Sexual Dimorphism of the Fetal Ilium: A 3D Geometric Morphometric Approach with Multislice Computed Tomography

Adult sexual dimorphism is well established. However, data regarding fetuses are sparse with contradictory results. Our study aimed to look for fetal sexual dimorphism. Multislice computed tomography (MSCT) examinations and three‐dimensional (3D) reconstructions were recorded on 93 fetal iliac bones aged between 21 and 40 weeks of amenorrhea (WA). The collection was divided into two age groups, with a cutoff at 30 WA. The 3D geometric morphometric analysis was based on outline analysis. We used elliptic Fourier analysis (EFA) because of the difficulty of landmark positioning. Step‐by‐step reconstructions allowed a better comprehension of the fine shape details. Principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were performed on the two age groups. Results did not show any difference between male and female shapes, in both age groups. We demonstrate the feasibility of outline analysis for immature shapes, but sexual dimorphism has not been established in our collection.     

Retropharyngeal Hematoma Secondary to Cervical Spine Surgery: Report of One Fatal Case

A 53‐year‐old woman suffering from radicular pain due to cervical herniation underwent a spinal surgery consisting of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion with an implantable titanium cage. Five hours after the procedure, the patient developed cervical swelling and dyspnea. An emergency surgery permitted evacuation of a deep cervical hematoma and intubation of the patient, who died some minutes later. The family of the deceased lodged a complaint with the public prosecutor because of unclear circumstances of death. After analysis of the medical records by two forensic pathologists, a medicolegal autopsy was ordered. Massive retropharyngeal and mediastinal hematomas were diagnosed. Pathological study confirmed acute cervical hemorrhage, but failed to detect the source of bleeding. The forensic pathologists concluded that death was due to mechanical asphyxia secondary to pharyngeal compression by the cervical hematoma. To the best of our knowledge, death secondary to retropharyngeal hematoma in this neurosurgical context is rarely encountered.     

Political involvement among Toung women: a qualitative analysis

The depoliticization and non‐participation of young people in city life is often a topic of discussion. Given this context, how and why do young people then become activist? This is the main question addressed by a sociological research project on the way young women in Quebec practise political involvement and on the meaning that involvement has for them. The question of why young women get involved has to do with their biographical history, their life trajectories, and the influence of family and friends. How they get involved has to do with what involvement and activism mean to them. One of the principal findings is that the young female activists who participated in this study all have an active conception of citizenship that is not restricted to political involvement. Some of our respondents said that involvement is a way of being, a lifestyle that requires them to act consistently in all aspects of daily life and thus implies living in accordance with one's ideals. In other words, the involvement practised and conceptualized by these young activists corresponds to what can be called a ‘search for ethical consistency’, which aims ‘to give meaning to the values we hold as individuals and as a collectivity’.     

Child sexual abuse and adult romantic adjustment: comparison of single- and multiple-indicator measures

This study compared the usefulness of single- and multiple-indicator strategies in a model examining the role of child sexual abuse (CSA) to predict later marital satisfaction through attachment and psychological distress. The sample included 1,092 women and men from a nonclinical population in cohabiting or marital relationships. The single-item measure assessed the presence or absence of CSA. The multiple-indicator measure included items relating to level of force, relationship with perpetrator, number of abusive experiences, and nature of assault. Structural equation modeling indicated that, for research purposes, a dichotomized item provided as much information as a complex measure to predict the relationship between sexual abuse and marital adjustment through attachment representations and psychological distress. However, when analyses were conducted strictly within the CSA victims group, no correlation was found between abuse severity and psychosocial measures. The present results show that in a community sample, CSA may be an important risk factor that develops couple difficulties, regardless of the severity of the trauma.     

A case study of the suicide of Luis Mendès France, in Bordeaux, in 1695

After being condemned and imprisoned in Lisbon by the Portuguese Inquisition, Luis Mendes de Franca exiled himself in late 1683 to France, where his descendants adopted the family name Mendes France. In 1695, at the age of 55 years, Luis Mendes committed suicide in Bordeaux by a pistol shot that decapitated him. The inquest conducted at that time concluded that Luis Mendes was insane and thus not guilty of the crime of suicide. We hypothesize that he used a flint stone-type pistol loaded with an extraordinarily large quantity of black gunpowder. Using available information on historic firearms, ammunition, and powder, coupled with the preserved testimony of historic figures, we propose a reconstruction of this drama and a diagnostic approach to the psychiatric aspects of the suicide.     

La politisation des administrations publiques: éléments d'analyse stratégique

Sommaire: La politisation des administrations publiques par les partis fait l'objet dun débat permanent qui s'amplifie à chaque alternance du pouvoir. Elle est tantôt réprouvée comme une perversion dangereuse du modèle occidental d'administration, tantôt accueillie comme une forme plus moderne de gouvernement. Ce débat éthique campe bien les dimensions du probléme, il ne permet pas de l'analyser. Les ééléments d'analyse proposés dans cet article s'organisent autour de la distinction entre deux objectifs de politisation. 1) On peut politiser l'administration dans le but de placer directement ses resources et ses effectifs à la disposition des appareils de partis. L'administration devient alors un instrument de patronage ou de clientélisme. 2) On peut chercher à rendre un plus grand nombre de fonctionnaires politiquement solidaires des élus, de sorte que l'administration devienne un instrument plus efficace de con-crétisation des politiques gouvernementales. L'auteur discute des implications stratégiques de ces deux objectifs de politisation et soutient que, sans étre contradic-toires, ils se concilient difficilement. Abstract. The politicization of public administrations by the political parties is subject to increasing controversy each time there is a change of government. Sometimes rejected as a dangerous subversion of the western model of government, politicization is at other times welcomed as a more modern form of administration. Although this ethical debate quantifies the problem, the latter cannot be analyzed as a result. The analytical elements proposed in this article are based on a distinction between two objectives of politicization: 1) the administration may be politicized in order to place its resources and staff directly at the disposal of the party apparatus; governments thus become an instrument for patronage or special interests; 2) an attempt could be made to render a greater number of civil servants politically supportive of the elective representatives, so that the administration will become a more effective tool for implementing government policy. After discussing the strategic implications of these two politicization objectives, the author argues that, while not contradictory, they are often difficult to reconcile.