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Identifying Victims of Human Trafficking at Hotspots, by Focusing on People Smuggled to Europe.
Get PDFResearch has shown that smuggling of migrants is associated with human trafficking. Hence, victims of human trafficking amongst smuggled migrants should be identified by EU Member States at hotspots established by the European Commission, to overcome the migrant and refugee crisis. Identified victims should be given a visa and a programme of protection to escape their traffickers. In order to achieve these objectives, research suggests that EU law on migrant smuggling should be amended and the Temporary Protection Directive should be applied to smuggled persons when there is an indication that they may be victims of human trafficking. This approach should be adopted by the EASO in cooperation with police forces investigating smuggling and trafficking at hotspots
Concurrent formation of supermassive stars and globular clusters: implications for early self-enrichment
Get PDFWe present a model for the concurrent formation of globular clusters (GCs) and supermassive stars (SMSs, ≳103 M⊙) to address the origin of the HeCNONaMgAl abundance anomalies in GCs. GCs form in converging gas flows and accumulate low-angular momentum gas, which accretes on to protostars. This leads to an adiabatic contraction of the cluster and an increase of the stellar collision rate. A SMS can form via runaway collisions if the cluster reaches sufficiently high density before two-body relaxation halts the contraction. This condition is met if the number of stars ≳106 and the gas accretion rate ≳105 M⊙ Myr−1, reminiscent of GC formation in high gas-density environments, such as – but not restricted to – the early Universe. The strong SMS wind mixes with the inflowing pristine gas, such that the protostars accrete diluted hot-hydrogen burning yields of the SMS. Because of continuous rejuvenation, the amount of processed material liberated by the SMS can be an order of magnitude higher than its maximum mass. This ‘conveyor-belt’ production of hot-hydrogen burning products provides a solution to the mass budget problem that plagues other scenarios. Additionally, the liberated material is mildly enriched in helium and relatively rich in other hot-hydrogen burning products, in agreement with abundances of GCs today. Finally, we find a super-linear scaling between the amount of processed material and cluster mass, providing an explanation for the observed increase of the fraction of processed material with GC mass. We discuss open questions of this new GC enrichment scenario and propose observational tests
Non-antibiotic Isotretinoin Treatment Differentially Controls Propionibacterium acnes on Skin of Acne Patients
Get PDFEmergence and potential transfer of antibiotic resistance in skin microorganisms is of current concern in medicine especially in dermatology contexts where long term treatment with antibiotics is common. Remarkably, non-antibiotic therapy in the form of isotretinoin – a non-antimicrobial retinoid is effective at reducing or eradicating the anaerobe Propionibacterium acnes which is causally involved in the complex pathogenesis of Acne vulgaris. This study measured the extent of colonization of P. acnes in patients with primary cystic or severe acne from three defined skin sites in ‘non-lesion’ areas before, during and after treatment with isotretinoin. Patients attending acne clinics were investigated using standardized skin sampling techniques and the recovery of anaerobic P. acnes from 56 patients comprising 24 females and 32 males (mean age 22 years, age range 15–46 years) who were given a standard course of isotretinoin (1 mg/kg/day) are reported. P. acnes cultured from the external cheek surface of patients following treatment showed a significant reduction (1–2 orders of magnitude) compared with their pre-treatment status. Interestingly, other distinct sites (nares and toe web) failed to show this reduction. In addition, high levels of antibiotic-resistant P. acnes were recorded in each patients’ skin microbiota before, during and after treatment. In this study, microbial composition of the skin appears substantially altered by isotretinoin treatment, which clearly has differential antimicrobial effects on each anatomically distinct site. Our study confirmed that orally administered isotretinoin shows good efficacy in the resolution of moderate to severe acne that correlates with reductions in the number of P. acnes on the skin, including resistant isolates potentially acquired from previous treatments with antibiotics. Our study suggests that the role of tetracycline’s and macrolides, which are currently first line treatments in dermatology, might be reserved for severe or life-threatening infections since current antibiotic stewardship guidelines from medical departments no longer prescribe these antibiotics for routine use
The Police and the Periodical: Policing and Detection in Victorian Journalism and the Rise of Detective Fiction, c. 1840-1900
