Integration of multimedia technology into the curriculum of forensic science courses using crime scene investigations.

Virtual reality technology is a powerful tool for the development of experimental learning in practical situations. Creation of software packages with some element of virtual learning allows educators to broaden the available experience of students beyond the scope that a standard curriculum provides. This teaching methodology is widely used in the delivery of medical education with many surgical techniques being practised via virtual reality technologies (see Engum et al., 2003). Use has been made of this technology for a wide range of teaching applications such as virtual field trials for an environmental science course (Ramasundaram et al., 2005), and community nursing visiting education scenarios (Nelson et al., 2005) for example. Nelson et al. (2005) imaged three-dimensional representations of patient living accommodation incorporating views of patient medication in order to deliver care modules via a problem-based learning approach. The use of virtual reality in the teaching of crime scene science was pioneered by the National Institute of Forensic Science in Australia as part of their Science Proficiency Advisory Committee testing programme. A number of scenarios were created using CDROM interfacing, allowing as near as possible normal procedures to be adopted. This package included proficiency testing integrated into the package and serves as a paradigm for the creation of virtual reality crime scene scenarios (Horswell, 2000). The package is commercially available on CD-ROM as part of the series ‘After the Fact’ (http://www.nfis.com.au). The CD-ROM package is geared to proficiency training of serving scenes of crime officers and thus contains details that may not be needed in the education of other parties with a need for forensic awareness. These include undergraduate students studying towards forensic science degree programmes in the UK as well as serving Police Officers. These groups may need virtual reality crime scene material geared to their specific knowledge requirements. In addition, Prof J Fraser, President of the Forensic Science Society and a former police Scientific Support Manager, speaking to the United Kingdom, House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee in its report ‘Forensic Science on Trial’ (2005) states: ‘The documented evidence in relation to police knowledge of forensic science, in terms of making the best use of forensic science, is consistently clear, that their knowledge needs to improve and therefore their training needs to improve’. This clearly identifies a need for further training of serving police officers in forensic science. It was with this in mind that staff at the University collaborated with the West Midlands Police Service. The aim was to create a virtual reality CD-ROM that could serve as part of the continuing professional development of serving police officers in the area of scene management. Adaptation of the CD-ROM could allow some introductory materials to help undergraduate students of forensic science

Efficiency and Administrative Costs in Primary Care

We construct a simple model of the determinants of administrative managerial effort and apply it explain the doubling of the cost of administering primary care in England in real terms between 1989/90 and 1994/5 following the introduction of the internal market. We find that the main cost driver was the number of GPs, that there are economies of scale but not economies of scope in administration, and that fundholding appeared to increase administrative costs. Most the increase in administrative cost over the period could not be explained by the change in the cost drivers or fundholding, suggesting that the recent abolition of fundholding may do little to reduce primary care administrative costs.primary care; administrative costs; efficiency measurement; performance indicators.

Income, Income Inequality and Health: What can we Learn from Aggregate Data?

It has been suggested that, especially in countries with high per capita income, there is an independent effect of income distribution on the health of individuals. One source of evidence in support of this relative income hypothesis are analyses of aggregate cross section data on population health, per capita income and income inequality. We examine the empirical robustness of cross-section analyses by using a new data set to replicate and extend the approach in a frequently cited paper. We find that the estimated relationship between income inequality and life expectancy is dependent on the data set used, the functional form estimated and the way in which the epidemiological transition is specifed. The association is never significant in any of our models. We argue there are serious methodological difficulties in using aggregate cross sections as means of testing hypotheses about the effect of income, and its distribution, on the health of individuals.

Book review: American apocalypse: a history of modern evangelicalism by Matthew Avery Sutton

With American Apocalypse, Matthew Avery Sutton aims to draw on extensive archival research to document the ways an initially obscure network of charismatic preachers and their followers reshaped American religion, at home and abroad, for over a century. Elaine Housby is impressed with this readable contribution

Storyville: Discourses in Southern Musicians\u27 Autobiographies

This study utilizes many of the tools of the literary critic to identify and analyze the discursive conventions in autobiographies by American vernacular musicians who came of age in the American South during the era of enforced racial segregation. Through this textual analysis, we can appreciate this seemingly amorphous collection of books as a continuing conversation, where descriptions of the South and its music by turns confirm, contradict, and complicate each other. Ultimately, the dozens of southern musician autobiographies published in the last fifty years engage in a valuable and revealing dialogue, creating a virtual Storyville ; ostensibly disparate works share themes, ideas, and literary approaches, while each narrative is distinguished by unique motifs, idiosyncrasies, and digressions.;From this crosstalk emerges a rich history informed by local knowledge as well as a larger, multifaceted portrait of now-vanished musical communities, such as Storyville-era New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta juke-joint circuit. In collaboration with co-authors, southern musicians typically employ a hybrid discursive style that attempts to balance personal subjectivity with historical authority. This narrative approach encompasses literary devices---such as free indirect discourse and paralepsis---and the thick description common in the social sciences. Through this reportage, musicians establish themselves as uniquely positioned organic intellectuals and citizen-historians of their respective places and times. Read collectively, musicians\u27 published reminiscences provide important and overlooked first-person reflections on life in the Jim Crow South

