The Domestic Violence Civil Protection Order and The Role of the Court

The Domestic Violence Act, Amended Substitute House Bill 835, which passed in March of 1979, provided, for the first time in Ohio, both civil and criminal remedies for the victims of domestic violence. This article will examine the civil remedies and offer compelling practical reasons why the civil remedy benefits a large number of victims. The judiciary bears a critical role in affording adequate legal protection to victims of domestic violence. It is this aspect, the role of the Referees and Judges and the problems they face in the application of the legislation in Common Pleas Court, that is the primary focus of this article

Historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) and its extinct Eurasian populations

Background: Resolving the historical biogeography of the leopard (Panthera pardus) is a complex issue, because patterns inferred from fossils and from molecular data lack congruence. Fossil evidence supports an African origin, and suggests that leopards were already present in Eurasia during the Early Pleistocene. Analysis of DNA sequences however, suggests a more recent, Middle Pleistocene shared ancestry of Asian and African leopards. These contrasting patterns led researchers to propose a two-stage hypothesis of leopard dispersal out of Africa: an initial Early Pleistocene colonisation of Asia and a subsequent replacement by a second colonisation wave during the Middle Pleistocene. The status of Late Pleistocene European leopards within this scenario is unclear: were these populations remnants of the first dispersal, or do the last surviving European leopards share more recent ancestry with their African counterparts? Results: In this study, we generate and analyse mitogenome sequences from historical samples that span the entire modern leopard distribution, as well as from Late Pleistocene remains. We find a deep bifurcation between African and Eurasian mitochondrial lineages (~ 710 Ka), with the European ancient samples as sister to all Asian lineages (~ 483 Ka). The modern and historical mainland Asian lineages share a relatively recent common ancestor (~ 122 Ka), and we find one Javan sample nested within these. Conclusions: The phylogenetic placement of the ancient European leopard as sister group to Asian leopards suggests that these populations originate from the same out-of-Africa dispersal which founded the Asian lineages. The coalescence time found for the mitochondrial lineages aligns well with the earliest undisputed fossils in Eurasia, and thus encourages a re-evaluation of the identification of the much older putative leopard fossils from the region. The relatively recent ancestry of all mainland Asian leopard lineages suggests that these populations underwent a severe population bottleneck during the Pleistocene. Finally, although only based on a single sample, the unexpected phylogenetic placement of the Javan leopard could be interpreted as evidence for exchange of mitochondrial lineages between Java and mainland Asia, calling for further investigation into the evolutionary history of this subspecies

Acute environmental toxicity and persistence of DEM, a chemical agent simulant: Diethyl malonate. [Diethyl malonate]

The purpose of the following chemical simulant studies is to assess the potential acute environmental effects and persistence of diethyl malonate (DEM). Deposition velocities for DEM to soil surfaces ranged from 0.04 to 0.2 cm/sec. For foliar surfaces, deposition velocities ranged from 0.0002 cm/sec at low air concentrations to 0.05 cm/sec for high dose levels. The residence times or half-lives of DEM deposited to soils was 2 h for the fast component and 5 to 16 h for the residual material. DEM deposited to foliar surfaces also exhibited biphasic depuration. The half-life of the short residence time component ranged from 1 to 3 h, while the longer time component had half-times of 16 to 242 h. Volatilization and other depuration mechanisms reduce surface contaminant levels in both soils and foliage to less than 1% of initial dose within 96 h. DEM is not phytotoxic at foliar mass loading levels of less than 10 {mu}m/cm{sup 2}. However, severe damage is evident at mass loading levels in excess of 17 {mu}g/cm{sup 2}. Tall fescue and sagebrush were more affected than was short-needle pine, however, mass loading levels were markedly different. Regrowth of tall fescue indicated that the effects of DEM are residual, and growth rates are affected only at higher mass loadings through the second harvest. Results from in vitro testing of DEM indicated concentrations below 500 {mu}g/g dry soil generally did not negatively impact soil microbial activity. Short-term effects of DEM were more profound on soil dehydrogenase activity than on soil phosphatase activity. No enzyme inhibition or enhancement was observed after 28 days in incubation. Results of the earthworm bioassay indicate survival to be 86 and 66% at soil doses of 107 and 204 {mu}g DEM/cm{sup 2}, respectively. At higher dose level, activity or mobility was judged to be affected in over 50% of the individuals. 21 refs., 10 figs., 15 tabs

Fascinating and forgotten: the conservation status of the world's sea snakes

An assessment of marine elapid snakes found 9% of marine elapids are threatened with extinction, and an additional 6% are Near Threatened. A large portion (34%) is Data Deficient. An analysis of distributions revealed the greatest species diversity is found in Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Three of the seven threatened species occur at Ashmore and Hibernia Reefs in the Timor Sea, while the remaining threatened taxa occur in the Philippines, Niue, and Solomon Islands. The majority of Data Deficient species are found in Southeast Asia. Threats to marine snakes include loss of coral reefs and coastal habitat, incidental bycatch in fisheries, as well as fisheries that target snakes for leather. The presence of two Critically Endangered and one Endangered species in the Timor Sea suggests the area is of particular conservation concern. More rigorous, long-term monitoring of populations is needed to evaluate the success of "conservation measures" for marine snake species, provide scientifically based guidance for determining harvest quotas, and to assess the populations of many Data Deficient species

Management of Influenza Symptoms in Healthy Adults: Cost-effectiveness of Rapid Testing and Antiviral Therapy

OBJECTIVE: To determine the cost-effectiveness of rapid diagnostic testing and empiric antiviral therapy for healthy adults with symptoms of influenza. DESIGN: Cost-effectiveness analysis using a decision model based on previously published data. Outcome measures included costs and quality-adjusted life expectancy. SETTING: Physician's office. PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Hypothetically healthy, working adults < 65 years of age presenting with cough and fever during the influenza season. INTERVENTIONS: Rapid testing or clinical diagnosis followed by treatment with amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir, or zanamivir compared with no antiviral therapy. RESULTS: Base-case analysis: not giving antiviral therapy is the most expensive and least effective strategy, costing $471 per patient, mostly owing to time lost from work. Amantadine treatment increases life expectancy by 0.0014 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) while saving$108 per patient relative to no antiviral therapy. Zanamivir is slightly more effective than amantadine, adding 0.0002 QALYs at an incremental cost of $31, or$133,000 per QALY saved. All other strategies, including testing strategies, are both less effective and more expensive. SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS: The model is sensitive to the probability of influenza infection, proportion of influenza caused by type B, the relative efficacy of the various drugs, and the value of a workday. At a clinical probability of influenza infection > 20%, antiviral therapy is favored. As the proportion of influenza B increases, zanamivir is favored over amantadine. Testing is rarely indicated. Ignoring the costs of lost workdays, amantadine treatment costs $1,200/QALY saved. CONCLUSIONS: Antiviral therapy with either amantadine or zanamivir is cost-effective for healthy, young patients with influenza-like illness during the influenza season, depending on the prevalence of influenza B