We’ve got them on the list: contacting,canvassing and voting in a British general election campaign

Many voters are canvassed by British political parties in the months and weeks immediately preceding a general election – but many are not. The parties are selective in whom they make contact with, and where. They focus on those in marginal constituencies who are likely to vote for them – and having identified them early in the process they contact them again, seeking to sustain that support in the seats where the contest overall will be either won or lost. A large panel survey conducted immediately before and after the 2010 general election allows detailed insight into that pattern of canvassing, identifying who the parties contacted, and where, in the six months prior to the election being called, and then who were contacted during the month immediately preceding polling day, and in how many different ways. Each party focused on its own supporters in the marginal constituencies, and in the middle-class neighbourhoods within those constituencies, but whereas the Conservatives, expecting to win the election, campaigned most intensively in the seats they lost by relatively small margins at the previous contest, Labour and the Liberal Democrats fought defensive campaigns in the seats that they won then. Such tactics were successful; the more ways in which respondents were contacted by a party, the more likely they were to vote for it.     

An investigation into the differentiating characteristics between car key burglars and regular burglars

Car key burglary has recently become the focus of empirical investigation as offenders, no longer able to steal vehicles without first obtaining their keys, resort to "burgling" target properties. Research surrounding the modus operandi of these offenses is beginning to emerge; however, little attention has been paid to investigating the characteristics of car key burglary offenders. Challenging the assumption that car key burglary offenses are perpetrated by regular burglars, this study aims to differentiate between offenders. Logistic regression analysis of 110 car key and 110 regular burglary offenders revealed that car key burglars are more likely to have previous vehicle theft convictions and are also more likely to be detected on information supplied to the police than regular burglars. Regular burglars are more likely to have previous shoplifting convictions. It was concluded that car key burglars are a distinct sample of offenders and the implications of these findings are discussed.     

Unmanned aircraft systems: Surveillance,ethics and privacy in civil applications

This paper examines how the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) for surveillance in civil applications impacts upon privacy and other civil liberties. It argues that, despite the heterogeneity of these systems, the same “usual suspects” – the poor, people of colour and anti-government protesters – are targeted by UAS deployments. It discusses how current privacy-related legislation in the US, UK and European Union might apply to UASs. We find that current regulatory mechanisms do not adequately address privacy and civil liberties concerns because UASs are complex, multimodal surveillance systems that integrate a range of technologies and capabilities. The paper argues for a combination of top-down, legislated requirements and bottom-up impact assessments to adequately address privacy and civil liberties.     

Stereochemical Analysis of Methorphan Using (−)‐Menthyl Chloroformate

Abstract: Forensic laboratories around the world have seen an increase in the number of drug seizures containing methorphan. Levomethorphan is a narcotic and a controlled substance, and its enantiomer dextromethorphan is an antitussive agent used in over‐the‐counter medications. For the forensic analysis of seized drugs containing methorphan, it is important to report the stereochemical composition of the drug. Ideally, a method based on common forensic laboratory instrumentation is desirable. The use of the chiral derivatizing agent (?)‐menthyl chloroformate followed by routine gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analysis of the derivative was shown to successfully determine the stereochemical composition of methorphan. This approach was applied to a street seizure containing methorphan proving that it was pure dextromethorphan. The derivatives of dextro‐ and levomethorphan were subjected to mass spectroscopic and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, which confirmed that the structure of the derivatives remained unchanged as a result of the derivatization process.     

Adverse mental health outcomes associated with emotional abuse in young rural South African women: a cross-sectional study

There is a lack of data on the prevalence of emotional abuse in youth. The aim of this study was thus to estimate the prevalence of emotional abuse in intimate partnerships among young women in rural South Africa and to measure the association between lifetime experience of emotional abuse (with and without the combined experience of physical and/or sexual abuse) and adverse health outcomes. Between 2002 and 2003, young women from 70 villages were recruited to participate in the cluster randomized controlled trial of an HIV behavioral intervention, Stepping Stones. Data was obtained through the administration of a questionnaire at baseline. Of the 1,293 women who had ever been partnered, 189 (14.6%) had experienced only emotional abuse in their lifetimes. Three hundred sixty-six women (28.3%) experienced emotional abuse with physical and/or sexual abuse in their lifetimes, and one hundred forty-four women (11.1%) experienced physical and/or sexual abuse without emotional abuse. Hazardous drinking was associated with the experience of physical and/or sexual abuse, with (OR 6.0, 95% CI [1.0, 36.6]) and without emotional abuse (OR 5.8, 95% CI [1.1, 29.4]). Illicit drug use (OR 5.6, 95% CI [2.4, 12.6]), having depressive symptoms (OR 2.9, 95% CI [1.2, 4.2]), having psychological distress (OR 1.9, 95% CI [1.4, 2.6]), and suicidality (OR 79.0, 95% CI [17.3, 359.6]) was associated with the experience of emotional abuse with physical and/or sexual abuse. Suicidality was also strongly associated with having experienced emotional abuse alone (OR 79.5, 95% CI [16.7, 377.4]). This study showed that emotionally abused young women had a greater risk of suicidality than those experiencing no abuse and that the combined experience of emotional with physical and/or sexual abuse was strongly associated with poor mental health outcomes.     

