Prison(er) auto/biography, 'true crime', and teaching, learning, and research in criminology

The main aim of this essay is to explore prisoner life writing within the specific, richly and multiply dependent context of teaching and learning undergraduate criminology at an English university, from the authorial viewpoint of a teacher and her students as budding criminologists and co-authors. This article seeks to redress a continuing resistance to life history approaches in the teaching of criminology, despite the discipline being formally devoted to the understanding of the meaning and experience of imprisonment in all its forms and consequences. What follows is a trucated narrative of what students had to say on the fascinating subjects of prisoner auto/biography and its place in popular and expert discourses on crime, criminality, and punishment, contextualised within the academic discipline of criminology

Acupuncture-Like Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation Versus Pilocarpine in Treating Radiation-Induced Xerostomia: Results of RTOG 0537 Phase 3 Study

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES: This report presents the analysis of the RTOG 0537 multi-center randomized study that compared acupuncture-like transcutaneous stimulation (ALTENS) to pilocarpine (PC) for relieving radiation-induced xerostomia (RIX). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Eligible patients were randomized to twice weekly 20 minute ALTENS sessions for 24 sessions over 12 weeks or PC (5mg, 3 times daily for 12 weeks). The primary endpoint was the change in the University of Michigan Xerostomia-Related Quality of Life Scale (XeQOLS) scores from baseline to 9 months from randomization (mfr). Secondary endpoints included basal and citric acid primed whole salivary production (WSP), ratios of positive responders (defined as patients with ≥ 20% reduction in overall RIX symptom burden), and the presence of adverse events based on CTCAE v.3. An intention-to-treat analysis was conducted. RESULTS: 148 patients were randomized. Only 96 patients completed the required XeQOLS and were evaluable at 9 mfr (representing merely 68.6% statistical power). Seventy-six patients were evaluable at 15 mfr. The median change in the overall XeQOLS in ALTENS/PC groups at 9 and 15 mfr were −0.53/−0.27 (P=0.45) and −0.6/−0.47 (P=0.21). The corresponding percentages of positive responders were 81%/72% (P=0.34) and 83%/63% (P=0.04). Changes in WSP were not significantly different between the groups. Grade 3 or less adverse events, mostly consisting of Grade 1, developed in 20.8% of patients in the ALTENS group and in 61.6% of the PC group. CONCLUSIONS: The observed effect size was smaller than hypothesized and statistical power was limited, since only 96 of the recruited 148 patients were evaluable. The primary endpoint -- the change in RIX symptom burden at 9 mfr, was not significantly different between the ALTENS and PC groups. There was significantly less toxicity in patients receiving ALTENS

COS Ambassadors

A collection of materials and resources for COS ambassadors