Determination of Inorganic Ion Profiles of Illicit Drugs by Capillary Electrophoresis

A portable capillary electrophoresis instrument with dual capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C⁴D) was used to determine the inorganic ionic profiles of three pharmaceutical samples and precursors of two illicit drugs (contemporary samples of methylone and para‐methoxymethamphetamine). The LODs ranged from 0.10 μmol/L to 1.25 μmol/L for the 10 selected cations, and from 0.13 μmol/L to 1.03 μmol/L for the eight selected anions. All separations were performed in less than 6 min with migration times and peak area RSD values ranging from 2 to 7%. The results demonstrate the potential of the analysis of inorganic ionic species to aid in the identification and/or differentiation of unknown tablets, and real samples found in illicit drug manufacture scenarios. From the resulting ionic fingerprint, the unknown tablets and samples can be further classified.     

Characterization and Comparison of Injuries Caused by Accidental and Non‐accidental Blunt Force Trauma in Dogs and Cats

Motor vehicle accidents (MVA) are often difficult to distinguish from non‐accidental injury (NAI). This retrospective case–control study compared animals with known MVA trauma against those with known NAI. Medical records of 426 dogs and cats treated after MVA and 50 after NAI were evaluated. Injuries significantly associated with MVA were pelvic fractures, pneumothorax, pulmonary contusion, abrasions, and degloving wounds. Injuries associated with NAI were fractures of the skull, teeth, vertebrae, and ribs, scleral hemorrhage, damage to claws, and evidence of older fractures. Odds ratios are reported for these injuries. MVA rib fractures were found to occur in clusters on one side of the body, with cranial ribs more likely to fracture, while NAI rib fractures were found to occur bilaterally with no cranial–caudal pattern. Establishing evidence‐based patterns of injury may help clinicians differentiate causes of trauma and may aid in the documentation and prosecution of animal abuse.     

Finding Partisanship Where We Least Expect it: Evidence of Partisan Bias in a New African Democracy

Much of the literature on political behavior in Africa’s new semi-democracies has treated partisan affiliation as weak, purely pragmatic, or a proxy for other, more meaningful identities such as ethnicity. In this article, I dispute these conceptions by demonstrating that partisanship in an African context, like partisanship in established democracies, is a psychologically meaningful identity that can inspire voters to engage in motivated reasoning. By combining survey data with an original dataset of objective indicators of local public goods quality in Uganda, I show that supporters of the incumbent president systematically overestimate what they have received from government, while opposition supporters systematically underestimate. Partisan support precedes, rather than results from, this mis-estimation. I also show that partisans of the incumbent (opposition) are significantly more (less) likely to attribute any bad outcomes they observe to private actors rather than the government. I argue that these findings are consistent with the predictions of social identity theory: the conflict that marked many African political transitions, and the mapping of African parties onto existing social cleavages, are sufficient conditions for the creation of strong political-social identities like those that characterize partisanship in the West. My findings indicate that Africanists should take partisanship seriously as a predictor of political behavior and attitudes.     

Engagement,Disengagement, or Exit: A Theory of Equilibrium Associations

This article considers the possibility of mutually beneficial communication among groups when any group may choose to unilaterally join or exit an alliance. My main concern is the trade‐off groups face between the informational benefits of associating with others in a large society versus the costs imposed by power sharing and preference diversity. When these costs are sufficiently high, groups may prefer exit to association. The results of this article characterize the associations of groups that can be sustained in equilibrium, and within those associations, the types of groups that choose to meaningfully communicate with others. The results demonstrate that there can be benefits or costs associated with the inclusion of preference extremists in a diverse society, whether or not those extremists choose to actively communicate with outgroups. The results also speak to institutional mechanisms for fostering communication across diverse groups.     

Looking for the state and finding god: conceptions of security among low-income Cairenes

This article analyses how low-income individuals in Cairo, Egypt interpret the aspects of security and insecurity that affect their daily lives. Particular attention is paid to crime and failing transportation infrastructure during Mohammed Morsi’s presidency, 2012–2013. Primarily, I show how religion is both a tool and coping mechanism to help combat chronic periods of insecurity. Participants invoke religion to force officials to perform their duties and to perform them honestly. Secondly, religion is called upon as a final form of mental and spiritual relief against injustice and the trials of daily urban life. This paper seeks to make an intervention into security studies by showing how Egyptians defend themselves through personal and communal understandings of religion in distinction to security practices enacted by the state and other national and international organizations.     