The Impact of Child Abuse History, PTSD Symptoms, and Anger Arousal on Dating Violence Perpetration Among College Women

Preliminary research suggests that child abuse is indirectly associated with female-perpetrated intimate partner violence via posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and anger. To date, however, no known studies have investigated these relationships for physical and psychological dating violence within a female college sample. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of child abuse history, PTSD symptoms, and anger arousal on female-perpetrated physical and psychological dating violence. Female undergraduates (N = 496) completed measures of child abuse, PTSD symptoms, anger arousal, and dating violence perpetration as part of a larger trauma and violence study. Results indicated that child abuse directly predicted female-perpetrated physical and psychological dating violence and indirectly impacted female-perpetrated physical and psychological dating violence via PTSD symptoms and anger arousal. The direct relationships between PTSD symptoms and female-perpetrated physical and psychological dating violence were nonsignificant after controlling for the effect of anger arousal.     

Sudden death in an adolescent due to undiagnosed classic Hodgkin lymphoma

Few cases of natural sudden death presenting as an undiagnosed lymphoma have been reported in the literature, especially in adolescents. Herein we provide a report of sudden death caused by undiagnosed classic Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL). We describe an 18-year-old female who collapsed after several weeks of weight loss, decreased appetite, and dyspnea. At autopsy, a bulky mass arising in the mediastinum and neck compressed the esophagus and trachea, surrounded the great vessels, obliterated the pericardial sac, and infiltrated the myocardium. The lungs were collapsed and large pleural effusions were present. The tumor burden, which weighed at least 2710 g in aggregate, was entirely above the diaphragm. Microscopic examination of the masses showed features typical for nodular sclerosis cHL including large bands of sclerosis, numerous Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells, and an eosinophil-rich mixed inflammatory cell infiltrate. Immunohistochemical stains showed the HRS cells to be uniformly positive for CD30 and CD15 and negative for CD3, CD20, CD45, and PAX5. This case exemplifies a rare sudden natural death due to previously undiagnosed cHL in a young patient.     

Managing policy‐making in the local climate governance landscape: The role of network administrative organizations and member cities

Trans‐municipal networks (TMNs) have reshaped the landscape around local government action on global climate policy. Past research has focused on why cities join TMNs and the impact that membership has on local action. This study considers a potential reverse effect: namely, that cities' membership choices position them to influence TMNs' overall priorities. In considering this, we emphasize the role of network administrative organizations (NAOs) and posit that the multiple climate‐related networks, which share members and operate in overlapping geographic and issue spaces, are bound together as part of a meta‐network. We utilize social network analysis and data on membership in four climate‐related TMNs to examine the factors that shape how cities can influence meta‐network priorities. We find that cities with local vulnerabilities tend to be located in network positions that enable them to influence the meta‐network's overall priorities.     

‘I can’t remember a more depressing time but I don’t blame anyone for that’: remembering and commemorating the wartime internment of enemy aliens in Britain

ABSTRACT

In October 2000, David Cesarani decried the unnecessary internment of refugees from Nazi Germany in Britain during the Second World War on the BBC Radio 4 programme Behind the Wire. Until the last few decades, little was known about the internment of enemy aliens by the British during the war. However, in recent years, novels such as David Baddiel’s The Secret Purposes, published in 2004, and exhibitions such as ‘Schwitters in Britain’ at the Tate Britain in 2013, have introduced a wider audience to this oft-forgotten part of the British wartime narrative. Some of those interned in Britain were sent to Canada and Australia, which led to the greatest tragedy of the entire internment debacle, the sinking of the Arandora Star. The year 2015 marked the seventy-fifth anniversary of this tragedy, and the memory of those who were lost lives on in the British–Italian community. However, outside those affected by the Arandora Star disaster, little is commemorated or understood by the general public. Yet the legacy of the former internees is all around us. Who has not, on visiting the British Library, walked past former internee’s Eduardo Paolozzi’s statue of Newton? What connoisseur of classical music has not enjoyed the sound of the Amadeus Quartet, perhaps the only positive outcome of internment? Pistol’s article will examine the memory of the camps and consider the differences between how internment has been remembered and commemorated by former internees and the general public.