Recovery of DNA and fingerprints from touched documents

This study investigated the various factors affecting DNA profiling from DNA recovered from fingerprints deposited on paper before and after fingerprint enhancement treatments. The DNeasy^® plant mini kit (QIAGEN^®) was found to improve DNA recovery from paper by over 150% compared with the QIAamp^® mini kit. A significant decrease in the amount of DNA recovered was observed following treatment with DFO and/or Ninhydrin. This decrease in yield did not have a comparably significant effect on the quality of the SGM Plus™ profiles. Furthermore, this study found that whilst certain paper types, such as newspaper, magazine and filter paper allowed for the good recovery of DNA, common office paper and white card, strongly interfered with the recovery of DNA resulting in poor quality profiles.     

Joint Working: The Health Service Agenda

The purpose of this article is to examine the policy and practice of collaboration between health and local government from a health servicesperspective. Within this remit, the authors primarily focus on the area of primary care. Four key elements of the post-1997 policy context are discussed: the move from GP fund-holding to Primary Care Groups and Trusts (PCG/Ts); a shift from treating to preventing illness; a drive for implementation by central government; and an emphasis on collaboration. Within this broad context, there are a number of factors which may support enhanced collaboration: the size, scope, responsibilities and budgets of PCG/Ts may well provide an organisational framework which is supportive of joint working. However, the ‘Berlin Wall’ between health and social care has proved to be enduring, and there are aspects of the post-1997 policy context which will continue to inhibit effective joint working, in particular centrally designed performance management systems and the dominance by GPs of PCG/Ts.     

Touching the rainbow

Swiss‐torn painter Angelica Kauffman (1741–1807) was trained in Italy, then moved to London in 1766, where she was to stay for 15 years. Kauffman soon became one of the leading neo‐classical artists, famous for her portraits and history paintings. Her high art pictures won an enormous popularity and were executed, e.g., in interior decorations and as prints. As one of the founding members of the Royal Academy of Arts and belonging to the inner circle surrounding its president, the painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, Kauffman was commissioned for four corner roundels in the ceiling of the Council and Assembly Room in the academy's new home, Somerset House, today at Burlington House. These allegorical paintings on the appropriate theme of the Visual Arts (and part of a larger programme) are discussed in this essay, and especially one of these, representing “Painting”. By means of iconographical analysis it is argued that Kauffman, following the tradition of feminist history painters like Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1652/53), is not only representing the theory and praxis of the artistic process but in so doing, also comments on the dominant ideology of sexual difference.     

Does the public sector outperform the nonprofit and for‐profit sectors? Evidence from a national panel study on nursing home quality and access

Are public and private organizations fundamentally different? This question has been among the most enduring inquiries in public administration. Our study explores the impact of organizational ownership on two complementary aspects of performance: service quality and access to services for impoverished clients. Derived from public management research on performance determinants and nursing home care literature, our hypotheses stipulate that public, nonprofit, and forprofit nursing homes use different approaches to balance the strategic tradeoff between two aspects of performance. Panel data on 14,423 facilities were analyzed to compare measures of quality and access across three sectors using different estimation methods. Findings indicate that ownership status is associated with critical differences in both quality and access. Public and nonprofit organizations are similar in terms of quality, and both perform significantly better than their forprofit counterparts. When compared to nonprofit and, in some cases, for‐profit facilities, public nursing homes have a significantly higher share of Medicaid recipients. The paper proposes strategies to address the identified long‐term care divide. © 2008 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Corporal punishment: Normative data and sociological and psychological correlates in a community college population

Community college students (N=170) were surveyed regarding the intensity and frequency of methods of corporal punishment they have received and the persons administering the punishment. Results indicate that corporal punishment is a normatively used method of behavioral management. Males reported receiving a greater amount of corporal punishment, especially from their fathers. Overall, those who received a high amount of corporal punishment reported lower grades and a significantly greater number of problems, such as aggression, delinquency, depression, and anxiety. These findings are cause for concern and intervention.Received Ph.D. in psychology from Tufts University. Main research interests are sex-role development and personality development.Received C.A.S. in counseling from Harvard University. Main research interests are battered wives and incest.