Clustering of multiple sclerosis in Galion, Ohio, 1982-1985

Epidemiologic evidence indicates that the outbreak of 30-40 cases of multiple sclerosis and other demyelinating syndromes in Galion, Ohio, USA, during 1982-1985 was related to an excess concentration of heavy-metal wastes, especially of cadmium and chromium in sewage and river water. Both multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis were diagnosed by board-certified neurologists.     

The changing character of criminality and policing in post-socialist Lithuania: From fighting organized crime to policing marginal populations?

This paper argues that the character ofcriminality in post-socialist Lithuania isundergoing a significant change. Up untilthe mid 1990s criminality was defined bythe conflict between the state and criminalgroups who challenged the state's authorityin the re-distribution of state property.Criminal groups used violence to challengethe state's rules and regulations regardingthe process and outcomes of privatization. The state responded by legal andinstitutional reforms leading tomilitarization and centralization of thepolice force.Successful legal and police reformsinitiated during the early 1990s led to adramatic decline in organized crimeactivities. Crime rates also began tostabilize because of the improvingsocio-economic situation in the country. As a result, by the mid 1990s the characterof criminality began to change. There aresigns that it is increasingly associatedwith the growing social and economicmarginalization of those segments of thepopulation, which did not (or could not)adapt to the introduction of competitivemarkets. The situation was aggravated by arapid decline of employment within theLithuanian economy and significantcurtailment of social welfare provided bythe state. A growing number ofindividuals, especially males with poorskills and education whose employmentopportunities were severely restricted withthe decline in manufacturing industries,were dropping out from the labor force evenin the presence of jobs; were not marrying;and were increasingly plagued by a varietyof social pathologies and health problemsincluding crime, alcoholism, drug abuse,and depression. New forms of entrenchedpoverty unknown during the socialist erasuch as vagabonds and homelessness,including homeless children, has nowdeveloped and is associated with itsapparently inevitable concomitant increasedpetty criminality.     

Location and other correlates of campus crime

Crime and security are major issues on a number of college campuses in the United States, yet little criminology research has been aimed at the campus setting. This article explores whixh aspects of the campus profile seem to contribute, or at least relate, to high levels of campus crime. A regression of crime rates on dimensions of the campus profile uncovered a number of correlates (specifically, measures of campus size and scholastic quality) in our sample of 222 colleges and universities. Somewhat surprisingly, the location of a campus—be it in an urban or a rural setting—had no impact on the level of its crime problem, though a slight influence on crime mix (proportion of crimes that are violent) was found.