanjiti komplikacije uzrokovane cerebralnom paralizom i poboljšati sposobnost usvajanja novih vještina. Dodatni ciljevi su edukacija roditelja, smanjenje tjelesnih deformacija i poboljšanje pokretljivosti. Cerebralna paraliza zahtjeva interdisciplinarni pristup te ima veliki utjecaj i na dijete i na čitavu obitelj i njihov život. Svaki terapijski pristup se bazira na individualnom pristupu. Vrlo je bitno terapiju započeti što ranije jer ranija terapija olakšava razvoj djeteta i pridonosi boljem ishodu terapije i kvaliteti života. Terapija cerebralne paralize ne treba biti usmjerena samo na motoričke tretmane, već i na tretmane i drugih poremećaja od kojih dijete pati. Postoji niz terapijskih sistema koji se primjenjuju u radu s djecom s cerebralnom paralizom. Rijetko se kad terapija oslanja na samo jedan sistem, najčešće se primjenjuje kombinacija terapijskih postupaka. Takav pristup omogućava fleksibilnost i individualizaciju kako bi se ostvarili ciljevi postavljeni za dijete i obitelj.Cerebral palsy is a clinical entity characterized by disorder of movement and posture caused by a non-progressive injury to the immature brain. There are many etiological factors that may cause brain injury that result in cerebral palsy. The consequences of brain injury may have an effect on motor function, musculoskeletal and cognitive development as well as on a range of other associated health issues. Also, when it comes to cerebral palsy, it should always be noted that it is not merely about a medical problem, but also the psychological and social components have to be taken into account. Diagnosis is made in children with slow motor development and is comfimed with findings from magnetic resonance imaging. In children with cerebral palsy, the treatment is aimed at achieving two main goals: reduce complications of cerebral palsy and improve the ability to acquire new skills. Additional goals are represented by parent education, reduction of body deformations and mobility improvement. Cerebral palsy has a major impact on the child, the whole family and their life, thus an interdisciplinary approach is required. It is important to begin the therapy as early as possible in order to facilitatee the patient's development and contribute to a better treatment outcome in terms of quality of life. Cerebral palsy treatment should not be focused only on improvement of motor skills; attention should be pointed at every kind of impairment from which the child suffers. In this view, a wide range of therapeutic approaches is available and a combination of therapeutic procedures is usually employed. This multimodal approach allows flexibility and treatment individualization toward achievement of specific goals set for the child and family

Increased posterior cingulate functional connectivity following 6-month high-dose B-vitamin multivitamin supplementation : a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

B vitamins are essential for optimal brain and body function, and are particularly important for cortical metabolic processes that have downstream effects on mitigating oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been linked to poor psychological outcomes including psychological distress, which has wide-reaching implications for the community and the workplace. Given work-related stress has been associated with poor mental health outcomes, high-dose B vitamin supplementation may be effective in improving brain function and psychological outcomes via attenuation of oxidative stress. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigated psychological outcomes following 6-month supplementation of a high-B-vitamin multivitamin in a large sample of healthy adults (n = 108, aged 30–70 years), as well as changes in default mode network functional connectivity in a subset of the original sample (n = 28). Improvements in occupational stress, general health, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and mood profiles were identified for both active and placebo groups over time (p < 0.05 corrected). Seed-based functional connectivity analysis centered on the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) showed that connectivity between the PCC and the caudate increased for the active treatment group, but decreased for the placebo group (p < 0.05 corrected). These findings reveal a substantial intervention effect for both active and placebo treatments, which could in part be associated with a placebo effect in subjective measures. There was, however, a significant treatment effect in the objective measure of functional connectivity, suggesting that reduced psychological stress and high-B-vitamin multivitamin supplementation may lead to an increase in DMN and caudate functional connectivity, which might reflect a strengthening of neurocircuitry within areas associated with reward and emotion at rest. Future studies should consider a placebo run-in methodology to reduce the placebo effect on the subjective measures of stress

Increased posterior cingulate functional connectivity following 6-month high-dose B-vitamin multivitamin supplementation : a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

