Estimating Time Since Death from Postmortem Human Gut Microbial Communities

Postmortem succession of human‐associated microbial communities (“human microbiome”) has been suggested as a possible method for estimating postmortem interval (PMI) for forensic analyses. Here we evaluate human gut bacterial populations to determine quantifiable, time‐dependent changes postmortem. Gut microflora were repeatedly sampled from the proximal large intestine of 12 deceased human individuals as they decayed under environmental conditions. Three intestinal bacterial genera were quantified by quantitative PCR (qPCR) using group‐specific primers targeting 16S rRNA genes. Bacteroides and Lactobacillus relative abundances declined exponentially with increasing PMI at rates of N_t = 0.977e^?0.0144t (r² = 0.537, p < 0.001) and N_t = 0.019e^?0.0087t (r² = 0.396, p < 0.001), respectively, where N_t is relative abundance at time (t) in cumulative degree hours. Bifidobacterium relative abundances did not change significantly: N_t = 0.003e^?0.002t (r² = 0.033, p = 0.284). Therefore, Bacteroides and Lactobacillus abundances could be used as quantitative indicators of PMI.     

COVID-19 Stressors and Latinx Adolescents’ Mental Health Symptomology and School Performance: A Prospective Study

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - This study addressed the need for research examining impacts of the Coronavirus-19 (COVID) pandemic on Latinx adolescents’ adjustment. Survey data for a...     

Social Justice and the University Community: Does Campus Involvement Make a Difference?

We examined perceptions on school sense of community and social justice attitudes among undergraduates (N = 427; 308 women, 115 men; M age = 19.72, SD = 1.91), and how year in school and club membership affected these constructs. Results demonstrated that involvement with a greater number of clubs was associated with having a stronger school sense of community and more positive social justice attitudes. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that year in school did not significantly predict social justice attitudes. Results suggested that greater involvement and sense of school belonging might be linked to social justice attitudes.     

A Comparative Analysis of Entrepreneurial Approaches Within Public Healthcare Organisations

This article examines the development of two distinct models of organising allied health professionals within two public sector health service organisations in Australia. The first case illustrated a mode of organising that facilitated a culture that focused on asset protection and whose external orientation was threat oriented because its disparate multiple identities operated as a fractured, fragmented and competitive set of profession disciplines. In this milieu, there was no evidence of entrepreneurial approaches being used. In contrast, the second case study illustrated a mode of organising that facilitated an entrepreneurial culture that focused on asset growth and an external orientation that was opportunity oriented because of the evolution of a strong superordinate allied health identity that operated as a single united health services stakeholder. This evolution was coupled with the emergence of a corporate boardroom model of management that is consonant with Savage et al. (1997) IDS/N model of management. Once this structure and strategy were in place, corporate entrepreneur ship became the modus operandi. Consequently, because the case study was a situation where corporate entrepreneurship existed in the public sector, it was possible to compare the factors that stimulate corporate entrepreneurship in Sadler's (2000) study with factors that were observed in our study.     

The stigma of public programs: Does a separate S‐CHIP program reduce it?

Previous studies suggest access to and satisfaction with care may be different for enrollees in S-CHIP and Medicaid, but it is unclear whether those differences are fully explained by socioeconomic characteristics of the enrollees. We analyze access and satisfaction of three groups of children: Medicaid enrolled, S-CHIP enrolled, and children who are income eligible for Medicaid but carry a card similar to the state's S-CHIP children's card. Both enrollees and providers may believe that these children are enrolled in S-CHIP despite the fact that reimbursement is through the state's Medicaid system. Results indicate that the same network of providers treat, or are perceived by families to treat, the three groups differently. They support the notion that some of the differences in satisfaction between S-CHIP and Medicaid enrollees are related to unmeasured characteristics (for example, income) of the families in the different programs, but that programmatic identity contributes substantially to differential care experience.