An Exploratory Framework for Community-Led Research to Address Intimate Partner Violence: a Case Study of the Survivor-Centered Advocacy Project

This case study discusses the Survivor-Centered Advocacy (SCA) Project, a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project that convened anti-violence advocates from culturally specific communities to design and implement research. The project used a unique approach to build grassroots research capacity and center survivors of intimate partner violence from historically marginalized communities. This approach coalesced into the creation of an exploratory Community-Led Research (CLR) framework that incorporated trauma-informed, research justice and language justice principles. The CLR framework responded to community members’ desire to lead, rather than simply participate in, the research process. As a result, five studies were designed and executed by practitioners turned community-based researchers, most of whom had never before engaged in research, except as subjects. The CLR framework integrated the skills and experiences of community-based and external researchers, and led to high levels of engagement, rich data, more equitable research processes and innovative research projects.     

Party affiliation and support for capital punishment: An assessment of lawmakers from Canada and the United States

This article assesses the attitudes supporting capital punishment among lawmakers from two democratic countries — Canada and the United States. Accordingly, data were collected from three different populations responsible for legislating law either permitting or prohibiting the use of capital punishment in their respective jurisdictions — the Canadian House of Commons and the Michigan and Ohio state legislatures. These data were used to assess two general hypotheses: (1) Conservative parties will report higher levels of support for capital punishment; and, (2) Individual members from liberal political parties will report lower levels of support for capital punishment when compared to members of more conservative parties. The research findings supported both hypotheses.     

On the Alleged Indebtedness of the Vedānta Paribhāṣā Towards the Vedānta Kaumudī: Some Considerations on an Almost Forgotten Vivaraṇa Text (Studies in Vedānta Kaumudī I)

Dharmarāja Adhvarin’s (middle XVII cent.) Vedānta Paribhā?ā (VP) is a well-known introduction to Advaita Vedānta, targeted to beginners who are already trained in Navya Nyāya. According to Dasgupta (1942), the VP is so heavily indebted to Rāmādvaya’s Vedānta Kaumudī (VK), which was composed in the middle of the 14th century and is today almost forgotten, that the VP’s “claim to originality vanishes”. The VK was, however, only edited in 1955 and then again in 1973. In the light of this improved textual basis, what is our judgement about Dasgupta’s hypercritical statement? Did actually the VP ever claim to be original? Was this originality somehow superimposed on the VP later? Is the VP really so much indebted to the VK? This paper aims at comparatively analysing the textual background of these questions. I will start from the analysis of one Advaita’s epistemological tenet, namely the valid knowledge (pramā), in the VK and then compare it to the corresponding parts in the VP.     

Troublesome Peace Making: How American Views on Terrorism Affected Norwegian Mediation in Sri Lanka, 2000–2009

Weak mediators normally need to borrow leverage from more powerful players to provide efficient mediation. This situation requires strong co-operation between the weak mediator and more powerful actors or coalitions involved in a peace process. But what if this co-operation fails? This analysis demonstrates how lack of productive co-operation with the United States negatively affected Norway’s 9-year-long attempt to mediate in the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam between 2000 and 2009. More specifically, it explores how the United States views on terrorism in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 limited Norway’s room for diplomatic manoeuvre. Based on a unique set of classified sources from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and interviews with key actors, the analysis demonstrates how diverging perceptions of a conflict can make mediation painfully challenging.     

Development and validation of a liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry assay for hair analysis of methylphenidate

Methylphenidate (MPH) is a phenethylamine derivative used in the treatment of childhood attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. MPH is biotransformed in the body by the hydrolysis of the methyl ester linkage to its metabolite, ritalinic acid. Whereas both compounds are usually measured in plasma and urine, preliminary observations show that only the parent compound is present in hair from treated individuals.     

Analysis of the Second and Fourth Definitions of Mithy��tva in the Advaitasiddhi of Madhus��dana Sarasvat��

This paper is a preliminary analysis of two among the five definitions of falsity (mithy??tva) presented by Madhus??dana Sarasvat?? (MS) in his magnum opus, the Advaitasiddhi. It is mainly focused on the second and fourth definitions, which at first sight appear to be mere repetitions of one another. The first definition of falsity examined is Prak?????tman??s: ??falsity is the property of being the counter-positive of the absolute absence of an entity in the [same] locus in which it is perceived.?? The other definition investigated was first given by Citsukha: ??falsity is the property of being the counter-positive of the absolute absence residing in its own locus.?? The mutual differences among these two definitions will be underlined following MS himself, as well as some other authors of the later Advaita Ved??nta textual tradition.     

Assessment of exposure to opiates and cocaine during pregnancy in a Mediterranean city: preliminary results of the "Meconium Project"

For the first time in Europe, the "Meconium Project" aimed to estimate the prevalence of drug use by pregnant women and the effects of exposure to illicit drugs during pregnancy on the fetus and infant. Between October 2002 and February 2004, 1151 (79%) dyads among the 1439 mother-infant dyads from the Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain, met eligibility criteria and agreed to participate in the study. We present preliminary results on the first 830 meconium samples and 549 mother-infant dyads, for which statistical analysis of socio-economic and demographic characteristics and newborn somatometry was completed. The meconium analysis showed an overall 7.9% positivity for drugs of abuse, with 6-monoacetylmorphine and cocaine being the analytes, most frequently found in samples positive for opiates and cocaine. Structured interview disclosed 1.3, 1.8 and 1.3% of mothers exposed to opiates, cocaine and both drugs, while only one mother declared ecstasy consumption. Meconium analysis showed that prevalence of opiates, cocaine and combined drugs exposure was 8.7, 4.4 and 2.2%, respectively, and confirmed the case of ecstasy use. Arecoline, the main areca nut alkaloid, was found in meconium specimens from four Asiatic newborns, whose mothers declared beetle nut consumption during pregnancy. Parental ethnicity was not associated with drug use, nor was the social class, although a higher tendency toward drug consumption was observed in professional and partly skilled mothers. Drug consuming mothers showed a higher number of previous pregnancies and abortions (p<0.05) when compared to non-consumer mothers (meconium negative test), probably due to a lack of family planning. Consumption of opiates and cocaine during pregnancy was associated with active tobacco smoking, a higher number of smoked cigarettes and cannabis use. Exposure status and smoking behavior correlated with significantly lower birth weight in newborns from mothers exposed only to cocaine and to opiates and cocaine simultaneously. Of the four newborns exposed to arecoline, one showed a low birth weight, low intrauterine growth, hyporeflexia and hypotonia.     

Y-chromosome STR haplotypes in the Canary Islands population (Spain)

Haplotype frequencies of eight Y-chromosome STR loci (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393 and DYS385) were determined from a sample of 285 unrelated males from Canary Islands.