Alice in recidivism land: The Queens logic and child protection workers\u27 assessment of sexual dangerousness

This article is based on a case that highlights the dearth of cogent and pertinent risk assessment information in the reports and testimonies of many involved in assessing risks to children in real life problematic circumstances. In the case, the decision to exclude an intrafamilial sexual offender from the family home was made in large measure on the basis that the offender\u27s wife accepted the offender\u27s "denial of guilt" to accusations previously made against him. Keeping families apart should not be entertained without reliable and valid evidence pointing to that decision. However, as will be seen, the evidence often relied upon by child protection workers, albeit in good faith, is neither. The assessment processes described in the case point directly to what appears to be a wider lack of knowledge specific to assessment of recidivism, to misrepresentation of risk assessment information, and to overarching epistemological issues that appear to be widely ignored and/or misunderstood within the overall field of risk assessment and threat management. The purpose of this article is to describe how the information used to decide upon exclusion in the case cannot be considered probative and to iterate the methodological processes that must be considered in such cases if miscarriages of justice are to be avoided

Noble reactions for the actinides: safe gold-based access to organouranium and azide complexes

Gold has had a profound impact on organic chemistry; its compounds are spectacular catalysts for many organic transformations involving the formation of C-C, C-O, C-N and CoS bonds, and have enabled unprecedented pathways for the functionalization of C-H and C-C bonds. In general, gold complexes have not been exploited as reagents in organometallic or inorganic chemistry, although a few gold(l) aryl and alkynyl compounds have been reported to undergo transmetalation with transition metal complexes. We have been developing methods for functionalizing uranium complexes and have shown that Cu(l)-X reagents effect the oxidation of uranium with formation of U-X bonds, providing easy chemical control over uranium in oxidation states ranging from U{sup III}{yields}U{sup VI}. Although a logical approach for the direct generation of U-carbon and U-azide bonds, this Cu-based platform is limited in scope as it only works for pure and isolable copper compounds. This is problematic given the instability of organocuprates and copper azides, which can detonate violently as isolated solids. As such, this route has been confined to the synthesis of select uranium phenylacetylide complexes. Over the past few years, a variety of stable gold(l) alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, alkynyl, and azide complexes have been reported, propelling us to investigate their potential as reagents within the oxidative functionalization platform. Unlike the related CU{sup I} systems, Au{sup I} reagents are easily derivatized, and are safe to handle and isolate. Herein, we report that gold(l)-phosphine compounds can undergo a new class of reaction, and are excellent reagents for the oxidative functionalization of uranium with azide and carbon anions

Eating Pattern Response to a Low-Fat Diet Intervention and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Normotensive Women: The Women's Health Initiative.

BackgroundWomen without cardiovascular disease (CVD) or hypertension at baseline assigned to intervention in the Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification (DM) trial experienced 30% lower risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), whereas results in women with hypertension or prior CVD could have been confounded by postrandomization use of statins.ObjectivesIntervention participants reported various self-selected changes to achieve the 20% total fat goals. Reviewed are intervention compared with comparison group HRs for CHD, stroke, and total CVD in relation to specific dietary changes in normotensive participants.MethodsDietary change was assessed by comparing baseline with year 1 FFQ data in women (n = 10,371) without hypertension or CVD at baseline with intake of total fat above the median to minimize biases due to use of the FFQ in trial eligibility screening.ResultsIntervention participants self-reported compensating reduced energy intake from total fat by increasing carbohydrate and protein. Specifically they increased plant protein, with those in the upper quartile (increased total protein by ≥3.3% of energy) having a CHD HR of 0.39 (95% CI: 0.22, 0.71), compared with 0.92 (95% CI: 0.57, 1.48) for those in the lower quartile of change (decreased total protein ≥0.6% of energy), with P-trend of 0.04. CHD HR did not vary significantly with change in percentage energy from carbohydrate, and stroke HR did not vary significantly with any macronutrient changes. Scores reflecting adherence to recommended dietary patterns including the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Trial and the Healthy Eating Index showed favorable changes in the intervention group.ConclusionsIntervention group total fat reduction replaced with increased carbohydrate and some protein, especially plant-based protein, was related to lower CHD risk in normotensive women without CVD who reported high baseline total fat intake. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00000611. Link to the WHI trial protocol: https://www.whi.org/about/SitePages/Dietary%20Trial.aspx

Advances in the Development of Mid-Infrared Integrated Devices for Interferometric Arrays

This article reports the advances on the development of mid-infrared integrated optics for stellar interferometry. The devices are fabricated by laser writing techniques on chalcogenide glasses. Laboratory characterizaton is reported and analyzed.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentatio

Length of the weaning period affects postweaning growth, health, and carcass merit of ranch-direct beef calves weaned during the fall

