A rapid and sensitive method for the identification of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol in oral fluid by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

This paper proposes a new approach for automatic classification of counterfeit Viagra(?) and Cialis(?) tablets using image processing and statistical analysis. A high resolution VSC 5000 is used for image acquisition in a controlled environment, and the combination of a thresholding technique with morphological operators is used to segment the tablet from the background. A statistical model based on the RGB color components of original samples is built, and the detection of counterfeit tablets was performed by checking the adherence of a test sample to the obtained distribution using the Bhattacharyya distance. Our experimental results indicated that counterfeit tablets can be effective detected using the proposed approach.     

Investigating the Latent Structure of the Theory of Planned Behavior and its Effectiveness in Explaining Intentions to Participate in Counseling among a Sample of Police Officers

Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to compare two alternative models of Ajzen??s (Organ Behav Hum Decis Process 50:179?C211, 1991) Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The efficacy of the TPB to predict intentions to participate in counseling among a sample (N?=?259) of Irish police officers was investigated using structural equation modelling and based upon responses to a fictitious scenario. The police profession is a highly stressful occupation with many officers suffering from a variety of stress related psychological maladies that could be alleviated with effective psychotherapy. Understanding police officers intentions to participate in psychological counseling is an important endeavour. Results indicated that a modified version of the TPB in which the Perceived Behavioral Control factor was represented by two distinct latent control factors demonstrated superior model fit compared to Ajzen??s original model. Structural equation modelling results indicated that this modified version of the TPB was an effective model in the prediction of counseling seeking intentions explaining 92.6?% of variance in behavioural intentions. Self-efficacy (internal control) was found to be most strongly associated with intentions. Theoretical implications and future research potentials are discussed in light of current findings.     

Intimate partner violence perpetration by court-ordered men: distinctions among subtypes of physical violence, sexual violence, psychological abuse, and stalking

This study continues previous work documenting the structure of violence perpetrated by males against their female intimate partners. It assesses the construct validity of a measurement model depicting associations among eight subtypes of perpetration: moderate physical violence, severe physical violence, forced or coerced sexual violence, sexual violence where consent was not possible, emotional/verbal psychological abuse, dominance/isolation psychological abuse, interactional contacts/surveillance related stalking, and stalking involving mediated contacts. Data were obtained from a sample of 340 men arrested for physical assault of a female spouse or partner, and court ordered into batterer intervention programs. Men were surveyed before starting the intervention. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) supported the validity of model as evidenced by good model to data fit and satisfaction of requirements for fit statistics. In addition, the eight factor solution was characterized by a slightly better model to data fit than a four factor higher order solution described in the author's previous work. Latent variable correlations across the broader categories of intimate partner violence (IPV) revealed that the violence subtypes were mostly moderately positively correlated and ranged from .381 (emotional/verbal psychological abuse with interactional contacts/surveillance related stalking) to .795 (dominance/isolation psychological with abuse with forced sex). Future studies should determine whether there are distinct risk factors and health outcomes associated with each of the eight IPV perpetration subtypes and identify possible patterns of co-occurrence.     

Challenging Australia's "closed" model of neonatal care: the need for reform following Re baby D (No 2)

The withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining treatment to compromised newborns is a subject of controversy in countries where there is now highly advanced neonatal care to keep such newborns alive. The topic has generated comparatively less debate in Australia, where case law is sparse and parents and clinicians themselves make decisions regarding the cessation of care, largely free from extemal oversight. The recent case of Re Baby D (No 2) [2011] FamCA 176 endorses this "closed" approach to neonatal decision-making. This article critically discusses some of its implications and makes suggestions for reform to ensure meaningful oversight of decisions to withdraw or withhold treatment. The authors argue that the judgment fails to address some fundamental issues, such as ensuring that those with the responsibility to make decisions are doing so on a "best interests" basis. This is important because, in a society where disability remains stigmatised and poorly understood, there is no opportunity under the approach adopted in Baby D to guarantee adequate protection of the rights of individuals born with physical or intellectual impairments.     

MOVING BEYOND GENERALIZATIONS AND STEREOTYPES TO DEVELOP INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACHES FOR WORKING WITH FAMILIES AFFECTED BY PARENTAL INCARCERATION

Competing narratives about incarcerated parents and their children are provided by the Adoption and Safe Families Act (“ASFA”) and the Children of Incarcerated Parents Bill of Rights (“Bill of Rights”). Both the “child‐at‐risk” narrative of ASFA and the “good mother” narrative of the Bill of Rights are stereotyped and oversimplified and contribute, in opposite ways, to misperceptions about incarcerated parents and their children by suggesting a uniformity of situations and appropriate responses that does not actually exist. The time‐driven approach of ASFA—and many state termination of parental rights statutes—is overly rigid, while the Bill of Rights overlooks important differences among families, as well as tensions and trade‐offs among policy choices. In actuality, the situations of the parents and children involved vary widely and defy easy analysis and solutions. We should therefore be taking an individualized, qualitative approach that is nuanced and based on actual information about incarcerated parents and their children, rather than a quantitative, categorical approach based on generalized and simplistic assumptions. Only if we recognize and grapple with the complexities of parental incarceration can we develop sound legal and social policy to meet the needs of these families.