Policing in an Age of Austerity: A postcolonial perspective

Policing in an Age of Austerity uniquely examines the effects on one key public service: the state police of England and Wales. Focusing on the major cut-backs in its resources, both in material and in labour, it details the extent and effects of that drastic reduction in provision together with related matters in Scotland and Northern Ireland. This book also investigates the knock-on effect on other public agencies of diminished police contribution to public well-being.

The book argues that such a dramatic reduction in police services has occurred in an almost totally uncoordinated way, both between provincial police services, and also with regard to other public agencies. While there may have been marginal improvements in effectiveness in certain contexts, the British police have dramatically failed to seize the opportunity to modernize a police service that has never been reformed to suit modern exigencies since its date of origin in 1829. British policing remains a relic of the past despite the mythology by which it increasingly exports its practices and officers to (especially) transitional societies.

Operating at both historical and contemporary levels, this book furnishes a mine of current information. Critically, it also emphasizes the extent to which British policing has traditionally concentrated on the lowest socio-economic stratum of society, to the neglect of the policing of the more powerful. Policing in an Age of Austerity will be of interest to academics and professionals working in the fields of criminal justice, development studies, and transitional and conflicted societies, as well as those with an interest in the social schisms caused by the current financial crisis.

Highly Ionized sodium X-ray line emission from the solar corona and the abundance of sodium

Context. The X-ray lines between 10.9 and 11.2 Å have attracted little attention but are of interest since they enable an estimate of the coronal abundance of Na to be made. This is of great interest in the continuing debate on the nature of the FIP (first ionization potential) effect. Aims. Observations of the lines with the Solar Maximum Mission Flat Crystal Spectrometer and a rocket-borne X-ray spectrometer are used to measure the Na/Ne abundance ratio, i.e. the ratio of an element with very low FIP to one with high FIP. Methods. New atomic data are used to generate synthetic spectra which are compared with the observations, with temperature and the Na/Ne abundance ratio as free parameters. Results. Temperature estimates from the observations indicate that the line emission is principally from non-flaring active regions, and that the Na/Ne abundance ratio is 0.07 ± 50%. Conclusions. The Na/Ne abundance ratio is close to a coronal value for which the abundances of low-FIP elements (FIP < 10 eV) are enhanced by a factor of 3 to 4 over those found in the photosphere. For low-temperature (Te 1.5 MK) spectra, the presence of lines requires that either a higher-temperature component is present or a revision of ionization or recombination rates is needed.

Comparison of techniques to screen and characterize bacteria-specific hybridomas for high-quality monoclonal antibodies selection

Antibodies are are very important materials for diagnostics. A rapid and simple hybridoma screening method will help in delivering specific monoclonal antibodies. In this study, we systematically developed the first antibody array to screen for bacteria-specific monoclonal antibodies using Listeria monocytogenes as a bacteria model. The antibody array was developed to expedite the hybridoma screening process by printing hybridoma supernatants on a glass slide coated with an antigen of interest. This screening method is based on the binding ability of supernatants to the coated antigen. The bound supernatants were detected by a fluorescently labeled anti-mouse immunoglobulin. Conditions (slide types, coating, spotting, and blocking buffers) for antibody array construction were optimized. To demonstrate its usefulness, antibody array was used to screen a sample set of 96 hybridoma supernatants in comparison to ELISA. Most of the positive results identified by ELISA and antibody array methods were in agreement except for those with low signals that were undetectable by antibody array. Hybridoma supernatants were further characterized with surface plasmon resonance to obtain additional data on the characteristics of each selected clone. While the antibody array was slightly less sensitive than ELISA, a much faster and lower cost procedure to screen clones against multiple antigens has been demonstrated. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Proteomic profiling of human retinal pigment epithelium exposed to an advanced glycation-modified substrate

Purpose The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and underlying Bruch’s membrane undergo significant modulation during ageing. Progressive, age-related modifications of lipids and proteins by advanced glycation end products (AGEs) at this cell–substrate interface have been implicated in RPE dysfunction and the progression to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The pathogenic nature of these adducts in Bruch’s membrane and their influence on the overlying RPE remains unclear. This study aimed to identify alterations in RPE protein expression in cells exposed to AGE-modified basement membrane (AGE-BM), to determine how this “aged” substrate impacts RPE function and to map the localisation of identified proteins in ageing retina. Methods Confluent ARPE-19 monolayers were cultured on AGE-BM and native, non-modified BM (BM). Following 28-day incubation, the proteome was profiled using 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D), densitometry and image analysis was employed to map proteins of interest that were identified by electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry (ESI MS/MS). Immunocytochemistry was employed to localise identified proteins in ARPE-19 monolayers cultured on unmodified and AGE-BM and to analyze aged human retina. Results Image analysis detected altered protein spot densities between treatment groups, and proteins of interest were identified by LC ESI MS/MS which included heat-shock proteins, cytoskeletal and metabolic regulators. Immunocytochemistry revealed deubiquitinating enzyme ubiquitin carboxyterminal hydrolase-1 (UCH-L1), which was upregulated in AGE-exposed RPE and was also localised to RPE in human retinal sections. Conclusions This study has demonstrated that AGE-modification of basement membrane alters the RPE proteome. Many proteins are changed in this ageing model, including UCHL-1, which could impact upon RPE degradative capacity. Accumulation of AGEs at Bruch”s membrane could play a significant role in age-related dysfunction of the RPE.