Looking back at Social Knowledge in the Making

Sociolog

The data we have : Pregnancy and birth related data collection in Australia, Canada, Europe and the USA – A web-based survey of practice

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank all of the databank custodians who participated in the survey in order to help us determine the pregnancy and birth data that is collected across Europe, Canada and the USA.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Using a portable heat sealer for sealing Nylon 11 (polyamide 11) arson evidence bags

The containers used in the collection of suspected arson evidence are expected to contain an array of chemicals potentially utilised to accelerate fires, their residues and the products generated during combustion. The permeability of the materials used in these containers and the ability to seal these containers are essential to the preservation of this evidence. As such, Nylon 11 (polyamide 11) is typically used for this purpose in the UK. The aim of this research was to evaluate the process of heat sealing, and the potential use of a portable heat sealing device, for sealing Nylon 11 arson evidence bags at the crime scene. During this study it was found that manual heat sealing of Nylon 11 bags provided consistent seals, that would retain volatile organic compounds, and that these could be easily assessed for their integrity. It was also found that impulse heat sealers could be made portable by the use of a power inverter, meaning that this method of sealing could be performed using the 12 v DC supply of domestic vehicles without the need for an additional power supply at the scene. The study found that some commercially available arson evidence bags were supplied improperly sealed and therefore posed a potential risk by providing the opportunity for the loss of or the contamination of Volatile Organic Compounds within the bags. The heat seals in the bags obtained were with the exception of one supplier found to be less consistent with regards to the tensile strength than those manually produced. The ability to produce heat seals in the scene therefore provides great potential

Risk of Recurrent Stillbirth in Subsequent Pregnancies

Financial Disclosure Kathleen Lamont was awarded an Elphinstone scholarship from the university of Aberdeen, Scotland. In addition, money from a NHS Grampian endowment fund financed storage of data. Sohinee Bhattacharya reports that money was paid to their institution from the NHS Grampian Endowment fund, Medical Research Scotland, and the Wellcome Trust ISSF fund. Sohinee Bhattacharya’s husband has co-authored previous publications based on a similar dataset. He is the Head of School of medicine, medical Sciences and Nutrition at the University of Aberdeen where she is also employed. The other authors did not report any potential conflicts of interest.Peer reviewedPostprin

Hawthorn Crater Project Report 1

This project report and presentation outline the research outcomes from the first field study at Hawthorn Ridge Crater at Beaumont Hamel in France. It is co edited by Associate Professor Fiona Graham and Professor John Cassella. Authors include both academic partner Keele University and industry partners including Stoke on Trent City Council, UAV Dynamics, and FARO and analyse the findings relating to the inter disciplinary project including: film, forensic science, history, and archaeology. The crater is one of the largest in France, blown to mark the beginning of the Battle of the Somme on July 1st 1916. Exclusive access has been given to the site for research. The site is of particular significance to film history marking one of the first examples of battlefield film by Geoffrey Malins

Microsatellite Markers Associated with Resistance to Marek’s Disease in Commercial Layer Chickens

The objective of the current study was to identify QTL conferring resistance to Marek\u27s disease (MD) in commercial layer chickens. To generate the resource population, 2 partially inbred lines that differed in MD-caused mortality were intermated to produce 5 backcross families. Vaccinated chicks were challenged with very virulent plus (vv+) MD virus strain 648A at 6 d and monitored for MD symptoms. A recent field isolate of the MD virus was used because the lines were resistant to commonly used older laboratory strains. Selective genotyping was employed using 81 microsatellites selected based on prior results with selective DNA pooling. Linear regression and Cox proportional hazard models were used to detect associations between marker genotypes and survival. Significance thresholds were validated by simulation. Seven and 6 markers were significant based on proportion of false positive and false discovery rate thresholds less than 0.2, respectively. Seventeen markers were associated with MD survival considering a comparison-wise error rate of 0.10, which is about twice the number expected by chance, indicating that at least some of the associations represent true effects. Thus, the present study shows that loci affecting MD resistance can be mapped in commercial layer lines. More comprehensive studies are under way to confirm and extend these results

Extent and consistency of linkage disequilibrium and identification of DNA markers for production and egg quality traits in commercial layer chicken populations

A 3,072 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel was used to identify genetic markers linked to quantitative trait loci (QTL). Two association methods were used to search for QTL, SNP-wise and genome-wise models. The QTL associated with SNPs, found using both of these methods, can be applied to breeding programs in marker assisted selection (MAS). The extent and consistency of linkage disequilibrium (LD) was measured in two lines of commercial egg laying chickens by analysis of SNPs. Correlations were drawn between measurements of two consecutive years to determine consistency. At short distances, LD is retained which allows for markers at high LD with a trait to be effectively applied in MAS

Breeding Value Prediction for Production Traits in Layers Using High-density SNP Markers

Accuracy of breeding values estimated by different methods using pedigree and high-density SNP genotypes in predicting the next generation in a commercial layer breeding line was evaluated. Early and late selection was considered. Use of markers increased accuracies up to two-fold for early selection and by up to 88% for late selection