A voice for change? Trust relationships between ombudsmen, individuals and public service providers

There has been a debate for years about what the role of the ombudsman is. This article examines a key component of the role, to promote trust in public services and government. To be able to do this, however, an ombudsman needs to be perceived as legitimate and be trusted by a range of stakeholders, including the user. This article argues that three key relationships in a person’s complaint journey can build trust in an institution, and must therefore be understood as a system. The restorative justice framework is adapted to conceptualize this trust model as a novel approach to understanding the institution from the perspective of its users. Taking two public sector ombudsmen as examples, the article finds that voice and trust need to be reinforced through the relationships in a consumer journey to manage individual expectations, prevent disengagement, and thereby promote trust in the institution, in public service providers, and in government

Altered cross-frequency coupling in resting-state MEG after mild traumatic brain injury

Cross-frequency coupling (CFC) is thought to represent a basic mechanism of functional integration of neural networks across distant brain regions. In this study, we analyzed CFC profiles from resting state Magnetoencephalographic (MEG) recordings obtained from 30 mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) patients and 50 controls. We used mutual information (MI) to quantify the phase-to-amplitude coupling (PAC) of activity among the recording sensors in six nonoverlapping frequency bands. After forming the CFC-based functional connectivity graphs, we employed a tensor representation and tensor subspace analysis to identify the optimal set of features for subject classification as mTBI or control. Our results showed that controls formed a dense network of stronger local and global connections indicating higher functional integration compared to mTBI patients. Furthermore, mTBI patients could be separated from controls with more than 90% classification accuracy. These findings indicate that analysis of brain networks computed from resting-state MEG with PAC and tensorial representation of connectivity profiles may provide a valuable biomarker for the diagnosis of mTBI

Regular Patterns in Cerebellar Purkinje Cell Simple Spike Trains

Background. Cerebellar Purkinje cells (PC) in vivo are commonly reported to generate irregular spike trains, documented by high coefficients of variation of interspike-intervals (ISI). In strong co

Restorative Justice and Mediation

ARTICLES: : 1. Editorial 2. J.C.J.Boutellier - Beyond the criminal justice paradox; Alternatives between law and morality 3. T.F. Marshall - The evolution of restorative justice in Britain 4. F. Dinkel - Töter-Opfer-Ausgleich; German experiences with mediation in a European perspective 5. L. Walgrave and I. Aertsen - Reintegrative shaming and restorative justice; Interchangeable, complementary or different? 6. J. Dullum - The Norwegian mediation boards 7. A. Zandbergen - Shaming in a Dutch diversion project 8. Manuel J.J. Lopez - Crime prevention within metro systems; 9. A. Bequai Cyber crime: the US experience; 10. Penal justice information from France (CESDIP) 11. Crime institute profile: Institute of Justice, Warsaw, Polan

Contours of a European Criminology

ARTICLES: : 1. Editorial 2. Ineke Haen Marshall - The Criminological Enterprise in Europe and the United States: A Contextual Exploration 3. Monica den Boer - The Fight against Organised Crime in Europe: A Comparative Perspective 4. Malcolm W. Klein - Thoughts on Juvenile Justice Research and Systems 5. Willy Bruggeman - International Law Enforcement Co-Operation: A Critical Assessment 6. Ivo Aertsen and Jolien Willemsens - The European Forum for Victim-Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice 7. Adriënne Baars-Schuyt - Overview of criminology in Europe 8. Is there a Need for European Criminology? Comments by Rosemary Barberet, Josine Junger-Tas, Martin Killias, Hans-Joachim Schneider, Alenka Sélih, Bas van Stokkom, Henrik Tham and Lode Walgrav

New sanctioning options

ARTICLES: : 1. Editorial 2. Josine Junger-Tas - Recent Trends in Sentencing Policies in The Netherlands 3. Ivo Aertsen and Tony Peters - Mediation and Restorative Justice in Belgium 4. F.W.M. McElrea - The New Zealand Model of Family Group Conferences 5. Alan W. Leschied and Alison Cunningham - Alternatives to Custody for High-Risk Young Offenders: The Multisystemic Therapy Approach 6. Klára Kerezsi - Costs of Alternative Sanctions in Hungary 7. Jana Valkova - Some Remarks on the Implementation of Community Sanctions and Measures 8. Current Issues: Christine Lazerges and Jean-Pierre Balduyck - Response to Juvenile Delinquency: Report to the French Prime Minister 9. Commentaries on the White Paper “No More Excuses” 10. Sturla Falck - Rights of the Child 11. Barry Krisberg - A Blame Culture 12. Lode Walgrave - Trying to Pick up the Pieces 13. Catrien C.J.H. Bijleveld - Methodological Issues in the Study of Domestic Victimisation Prevalence 14. Crime Institute Profile: Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal La

