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Interactions between researchers and professionals need to be carefully managed in the criminal justice context. This chapter explores the utility of the theoretical lens of the contact hypothesis as a means to understand and improve these relations. The COLAB consortium is used as a case study of a typical partnership between professionals in practice and researchers in academia to illustrate this. We use the reflections of four of its members from both professional and researcher European institutions to explore how the conditions of contact proposed by the contact hypothesis may have impacted on the experiences of participants. Strategies through which these relations can be optimised in the interest of prison research, but also the care and management of people in contact with the criminal justice system, are proposed.

The new paradigm of toxicity testing approaches involves rapid screening of thousands of chemicals across hundreds of biological targets through use of in vitro assays. Such assays may lead to false negatives when the complex metabolic processes that render a chemical bioactive in a living system are unable to be replicated in an in vitro environment. In the current study, a workflow is presented for complementing in vitro testing results with in silico and in vitro techniques to identify inactive parents that may produce active metabolites. A case study applying this workflow involved investigating the influence of metabolism for over 1,400 chemicals considered inactive across 18 in vitro assays related to the estrogen receptor (ER) pathway. Over 7,500 first-generation and second-generation metabolites were generated for these in vitro inactive chemicals using an in silico software program. Next, a consensus model comprised of four individual quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR) models was used to predict ER-binding activity for each of the metabolites. Binding activity was predicted for ∼8–10% of metabolites in each generation, with these metabolites linked to 259 in vitro inactive parent chemicals. Metabolites were enriched in substructures consisting of alcohol, aromatic, and phenol bonds relative to their inactive parent chemicals, suggesting these features are potentially favorable for ER-binding. The workflow presented here can be used to identify parent chemicals that can be potentially bioactive, to aid confidence in high throughput risk screening.

Chemical ionization plays an important role in many aspects of pharmacokinetic (PK) processes such as protein binding, tissue partitioning, and apparent volume of distribution at steady state (Vdss). Here, estimates of ionization equilibrium constants (i.e., pKa) were analyzed for 8,132 pharmaceuticals and 24,281 other compounds to which humans might be exposed in the environment. Results revealed broad differences in the ionization of pharmaceutical chemicals and chemicals with either near-field (in the home) or far-field sources. The utility of these high-throughput ionization predictions was evaluated via a case-study of predicted PK Vdss for 22 compounds monitored in the blood and serum of the U.S. population by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The chemical distribution ratio between water and tissue was estimated using predicted ionization states characterized by pKa. Probability distributions corresponding to ionizable atom types (IATs) were then used to analyze the sensitivity of predicted Vdss on predicted pKa using Monte Carlo methods. 8 of the 22 compounds were predicted to be ionizable. For 5 of the 8 the predictions based upon ionization are significantly different from what would be predicted for a neutral compound. For all but one (foramsulfuron), the probability distribution of predicted Vdss generated by IAT sensitivity analysis spans both the neutral prediction and the prediction using ionization. As new data sets of chemical-specific information on metabolism and excretion for hundreds of chemicals are being made available (e.g., Wetmore et al., 2015), high-throughput methods for calculating Vdss and tissue-specific PK distribution coefficients will allow the rapid construction of PK models to provide context for both biomonitoring data and high-throughput toxicity screening studies such as Tox21 and ToxCast.

The fate of contaminants in the environment is controlled by both chemical reactions and transport phenomena in the subsurface. Our ability to understand the significance of these processes over time requires an accurate conceptual model that incorporates the various mechanisms of coupled chemical and physical processes. Adsorption, desorption, ion exchange, precipitation, dissolution, growth, solid solution, redox, microbial activity, and other processes are often incorporated into reactive transport models for the prediction of contaminant fate and transport. U.S. federal agencies use such models to evaluate contaminant transport and provide guidance to decision makers and regulators for treatment issues. We provide summaries of selected research projects and programs to demonstrate the level of activity in various applications and to present examples of recent advances in subsurface reactive transport modeling.

Objective: Determining the feasibility of implementing a new concept to objectively evaluate actual functional abilities of transfemoral amputees into a new measuring tool called “Assessment of Daily Activity Performance in Transfemoral amputees” (ADAPT). Design: Study 1: cross-sectional design. Study 2: repeated measures design. Subjects: Study 1 comprised two groups of 10 participants, age range 19–72 years. One group used microprocessor-controlled knee joints and the other group used mechanically controlled knee joints. Study 2 comprised 20 participants, age range 31–68 years. Methods: Two versions of ADAPT were assessed in the separate studies. In study 1 performance times on version 1 of ADAPT were compared between groups. In study 2 participants completed version 2 of ADAPT twice with a 1 h rest between trials. The Locomotor Capabilities Index was administered. Reliability was determined by calculating correlation coefficients and by Bland-Altman analyses. Results: In study 1, ADAPT version 1 proved to be sensitive in detecting differences in performance between groups. In study 2, 75% of all correlation coefficients exceeded 0.90 in version 2 of ADAPT. Bland-Altman analyses showed high test-retest agreement. Conclusion: It is feasible to reliably assess actual functional abilities of transfemoral amputees using standardized simulations of daily activities. This ADAPT concept is able to differentiate between different functional performance levels.

The absorption of terramycin from the gastrointestinal tract is rather similar to that of aureomycin. Peak levels are low, tend to be achieved in 2 to 6 hours after ingestion, and are prolonged for several hours. Single oral doses of 11 mg/kg. body weight give peak serum levels ranging from 0.20 to 1.95 µg./cc., with a mean of 1.0 µg./cc. Doubling or tripling this single dose did not produce marked increases in serum levels. Dosage of 11 mg./kg. orally every six hours (44 mg./kg./24 hours) resulted in peak serum levels on the third day which were essentially identical with those after the initial dose. However, when a dosage of 33 mg./kg. was given orally every six hours (132 mg./kg./24 hours), marked cumulation in the serum was noted. The mean serum level on the first day on this schedule was 2.7 µg./cc., and on the third day, 8.0 µg./cc. Diffusion into the cerebrospinal fluid in three cases was poor. With spinal fluid and serum levels simultaneously obtained, the spinal fluid levels were ¼, ⅙ and ⅛, respectively of the serum levels. Intravenously administered terramycin in dosage of 6.6 mg./kg. gave peak serum levels at one-half hour, ranging from 10.0 to 12.8 µg./cc. Six hours after injection, serum levels ranged from 1.8 to 4.4 µg./cc., and at 12 hours, from 0.78 to 2.6 µg./cc. Terramycin given rectally in perforated capsules was well tolerated. However, in four patients given 66 mg./kg. by this route, peak serum levels ranged from 0 to 1.0 µg./cc. Recommended terramycin dosage: (a) Oral: 11 mg./kg./dose every six hours (44 mg./kg./24 hours). Adequate antibacterial serum levels for most susceptible organisms are produced with this dosage. Increasing the dosage to 33 mg./kg./dose every six hours (132 mg./kg./24 hours) may be done in cases when high serum levels seem indicated. (b) Intravenous: 6.6 to 11 mg./kg./dose every 6 to 8 hours.