Sudden cardiac death due to giant cell inflammatory processes

Granulomatous inflammation of the myocardium may occur in a number of systemic disease processes including those with infectious etiologies such as fungal, mycobacterial and parasitic infections, as well as hypersensitivity reactions, and rarely autoimmune disorders. In many of these disorders, giant cells are components of the inflammatory infiltrate. Systemic granulomatous processes of unknown pathogenesis, most notably sarcoidosis, may also be associated with involvement of the myocardium. Occasionally, these disorders are associated with sudden death due to pathologic involvement of the heart. In contrast, giant cell myocarditis, also known as idiopathic myocarditis, a rare, frequently fulminant and fatal disorder of unknown etiology, is isolated to the heart and lacks systemic involvement. This disorder is most commonly diagnosed at autopsy. We present two cases in which sudden death resulted from a giant cell inflammatory process affecting the myocardium. Both individuals lacked antemortem diagnoses and collapsed at their respective places of employment. These cases compare and contrast the clinical and pathologic issues involved in the differential diagnoses of the subgroup of sudden cardiac deaths resulting from giant cell inflammatory processes that affect the myocardium, as well as the value of histologic examination and immunohistochemical studies.     

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)--standardised investigations and classification: recommendations

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) still accounts for considerable numbers of unexpected infant deaths in many countries. While numerous theories have been advanced to explain these events, it is increasingly clear that this group of infant deaths results from the complex interaction of a variety of heritable and idiosyncratic endogenous factors interacting with exogenous factors. This has been elegantly summarised in the "three hit" or "triple risk" model. Contradictions and lack of consistencies in the literature have arisen from diverse autopsy approaches, variable applications of diagnostic criteria and inconsistent use of definitions. An approach to sudden infant death is outlined with discussion of appropriate tissue sampling, ancillary investigations and the use of controls in research projects. Standardisation of infant death investigations with the application of uniform definitions and protocols will ensure optimal investigation of individual cases and enable international comparisons of trends.     

Langauge and Violence: Analysis of Four Discursive Operations

The Interactional and Discursive View of Violence and Resistance is a framework for critical analysis and research, prevention and intervention that takes into account the conditions that enable personalized violence, the actions of perpetrators and victims, and the language used in representing those actions. Using this analytic framework, we analyzed five accounts of personalized violence, one each from a perpetrator, a psychiatrist, a judge, a government minister, and a therapist. Our results demonstrate the scope and the ubiquity with which diverse accounts locally accomplish four-discursive-operations; namely, the concealing of violence, obfuscating of perpetrators’ responsibility, concealing of victims’ resistance, and blaming and pathologizing of victims. We examine the specific linguistic devices that combine to accomplish the four-discursive-operations in each case. These data suggest that the problem of violence is inextricably linked to the problem of representation.

Typologies of abuse among Afro-Trinidadian women

This study examines typologies of abusive behaviors among Afro-Trinidadian women. A total of 17 women participated in a 2-hour, face-to-face interview. The findings suggest that women experience multiple types of abuse including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and controlling behaviors. This article discusses the implications of the findings for interventions with abused women.     

Groups, gangs, and delinquency: Does organization matter?

Purpose

A consistent finding of research on delinquency has been that gang members show higher levels of delinquent behavior than non-gang members. However, research attempting to understand the mechanisms underlying this finding is lacking. The basic premise of the current article is that the level of organization found in delinquent groups and gangs matters in clarifying the relationship between membership and delinquency.

Methods

This article examined the association between organization and delinquency in a sample of 523 self-reported juvenile offenders from a high school survey conducted in the province of Quebec, Canada.

Results

The results showed that 1) there is clearly something special about membership in a gang that influences delinquency beyond the more general membership in a delinquent group; 2) the key to understanding finding lies, in part, in the level of organization found in gangs. Organization emerged as the most important factor associated with general delinquency, involvement in violence, and in drug supply offences, significantly (but not completely) reducing the effect of gang membership on delinquency.

Conclusions

Even if most delinquent associations show little signs of formal structure and organization, this study demonstrates the importance of organization as a key mechanism to understand the gang effect on delinquency.     

The role of race/ethnicity and race relations on public opinion related to the immigration and crime link

This article examines two hypotheses related to public opinion concerning immigration and crime. Using data from a recent Gallup poll with oversamples of Hispanics and Blacks, the research examined whether race/ethnicity and race relations matter in the public's opinion of the connection between immigration and crime. After a series of models were performed, results of the final model revealed that race relations, gender (specifically, being male), race/ethnicity, and immigrant status are influential in contextualizing public opinion on the topic. The meaning and policy implications of these findings are also reviewed.     

Adelsaufhebung und das Gemeinschaftsrecht

Durch das Adelsaufhebungsgesetz ist es österreichischen Staatsbürgern untersagt, Adelstitel zu führen. Im Vorlageverfahren VwGH 18.5.2009, EU 2009/0002, geht es um die Frage, ob eine im Erwachsenenalter von einem deutschen Staatsbürger adoptierte Person den in Deutschland zuerkannten Titel "Fürstin von" zu ihrem Familiennamen führen darf. Im Lichte der jüngeren Rechtsprechung des EuGH zu unterschiedlichen Namenssystemen der Mitgliedsstaaten scheint das Adelsaufhebungsgesetz eine unzulässige Beschränkung der Freizügigkeit österreichischer Staatsbürger zu indizieren. Eine eingehende Analyse des Vorlagefalles und ähnlicher Fälle zeigt auf, dass die in der jüngeren Judikatur des EuGH geäußerten Bedenken beim Zusammentreffen unterschiedlicher Namenssysteme hinsichtlich des Verbotes des Führens von Adelstiteln nicht einschlägig sind und daher dieses Verbot gemeinschaftsrechtskonform sein könnte.     

Statistical Inference After Model Selection

Conventional statistical inference requires that a model of how the data were generated be known before the data are analyzed. Yet in criminology, and in the social sciences more broadly, a variety of model selection procedures are routinely undertaken followed by statistical tests and confidence intervals computed for a “final” model. In this paper, we examine such practices and show how they are typically misguided. The parameters being estimated are no longer well defined, and post-model-selection sampling distributions are mixtures with properties that are very different from what is conventionally assumed. Confidence intervals and statistical tests do not perform as they should. We examine in some detail the specific mechanisms responsible. We also offer some suggestions for better practice and show though a criminal justice example using real data how proper statistical inference in principle may be obtained.