Evaluating the Impact of Public Student Subsidies on Low-Cost Private Schools in Pakistan

This paper examines the impacts of accountability-based public per-student subsidies provided to low-cost private schools in Punjab, Pakistan on student enrolment and school inputs. Programme entry is contingent on achieving a minimum pass rate on a specially-designed academic test. We use regression discontinuity to estimate impacts on schools that joined the programme in the last entry round (phase 4) before follow-up survey data collection. We find large positive impacts on school enrolment, number of teachers, and other inputs for programme schools near the minimum pass rate.     

Death From Butane Inhalation Abuse in Teenagers: Two New Case Studies and Review of the Literature

The ready availability of butane makes butane abuse frequent. Fatalities are rare. This study presents two cases of death by butane overdose. The postmortem analyses were carried out using headspace gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. It revealed femoral blood butane concentrations of 18 and 22 mg/L, respectively, as well as specific combinations of adjuvants in each victim. In one of the victims, brain and fatty tissue also contained butane, pointing to chronic consumption. The originality of this study is to show that the identification of specific combinations of adjuvants can be helpful for identifying the brand of deodorant used. Also, sampling the skin and mucosa can help identify the method of drug delivery. The histological examination documented both the direct toxic effect of the gas on the respiratory mucosa and signs of chronic abuse. Volatile substance intoxications should be systematically considered in case of sudden death in a teenager.     

Critical Observations on Neo-liberalism and India’s New Economic Policy

Abstract

Neo-liberalism is capitalism without leftist illusions (i.e. illusions that there can be such a thing as humane capitalism on a long-term basis). The article makes a series of critical comments on India’s neo-liberalism expressed in the form of the so-called New Economic Policy. It argues, New Economic Policy is more than a governmental policy. It is rather a policy of capital, mediated and implemented by the state. Neo-liberalism is a social-spatial project. Neo-liberalism in rural areas (agrarian neo-liberalism) is particularly ruthless. Neo-liberalism is implemented through, and entails, the transformation of space, and thus produces enormous spatial unevenness. Neo-liberalism is also a part of the imperialist project. Given New Economic Policy’s adverse impacts, it has inspired massive resistance from below. Interestingly, in spite of offering some opposition, the left has been, overall, a conduit through which New Economic Policy has worked. The article shows how a critical discussion on neo-liberalism has implications for understanding macro-structural changes in societies such as that of India, which have suffered not only from economic backwardness but also incomplete revolutions. A dialectical view of neo-liberalism and the New Economic Policy connects them both to the democratic and agrarian questions, the national question, and the question of socialism itself.     

Psychiatric disorders and management of sexual offenders in the prison psychiatric consultation unit of Marseille

Since 2017, complaints of sexual violence have increased in France. At the same time, the management of sexual offenders has been at the center of international public health policies. The prevalence of mental disorders among sexual offenders is an essential field of research. There are some published studies on the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in sexual offenders in detention, but there are few recent published studies among French individuals who were detained. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among persons detained for sexual offenses and the level of care received according to their diagnosis. For this purpose, we carried out a retrospective observational study from January 2017 to October 2021 of all adult sexual offenders, whether accused or convicted, who were seen in the psychiatric consultation unit of Les Baumettes prison, Marseille, France. The primary outcome measure was the psychiatric diagnosis entered in the medical records. One hundred forty-two patients were included in analysis. All patients were men, and the majority (n = 97, 68.3%) of these patients presented with at least one psychiatric disorder, principally a personality disorder (31.7%). 10.6% presented with a schizophrenic disorder, 4.9% a bipolar disorder, 3.5% a depressive disorder, 5.6% pedophilic paraphilia, and 25.4% an addictive disorder. Their management and comorbid addictions were analyzed in subgroups for each psychiatric disorder. Patients appeared to receive an appropriate level of care for their diagnosed disorder. It seems important to develop structured assessment of recidivism risk for better management of sexual offenders.     

Distinct age-related differences among victims in cases of suspected child abuse

Evidence describing age-related differences among children with suspected physical and sexual child abuse is lacking. We describe findings in severe cases of suspected abuse. Cases with 756 children <15 years old were included during 2001–2013 at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Aarhus University, using forensic evaluation documents, medical records, and court proceedings. Eight percent of children <4 years old died from child abuse, 36% through violence resulting in death, and 64% by manslaughter, whereas 1% > 4 years old died, solely by manslaughter. External injuries were mainly located to head and torso in children <4 years old, changing to the upper and lower extremities in older children. Child sexual abuse was suspected in 52% of cases with living children <4 years old, 83% of children 4–7 years of age, 88% of children 8–11 years of age, and 93% of children >12 years old. Anogenital findings were mainly caused by other medical conditions in children <4 years old, hymenal clefts in the superior half of the hymenal rim were almost exclusively found in children between 8 and 11 years of age, whereas both superficial and complete hymenal clefts in the inferior half of the hymenal rim were found in children >12 years old. The present study describes age-related differences in victims of suspected child abuse. Fatal versus nonfatal child physical abuse and the significance of hymenal findings in child sexual abuse could be studied further.     

Spontaneous rupture of unscarred gravid uterus

Rupture of gravid uterus during pregnancy is a rare entity. Overall incidence of rupture of uterus during pregnancy is 0.07%. The maternal and fetal prognoses are bad especially when the rupture occurs in an unscarred uterus. Fortunately, the sole major risk factor of spontaneous rupture of unscarred uterus is preventable, which is "multiparity." In this article, we report the death of a pregnant woman and her unborn child because of spontaneous rupture of unscarred uterus.