Dreaming of Abolitionist Futures, Reconceptualizing Child Welfare: Keeping Kids Safe in the Age of Abolition

Drawing on the wisdom of prison abolitionists past and present, as well as evidence from interviews and analysis of Illinois’ Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) procedural documents, this work argues that Illinois’ DCFS and the child protection system more broadly are an extension of the carceral state. Both the criminal punishment system and the child protection system (henceforth referred to as the family regulation system) use a diffuse network of actors to surveil, regulate, and punish the behavior of queer subjects: impoverished people and people of color. The present-day family regulation system builds on a long history of family regulation that predates the founding of the U.S., as is seen in chattel slavery, the cultural genocide of Native Americans, neoliberal and anti-welfare policy regimes, and continues today at the U.S.-Mexico border and in the formalized family regulation system (child protective services). This work explores how to keep children safe in the age of abolition, focusing on non-carceral responses that center strong, accountable communities and divest from dependence on the state

Leadership Approaches in Inter-Sectoral Community Health Partnerships

Inter-sectoral public-private community health partnerships (herein “partnerships”) are increasingly popular in public health, linking private and public partners in communities to tackle some of the “wicked problems” in public health requiring collective efforts to solve. These partnerships however are very different from traditional hierarchical organizations. Since membership in partnerships is voluntary, and the individual members maintain their autonomy, partnership leaders lack the same formal authority they wield in traditional organizations. This paper answers the question, “What are the leadership approaches needed in public health partnerships?” Through a scholarly investigation five main themes emerged in the literature: Create an open decision-making process, balancing perceived costs and benefits, good interpersonal skills, power sharing, and keeping focus on the vision. These five themes are investigated with implications for leaders discussed.Master of Public Healt

Discrimination of Disposable Vapes from Batteries Using the Magnetic Polarizability Tensor

Disposable vapes pose an environmental and fire hazard to waste streams when disposed of incorrectly. The lithium battery inside disposable vapes can produce an exothermic reaction when the lithium inside the battery is inadvertently exposed to air and moisture. New sensing technologies may be needed to screen waste streams for these vape hazards and this paper considers the potential of inductive techniques based on the magnetic polarisability tensor (MPT) representation. The MPT can be described by three complex components based on a target regardless of orientation. In this paper, the rank 2 MPT is measured and calculated for 10 vapes and 37 batteries for 28 logarithmically spaced frequencies from 119 Hz to 95.4 KHz. The 168 features of each object are reduced down to 2 features using principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis. The reduction of the features allows for the visualisation and grouping of the objects. Three clear groups of objects can be seen when the maximum feature scales the measurement and a two-component PCA transform is applied. The first group is the vapes, which are grouped away from the other batteries. The second is the batteries, which are grouped by size. Finally, zinc batteries are grouped away from the rest due to their case material.<br/

User testing of an adaptation of fishbone diagrams to depict results of systematic reviews

Abstract Background Summary of findings tables in systematic reviews are highly informative but require epidemiological training to be interpreted correctly. The usage of fishbone diagrams as graphical displays could offer researchers an effective approach to simplify content for readers with limited epidemiological training. In this paper we demonstrate how fishbone diagrams can be applied to systematic reviews and present the results of an initial user testing. Methods Findings from two systematic reviews were graphically depicted in the form of the fishbone diagram. To test the utility of fishbone diagrams compared with summary of findings tables, we developed and pilot-tested an online survey using Qualtrics. Respondents were randomized to the fishbone diagram or a summary of findings table presenting the same body of evidence. They answered questions in both open-ended and closed-answer formats; all responses were anonymous. Measures of interest focused on first and second impressions, the ability to find and interpret critical information, as well as user experience with both displays. We asked respondents about the perceived utility of fishbone diagrams compared to summary of findings tables. We analyzed quantitative data by conducting t-tests and comparing descriptive statistics. Results Based on real world systematic reviews, we provide two different fishbone diagrams to show how they might be used to display complex information in a clear and succinct manner. User testing on 77 students with basic epidemiological training revealed that participants preferred summary of findings tables over fishbone diagrams. Significantly more participants liked the summary of findings table than the fishbone diagram (71.8% vs. 44.8%; p < .01); significantly more participants found the fishbone diagram confusing (63.2% vs. 35.9%, p < .05) or indicated that it was difficult to find information (65.8% vs. 45%; p < .01). However, more than half of the participants in both groups were unable to find critical information and answer three respective questions correctly (52.6% in the fishbone group; 51.3% in the summary of findings group). Conclusions Fishbone diagrams are compact visualizations that, theoretically, may prove useful for summarizing the findings of systematic reviews. Initial user testing, however, did not support the utility of such graphical displays

Bio-Inspired Materials For Parsing Matrix Physicochemical Control Of Cell Migration: A Review

Cell motility is ubiquitous in both normal and pathophysiological processes. It is a complex biophysical response elicited via the integration of diverse extracellular physicochemical cues. The extracellular matrix directs cell motilityvia gradients in morphogens (a.k.a. chemotaxis), adhesive proteins (haptotaxis), and stiffness (durotaxis). Three-dimensional geometrical and proteolytic cues also constitute key regulators of motility. Therefore, cells process a variety of physicochemical signals simultaneously, while making informed decisions about migration viaintracellular processing. Over the last few decades, bioengineers have created and refined natural and synthetic in vitro platforms in an attempt to isolate these extracellular cues and tease out how cells are able to translate this complex array of dynamic biochemical and biophysical features into functional motility. Here, we review how biomaterials have played a key role in the development of these types of model systems, and how recent advances in engineered materials have significantly contributed to our current understanding of the mechanisms of cell migration

Biofilm re-vitalization using hydrodynamic shear stress for stable power generation in microbial fuel cell

Viable electroactive biofilm formation, allowing considerable conversion capacity and opportunities for extracellular electron transfer (EET) is essential for sustainable and long term stable power generation in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). However, over the time, the anodic biofilm can be particularly detrimental for electrogenesis due to the accumulation of more dead cells and that increases the charge transfer resistance as well as reduces the electrocatalytic efficiency. In this study, flow induced shear stresses (4.38, 9.34 and 14.92 mPa) were employed to revitalize the biofilm by removing the inert biomass for the maintenance of stable power in MFCs. Among them, the moderate shear stress (9.34 mPa) successfully reduced the thickness and thereby revitalized the biofilm within a short time. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and cell viability count analysis of the biofilms confirmed that the shear stress (9.34 mPa) reduced the dead cells accumulation in the biofilm. Moreover, this treatment significantly reduced the polarization resistance (68%) by dislodging nonconductive inert dead cells from the surface. Our results revealed that the application of shear stress could be an effective method to maintain the stable power generation by reducing the thickness and increasing the cell viability of the biofilm in the MFC