Analyzing the viability of direct PCR for use in conjunction with cyanoacrylate enhanced fingerprints

Efficient methods for DNA analysis are desperately needed in laboratories due to the influx in DNA analysis requests. The current DNA processing methods are costly, time consuming, and involve multiple tube changes, increasing the risk of contamination. However, the use of direct PCR can simplify the DNA analysis process by eliminating the extraction, purification and quantitation steps. Presently, the FBI Quality Assurance Standard 9.4 requires all evidence samples to be quantitated. As a result, the direct PCR method of DNA processing cannot be implemented on evidence samples at this time. Direct PCR presents the opportunity to provide efficient DNA analysis, making the investigation of this process an important endeavor for the forensic community. This study sought to evaluate the ability of direct PCR to generate DNA profiles from fingerprints that have been previously enhanced using cyanoacrylate. Traditional methods of DNA analysis used on fingerprints post chemical processing have resulted in full DNA profiles. In addition, direct PCR has been successful on a wide variety of samples containing potential inhibitors, even those visualized with various dactyloscopic powders. No studies have assessed the ability of using direct PCR to acquire DNA profiles from cyanoacrylate treated fingerprints, representing a gap in knowledge for the forensic community. An area of concern for the use of direct PCR is the loss of purification steps meant to remove PCR inhibitors, which could be problematic for analysis of chemically processed fingerprints. Therefore, the assessment of the viability of direct PCR on these types of evidence samples is of critical importance. Participants deposited fingerprints onto glass slides that were subsequently treated with cyanoacrylate. 60 samples were processed using direct PCR and 60 samples were processed through a traditional extraction method. Results were evaluated based on percent recoverability, calculated based on the number of alleles observed over the number of alleles expected. Traditional methods were shown to have the greatest success overall with 53% of samples having at least one correct allele call, however direct PCR showed some success with only 23%. These results indicate that processing cyanoacrylate fumed fingerprint samples using direct PCR is possible and further experimentation and optimization could potentially increase these success rates

Learning to be drier in dryland country

This research project, part of a much larger study, considered how people in regional communities learnt to deal with the impact of reduced water availability as a result of drought or climate change. The communities in the Mallee-Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia, were the focus of this study and a range of local people from different sectors of the communities were involved in interviews, which became our main data source. We recognise the limitation that not all viewpoints could possibly be accessed in the participant selection process. The resultant data indicated that significant changes were being made to local practices as a result of the learning taking place and that there were a range of processes which enabled adult learning across the communities

The educative role of a regional newspaper : learning to be drier

Throughout the world, people have to deal with the issues of global warming and other more direct consequences of environmental change. This paper considers how a local newspaper has an educative function in a small community in advising people of specific issues and learning how to deal with changing resources. Across the period of several months in 2009, the Buloke Times, a local newspaper in the Wimmera-Mallee region of Victoria, Australia, was scanned for articles relating to the issue of water scarcity. In the 24 editions of the paper, 68 articles of various themes were found. The articles/themes were analysed along a number of lines: frequency across time, frequency within each issue, prominence of articles and unusual events. This research paper develops an overview of the role of the newspaper and its capacity to influence and educate the people who constitute its readership

