Attitudes towards the employability of ex-offenders

Employment is important in the reintegration of people with a criminal record. This thesis investigated the attitudes of four stakeholder groups towards the employability of ex-offenders. While the study found negative and stereotypical perceptions of the employability of ex-offenders, it also found significant differences in people's attitudes. To explain these differences an ecological systems model is proposed.

A note on the property rights theory and the ex ante value of information

This paper examines the ex ante value of information in the property rights model where the possibility exists that an investing agent can be provided with relevant information before investments are undertaken. When contracts are incomplete, from an ex ante perspective, informing the investing agent does not necessarily increase the expected surplus resulting from a relationship between two economic agents. The paper highlights the fact that the second-best nature of the problem that arises from contractual incompleteness can ensure this.

Ex vivo expansion of haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells from human umbilical cord blood on acellular scaffolds prepared from MS-5 stromal cell line

Lineage-specific expansion of haematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs) from human umbilical cord blood (UCB) is desirable because of their several applications in translational medicine, e.g. treatment of cancer, bonemarrowfailure and immunodeficiencies. The currentmethods forHSPC expansion use either cellular feeder layers and/or soluble growth factors and selected matrix components coated on different surfaces. The use of cell-free extracellular matrices from bone marrow cells for this purpose has not previously been reported. We have prepared insoluble, cell- free matrices from a murine bone marrow stromal cell line (MS-5) grown under four different conditions, i.e. in presence or absence of osteogenic medium, each incubated under 5% and 20% O2 tensions. These acellularmatrices were used as biological scaffolds for the lineage-specific expansion of magnetically sorted CD34+ cells and the results were evaluated by flow cytometry and colony-forming assays. We could get up to 80-fold expansion of some HSPCs on one of the matrices and our results indicated that oxygen tension played a significant role in determining the expansion capacity of the matrices. A comparative proteomic analysis of the matrices indicated differential expression of proteins, such as aldehyde dehydrogenase and gelsolin, which have previously been identified as playing a role in HSPC maintenance and expansion. Our approach may be of value in identifying factors relevant to tissue engineering-based ex vivo HSPC expansion, and itmay also provide insights into the constitution of the niche in which these cells reside in the bone marrow.

The life conditions of Australian ex-prisoners : an analysis of intrapersonal, subsistence, and support conditions

Successful reintegration of ex-prisoners into the community is multifaceted. The life conditions of 36 adult Australian ex-prisoners (20 male and 16 female) were examined via a questionnaire administered at 1 to 4 weeks post release, and a subset of 19 of the original respondents were interviewed again at 3 to 4 months post release. Interviews focused on intrapersonal conditions (physical and psychological health and substance use), subsistence conditions (housing, employment, and finance), and support conditions (social support, support services/program participation, and criminal justice support). The majority of ex-prisoners self-reported chronic physical and mental health problems as well as a history of substance use and/or current substance use. Although the housing conditions of ex-prisoners were largely favourable and constant, the employment and financial conditions of this group were generally unfavourable. Level of social support was variable. Theoretical implications and practical applications of the present investigation for reintegration theory are discussed.

Systematic investigation of oxygen and growth factors in clinically valid ex vivo expansion of cord blood CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells

Background aims. Cord blood is considered to be a superior source of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells for transplantation, but clinical use is limited primarily because of the low numbers of cells harvested. Ex vivo expansion has the potential to provide a safe, effective means of increasing cell numbers. However, an absence of consensus regarding optimum expansion conditions prevents standard implementation. Many studies lack clinical applicability, or have failed to investigate the combinational effects of different parameters.

Methods. This is the first study to characterize systematically the effect of growth factor combinations across multiple oxygen levels on the ex vivo expansion of cord blood CD34 hematopoietic cells utilizing clinically approvable reagents and methodologies throughout.

Results. Optimal fold expansion, as assessed both phenotypically and functionally, was greatest with thrombopoietin, stem cell factor, Flt-3 ligand and interleukin-6 at an oxygen level of 10%. With these conditions, serial expansion showed continual target population expansion and consistently higher expression levels of self-renewal associated genes.

Conclusions. This study has identified optimized fold expansion conditions, with the potential for direct clinical translation to increase transplantable cell dose and as a baseline methodology against which future factors can be tested.

X-ray velocimetry within the ex vivo carotid artery

X-ray velocimetry offers a non-invasive method by which blood flow, blood velocity and wall shear stress can be measured in arteries prone to atherosclerosis. Analytical tools for measuring haemodynamics in artificial arteries have previously been developed and here the first quantification of haemodynamics using X-ray velocimetry in a living mammalian artery under physiologically relevant conditions is demonstrated. Whole blood seeded with a clinically used ultrasound contrast agent was pumped with a steady flow through live carotid arterial tissue from a rat, which was kept alive in a physiological salt solution. Pharmacological agents were then used to produce vascular relaxation. Velocity measurements were acquired with a spatial resolution of 14 µm × 14 µm and at a rate of 5000 acquisitions per second. Subtle velocity changes that occur are readily measurable, demonstrating the ability of X-ray velocimetry to sensitively and accurately measure haemodynamics ex vivo. Future applications and possible limitations of the technique are discussed, which allows for detailed living tissue investigations to be carried out for various disease models, including atherosclerosis and diabetic vasculopathy.

Smokers and ex-smokers reaction to anti-smoking advertising : a mixed methods approach

Anti-smoking advertising is a central component of modern public health policy. Nevertheless, some smokers have reported that viewing anti-smoking advertising provokes intense nicotine craving. Anti-smoking advertising frequently features images of cigarettes and of individuals smoking. However, research indicates that images of tobacco paraphernalia may induce cravings in individuals addicted to nicotine. The effects of the presence of smoking cues in anti-smoking advertising were considered in the present study. Smokers and ex-smokers (N=63) were randomly assigned to view an anti-smoking advertisement or to complete a control task. Urge to smoke was measured pre- and post-test. Qualitative responses to anti-smoking advertising were also elicited from all participants in the intervention groups. According to both qualitative and quantitative data analyses viewing anti-smoking advertising, even with images of smoking related paraphernalia, led to decreases in craving amongst smokers. Ex-smokers experienced no change in quantitatively measured craving after viewing anti-smoking advertising. These findings are inconsistent with findings from studies using neutral or positive smoking cues. Qualitative data shows that no smokers or ex-smokers who viewed anti-smoking advertising reported an increase in tobacco craving as a result of viewing the campaign. Implications of these findings for future research and anti-smoking campaigns are discussed.