Training prison inmates as paralegals: An experimental project

A program to train inmates as paralegals was established at a large state prison in the Midwest. Qualified inmates were randomly assigned to the training or to a control condition. Both groups were administered measures assessing legal knowledge, the use of legal knowledge, attitudes about the criminal justice system, and self-perceptions before and after training. The trainee group showed a significant increase in its amount of legal knowledge after training. Members of the trainee group also reported a significant increase in the number of other inmates requesting aid from them on legal problems. In addition, interviews were conducted with two random samples of the general inmate population, before and after the paralegal training program. These interviews revealed strong support for the training program, and this support increased over the period of the program. Limited data on longer-term effectiveness of the paralegal's performance in the prison legal aid clinic and in paralegal jobs following parole supported the positive, shorter-term results.     

Computer aided manufacturing technology transfer needs in Florida

Automation and computers could improve the profitability of a manufacturing organization. While automation is primarily used to perform physical manufacturing tasks, computers are used for both information-type tasks and physical manufacturing tasks. If the manufacturing operations and personnel, as well as the flow of information, material, and energy, could be integrated to perform well-planned sequences of tasks to manufacture families of products in cells, the rewards would be enhanced profitability, quality, and safety. Such an integration is generally termed “computer-integrated manufacturing” (CIM). This paper summarizes a survey designed to determine the current and future service/training needs in CIM-related technologies of Florida manufacturing industries. It also identifies a role for a technology transfer center in offering training/technical services in CIM or related technologies to these companies.     

Agarose gel electrophoresis of human erythrocyte glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT EC 2.6.1.2)

The method of choice to determine erythrocyte glutamate-pyruvic transaminase (GPT) including rare variants was starch gel electrophoresis. Methods using agarose as gel medium were not reported to our knowledge. We present an adapted method using the Tris/maleate buffer system and an agarose of low endosmosis. The common as well as rare variant types of GPT were quickly and reliably separated. In addition, a method for the consecutive determination of esterase D (ESD) and GPT on the same gel using the malic acid buffer system is described.     

Stability of plasma total cholesterol, triglycerides, and apolipoproteins B and A-I during the early postmortem period

The stability of plasma lipids and apolipoproteins during the early postmortem period was studied by taking four duplicate blood samples from eight cadavers 2, 6, 12, and 24 h after death. The bodies were kept at +4 degrees C. The plasma samples were analyzed for total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), apolipoprotein B (apo B), and apolipoprotein A-I (apo A-I). In TC, values rose by 6 and 11% in two cases, and in six cases diminished 3 to 15% during the first 6 h compared to values obtained 2 h postmortem. The greatest changes were a continuing rise in one case by 33% and a fall by 21% in another case during 24 h. In TG values marked changes took place including one case with a rise of 67% within 24 h. The concentrations of apo B rose by 9 to 11% in three cases and fell by 3 and 4% in two cases during 6 h, but during the whole study period a rise up to 78% occurred. In the concentrations of apo A-I, cases fell by as much as 42% in 6 h, and in one case rose by 20% during 6 h. The results indicate that unpredictable fluctuations occur in plasma lipid and apolipoprotein values within 24 h after death, and they should be interpreted cautiously if the samples have been taken after a prolonged postmortem period.