Gastric Tube Placement in Children 1-215 Months Old

poster abstractFeeding by a nasogastric/orogastric (NG/OG) tube is preferred when the gastrointestinal system is functional and the need for assisted feeding is expected to be short-term. Preliminary studies in children show that between 21% and 44% of these tubes are placed incorrectly. When tubes are out of place, children can be seriously harmed, causing increased morbidity and occasionally death. The aims of this study were to determine the best method to predict the insertion distance for placing NG/OG tubes and to determine the best clinical methods of testing the location of NG/OG tubes once they were inserted. A randomized clinical trial was conducted. The three insertion-distance prediction methods tested were nose-ear-xiphoid (NEX); nose-ear-mid-umbilicus (NEMU); and age-related, height-based (ARHB). An abdominal radiograph was obtained immediately following tube insertion to determine the internal location of the tube tip and orifice(s). Based on data from 95 children age 1-220 months (M = 51.8, SD = 54.9, median = 33.4), both the ARHB and NEMU methods were superior to NEX in placing the tube in the stomach (p = .0064). ARHB and NEMU were not significantly different from each other. NEX was frequently too short (41.93% of tube insertions) leaving the tube tip and/or orifices in the esophagus. The three clinical methods of testing tube location were CO2 monitoring and measuring pH and bilirubin in tube aspirate. Measuring pH of tube aspirate was the superior clinical method of determining tube location. Aspirate was available for testing in 84 children (88.42%). Based on a pH cutoff of 5 (recommended by Metheny in fasting adults), the sensitivity was 26.67 (low), specificity was 80.60 (high), positive predictive value was 23.53 (low), and negative predictive value was 83.08 (high). Measuring the NEX distance is the method most commonly used by nurses in practice; therefore, based on the results of this study and studies of other researchers, a practice change to either ARHB or NEMU should improve the safety of enteral feeding in children. Because of the low sensitivity in predicting misplaced tubes using pH, the superior clinical method, obtaining an abdominal x-ray to ensure placement in the stomach at the time of tube insertion is recommended

Wicked learning : reflecting on learning to be drier

In this final, collaborative paper in the Learning to be drier edition, we reflect on and draw together some of the key threads from the diverse narratives in our four site papers from across the southern Murray-Darling Basin. Our paper title, Wicked learning, draws on a recent body literature (Rittel & Webber 1973) about messy or 'wicked problems' as characterised by Dietz and Stern (1998). It picks up on our identification of the difficulty and enormity of the learning challenges being faced by communities, associated, at best, with a decade of record dry years (drought) and severely over-committed rivers. At worst, drought is occurring in combination with and as a precursor to recent, progressive drying of the Basin associated with climate change. Our research is suggestive of a need for much more learning across all segments of the adult community about '... the big picture, including the interrelationships among the full range of causal factors ...' (Australian Public Service Commission, APSC 2007: 1) underlying the presenting problem of drying. We conclude that solutions to the messy or wicked problem of drying in an interconnected Basin will lie in the social domain. This will include building a wider knowledge and acceptance of the problems and likely future risks across the Basin including all parts of communities. The problem of drying as well as its causes and solutions are multidimensional, and will involve comprehensive learning about all five key characteristics of other 'wicked' policy problems identified in previous research in the environmental arena. The narratives that we have heard identify the extreme difficulty in all four sites of rational and learned responses to being drier as the problem has unfolded. All narratives about being drier that we have heard involve a recognition of a combination of the five characteristics common to wicked problems: multidimensionality, scientific uncertainty, value conflict and uncertainty, mistrust as well as urgency. All narratives identify the importance of social learning: to be productive, to be efficient, to survive, to live with uncertainty, to be sustainable and to share. Combating the extent and effects of drying, causality aside, will require new forms of learning through new community, social and learning spaces, apart from and in addition to new technological and scientific learning

It Takes a Village

Through collaboration and teamwork, we tried to fulfill the needs of refugees coming into the country. We created a temporary society (urban plan) through the use of IKEA shelters in order to better the everyday lives of refugees who are in limbo waiting for approval in the country they landed. We hope the plan will spark a sense of community, contribution, and improve the mental health of the society residing there. Nexus Maximus IV The Challenge: Innovation for Refugees and Displaced Populations One of the great challenges of our time is how to help refugees and displaced populations, and how to prevent the causes in the first place. Every minute, 24 people around the world are forced to flee their homes. That’s 34,000 people a day who leave everything behind in the hope of finding safety and a better tomorrow. The impact of war, political, racial and religious conflict, and environmental crises of famine and climate change, have caused great suffering and there is a great opportunity to do better. The issues these populations and the countries who receive them face are diverse and complex. They include public health, housing/built environment, cultural integration, public safety, employment/economic and more. How can innovation address these challenges? How do we create the social systems and products to support a healthy, safe and integrated program for refugees? How do we address the physical, emotional, and social needs of refugees to restore hope and opportunity? The solutions may be as far ranging as the challenges, exploring the acute needs during a crisis, as well as the chronic needs of the permanently displaced; looking at immigration and adjustments to new cultures. We encourage participants to draw upon all disciplines, from health professions to architecture, engineering to design, ethics, communication and every way of thinking we have, to find better ways to innovate on physical solutions, processes, policies, systems, and more. Recap of poster presentationshttps://jdc.jefferson.edu/nexusmaximus/1009/thumbnail.jp

