Prerequisites in behavioral science and business: opportunities for dental education.

There is increasing pressure on recent dental school graduates to understand and successfully utilize patient management and business management strategies to run a productive dental office. Dental schools are faced with the dilemma to either add more credit hours in their already crowded curriculum or adjust predental school requirements. All fifty-nine U.S. dental schools were assessed online to determine admission requirements in the areas of behavioral science and business education. Results show that only 11.9 percent of the schools require prerequisite course work in behavioral science and no school requires prerequisite course work in business. However, 64.4 percent and 30.5 percent of schools encouraged or recommended prerequisite course work in behavioral science and business, respectively. We suggest that the dental education community involve key stakeholders to discuss the incorporation of prerequisite course work in behavioral science and business. Additional courses in these disciplines would provide dental students better backgrounds from which the dental curriculum could build a more advanced and applied perspective to better prepare students for practice

The diet of a small group of extralimital giraffe

Giraffe are extralimital in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa where recent local introductions have persisted despite limited research into their impact on the indigenous flora. The diet of 15 giraffe at the Shamwari Game Reserve was recorded by direct observation during summer (March/April) and winter (July/August) 2001, quantifying diet by frequency of occurrence (individual records scored and expressed as a percentage of the total). Preference indices were also calculated. Habitat use was measured by the number of hours giraffe fed in different habitats. The diet comprised of 14 plant species, the most important species being Rhus longispina (47.9%), Acacia karroo (25.7%) and Euclea undulata (17.6%). Importance of R. longispina, A. karroo and Tarchonanthus camphoratus fluctuated seasonally. Rhus longispina was more important in winter with a corresponding decrease in feeding on A. karroo. Tarchonanthus camphoratus was only consumed during summer. Acacia karroo thickets (previously disturbed areas) were utilized most (summer 12 h; winter 9 h), with alternative habitats utilized more often in winter than in summer. We suggest that the seasonal fluctuation in the importance of R. longispina & A. karroo reflects the deciduous nature of A. karroo

Cartridge Case and Bullet Comparison : Examples of Evaluative Reporting

This paper presents examples of how to report results when using a probabilistic approach in the field of firearms. Three European Institutes who have adopted a Likelihood Ratio (LR) -based approach in their practice were asked to produce the evaluation section of a report based on a fictious case. Background information about the Institutes, their conclusion scales, and reporting formats is presented. The article ends with a brief overview of recent developments within the ENFSI (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes) community where guidelines for evaluative reports have been formulated and are now published. The current collaborative approach between Institutes, presented in this article, offers an opportunity to discuss practical issues related to this approach. More specifically, this is an opportunity to introduce the ENFSI guidelines and its tenets, providing more tools for firearms/toolmarks examiners to progress toward a LR-based approach