Assessment as an intervention in the child and family forensic setting.

Before a Children's Court decision is reached, a clinical assessment may be ordered by the court. This assessment often occurs when tension is high for the family and when well-established defenses may falter, and it can provide a prime, critical opportunity to facilitate positive change. Comprehensive psychological assessment at the Children's Court Clinic in Melbourne, Australia, indicates the intervention value of a serious attempt to understand the complexity of the psychological issues facing a child and family. With the aid of illustrative case studies, this article discusses the therapeutic aspects and implications of such assessment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Characterization of resistance patterns and detection of apramycin resistance genes in Escherichia coli isolated from swine exposed to various environmental conditions

Weaned pigs were separated into eight treatments including a control without exposure to apramycin; a control with exposure to apramycin; and apramycin plus either cold stress, heat stress, overcrowding, intermingling, poor sanitation, or intervention with oxytetracycline, to determine the effects of management and environmental conditions on antibiotic resistance among indigenous Escherichia coli. Pigs exposed to apramycin sulfate received that antibiotic in the feed at a concentration of 150 g/ton for 14 days. Environmental treatments were applied 5 days following initial antibiotic administration and maintained throughout the study. Fecal samples were obtained on day 0 (prior to antibiotic treatment) and on days 2, 7, 14, 28, 64, 148, and 149. E. coli were isolated and tested for resistance to apramycin using a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) broth microdilution method. Macrorestriction profiling, arbitrarily primed PCR, PCR targeting a gene coding for apramycin resistance, and DNA hybridization were used to characterize genetic elements of resistance. Increased (P<0.0001) resistance to apramycin was noted in E. coli from all treatment groups administered apramycin. MICs of isolates from control pigs receiving apramycin returned to pretreatment levels following removal of the antibiotic, whereas isolates from cold stress, overcrowding, and oxytetracycline groups expressed greater (P<0.05) MICs through day 64, before returning to pretreatment levels. Genetic analysis indicated that all resistant isolates carried the aac(3)IV gene sequence and this sequence was found in a variety of E. coli isotypes. Our data indicate that E. coli resistance to apramycin is increased upon exposure to various stressors.     

Effects of high-γ-linolenic acid canola oil compared with borage oil on reproduction,growth, and brain and behavioral development in mice

Previous research in rats and mice has suggested that γ-linolenic acid (GLA) derived from borage oil (BO: 23% GLA) may be an appropriate source for increasing levels of long-chain n−6 FA in the developing brain. Recently, transgenic technology has made available a highly enriched GLA seed oil from the canola plant (HGCO: 36% GLA). The first objective of this study was to compare the effects of diets containing equal levels of GLA (23%) from either BO or HGCO on reproduction, pup development, and pup brain FA composition in mice. The second objective was to compare the effects of the HGCO diluted to 23% GLA (GLA-23) with those of undiluted HGCO containing 36% GLA (GLA-36). The diets were fed to the dams prior to conception and throughout pregnancy and lactation, as well as to the pups after weaning. The behavioral development of the pups was measured 12 d after birth, and anxiety in the adult male offspring was assessed using the plus maze. The findings show that despite equivalent levels of GLA, GLA-23 differed from BO in that it reduced pup body weight and was associated with a slight increase in neonatal pup attrition. However, there were no significant effects on pup behavioral development or on performance in the plus maze. An increase in dietary GLA resulted in an increase in brain 20∶4n−6 and 22∶4n−6, with a corresponding decrease in 22∶6n−3. Again, despite their similar levels of GLA, these effects tended to be larger in GLA-23 than in BO. In comparison with GLA-23, GLA-36 had larger effects on growth and brain FA composition but no differences with respect to effects on reproduction and behavioral development. These findings suggest that the HGCO can be used as an alternative source of GLA.     

Substrate interactions with the nitrogenase active site

The chemical mechanism for biological cleavage of the N(2) triple bond at ambient pressure and temperature has been the subject of intense study for many years. The site of substrate activation and reduction has been localized to a complex cofactor, called FeMo cofactor, yet until now the complexity of the system has denied information concerning exactly where and how substrates interact with the metal-sulfur framework of the active site. In this Account, we describe a combined genetic, biophysical, and biochemical approach that was used to provide direct and detailed information concerning where alternative alkyne substrates interact with FeMo cofactor during catalysis. The relevance and limitations of this work with respect to N(2) binding and reduction also are discussed.     

Towards integrated catchment management: increasing the dialogue between scientists,policy‐makers and stakeholders

The aim of the Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy (HELP) project is to strengthen the role and inputs of the scientific community in the integrated catchment management process. Water resources management in the 21st century requires a radical reorientation and an effective dialogue between decision‐makers, stakeholders and the scientific water community. This paper offers a skeleton worldview as a starting point for that dialogue by bringing together key issues as identified by water resource experts from different disciplines. Experiences from all over the world demonstrate the need for multistakeholder advocacy and the importance of compromise‐building mechanisms. Water law defines the rules of the game and provides a necessary framework for policy and its execution. However, there must be adequate social acceptance and active compliance, otherwise the formal rules and administrative regulation will not be perceived as legitimate and ultimately could prove ineffective. The challenge now is to create management systems where the formal decision‐makers interact with relevant members of the scientific community, users and other stakeholders for a coordinated approach that successfully orchestrates water uses towards internal compatibility. Integrated water resources management is essential for securing a proper overview of all the activities that depend on the same resource—the precipitation over the basin—and which are internally linked by the mobility of water from the water divide to the river mouth.     

Development of the survey of work values.

Developed a series of scales measuring attitudes toward work. The survey of work values (swv) was based on a number of dimensions of protestant ethic, specifically those aspects that deal with the meaning that an individual attaches to his role at work. The content validity of the items was established by the reallocation method of scaling. Items were analyzed to determine the best method of scoring and to select items for the subscales according to the internal consistencies and independence of the subscales. Unweighted, multipoint scoring was selected for 54 items. Swv scores discriminated among occupational groups of 449 ss and correlated with background characteristics of 342 employed and 133 disadvantaged ss. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)