Urban Fathers Asset Building – Final Report

The Urban Fathers Asset Building (UFAB) project demonstrated the potential benefits, as well as limitations, of an innovative nexus between the child support system, fatherhood programs, and the Assets for Independence (AFI) grant-funded services. UFAB was a collaborative initiative of the Texas Office of the Attorney General (OAG), Baylor College of Medicine’s Teen Health Clinic, Covenant Community Capital Corporation (the local AFI grantee), and RAISE Texas, the statewide association of AFI grantees. This Final Report summarizes UFAB’s operational features and outcomes; depicts the demonstration’s challenges and innovative responses; reviews the accomplishments of the ancillary projects supported by BAFF funds; and assesses the prospects for sustaining demonstration practices in the Houston area, as well as extending promising practices to other areas of the state.Texas Office of the Attorney GeneralRay Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resource

Urban Fathers Asset Building Initiative: Evaluation Plan

Urban Fathers Asset Building Initiative: Evaluation PlanThe Urban Fathers Asset Building (UFAB) project is demonstrating an innovative nexus between the child support system, fatherhood programs and Assets for Independence (AFI) grant-funded services. UFAB is a collaborative initiative of the Texas Office of the Attorney General, Baylor College of Medicine’s Teen Health Clinic, and Covenant Community Capital Corporation, the local AFI grantee in Houston. UFAB targets low-income, young fathers—a population notably under-served by financial education services regularly provided under AFI—prior to their need for enforcement of child support orders. UFAB intends to recruit and enroll up to 200 new or expectant young fathers who reside in the urban core of Houston, Texas, near the time of the births of their children in order to encourage financial literacy and asset building to become more economically self-sufficient. Simultaneously, the demonstration presents the opportunity to provide information about child support laws and enforcement to the young fathers at this early stage of family formation, as well as to personnel of collaborating entities at the community level. The grant also authorizes OAG to build awareness and support for this and other efforts of OAG’s Child Support Division throughout the state, including Child Support for College and the Bring it Back to Texas program. UFAB involves collaboration at the statewide level between the OAG and RAISE Texas, the statewide association of AFI grantees, for the purpose of disseminating child support information, including family stability initiatives to the grantees and their local partners. The Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin has been contracted by OAG as the project evaluator to conduct process and outcomes analyses of UFAB.US Dept of Heath and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, Office of Child Support Enforcement, Texas Office of the Attorney General, RAISE Texas, Harris County Precinct One, Baylor College of Medicine's Young Fathers/Bootstrap Project, Covenant Community CapitalRay Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resource

Harmonic Generation in a Terawatt X-Ray Free-Electron Laser

Terawatt x-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) require high current densities with strong transverse focusing. The implications on harmonic generation are discussed using the MINERVA simulation code which self-consistently includes harmonic generation. We consider helical and planar undulators where the fundamental is at 1.5 Angstrom and study the associated harmonic generation. While tapered undulators are needed to reach TW powers at the fundamental, the taper does not enhance the harmonics because the taper must start before saturation of the fundamental, with the harmonics saturating earlier. Nevertheless, the harmonics reach substantial powers and enable enhanced applications.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

The prediction and management of aquatic nitrogen pollution across Europe: an introduction to the Integrated Nitrogen in European Catchments project (INCA)

International audienceExcess nitrogen in soils, fresh water, estuarine and marine systems contributes to nutrient enrichment in key ecosystems throughout Europe, often leading to detrimental environmental impacts, such as soil acidification or the eutrophication of water bodies. The Integrated Nitrogenmodel for European Catchments (INCA) project aims to develop a generic version of the Integrated Nitrogen in Catchments (INCA) model to simulate the retention and transport of nitrogen within river systems, thereby providing a tool to aid the understanding of nitrogen dynamics and for river-basin management/policy-making. To facilitate the development of the model, 10 partners have tested the INCA model with data collected in study sites located in eight European countries as part of the INCA project. This paper summarises the key nitrogen issues within Europe, describes the main aims and methodology of the INCA project, and sets the project in the context of the current major research initiatives at a European level. Keywords: Europe, European Union, nitrogen, nitrate, ammonium, river basin management, modelling, water chemistry, acidification, eutrophication, Water Framework Directive, INCA

Orotracheal intubation in infants performed with a stylet versus without a stylet

Background: Neonatal endotracheal intubation is a common and potentially life-saving intervention. It is a mandatory skill for neonatal trainees, but one that is difficult to master and maintain. Intubation opportunities for trainees are decreasing and success rates are subsequently falling. Use of a stylet may aid intubation and improve success. However, the potential for associated harm must be considered. Objectives To compare the benefits and harms of neonatal orotracheal intubation with a stylet versus neonatal orotracheal intubation without a stylet. Search methods: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) in the Cochrane Library; MEDLINE; Embase; the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and previous reviews. We also searched cross-references, contacted expert informants, handsearched journals, and looked at conference proceedings. We searched clinical trials registries for current and recently completed trials. We conducted our most recent search in April 2017. Selection criteria All randomised, quasi–randomised, and cluster-randomised controlled trials comparing use versus non-use of a stylet in neonatal orotracheal intubation. Data collection and analysis: Two review authors independently assessed results of searches against predetermined criteria for inclusion, assessed risk of bias, and extracted data. We used the standard methods of the Cochrane Collaboration, as documented in the Cochrane Handbook for Systemic Reviews of Interventions, and of the Cochrane Neonatal Review Group. Main results: We included a single-centre non-blinded randomised controlled trial that reported a total of 302 intubation attempts in 232 infants. The median gestational age of enrolled infants was 29 weeks. Paediatric residents and fellows performed the intubations. We judged the study to be at low risk of bias overall. Investigators compared success rates of first-attempt intubation with and without use of a stylet and reported success rates as similar between stylet and no-stylet groups (57% and 53%) (P = 0.47). Success rates did not differ between groups in subgroup analyses by provider level of training and infant weight. Results showed no differences in secondary review outcomes, including duration of intubation, number of attempts, participant instability during the procedure, and local airway trauma. Only 25% of all intubations took less than 30 seconds to perform. Study authors did not report neonatal morbidity nor mortality. We considered the quality of evidence as low on GRADE analysis, given that we identified only one unblinded study. Authors' conclusions: Current available evidence suggests that use of a stylet during neonatal orotracheal intubation does not significantly improve the success rate among paediatric trainees. However, only one brand of stylet and one brand of endotracheal tube have been tested, and researchers performed all intubations on infants in a hospital setting. Therefore, our results cannot be generalised beyond these limitations

Negative Transconductance in Apertured Electron Guns

Passing an electron beam through an aperture can serve to reduce the beam current or change the transverse beam profile. For a sufficiently intense beam, space charge will drive a radial expansion of the beam, which may cause the current passing through the aperture to increase even though the current arriving at the aperture is decreasing. When a gridded electron gun is used, this may be expressed by stating that the transconductance of the apertured gun is negative. Here we explain this effect, and explore some of the key factors governing when it can occur and influencing its strength

Gridded Electron Guns and Modulation of Intense Beams

Gridded guns are useful for producing modulated electron beams. This modulation is generally limited to simple gating of the beam, but may be used to apply structure to the beam pulse shape. In intense beams, this structure spawns space charge waves whose dynamics depend in part on the relative strengths of the velocity and density variations which comprise the initial current modulation. In this paper, we calculate the strengths of beam current and velocity modulation produced in a gridded electron gun, and show that under normal conditions the initial modulation is dominated by density variation rather than velocity variation