Suchergebnisse

International law enforcement agencies have increasingly pointed to an apparent rise in poly-drug traffickers: high level drug traffickers who choose to trade in multiple illicit drugs. This project provided the first detailed examination of poly-drug and poly-crime trafficking in Australia. It used three different types of Australian Federal Police data (border seizures, cases and linked-cases) and court sentencing data to estimate the scale of and trends in poly-drug commercial importation at the Australian border from 1999-2012; generate and compare criminal profiles of 20 poly-drug and 20 mono-drug traffickers; and conduct social network analysis of three Australian poly-drug networks. The analysis showed that over the 14 year period, from 1999 to 2012, between 5% and 35% of commercial importations at the Australian border involved poly-drug trafficking. Poly-drug trafficking occurred in almost every year of analysis: and increased only slightly over time. Finally, poly-drug traffickers were associated with more serious and potentially harmful behaviour. For example, compared to mono-drug traffickers, poly-drug traffickers were associated with larger quantities of drug seized, larger networks, longer periods of operation, and greater involvement in other types of serious crime. The project concluded that some fears about poly-drug traffickers may have been overstated particularly about the inherent escalation of this form of trafficking, but that poly-drug traffickers are likely to pose added risks to governments and law enforcement than mono-drug traffickers. Two key implications are that first, poly-drug traffickers warrant increased attention in Australia; and second, regulatory or law enforcement responses aimed at one drug may increase the problems associated with another drug. This demands a new way of thinking about Australian illicit drug markets that can better respond to drug traffickers operating in an inter-connected marketplace.

Throughout history and across their geographic distribution, bear species (Ursidae) have been portrayed and valued for their beauty, physical power, or ecological significance, while concurrently disliked and feared for their ferocity, negative economic impacts, and safety risks they can pose to people. How bear species are depicted in stories - including myths, legends, fables, or tales - can influence how people come to value bears and act toward them. It is our belief that reviewing the stories people tell about bears can be useful in understanding people's proclivity to conservation action, given that stories told about bears can be a powerful demonstration of how local culture influences human relations with wildlife. We conducted a review of English-language literature for stories about bears across their global range, to better understand how these stories reflect human thought and imagination, experiences, and behaviors concerning bears. We identify 4 themes about bears as told through different narratives - including kinship, utilitarianism, threat, and political bears - and illustrate how understanding stories told about the wild animals that share our lives can provide important insights into developing conservation policy and action.

Introduction: Regulation and education of the professionals administering radiotherapy treatments in the linear accelerator varies across the EU. However, how different programme characteristics affect the level of competency of these professionals has never been studied before. This study also aimed to assess which are the least and most developed competencies in radiotherapy across the EU. Methods: An online questionnaire was distributed to academic staff teaching radiotherapy across the EU. Staff were asked to identify the characteristics of the course programmes and to classify the level of competency of graduates regarding linear accelerator tasks. Results: Fifty respondents from 19 EU countries answered the questionnaire. The least developed competency theme was pharmacology followed by equipment quality assurance and management and leadership. The most developed competency was positioning and immobilisation, followed by radiotherapy treatment delivery and professional and ethical practice. Some competencies are developed at the same level across EU countries, while others vary considerably between member-states. Longer programmes, with more placements, and larger proportions of radiotherapy in the programme showed significant increase in the development of some competencies. Longer placements in skills labs was correlated with a decrease in competency. Conclusion: There is no harmonisation of radiotherapy eduction across the EU and the differences in programme characteristics are reflected in differences in competency levels of radiotherapy radiographers. This may hinder movement of professionals and create disparities in the level of care offered across the EU. Implications for practice: Longer programmes, with longer clinical practice and adequate proportion of radiotherapy in the course are essential to ensure that these professionals are competent at similar levels across the EU and to ensure patient safety. ; peer-reviewed

Funding information: This work was supported by the UK's National Institute of Health Research under its Programme Grants for Applied Research Programme (RP-PG-0613-20007). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This paper presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) Programme (grant reference number RP-PG-0613-20007). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Health Service, the NIHR or the Department of Health. We acknowledge the helpful comments of our Reviewers. We thank the numerous stakeholders who participated in this research. Particular acknowledgement is extended to the care-home residents and their relatives who took part, as your voices and views are integral to the potential acceptability and viability of any such intervention as discussed in our paper. ; Peer reviewed ; Publisher PDF