B vitamins are essential for optimal brain and body function, and are particularly important for cortical metabolic processes that have downstream effects on mitigating oxidative stress. Oxidative stress has been linked to poor psychological outcomes including psychological distress, which has wide-reaching implications for the community and the workplace. Given work-related stress has been associated with poor mental health outcomes, high-dose B vitamin supplementation may be effective in improving brain function and psychological outcomes via attenuation of oxidative stress. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigated psychological outcomes following 6-month supplementation of a high-B-vitamin multivitamin in a large sample of healthy adults (n = 108, aged 30–70 years), as well as changes in default mode network functional connectivity in a subset of the original sample (n = 28). Improvements in occupational stress, general health, perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and mood profiles were identified for both active and placebo groups over time (p < 0.05 corrected). Seed-based functional connectivity analysis centered on the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) showed that connectivity between the PCC and the caudate increased for the active treatment group, but decreased for the placebo group (p < 0.05 corrected). These findings reveal a substantial intervention effect for both active and placebo treatments, which could in part be associated with a placebo effect in subjective measures. There was, however, a significant treatment effect in the objective measure of functional connectivity, suggesting that reduced psychological stress and high-B-vitamin multivitamin supplementation may lead to an increase in DMN and caudate functional connectivity, which might reflect a strengthening of neurocircuitry within areas associated with reward and emotion at rest. Future studies should consider a placebo run-in methodology to reduce the placebo effect on the subjective measures of stress

Early life social and ecological determinants of global DNA methylation in wild spotted hyenas

Environmental factors early in life can have lasting influence on the development and phenotypes of animals, but the underlying molecular modifications remain poorly understood. We examined cross‐sectional associations among early life socioecological factors and global DNA methylation in 293 wild spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, grouped according to three age classes (cub, subadult and adult). Explanatory variables of interest included annual maternal rank based on outcomes of dyadic agonistic interactions, litter size, wild ungulate prey density and anthropogenic disturbance in the year each hyena was born based on counts of illegal livestock in the Reserve. The dependent variable of interest was global DNA methylation, assessed via the LUminometric Methylation Assay, which provides a percentage methylation value calculated at CCGG sites across the genome. Among cubs, we observed approximately 2.75% higher CCGG methylation in offspring born to high‐ than low‐ranking mothers. Among cubs and subadults, higher anthropogenic disturbance corresponded with greater %CCGG methylation. In both cubs and adults, we found an inverse association between prey density measured before a hyena was 3 months old and %CCGG methylation. Our results suggest that maternal rank, anthropogenic disturbance and prey availability early in life are associated with later life global DNA methylation. Future studies are required to understand the extent to which these DNA methylation patterns relate to adult phenotypes and fitness outcomes.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151897/1/mec15174_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151897/2/mec15174.pd

Procjena nutritivnog rizika kod gastroenteroloških bolesnika u Kliničkom bolničkom centru Rijeka

Malnutrition is usually related to some diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, chronic pancreatitis, chronic liver disease and malignant tumors. It is characterized by weight loss, protein deficiency, and deficit of specific nutrients. The aim was to estimate the prevalence of nutritional risk among 160 gastrointestinal patients by use of the Nutritional Risk Screening (NRS-2002) score at hospital admission and discharge. The patients stayed in the hospital between 5 and 15 days or longer. Results showed that 40% of patients at admission and 36.2% at discharge were malnourished. There were 53.1% of patients with recognized malnutrition at admission that received nutritional support, whereas at discharge 34.4% of patients at risk were not dietary supported. Malnourished patients were significantly older, had lower body mass index, longer hospital stay and higher rate of malignant diseases than properly nourished patients. Regular screening for malnutrition should be conveyed in hospitals as to provide appropriate dietary support for all patients at risk.Malnutricija se povezuje s nekim bolestima kao što su upalna bolest crijeva, kronični pankreatitis, kronična bolest jetre i zloćudni tumori. Kod malnutricije dolazi do gubitka težine, manjka proteina te nedostatka nekih specifičnih hranjivih tvari. Cilj ovoga rada bio je procijeniti učestalost nutritivnog rizika kod 160 gastroenteroloških bolesnika metodom procjene nutritivnog rizika (NRS-2002) pri prijmu i otpustu bolesnika. Bolesnici su boravili u bolnici između 5 i 15 dana ili duže. Rezultati su pokazali da je kod prijma u bolnicu 40%, a na otpustu 36,2% bolesnika bilo pothranjeno. Na prijmu je 53,1% pothranjenih bolesnika dobilo odgovarajuću nutritivnu potporu, dok 34,4% bolesnika nije dobilo takvu potporu pri otpustu iz bolnice. Pothranjeni bolesnici bili su značajno mlađi, imali su značajno niži indeks tjelesne mase, značajno su dulje boravili u bolnici te su češće bolovali od zloćudnih bolesti. Procjena nutritivnog rizika treba biti rutinska kako bi se osigurala odgovarajuća nutritivna potpora za sve bolesnike koji su u riziku od malnutricije