Get PDFThis thesis explores the connections between the nineteenth century periodical press and the development of detective fiction, between approximately 1840 and 1900. It argues that these two Victorian developments were closely interrelated, and that each had significant impacts on the other which has hitherto gone underexplored in academic scholarship. The thesis argues that the relationship between the police and the periodical press solidified in the mid-Victorian era, thanks to the simultaneous development of a nationwide system of policing as a result of the passage of the 1856 County and Borough Police Act and the abolition of the punitive ‘taxes on knowledge’ throughout the 1850s and early 1860s. This established a connection between the police and the periodical, and the police were critically examined in the periodical press for the remainder of the nineteenth century from various perspectives. This, the thesis argues, had a corresponding effect on various kinds of fiction, which began to utilise police officers in new ways – notably including as literary guides and protectors for authors wishing to explore growing urban centres in mid-Victorian cities which had been deemed ‘criminal’. ‘Detective fiction’ in the mid-Victorian era, therefore, was characterised by trust in the police officer to protect middle-class social and economic values. Towards the end of the nineteenth century however, everything changed. The thesis explores how journalistic reporting of a corruption scandal in 1877, as well as the Fenian bombings and Whitechapel murders of the 1880s, contributed to significant changes in the detective genre. This was the construction of the image of the ‘bumbling bobby’, and the corresponding rise of the private or amateur detective, which ultimately led to the appearance of the character who epitomised the relationship between the police and the periodical – Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes
Sharp Force Trauma: the Effects of Blade Damage on Cut Mark Characteristics
Get PDFA considerable number of homicides in the UK are committed by stabbing. While tool mark analysis is fairly accurate in identifying class characteristics of the knife that caused a certain cut mark, the literature lacks studies about individual characteristics transferred from the knife blade to the cut mark. The aim of this study was to determine whether damage on a knife blade was capable of transferring individual characteristics that are unique enough to identify a specific suspect weapon. The blades of six knives were damaged in different ways and used to stab pig ribs (Susscrofadomesticus). The results of this study proved that entrance and exit shape, kerf floor and grooves on the kerf walls closely corresponded to the damage on the knife blade. While it might not yet be possible to identify a specific knife from a cut mark, this study positively recognized on which side of the blade the damage occurred, by assessing the characteristics of the cut marks. These findings can prove to be very useful in investigations where stab marks are caused by a knife with a damaged blade
‘Codeine is my companion’: misuse and dependence on codeine containing medicines in Ireland
Get PDFObjectives: Global concern around over the counter availability of codeine containing products and risk of misuse, dependence and related harms are evident. A phenomenological study of lived experiences of codeine misuse and dependence was undertaken in Ireland, following the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland’s 2010 guidelines for restricted supply of non-prescription codeine containing products. Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of adult codeine misusers and dependents (n=21), both actively using, in treatment and in recovery. The narratives were analysed using the Empirical Phenomenological Psychological five-step method (Karlsson, 1995). A total of 10 themes with 82 categories were identified. Two concepts at a higher level of abstraction above the theme-level emerged during the final stage of analysis. The concepts identified were ‘emotional pain and user self-legitimization of use’ and ‘entrapment into habit-forming and invisible dependent use’. These concepts were reported in different ways by a majority of participants. Results: Findings are presented under the following themes: (1) profile and product preferences; (2) awareness of habit forming use and harm; (3) negotiating pharmacy sales; (4) alternative sourcing routes; (5) the codeine feeling; (6) the daily routine; (7) acute and chronic side effects; (8) social isolation; (9) withdrawal and dependence and (10) help-seeking and treatment experiences. Conclusions: There is a public health and regulatory imperative to develop proactive responses tackling public availability of codeine containing medicines, risk minimisation in consumer self-treatment for pain, enhanced patient awareness of potential for habit forming use and its consequences and continued health professional pharmacovigilence. © College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 201
Genetic Analysis of Tritrophic Interactions between Entompathogenic Nematodes, Symbiotic Bacteria and Blood – Sucking Flies.
