An assessment of the effectiveness of 5-methylthioninhydrin within dual action reagents for latent fingerprint development on paper substrates

A critical investigation of 5-methylthioninhydrin (5MTN) is presented as a 'dual action' formulation component for the development of latent finger marks on paper substrates. Preparation of a dual action reagent was performed by combining proportions of 5MTN and zinc chloride (ZnCl(2)) in a pre-mixed solution. Developed prints (deposited on filter paper substrates) could be subsequently visualised in both colour and fluorescence modes. Finger mark quality was graded using a quartered print approach for a number of reagent compositions to deliver an optimised formulation recipe. To fully appraise 5MTN in comparison to currently employed chemistries, this reagent was evaluated against three alternative amino acid selective reagents, ninhydrin, 1,8-diazafluorenone (DFO) and 1,2-indandione/ZnCl(2). Six common paper types were used for this purpose and split depletion finger marks from six donors were collected. Finger mark sets were also left for two days or two weeks to show the effect of ageing on development quality. For the first time, it was shown that 5MTN/ZnCl(2) is effective as a 'dual action' reagent under the United Kingdom climate conditions. However, results presented herein show that the existing recommended chemistries and the 1,2 indandione/ZnCl(2) process are all more effective than this new latent finger mark enhancement reagent. In a preliminary sequencing study, we show the effectiveness of the existing DFO-ninhydrin sequence over dual action reagents.     

Stable isotope ratios as a tool in microbial forensics--Part 2. Isotopic variation among different growth media as a tool for sourcing origins of bacterial cells or spores

Since the anthrax attacks of 2001 the need for methods to trace the origins of microbial agents has become urgent. The stable isotope ratios of bacteria record information from both the nutrients and the water used to make their culture media and could potentially be used to provide information about their growth environment. We present a survey of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and hydrogen (H) stable isotope ratios in 516 samples of bacteriological culture media. The observed variation was consistent with expected isotopic variation in the plant and animal products upon which the media are based. The variation is sufficient to translate into substantial isotope variation in cultures grown on different batches of media, and thus to allow investigators to determine whether seized media could have been used to produce seized bioweapons agents.     

Inconvenient Truth? Do Collective Bargaining Agreements Help Explain the Mobility of Teachers within School Districts?

We utilize detailed teacher‐level longitudinal data from Washington State to investigate patterns of teacher mobility in districts with different collective bargaining agreement (CBA) transfer provisions. Specifically, we estimate the log odds that teachers of varying experience and effectiveness levels transfer out of their schools to other schools in the district in Washington kindergarten through 12th grade (K‐12) public schools. We find little consistent evidence relating voluntary transfer provisions in CBAs to patterns in teacher mobility, but do find evidence that patterns in within‐district mobility by teacher experience and effectiveness vary between districts that do not use seniority in involuntary transfer decisions and those that use seniority as a tiebreaker or the only factor in these moves. In models that consider teacher experience, the interaction between teacher experience and school disadvantage in teacher transfer decisions is more extreme in districts with strong involuntary seniority transfer protections; novice teachers are even more likely to stay in disadvantaged schools, and veteran teachers are even more likely to leave disadvantaged schools. On the other hand, models that consider value‐added measures of teacher effectiveness suggest that more effective teachers are less likely to leave disadvantaged schools in districts that do use seniority in involuntary transfer decisions, that is, seniority transfer provisions could actually make the distribution of output‐based measures of quality more equitable. Taken together, these results suggest that seniority transfer provisions may have differential impacts on the distributions of teacher experience and effectiveness.     

A novel platform for the modular integration of forensic assay setup and medium- to high-throughput purification of nucleic acids

With its extraction and assay setup modules, the QIAsymphony^® provides a highly flexible solution for processing forensic samples in a medium- to high-throughput scale. We tested the sensitivity of extraction, precision of sample processing, and accuracy of automated assay setup of this integrated system. Results attest to QIAsymphony's ability to isolate DNA from a spectrum of common forensic samples and process these samples without cross-contamination. Furthermore, accurate assay setup for downstream applications, like PCR, make this system highly suited for enhancing laboratory workflow.     

‘Sentimental Follies’ or ‘Instruments of Tremendous Uplift’? reconsidering women's same-sex relationships in interwar Britain

In 1985 Sheila Jeffreys alleged that the rise of sexological discourse concerning female inversion in the early twentieth century obliged women of the interwar period in the UK to reject female affection for fear of being labelled lesbian. Several historians have demonstrated that sexological ideas gained very little general currency before Radclyffe Hall's novel The Well of Loneliness (1928). Research on specific women suggests that such fears were less prevalent than surmised. An influential discourse invoking tropes of emotional femininity, rather than inversion, was embodied in Clemence Dane's Regiment of Women (1917), presenting female same-sex relationships as mired in morbid emotions and parasitic manipulation. It had significant cultural resonance for well over a decade. A counter-discourse argued that emotionally healthy, reciprocal female friendship might form a sustaining element for women unable to marry. Stress, however, was laid on the need for self-knowledge and psychological understanding.     

Analysis of the stages of change model of drug and alcohol treatment readiness among prisoners

A classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was applied to data for 237 male participants (M = 31.93 years, SD = 7.64) in a prison-based substance abuse treatment program to study the integrity of the Stages of Change model of treatment readiness. Using the Stages of Change Questionnaire (STOCQ), participants were assigned to Contemplation (102), Action (118), or Maintenance (17) groups. A CART analysis then examined differences in the overall group profiles on the basis of scores on the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking, the Situational Confidence Questionnaire, and the Carlson Psychological Survey. The assumption of discrete stages of change was not supported. Alternative models are suggested: one based on states of change and one on personality characteristics. A focus on equal attention to both cognitive and behavioral aspects of substance abuse treatment readiness is suggested.