A candidate\u27s use of aggressive communication and the electorates\u27 response: Predicting presidential election outcomes

The purpose of this examination is to determine the role of verbal aggression in Presidential debates. Using six types of verbally aggressive messages, coders examined one Presidential debate from nine Presidential elections to determine the amount of verbal aggression used by each candidate. The findings from this examination indicate that there is a pattern for the use of verbal aggression in Presidential debates. Challengers use significantly more verbal aggression than incumbents while five of the nine elections had the winner using less verbally aggressive messages than the loser. Results of this study support the theory that challengers are forced to go on the attack and use verbal aggression more often than incumbents. Implications of the results and paths for further research are also offered

Delivery accuracy of image guided radiation therapy using Elekta Infinity\u27s on-board imaging

Using the technique developed by Vinci et al. (2007), this project quantified the accuracy and precision of the Elekta Infinity using an end-to-end test for the entire image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) treatment process. The IGRT capabilities of the on-board imaging systems for megavoltage (MV) planar imaging and kilovoltage cone beam computed tomography (kVCBCT) were both evaluated. The accuracy of the on-board imaging systems will impact the size of planning treatment margins. A CIRS Radiosurgery head phantom with a Gafchromic EBT2 film dosimetry block insert was used to measure the dose distributions in the three orthogonal planes. A coplanar, isocentric, seven-field treatment plan was created for a cylindrical target volume located at the center of the film cube. The phantom was manually positioned on the treatment couch, either correctly aligned to the room lasers or with intentional misalignments of &177 5 mm in three directions of couch motion. Prior to treatment, one of the IGRT modalities was utilized to identify misalignment; the calculated realignment values were used to shift the phantom prior to treatment delivery. After treatment, the delivered dose distributions were analyzed and compared to the calculated planar dose distributions. Two metrics were analyzed from the film&58 positional alignment error of the 70&37 isodose line and comparison of spatial shifts of the 80&37 dose points. Positional alignment error quantified displacement between the midpoints of the measured and calculated dose profiles; shifts at the 80&37 dose points indicated distortions in the profiles. Investigation of the accuracy of the couch motion revealed a systematic 1 mm error at fixed locations along the longitudinal axis. Using a non-invasive immobilization device and onboard image guidance, setup margins on the Elekta Infinity should be set to 2 mm using kVCBCT and 3 mm using MV planar imaging. To use the Elekta Infinity for high precision deliveries with minimal planning target volumes would require tighter tolerances in couch motion; a couch with rotational as well as translational motion seems advisable. For high precision deliveries, image guidance using kVCBCT is recommended over MV planar image guidance

INVESTIGATION OF CHELATING DYE IMPREGNATED RESINS FOR THE SELECTIVE ADSORPTION AND SEPARATION OF TRACE METALS FROM AQUEOUS SOLUTIONS

The preparation and characterisation of novel, high efficiency chelating sorbents which were suitable for the preconcentration and separation of trace metals from complex matrices using a single column has been described. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates in the form of cellulose and polystyrene resins were modified with chelating dyes by either covalent bonding or physical adsorption respectively. Large particle size polystyrene resins were used for preliminary investigations of dye loading and metal retaining capacities. After crushing resins to an intermediate particle size, capacity factors (k' values) and metal retaining capacities of four resins were determined. One resin, MN200, was chosen for further investigations after crushing to a small particle size. A study of analytical separations and selectivities on the small particle size dye impregnated MN200, for a range of dyes, was used to determine the suitability for analytical and preparative applications. The selectivity and separating ability of the unmodified resin was also investigated. Three specific preparative and analytical applications were chosen which would exploit the metal separating capabilities of the modified or unmodified resins. The first of these studies was applied to the isolation of strontium from calcium, rubidium and barium in gypsum samples. The second involved the separation and determination of trace bismuth in lead and the third described the separation and determination of thorium and uranium from a complex metal containing matrix

Effects of chain ownership and private equity financing on quality in the English care home sector: retrospective observational study

Background the structure of care homes markets in England is changing with the emergence of for-profit homes organised in chains and financed by private equity. Previous literature shows for-profit homes were rated lower quality than not-for-profit homes when inspected by the national regulator, but has not considered new forms of financing. Objectives to examine whether financing and organisation of care homes is associated with regulator assessments of quality. Methods retrospective observational study of the Care Quality Commission’s ratings of 10,803 care homes providing services to older people as of January 2020. We used generalised ordered logistic models to assess whether ratings differed between not-for-profit and for-profit homes categorised into three groups: (i) chained ownership, financed by private equity; (ii) chained ownership, not financed by private equity and (iii) independent ownership. We compared Overall and domain (caring, effective, responsive, safe, well-led) ratings adjusted for care home size, age and location. Results all three for-profit ownership types had lower average overall ratings than not-for-profit homes, especially independent (6.8% points (p.p.) more likely rated as ‘Requires Improvement/Inadequate’, 95% CI: 4.7–8.9) and private equity chains (6.6 p.p. more likely rated as ‘Requires Improvement/Inadequate’, 95% CI: 2.9–10.2). Independent homes scored better than private equity chains in the safe, effective and responsive domains but worst in the well-led domain. Discussion private equity financing and independent for-profit ownership are associated with lower quality. The consequences of the changing care homes market structure for quality of services should be monitored