Sex Trafficking of Minors in the U.S.: Implications for Policy, Prevention and Research

Context: Information currently available on the trafficking of minors in the U.S. for commercial sexual exploitation includes approximations of the numbers involved, risk factors that increase the likelihood of victimization and methods of recruitment and control. However, specific characteristics about this vulnerable population remain largely unknown. Objective: This article has two distinct purposes. The first is to provide the reader with an overview of available information on minor sex trafficking in the U.S. The second is to present findings and discuss policy, research, and educational implications from secondary data analysis of 115 cases of minor sex trafficking in the U.S. Design: Minor sex trafficking cases were identified through two main venues - a review of U.S. Department of Justice press releases of human trafficking cases and an online search of media reports. Searches covered the time period from October 28, 2000, which coincided with the passage of the VTVPA through October 31, 2009. Cases were included in analysis if the incident involved at least one victim under the age of 18, occurred in the U.S., and at least one perpetrator had been arrested, indicted, or convicted. Results: A total of 115 separate incidents involving at least 153 victims were located. These occurrences involved 215 perpetrators, with the majority of them having been convicted (n = 117, 53.4%), The number of victims involved in a single incident ranged from 1 to 9. Over 90% of victims were female who ranged in age from 5 to 17 years. There were more U.S. minor victims than those from other countries. Victims had been in captivity from less than 6 months to 5 years. Minors most commonly fell into exploitation through some type of false promise indicated (16.3%, n = 25), followed by kidnapping (9.8%, n = 15). Over a fifth of the sample (22.2%, n = 34) were abused through two commercial sex practices, with almost all (94.1%, n = 144) used in prostitution. One of every five victims (24.8%, n = 38) had been advertised on an Internet website. Conclusions: Results of a review of known information about minor sex trafficking and findings from analysis of 115 incidents of the sex trafficking of youth in the U.S. indicate a need for stronger legislation to educate various professional groups, more comprehensive services for victims, stricter laws for pimps and traffickers, and preventive educational interventions beginning at a young age

Effects of sunlight on bacteriophage viability and structure

Current estimates of viral abundance in natural waters rely on direct counts of virus-like particles (VLPs), using either transmission or epifluorescence microscopy. Direct counts of VLPs, while useful in studies of viral ecology, do not indicate whether the observed VLPs are capable of infection and/or replication. Rapid decay in bacteriophage viability under environmental conditions has been observed. However, it has not been firmly established whether there is a corresponding degradation of the virus particles, To address this question, viable and direct counts were carried out employing two Chesapeake Bay bacteriophages in experimental microcosms incubated for 56 h at two depths in the York River estuary, Viruses incubated in situ in microcosms at the surface yielded decay rates in full sunlight of 0.11 and 0.06 h(-1) for CB 38 Phi, and CB 7 Phi, respectively, The number of infective particles in microcosms in the dark and at a depth of 1 m was not significantly different from laboratory controls, with decay rates averaging 0.052 h(-1) for CB 38 Phi and 0.037 h(-1) for CB 7 Phi. Direct counts of bacteriophages decreased in the estuarine microcosms, albeit only at a rate of 0.028 h(-1), and were independent of treatment, Destruction of virus particles is concluded to be a process separate from loss of infectivity, It is also concluded that strong sunlight affects the viability of bacteriophages in surface waters, with the result that direct counts of VLPs overestimate the number of bacteriophage capable of both infection and replication, However, in deeper waters, where solar radiation is not a significant factor, direct counts should more accurately estimate numbers of viable bacteriophage

Groundtruthing next-gen sequencing for microbial ecology-biases and errors in community structure estimates from PCR amplicon pyrosequencing

