The Need to Revisit Legal Education in an Era of Increased Diagnoses of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity and Autism Spectrum Disorders

The ever-fluctuating rhetoric from experts, in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders, has led to outdated notions and perplexity surrounding attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This Article tries to clarify some of the confusion. Better understanding of these disorders is imperative for today’s law professor, since law schools are likely admitting more students diagnosed with ADHD and ASD. This Article discusses the need for change in legal instruction and explores the link between the two disorders. An examination of recent history illuminates some of the commonly held misunderstandings and highlights the disparity in the diagnoses of ADHD and ASD among women and people of color. In addition, the Article delves into what an instructor can expect when he or she has a student with these disorders in the classroom. An illustration helps practically convey how these students may differ from their neurotypical classmates. Finally, the Article discusses what measures a law professor can adopt to assist students with ADHD and ASD in facing their many challenges. There are examples of teaching measures that assist struggling students with their organization, set shifting, focus and social skills. Thus, this Article aids today’s law professors by increasing their understanding of ADHD and ASD and the issues facing these differently gifted students and provides some recommendations for supporting their educational efforts

Men's and women's experiences of violence and traumatic events in rural Cote d'Ivoire before, during and after a period of armed conflict.

OBJECTIVE: We assessed men's and women's experiences of gender based violence and other traumatic events in Côte d'Ivoire, a West African conflict-affected setting, before, during and after a period of active armed conflict (2000-2007). DESIGN: Cross-sectional, household survey. SETTING: 12 rural communities directly impacted by the Crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, spanning regions controlled by government forces, rebels and UN peacekeepers in 2008. PARTICIPANTS: 2678 men and women aged 15-49 years. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Violence exposures measured since age 15. Questions included intimate partner physical and sexual violence; physical and sexual violence by others (including combatants) and exposure to traumatic events before, during and after the Crisis period (2000-2007). RESULTS: Physical and/or sexual violence since age 15 was reported by 57.1% women and 40.2% men (p=0.01); 29.9% women and 12.3% men reported exposure to any violence in the past year. Nearly 1 in 10 women (9.9%) and 5.9% men (p=0.03) were forced to have sex by a non-partner since age 15, and 14.8% women and 3.3% men (p=0.00) reported their first sexual experience was forced. Combatants were rarely reported as sexual violence perpetrators (0.3% women). After the Crisis, intimate partner physical violence was the most frequently reported form of violence and highest among women (20.9% women, 9.9% men, p=0.00). Fearing for their life was reported by men and women before, during and after the Crisis. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual violence in conflict remains a critical international policy concern. However, men and women experience different types of violence before, during and after conflict. In many conflict settings, other forms of violence, including intimate partner violence, may be more widespread than conflict-related sexual violence. Alongside service provision for rape survivors, our findings underscore the need for postconflict reconstruction efforts to invest in programmes to prevent and respond to intimate partner violence and trauma

Editors' Notes

Welcome to the Editors' Notes&nbsp

Editors' Notes

Welcome to the Editors' Notes&nbsp

Trafficking of Vietnamese women and girls for marriage in China.

BACKGROUND: Bride-trafficking has been a growing phenomenon in Southeast Asia, particularly in China, where one-child policies have resulted in demographic imbalances favoring males. Yet, empirical evidence about women and girls sold into marriage in China remains sparse. METHODS: This study describes the experiences of 51 Vietnamese women and girls as young as 14 in post-trafficking services who were sold into marriage in China. A consecutive sample of individuals from five services in Vietnam were invited to be interviewed within the first 2 weeks of admission. It is part of a wider dataset for research on the health of men, women, and children in post-trafficking services in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, the largest study to date on human trafficking and health. We calculated proportions for all variables and conducted bivariate analyses using Fisher Exact Tests for their associations with mental health disorders symptoms. RESULTS: Before leaving home, 31% (n = 15) participants were married. Participants reported high levels of sexual violence (n = 43; 86%) while trafficked and59% (n = 30) spent time in detention before returning to Vietnam. Once in post-trafficking care 52.9% (n = 27) reported probable depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), two women (4%) attempted suicide in the past month and 38 (75%) remained afraid of their trafficker. Ten (22%) became pregnant while trafficked, and seven (16%) were pregnant at the interview. CONCLUSIONS: The cross-border bride trade between Vietnam and China raises complex policy issues, including questions about detention and immigration rights and strategies for supported return processes, including maternal and child health services. As the repercussions of China's absent female population will persist, Vietnam and China must grapple with the political and social conditions to implement prevention strategies, and resources for women who fall prey to this cross-border bride trade

Prevalence and Risk of Violence and the Physical, Mental, and Sexual Health Problems Associated with Human Trafficking: Systematic Review

Siân Oram and colleagues conduct a systematic review of the evidence on the health consequences of human trafficking. They describe a limited and poor-quality evidence base, but some evidence suggests a high prevalence of violence and mental distress among women and girls trafficked for sexual exploitation, among other findings

Benthic Ecology From Space: Optics and Net Primary Production in Seagrass and Benthic Algae Across the Great Bahama Bank

Development of repeatable and quantitative tools are necessary for determining the abundance and distribution of different types of benthic habitats, detecting changes to these ecosystems, and determining their role in the global carbon cycle. Here we used ocean color remote sensing techniques to map different major groups of primary producers and estimate net primary productivity (NPP) across Great Bahama Bank (GBB). Field investigations on the northern portion of the GBB in 2004 revealed 3 dominant types of benthic primary producers: seagrass, benthic macroalgae, and microalgae attached to sediment. Laboratory measurements of NPP ranged from barely net autotrophic for grapestone sediment with thin microalgal biofilm to highly productive for dense accumulations of brown macroalgae. A logarithmic relationship between NPP and green seafloor reflectance described the general trend in NPP across various benthic constituents. Using a radiative transfer-based approach, satellite-derived estimates of NPP for the region totaled similar to ~2 x 1013 gC yrˉ¹ across the GBB. The prevailing benthic habitat was mapped as sediment with little to no microalgal biofilm. Moderate to dense seagrass meadows of Thalassia testudinumwere the dominant primary producers and contributed over 80% of NPP in the region. If the vast majority of seagrass leaves decompose in the primarily carbonate sediments, carbonate dissolution processes associated with this decomposition may result in sequestration of seagrass above- and below-ground carbon into the bicarbonate pool (2.4 x 1013 gC yrˉ¹), where it has a residence time on the order of tens of thousands of years