Domestic Violence and Social Support in a Clinical Sample of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Women

The present study examined domestic violence and perceived social support in a clinical sample of Deaf and Hard of Hearing women. Forty-six adult Deaf and Hard of Hearing females receiving outpatient mental health services completed a modified version of the Conflict Tactics Scale and the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List. Results showed that nearly three-quarters (71.7%) of the sample related experiencing psychologically abusive behaviors, and over one-half (56.5%) reported a history of physical violence from a partner. In addition, participants reported experiences of domestic abuse directly related to their deafness. Level of perceived social support did not differ for participants with a history of domestic violence victimization compared to those with no such history. Findings underscore the need for increased awareness of Deaf and Hard of Hearing women as a population at high risk, and warranting further investigative attention, with regard to domestic violence.     

Consent forms in genomics: the difference between law and practice

Consent forms are the principal method for obtaining informed consent from biomedical research participants. The significance of these forms is increasing as more secondary research is undertaken on existing research samples and information, and samples are deposited in biobanks accessible to many researchers. We reviewed a selection of consent forms used in European Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and identified four common elements that were found in every consent form. Our analysis showed that only two of the four most commonly found elements in our sample of informed consent forms were required in UK law. This raises questions about what should be put in informed consent forms for research participants. These findings could be beneficial for the formulation of participant information and consent documentation in the future studies.     

Conflict and Compliance in Swedish Health Care Governance: Soft Law in the ‘Shadow of Hierarchy’

Soft law, or non‐legislative modes of policy making, is becoming increasingly common today. The Nordic countries have a long tradition soft law, not least in central–local relations, where non‐binding agreements are frequently used to coordinate policies. A key question springing from soft law theory is that of compliance. Why do independent actors comply if they are not formally obliged to do so, and what happens if they do not comply? This article addresses the question of how compliance can be achieved during policy conflict between actors at different governing levels by investigating a case of health care reform in Sweden. An important finding in the study is that compliance was reached ‘in the shadow of hierarchy’. The central government resorted to the threat of regular legislation to force the county councils to comply. This finding points to the fact that sanctions and the presence of a hierarchical order may play an important role even in soft law governance. The study also shows that an additional important reason that the voluntary agreement between the county councils and central government was honoured in the end by both parties can be attributed to the efforts of a mediating actor: the organization representing the county councils in their negotiations with the government. Finally, the study also illustrates how various forms of informal social pressures such as shaming, peer pressure and moral responsibility can help enforce local compliance in a case of open policy conflict. Arguably, all these compliance mechanisms also have relevance outside the Nordic setting.     

The relationship among distributive and procedural justice and correctional life satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intent: An exploratory study

Distributive and procedural justice, two dimensions of organizational justice, have been found to be salient antecedents of many correctional staff attitudes, such as job stress, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment; however, little correctional research has examined their relationships with the life satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intent. Multivariate regression equations were estimated to determine the association of personal characteristics, distributive justice, and procedural justice with the life satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intent of correctional employees based on a survey of 160 staff at a private midwestern maximum security institution. Both distributive and procedural justice had a statistically significant inverse association with burnout and turnover intent, while procedural justice had a significant positive relationship with life satisfaction. Additionally, the results indicated that the association of procedural justice was larger than the association for distributive justice. Similar results were obtained using only responses from correctional officers.     

Environmental Moisture,Molds, and Asthma—Emerging Fungal Risks in the Context of Climate Change

The trend toward increasing frequency and intensity of storms has exacerbated mold and other moisture-related health problems, and can be extrapolated to the future. Mold growth therefore exhibits increasing significance in the context of changing climate. The decades-old hypothesis of mold causation and/or exacerbation of asthma previously has been deemed unproven, though not rejected. The present investigation assesses the status of this hypothesis within the industrial, regulatory, scientific, medical, and legal communities. To assure accuracy, statements from these communities are quoted. Recent high-level reviews, such as by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine and the United Nations World Health Organization, have failed to consider literature that was available, and studies postdating NAS IOM and UN WHO reviews have confirmed and augmented available literature. As a result, all nine of the Hill criteria of causation in epidemiology now are satisfied. I conclude that, with exposure of sufficient intensity and duration, some molds can cause asthma and/or exacerbate preexisting asthma, and that the hypothesis indeed has been accorded broad acceptance in the communities considered.     

A Morphological and Morphometric Study of Bite Marks Caused by Mice (Mus Musculus) on Different Baits for Forensic Purposes

In animal bites, the dental attributes can be fundamental in identifying the marks made by various species on different matrices. Although rodent bite marks have been studied in the context of postmortem interference, little research has used different baits to analyze these marks linking not only specific behavior patterns but also the possibility of structural damage. Twenty mice (Mus musculus) were exposed to different baits to study their bite marks in a controlled model. The known pattern of parallel and multiple grooves has been seen in all baits, but polyvinyl chloride and fiber‐optic cable were significantly different between each other and the other baits. Some baits showed patterns of anchorage of the upper incisors and space between the lower incisors when gnawing. This technical note represents a novel model of analysis where veterinarians and/or dentists may be asked to give an opinion on alleged animal bite marks.     

Telecommunications,Electromagnetic Fields,and Human Health

Telecommunication generates electromagnetic fields (EMFs) at radio and microwave frequencies. Transmitters have proliferated with siting of wireless communication networks, often co-located among other transmitters. “Cell” phones also have proliferated, representing small transmitters used in contact with human heads, and stored on human bodies. Telecommunications equipment is ubiquitous, and EMF exposure prolonged, raising the issue of possible health risks. Such risks, if any, must be managed. For example, epidemiology studies reported higher exposure to analog cell phone EMFs among brain cancer patients than among controls, but those risks were “managed” via replacement of analog phones with today’s digital phones, which have not been associated with human cancer. Challenges remain, recently from rodent bioassays that show dose-related association of lifetime exposure to cell-phone-type EMFs with heart schwannomas (cancers of Schwann cells, which insulate nerve cells) in male rats, though not in females. Human cancer risk, if any, remains to be characterized and quantified, which partly will depend upon whether EMFs indeed are non-ionizing as has been assumed, and whether a threshold or non-threshold (genotoxic) mechanism caused the cancers in the male rats. Health concerns have motivated further exposure reduction suggestions, and sometimes opposition to siting transmitters. Credible, objective explication of technical information to primarily non-technical audiences is necessary to support informed public participation and dispassionate weighing of telecommunications risks and benefits in community decision-making. Ultimately, experts and non-experts should adhere to the “precautionary principle,” requiring adoption of reasonably (but not excessively) pessimistic exposure and risk assumptions, whether or not they are likely to materialize.