Analysis of microbial communities by high-throughput pyrosequencing of SSU rRNA gene PCR amplicons has transformed microbial ecology research and led to the observation that many communities contain a diverse assortment of rare taxa-a phenomenon termed the Rare Biosphere. Multiple studies have investigated the effect of pyrosequencing read quality on operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness for contrived communities, yet there is limited information on the fidelity of community structure estimates obtained through this approach. Given that PCR biases are widely recognized, and further unknown biases may arise from the sequencing process itself, a priori assumptions about the neutrality of the data generation process are at best unvalidated. Furthermore, post-sequencing quality control algorithms have not been explicitly evaluated for the accuracy of recovered representative sequences and its impact on downstream analyses, reducing useful discussion on pyrosequencing reads to their diversity and abundances. Here we report on community structures and sequences recovered for in vitro-simulated communities consisting of twenty 16S rRNA gene clones tiered at known proportions. PCR amplicon libraries of the V3-V4 and V6 hypervariable regions from the in vitro-simulated communities were sequenced using the Roche 454 GS FLX Titanium platform. Commonly used quality control protocols resulted in the formation of OTUs with >1% abundance composed entirely of erroneous sequences, while over-aggressive clustering approaches obfuscated real, expected OTUs. The pyrosequencing process itself did not appear to impose significant biases on overall community structure estimates, although the detection limit for rare taxa may be affected by PCR amplicon size and quality control approach employed. Meanwhile, PCR biases associated with the initial amplicon generation may impose greater distortions in the observed community structure

Diffuse flow environments within basalt- and sediment-based hydrothermal vent ecosystems harbor specialized microbial communities

Hydrothermal vents differ both in surface input and subsurface geochemistry. The effects of these differences on their microbial communities are not clear. Here, we investigated both alpha and beta diversity of diffuse flow-associated microbial communities emanating from vents at a basalt-based hydrothermal system along the East Pacific Rise (EPR) and a sediment-based hydrothermal system, Guaymas Basin. Both Bacteria and Archaea were targeted using high throughput 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing analyses. A unique aspect of this study was the use of a universal set of 16S rRNA gene primers to characterize total and diffuse flow-specific microbial communities from varied deep-sea hydrothermal environments. Both surrounding seawater and diffuse flow water samples contained large numbers of Marine Group I (MGI) Thaumarchaea and Gammaproteobacteria taxa previously observed in deep-sea systems. However, these taxa were geographically distinct and segregated according to type of spreading center. Diffuse flow microbial community profiles were highly differentiated. In particular, EPR dominant diffuse flow taxa were most closely associated with chemolithoautotrophs, and off axis water was dominated by heterotrophic-related taxa, whereas the opposite was true for Guaymas Basin. The diversity and richness of diffuse flow-specific microbial communities were strongly correlated to the relative abundance of Epsilonproteobacteria, proximity to macrofauna, and hydrothermal system type. Archaeal diversity was higher than or equivalent to bacterial diversity in about one third of the samples. Most diffuse flow-specific communities were dominated by OTUs associated with Epsilonproteobacteria, but many of the Guaymas Basin diffuse flow samples were dominated by either OTUs within the Planctomycetes or hyperthermophilic Archaea. This study emphasizes the unique microbial communities associated with geochemically and geographically distinct hydrothermal diffuse flow environments

Congressional Reform: Can Term Limitations Close the Door on Political Careerism.

Addressing Congressional woes requires reform. Entrenched incumbency is a detriment to the legislative system. Although the enactment of initiatives restricting Congressional terms limits signal voters agree, better alternatives exist. The only prerequisites found in the Constitution for serving in Congress are age, residency, and citizenship. While the twenty-second amendment proscribes the presidential office limit maximum as two terms, no such limitations exist for a congressman or congresswoman. Sitting incumbents have substantial advantages over their challengers. Incumbents success ratio exceeds 80% in Senate races and is approximately 90% for elections in the House of Representatives. Congressional term limitations attempt to eliminate “careerism” and abusive actions by incumbents. The preoccupation of reelection by politicians suffering from “careerism” can cause incumbents to devote up to half of their two-year term campaigning instead of legislating. Term limitations will unavoidably cause greater representative turnover. This will ensure close connections of legislators to constituents and prevent incumbents from becoming permanent fixtures in Washington susceptible to special-interest groups. Finally, term limitations will help restore competitiveness to the election process. Congressional benefits such as franking privileges, free travel, and superior fund-raising abilities all heavily favor incumbents over challengers. In response, some states limit the number of consecutive terms a representative may serve. Other states limit ballot access by removing the incumbents\u27 names from ballots and requiring voters to write in the candidates\u27 names if they wish to reelect them. ballots and requiring voters to write-in the candidates name if they wish to reelect. Term restrictions do have significant disadvantages. Limiting congressional terms will cause the neglect of long-term goals, usher in more inexperienced legislators, increase staff reliance, and decrease the attractiveness of Congressional service by quality candidates. Limiting the terms of committee chairpersons and campaign-financing reform will decrease the influence of special interest groups and appropriately address representational issues. Voters must encourage representatives of the need for progressive change

