Addressing Controversies About Experts in Disputes Over Children

There is significant controversy about the use of experts in child-related disputes in family and child protection proceedings in Canada. The 2015 Lang Review of the Motherisk Laboratory at Toronto\u27s Hospital for Sick Children concluded that experts retained by child protection agencies were introducing unreliable expert testimony about parental drug and alcohol use. The recent decision of Ontario Court of Appeal in M. v. F. suggested that evidence from a party-retained expert critiquing the opinion of a court-appointed psychologist is rarely helpful or admissible. This paper addresses these and related controversies about the use of experts in child-related cases. It reviews recent developments in the law governing the admissibility of expert evidence, with a particular focus on the 2015 Supreme Court decision in White Burgess, and the role of the judge as a gatekeeper, responsible for excluding biased or unreliable expert testimony. The paper explores the unique role played by court-appointed experts in child-related disputes. It is argued that there should be a continued role for experts retained by one parent to critique a report prepared by a court-appointed expert in a child-related case; nonetheless there is an obligation for party-retained experts to provide unbiased and reliable evidence, and avoid being hired guns. This critique role may be especially important when the state has been involved in the court process, either as a party in a child protection proceeding or by arranging for a particular court-appointed professional to undertake an assessment. It is also argued that there is a strong Charter based argument that indigent parents in child protection proceedings may be entitled to a court order for funding to retain their own experts to testify to counter evidence put forward by experts funded by the government

The Iowa Homemaker vol.23, no.8

Keeping Up With Today, Margaret Ralston, page 2 Honored for Service, page 3 From Graduates’ Letters, page 4 G. I. Candy Bar, Ruth Midgorden, page 5 When You’re Career-Bound, Genevieve Callahan, page 6 Educational Psychology in Action, Victoria McKibben, page 7 Research Introduces New Meat, Norma Dale, page 8 Spotlight on a SPAR, page 9 What’s New in Home Economics, page 10 Forecast Clothing Prospects, Dorothy Watt, page 12 The Most From The Least, page 13 Investigate Home Canning, Frances Kerekes, page 14 Wartime Tips for Wise Shoe Care, Janet Russell, page 16 Clothing Survey, Doris Ann Gregg, page 17 Across Alumnae Desks, Virginia Carter, page 18 Alums in the News, Rachel Lusher, page 2

Pain and Opioid-Induced Gut Microbial Dysbiosis

Acknowledgments: S.H.D. and W.R.R. are supported by the Scottish Government Rural and Environmental Sciences and Analytical Services (SG-RESAS).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Iowa Homemaker vol.23, no.1

For Wartime Beauty, Virginia Bates, page 4 Keeping Up With Today, Margaret Ralston, page 5 Women in Service Dress for Duty, Norma Dale, page 6 New Navy Kitchen Serves, Helen Hudson, page 7 Women as Food Inspectors, Dorothy Watt, page 8 Pioneering Textile Fibers, Ruth Herzig, page 9 Egg-Drying Increases Production, Helen James, page 10 Letter from a WAAC, Marjorie P. Hinkle, page 11 What’s New in Home Economics, Lily Houseman, page 12 Vicky Heralds Spring, Pat Hayes, page 14 Women Choose Engineering Careers, Frances Madigan, page 15 Campus Notions Dept., Joan Miller, page 16 For Today’s Bride, Grace Brown, page 18 Herbs Inspire Variety, Margaret Ralston, page 20 Across Alumnae Desks, Virginia Carter, page 22 Alums in the News, Rachel Ann Lusher, page 2

The Pregnancy and EARly Life study (PEARL) - A longitudinal study to understand how gut microbes contribute to maintaining health during pregnancy and early life

