Identifying Salient Stressors of Adolescence: A Systematic Review and Content Analysis

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Stressors play a defining role in youth development and, in particular, in adolescent psychological and behavioral adaptation. However, the nature of stressors...     

Age Estimation Based on DNA Methylation Using Blood Samples From Deceased Individuals

Age estimation using DNA methylation levels has been widely investigated in recent years because of its potential application in forensic genetics. The main aim of this study was to develop an age predictor model (APM) for blood samples of deceased individuals based in five age-correlated genes. Fifty-one samples were analyzed through the bisulfite polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequencing method for DNA methylation evaluation in genes ELOVL2, FHL2, EDARADD, PDE4C, and C1orf132. Linear regression was used to analyze relationships between methylation levels and age. The model using the highest age-correlated CpG from each locus revealed a correlation coefficient of 0.888, explaining 76.3% of age variation, with a mean absolute deviation from the chronological age (MAD) of 6.08 years. The model was validated in an independent test set of 19 samples producing a MAD of 8.84 years. The developed APM seems to be informative and could have potential application in forensic analysis.     

Networks as ‘laboratories of experience’: exploring the life cycle of the suffrage movement and its aftermath in Ireland 1870–1937

ABSTRACT

Applying an innovative conceptual framework this article presents an interdisciplinary re-appraisal of the suffrage movement and its aftermath in Ireland throughout the years 1870–1937. New social movement theory is utilised to consider how, in the words of the Italian sociologist Alberto Melucci ‘the submerged networks of social movements are laboratories of experience’. Going beyond the previously published work of each author, this article uses the sociological lens of ‘laboratories of experience’ to re-analyse aspects of the suffrage movement, female activism and the wider women's movement in Ireland. This application of social movement theory to female networks, their origins, aims and strategies, along with their interconnectedness, provides a more nuanced and detailed understanding of the ‘life-cycle’ of this movement. The article aims to demonstrate how an analysis of network dynamics and application of the concept of ‘latency’ is useful in further understanding the significance, impact and longevity of the women's movement in Ireland.     

The Demographic Consequences of the End of Chile's Nitrate Boom,c.1907–1940

This article deals with the demographic consequences of the end of Chile's nitrate boom following the 1929 crisis. The traditional economic historiography has maintained that this crisis impacted heavily on nitrate production, and that in turn the crisis triggered a permanent exodus from the nitrate districts to other geographical zones. Contrary to this widely held belief, we have shown in this article that: there was no substantial fall in production; there was indeed a fall in nitrate population, but this was limited; this took place in some nitrate areas only; overall, the decline in nitrate population was a short term phenomenon only. The population making a living from nitrate production (or activities directly related to it) did not emigrate in as large numbers as previously thought, since production remained high up to the 1960s.     

Detection of Cutting Agents in Drug‐Positive Seized Exhibits within the United States

The following report summarizes a study performed on seized drug exhibits collected in two U.S. states to evaluate the presence and identification of cutting agents. Aliquots of seized drug materials from Kentucky (n = 200) and Vermont (n = 315) were prepared using a dilute‐and‐shoot procedure. Initial analysis was performed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS) followed by analysis using liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (LC‐QTOF). Active compounds detected overall included caffeine (31.0%), quinine/quinidine (24.7%), levamisole (11.6%), acetaminophen, (8.2%) and procaine (8.2%). These compounds were found with several drugs of abuse, such as heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine. This novel information about cutting agents used to dilute or alter drugs of abuse is important to criminal investigations and in the management of acute intoxications at health centers. However, common methodologies for analysis and standard reporting practices frequently do not include cutting agents, resulting in lacking or inadequate information regarding prevalence of these substances.     

Beyond Punishment: The Penal State's Interventionist,Covert, and Negligent Modalities of Control

This article investigates the involvement of the penal state in the lives of criminalized people as a controlling force that takes multiple forms. We offer the concept of modalities of penal control and identify three such modalities in addition to expressive punishment: interventionist penal control is accomplished in extralegal ways; covert penal control is hidden from public view; and negligent penal control is characterized by the absence of action by state actors. This article illustrates empirical cases of each modality, using data from three distinct projects based in Chicago, southern Wisconsin, and nationwide. The data include observations of post‐prison groups and homes, interviews with criminalized people and nongovernmental organizational (NGO) staff, statutes, and regulations. This expanded understanding of penal state involvement extends beyond the understanding that characterizes discussions of mass incarceration and highlights the need for comprehensive reform.     

Non est factum and stare decisis

Corresponding to the recent shifts on the significance of skills development in higher education, a peer mentoring scheme for international students by international students was integrated into the academic curriculum at Newcastle Law School. The aim of the scheme is to facilitate the development of skills and values of the appointed mentors that translate into the workplace and into life. This empirical article discusses, first, the place of skills today in institutions worldwide, and their influence in the globalised world of work and in the life of the graduates; second, the analysis of the relevant skills developed by mentors in their role as a mentor in the peer mentoring scheme; and third, how they transfer to the workplace.