Polycentric Governance and Irrigation Reform in Kenya

In Kenya, as in many developing countries, centralized control over water resources was implemented to improve agricultural productivity. By the 1980s, however, Kenya's postindependence policies of bureaucratic control were in disarray, and conflicts over water use were common. More recently, Kenya has embarked on a series of reforms that create a polycentric approach to water governance, in which decision making about water resources is shared among multiple, overlapping local, regional, and national authorities. Drawing on archival and field research, we examine these reforms in their historic context and argue that whereas centralized control was poorly adapted to the Kenyan context, polycentric governance is better suited to Kenya's variable social and ecological conditions and the available resources of its administrative agencies.     

Damage characteristics of fabrics created by TASER probes

TASER® weapons are conducted energy weapons (CEWs) that are frequently used by police departments around the world. CEWs can be deployed in two methods: drive stun application and probe deployment. This study aims to examine damages caused by TASER devices on fabrics and whether types of fabric material and TASER models could contribute to different damage features. Three types of white fabric were used, including 100% cotton, 100% polyester, and 65:35 polyester-cotton blend. Three models: TASER X26P, TASER X2, and TASER 7 were shot onto each type of fabric, with five repetitions each. Each damaged area on the fabric caused by a probe is a sample (n = 90) and was examined with a Keyence digital microscope. Images were captured by the Keyence microscope and measurements were recorded, including damage dimensions, fabric condition, evidence of burning, and extra findings. The presence of fused yarn ends was found to be statistically significant across the fabric types, and no damage features were found that may assist in the identification of TASER models. Other damage features including damage dimensions, discoloration, and fiber deformation were not found to be showing apparent differences according to statistical analysis. The conclusions made by this research should be used with caution due to the small sample size.     

Secondary Traumatic Stress in the Courtroom: Suggestions for Preventing Vicarious Trauma Resulting from Child Sexual Abuse Imagery

The internet and social media have added to an increase in sexual imagery. As a result, law enforcement, judicial officers and court ordered counselors will be exposed to an increase of images. While not every individual will experience post‐traumatic stress symptoms, it is anticipated there is risk for impact. The impact of viewing images can include an increase in vicarious trauma symptoms, burnout, and a possible decrease in impartiality. This paper offers suggestions for self‐care in the services of preventing collateral damage.     

A Postconviction Mentality: Prosecutorial Assistance in Exoneration Cases

Prosecutors’ broad discretionary power has long been of interest to scholars, yet little is known about discretionary choices after conviction. This study addresses the gap by exploring prosecutors’ willingness to assist with exonerations. Using data from the National Registry of Exonerations (N = 1,610), the author identifies factors that influence prosecutorial assistance. Results from generalized ordered logistic regression models demonstrate that avoiding uncertainty and maintaining workgroup relationships drives decision-making. Findings indicate that prosecutors are less likely to support exonerations involving law enforcement or forensic misconduct, violent offenses, and inadequate legal defense and more likely to support exonerations involving innocence organizations, guilty pleas, and black and Hispanic defendants. These findings suggest that prosecutors’ interest in protecting professional reputations, maintaining relationships, and optimizing efficiency influences discretion in the postconviction stage just as in earlier stages of case processing.     

A case study in public child welfare: county-level practices that address racial disparity in foster care placement

Racial disproportionality has been a longstanding issue within child welfare. The continued overrepresentation of black children in the foster care system is troubling. The authors of this article conducted a case study of two counties in New York State that have steadily decreased the number of black children in foster care in an effort to identify what aspects of their child welfare practice impacted the decline. The case study employed document analysis, in-depth interviews, and focus groups with child removal decision makers. Utilizing a grounded theory approach to content organization and analysis, several themes emerged as noticeable factors. Some of the most salient themes included preventive services and resources, community collaborations, case practice development, family meetings, workforce diversity, the court system, and, the most unique, blind removal meetings. The themes found in this study present promising practices to assist in decreasing the racial disparity in child welfare removal decisions.