Redemptive Places,Charitable Choice,and Welfare Reform

The faces of the two girls featured in Danuta Rothschild's image Women's Shelter express both despair and hope. Part of a series of works on urban homelessness, the painting depicts them seated on the steps of a shelter for battered women. Such “redemptive places” and the hope they offer to desperate lives are the subject of Daphne Spain's Longer View. Spain recounts the inception of these places in the U.S. early in the last century and describes their latest incarnations in “Charitable Choice” initiatives.

Danuta Rothschild emigrated from Poland in 1971 and works daily in her studio in Venice, California. The subject matter of her paintings has included the Holocaust, Native Americans, threats of chemical war in the Middle East, and the natural world. Her work can be viewed on her Web site at <http://www.danutastudio.com> and she can be contacted at <danuta@danutastudio.com>.

A century ago, millions of Europeans, African Americans, and single women in search of work arrived in American cities. Religiously motivated volunteers met these newcomers with settlement houses, vocational schools, and boardinghouses that served as temporary respite from harsh urban conditions. Such “redemptive places” saved cities from demographic chaos by delivering social services to the poor well before the emergence of New Deal programs. Today, the federal government is actively promoting religious solutions to urban poverty. The “Charitable Choice” provision included in the 1996 welfare reform legislation makes faith-based organizations eligible to provide services to the poor. Redemptive places, therefore, are as important now as they were in the past. Planners can facilitate the creation of redemptive places by communicating the details of Charitable Choice to state and local agencies that outsource social services, identifying eligible properties, and reducing legal barriers to their existence.     

Sensitization of outer-membrane mutants of Salmonella typhimurium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa to antimicrobial peptides under high pressure

High pressure can sensitize gram-negative bacteria to antimicrobial peptides or proteins through the permeabilization of their outer membranes; however, the range of compounds to which sensitivity is induced is species and strain dependent. We studied the role of outer-membrane properties in this sensitization by making use of a series of rough and deep rough mutants of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium that show an increased degree of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) truncation, along with Pseudomonas aeruginosa PhoP and PhoQ mutants with altered outer-membrane properties. The outer-membrane properties of P. aernginosa were also modulated through the use of different Mg2- concentrations in the growth medium. Each of these strains was challenged under high pressure (15 min at 270 MPa for Salmonella Typhimurium and 15 min at 100 MPa for P. aerttginosa) in phosphate buffer with lysozyme (100 microg/ml), nisin (100 IU/ml), lactoferricin (20 microg/ml), and HEL96-116 (100 microg/ml), a synthetic lysozyme-derived peptide, and sensitization levels were compared. The results obtained indicated that outer-membrane properties affected high-pressure sensitization differently for different compounds. LPS truncation in Salmonella Typhimurium was correlated with increased sensitization to lysozyme (up to 1.5 log10 units) and nisin (up to 1.2 log10 units) but with decreased sensitization to lactoferricin under pressure. For P. aeruginosa, the pattern of sensitization to lactoferricin and nisin resembled that of polymyxin B at atmospheric pressure, suggesting that pressure induces the self-promoted uptake of both peptides. Sensitization to HEL96-116 was not affected by outer-membrane properties for either organism. Hence, outer-membrane permeabilization by high pressure cannot be explained by a single unifying mechanism and is dependent on the organism, the outer-membrane properties, and the nature of the antimicrobial compound. On the basis of these findings, the use of antimicrobial cocktails targeting different bacteria and fractions of bacterial populations may enhance the efficacy of high pressure as a preservation treatment.     

Effect of ethanol on the growth of Clostridium botulinum

Model broth studies were carried out to investigate the effect of ethanol on the growth of proteolytic (group I) strains of Clostridium botulinum. Ethanol extended the pathogen's lag phase, decreased its exponential growth rate, and decreased its final level of growth in the stationary phase. In all cases, botulinum neurotoxin production was associated with growth. Micrographs of C. botulinum cultures grown at 37 degrees C in trypticase peptone glucose yeast extract (TPGY) broths containing 2 and 4% ethanol showed elongation of vegetative cells and interference with cell division. The inhibition of growth and toxin production at the ethanol level predicted (5.5%, wt/wt) was confirmed by microscopy and by the mouse bioassay. A subsequent study was carried out to determine the combined effect of ethanol (0 to 8% [wt/wt]), water activity (aw; 0.953 to 0.997), and pH (6.2 to 8.2) on the probability of the growth of and neurotoxin production by proteolytic strains of C. botulinum (10(3) spores per ml). Growth and neurotoxin production occurred in 1 to 3 days in TPGY broths without ethanol (0%) and in 2 to 4 days in broths containing 2% ethanol regardless of the aw or pH levels (P < 0.005). Growth and neurotoxin production were delayed by an ethanol concentration of 4% ethanol and completely inhibited by a concentration of 6%. At an ethanol concentration of 4%, the probability of growth and toxin production over 365 days (Pt) was influenced by aw and pH. After 365 days, the maximum probability of growth and toxin production (Pmax) was 1 for all but one combination. However, tau, the time it took for 50% of all eventually positive replicates for any given combination of barriers to show growth and/or turbidity, ranged from <3 to 229 days. All tubes of TPGY broths that showed no growth after 365 days were subcultured in fresh TPGY broths. In all cases, growth and toxin production occurred within 24 h at 37 degrees C, indicating the reversible (sporostatic and/or bacteriostatic) effect of ethanol on C. botulinum.     

