The heart of forensic science is application of the scientific method and analytical approaches to answer questions central to solving a crime: Who, What, When, Where, and How. Forensic practitioners use fundamentals of chemistry and physics to examine evidence and infer its origin. In this regard, ecological researchers have had a significant impact on forensic science through the development and application of a specialized measurement technique-isotope analysis-for examining evidence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIsotope ratio analysis has been shown to discriminate samples of forensic interest and to link many synthesized and natural materials to their precursors when traditional chemical and physical analyses cannot. Successful application of stable isotope analysis to chemicals of interest requires a background of likely variations in stable isotope ratios; often, this background population can be generated from analysis of possible precursors and the relationships of stable isotopes of precursor(s) to product(s), which may depend on synthesis techniques. Here we measured the carbon (C/C) and hydrogen (H/H) isotope ratios of the oft-illicitly manufactured explosive triacetone triperoxide, TATP, and one of its precursors, acetone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCarbon-14 measurements on 231 elephant ivory specimens from 14 large ivory seizures (≥0.5 ton) made between 2002 and 2014 show that most ivory (ca 90%) was derived from animals that had died less than 3 y before ivory was confiscated. This indicates that the assumption of recent elephant death for mortality estimates of African elephants is correct: Very little "old" ivory is included in large ivory shipments from Africa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIsotope hydrology has focused largely on landscapes away from densely inhabited regions. In coming decades, it will become increasingly more important to focus on water supplies and dynamics within urban systems. Stable isotope analyses provide important information to water managers within large cities, particularly in arid regions where evaporative histories of water sources, vulnerabilities, and reliabilities of the water supplies can be major issues.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWhile much is known about how the growth environment influences many aspects of floral morphology and physiology, little is known about how the growth setting influences floral lipid composition. We explored variations in paraffin wax composition in Cannabis sp., a cash crop grown both indoors and outdoors across the United States today.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe investigated a novel application of stable isotope abundance analysis of nitrogen (15N), carbon (13C), hydrogen (2H), and oxygen (18O) to characterize pen ink. We focused on both ballpoint and gel pen inks. We found that the isotope ratios of ink from pens purchased together in a package were similar and within-package stable isotope ratio variability was not significantly larger than the variability of isotope reference materials used during analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of this study was to identify helpfulness of strategies used by teens growing up in families with Huntington disease (HD). Forty-four participants responded to a mailed HD Family Survey-Teens Strategies. Strategies were those with strong positive correlation between use and perceived helpfulness, and those with negative or inverse relationships.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMeasurements were made on the natural abundance (14)C content (Δ(14)C) of cocaine specimens seized between 2003 and 2009. The objective of this study was to determine the extent to which Δ(14)C analyses could quantify the "age" of recent cocaine seizures. Here "age" of a seized cocaine specimen is defined as the time period between when a coca leaf was harvested in South America and its seizure as cocaine at either the international or domestic street levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To examine and compare the personal concerns of family members providing care for people with Huntington disease in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Background: Family carers of people with Huntington disease may feel burdened by caregiving responsibilities and concerned about illness risk for relatives.
Method: A mailed personal concerns survey was completed by 108 United Kingdom and 119 United States adult family carers of people with Huntington disease in 2006 and 2007.
