Chemical enhancement of footwear impressions in blood recovered from cotton using alginate casts

Depletion series of footwear impressions in blood were deposited on black cotton fabric after which they were lifted using alginate and subsequently enhanced using protein stains amido black (AB), Crowle’s stain (CS), coomassie blue (CB), and Hungarian red (HR). Other factors that were considered during this study were the age of the impression and the temperature of the environment. A novel score system for the enhancement of footwear impressions was introduced, which used the product of scores for size and detail of the impression. The study showed that temperatures between 8 °C and 37 °C did not impact chemical enhancement, whereas the age of the impression did. An impression aged for 7 days yielded higher enhancement scores than impressions aged for 1 or 28 days, especially for AB. The results of depletions 1 to 5 were similar to the results of only depletion 5. However, at depletion 5, AB was the best-performing protein stain. CB and AB yielded the highest level of enhancement of the impressions, whereas CS and HR resulted in poorer quality enhancements. AB was the preferred protein stain of use because AB was the most sensitive protein stain used in this study and there were fewer health risks involved in using water-based AB than in using methanol-based CB

Learning analytics collaborative cluster activity in years 2 & 3

The Scottish Higher Education Enhancement Committee (SHEEC) agreed at its 18th September 2017 meeting that the new Enhancement Theme would be Evidence for Enhancement: Improving the Student Experience. It was proposed that groups of institutions would work collectively together as Collaborative Clusters on an area related to the Theme that would be beneficial to their own institution but has the potential to add value for the whole sector.QAA Scotland provided support for the facilitation of scoping activity workshops that brought institutions together with a shared interest in the key area of learning analytics. The purpose of these workshops was to create the space for institutions that are committed to specific areas related to the Theme to come together, and discuss in detail what areas of work they are keen to pursue in collaboration with other institutions.This presentation will report the collaborative cluster formed through these workshops, the work of these clusters, and outline the anticipated outcomes and impact as a result of this work.Key messages:1. Knowledge of the learning analytics collaborative cluster work to be undertaken in Years 2 & 3 of the Theme.2. An overview of strands of learning analytics work, their activities and anticipated outcomes.3. An understanding of how a scoping workshop approach can be used as a method to facilitate collaborative working

Search results of heat-distorted fingerprints using sagem metamorpho AFIS

This research investigated the identification of fingerprints which had been distorted by heating the recipient surface. Fingerprints were deposited on uPVC which was then exposed to sufficient heat to cause distortion of the surface. The fingerprints were distorted vertically and horizontally as a consequence of the flow of uPVC resulting from the exposure to heat. Photographic images were taken of the fingerprints before and after distortion and both sets of images where loaded into the Sagem Metamorpho™ AFIS. Successful identifications were obtained in a number of cases. The results indicated that the quality of the fingerprint before heating influenced the identification of the distorted fingerprint. The results also showed that the vertically distorted fingerprints were more readily identified than horizontally distorted fingerprints. This research has shown that successful identifications can be achieved from fingerprints distorted by heat providing the pre heated fingerprint is of good quality

Thigh-length compression stockings and DVT after stroke

Controversy exists as to whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves survival in patients with invasive bladder cancer, despite randomised controlled trials of more than 3000 patients. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of such treatment on survival in patients with this disease

Azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial

Background Azithromycin has been proposed as a treatment for COVID-19 on the basis of its immunomodulatory actions. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Methods In this randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial (Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy [RECOVERY]), several possible treatments were compared with usual care in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 in the UK. The trial is underway at 176 hospitals in the UK. Eligible and consenting patients were randomly allocated to either usual standard of care alone or usual standard of care plus azithromycin 500 mg once per day by mouth or intravenously for 10 days or until discharge (or allocation to one of the other RECOVERY treatment groups). Patients were assigned via web-based simple (unstratified) randomisation with allocation concealment and were twice as likely to be randomly assigned to usual care than to any of the active treatment groups. Participants and local study staff were not masked to the allocated treatment, but all others involved in the trial were masked to the outcome data during the trial. The primary outcome was 28-day all-cause mortality, assessed in the intention-to-treat population. The trial is registered with ISRCTN, 50189673, and ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04381936. Findings Between April 7 and Nov 27, 2020, of 16 442 patients enrolled in the RECOVERY trial, 9433 (57%) were eligible and 7763 were included in the assessment of azithromycin. The mean age of these study participants was 65·3 years (SD 15·7) and approximately a third were women (2944 [38%] of 7763). 2582 patients were randomly allocated to receive azithromycin and 5181 patients were randomly allocated to usual care alone. Overall, 561 (22%) patients allocated to azithromycin and 1162 (22%) patients allocated to usual care died within 28 days (rate ratio 0·97, 95% CI 0·87–1·07; p=0·50). No significant difference was seen in duration of hospital stay (median 10 days [IQR 5 to >28] vs 11 days [5 to >28]) or the proportion of patients discharged from hospital alive within 28 days (rate ratio 1·04, 95% CI 0·98–1·10; p=0·19). Among those not on invasive mechanical ventilation at baseline, no significant difference was seen in the proportion meeting the composite endpoint of invasive mechanical ventilation or death (risk ratio 0·95, 95% CI 0·87–1·03; p=0·24). Interpretation In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or other prespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restricted to patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication. Funding UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council) and National Institute of Health Research