A Beautiful Life: High Risk–High Payoff in Genetic Science

This narrative is a personal view of adventures in genetic science and society that have blessed my life and career across five decades. The advances I enjoyed and the lessons I learned derive from educational training, substantial collaboration, and growing up in the genomics age. I parse the stories into six research disciplines my students, fellows, and colleagues have entered and, in some cases, made an important difference. The first is comparative genetics, where evolutionary inference is applied to genome organization, from building gene maps in the 1970s to building whole genome sequences today. The second area tracks the progression of molecular evolutionary advances and applications to resolve the hierarchical relationship among living species in the silence of prehistory. The third endeavor outlines the birth and maturation of genetic studies and application to species conservation. The fourth theme discusses how emerging viruses studied in a genomic sense opened our eyes to host–pathogen interaction and interdependence. The fifth research emphasis outlines the population genetic–based search and discovery of human restriction genes that influence the epidemiological outcome of abrupt outbreaks, notably HIV–AIDS and several cancers. Finally, the last arena explored illustrates how genetic individualization in human and animals has improved forensic evidence in capital crimes. Each discipline has intuitive and technological overlaps, and each has benefitted from the contribution of genetic and genomic principles I learned so long ago from Drosophila. The journey continues.

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Growing Up with Attachment Theory—A Personal View

Psychodynamic Psychiatry ◽

10.1521/pdps.2017.45.4.431 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 45 (4) ◽

pp. 431-439 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Richard Bowlby

Keyword(s):

Attachment Theory ◽

Growing Up ◽

Personal View

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Implementing Protocols in the Emergency Department to Improve Care for Sexual Assault Patient

10.46409/sr.dhms2488 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kelly Ciccone

Keyword(s):

Emergency Department ◽

Sexual Assault ◽

Wait Time ◽

Time Frame ◽

Educational Training ◽

Forensic Evidence ◽

Improvement Project ◽

Sexually Assaulted ◽

Evidence Collection ◽

National Training

This quality improvement project answered the following question: Does implementation of sexual assault forensic examination protocols with educational training increase the number of staff who are knowledgeable and available to complete sexual assault forensic examinations and reduce wait times for individuals who present to the emergency department and have indicated that they were sexually assaulted, over no use of protocols, within a 15-week time frame? Evidence-based state protocols for performing sexual assault forensic examinations were implemented through educational training that incorporated national training criteria and hands on simulation skills practice. Evaluation of outcome measures confirmed an increase to over 80% of available and knowledgeable emergency department staff for providing sexual assault forensic examinations and forensic evidence collection. Implications of the findings support the existing evidence for implementing protocols to improve the provision of examination, treatment, and forensic evidence collection for sexual assault patients. The increase in available and knowledgeable staff for performing sexual assault forensic examinations is expected to reduce the wait time for patients who present to the emergency department and report that they have been sexually assaulted.

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Implications for Conservation of Collection of Mediterranean Spur-Thighed Tortoise as Pets in Morocco: Residents’ Perceptions, Habits, and Knowledge

Animals ◽

10.3390/ani10020265 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 265 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Amalia Segura ◽

Miguel Delibes-Mateos ◽

Pelayo Acevedo

Keyword(s):

Species Conservation ◽

Field Research ◽

Wild Animals ◽

Wild Populations ◽

Rural People ◽

Testudo Graeca ◽

Common Activity ◽

Living Species ◽

Education Campaigns ◽

The Impact

The trading and collection of wild animals as pets may be cause for concern regarding animal welfare and species conservation. These concerns can be exemplified by Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca), a long-living species whose use as pets is long established. The human dimension plays a major role in the wildlife for the pet collection, and is particularly important in countries like Morocco, where this might pose a threat to the conservation of the species involved. This study, which is based on a questionnaire survey (n = 480 participants), documents the fact that many people in Morocco keep tortoises as pets: 55% of the participants in the survey and over two tortoises/person. Importantly, most captive tortoises, particularly juveniles, had been collected directly from wild populations by their owners (42%, n = 264). In general, the tortoise owners had limited knowledge of their tortoises’ habits and requirements, although rural people were more likely to acknowledge that the tortoise is a wild and threatened species. Our study reveals that non-commercial collection is a common activity in Morocco that may threaten wild tortoise populations and hence species conservation, and it could have consequences regarding the welfare of the animals. We were also able to identify the profile of people towards whom education campaigns should be directed in order to reduce the number of tortoises collected from wild populations. Additional field research should also be conducted to quantify the impact of pet collection on wild tortoise populations.

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Sem/X-Ray Applications to the Forensic Science Field

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100091937 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 34 ◽

pp. 390-391

Author(s):

K. Culbreth

Keyword(s):

Forensic Science ◽

Depth Of Field ◽

Surface Phenomena ◽

Criminal Cases ◽

Forensic Evidence ◽

Science Field ◽

X Ray ◽

Hit And Run ◽

Evaluation Of Evidence ◽

Scanning Electron

The introduction of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis to forensic science has provided additional methods by which investigative evidence can be analyzed. The importance of evidence from the scene of a crime or from the personal belongings of a victim and suspect has resulted in the development and evaluation of SEM/x-ray analysis applications to various types of forensic evidence. The intent of this paper is to describe some of these applications and to relate their importance to the investigation of criminal cases.The depth of field and high resolution of the SEM are an asset to the evaluation of evidence with respect to surface phenomena and physical matches (1). Fig. 1 shows a Phillips screw which has been reconstructed after the head and shank were separated during a hit-and-run accident.

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