Youth Justice and Education: A Typology of Educational Approaches to the Resocialisation of Young Offenders in Spain

The Young Offenders Act that entered Spanish law in 2000 represents a significant attempt to place personalised educational programmes for young people with social/criminal problems at the centre of policy and practice. This paper examines the teams and educational programmes designed to manage and implement the goal of ?re-socialisation? enshrined in the Act. This paper focuses on an analytical typology of the educational styles used at young offenders institutions in Spain. The analysis highlights the differences between styles in relation to the key underlying objectives of social reorientation and citizen empowerment. The wide range of models experimented with in different Spanish regions has great relevance to youth justice systems in other countries. For example, the typology we put forward has concrete implications for recent developments in England, in the light of moves towards establishing a national network of ?Secure Colleges? for convicted young people

Esterase variation in Turkish white-toothed shrews (Crocidura): Record of a trimeric esterase

This study focuses on esterase variation of the genus Crocidura in Turkey. A total of 248 white-toothed shrews were analyzed by means of cellulose acetate gel electrophoresis. Liver tissue and alfa naphthyl acetate were used to investigate esterase variation in Turkish white-toothed shrews. A different esterase banding pattern was found in one Crocidura individual. This phenotype had four anodally migrated bands on cellulose acetate gel. The Crocidura individual displaying the given phenotype was identified as Crocidura suaveolens. The different esterase banding pattern observed in this study is considered to be a result of the trimeric structure of esterase in the lesser white-toothed shrew (Crocidura suaveolens)

Do people have insight into their face recognition abilities?

Diagnosis of developmental or congenital prosopagnosia (CP) involves self-report of everyday face recognition difficulties, which are corroborated with poor performance on behavioural tests. This approach requires accurate self-evaluation. We examine the extent to which typical adults have insight into their face recognition abilities across four studies involving nearly 300 participants. The studies used five tests of face recognition ability: two that tap into the ability to learn and recognise previously unfamiliar faces (the Cambridge Face Memory Test, CFMT, Duchaine & Nakayama, 2006 and a newly devised test based on the CFMT but where the study phases involve watching short movies rather than viewing static faces – the CFMT-Films) and three that tap face matching (Benton Facial Recognition Test, BFRT, Benton, Sivan, Hamsher, Varney, & Spreen, 1983; and two recently devised sequential face matching tests). Self-reported ability was measured with the 15-item Kennerknecht et al. (2008) questionnaire; two single-item questions assessing face recognition ability; and a new 77-item meta-cognition questionnaire). Overall, we find that adults with typical face recognition abilities have only modest insight into their ability to recognise faces on behavioural tests. In a fifth study, we assess self-reported face recognition ability in people with CP and find that some people who expect to perform poorly on behavioural tests of face recognition do indeed perform poorly. However, it is not yet clear whether individuals within this group of poor performers have greater levels of insight (i.e., into their degree of impairment) than those with more typical levels of performance

COVID-19. Pandemic surgery guidance

Abstract – Based on high quality surgery and scientific data, scientists and surgeons are committed to protecting patients as well as healthcare staff and hereby provide this Guidance to address the special issues circumstances related to the exponential spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during this pandemic. As a basis, the authors used the British Intercollegiate General Surgery Guidance as well as recommendations from the USA, Asia, and Italy. The aim is to take responsibility and to provide guidance for surgery during the COVID-19 crisis in a simplified way addressing the practice of surgery, healthcare staff and patient safety and care. It is the responsibility of scientists and the surgical team to specify what is needed for the protection of patients and the affiliated healthcare team. During crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the responsibility and duty to provide the necessary resources such as filters, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) consisting of gloves, fluid resistant (Type IIR) surgical face masks (FRSM), filtering face pieces, class 3 (FFP3 masks), face shields and gowns (plastic ponchos), is typically left up to the hospital administration and government. Various scientists and clinicians from disparate specialties provided a Pandemic Surgery Guidance for surgical procedures by distinct surgical disciplines such as numerous cancer surgery disciplines, cardiothoracic surgery, ENT, eye, dermatology, emergency, endocrine surgery, general surgery, gynecology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, pediatric surgery, reconstructive and plastic surgery, surgical critical care, transplantation surgery, trauma surgery and urology, performing different surgeries, as well as laparoscopy, thoracoscopy and endoscopy. Any suggestions and corrections from colleagues will be very welcome as we are all involved and locked in a rapidly evolving process on increasing COVID-19 knowledg

Predictive Value of POSSUM and ACPGBI Scoring in Mortality and Morbidity of Colorectal Resection: A Case–Control Study