The Women House Church Leaders of China: Interviews with a Muted Group

While studying the Bakweri people of Cameroon in the 1960s, Edwin and ShirleyArdener discovered that it was the men who dominated and controlled the power and language of the group and created the societal understanding and the cultural makeup of their tribe\u27s identity. The men did not allow the women to speak or have a say in the elements of their culture; these women were muted. Throughout history many individuals, especially women, have been muted in any number of ways. These include political, economical, social, cultural constrictions, even to the point of death, to keep them from being represented. In the larger society, some have even been muted in the ultimate way-through murder. Today, this is dramatically evident in the way that the Chinese government is attempting to mute the Christian house churches in China and the women who lead them. How we understand and give a voice to this muted group and its women may have a dramatic effect on the way we interact with the next rising world superpower, China. This thesis investigates the muted voice of the house church in China and focuses on the muted women leaders of the Chinese house churches. I conducted interviews with seven such women in China to determine how these muted women view their voice in Chinese society

A Modular Synthesis of Ketones and Gem-diborylalkanes by Catalytic Carbon Insertion with Non-stabilized Diazoalkanes

Thesis advisor: Jason S. KingsburyChapter 1: The reaction of diazomethane with simple aldehydes to deliver methyl ketones has a long studied history in the art of organic synthesis. Formyl electrophiles have also been homologated with trimethylsilyldiazomethane, diazoacetates, and aryl-diazomethanes that very rarely proceed with catalytic activation. Due to the stigma of handling non-stabilized diazoalkanes this history is limited to examples utilizing αdiazoesters and entirely missing are examples of tertiary αsubstituted ketone synthesis beginning with disubstituted (internal) diazoalkanes. This work describes a general catalytic procedure for convergent ketone production using non-stabilized, mono- and disubstituted diazomethanes. The method involves mild reaction conditions, produces molecular nitrogen as the only byproduct, and includes six examples of chiral ketone synthesis from various aryl, heteroaryl, or aliphatic aldehydes. The latter feature, together with new evidence that the catalytic reaction mechanism invokes a stereospecific, intramolecular C-H migration, sets the stage for an enantioselective synthesis of acyclic ketones by asymmetric carbon insertion. The remarkable tolerance of this transformation to steric crowding in either reaction partner is showcased in a simple, five-step construction of the complete carbon framework in achyrofuran, a complex dibenzofuranoid. Chapter 2: Paraformaldehyde is an inexpensive and readily available source of carbon (~30 USD/kg). Upon heating, the polymer thermally depolymerizes to yield gaseous formaldehyde that can be bubbled through reactions or stored in solution at low temperature. In this work, a new and general strategy for complex ketone synthesis is described based on Sc-catalyzed, double diazoalkyl C-H insertion reactions with formaldehyde as a 1-C source. The method forms di-, tri-, and even tetrasubstituted acetones efficiently, and it has streamlined a synthesis of the Erythroxylon alkaloid (-)-dihydrocuscohygrine in which absolute stereochemistry in a proline-based starting material is preserved. Chapter 3: Use of geminally-substituted diorganometallics often gives new forms of reactivity that are unavailable to their monosubstituted counterparts. With the expanding use of boronic acids in many areas of synthetic organic methodology, an underappreciated research area has been full development of disubstitited gem diboronic ester derivatives for use in tandem reactions, olefination methods, metal catalyzed coupling reactions, and transmetallations to mixed gem diorganometallics. The nature of molecular boron is routinely engaged through its Lewis acidic vacant p-orbital, and, after metalation, this orbital interaction is enlisted to stabilize α-carbanion or α-carbanion like species to allow dependable reactivity in various applications. The platinum-catalyzed geminal diboration of diazoalkanes provides reliable and efficient access to a full range of disubstitited gem diboronic esters enabling the exploration of novel methodologies.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011.Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: Chemistry