Dicksonmcfarland8577

The social, financial, and emotional repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic has left many organizations that support survivors of intimate partner violence questioning how to maintain core services while addressing compounding individual, organizational, and public health issues. Stay-at-home orders and other COVID-19 mitigation strategies have resulted in reduced shelter availability and increased intimate partner violence rates. Coupled with the economic impact of the pandemic, these factors have threatened financial and housing stability. To better understand these challenges and provide immediate support, The National Alliance for Safe Housing (NASH) co-hosted a peer support call to provide a virtual platform for practitioners to ask questions, discuss challenges, and share strategies for quality service provision during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over 800 practitioners from across the United States participated in the NASH call, most of whom were advocates, program directors, and managers. NASH gathered data on practitioners' needs from a brief survey from the registration form analyzed using conventional inductive content analysis. Practitioners' primary concerns were situated within eight questions, which we categorized into four meta-categories (1) managing residential housing programs; (2) getting survivors materials resources; (3) keeping staff safe; and (4) maintaining organizational operations. The paper concludes with community-grounded and empirically supported practice recommendations aligned with practitioners' expressed needs.The COVID-19 pandemic and related quarantine has created additional problems for survivors of interpersonal violence. The purpose of this study is to gain a preliminary understanding of the health, safety, and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on people that are experiencing or have previously experienced violence, stalking, threats, and/or abuse. An online survey, open from April to June 2020, was taken by people with safety concerns from interpersonal violence. Participants were recruited from IPV and sexual assault-focused agencies, state coalitions, and social media. Quantitative data were summarized using descriptive methods in SPSS and coding methods from thematic and content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data from open-ended questions. A total of 53 participants were recruited for the survey. Individuals with safety concerns have experienced increased challenges with health and work concerns, stress from economic instability, difficulties staying safe, and access resources and support. Over 40% of participants reported safety had decreased. Use of social media and avoidance strategies were the most common safety approaches used. Participants reported mixed experiences with virtual services. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing structural concerns for survivors of violence like IPV and sexual assault. Increased support and economic resource access, coupled with modified safety planning and improved virtual approaches, would better help meet survivor needs.The negative effects of men's excessive alcohol consumption on family members are well known. However, less is known about how men's alcohol dependence is associated with the mental health of their female spouses residing with them. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with depression, anxiety, and intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) whose male spouses are undergoing treatment for alcohol dependence. We hypothesize that men with alcohol dependency, who are also violent, present a serious threat to women's mental health. We conducted a cross-sectional study among 104 women whose male partners had been admitted for inpatient treatment for alcohol dependence. Women's depression was measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II); anxiety was measured by the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and exposure to physical and sexual IPVAW was measured by the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS-2). Multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted in order to analyze factors associated with depression and anxiety. The prevalence of moderate/severe depression and anxiety among the women was 34.6% and 25.2%, respectively, while almost half (48.1%) experienced IPV during the past 12 months. After adjustments for age, exposure to IPV increased the chances of experiencing moderate/severe depression by 37.5 times (95% CI 7.91-177.76), and 8.15 times for moderate/severe anxiety (95% CI 2.45-27.14). The mental health of women whose partners have alcohol dependence is significantly threatened and should be considered, especially when it is associated with exposure to spousal violence.The recent scientific progress has shown the promising effect of the vaccine in immunotherapy of cancer, which relies on the antigen processing/presentation capability of dendritic cells (DCs). As a result, cancer vaccines targeting DC, which also named as DC vaccine, was a hot-spot in vaccine development. Herein, a nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC) was employed to load chlorin e6 (Ce6) to serve as a potential in situ DC vaccine (NLC/Ce6) for effective immunotherapy of gastric cancer. Taking advantage of the photodynamic effect of Ce6 to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) under laser irradiation, the NLC/Ce6 was able to trigger cell death and expose tumor-associated antigen (TAA). Moreover, mimicking the natural inflammatory response, the ROS can also recruit the DC for the effective processing/presentation of the in situ exposed TAA. As expected, we observed strong capability DC vaccination efficacy of this platform to effectively inhibit the growth of both primary and distant gastric tumors.Synthetic cationic polymer-mediated synthesis of silver nanoparticles and selective antimicrobial