African-Americans and serial homicide

African-Americans are usually over-represented among offenders arrested in “normal” homicide cases, making up a considerably larger proportion than would be expected from the Black presence in the population at large. Among serial murderers, however, African-Americans are much less in evidence—perhaps one-fifth or less of known American serial killers are Black. It may be that African-Americans are in fact less involved in serial murder activity than are Anglo Whites or Hispanics; but it must also be asked whether this is simply an impression gained from the ways in which serial murder activity is identified and investigated. For a number of reasons, law enforcement agencies might be less likely to seek or find evidence of serial murder activity where the victims are Black. As homicide is primarily an intra-racial crime, this would then mean that Black serial killers would be far more likely to escape detection.     

Drugs in postmortem adipose tissues: evidence of antemortem deposition

INTRODUCTION: Drug concentration measured in postmortem adipose tissue may or may not reflect antemortem concentration. To examine the possibility of whether the presence of basic drugs in adipose tissue is the result of postmortem change, we examined: tissues with and without livor mortis, concentration gradients within the adipose layer, and the stability of drug concentrations during the postmortem period. CASE REPORTS: Five drug-related deaths with case histories and analytical data are presented. Adipose tissues with and without livor mortis from the thigh area of the same decedent were analyzed for cocaine. The cocaine concentration of the tissue exhibiting 4+ livor was equivalent to the concentration observed in tissue without livor. Analyses of cross sections of adipose tissues containing cocaine and methamphetamine disclosed that drug concentrations were equally distributed throughout the layer, from just beneath the dermis to directly above the muscle. When morphine and temazepam concentrations were measured in adipose tissues collected from similar sites, but at different times, from the same cadaver, they remained essentially the same over 3 days (approximately 80 h). CONCLUSIONS: Since concentrations were the same in areas with and without livor mortis, the possibility of redistribution into adipose from blood or vascular channels is eliminated. The absence of a concentration gradient within the adipose layer rules out diffusion or permeation from muscle into the adipose layer, and the failure of morphine or temazepam concentration to change over time indicates that drugs in the adipose tissue are stable during the postmortem interval. Our findings support the notion that drugs identified in postmortem adipose tissue are there because of antemortem deposition and not because of any postmortem change or event.     

Comparison of urine to sweat patch test results in court ordered testing

A former cocaine and methamphetamine abuser was continuously monitored with both sweat patch and urine testing for approximately 6 months. Thirteen sweat patches were applied and collected, five were positive for cocaine and/or methamphetamine, but all the urine specimens collected were negative at the analytical cut-off levels. The high incidence of false positive sweat patch tests in relation to the sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency of the sweat patch assay is discussed. Possible mechanisms, which can lead to false positive results, are presented. The results of our study raise further questions about the preferential use of the sweat patch in detecting new episodes of drug use in formerly chronic drug users.     

Trade,Technology and Employment in South Africa

South Africa has become increasingly integrated with the global economy since the early 1990s and particularly after the ending of apartheid. However this has not been associated with increased employment and high levels of unemployment are a major economic and social problem. The paper considers the impact of trade and technological change on both the level and skill composition of manufacturing employment. First a Chenery-type decomposition analysis of employment change is carried out and then labour demand functions are estimated econometrically. Both trade and technology are found to have had a negative impact on employment but these are only partial explanations of the low rate of employment growth.     

International development institutions and national ­economic contexts: neo-liberalism encounters India’s indigenous political traditions

Drawing on the case of India, which since 1991 has been undergoing a far-reaching programme of market-oriented reform, this paper argues that the World Bank and other transnational development actors have been unable to adjust themselves ­sufficiently to indigenous ideological traditions that affect the sustainability of economic liberalization. While markets are becoming increasingly embedded at the level of institutions, they are not achieving what might be termed ‘ideological embeddedness’. The paper maps the ideological context facing market reformers in India by looking at the relationship between, on the one hand, the idea of swadeshi (an indigenous form of economic nationalism), and on the other, three competing forces in Indian politics. The paper concludes by arguing that it is the mutual antipathy among these political forces, rather than any fundamental incompatibility between swadeshi’s precepts and the embedded-market framework, that prevents organizations like the World Bank from adapting swadeshi as an indigenous basis for framing its approach to market embeddedness.