Partisans & Partisan Commissions

Article published in the George Mason Law Review

Safeguarding Adults and Mass Marketing Fraud - perspectives from the Police, Trading Standards and the Voluntary Sector

Despite the growing awareness of Mass Marketing Fraud (MMF) in the financial abuse of vulnerable older people, little empirical research has been undertaken in this area. This paper is one of the first to consider the perspectives of a range of professionals who work with victims of mass marketing fraud and financial crime. MMF is a growing threat in the financial abuse of older people, and is increasingly recognised as a concern for professionals involved in supporting and safeguarding vulnerable older people. This paper considers the themes emerging from a small exploratory qualitative study into the perspectives of professionals working to safeguard those at risk of MMF and considers some of the complexities involved in tackling MMF. This involves consideration of the techniques used to groom and lure victims in plausible looking frauds, and the factors which serve to reinforce their sustained involvement in such activity

Homelands in question : Paradoxes of memory and exil in South-Eastern Europe :Introduction au dossier

It is well-known that nationalism simultaneously invokes ideas of blood, home and rootedness, to create for citizens and outsiders the impression that village, town, region and nation represent a “nested” set of loyalties. But where people are driven out, or where refugees or exiles from elsewhere are incorporated into a nation-state, the distance between the metaphorical and literal meanings of these central terms is stretched. Official discourses are often silent on this score : it is in th..

“Winning and losing”: Vulnerability to Mass Marketing Fraud

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the findings from a small qualitative study of victims of mass marketing fraud (MMF), exploring how they become involved in such activity and then sustain their involvement. The article concludes with recommendations for practitioners involved in supporting vulnerable older people. Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers a small exploratory qualitative study into the vulnerability of older people (n=3) to MMF from the perspectives of the ‘victims’ of such fraud, and four professionals from different agencies who work with cases of MMF (n=4). This paper reports specifically on the interviews with older people (n=3). Findings - This paper highlights a range of predisposing risk factors to MMF which emerged as key themes including the psycho-social background of the victim, emotional vulnerability, the need for meaningful activity, and opportunities engagement in meaningful social activity. Research limitations/implications - The small scale of this exploratory study is a limitation, but as there is currently a dearth of research in this area it makes a valuable contribution to the developing knowledge base. Practical implications - Professionals need to develop increased understanding of the complexities of sustained involvement in MMF, and the ways in which fraudsters manipulate potential victims by ‘grooming’ and luring through plausible schemes which appear genuine to the victim. Social implications - MMF is a growing threat in the financial abuse of older people, and is increasingly recognised as a concern for professionals involved in supporting and safeguarding vulnerable older people. Originality – Despite the growing awareness of MMF in the financial abuse of vulnerable older people, this paper is one of the first to consider the perspectives of victims of MMF

Genetic relatedness in carbapenem-resistant isolates from clinical specimens in Ghana using ERIC-PCR technique.

AIM: Enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC) sequence analysis is a powerful tool for epidemiological analysis of bacterial species. This study aimed to determine the genetic relatedness or variability in carbapenem-resistant isolates by species using this technique. METHODS: A total of 111 non-duplicated carbapenem-resistant (CR) Gram-negative bacilli isolates from a three-year collection period (2012-2014) were investigated by enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus-polymerase chain reaction (ERIC-PCR) in four selected hospital laboratories in Ghana. The isolates were also screened for carbapenemase and extended spectrum β-lactamase genes by PCR. RESULTS: A proportion of 23.4% (26/111) of the genomic DNA extracts were carriers of PCR-positive carbapenemase genes, including 14.4% blaNDM-1, 7.2% blaVIM-1 and 1.8% blaOXA-48. The highest prevalence of carbapenemase genes was from non-fermenters, Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. For the ESBL genes tested, 96.4% (107/111) of the CR isolates co-harboured both TEM-1 and SHV-1 genes. The ERIC-PCR gel analysis exhibited 1 to 8 bands ranging from 50 to 800 bp. Band patterns of 93 complex dissimilarities were visually distinguished from the 111 CR isolates studied, while the remaining 18 showed band similarities in pairs. CONCLUSION: Overall, ERIC-PCR fingerprints have shown a high level of diversity among the species of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens and specimen collection sites in this study. ERIC-PCR optimisation assays may serve as a suitable genotyping tool for the assessment of genetic diversity or close relatedness of isolates that are found in clinical settings

Quantitative sensory testing in children with sickle cell disease: additional insights and future possibilities.

Quantitative sensory testing (QST) is used in a variety of pain disorders to characterize pain and predict prognosis and response to specific therapies. In this study, we aimed to confirm results in the literature documenting altered QST thresholds in sickle cell disease (SCD) and assess the test-retest reliability of results over time. Fifty-seven SCD and 60 control subjects aged 8-20 years underwent heat and cold detection and pain threshold testing using a Medoc TSAII. Participants were tested at baseline and 3 months; SCD subjects were additionally tested at 6 months. An important facet of our study was the development and use of a novel QST modelling approach, allowing us to model all data together across modalities. We have not demonstrated significant differences in thermal thresholds between subjects with SCD and controls. Thermal thresholds were consistent over a 3- to 6-month period. Subjects on whom hydroxycarbamide (HC) was initiated shortly before or after baseline testing (new HC users) exhibited progressive decreases in thermal sensitivity from baseline to 6 months, suggesting that thermal testing may be sensitive to effective therapy to prevent vasoocclusive pain. These findings inform the use of QST as an endpoint in the evaluation of preventative pain therapies

The Orbit, Mass, and Albedo of Transneptunian Binary 1999 RZ253

We have observed 1999 RZ253 with the Hubble Space Telescope at seven separate epochs and have fit an orbit to the observed relative positions of this binary. Two orbital solutions have been identified that differ primarily in the inclination of the orbit plane. The best fit corresponds to an orbital period, P=46.263 +0.006/-0.074 days, semimajor axis a=4,660 +/-170 km and orbital eccentricity e=0.460 +/-0.013 corresponding to a system mass m=3.7 +/-0.4 x10^18 kg. For a density of rho = 1000 kg m^-3 the albedo at 477 nm is p = 0.12 +/-0.01, significantly higher than has been commonly assumed for objects in the Kuiper Belt. Multicolor, multiepoch photometry shows this pair to have colors typical for the Kuiper belt with a spectral gradient of 0.35 per 100 nm in the range between 475 and 775 nm. Photometric variations at the four epochs we observed were as large as 12 +/-3% but the sampling is insufficient to confirm the existence of a lightcurve