Depicting Characters and danced Narratives: Handel, 'The Italian troupe', and Marie Sallé

Handel’s London career afforded opportunities for responding to dancers working in distinct styles of movement—most notably the Italian troupe resident at the King’s Theatre in 1726-27, and Marie Sallé at Covent Garden in 1734-35. By studying the dances from Admeto (1727) and Ariodante (1735), this paper will explore Handel's response to the serious and grotesque styles, as well as to the character and narrative modes.

Criminal Justice in Transition: The Northern Ireland Context

This book represents a critical examination of key aspects of crime and criminal justice in Northern Ireland which will have resonance elsewhere. It considers the core aspects of criminal justice policymaking in Northern Ireland which are central to the process of post-conflict transition, including reform of policing, judicial decision-making and correctional services such as probation and prisons. It examines contemporary trends in criminal justice in Northern Ireland as related to various dimensions of crime relating to female offenders, young offenders, sexual and violent offenders, race and criminal justice, community safety and restorative justice. The book also considers the extent to which crime and criminal justice issues in Northern Ireland are being affected by the broader processes of ‘policy transfer’, globalisation and transnationalism and the extent to which criminal justice in Northern Ireland is divergent from the other jurisdictions in the United Kingdom. Written by leading international authorities in the field, the book offers a snapshot of the cutting edge of critical thinking in criminal justice practice and transitional justice contexts.

Understanding Desistance from Sexual Offending: A Thematic Review of Research Findings

Although there is a substantial body of work on desistance from crime in general, comparatively little is known about desistance from sexual crime. The broad aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the research methodology and preliminary findings from a recent empirical study on desistance from sexual offending conducted by the authors. Such findings have potentially important implications for policy and practice concerning sex offender risk assessment, treatment and management.

Criminal Justice Reforms in Northern Ireland: The Agents of Change

This chapter examines who and what brought about the transformation in the criminal justice system of Northern Ireland between 1998 and 2015, seeking to pinpoint the critical moments which stimulated the reforms, how they were delivered, and through what processes they are now being maintained. It seeks to identify the key agents of change and considers whether it is possible to generalise from Northern Ireland’s experience so that other conflicted societies might benefit from the lessons learned.

Comparative Study of Different Methods for the Prediction of Drug− Polymer Solubility

In this study, a comparison of different methods to predict drug−polymer solubility was carried out on binary systems consisting of five model drugs (paracetamol, chloramphenicol, celecoxib, indomethacin, and felodipine) and polyvinylpyrrolidone/vinyl acetate copolymers (PVP/VA) of different monomer weight ratios. The drug−polymer solubility at 25 °C was predicted using the Flory−Huggins model, from data obtained at elevated temperature using thermal analysis methods based on the recrystallization of a supersaturated amorphous solid dispersion and two variations of the melting point depression method. These predictions were compared with the solubility in the low molecular weight liquid analogues of the PVP/VA copolymer (N-vinylpyrrolidone and vinyl acetate). The predicted solubilities at 25 °C varied considerably depending on the method used. However, the three thermal analysis methods ranked the predicted solubilities in the same order, except for the felodipine−PVP system. Furthermore, the magnitude of the predicted solubilities from the recrystallization method and melting point depression method correlated well with the estimates based on the solubility in the liquid analogues, which suggests that this method can be used as an initial screening tool if a liquid analogue is available. The learnings of this important comparative study provided general guidance for the selection of the most suitable method(s) for the screening of drug−polymer solubility.

Using Flory-Huggins phase diagrams as a pre-formulation tool for the production of amorphous solid dispersions; a comparison between hot-melt extrusion and spray drying

Objectives: Amorphous drug forms provide a useful method of enhancing the dissolution performance of poorly water-soluble drugs; however, they are inherently unstable. In this article, we have used Flory–Huggins theory to predict drug solubility and miscibility in polymer candidates, and used this information to compare spray drying and melt extrusion as processes to manufacture solid dispersions.
Method:  Solid dispersions were characterised using a combination of thermal (thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry) and spectroscopic (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction methods. 
Key Findings: Spray drying permitted generation of amorphous solid dispersions to be produced across a wider drug concentration than melt extrusion. Melt extrusion provided sufficient energy for more intimate mixing to be achieved between drug and polymer, which may improve physical stability. It was also confirmed that stronger drug–polymer interactions might be generated through melt extrusion. Remixing and dissolution of recrystallised felodipine into the polymeric matrices did occur during the modulated differential scanning calorimetry analysis, but the complementary information provided from FTIR confirms that all freshly prepared spray-dried samples were amorphous with the existence of amorphous drug domains within high drug-loaded samples. 
Conclusion: Using temperature–composition phase diagrams to probe the relevance of temperature and drug composition in specific polymer candidates facilitates polymer screening for the purpose of formulating solid dispersions.