Postmortem metabolic indices of antemortem adrenergic stimulation

Tissue lactate concentration has been reported to be a useful postmortem indicator of antemortem awareness of mortal danger. The purpose of this study was to determine further whether selected tissue metabolites could be used as postmortem markers of antemortem adrenergic stress. Sprague-Dawley albino rats were anesthetized with pentobarbital and then injected with 2.0 mg kg-1 i.p. epinephrine hydrochloride to induce experimentally a severe sympathetic response that may be associated with the awareness of mortal danger; 20 min after the injection of epinephrine, when the metabolic response was at its peak, the animals were killed by exsanguination. Samples of the following tissues were removed immediately prior to death (0 h) and 48 h postmortem: soleus, plantaris, kidney medulla, kidney cortex, liver, and heart. These samples were analyzed for glycogen, lactate, ATP, creatine phosphate, pH, and total protein concentration. Significant differences in lactate concentration were observed in all tissues except soleus at 0 h in the epinephrine-injected animals. Specific tissues also had significant reductions in glycogen, ATP, and creatine phosphate concentrations at 0 h. At 48 h postmortem, however, only the liver and soleus lactate concentrations were significantly different from the 48-h control samples. It is unlikely that these small differences found in some tissues at 48 h postmortem would be detected in an uncontrolled accident situation. We concluded from these findings that these selected tissue metabolites are not useful as long-term postmortem indicators of antemortem adrenergically induced hypermetabolism.     

Book Reviews

The past decade has seen many developments in anti‐discrimination law in Great Britain, from the implementation of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Treaty of Amsterdam 1997, to the EU framework directive for equal treatment in employment introducing three new protected grounds between 2003 and 2006 (and the subsequent extension beyond employment, in national law, of two of those grounds). All of these, and myriad implementing regulations, build on the national foundations set by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Race Relations Act 1976. With formal equality remaining the dominant model, this article looks at the scope for positive measures within British anti‐discrimination law.     

A follow-up study of sex offenders treated by Thames Valley Sex Offender Groupwork Programme, 1995–1999

The following paper is a reconviction study of 183 sex offenders treated by the Thames Valley Project between 1995 and 1999. Some demographic details are provided about the sample. Subjects were monitored for a mean of 3.9 years. A total of 10 subjects (5.4% of total) were reconvicted for a further sexual offence. A further 19 men (10.3%) either had allegations made against them or committed a behaviour that may have involved or been the preparation for further sexual offending, defined here as “recidivism”. Details about post-treatment behaviour were drawn from three sources: two national police databases which indicated any formal sexual reconviction and the files kept on each sex offender registered with Thames Valley Project (TVSOGP), a multi-funded community-based sex offender treatment programme. The pre-treatment re-conviction risk status of each man was calculated using part one of the Risk Matrix 2000 algorithm (static factors). Risk levels were compared for those where reconviction, re-offending or recidivism was identified and those where it was not and a correlation was found in the predicted direction although this was not statistically significant. The advantages and limitations of this kind of follow-up study are discussed, together with some recommendations for future research.     

Faith in the state? Asian women’s struggles for human rights in the U.K.

The discourse of multiculturalism provides a useful means of understanding the complexities, tensions, and dilemmas that Asian and other minority women in the U.K. grapple with in their quest for human rights. However, the adoption of multiculturalist approaches has also silenced women’s voices, obscuring, for example, the role of the family in gendered violence and abuse. Focusing on the work of Southall Black Sisters, and locating this work within current debates on the intersection of government policy, cultural diversity, and feminist activism, this article examines, and critiques, the Labour government’s current “multi-faith” agenda for its impact on Black and minority ethnic women in the U.K.     

Indian migrants in Britain

This article discusses the social linkages between Gujarati migrants in Britain and their family members in India. It considers the home and the migrant community in the same unit of analysis rather than as separate communities. It is based on fieldwork conducted in 1998 among members of the Patidar community in rural central Gujarat and among their relatives in London in 1999.This article is based on the data collected for our research project titled `Long-Distance Familism; Social Linkages between West India and Britain; The Case of the Patidars from Central Gujarat', sponsored by the Indo-Dutch Programme on Alternatives in Development (IDPAD). An earlier version of the paper was presented at the conference on Asia in Europe, Europe in Asia, 7-8 December 2001, Singapore, organised by the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS).     

Life Stress as Mediator of the Childhood Maltreatment – Intimate Partner Violence Link in Low-Income, African American Women

This study examined the relations between childhood maltreatment, daily life hassles, and intimate partner violence among low-income, suicidal, abused African American women (N = 208). Findings indicated a significant association between childhood maltreatment and intimate partner violence, such that women who experienced childhood maltreatment were more likely to experience intimate partner violence as adults than those who reported no childhood maltreatment history. Also, results from bootstrapping analyses revealed that daily life stressors mediated the link between childhood maltreatment and both physical and nonphysical forms of intimate partner violence. These findings highlight the importance of thoroughly assessing for a history of childhood maltreatment, current intimate partner violence, and the nature and extent of daily hassles when working with low-income African American women, as well as helping abused women with a history of childhood maltreatment to cope effectively with the daily life hassles that they encounter.     

Carrying Out Assessment of Groundwater Quality of Villages of Bhavnagar District of Gujarat,India

Groundwater is an important component of an eco-system fulfilling necessities of life. Continuous tapping of groundwater to meet rapidly growing demand has not only led to decline of water table levels but has also significantly deteriorated the quality of groundwater. This article aims at assessing the groundwater quality of Bhavanagar district; for which 87 sources across the district were monitored for both the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively, during a period from April 2017 to February 2018. The physico-chemical characteristics of groundwater were compared with Indian Standards for drinking water to assess the suitability of the groundwater for drinking purpose.