Ontwikkeling van een instrument voor risicotaxatie van solistische dreigers

In this study a new personal index card was developed that can provide relevant data needed to assess the risk of solitary threateners turning to violence. These data can also help decide if preventive remedies are needed to end harassments and threats.In de afgelopen jaren vonden in Nederland enkele opmerkelijke (moord)aanslagen op publieke personen door individuen plaats, namelijk op Pim Fortuyn (2002), op Theo van Gogh (2004) en op het koningshuis door Karst T. (2009). Dit leidde tot vragen als: hoe is het gesteld met de veiligheid van publieke personen, waren er van tevoren aanwijzingen dat de gebeurtenissen zouden plaatsvinden en hoe kunnen dergelijke gebeurtenissen in de toekomst worden voorkomen? In dit onderzoek staan solistische dreigers centraal bij wie sprake is van een fixatie op een of meerdere publieke personen in het rijksdomein. Om dreigingen tegen te gaan is in deze studie een nieuw instrument (persoonskaart) ontwikkeld. Hiermee kan relevante informatie verzameld worden om te beoordelen of maatregelen moeten worden genomen om een patroon van dreigingen en/of overlast te doorbreken en verdere dreigingen te voorkomen. Tevens is ervoor gezorgd dat de persoonskaart onderdeel kan uitmaken van een dreigingsmanagement systeem dat door de pilot Dreigingsmanagement wordt gebruikt

A New Family of Lysozyme Inhibitors Contributing to Lysozyme Tolerance in Gram-Negative Bacteria

Lysozymes are ancient and important components of the innate immune system of animals that hydrolyze peptidoglycan, the major bacterial cell wall polymer. Bacteria engaging in commensal or pathogenic interactions with an animal host have evolved various strategies to evade this bactericidal enzyme, one recently proposed strategy being the production of lysozyme inhibitors. We here report the discovery of a novel family of bacterial lysozyme inhibitors with widespread homologs in gram-negative bacteria. First, a lysozyme inhibitor was isolated by affinity chromatography from a periplasmic extract of Salmonella Enteritidis, identified by mass spectrometry and correspondingly designated as PliC (periplasmic lysozyme inhibitor of c-type lysozyme). A pliC knock-out mutant no longer produced lysozyme inhibitory activity and showed increased lysozyme sensitivity in the presence of the outer membrane permeabilizing protein lactoferrin. PliC lacks similarity with the previously described Escherichia coli lysozyme inhibitor Ivy, but is related to a group of proteins with a common conserved COG3895 domain, some of them predicted to be lipoproteins. No function has yet been assigned to these proteins, although they are widely spread among the Proteobacteria. We demonstrate that at least two representatives of this group, MliC (membrane bound lysozyme inhibitor of c-type lysozyme) of E. coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, also possess lysozyme inhibitory activity and confer increased lysozyme tolerance upon expression in E. coli. Interestingly, mliC of Salmonella Typhi was picked up earlier in a screen for genes induced during residence in macrophages, and knockout of mliC was shown to reduce macrophage survival of S. Typhi. Based on these observations, we suggest that the COG3895 domain is a common feature of a novel and widespread family of bacterial lysozyme inhibitors in gram-negative bacteria that may function as colonization or virulence factors in bacteria interacting with an animal host

Characterizing RecA-Independent Induction of Shiga toxin2-Encoding Phages by EDTA Treatment

Background: The bacteriophage life cycle has an important role in Shiga toxin (Stx) expression. The induction of Shiga toxin-encoding phages (Stx phages) increases toxin production as a result of replication of the phage genome, and phage lysis of the host cell also provides a means of Stx toxin to exit the cell. Previous studies suggested that prophage induction might also occur in the absence of SOS response, independently of RecA. Methodology/Principal Findings: The influence of EDTA on RecA-independent Stx2 phage induction was assessed, in laboratory lysogens and in EHEC strains carrying Stx2 phages in their genome, by Real-Time PCR. RecA-independent mechanisms described for phage l induction (RcsA and DsrA) were not involved in Stx2 phage induction. In addition, mutations in the pathway for the stress response of the bacterial envelope to EDTA did not contribute to Stx2 phage induction. The effect of EDTA on Stx phage induction is due to its chelating properties, which was also confirmed by the use of citrate, another chelating agent. Our results indicate that EDTA affects Stx2 phage induction by disruption of the bacterial outer membrane due to chelation of Mg 2+. In all the conditions evaluated, the pH value had a decisive role in Stx2 phage induction. Conclusions/Significance: Chelating agents, such as EDTA and citrate, induce Stx phages, which raises concerns due to their frequent use in food and pharmaceutical products. This study contributes to our understanding of the phenomenon o