Novel recovery methods for biological materials in cases of alleged sexual assault: A word of caution.

Many believe that an increase in the public confidence in the investigation of sexual crimes, and in conviction rates, will lead to an increase in the reporting of these crimes. Consequently, Forensic Science Providers are continually striving to make improvements in evidence recovery and examination and the subsequent interpretation of evidence. One development is in methods that enable an individual to self-sample.

Quality standards in forensic medicine.

Forensic clinicians work with some of the most vulnerable members of society. Despite this it is one of the few areas of front line, undifferentiated healthcare in the UK that does not come under the National Health Service. The Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine (FFLM) has produced quality standards guidance for over a decade to support good practice in clinical forensic medicine.

Evaluation of a 'decontamination kit' in NSW.

Dedicated facilities of a high standard should be available for the examination of complainants and suspects where forensic samples are to be taken to ensure that the risk of contamination is kept to a minimum. The need for a decontamination kit came about because of the variable quality of examination facilities for complainants of sexual assault and suspects (persons of interest) within NSW. Overall the kit has been found to be useful and easy to use but there is still a need to increase awareness of its availability.

Evidence based practice: laboratory feedback informs forensic specimen collection in NSW.

The importance of having clear, evidence-based guidelines for the taking of forensic samples from suspects detained in police custody (persons of interest) and complainants of crime is essential for forensic practitioners. The need for such guidelines was seen as desirable in New South Wales (NSW) and a working group was set up comprising scientists, practitioners and police. Feedback from the laboratory regarding the results of the specimens taken by forensic practitioners throughout the State was received and analysed.

Provision of clinical forensic medical services in Australia: a qualitative survey 2011/12.

The provision of clinical forensic medicine services is dependent on jurisdiction and relevant legal instruments. A needs analysis was performed to understand the current service provision within NSW and compare and contrast the service with other jurisdictions in Australia. The aim of this study was therefore to identify the roles, functions and clinical forensic medical services currently provided in the different Australian jurisdictions.

Effects of incapacitant spray deployed in the restraint and arrest of detainees in the Metropolitan Police Service area, London, UK: a prospective study.

Purpose: In the United Kingdom (UK) police restraint and control of detainees is undertaken by assorted means. Two types of incapacitant spray (IS) are approved by the UK Home Office for use: CS (o-chlorobenzylidine malononitrile, dissolved in an organic solvent--methyl iso-butyl ketone and pelargonic acid vanillyamide (PAVA). The aim of this study was to document the effects of incapacitant sprays, by symptom assessment and medical examination, within a few hours of deployment.

Training in clinical forensic medicine in the UK--perceptions of current regulatory standards.

As clinical forensic medicine (CFM) is not currently recognised as a speciality in the UK there are no nationally agreed mandatory standards for training forensic physicians in either general forensic (GFM) or sexual offence medicine (SOM). The General Medical Council (GMC), the medical regulator in the UK, has issued clear standards for training in all specialities recommending that "trainees must be supported to acquire the necessary skills and experience through induction, effective educational supervision, an appropriate workload and time to learn". In order to evaluate the current situation in the field of clinical forensic medicine, doctors who have recently (within the last two years) started working in the field "trainees" (n = 38), and trainers (n = 61) with responsibility for clinical and educational supervision of new trainees, were surveyed by questionnaire to gather their perceptions of how the relevant GMC standards are being met in initial on-the-job training.

One model of healthcare provision lessons learnt through clinical governance.

Aim: Clinical Governance describes a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care. Risk management includes a themes analysis of clinical incidents and positive interventions with the resulting information disseminated to staff through personal performance plans, and publication and development training workshops. Our model of healthcare provision utilises doctors, nurses and paramedics to assess individuals in custody and this paper discusses the implementation of clinical risk management within this setting.

Training of assistant forensic medical examiners in London, UK.

The overall aim of this pilot study was to evaluate the quality of current practical training in London with a view to improving future training as part of faculty development. New trainees in clinical forensic medicine (CFM), Assistant Forensic Medical Examiners (AFMEs), were interviewed to gather their views of their recent training experience and to attempt to identify problems with implementing the training as it stands. An overwhelming theme emerged that there should be a more formal structure to the training of newly appointed FMEs.

Principal forensic physicians as educational supervisors.

This research project was performed to assist the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine (FFLM) with the development of a training programme for Principal Forensic Physicians (PFPs) (Since this research was performed the Metropolitan Police Service have dispensed with the services of the Principal Forensic Physicians so currently (as of January 2009) there is no supervision of newly appointed FMEs or the development training of doctors working in London nor any audit or appraisal reviews.) to fulfil their role as educational supervisors. PFPs working in London were surveyed by questionnaire to identify the extent of their knowledge with regard to their role in the development training of all forensic physicians (FPs) in their group, the induction of assistant FPs and their perceptions of their own training needs with regard to their educational role.

3D representation of Wnt and Frizzled gene expression patterns in the mouse embryo at embryonic day 11.5 (Ts19).

Wnt signalling is one of the fundamental cell communication systems operating in the embryo and the collection of 19 Wnt and 10 Frizzled (Fzd) receptor genes (in mouse and human) represent just part of a complex system to be unravelled. Here we present a spatially comprehensive set of data on the 3D distribution of Wnt and Fzd gene expression patterns at a carefully selected single stage of mouse development. Overviews and selected features of the patterns are presented and the full 3D data set, generated by fully described probes, is available to the research community through the Edinburgh Mouse Atlas of Gene Expression.

Visualizing plant development and gene expression in three dimensions using optical projection tomography.

A deeper understanding of the mechanisms that underlie plant growth and development requires quantitative data on three-dimensional (3D) morphology and gene activity at a variety of stages and scales. To address this, we have explored the use of optical projection tomography (OPT) as a method for capturing 3D data from plant specimens. We show that OPT can be conveniently applied to a wide variety of plant material at a range of scales, including seedlings, leaves, flowers, roots, seeds, embryos, and meristems.

Near miss incidents in police custody suites in London in 2003: a feasibility study.

Introduction: Potentially preventable deaths in police custody include those which involve illicit drugs, alcohol and deliberate self-harm. Near miss incidents (NMI) that did not result in death have a crucial role in understanding risk factors in custody. Such research has not previously been undertaken.

The clinical management of substance misusers in police custody -- a survey of current practice.

Large numbers of substance misusers are seen in police custody. Their management remains a significant part of a forensic physician's workload. Substance misuse, including alcohol, is a factor in a substantial number of deaths in custody.

The role of forensic medical examiners and their attitudes on delivering brief alcohol interventions in police custody.

Background: Many drunken detainees are not receiving alcohol treatment, so the forensic medical examiner (FME) might be the only healthcare professional they see. This paper explores the possibility of British FMEs delivering brief alcohol interventions in custody suites.

Method: Twenty-five FMEs and 15 police officers were interviewed, using semi-structured interviews and a snowball sampling approach.

Central roles of alpha5beta1 integrin and fibronectin in vascular development in mouse embryos and embryoid bodies.

Vascular development and maturation are dependent on the interactions of endothelial cell integrins with surrounding extracellular matrix. Previous investigations of the primacy of certain integrins in vascular development have not addressed whether this could also be a secondary effect due to poor embryonic nutrition. Here, we show that the alpha5 integrin subunit and fibronectin have critical roles in blood vessel development in mouse embryos and in embryoid bodies (EBs) differentiated from embryonic stem cells (a situation in which there is no nutritional deficit caused by the mutations).