Lessons for conservation management: Monitoring temporal changes in genetic diversity of Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra)

The Cape mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) is a subspecies of mountain zebra endemic to South Africa. The Cape mountain zebra experienced near extinction in the early 1900's and their numbers have since recovered to more than 4,800 individuals. However, there are still threats to their long-term persistence. A previous study reported that Cape mountain zebra had low genetic diversity in three relict populations and that urgent conservation management actions were needed to mitigate the risk of further loss. As these suggestions went largely unheeded, we undertook the present study, fifteen years later to determine the impact of management on genetic diversity in three key populations. Our results show a substantial loss of heterozygosity across the Cape mountain zebra populations studied. The most severe losses occurred at De Hoop Nature Reserve where expected heterozygosity reduced by 22.85% from 0.385 to 0.297. This is alarming, as the De Hoop Nature Reserve was previously identified as the most genetically diverse population owing to its founders originating from two of the three remaining relict stocks. Furthermore, we observed a complete loss of multiple private alleles from all populations, and a related reduction in genetic structure across the subspecies. These losses could lead to inbreeding depression and reduce the evolutionary potential of the Cape mountain zebra. We recommend immediate implementation of evidence-based genetic management and monitoring to prevent further losses, which could jeopardise the long term survival of Cape mountain zebra, especially in the face of habitat and climate change and emerging diseases

The health of detainees and the role of primary care: Position paper of the European Forum for Primary Care

This position paper aims to increase awareness among primary care practitioners and policymakers about the specific and complex health needs of people who experience incarceration. We focus on the importance of primary care and of continuity of care between prison and community. We highlight what is known from the literature on the health of people who experience incarceration, on the organisation of prison health care, and on the role of primary care both during and after detention. We present three case descriptions of detainees’ encounters with the organisation of prison health care in three European countries. Finally, we describe the position that the European Forum for Primary Care takes. Prisoners and ex-prisoners have a worse physical and mental health compared with a cross-section of the population. However, access to good quality treatment and care is often worse than in the outside situation. In particular, well-organised primary care in the prison context could benefit prisoners and, indirectly, society at large. Moreover, continuity of care between the community and the prison situation needs improvement

9. Management of captive animals

Husbandry interventions for captive breeding amphibians Expert assessors Kay Bradfield, Perth Zoo, Australia Jeff Dawson, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, UK Devin Edmonds, Association Mitsinjo, Madagascar Jonathan Kolby, Honduras Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center, Honduras Stephanie Jayson, Veterinary Department, Zoological Society of London, UK Daniel Nicholson, Queen Mary University of London, UK Silviu O. Petrovan, Cambridge University, UK and Froglife Trust, UK Jay Redbond, Wi..

One step forward and two steps back? The ‘20 Principles’ for questioning vulnerable witnesses and the lack of an evidence-based approach

It is a widely held belief that questioning vulnerable witnesses is a specialist skill. In England and Wales vulnerable witness advocacy training built around ‘20 Principles’ has been developed and is being delivered. The 20 Principles do not cite a tested theoretical framework(s) or empirical evidence in support. This paper considers whether the 20 Principles are underpinned by research evidence. It is submitted that advocacy training and the approach to questioning witnesses in the courtroom should take into account the already available research evidence. The authors make recommendations for revision of the training and for a wider review of the approach taken to the handling of witness evidence