THE SUCCESSION AND RATE OF DEVELOPMENT OF BLOWFLIES IN CARRION IN SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND AND THE APPLICATION OF THESE DATA TO FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY

The succession and rate of development of insects in carrion is potentially a useful and accurate tool for determining the length of time elapsed since death, but the accuracy of this method in Queensland has been severely limited by lack of data. The occurrence of the following species in carrion in the Brisbane district and at a site 450 km west of Brisbane from 1975 to 1979 is discussed: Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann), Lucilia sericata (Meigen), Calliphora augur (F.), Calliphora stygia (F.), Calliphora hilli (Patton), Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart), Chrysomya varipes (Macquart), Chrysomya megacephala (F.), Chrysomya nigripes Aubertin, Chrysomya saffranea (Bigot), Hemipyrellia ligurriens Wiedemann, Chrysomya megacephala (F)., Tricholioproctia tryoni (J. and T.), Ophyra spinigera Stein and Australophyra rostrafa (R. ‐D.). Detailed observations at constant temperatures were made on rate of development of flies commonly infesting human cadavers. The duration of the egg, first and second larval instars, total feeding period, total larval period, pupal period and egg to adult period are given for the following species at the temperatures indicated: L. cuprina (15–34°C), C. augur (9–28°C), C. srygia (9–28°C), Ch. rufifcies (20–34°C) and A. rostrara (9–28°C). Limited data on rate of development of Ch. varipes, Ch. sajranea, Ch. nigripes and Ch. megacephala are also included. The application of these data to forensic entomology is discussed. Copyrigh

SPECIES OF CHRYSOMYA AS PRIMARY FLIES IN CARRION

Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart), Chrysomya saffranea (Bigot) and Chrysomya varipes (Macquart) have been shown to be capable of acting as primary flies, i.e. initiating infestation, in carrion in southern Queensland. This appears to be common during the warmer months of the year and must be taken into consideration, in forensic entomology, when estimating the period elapsed since death. Copyrigh

The Clinical Conscientiousness Index: a valid tool for exploring professionalism in the clinical undergraduate setting

Purpose: The need to develop effective tools to measure professionalism continues to challenge medical educators; thus, as a follow-up to a recent examination of the “Conscientiousness Index” (CI, a novel measure of one facet of professionalism) in one setting with preclinical medical students, the authors aimed to investigate the validity of the CI as a proxy measure of professionalism in a different context and in the clinical phase of undergraduate medical education. Method: In academic year 2009–2010, the authors collected data similar to those collected for the original preclinical study. In an effort to create a Clinical Conscientiousness Index (CCI) score, they collected the following information on 124 third-year medical students completing their clinical rotations: attendance, timeliness of assessment submissions, and completion of rotation evaluations. Then, they compared the resultant CCI scores with faculty views on professionalism and with formal assessments of students’ professionalism (i.e., their portfolios and objective structured clinical examinations [OSCEs]). Results: The authors demonstrate significant correlations between CCI scores and faculty views on professionalism (rS = 0.3; P = .001), and between CCI scores and OSCE score (rS = 0.237; P = .008), but not between CCI scores and portfolio assessment (rS = 0.084; P = .354). The authors also present relationships between CCI scores and demographics. Conclusion: The CCI is a practical, valid proxy measure of professionalism, achieving good correlation with faculty views on professionalism and clinical competency examinations, but not portfolio assessment, in one clinical undergraduate setting

Differential Complement Activation Pathways Promote C3b Deposition on Native and Acetylated LDL thereby Inducing Lipoprotein Binding to the Complement Receptor 1

Nephrolog