Autopsy V. Virtopsy: A new approach for postmortem forensic examination

Virtopsy as a potential new standard in forensic science investigation in the place of a conventional autopsy. In recent years there have been new advancements across the forensic field and in the scientific world as a whole. These advancements have changed many approaches bringing new capabilities and new challenges and pushback. This report takes a specific interest in the evolution of forensic autopsy. With improvements such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography scan (CT), X-Rays, and other approaches a new term and technique have been coined Virtopsy. As this new potential approach has come to light the resistance against conventional autopsy methods from some cultures and religions has grown stronger. As this controversy has made ground new attention has been directed to this new approach as a possible option for a new standard in the forensic field of postmortem investigations. The shortcomings and strengths of both Virtopsy and autopsy have been observed through many different research approaches. Of course, there are still things to improve on but, does this new technique have a chance of becoming a new standard? Does it truly measure up to the degree of qualifications for its application

An investigation of the evidence of benefits from climate compatible development

Climate change is likely to have profound effects on developing countries both through the climate impacts experienced, but also through the policies, programmes and projects adopted to address climate change. Climate change mitigation (actions taken to reduce the extent of climate change), adaptation (actions taken to ameliorate the impacts), and on-going development are all critical to reduce current and future losses associated with climate change, and to harness gains. In the context of limited resources to invest in climate change, policies, programmes, or projects that deliver ‘triple wins’ (i.e. generating climate adaptation, mitigation and development benefits) – also known as climate compatible development – are increasingly discussed by bilateral and multilateral donors. Yet there remains an absence of empirical evidence of the benefits and costs of triple win policies. The purpose of this paper is therefore to assess evidence of ‘triple wins’ on the ground, and the feasibility of triple wins that do not generate negative impacts. We describe the theoretical linkages that exist between adaptation, mitigation and development, as well as the trade-offs and synergies that might exist between them. Using four developing country studies, we make a simple assessment of the extent of climate compatible development policy in practice through the lens of ‘no-regrets’, ‘low regrets’ and ‘with regrets’ decision making. The lack of evidence of either policy or practice of triple wins significantly limits the capacity of donors to identify, monitor or evaluate ‘triple wins at this point in time. We recommend a more strategic assessment of the distributional and financial implications of 'triple wins' policies

Adaptation to climate change or non-climatic stressors in semi-arid regions? Evidence of gender differentiation in three agrarian districts of Ghana

This work was carried out under the Adaptation at Scale in Semi-Arid Regions project(ASSAR). ASSAR is one of five reserarch programs funded under the Collaborative Adaptation Reseasrch Initiative in African and Asisa (CARIAA), with financial support from the UK Government's Department for International Development (DfID) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC),Canada (107640-001).The views expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of DfID and IDRC or its Board of Governors. Special thanks go to the Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) projects secretariat in Ghana for the support in linking our research with the CCAFS district platform chairpersons. We also would like to acknowledge the support of Stephen Omari in fieldwork data collection as well as chairpersons of CCAFS district platforms.We are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their comments.With the increasing impacts of climate change in Africa, a relationship between rainfall and yields in semi-arid Ghana has been observed. Drawing insights from three agrarian societies in the semi-arid region of Ghana using qualitative research methods, the study reports how people currently deal with climate variability as insight on how they will deal with climate change in the future. The findings indicate wide gender inequality in decision making processes and land access resulting from patriarchal local customs and institutions that shape adaptation responses of different vulnerable social groups to climatic or non-climatic stressors. Different adaptation practices of groups indicate that both climatic and non-climatic stressors shape the kind of responses that groups adopt. From the current adaptation practices, efforts to improve adaptation to future climate change at local levels must give attention to the nexus of both climatic and non-climatic stressors, gender, differential vulnerabilities and other subjectivities that produce a particular adaptation practice in a given place

Gendered vulnerabilities to climate change insights from the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia Information brief

This work was carried out under the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA), with financial support from the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DfID) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.Vulnerabilities to impacts of climate change are gendered. Still, policy approaches aimed at strengthening local communities’ adaptive capacity largely fail to recognise the gendered nature of everyday realities and experiences

Political Economy of Climate Compatible Development: Artisanal Fisheries and Climate Change in Ghana

This chapter presents results of research that explores the socio-political forces and challenges by understanding the political economy of climate compatible development (CCD) in relation to artisanal fisheries in Ghana. The analysis provides insight into the complex political economy in Ghana's artisanal fisheries, a sector that has received little attention with regard to climate change linkages. This could help other projects and wider initiatives on climate change locate their work within a political economy context and target efforts in politically smart ways. The chapter outlines the context for the artisanal fisheries sector and challenges to its sustainability and relations with climate change. It then analyses the politics of climate change policy formulation, including its relationship with the fisheries sector. Ghana is an excellent example of the additional challenges climate change and variability pose to development. It has achieved middle-income country status yet this significant economic progress, as in all other countries, has been accompanied by rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions

