Determination of opiates in postmortem bone and bone marrow.

Bone and bone marrow of a fatally poisoned heroin addict were analyzed by FPIA and GC-FID, immediately after death. A piece of the bone from the above case was buried for 1 year and analyzed by the same procedure. Morphine was detected in all specimens at concentrations of 195, 340 and 155 ng/g for bone marrow, bone and buried bone, respectively. A loss of 54.4% of morphine concentration was observed during 1-year burial. Such findings have potential forensic value in cases of skeletonized remains.     

The natural sampling of airborne trace signals from explosives concealed upon the human body.

An experimental study of the natural sampling of trace signals from explosives concealed upon the human body was performed by taking proper account of the thermal behavior of the air surrounding the human body and the particles therein. Experiments were conducted in a dispersal chamber to identify variables affecting the detectibility of concealed RDX and TNT patches. Movement by human volunteers was found to enhance the available explosive trace signal above a baseline level. Clothing blocked some of this movement-generated trace signal. The detected signal levels were also found to vary significantly from volunteer to volunteer, indicating that human variability is an issue in explosive trace detection. Further, under the conditions studied here, the detectibility of RDX and TNT was dependent upon the efficient sampling of contaminated particulate matter, not the vapor phase. The present results are now being applied to the design of a practical, nonintrusive trace detection portal for aviation security screening and related applications.     

Pedophile types and treatment perspectives

Pedophiles constitute a heterogeneous group of sex offenders. Direct physiological assessment of sexual arousal has significantly increased our diagnostic skill and capability of monitoring treatment response. Erectile response studies have indicated that the majority of pedophiles and incest offenders show arousal to other paraphilias and frequently to appropriate adult sexual stimuli. Many sexual offenders deny or minimize their problem during initial interviews, but when confronted with laboratory results indicating deviant sexual arousal, they often acknowledge and elaborate on the paraphilia(s). Complete data and diagnoses are crucial in integrating treatment in the cognitive-behavioral paradigm.     

Does Intimate Partner Violence Epidemiology Differ Between Homes With and Without Children? A Population-Based Study of Annual Prevalence and Associated Risk Factors

We sought to determine whether intimate partner violence (IPV) risk factors differed depending upon the presence of children in the home, and to estimate the annual prevalence of IPV first in the general population and then in homes with and without children. We analyzed data from a cross-sectional random sample of 6,836 women in southeastern Pennsylvania interviewed by telephone in 2004. The magnitude of association between IPV and risk factors varied between homes with and without children for women’s alcohol problems (with children, odds ratio (OR) 7.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.9, 20.9; without children, OR 2.4; 95% CI 0.9, 6.0), and mental health problems (with children, OR 4.0; 95% CI 1.8, 8.9; without children, OR 3.0; 95% CI 1.6, 5.7). Poverty was significantly associated with IPV only in homes without children (OR 3.6; 95% CI 1.9, 7.2). Annual IPV prevalence was 1.2% overall, 1.4% in homes with children, and 1.1% in homes without children. One in 63 children lived in a home with IPV. Differences in IPV risk factors in homes with and without children suggest distinct underlying IPV mechanisms or consequences in these contexts.