Victim impact reports in Northern Ireland: Victims’ voices influencing sentencing?

Discusses three Northern Ireland Court of Appeal decisions concerning the role of victim impact reports (VIRs) on sentencing in sexual violence cases, and illustrating how courts may be unable to rely on victims' accounts of the harm they suffered because the experts' reports were unreliable. Details key features of the cases, the use of VIRs as evidence-based harm, and why improved guidance on their use is needed in Northern Ireland.

Reactivity of the 4d transition metals toward N hydrogenation and NH dissociation: A DFT-based HSAB analysis

The density functional theory (DFT) based hard-soft acid-base (HSAB) reactivity indices, including the electrophilicity index, have been successfully applied to many areas of molecular chemistry. In this work we test the applicability of such an approach to fundamental surface chemistry. We have considered, as prototypical surface reactions, both the hydrogenation of atomic nitrogen and the dissociative adsorption of the NH molecular radical. By use of a DFT methodology, the minimum energy reaction pathways, and corresponding reaction barriers, of the above reactions over Zr(001), Nb(110), Mo(110), Tc(001), Ru(001), Rh(111), and Pd(111) have been determined. By consideration of the chemical potential and chemical hardness of the surface metal atoms, and the principle of electronegativity equalization, it is found that the charge transferred to the NH radical during the process of dissociative adsorption correlates very well with that determined by Mulliken population analysis. Furthermore, it is found that the stability of the NH/surface transition state complex relates directly to this charge transfer and that the trend in transition state stability predicted by a HSAB; treatment correlates very strongly with that determined by DFT calculations. With regards to N hydrogenation, we find that during the course of the reaction, H loses cohesion to the surface, as it must migrate from a 3-fold hollow site to either a bridge or top site, to react with N. Partial density of states (PDOS) and Mulliken population analysis reveal that this loss of bonding is accompanied by charge transfer from H to the surface metal atoms. Moreover, by simple modeling, we show that the reaction barriers are directly proportional to this mandatory charge transfer. Indeed, it is found that the reaction barriers correlate very well with the electrophilicity index of the metal atoms.

The Effect of Health and Penal Harm on Aging Female Prisoners' Views of Dying in Prison

With tougher sentencing laws, an increasing number of individuals are finding themselves spending their final years in life in prison. Drawing on a sample of 327 women over the age of 50 incarcerated in 5 Southern states, the present study investigates the relationship between numerous health variables and the Templer Death Anxiety Scale (TDAS). Qualitatively, the article also provides personal accounts from inmates that serve to reinforce death fears when engaging the prison health care system. Participants reported a mean of 6.40 on the TDAS indicating a substantial degree of death and anxiety when compared to community samples. both mental and physical health measures were important indicators of death anxiety. Qualitative information discovered that respondents' concerns about dying in prison were often influenced by the perceived lack of adequate health care and the indifference of prison staff and other instances of penal harm.

How counselling psychologists view their personal therapy

A survey of UK chartered counselling psychologists (N = 192) was carried out to investigate how they viewed their personal therapy. Eighty-four respondents completed questionnaires about their reasons and motivations for therapy, as well as its outcome and process. The results indicated that the majority (88%) were in favour of personal therapy as a training requirement. Most respondents rated the outcome and process of their personal therapy as positive, however 27% also reported some negative effects. A factor analysis of various components of personal therapy indicated that counselling psychologists made a distinction between three factors, i.e. learning about therapy itself, issues arising out of training and dealing with personal issues. Analyses of the data suggested that aims and motivation for therapy were related to dealing with personal issues, whereas these were not important for the other factors. Learning about therapy itself was related to the number of sessions: more specifically, chose who had more than the mandatory 40 sessions rated contributions of their personal therapy co understanding therapeutic relationships and processes more highly than those who had less. Initial sessions may be used by trainees to explore personal issues, leading to a preoccupation with the self, and learning about therapy per se may only occur once this has been dealt with.

Managing Risk: From Regulation to the Reintegration of Sexual Offenders

In the last number of years the management of the dangerous in the community, particularly sex offenders, has generated enormous concern. This concern has been reflected at a number of different levels - in media and popular responses to the risk posed by released sex offenders in the community and in official discourses where an abundance of legislation and policy reforms have been enacted within a relatively short period of time. This analysis seeks to critically evaluate these developments within the context of contemporary criminal justice policy and practice in relation to the management of sex offenders in the community. The article analyses the contemporary focus on risk management or preventative governance which underpins the current regulatory framework and has been reflected in both the sentencing options and in control in the community initiatives for sex offenders. In this respect, the article highlights the gap between policy and practice in terms of the effective risk management of sex offenders. Given the failure of the traditional justice system with respect to these types of offences, it will be argued that the retributive framework could usefully be supplemented by the theory and practice of reintegrative or restorative community justice, and public education in particular, in order to better manage the risk presented by sex offenders in the community.