Puffins, Pigs, Cod, and Barley: Palaeoeconomy at Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy, Faroe Islands

This paper reports on the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from the initial season of excavations at the Norse period site at Undir Junkarinsfløtti in the Faroe islands. These remains represent the first zooarchaeological analysis undertaken for the Faroes and only the third archaeobotanical assemblage published from the islands. The excavated deposits are described and the key findings from the palaeoenvironmental remains highlighted within the context of the wider North Atlantic environmental archaeology of the Norse period

Puffins, Pigs, Cod, and Barley: Palaeoeconomy at Undir Junkarinsfløtti, Sandoy, Faroe Islands

This paper reports on the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from the initial season of excavations at the Norse period site at Undir Junkarinsfløtti in the Faroe islands. These remains represent the first zooarchaeological analysis undertaken for the Faroes and only the third archaeobotanical assemblage published from the islands. The excavated deposits are described and the key findings from the palaeoenvironmental remains highlighted within the context of the wider North Atlantic environmental archaeology of the Norse period

Using Transformative Scenario Planning to think critically about the future of agriculture and food security in the Upper West Region of Ghana an overview

This work was carried out under the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA), with financial support from the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DfID) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.In West Africa, ASSAR works in the semi-arid and dry sub-humid parts of Ghana and Mali — areas that are increasingly exposed to climatic extremes of droughts, floods and heavy rainfall. These changing conditions impact different people in different ways. For all living here, figuring out how to adapt to these uncertain circumstances is a challenging task that requires input from many different groups

Does domiciliary welfare rights advice improve health-related quality of life in independent-living, socio-economically disadvantaged people aged ≥60 years? Randomised controlled trial, economic and process evaluations in the North East of England.

BACKGROUND: There are major socio-economic gradients in health that could be influenced by increasing personal resources. Welfare rights advice can enhance resources but has not been rigorously evaluated for health-related impacts. METHODS: Randomised, wait-list controlled trial with individual allocation, stratified by general practice, of welfare rights advice and assistance with benefit entitlements, delivered in participants' homes by trained advisors. Control was usual care. Participants were volunteers sampled from among all those aged ≥60 years registered with general practices in socio-economically deprived areas of north east England. Outcomes at 24 months were: CASP-19 score (primary), a measure of health-related quality of life; changes in income, social and physical function, and cost-effectiveness (secondary). Intention to treat analysis compared outcomes using multiple regression, with adjustment for stratification and key covariates. Qualitative interviews with purposive samples from both trial arms were thematically analysed. FINDINGS: Of 3912 individuals approached, 755 consented and were randomised (381 Intervention, 374 Control). Results refer to outcomes at 24 months, with data available on 562 (74.4%) participants. Intervention was received as intended by 335 (88%), with 84 (22%) awarded additional benefit entitlements; 46 did not receive any welfare rights advice, and none of these were awarded additional benefits. Mean CASP-19 scores were 42.9 (Intervention) and 42.4 (Control) (adjusted mean difference 0.3 [95%CI -0.8, 1.5]). There were no significant differences in secondary outcomes except Intervention participants reported receiving more care at home at 24m (53.7 (Intervention) vs 42.0 (Control) hours/week (adjusted mean difference 26.3 [95%CIs 0.8, 56.1]). Exploratory analyses did not support an intervention effect and economic evaluation suggested the intervention was unlikely to be cost-effective. Qualitative data from 50 interviews suggested there were improvements in quality of life among those receiving additional benefits. CONCLUSIONS: We found no effects on health outcomes; fewer participants than anticipated received additional benefit entitlements, and participants were more affluent than expected. Our findings do not support delivery of domiciliary welfare rights advice to achieve the health outcomes assessed in this population. However, better intervention targeting may reveal worthwhile health impacts.All authors received a grant of £798,884 from the UK National Institute of Health Research, Public Health Research Programme (No. 09/3009/ 02). www.nihr.ac.uk. All authors received a grant of £28,000 from the North East Strategic Health Authority in 2012 to cover the costs of delivering the intervention, associated training and other nonresearch costs of this study. North East SHA no longer exists. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Maternal Occupational Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Effects on Gastroschisis among Offspring in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Background: Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurs in many occupational settings. There is evidence in animal models that maternal exposure to PAHs during pregnancy is associated with gastroschisis in offspring; however, to our knowledge, no human studies examining this association have been conducted