Contains fulltext : 97239.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Preoperative risk prediction to assess mortality and morbidity may be helpful to surgical decision making. The aim of this study was to compare mortality and morbidity of colorectal resections performed in a tertiary referral center with mortality and morbidity as predicted with physiological and operative score for enumeration of mortality and morbidity (POSSUM), Portsmouth POSSUM (P-POSSUM), and colorectal POSSUM (CR-POSSUM). The second aim of this study was to analyze the accuracy of different POSSUM scores in surgery performed for malignancy, inflammatory bowel diseases, and diverticulitis. POSSUM scoring was also evaluated in colorectal resection in acute vs. elective setting. In procedures performed for malignancy, the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland (ACPGBI) score was assessed in the same way for comparison. METHODS: POSSUM, P-POSSUM, and CR-POSSUM predictor equations for mortality were applied in a retrospective case-control study to 734 patients who had undergone colorectal resection. The total group was assessed first. Second, the predictive value of outcome after surgery was assessed for malignancy (n = 386), inflammatory bowel diseases (n = 113), diverticulitis (n = 91), and other indications, e.g., trauma, endometriosis, volvulus, or ischemia (n = 144). Third, all subgroups were assessed in relation to the setting in which surgery was performed: acute or elective. In patients with malignancy, the ACPGBI score was calculated as well. In all groups, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed. RESULTS: POSSUM, P-POSSUM, and CR-POSSUM have a significant predictive value for outcome after colorectal surgery. Within the total population as well as in all four subgroups, there is no difference in the area under the curve between the POSSUM, P-POSSUM, and CR-POSSUM scores. In the subgroup analysis, smallest areas under the ROC curve are seen in operations performed for malignancy, which is significantly worse than for diverticulitis and in operations performed for other indications. For elective procedures, P-POSSUM and CR-POSSUM predict outcome significantly worse in patients operated for carcinoma than in patients with diverticulitis. In acute surgical interventions, CR-POSSUM predicts mortality better in diverticulitis than in patients operated for other indications. The ACPGBI score has a larger area under the curve than any of the POSSUM scores. Morbidity as predicted by POSSUM is most accurate in procedures for diverticulitis and worst when the indication is malignancy. CONCLUSION: The POSSUM scores predict outcome significantly better than can be expected by chance alone. Regarding the indication for surgery, each POSSUM score predicts outcome in patients operated for diverticulitis or other indications more accurately than for malignancy. The ACPGBI score is found to be superior to the various POSSUM scores in patients who have (elective) resection of colorectal malignancy

Lack of association between RNASEL Arg462Gln variant and the risk of breast cancer

Background: The RNASEL G1385A variant was recently found to be implicated in the development of prostate cancer. Considering the function of RNase L and the pleiotropic effects of mutations associated with cancer, we sought to investigate whether the RNASEL G1385A variant is a risk factor for breast cancer. Patients and Methods: A total of 453 breast cancer patients and 382 age- and sex-matched controls from Greece and Turkey were analyzed. Genotyping for the RNASEL G1385A variant was performed using an Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS). Results: Statistical evaluation of the RNASEL G1385A genotype distribution among breast cancer patients and controls revealed no significant association between the presence of the risk genotype and the occurrence of breast cancer. Conclusion: Although an increasing number of studies report an association between the RNASEL G1385A variant and prostate cancer risk, this variant does not appear to be implicated in the development of breast cancer

Association and Haplotype Analyses of Positional Candidate Genes in Five Genomic Regions Linked to Scrotal Hernia in Commercial Pig Lines

Scrotal hernia in pigs is a complex trait likely affected by genetic and environmental factors. A large-scale association analysis of positional and functional candidate genes was conducted in four previously identified genomic regions linked to hernia susceptibility on Sus scrofa chromosomes 2 and 12, as well as the fifth region around 67 cM on chromosome 2, respectively. In total, 151 out of 416 SNPs discovered were genotyped successfully. Using a family-based analysis we found that four regions surrounding ELF5, KIF18A, COL23A1 on chromosome 2, and NPTX1 on chromosome 12, respectively, may contain the genetic variants important for the development of the scrotal hernia in pigs. These findings were replicated in another case-control dataset. The SNPs around the ELF5 region were in high linkage disequilibrium with each other, and a haplotype containing SNPs from ELF5 and CAT was highly significantly associated with hernia development. Extensive re-sequencing work focused on the KIF18A gene did not detect any further SNPs with extensive association signals. These genes may be involved in the estrogen receptor signaling pathway (KIF18A and NPTX1), the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (ELF5) and the collagen metabolism pathway (COL23A1), which are associated with the important molecular characteristics of hernia pathophysiology. Further investigation on the molecular mechanisms of these genes may provide more molecular clues on hernia development in pigs

Postoperative outcomes in oesophagectomy with trainee involvement

BACKGROUND: The complexity of oesophageal surgery and the significant risk of morbidity necessitates that oesophagectomy is predominantly performed by a consultant surgeon, or a senior trainee under their supervision. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of trainee involvement in oesophagectomy on postoperative outcomes in an international multicentre setting. METHODS: Data from the multicentre Oesophago-Gastric Anastomosis Study Group (OGAA) cohort study were analysed, which comprised prospectively collected data from patients undergoing oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer between April 2018 and December 2018. Procedures were grouped by the level of trainee involvement, and univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to compare patient outcomes across groups. RESULTS: Of 2232 oesophagectomies from 137 centres in 41 countries, trainees were involved in 29.1 per cent of them (n = 650), performing only the abdominal phase in 230, only the chest and/or neck phases in 130, and all phases in 315 procedures. For procedures with a chest anastomosis, those with trainee involvement had similar 90-day mortality, complication and reoperation rates to consultant-performed oesophagectomies (P = 0.451, P = 0.318, and P = 0.382, respectively), while anastomotic leak rates were significantly lower in the trainee groups (P = 0.030). Procedures with a neck anastomosis had equivalent complication, anastomotic leak, and reoperation rates (P = 0.150, P = 0.430, and P = 0.632, respectively) in trainee-involved versus consultant-performed oesophagectomies, with significantly lower 90-day mortality in the trainee groups (P = 0.005). CONCLUSION: Trainee involvement was not found to be associated with significantly inferior postoperative outcomes for selected patients undergoing oesophagectomy. The results support continued supervised trainee involvement in oesophageal cancer surgery