Enhancing juror decision-making through provision of transcripts

This thesis explored how much evidence jurors remember when instructed to reach a verdict. Results indicated that jurors required to rely on memory recalled significantly less evidence than jurors provided with access to the court transcript and were less confident than aided jurors that they had returned the 'right' verdict. The portfolio explored a possible association between chronic childhood challenging behaviours and later offending behaviour in individuals with intellectual disability. Includes four clinical case studies. The importance of early intervention is illustrated.

Transcripts, interviews, press clippings for 'Generations: grandmothers, mothers and daughters'

79 manila files in 4 archive boxes (1 file per interviewee). Comprises handwritten notes and typed transcripts of interviews with daughters who provide information about their mothers and grandmothers concerning their daily lives and objects of value to them that have been passed down through the generations. Interviews were conducted between 1983-01-02 to 1987-03-03.

Also includes some photocopies of press articles (concerning Pat Giles), a photocopy of a family heirloom (a turquoise metal player holder), a newspaper clipping (containing information about one of the interviewees), and hand drawn family trees based on the interviews.

It makes you realize, really, just how deep your subtext is : Literature, subjectivity and curriculum change

This paper draws on the notion of discourse to explore complex relationships between teachers and curriculum change. It uses poststructuralist views of discourse to explore ways in which school subjects, such as Literature, are discursively constructed across time, while teachers too are positioned within discourses that shape the ways they understand the subject and themselves as teachers of it. This paper reports on the experience of a small group of teachers of a new literature course in the Australian state of Victoria. Nine teachers were interviewed over 3 years, and the interview transcripts read for traces of discourses formative in shaping their response to the new course. I identified three discourses: Leavisite and New Critical formations of the subject Literature; charismatic pedagogy; and critical theory, which was embodied in the new subject's study design. These 3 discourses, together with the traditions and culture of the school, form the framework for analysis of the interviews. The paper explores ways in which the teachers' positioning within this mix of discourses and settings variously supported or undermined their preparedness to accept new configurations of the subject Literature as well as the implications of curriculum change not just for constructions of the subject but also for teacher subjectivity.

Creatine and the creatine transporter: a review

The cellular role of creatine (Cr) and Cr phosphate (CrP) has been studied extensively in neural, cardiac and skeletal muscle. Several studies have demonstrated that alterations in the cellular total Cr (Cr + CrP) concentration in these tissues can produce marked functional and/or structural change. The primary aim of this review was to critically evaluate the literature that has examined the regulation of cellular total Cr content. In particular, the review focuses on the regulation of the activity and gene expression of the Cr transporter (CreaT), which is primarily responsible for cellular Cr uptake. Two CreaT genes (CreaT1 and CreaT2) have been identified and their chromosomal location and DNA sequencing have been completed. From these data, putative structures of the CreaT proteins have been formulated. Transcription products of the CreaT2 gene are expressed exclusively in the testes, whereas CreaT1 transcripts are found in a variety of tissues. Recent research has measured the expression of the CreaT1 protein in several tissues including neural, cardiac and skeletal muscle. There is very little information available about the factors regulating CreaT gene expression. There is some evidence that suggests the intracellular Cr concentration may be involved in the regulatory process but there is much more to learn before this process is understood. The activity of the CreaT protein is controlled by many factors. These include substrate concentration, transmembrane Na+ gradients, cellular location, and various hormones. It is also likely that transporter activity is influenced by its phosphorylation state and by its interaction with other plasma membrane proteins. The extent of CreaT protein glycosylation may vary within cells, the functional significance of which remains unclear.

Challenging the handover : recommendations for research and practice

Communicating nursing care during the patient's total hospital stay is a difficult task to achieve within the context of high patient turnover, a lack of overlap time between shifts, and time constraints. Clear and accurate communication is pivotal to delivering high quality care and should be the gold standard in any clinical setting. Handover is a commonly used communication medium that requires review and critique. This study was conducted in five acute care settings at a major teaching hospital. Using a grounded theory approach, it explored the use of three types of handover techniques (verbal in the office, tape-recorded, and bedside handovers). Data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with nurses and participant field observations. Textual data were managed using NUD-IST. Transcripts were critically reviewed and major themes identified from the three types of handovers that illustrated their strengths and weaknesses. The findings of this study revealed that handover is more than just a forum for communicating patient care. It is also used as a place where nurses can debrief, clarify information and update knowledge. Overall, each type of handover had particular strengths and limitations; however, no one type of handover was appraised as being more effective. Achieving the multiple goals of handover presents researchers and clinicians with a challenging task. It is necessary to explore more creative ways of conducting the handover of patient care, so that an important aspect of nursing practice does not get classified as just another ritual.

