Diversifying the Judiciary: The Influence of Gender and Race of Judging

In 1978, political scientist Beverly Blair Cook wrote Women Judges: The End of Tokenism for a publication of the National Center for State Courts. She observed that the national proportion of women judges has matched the national proportion of women lawyers on a time lag basis. She compared the number of women law graduates with the number of women judges, finding that in the 1960s, women composed 1-2% of the legal profession and accounted for 1-2% ofjudges. With women repre- senting 4% of all law graduates in the 1960s, the number of women judges increased to 4% in the 1970s. Cook predicted that with 15% of law classes in the 1970s estimated to be women, 15% of judges would be women in the 1980s, and that states with a large number of women lawyers employed in the 1970s would almost achieve full sex integration by the year 2000

Citizen or Professional: Exploring Heroic Moral Choice Motivations in Photojournalism

Photojournalists make serious and often heroic split-second decisions when covering scenes. One of the dilemmas they might encounter is the choice between humanitarianism, which favors the subject in need, versus professionalism, which focuses on telling the story. This exploratory study aims to understand the moral decision-making situations encountered by professional photojournalists and how they process decisions in these situations. We interviewed nine professional photojournalists and surveyed the moral intensity of the situations they encountered. The results identified three types of situations where photojournalists encounter citizen vs. professional moral dilemmas. We found that most participants situationally prioritized the subject’s needs and emotions in line with postconventional moral development, and preferred to act as concerned citizens rather than exclusively acting as committed professionals

Supporting Teachers to Work with Children with Exceptionalities

The current study had two purposes: to explore further revisions to the Three-Part Schedule D Additional Qualification (AQ) courses in special education and to determine if a virtual knowledge network would be a viable and welcome tool in building teacher capacity for classroom inclusion of students with exceptionalities. Educational stakeholders convened at the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) for a two-day consultation meeting. A consensus-building workshop was used on the first day to discuss further revisions to the revised AQ course guidelines and to specifically identify gaps in teacher knowledge and skills. An open space consultation (Owen, 1997) was used on the second day to discuss the possibility of a provincial virtual knowledge network that would support revised Special Education AQ course guidelines and build capacity for teachers working with children with exceptionalities. Keywords: Ontario, teacher education, inclusive education, special education, additional qualifications

Early Economic Evaluation of Diagnostic Technologies: Experiences of the NIHR Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives

Diagnostic tests are expensive and time-consuming to develop. Early economic evaluation using decision modeling can reduce commercial risk by providing early evidence on cost-effectiveness. The National Institute for Health Research Diagnostic Evidence Co-operatives (DECs) was established to catalyze evidence generation for diagnostic tests by collaborating with commercial developers; DEC researchers have consequently made extensive use of early modeling. The aim of this article is to summarize the experiences of the DECs using early modeling for diagnostics. We draw on 8 case studies to illustrate the methods, highlight methodological strengths and weaknesses particular to diagnostics, and provide advice. The case studies covered diagnosis, screening, and treatment stratification. Treatment effectiveness was a crucial determinant of cost-effectiveness in all cases, but robust evidence to inform this parameter was sparse. This risked limiting the usability of the results, although characterization of this uncertainty in turn highlighted the value of further evidence generation. Researchers evaluating early models must be aware of the importance of treatment effect evidence when reviewing the cost-effectiveness of diagnostics. Researchers planning to develop an early model of a test should also 1) consult widely with clinicians to ensure the model reflects real-world patient care; 2) develop comprehensive models that can be updated as the technology develops, rather than taking a “quick and dirty” approach that may risk producing misleading results; and 3) use flexible methods of reviewing evidence and evaluating model results, to fit the needs of multiple decision makers. Decision models can provide vital information for developers at an early stage, although limited evidence mean researchers should proceed with caution

General properties of the pion production reaction in nuclear matter

The pion production reaction $\pi^+ \to \pi^+\pi^{\pm}$ on $^{45}Sc$ was studied at incident pion energies of $T_{\pi^{+}}$ = 240, 260, 280, 300, and 320 MeV. The experiment was performed using the $M11$ pion-channel at TRIUMF, and multiparticle events, ($\pi^+,\pi^+\pi^{\pm}$) and ($\pi^+,\pi^+\pi^{\pm}p$), were detected with the CHAOS spectrometer. Results are reported in the form of both differential and total cross sections, and are compared to theoretical predictions and the reaction phase space. The present investigation of the T-dependence of the $\pi^+ A \to \pi^+\pi^{\pm} A'$ reaction complements earlier examinations of the A-dependence of the reaction, which was measured using $^{2}H$, $^{4}He$, $^{12}C$, $^{16}O$, $^{40}Ca$, and $^{208}Pb$ targets at $\sim$280 MeV. Some general properties of the pion-induced pion production reaction in nuclear matter will be presented, based on the combined results of the two studies.Comment: 23 pages, Latex, accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys.

The role of race and trust in tissue/blood donation for genetic research

Public willingness to donate tissue samples is critical to genetic research. Prior work has linked minority status and mistrust with less willingness to provide specimens. Some have suggested recruitment of prior research participants to address these barriers. We present data from a genetic epidemiology study with a request for blood and/or saliva specimens to: 1) measure willingness to donate tissue/blood samples, 2) identify demographic, trust, and other factors associated with willingness to donate samples, and 3) measure willingness to participate in future genetic research

Polymer pro-drug nanoparticles for sustained release of cytotoxic drugs evaluated in patient-derived glioblastoma cell lines and in situ gelling formulations

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common, malignant and aggressive brain tumour in adults. Despite the use of multimodal treatments, involving surgery, followed by concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy, the median survival for patients remains less than 15 months from diagnosis. Low penetration of drugs across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a dose-limiting factor for systemic GBM therapies, and as a result, post-surgical intracranial drug delivery strategies are being developed to ensure local delivery of drugs within the brain. Here we describe the effects of PEGylated poly(lactide)-poly(carbonate)-doxorubicin (DOX) nanoparticles (NPs) on the metabolic activity of primary cancer cell lines derived from adult patients following neurosurgical resection, and the commercially available GBM cell line, U87. The results showed that non-drug-loaded NPs were well tolerated at concentrations of up to 100 µg/mL while tumour cell-killing effects were observed for the DOX-NPs at the same concentrations. Further experiments evaluated the release of DOX from polymer-DOX conjugate NPs when incorporated in a thermosensitive in situ gelling poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PLGA/PEG) matrix paste, in order to simulate the clinical setting of a locally injected formulation for GBM following surgical tumour resection. These assays demonstrated drug release from the polymer pro-drugs, when in PLGA/PEG matrices of two formulations, over clinically relevant time scales. These findings encourage future in vivo assessment of the potential capability of polymer–drug conjugate NPs to penetrate brain parenchyma efficaciously, when released from existing interstitial delivery systems

UK Parliament Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee Flooding Inquiry: Written Evidence from Dr Kate Smith et al. (FLO0043)

This submission presents the research conducted within the Energy and Environment Institute at the University of Hull. Our work demonstrates that hazards represented by flooding have multiple dimensions, and that solutions to them need to take these complex inter-relationships into account. The research described below covers both the physical and social impacts of flooding; the recommendations that follow from our work are based on our understanding that flood risk management needs to expand across land-water boundaries at the full range of spatial, temporal and societal scales. Responding to each of the terms of reference in turn, our data shows that the response to flooding needs to start changing now in order to ensure the resilience of our communities, businesses and infrastructure in the future

Internet: An Overview of Key Technology Policy Issues Affecting Its Use and Growth

This report gives an overview of key technology policy issues of the internet affecting its use and growth