Juvenile Vulnerabilities During Police Interrogations and the Need for Additional Safeguards

In the United States, the juvenile justice system was created by the acknowledgement that adolescents should not be treated the same as adults. However, police interrogation techniques today are the same for both adults and juveniles. By using the same interrogation techniques for both populations, juveniles are potentially vulnerable during police interrogations. With very little empirical research on the variables that lead a juvenile to falsely confess, it is difficult to implement safeguards to protect juveniles during an interrogation. The purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the research on juvenile police interrogations by examining each of the three main sources of juvenile interrogation information through a systematic review of the recent empirical research on juvenile interrogation and the relevant U.S. Supreme Court cases as well as through a content analysis of police department interrogation manuals. The goal of this thesis is to highlight the gap between science and practical application as well as provide meaningful results that will inform policy implications moving forward

A conserved gene regulatory network subcircuit drives different developmental fates in the vegetal pole of highly divergent echinoderm embryos

AbstractComparisons of orthologous developmental gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from different organisms explain how transcriptional regulation can, or cannot, change over time to cause morphological evolution and stasis. Here, we examine a subset of the GRN connections in the central vegetal pole mesoderm of the late sea star blastula and compare them to the GRN for the same embryonic territory of sea urchins. In modern sea urchins, this territory gives rise to skeletogenic mesoderm; in sea stars, it develops into other mesodermal derivatives. Orthologs of many transcription factors that function in the sea urchin skeletogenic mesoderm are co-expressed in the sea star vegetal pole, although this territory does not form a larval skeleton. Systematic perturbation of erg, hex, tbr, and tgif gene function was used to construct a snapshot of the sea star mesoderm GRN. A comparison of this network to the sea urchin skeletogenic mesoderm GRN revealed a conserved, recursively wired subcircuit operating in both organisms. We propose that, while these territories have evolved different functions in sea urchins and sea stars, this subcircuit is part of an ancestral GRN governing echinoderm vegetal pole mesoderm development. The positive regulatory feedback between these transcription factors may explain the conservation of this subcircuit

Spontaneous Calcium Release in Cardiac Myocytes: Store Overload and Electrical Dynamics

Heart disease is the leading cause of mortality in the United States. One cause of heart arrhythmia is calcium (Ca2+) mishandling in cardiac muscle cells. We adapt Izu\u27s et al. mathematical reaction-diffusion model of calcium in cardiac muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes implemented by Gobbert, and analyzed in Coulibaly et al. to include calcium being released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR), the effects of buffers in the SR, particularly calsequestrin, and the effects of Ca2+ influx due to voltage across the cell membrane. Based on simulations of the model implemented in parallel using MPI, our findings aligned with known biological models and principles, giving us a thorough understanding of several factors that influence Ca2+ dynamics in cardiac myocytes. Specifically, dynamic calcium store will cap previous calcium blow-up seen in the model. Calcium channels located in spatial opposition of calcium release units produce more predictable intracellular calcium propagation. And we used multi-parametric calcium dynamics tables, which act as a multidimensional bifurcation diagram, to visualize parameter boundaries between different biophysical dynamics

Exploration culturable bacterial symbionts of sponges from Ternate Islands, Indonesia

Multidrug resistance, (MDR) bacteria seriously threaten human health which causes a more difficult and extends the treatment period, and increases the risk of death. Sponges-associated bacteria, a well known for their rich in chemical classes and bioactivities, are the prolific producers of bioactive compounds. In order to search new sources of antibacterial compounds, we collected a total of 55 sponges from Ternate Island that provided 324 bacterial isolates. The data showed that sponges-isolates ratio in the anthropogenic area was relatively higher than the other collection sites. The isolates were screened for the antibacterial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae-RSDK, K. pneumoniae-UI, Pseudomonas aeruginosa A-UI, P. aeruginosa B-UI, Staphylococcus aureus-UI, MRSA-UI, MRPA-UI, Bacillus subtilis-RSDK, B. subtilis-UI, Salmonella typhi-UI, and MDR E. coli. The isolates were able to inhibit 0-7 the pathogenic bacteria on 24 h and 48 h. The most active bacteria were identified as B. clausii, V. chiguensis, B. tropicus, P. marcusii, B. tropicus, V. parahaemolyticus, B. paramycoides, and V. dokdonensis. In conclusion, the sponges in the anthropogenic affected area have higher bacterial symbionts than that of in the pristine area. In this study, the results of isolation of the symbiont bacteria from sponge samples were obtained and morphologically observed for these bacterial isolates. The number of bacteria that were isolated were 133 bacterial isolates and ten isolates including producing active secondary metabolite