Effects of plant growth regulators on locusts and cotton stainer bugs

Gibberellic acid is a necessary dietary constituent for normal fast maturation in the desert locust. Diets short of gibberellins, such as senescent vegetation, produce a state of adult diapause. The synthetic plant growth retardant (2-chloroethyl)-trimethylammonium chloride (CCC), either injected into locusts or fed to them as a separate dietary constituent, inhibits meiosis and so retards or prevents sexual maturation. Once this stage of gametogenesis has passed (late in nymphal life) CCC appears to have no further effect, but a single injection just before the onset of meiosis will sterilise locusts completely. Cotton stainers provided with a solution of CCC in their drinking water during the same period of larval life show impaired reproductive function and produce deformed offspring. CCC acts directly upon the insects, quite apart from any secondary effect produced by the altered physiology of the food plant.     

Videotaped family interaction: Differences reflecting presence and type of child disturbance.

Analyzed behavior during videotaped family interaction in an unstructured situation (interpreted as interpersonally stressful). 20 families contained a disturbed child (aggressive, socially withdrawn, or distractible); 10 were normal control families. Repeated judgments were made on evaluative, directing, and activity dimensions. Analyses of covariance (covariate: amount of talking) showed significant differences between fathers but not mothers or children. Fathers of normal children were evaluatively neutral and nondirecting (suggesting low attempts to control others) and untalkative (suggesting social independence). Fathers of disturbed children showed controlling and/or dependent behavior: (a) fathers of distractible children were evaluatively extreme and talkative; (b) fathers of withdrawn children were neutral, nondirecting, and talkative; and (c) fathers of aggressive children were negatively extreme, directing, and untalkative. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mytilene E-guide: a multiplatform mobile application tourist guide exemplar

This paper introduces an approach of enhancing the tourism experience by incorporating a tool that adopts a “web-to-mobile” model into tourism websites that allows for the adaptation of personalized tourism web content to be transferred to a mobile application hosted at users’ mobile device. These applications upon installation to mobile devices allow for browsing of adapted multimedia content with no requirement for constant network connection. Furthermore so we convey the development experiences of a multiplatform mobile tourist guide aimed at producing a personalized mobile guide application used in both an online and offline modes offering services to tourists such as a personal profiling-based recommendation system, a commenting system and location-based services. This paper focuses on the design, implementation and usability case study of a Multi-Platform Tourist Guide system for the Municipal Council of Mytilene, Greece.     

Simulations of complex particle transport in heterogeneous active liquids

Thermal-fluctuation and external force-induced motion of particles provide mechanical and rheological information for viscoelastic liquids and soft solids. Although particle tracking is well-developed, analysis of particle trajectories in active heterogeneous materials, such as living cells, is usually not simple or straightforward. These trajectories are sometimes composed of several concurrent processes occurring simultaneously or episodically in a complex fluid. Here, we introduce simulations that generate 2-dimensional trajectories of probe transport in a viscous liquid as a tool for complex-trajectory analysis. These computer simulations illustrate cases that are physically relevant and highlight key features, such as spatial confinements or convective speeds, which can for example define a cell’s internal structure and active transport along tubules or fibers. Comparison to experimental data will allow quantitative identification of various concurrent processes and understanding of their time dependence. We examine several well-defined cases of particle motion that occur in soft samples, including living cells, and present information from the analysis as well as new approaches for complex processes.     

When 3-year-olds pass the appearance–reality test.

68 3-yr-olds received a standard appearance–reality task along with either a trick task, in which the appearance question was placed in the context of a deceptive game, or a reduced information processing task, in which a dual object (e.g., a sponge-rock) was presented along with an object that matched the dual object's identity (a sponge) and one that matched the dual object's appearance (a rock). Children were more likely to pass either the trick or reduced information processing task and fail the standard than the reverse. Thus, 3-yr-olds can grasp the distinction between appearance and reality (a) when their goal is to trick someone, which may prime them to think about the other's mental state, and (b) when they do not need to hold conflicting object identities in mind at the same time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived control over caregiving outcomes: Implications for child abuse.

We predicted low perceived caregiver control over caregiving failure to be related to (a) coercive or abusive parenting and (b) affective reactions to "difficult" children. On the basis of a multidimensional scaling analysis of the Parent Attribution Test (Study 1), we constructed a scale (PCF) that assessed perceived balance of control over caregiving failure (attributed control to caregivers vs attributed control to children). In Study 2, we found low PCF to predict abusiveness and nonabusive coerciveness among mothers in counseling at a child abuse agency. Additionally, we found low PCF to predict experienced annoyance/irritation among unrelated mothers interacting with children at relatively high risk for abuse (compared with their lower-risk siblings). We interpreted results as demonstrating the potential importance of low perceived control as a moderator of negative affect in response to difficult children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)