Detection of Arabidopsis thaliana AtRAD1 cDNA variants and assessment of function by expression in a yeast rad1 mutant

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD1 and human XPF genes encode a subunit of a nucleotide excision repair endonuclease that also is implicated in some forms of homologous recombination. An Arabidopsis thaliana gene (AtRAD1) encoding the orthologous plant protein has been identified recently. Here we report the isolation of three structurally distinct AtRAD1 cDNAs from A. thaliana leaf tissue RNA. One of the isolates (AtRAD1-1) corresponds to the cDNA previously shown to encode the full-length AtRad1 protein, whereas the other two (AtRAD1-2, AtRAD1-3) differ slightly in size due to variations at the 5′ end of exon 6 or the 3′ end of exon 7, respectively. The sequence differences argue that these cDNAs were probably templated by mRNAs generated via alternative splicing. Diagnostic polymerase chain reaction pointed to the presence of the AtRAD1-1 and AtRAD1-2 but not AtRAD1-3 transcripts in bud and root tissue, and to a fourth transcript (AtRAD1-4), having both alterations identified in AtRAD1-2 and AtRAD1-3, in root tissue. However, the low frequency of detection of AtRAD1-3 and AtRAD1-4 makes the significance of these tissue-specific patterns unclear. The predicted AtRad1-2, AtRad1-3 and AtRad1-4 proteins lack part of the region likely required for endonuclease complex formation. Expression of AtRAD1-2 and AtRAD1-3 in a yeast rad1 mutant did not complement the sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation or the recombination defect associated with the rad1 mutation. These results suggest that alternative splicing may modulate the levels of functional AtRad1 protein.

The Εffects of censoring and the spiral of silence on focus group interviews: a case study of discussions on immigration

Focus groups assess the oral expressions of opinions of participants on a particular topic under discussion. They have several advantages over other qualitative research methodologies such as depth interviews because focus groups can discover people's attitudes and motivations while revealing the underlying views or values held by them. However, as focus groups elicit more socially expressed and contested opinions and discourses than Individual opinions, their discussions can be contaminated by the situational constraints and social pressures within the group. These include group dynamics, confonnity, censoring, the Group Leader Effect, the Groupthink Syndrome, the effects of the Spiral of Silence, characteristics of group members, and the climate of opinion within the group and in society at the time. This case study examines the effects of these factors on the 'horizontal interactions' between group members during a discussion with undecided voters about immigration, using two situations where focus group members took offence at comments made by another and challenged them, when the topic under discussion was personally relevant to them. Other members of the group, offending or otherwise, then remained silent, retracted their opinions to placate the challenger, and expressed neutral or conciliatory opinions in an effort to return the discussion to a state of equilibrium. It then examines some measures that can reduce such contaminations, including
methodological triangulation, where several methods and methodological
approaches are used to examine a given phenomenon, instead of just one method, such as the sole use of transcripts of focus group discussions.

Toad atrial natriuretic peptide : cDNA cloning and functional analysis in isolated perfused kidneys

Complementary DNA (cDNA) encoding Bufo marinus (toad) preproatrial natriuretic peptide (preproANP) was isolated by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Sequence analysis of toad preproANP cDNA revealed an open reading frame of 150 amino acid residues, which shared 72% and 66% identity with Rana catesbeiana and Xenopus laevis preproANP, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequence of toad ANP that corresponded to ANP 1–24 of R. catesbeiana and Rana ridibunda was identical, but it differed by four residues from that of X. laevis. ANP mRNA transcripts were also shown to be expressed in the toad kidney. Subsequently, the effect of frog ANP (1–24) on renal function in toad was examined using a perfused kidney preparation. The arterial infusion of frog ANP caused a dose-dependent decrease in the arterial perfusion pressure that was associated with an increase in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and a renal natriuresis and diuresis. The renal natriuresis and diuresis resulted predominantly from an increased GFR rather than from direct tubular effects. This study demonstrates that ANP can regulate renal function, which suggests it may be involved in overall fluid volume regulation.

Identification of hypothalamic genes implicated in the development of obesity in Psammomys obesus using differential display PCR

The hypothalamus is a key central controller of energy homeostasis and is the source and/or site of action of many neuropeptides involved in this process. The aim of this study was to isolate hypothalamic genes differentially expressed between lean and obese Psammomys obesus, a polygenic animal model of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Differential display PCR was used to compare hypothalamic gene expression profiles of lean and healthy, obese and hyperinsulinemic, and obese, diabetic P. obesus in both the fed and fasted states. We conducted differential display with 180 separate primer combinations to amplify approximately 9000 expressed transcripts. Sixty differentially expressed bands were excised. Taqman PCR was performed on 36 of these transcripts to confirm differential gene expression in a larger sample population. Of these 36 transcripts, 9 showed homology to known genes, and 27 were considered to be novel sequences. Gene expression profiles for two of these genes are presented here. In conclusion, differential display PCR was successfully used to isolate several transcripts that may be involved in the central regulation of energy balance. We are currently conducting numerous studies to further investigate the role of these genes in the development of obesity in P. obesus.