activity of the same were demonstrated. Polyethyleneimine (PEI)-coated silver nanoparticles showed antimicrobial activity against Acinetobacter baumannii as a function of the polymeric molecular weight (MW) of PEI. Silver nanoparticles were coated with PEI of three different MWs Ag-NP-1 with PEI exhibiting a MW of 750,000, Ag-NP-2 with PEI exhibiting a MW of 1300, and Ag-NP-3 with PEI exhibiting a MW of 60,000. These nanoparticles showed a particle size distribution of 4-20 nm. The nanoparticles exhibited potent antimicrobial activity against A. baumannii, with the minimum inhibitory concentration of Ag-NP-1, Ag-NP-2, and Ag-NP-3 on the order of 5, 10, and 5 μg/mL, respectively, and minimum bactericidal concentration of Ag-NP-1, Ag-NP-2, and Ag-NP-3 on the order of 10, 20, and 10 μg/mL, respectively. Fluorescence imaging of Ag-NPs revealed selective transfusion of Ag-NPs across the cell membrane as a function of the polymeric MW; differential interaction of the cytoplasmic proteins during antimicrobial activity was observed.The Southeast Missouri Lead District is among the most productive lead deposits exploited in modern times. Intensive mining conducted prior to regulations resulted in a legacy of lead contaminated soil, large piles of mine tailings and elevated childhood blood lead levels. This study seeks to identify the source of the lead contamination in the Big River and inform risk to the public. Isotopic analysis indicated the mine tailing piles at the head of the Big River are the primary source of the lead contamination. The isotopic signature of the lead in these mine tailings matched the lead over 100 km downstream. All of the other potential lead sources investigated had different isotopic signatures. Lead concentrations in soils and sediments decrease with distance downstream of the mine tailings piles. Additionally, the speciation of the lead changes from predominantly mineralized forms, such as galena, to adsorbed lead. This is reflected in the in-vitro bioaccessibility assay (IVBA) analysis which shows higher bioaccessibility further downstream, demonstrating the importance of speciation in risk evaluation.A unique automated planetary boundary layer (PBL) retrieval algorithm is proposed as a common cross-platform method for use with commercially available ceilometers for implementation under the redesigned U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Stations program. This algorithm addresses instrument signal quality and screens for precipitation and cloud layers before the implementation of the retrieval methodology using the Haar wavelet covariance transform method. learn more Layer attribution for the PBL height is supported with the use of continuation and time-tracking parameters, and uncertainties are calculated for individual PBL height retrievals. Commercial ceilometer retrievals are tested against radiosonde PBL height and cloud-base height during morning and late afternoon transition times, critical to air quality model prediction and when retrieval algorithms struggle to identify PBL heights. A total of 58 radiosonde profiles were used and retrievals for nocturnal stable layers, residual layers and mixing layers were assessed. Overall good agreement was found for all comparisons with one system showing limitations for the cases of nighttime surface stable layers and daytime mixing layer. It is recommended that nighttime shallow stable layer retrievals be performed with a recommended minimum height or with additional verification. Retrievals of residual layer heights and mixing layer comparisons revealed overall good correlations to radiosonde heights (correlation coefficients, r2, ranging from 0.89 - 0.96 and bias ranging from ~ -131 to +63 m, and r2 from 0.88 - 0.97 and bias from -119 to +101 m, respectively).Storms strongly affect coral reefs; one unstudied but potentially important outcome may be a decrease in herbivory, presumably through changes to freshwater, sediment and nutrient influx. Algal turfs are sensitive early indicators of reef condition, and experimental evidence demonstrates low sediment loads and strong herbivory maintain short, healthy turf. While unknown, storms likely disrupt these controlling forces. We have observed storms that generate frequent, visible sediment plumes in Moorea, French Polynesia. To evaluate the effects of storms on herbivory, we conducted a set of field experiments manipulating herbivore access to naturally occurring turf under three rainfall regimes no rain, light rain, and heavy rain that generated a plume event. We found strong effects of herbivores except following the storm, indicating disruption of typically strong top-down control by herbivores on algal turfs. Further research into the underlying mechanisms is critical as storm intensities and watershed development increase in many tropical regions.The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the pretreatment methods and sampling time on the sampling of airborne bacteria in hospitals. Methods for the pretreatment of Andersen samplers, namely, non-sterilized, 75% ethanol and autoclaving sampled for 5 min, 10 min and 15 min in the general ward and class 1000 clean operating department, respectively, were studied. Statistical analysis was used to compare the differences in sampling results of airborne bacteria under different pretreatment methods, sampling time and environmental conditions. In the first test, the sampling results of the airborne bacteria obtained by pretreatment of the sampler with 75% ethanol and without pre-treatment were not very different, and the sampling results showed a certain declining trend with the extension of the sampling time. In the second test, the pretreatment effect of autoclaving was significantly better than that of 75% ethanol, and the sampling time had no effect on the sampling results. After removing the influencing factors of the environment, the results were consistent with the results of the second test.