A phase I study of the Heat Shock Protein 90 inhibitor alvespimycin (17-DMAG) given intravenously to patients with advanced, solid tumours.

PURPOSE: A phase I study to define toxicity and recommend a phase II dose of the HSP90 inhibitor alvespimycin (17-DMAG; 17-dimethylaminoethylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin). Secondary endpoints included evaluation of pharmacokinetic profile, tumor response, and definition of a biologically effective dose (BED). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients with advanced solid cancers were treated with weekly, intravenous (i.v.) 17-DMAG. An accelerated titration dose escalation design was used. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) was the highest dose at which = 1/6 patients experienced dose limiting toxicity (DLT). Dose de-escalation from the MTD was planned with mandatory, sequential tumor biopsies to determine a BED. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic assays were validated prior to patient accrual. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients received 17-DMAG (range 2.5-106 mg/m(2)). At 106 mg/m(2) of 17-DMAG 2/4 patients experienced DLT, including one treatment-related death. No DLT occurred at 80 mg/m(2). Common adverse events were gastrointestinal, liver function changes, and ocular. Area under the curve and mean peak concentration increased proportionally with 17-DMAG doses 80 mg/m(2) or less. In peripheral blood mononuclear cells significant (P

Teaching Art History to Design Students

Art History is often seen as a mandatory core course in the curricula of design programs but it is rarely tailored to the needs and goals of such programs. Instead, the traditional chronological organization of lecture topics, invariably beginning with the “Venus of Willendorf” (c. 25,000 BC) is presented in order to impart to the students a supposed holistic “big picture.” This essay outlines the re-structuring of a two-semester first-year faculty-wide introductory art history course, entitled “History of Art and Design,” in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design at Izmir University of Economics, Izmir, Turkey. The course was re-configured from a conventional chronologically-presented (time-oriented) lecture series to a thematically presented (topic-oriented) lecture series more relevant to the students of the faculty – architecture, interior architecture, graphic design, industrial design, and fashion design students.

Serviceability design of a cold-formed steel portal frame having semi-rigid joints

Details are given of a cold-formed steel portal framing system that uses simple bolted moment-connections for both the eaves and apex joints. However, such joints function as semi-rigid and, as a result, the design of the proposed system will be dominated by serviceability requirements. While serviceability is a mandatory design requirement, actual deflection limits for portal frames are not prescribed in many of the national standards. In this paper, a review of the design constraints that have an effect on deflection limits is discussed, and rational values appropriate for use with cold-formed steel portal frames are recommended. Adopting these deflection limits, it is shown through a design example how a cold-formed steel portal frame having semi-rigid eaves and apex joints can be a feasible alternative to rigid-jointed frames in appropriate circumstances.

Response of red blood cell folate to intervention: implications for folate recommendations for the prevention of neural tube defects

Committees worldwide have set almost identical folate recommendations for the prevention of the first occurrence of neural tube defects (NTDs). We evaluate these recommendations by reviewing the results of intervention studies that examined the response of red blood cell folate to altered folate intake. Three options are suggested to achieve the extra 400 mu g folic acid/d being recommended by the official committees: increased intake of folate-rich foods, dietary folic acid supplementation, and folic acid fortification of food. A significant increase in foods naturally rich in folates was shown to be a relatively ineffective means of increasing red blood cell folate status in women compared with equivalent intakes of folic acid-fortified food, presumably because the synthetic form of the vitamin is more stable and more bioavailable. Although folic acid supplements are highly effective in optimizing folate status, supplementation is not an effective strategy for the primary prevention of NTDs because of poor compliance. Thus, food fortification is seen by many as the only option likely to succeed. Mandatory folic acid fortification of grain products was introduced recently in the United States at a level projected to provide an additional mean intake of 100 mu g folic acid/d, but some feel that this policy does not go far enough. A recent clinical trial predicted that the additional intake of folic acid in the United States will reduce NTDs by >20%, whereas 200 mu g/d would be highly protective and is the dose also shown to be optimal in lowering plasma homocysteine, with possible benefits in preventing cardiovascular disease. Thus, an amount lower than the current target of an extra 400 mu g/d may be sufficient to increase red blood cell folate to concentrations associated with the lowest risk of NTDs, but further investigation is warranted to establish the optimal amount.