Background: The early life period represents the first step in establishing a beneficial microbial ecosystem, which in turn affects both short and longer-term health. Changes during pregnancy influence the neonatal microbiome; through transmission of maternal microbes during childbirth, and beyond, through nutritional programming. However, in-depth exploration of longitudinal maternal-infant cohorts, with sampling of multiple body sites, complemented by clinical and nutritional metadata, and use of cutting-edge experimental systems are limited. The PEARL study will increase our knowledge of; how microbes (including viruses/phages, bacteria, fungi and archaea) change in composition and functional capacity during pregnancy; transmission pathways from mother to infant; the impact of various factors on microbial communities across pregnancy and early life (e.g. diet), and how these microbes interact with other microbes and modulate host processes, including links to disease onset. Methods: PEARL is a longitudinal observational prospective study of 250 pregnant women and their newborns, with stool and blood samples, questionnaires and routine clinical data collected during pregnancy, labour, birth and up to 24 months post birth. Metagenomic sequencing of samples will be used to define microbiome profiles, and allow for genus, species and strain-level taxonomic identification and corresponding functional analysis. A subset of samples will be analysed for host (immune/metabolite) molecules to identify factors that alter the host gut environment. Culturing will be used to identify new strains of health-promoting bacteria, and potential pathogens. Various in vitro and in vivo experiments will probe underlying mechanisms governing microbe-microbe and microbe-host interactions. Discussion: Longitudinal studies, like PEARL, are critical if we are to define biomarkers, determine mechanisms underlying microbiome profiles in health and disease, and develop new diet- and microbe-based therapies to be tested in future studies and clinical trials. Trial registration: This study is registered in the ClinicalTrials.gov Database with ID: NCT03916874

Environmental adaptability and stress tolerance of Laribacter hongkongensis: a genome-wide analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Laribacter hongkongensis </it>is associated with community-acquired gastroenteritis and traveler's diarrhea and it can reside in human, fish, frogs and water. In this study, we performed an in-depth annotation of the genes in its genome related to adaptation to the various environmental niches.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>L. hongkongensis </it>possessed genes for DNA repair and recombination, basal transcription, alternative σ-factors and 109 putative transcription factors, allowing DNA repair and global changes in gene expression in response to different environmental stresses. For acid stress, it possessed a urease gene cassette and two <it>arc </it>gene clusters. For alkaline stress, it possessed six CDSs for transporters of the monovalent cation/proton antiporter-2 and NhaC Na⁺:H⁺antiporter families. For heavy metals acquisition and tolerance, it possessed CDSs for iron and nickel transport and efflux pumps for other metals. For temperature stress, it possessed genes related to chaperones and chaperonins, heat shock proteins and cold shock proteins. For osmotic stress, 25 CDSs were observed, mostly related to regulators for potassium ion, proline and glutamate transport. For oxidative and UV light stress, genes for oxidant-resistant dehydratase, superoxide scavenging, hydrogen peroxide scavenging, exclusion and export of redox-cycling antibiotics, redox balancing, DNA repair, reduction of disulfide bonds, limitation of iron availability and reduction of iron-sulfur clusters are present. For starvation, it possessed phosphorus and, despite being asaccharolytic, carbon starvation-related CDSs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The <it>L. hongkongensis </it>genome possessed a high variety of genes for adaptation to acid, alkaline, temperature, osmotic, oxidative, UV light and starvation stresses and acquisition of and tolerance to heavy metals.</p

Type F congenital quadricuspid aortic valve: A very rare case diagnosed by 3-dimenional transoesophageal echocardiography

Congenital quadricuspid aortic valve (QAV) is a rare cardiac anomaly. Several different anatomical variations of a quadricuspid aortic valve have been described. Aortic regurgitation is the predominant valvular dysfunction associated with QAV and patients tend to present in their 5(th) or 6(th) decade of life. This anomaly is rarely picked up by transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE). A comprehensive transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) study is more likely to diagnose it. We describe a very rare type of QAV - Type F in a 52-year-old lady who presented with symptoms of shortness of breath and pre-syncope. We include TOE images and intra-operative valve images