Undercounted, Underserved: Immigrant and Refugee Families in the Child Welfare System

Focuses on the specific needs of immigrant and refugee children in the child welfare system and presents best practices and policy recommendations for better serving these populations

Physiological Response Of The Giant Acorn Barnacle, Balanus nubilus, To Air Exposure

The giant acorn barnacle, Balanus nubilus, is a resident of the subtidal and low intertidal rocky shoreline on the Pacific Coast of North America (Alaska to Baja California). B. nubilusis notable for having the largest muscle fibers in the animal kingdom; fiber diameters that can exceed 3mm in adults! At such extreme sizes these muscle cells may be at risk for insufficient oxygen delivery to mitochondria owing to low SA:V ratios and long intracellular diffusion distances. Oxygen limitation to these muscles may be further exacerbated during low tide air exposure (emersion) or environmental hypoxia events, which are increasing in frequency and duration along the world’s coastlines. We are interested in characterizing the internal oxygen conditions of B. nubilus during air emersion and anoxia so that we can ultimately investigate the physiologic mechanisms by which B. nubilus maintains function in their giant muscle fibers during environmental oxygen limitation. To this end, we examined the effects of air emersion and anoxia on 1) hemolymph gas, pH and ion levels, 2) oxygen consumption rates (MO2; emersion only), and 3) respiratory behaviors (e.g., cirri beating). In the first experiment, we measured hemolymph pO2, pCO2, pH and ion ([Na+], [Cl-], [K+], [Ca2+]) concentrations at 0, 3, 6 and 9h of exposure to air emersion, anoxic immersion and normoxic immersion (control). Next, we compared the average MO2 of barnacles held in water and air for 6h at three common temperatures (10, 15, or 20°C) using intermittent (aquatic) and closed-system (air) respirometry. Lastly, we investigated the respiratory behaviors (% time operculum open, %time testing, % time pumping, % time cirri beating, cirri beat frequency, opercular pulse frequency) of B. nubilusduring acute (6h) exposure to air emersion, anoxic immersion and normoxic immersion (control). Our data revealed that hemolymph pO­2 was significantly decreased in the anoxic barnacles by 3h and remained significantly depressed relative to the normoxic control for 9h. The air-exposed barnacles, however, maintained hemolymph oxygen levels that were intermediate to the control and anoxia barnacles for the entire experiment, achieving levels that were significantly lower than normoxic barnacles only by 9h. We also found that oxygen consumption rates for B. nubilus held at ecologically realistic temperatures were similar in air and water. From these data we conclude that B. nubilus is relatively adept at taking up oxygen from the environment while out of the water, which is common for certain barnacle species, and that air emersion represents a relatively mild environmental stress for this species (at least from a gas-exchange perspective). Efficient aerial gas-exchange by the giant acorn barnacle is likely facilitated by seawater pools stored in the mantle cavity, which can directly take up oxygen from the air and make it accessible to soft tissues and gill-like structures on the inside of the shell. This strategy, however, would require complementary behaviors aimed at oxygenating the mantle cavity fluid (e.g, aperture opening, cirri extensions to facilitate mixing), and this is exactly what we see. In our behavior experiment we found that air-exposed barnacles (and, more surprisingly, anoxic barnacles) spent significantly more time with their cirri extended than our control animals, who engaged more in an aperture pumping behavior with their cirri retracted. These behavioral preferences existed even though there were no significant differences in the total time spent with their aperture open (regardless of the behavior occurring while open) between any of the treatments. There were also interesting findings in the ion data. While there were no significant treatment effects on [Na+], [Cl-], or [Ca2+], we did observe significantly higher [K+] by 6h in both the emersion and anoxic groups relative to the normoxic group. We predict that this change in [K+] is likely attributable to its role in acid-base buffering. There was a strong correlation between pCO2 levels and pH across all treatments; however, decreases in pO2 levels in the hemolymph, which corresponded with increases in pCO2 levels, had only minimal effects on the hemolymph pH, indicating a well-buffered system. In conclusion, we found that air exposure does not inhibit aerobic metabolism in B. nubilus, owing largely to efficient aerial oxygen uptake and perhaps also effective acid base-buffering. We therefore predict that muscle function would be preserved during periods of low-tide emersion. Anoxia, on the other hand led to a significant decline in hemolymph oxygen content, which suggests that environmental hypoxia is likely to diminish functionality of their giant muscle fibers. In a parallel study, we intend to investigate the plastic response of B. nubilus muscle fibers to the same conditions (air emersion and anoxic immersion)

