Comparison of glass fragments using particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) spectrometry

A procedure has been developed to analyze the trace element concentrations in glass fragments using particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) spectrometry. This method involves using accelerated protons to excite inner-shell electronic transitions of target atoms and recording the resultant X-rays to characterize the trace element concentrations. The protocol was able to identify those glass fragments that originated from different sources based on their elemental analyses. The protocol includes specific approaches to calculating uncertainties and handling measurements below the level of detection. The results indicate that this approach has increased sensitivity for several elements with higher atomic number compared with X-ray fluorescence methods. While not as sensitive as laser-ablation or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry methods of dissolved samples, it is entirely nondestructive and entails a much simpler sample preparation process that may be used to presort glass fragments for more comprehensive elemental analysis. As such, the technique described may have a niche role in forensic glass analysis.     

Suicide by asphyxiation due to helium inhalation

Suicide by asphyxiation using helium is the most widely-promoted method of "self-deliverance" by right-to-die advocates. However, little is known about persons committing such suicides or the circumstances and manner in which they are completed. Prior reports of suicides by asphyxiation involving helium were reviewed and deaths determined by the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to be helium-associated asphyxial suicides occurring between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2008 were included in a new case series examined in this article. The 10 asphyxial suicides involving helium identified in North Carolina tended to occur almost exclusively in non-Hispanic, white men who were relatively young (M age = 41.1 T 11.6). In 6 of 10 cases, decedents suffered from significant psychiatric dysfunction; in 3 of these 6 cases, psychiatric disorders were present comorbidly with substance abuse. In none of these cases were decedents suffering from terminal illness. Most persons committing suicide with helium were free of terminal illness but suffered from psychiatric and/or substance use disorders.     

Detection of Malingered PTSD: An Overview of Clinical,Psychometric, and Physiological Assessment: Where Do We Stand?

ABSTRACT: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can be easily malingered for secondary gain. For this reason, it is important for physicians to understand the phenomenology of true PTSD and indicators that suggest an individual is malingering. This paper reviews the prevalence of PTSD for both the general population and for specific events, such as rape and terrorism, to familiarize evaluators with the frequency of its occurrence. The diagnostic criteria for PTSD, as well as potential ambiguities in the criteria, such as what constitutes an exposure to a traumatic event, are reviewed. Identified risk factors are reviewed as a potential way to help differentiate true cases of PTSD from malingered cases. The question of symptom overreporting as a feature of the disease versus a sign of malingering is discussed. We then examine how the clinician can use the clinical interview (e.g., SIRS, CAPS), psychometric testing, and the patient's physiological responses to detect malingering. Particular attention is paid to research on the MMPI and the subscales of infrequency (F), infrequency-psychopathology (Fp), and infrequency-posttraumatic stress disorder (Fptsd). Research and questions regarding the accuracy of self-report questionnaires, specifically the Mississippi Scale (MSS) and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI), are examined. Validity, usability, and cutoff values for other psychometric tests, checklists, and physiological tests are discussed. The review includes a case, which shows how an individual used symptom checklist information to malinger PTSD and the inconsistencies in his story that the evaluator detected. We conclude with a discussion regarding future diagnostic criteria and suggestions for research, including a systematic multifaceted approach to identify malingering.     

Government-sponsored reinsurance

Many measures to reform health insurance markets include various types of government-sponsored reinsurance. This article explains the purposes and types of private and public reinsurance, and reviews available evidence about their performance. The author concludes that government-sponsored reinsurance inherently cannot reduce total costs, but it can shift costs from the private to the public sector. Also, reinsurance can help transition to a new government program or market structure that creates uncertain risks. Whether reinsurance is the best way to accomplish these goals depends greatly on the details.     

Atypical Accommodations for Employees with Psychiatric Disabilities

People with psychiatric disabilities often need atypical accommodations to participate in today's workforce. Some of these accommodations, including structural and social changes in the workplace, can address biases against people with psychiatric disabilities, while others ameliorate deficits that may affect performance or interaction with others. Many courts have denied requests for such accommodations based on employers' assumptions about performance or the direct threats purportedly posed by people with psychiatric disabilities. By challenging these assumptions, which can be influenced by stigma and stereotypes, and by enforcing an employer's duty to interact regarding potential accommodations, employees with psychiatric disabilities could benefit from structural and social accommodations. Courts should consider social science research in determining which nontraditional accommodations may be reasonable and whether the employer can establish that they impose any undue hardship. Such consideration will expand opportunities for people with psychiatric disabilities in the workplace without unduly interfering with employers' interests.     

Designing Programming and Interventions for Women in the Criminal Justice System

Women are the fastest growing segment of the criminal justice population, yet the majority of research on criminal justice populations has been focused on men. Programming and interventions that reduce women’s involvement in the criminal justice system and ameliorate the negative consequences associated with criminal justice involvement are urgently needed. The overall aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive framework for developing evidence-based, gender-specific programming and interventions to reduce criminal justice involvement and its associated consequences among women in the criminal justice system. The first section of the paper offers a conceptually guided review of the three primary factors that facilitate and complicate women’s involvement in the criminal justice system: victimization; mental disorders; and substance use. In the second section of the paper, findings from focus groups conducted with women on probation or parole identify strategies to engage this population in psychosocial interventions. The third and final section of the paper provides comprehensive recommendations for designing programming and interventions for women in the criminal justice system.     

Gaze patterns to child figures reflect deviant sexual preference in child sex offenders—a first glance

Abstract

Research on non-offending heterosexual participants has indicated that men's gaze allocation reflects their sexual preference. In this exploratory pilot study we investigated whether naturalistic gaze behaviour is sensitive to deviant sexual preferences. We compared gaze patterns of convicted heterosexual child sex offenders (CSOs; n = 13) with female victims to heterosexual non-offending men (n = 13) in a task of free-viewing images of clothed male and female figures aged 10, 20 and 40 years. CSOs dedicated more fixations to the upper body of the female child than male child figures. The pattern was different for the control sample, whose gaze pattern to male and female figures could only be differentiated when viewing adult figures. CSOs showed significantly greater difference in their gaze towards the upper body of male and female children than non-offenders. Our findings provide preliminary evidence for eye-tracking as a potential method of assessing deviant sexual interest.