Adolescents, who have a parent with Huntington Disease (HD), not only are at genetic risk for HD but also are witness to its onset and devastating clinical progression as their parent declines. To date, no mechanism has been developed to direct health care providers to the atypical adolescent experiences of these teens. The purpose of this report is to describe the process of developing the HD-Teen Inventory clinical assessment tool.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) is a widely used oxidizer with many commercial applications; unfortunately, it also has terrorist-related uses. We analyzed 97 hydrogen peroxide solutions representing four grades purchased across the United States and in Mexico. As expected, the range of hydrogen (δ(2)H, 230‰) and oxygen (δ(18)O, 24‰) isotope values of the H(2)O(2) solutions was large, reflecting the broad isotopic range of dilution waters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIsotopes Environ Health Stud
December 2010
The isotope ratio analysis of body water often involves large sample numbers and lengthy sample processing. Here we demonstrate the ability of isotope ratio infrared spectroscopy (IRIS) to rapidly and accurately analyse the isotope ratios of water in urine. We analysed water extracted from human urine using traditional isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) and compared those values with IRIS-analysed extracted water and un-extracted urine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth concerns and management strategies among families of young and middle-age adults with Huntington's disease (HD) are unknown. This study developed and tested psychometric properties of the Huntington Disease Family Concerns and Strategies Survey (HDFCSS). Focus group data from 91 adult family members were used to develop content.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTotal dietary fat and saturated fat intake are associated with obesity, elevated cholesterol, and heart disease. This study tested a multi-group structural equation model to explore differences in the relative influence of individual, social, and physical environment factors on dietary fat intake amongst adults aged 40-70 years. Participants from four rural Georgia, U.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: RATIONALE, AIMS, AND OBJECTIVES: Huntington disease (HD) is a progressive genetic brain disease leading to disruptive cognitive, behavioural and physical impairments. Persons with the condition and their caregivers need appropriate and accessible health care services to help them manage the disease adequately. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of a new scale that measures family members' perception of community health care services (CHCS) for persons with HD.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway is important in both development and cancer. Casein kinase Iepsilon (CKIepsilon) is a positive regulator of the canonical Wnt pathway. CKIepsilon itself can be regulated in vitro by inhibitory autophosphorylation, and recent data suggest that in vivo kinase activity can be regulated by extracellular stimuli.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe transmembrane proteoglycan syndecan-2 cell nonautonomously regulates left-right (LR) development in migrating mesoderm by an unknown mechanism, leading to LR asymmetric gene expression and LR orientation of the heart and gut. Here, we demonstrate that protein kinase C gamma (PKCgamma) mediates phosphorylation of the cytoplasmic domain of syndecan-2 in right, but not left, animal cap ectodermal cells. Notably, both phosphorylation states of syndecan-2 are obligatory for normal LR development, with PKCgamma-dependent phosphorylated syndecan-2 in right ectodermal cells and nonphosphorylated syndecan-2 in left cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudents were surveyed to assess perceptions with regard to the use of same-gender and mixed-gender partnering in practicing physical examinations. There was support for this arrangement, with students reporting that the practice provided an important learning experience with reasonable levels of comfort and no loss of thoroughness and rigor. Students did express some concerns.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe knowledge, skills, and attitudes associated with prevention cut across clinical disciplines. Thus, they are often subsets of disciplines not otherwise present in the traditional curriculum (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBest Pract Benchmarking Healthc
July 1997
Background: Shawnee Hills, Inc., formally began the transition to critical pathways in January 1996. The goal was to design and implement a service delivery model with clearly defined clinical paths and appropriate and functional technical support systems.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJt Comm J Qual Improv
January 1996
Background: In early 1992 the chief executive officer (CEO) and consequently the senior leadership of Shawnee Hills, a mental health care organization comprising more than 65 facilities in West Virginia, decided to begin the journey toward total quality management (TQM). TQM provided guidance for establishing an infrastructure for planned organizational change and continuous improvement while maintaining the CEO's responsibility to set the vision and provide direction. TQM'S IMPACT: Absenteeism and turnover rates have decreased, which are felt to reflect increasingly high levels of staff satisfaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Ment Health Adm
September 1995
The search for models or "benchmarks" that reflect the successful application of total quality management (TQM) to the mental health field is one that goes largely unrewarded. This article describes a case study of one comprehensive mental health center that has made a serious commitment to the philosophy and principles of TQM and that is reaping significant benefits from that effort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCardiovasc Res Cent Bull
July 1976
1. The results of a series of experiments in which anesthetized mongrel dogs were instrumented and preparations for closed-chest partial cardiopulmonary bypass with membrane oxygenation and hemodialysis were made, following which "fatal" barbiturate intoxication was produced by the intravenous route has been presented. 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClinical use of profound hypothermia and total circulatory arrest has been accompanied by occasional postoperative neurological abnormalities. In a series of infant baboons, surface cooling to 32 degrees C (brain) followed by perfusion cooling by cardiopulmonary bypass with a membrane oxygenator and heat exchanger to 18 degrees C was carried out, after which the circulation was stopped for 30 minutes. The animal was rewarmed to 35 degrees C.
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