Electrical Pulse Generated Upon Discharging a Firearm and Its Implication for Gunshot Residue Analysis

Ammunition primers consisting of a mixture of lead styphnate, barium nitrate, and antimony (III) sulfide, upon deflagration, lead to the formation of inorganic gunshot residue (GSR). The cations, from their predeflagration form, undergo reduction reactions during burning to form the classic spheroidal, micron-sized particles indicative of GSR. However, the rapidly changing pressure and temperature of the reaction zone implies that the reactions cannot go to completion. In this study, we use a conductivity detector to show that GSR produces an electrical pulse which corroborates the incomplete redox chemistry. We find that the shape of some GSR formed in an electric field also suggests its nonneutral character. Tantalizingly, the formation of GSR might be a result of Coulombic repulsion shattering the molten droplets in to smaller spheroids. Lastly, we suggest that deposition or transfer of GSR could be influenced by static electricity, an area which should be further studied.     

Oxytocin Receptor Gene (OXTR) and Deviant Peer Affiliation: A Gene–Environment Interaction in Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

Although the oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) is involved in aggression and social affiliation, it has not been examined in gene-environment interaction studies. This longitudinal study examined the effect of genetic variants in OXTR and its gene-environment interaction with perceived deviant peer affiliation in the trajectories of antisocial behavior in 323 adolescents (182 males) from 13 to 18 years. Annual assessments of reactive and proactive aggression, delinquency, and friends’ delinquency, as well as DNA at age 17 were collected. Gene-based tests yielded no main effect of OXTR, but revealed a significant gene-environment interaction in proactive aggression and delinquency. Variation in the OXTR might affect the influence of deviant peer affiliation on antisocial behavior, contributing to a better understanding of individual differences in antisocial behavior.

     

Adolescents’ Mental Health Outcomes According to Different Types of Exposure to Ongoing Terror Attacks

This study investigates the impact of several types of exposure to terror attacks on adolescents’ psychological outcomes in the context of ongoing terror. A total of 913 adolescents (51% girls) aged 12 to 18 years (12–13.6 = 33%; 13.7–15.6 = 38%; 15.7–18 = 28%) took part in the study. Detailed data were collected concerning objective, subjective and “mixed” types of exposure to terror, as well as demographics, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), emotional and behavioral problems and overall psychological and psychiatric difficulties. Subjective exposure was found to be the most important contributor to adolescents’ post-traumatic stress and other mental health problems in this context. Gender also had important effects. The effects of objective and mixed types of exposure, as well as age, were less prominent. We did find, however, that the more adolescents consulted media, the less they experienced behavioral and emotional problems. Given that subjective experiences appear to be the best factor in explaining mental health outcomes when adolescents are confronted with persistent terror, the cognitive and emotional dynamics along with the coping behavior linked to such experiences merit further investigation.

The role of cognitive coping in female victims of stalking

The aim of the study is to examine the role of cognitive coping in a sample of 47 female victims of stalking. Stalking victims who blamed themselves more for the stalking report significantly higher symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Respondents who ruminated more about the stalking experience, or respondents who explicitly emphasized the terror of the stalking to a higher extent, also report significantly higher symptom levels. Finally, respondents who thought more about what steps to take and how to handle the stalking report significantly higher symptom levels of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. This conclusion holds also after controlling for the severity of stalking. If the findings of the present study can be confirmed, this could possibly contribute to the help provided to victims of stalking.     

The Transformation of Security Planning for the Olympics: The 1976 Montreal Games

Montreal's Summer Olympics in 1976 was a turning point in Olympic history: it was the Games' first highly visible security operation. It was also a transformative moment in the history of security planning in Canada: preparations for the games contributed to shifting the Security Services' focus from communism towards domestic and international terrorism. The following article documents, for the first time, the scope of this operation. It is based on five years of requests and appeals under the federal Access to Information Act, which led to the release of over fifty thousand pages of Royal Canadian Mounted Police documents. I argue that security for the Montreal Olympics was based largely on imagined threats. In addition, I argue that security costs for the Montreal Olympics were high but modest as compared to the overall budget. Nonetheless, Montreal set a precedent for high security costs that have since become the standard for hosting the Olympics. Finally, I argue that the Montreal Olympics had long-term implications for policing in Canada. The scale of the operation produced new resources and inter-agency links that were only made possible as a result of hosting the games.     

Disproportionality in Daily Metal Detector Student Searches in U.S. Public Schools

While the effectiveness of metal detectors to improve school safety remains debated, many public schools continue to rely on this technology to control school violence. Among them is the 1% of public schools where students are searched on a daily basis by metal detector. This study examines the school-level risk factors associated with daily searches to estimate the disproportionality of their use in high-violence, majority-minority public schools. Analyzing data from the 2007?2008 School Survey on Crime and Safety, this study finds that 91% of public schools that perform daily metal detector searches of students are high-violence, majority-minority schools. However, the results also show that, among high-violence schools, those with majority-minority enrollments are significantly more likely than others to conduct these searches. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of policy responses to school violence that are distinct and disproportionate according to student demographics, rather than safety conditions.     

Georges Canguilhem on the question of the individual

This paper addresses the ways in which the problem of biological individuality is posed in the work of Georges Canguilhem.In his early work,Canguilhem argued that biology must regard individuality as an absolute centre,but also argued that individuality was no more than a term within a relationship whose other term was environment. The paper considers the ways in which this tension is worked out in Canguilhem's later writings,in relation to the theory of natural selection,in the theses on the nature of norms and health for living individuals, and in relation to molecular biology and the idea of the code.The paper concludes by arguing for the centrality of philosophy to inventive scientific thought.