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most economically devastating feedlot disease. Risk factors associated with incidence of BRD include (1) stress associated with maternal separation, (2) stress associated with introduction to an unfamiliar environment, (3) poor intake associated with introduction of novel feedstuffs into the animal\u27s diet, (4) exposure to novel pathogens upon transport to a feeding facility and commingling with unfamiliar cattle, (5) inappropriately administered respiratory disease vaccination programs, and (6) poor response to respiratory disease vaccination programs. Management practices that are collectively referred to as preconditioning are thought to minimize damage to the beef carcass from the BRD complex. Preconditioning management reduces the aforementioned risk factors for respiratory disease by (1) using a relatively long ranch-of-origin weaning period following maternal separation, (2) exposing calves to concentrate-type feedstuffs, and (3) producing heightened resistance to respiratory disease-causing organisms through a preweaning vaccination program. The effectiveness of such programs for preserving animal performance is highly touted by certain segments of the beef industry. Ranch-of-origin weaning periods of up to 60 days are suggested for preconditioning beef calves prior to sale; however, optimal length of the ranch-of-origin weaning period has not been determined experimentally. The objective of this study was to test the validity of beef industry assumptions about appropriate length of ranch-of-origin weaning periods for calves aged 160 to 220 days and weaned during the fall

Development of a novel 3D culture system for screening features of a complex implantable device for CNS repair

Tubular scaffolds which incorporate a variety of micro- and nanotopographies have a wide application potential in tissue engineering especially for the repair of spinal cord injury (SCI). We aim to produce metabolically active differentiated tissues within such tubes, as it is crucially important to evaluate the biological performance of the three-dimensional (3D) scaffold and optimize the bioprocesses for tissue culture. Because of the complex 3D configuration and the presence of various topographies, it is rarely possible to observe and analyze cells within such scaffolds in situ. Thus, we aim to develop scaled down mini-chambers as simplified in vitro simulation systems, to bridge the gap between two-dimensional (2D) cell cultures on structured substrates and three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture. The mini-chambers were manipulated to systematically simulate and evaluate the influences of gravity, topography, fluid flow, and scaffold dimension on three exemplary cell models that play a role in CNS repair (i.e., cortical astrocytes, fibroblasts, and myelinating cultures) within a tubular scaffold created by rolling up a microstructured membrane. Since we use CNS myelinating cultures, we can confirm that the scaffold does not affect neural cell differentiation. It was found that heterogeneous cell distribution within the tubular constructs was caused by a combination of gravity, fluid flow, topography, and scaffold configuration, while cell survival was influenced by scaffold length, porosity, and thickness. This research demonstrates that the mini-chambers represent a viable, novel, scale down approach for the evaluation of complex 3D scaffolds as well as providing a microbioprocessing strategy for tissue engineering and the potential repair of SCI

Curves of Placental Weights of Live-Born Twins

The purpose of this study is to present curves of estimated placental growth in twins and to evaluate the relative contribution of gestational age, zygosity, chorionicity, fusion of the placentas, sex of the individual and of the twin pair, site of the umbilical cord insertion, birth order, maternal age, and parity. Perinatal data and placental data were obtained from 6315 live-born twin pairs from the East Flanders Prospective Twin Survey. Of 4318 twin pairs, with no missing values, the placental weights of different gestational ages were analyzed using a nonlinear multivariate Gaussian regression. Two groups were distinguished: (1) twins with two separate placentas, and (2) twins with only one placental mass (one placenta in case of monochorionic twins or two fused placentas in case of dichorionic placentas). Overall, placental weight was influenced by gestational age, fusion of the placentas, and parity. In the case of one placental mass, monozygotic dichorionic twins had the lowest weights. If two separate placentas were present, birth order played a role in favor of the first-born twin. For parity and zygosity, the differences were most pronounced between 27 and 29 weeks, whereas the difference for birth order was most pronounced between 33 and 37 weeks. In conclusion, basic physiological characteristics, routinely examined at birth, influence placental weight. Taking these covariates into account allows a better evaluation of the placental weight given a gestational age, as an indicator of growth

Imaging Electronic Correlations in Twisted Bilayer Graphene near the Magic Angle

Twisted bilayer graphene with a twist angle of around 1.1{\deg} features a pair of isolated flat electronic bands and forms a strongly correlated electronic platform. Here, we use scanning tunneling microscopy to probe local properties of highly tunable twisted bilayer graphene devices and show that the flat bands strongly deform when aligned with the Fermi level. At half filling of the bands, we observe the development of gaps originating from correlated insulating states. Near charge neutrality, we find a previously unidentified correlated regime featuring a substantially enhanced flat band splitting that we describe within a microscopic model predicting a strong tendency towards nematic ordering. Our results provide insights into symmetry breaking correlation effects and highlight the importance of electronic interactions for all filling factors in twisted bilayer graphene.Comment: Main text 9 pages, 4 figures; Supplementary Information 25 page