Cognitive Vulnerabilities Amplify the Effect of Early Pubertal Timing on Interpersonal Stress Generation During Adolescence

Early pubertal timing has been found to confer risk for the occurrence of interpersonal stressful events during adolescence. However, pre-existing vulnerabilities may exacerbate the effects of early pubertal timing on the occurrence of stressors. Thus, the current study prospectively examined whether cognitive vulnerabilities amplified the effects of early pubertal timing on interpersonal stress generation. In a diverse sample of 310 adolescents (M age = 12.83 years, 55 % female; 53 % African American), early pubertal timing predicted higher levels of interpersonal dependent events among adolescents with more negative cognitive style and rumination, but not among adolescents with lower levels of these cognitive vulnerabilities. These findings suggest that cognitive vulnerabilities may heighten the risk of generating interpersonal stress for adolescents who undergo early pubertal maturation, which may subsequently place adolescents at greater risk for the development of psychopathology.     

Local Elections and the Turkish Voter: Looking for the Determinants of Party Choice

On 30 March 2014 Turkish voters elected their local (city) councillors. Their party preferences seem to indicate considerable correspondence with the national vote choices. So, do voters' choices in local elections differ from voters' party preferences at the national legislative elections? Based on previous research findings on Turkish voting behaviour, a list of hypotheses was compiled and tested, using binary logistic regression analyses and survey data collected immediately prior to the 2009 and 2014 local elections. The main findings are that the party lists are supported at the ballot boxes on the basis of the voters' party identification, ideological positions, and economic (dis)satisfaction, whether in national or local elections.     

Fatal poisoning with alcohol and drugs in the Greater Amman County

A study of fatal poisoning due to alcohol and drugs was carried out, to examine the mortality resulting from alcohol and drugs in the Greater Amman County, Jordan. A retrospective review of all autopsy records and certified deaths issued by the Department of Forensic Medicine at Jordan University Hospital in the greater Amman county was undertaken. During the 18 years (1978-1996) 6109 postmortem cases were performed in our department. A total of 60 cases were identified and analyzed according to age, race, sex, manner of death of the victims along with blood alcohol concentration, the drug detected at autopsies, the scene circumstances, and the geographic location of the accident and death.     

Monoclonal antibody against tetrahydrocannabinolic acid distinguishes Cannabis sativa samples from different plant species

The cross-reaction of anti-delta 1-THCA MAb against other cannabinoids was very wide. However, other naturally occurring and synthetic phenolics including opium alkaloids did not react to the MAb. Using this ELISA, this paper reports application of the competitive ELISA for detection of marijuana samples. The ELISA described here was very sensitive to the ether extracts of marijuana samples when compared to those of other plants. The assay provided a sensitive method useful for the judge of marijuana samples.     

Results of the 2008 Colombian paternity testing quality control exercise

The Reference National Laboratory, Genes Ltda, designated by the Commission of Accreditation and Alertness created by Law 721 of 2001 of Republic of Colombia, organized and coordinated the Quality Control Exercise of 2008 for laboratories undertaking paternity and maternity tests with DNA markers. The Quality Control Exercise included both practical and theoretical exercises. For the practical exercise, three blood samples in FTA Classic Card were sent to each participating laboratory to be genotyped for DNA markers using the routine methodologies in their laboratories. For the theoretical exercise, it was asked to the participating laboratories to calculate the partial and final paternity indexes based on two genetic profiles of an alleged biological father and his son. Allele frequencies were made available to the participants, as well as Y chromosome haplotype database. A total of 12 laboratories have participated with data from 57 STRs, including autosomal and sex chromosome markers. Consensus was found in 37 STRs, 21 in autosomes and 16 Y chromosome linked. The rate of reporting errors was 3.1% (concentrated in just one laboratory). The theoretical exercise had consensus.     

The Eastern City Gun Project: Exploring Contextual and Operational Variables

To maintain public safety and improve system response, a strong need exists for understanding the contexts of and police response to weapon-related incidents as well as socio-economic variables of individuals involved. This paper was focused on exploring these contexts and routine police activities by creating and analyzing a weapon-related database at the local level. The findings, although limited due to the explorative nature of the study and the quality of case files, shed some interesting light on the effects of environmental and operational variables on gun incidents and expose certain issues that need to be resolved before further and more accurate understanding of gun crimes at the local level can be achieved.