The UNDIP-UCSC campaign to culture chemically prolific gram-negative bacteria from Indonesian Jaspis sponges

Indonesian marine sponges, especially Jaspis cf. coriacea and Jaspis splendens are sources for families of natural products known as the bengamides and jasplakinolides, respectively. Recent research suggests that the biosynthetic origins of these pharmaceutically important compounds may not be the sponges themselves but associated Gram-negative bacteria. Therefore samples of J. cf. coriacea and J. splendens were collected to culture the bacteria responsible for such compounds. Metabolomic analysis was performed on each of the sponges collected to ensure that the bengamides and jasplakinolides were present; therefore ensuring that the biosynthetic machinery required to produce these compounds was intact in the samples. After which Gram-negative bacteria were cultured from the Jaspis sponge samples and a total of 43 unique isolates were obtained spanning 21 taxonomic genera and three taxonomic classes

Dermal denticle assemblages in coral reef sediments correlate with conventional shark surveys

Abstract It is challenging to assess long‐term trends in mobile, long‐lived and relatively rare species such as sharks. Despite ongoing declines in many coastal shark populations, conventional surveys might be too fleeting and too recent to describe population trends over decades to millennia. Placing recent shark declines into historical context should improve management efforts as well as our understanding of past ecosystem dynamics. A new palaeoecological approach for surveying shark abundance on coral reefs is to quantify dermal denticle assemblages preserved in sediments. This approach assumes that denticle accumulation rates correlate with shark abundances. Here, we test this assumption by comparing the denticle record in surface sediments to three conventional shark survey methods at Palmyra Atoll, Line Islands, central Pacific Ocean, where shark density is high and spatially heterogeneous. We generally found a significant positive correlation between denticle accumulation rates and shark abundances derived from underwater visual census, baited remote underwater video and hook and line surveys. Denticle accumulation rates reflected shark abundances, suggesting that denticle assemblages can preserve a signal of time‐averaged shark abundance in low‐energy coral reef environments. We offer suggestions for applying this tool to measure shark abundance over long time‐scales in other contexts

Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Allegheny County Jail

Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Allegheny County Jail looks into the history, purposes, and structure of the Allegheny County Jail. This report outlines national and local data trends within jails and discusses the historic and current purposes of jails. It also highlights innovative programs and challenges within the county’s jail and potential best practices to address them

Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Improving Incarceration Policies and Practices in Allegheny County

Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Improving Incarceration Policies and Practices in Allegheny County examines the dramatic growth of national and local incarceration rates in recent decades even as crime rates have fallen. One key contributor to this dramatic rise in the county jail population is the large number of people being detained prior to trial through the setting of monetary bonds, which often keep low-risk defendants behind bars. The criminal justice system currently also has disproportionate impacts on Black and Latino populations and on people living in poverty. Building upon improvements that criminal justice professionals in Allegheny County have already accomplished, the task force put forth recommendations to create a fairer and more equitable system and to utilize taxpayer dollars efficiently and effectively, without compromising public safety

Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Allegheny County Courts and Probation

Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Allegheny County Courts and Probation examines the structure, responsibilities, successes, and opportunities within Allegheny County's courts and probation department. The report highlights initiatives and innovations implemented by the Fifth Judicial District’s Criminal Division and key local data indicators. It also identifies current challenges within the county’s court and probation system and potential national best practices to address these challenges

Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Allegheny County Law Enforcement

Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: Allegheny County Law Enforcement examines the role of the police both nationally and in Allegheny County. The report identifies local law enforcement agencies and their role within the county criminal justice system. This report also highlights key local data trends and discusses the impact of law enforcement on the criminal justice system. It also highlights national best practices in policing