Descriminalização do aborto: a busca pelo direito de disposição do próprio corpo e o combate à desigualdade de gêneros

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Ciências Jurídicas. Direito.O presente trabalho aborda a problemática da relação histórica de dominação do corpo feminino a partir de uma leitura da coerção do Estado e os seus reflexos na sociedade atual. Para tanto analisa-se a sociedade patriarcal e a influência da mesma na concepção histórica da mulher como o indivíduo carente de proteção e submisso ao universo masculino e a construção social da diferenciação de gêneros. Em seguida operou-se uma análise do ordenamento jurídico, no tocante à legislação sexual, e a desconsideração com que eram tratadas muitas mulheres pelo sistema penal, bem como as mudanças legislativas e jurisprudenciais. Por fim, evidenciou-se a problemática da interrupção voluntária da gravidez demonstrando-se como a ilegalidade da conduta constitui-se em uma eficiente forma de controle sobre o corpo feminino e para a manutenção da desigualdade de gêneros.Our aim in this essay is to address the historical relation problem of domination of the female body from a review of the state‟s coercion and its impact in today's society. To do so, we analyze the patriarchal society and its influence on the historic conception of women as an individual protection-needy and submissive to the male universe and to the social construction of the gender differentiation. After this review, we operate an analysis of the legal system regarding the sexual laws, the female denial situation on the penal system as well as the legislative and jurisprudential changes. Finally, it becomes clear that the problem of abortion demonstrates how the illegality of this conduct is reported as an effective form of control over women's body, maintaining the gender‟s inequality

Animal-Computer Interaction: the emergence of a discipline

In this editorial to the IJHCS Special Issue on Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI), we provide an overview of the state-of-the-art in this emerging field, outlining the main scientific interests of its developing community, in a broader cultural context of evolving human-animal relations. We summarise the core aims proposed for the development of ACI as a discipline, discussing the challenges these pose and how ACI researchers are trying to address them. We then introduce the contributions to the Special Issue, showing how they illustrate some of the key issues that characterise the current state-of-the-art in ACI, and finally reflect on how the journey ahead towards developing an ACI discipline could be undertaken

1991: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

PRAISING GOD: THEMES FROM THE PSALMS Being the Abilene Christian University Annual Bible Lectures 1991 Published by ACU PRESS 1648 Campus Court Abilene, Texas 7960

Exploring structural and electronic effects in three isomers of tris{bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl}borane: Towards the combined electrochemical-frustrated Lewis pair activation of H2

Three structural isomers of tris{bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl}borane have been studied as the acidic com- ponent of frustrated Lewis pairs. While the 3,5-substituted isomer is already known to heterolytically cleave H2 to generate a bridging-hydride; ortho-substituents in the 2,4- and 2,5-isomers quench such reactivity through electron donation into the vacant boron pz orbital and steric blocking of the boron centre; as shown by electrochemical, structural and computational studies. Electrochemical studies of the corresponding borohydrides identify that the two-electron oxidation of terminal-hydrides occurs at more positive potentials than observed for [HB(C6F5)3]−, while the bridging-hydride oxidizes at a higher poten- tial still, comparable to that of free H2

Production and stability of low amount fraction of formaldehyde in hydrogen gas standards

Formaldehyde is an intermediate of the steam methane reforming process for hydrogen production. According to International Standard ISO 14687-2 the amount fraction level of formaldehyde present in hydrogen supplied to fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) must not exceed 10 nmol mol−1. The development of formaldehyde standards in hydrogen is crucial to validate the analytical results and ensure measurement reliability for the FCEV industry. NPL demonstrated that these standards can be gravimetrically prepared and validated at 10 μmol mol−1 with a shelf-life of 8 weeks (stability uncertainty <10%; k = 1), but that formaldehyde degrades into methanol and dimethoxymethane, as measured by FTIR, GC-MS and SIFT-MS. The degradation kinetics is more rapid than predicted by thermodynamics, this may be due to the internal gas cylinder surface acting as a catalyst. The identification of by-products (methanol and dimethoxymethane) requires further investigation to establish any potential undesirable impacts to the FCEV