Young children learning about evaporation: a longitudinal perspective

This paper traces the learning pathways over a 4-year period of 12 children learning about evaporation. The findings show the complexity and dependence on context of children's understandings. Detailed transcripts for 2 children are used to demonstrate how understandings of phenomena are framed within a network of personal narratives of self that reflect children's different subjectivities as learners and school children, It is argued that the longitudinal methodology opens up a more complex and nuanced view of children's conceptual learning in school settings than is afforded by cross-sectional studies and that the focus on individuals over time compels a very different construction of the learner than is represented in mainstream conceptual-change literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Behavioural characteristics of rapists

A substantial proportion of past research on rapists has focused on their motives. This paper reports on two studies that investigated the behavioural characteristics of rapists. The first study gathered behavioural data from police rape files to determine the types of behaviours exhibited by 130 men charged with rape. The second study was designed to validate the behavioural clusters found in study 1, using the transcripts of court cases from a sample of 50 accused rapists. The results demonstrated a high level of consistency in the behaviours of the accused rapists in the two studies. Rapists were most frequently a stranger, the rape occurred frequently in the victim's home, and the rapist used a range of different ways to communicate verbally with his victim. Five behavioural themes were identified in both studies: vaginal, kissing/fondling, oral, anal and brutal/physical themes. This analysis of the behavioural aspects of rape provides an understanding of the types of behaviours exhibited by men who reach the stage of court proceedings for the crime of rape. The difference between the current behavioural profile and that reported by members of the general community who have experienced rape is discussed.

Behavioral characteristics of men accused of rape: evidence for different types of rapists

The aim of this study was to determine whether the behavioral characteristics demonstrated by rapists clustered together into groups that were similar to the common rapist typology in the literature: anger, power exploitative, power reassurance, and sadistic. Two studies were conducted to examine the evidence for this typology. Study 1 involved the analysis of data from 130 men charged with sexual assault and Study 2 involved the analysis of court transcripts from 50 rape cases tried through the court system. The results of Study 1 revealed that there was some validity to the characteristics usually associated with each of the four types of rape, especially for the power reassurance and sadistic rapists. However, there were some unexpected outliers within both the anger and power exploitative types of rapists, which may suggest that there is more than one type of anger rapist and more than two types of power rapists. The results of Study 2 very closely replicated the results of Study 1. Future research needs to focus on the behavioral, motivational, and cognitive characteristics associated with each of the types of rapists and research them separately, so that it is possible to further evaluate the evidence for the typology identified in this study.

Haemodynamic instability after cardiac surgery: nurses` perceptions of clinical decision-making

Background. Cardiac surgical patients are distinguished by their potential for instability in the early postoperative period, highly invasive haemodynamic monitoring technologies and unique clinical presentations as a result of undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass. Little is known about nurses’ perceptions of assuming responsibility for such patients. An nderstanding of nurses’ perceptions may identify areas of practice that can be improved and assist in determining the adequacy of current decision supports.

Aim. The aim of this study was to describe critical care nurses’ perceptions of assuming responsibility for the nursing management of cardiac patients in the initial two-hour postoperative period. Design. An exploratory descriptive study based on naturalistic decision-making.

Methods. Thirty-eight nurses were interviewed immediately following a two-hour observation of their clinical practice. Content analysis and a systematic thematic analysis process called ‘Framework’ were used to analyse the interview transcripts.

Results. Nurses described their perceptions of managing patients in terms of how they felt about making decisions for complex cardiac surgical patients and in terms of how clinical processes unique to the admission phase impacted their decision-making. Nurses felt either daunted or stimulated and challenged when making decisions. Nurses identified handover from anaesthetists, settling in procedures and forms of
collegial assistance as important processes that impacted their decision-making.

Conclusion. Nurses’ previous experiences with similar patients influenced how they felt about making decisions during the initial two-hour postoperative period, but did not alter their views about processes important for patient safety during this time. Relevance to clinical practice. Feelings expressed by nurses in this study highlight the need for clinical supervision and appropriate allocation of resources during the immediate recovery period after cardiac surgery. Nurses identified ways to improve clinical processes that impacted their decision-making during the immediate recovery of cardiac surgical patients.