Get PDFMosquitoes are responsible for millions of deaths a year through the viruses and parasites they vector. Many of these vector species have successfully expanded their range into temperate climates due to a combination of climate change and the easy movement of goods and people around the world. The temperate climate of the U.K. is home to 34 native species, several of which bite humans and are capable of vectoring pathogens more commonly associated with warmer climates, therefore the threat of mosquito-borne illness in the U.K. is a very real possibility. Many vector mosquito species have evolved resistance to traditional chemical insecticides and the search for novel control strategies in endemic areas is a priority in vector control. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are microscopic roundworms, which are obligate parasites of insects from the family Rhabditae. In particular, soil-dwelling nematodes from the genera Heterorhabditis and Steinernema. Presently EPNs are used in a range of plant-based industries as a chemical-pest control. However, previous laboratory research has shown that EPNs are capable of killing more than 250 species of insect including a selection of vector species and nuisance arthropods. This thesis is concerned with discovering whether commercially available and naturally occurring strains of EPNs from the U.K. could be used as an effective biocontrol agent for mosquito and chironomid species. This study includes a snapshot of the current EPN diversity in the U.K. which found four different Steinernema species, including the first molecular confirmation of Steinernema carpocapsae. EPNs from both field-collected and commercial sources were capable of killing and parasitizing two native and tropical mosquito species and Chironomus plumosus. Commercial strains were more effective at killing both, however, the native field-collected, mosquito species Ochlerotatus detritus was susceptible to field-caught EPNs, unlike the tropical, lab-reared Aedes aegypti. EPNs were found to be capable of tolerating the extremes of habitat that mosquito species can inhabit in laboratory tests. These studies have shown that with further research including viable field trials that EPNs could be very useful to add to a range of vector and nuisance control measures when used appropriately
High-resolution proglacial lake records of pre-Little Ice Age glacier advance, northeast Greenland
Get PDFUnderstanding Arctic glacier sensitivity is key to predicting future response to air temperature rise. Previous studies have used proglacial lake sediment records to reconstruct Holocene glacier advance–retreat patterns in South and West Greenland, but high‐resolution glacier records from High Arctic Greenland are scarce, despite the sensitivity of this region to future climate change. Detailed geochemical analysis of proglacial lake sediments close to Zackenberg, northeast Greenland, provides the first high‐resolution record of Late Holocene High Arctic glacier behaviour. Three phases of glacier advance have occurred in the last 2000 years. The first two phases (c. 1320–800 cal. a BP) occurred prior to the Little Ice Age (LIA), and correspond to the Dark Ages Cold Period and the Medieval Climate Anomaly. The third phase (c. 700 cal. a BP), representing a smaller scale glacier oscillation, is associated with the onset of the LIA. Our results are consistent with recent evidence of pre‐LIA glacier advance in other parts of the Arctic, including South and West Greenland, Svalbard, and Canada. The sub‐millennial glacier fluctuations identified in the Madsen Lake succession are not preserved in the moraine record. Importantly, coupled XRF and XRD analysis has effectively identified a phase of ice advance that is not visible by sedimentology alone. This highlights the value of high‐resolution geochemical analysis of lake sediments to establish rapid glacier advance–retreat patterns in regions where chronological and morphostratigraphical control is limited
All we need is trust: Trust in West African cross border networks
Get PDFThis paper aims to develop an understanding of trust in cross border trade networks dominating West African markets. To date most of the literature on trust and network relationships reveal a paucity of studies about West African traders. This paper attempts to address this gap by examining a range of relationships that have evolved as a result of weak formal institutions. Within the remit of this paper, we make an attempt to establish the role of trust in overcoming barriers to the survival of small businesses in West Africa. As this is a development paper, the organisation of this paper is three fold: firstly we commence by examining the topicality of trust from relevant literature. (2) we attempt to bring these conceptualisations to bear by examining the various complex economic and social relationships that shape cross border trade.(3) our discourse will be elucidated with the case of twelve traders operating between Nigeria, Ghana, Benin and Bukinafaso
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