Sleeping arrangements of sudden infant death syndrome victims in the District of Columbia--a preliminary report.

The recent decline in the incidence of the SIDS in the District of Columbia has permitted identification of what appears to be two separate groups of cases within the generic SIDS population. While deaths of bed-sharing victims remained relatively constant throughout the study period, a greater than fourfold decrease was seen in non-bed-sharing SIDS fatalities. The implications and preliminary nature of these findings are discussed in an attempt to stimulate further inquiry into the possible safety hazard of the practice of bed-sharing in the SIDS age group and its potential influence on the incidence of the SIDS.     

Civic Engagements: Resolute Partisanship or Reflective Deliberation

Why do people practice citizenship in a partisan rather than in a deliberative fashion? We argue that they are not intractably disposed to one type of citizenship, but instead adopt one of two different modes depending on the strategic character of current circumstances. While some situations prompt partisan solidarity, other situations encourage people to engage in open‐minded deliberation. We argue that the type of citizenship practiced depends on the engagement of the emotions of anxiety and aversion. Recurring conflict with familiar foes over familiar issues evokes aversion. These angry reactions prepare people for the defense of convictions, solidarity with allies, and opposition to accommodation. Unfamiliar circumstances generate anxiety. Rather than defend priors, this anxiety promotes the consideration of opposing viewpoints and a willingness to compromise. In this way, emotions help people negotiate politics and regulate the kinds of citizenship they practice.     

Why Be Accountable? Exploring Voluntary Accountability of Australian Private Ancillary Funds

The aim of this paper is to consider why Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs), endowed philanthropic foundations with no public reporting requirements, engage in accountability in its various forms. This exploratory, qualitative study reports on perspectives on accountability from 10 semi‐structured interviews with PAF managers and/or trustees from three Australian states. Through the lens of March and Olsen's (2011) logics of action and Karsten's (2015) typology of motivational forms for voluntary accountability, findings show that although logics of appropriateness and consequentiality explain many reasons why PAFs engage in voluntary accountability, some reasons do not fit comfortably within either logic. The findings challenge conceptions embedded in much non‐profit accountability literature that motivations for and purposes of accountability are linked with sustainability and survival. By examining this subset of non‐profit organisations subject to limited regulatory accountability, a clearer understanding of motivations for voluntary accountability is achieved.     

Trends in US emergency department visits for suicide attempts, 1992-2001

This article describes trends in suicide attempt visits to emergency departments in the United States (US). Data were obtained from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey using mental-health-related ICD-9-CM, E and V codes, and mental-health reasons for visit. From 1992 to 2001, mental-health-related visits increased 27.5% from 17.1 to 23.6 per 1000 (p < .001). Emergency Department (ED) visits for suicide attempt and self injury increased by 47%, from 0.8 to 1.5 visits per 1000 US population (p(trend) = .04). Suicide-attempt-related visits increased significantly among males over the decade and among females from 1992/1993 to 1998/1999. Suicide attempt visits increased in non-Hispanic whites, patients under 15 years or those between 50-69 years of age, and the privately insured. Hospitalization rates for suicide attempt-related ED visits declined from 49% to 32% between 1992 and 2001 (p = .04). Suicide attempt-related visits increased significantly in urban areas, but in rural areas suicide attempt visits stayed relatively constant, despite significant rural decreases in mental-health related visits overall. Ten-year regional increases in suicide attempt-related visits were significant for the West and Northeast only. US emergency departments have witnessed increasing rates of ED visits for suicide attempts during a decade of significant reciprocal decreases in postattempt hospitalization. Emergency departments are increasingly important sites for identifying, assessing and treating individuals with suicidal behavior.     

Socio-economic Effects of Collaborative R&D—European Experiences

Europe provides large-scale public support for collaborative R&D, notably through the European Union's Framework Programmes and the intergovernmental Eureka Initiative. Experience in evaluating these programmes is reviewed, with particular emphasis on assessment of their socio-economic effects. For the Framework Programmes a panel-based evaluation system has been unable to address these effects adequately. New emphasis on promoting research as a solution to economic and social problems has created additional demands for evaluation. In Eureka, a 'continuous and systematic evaluation' process collects information about project impacts on and after completion. Results show a highly skewed success pattern and new complex benefits arising from knowledge generation and networking. A schema of outputs and effects is presented and the issues of additionality and policy persistence discussed. It is concluded that a broader view of effects is needed if under-valuation is to be avoided.     

Forensic analysis of bioagents by X-ray and TOF-SIMS hyperspectral imaging

Hyperspectral imaging combined with multivariate statistics is an approach to microanalysis that makes the maximum use of the large amount of data potentially collected in forensics analysis. This study examines the efficacy of using hyperspectral imaging-enabled microscopies to identify chemical signatures in simulated bioagent materials. This approach allowed for the ready discrimination between all samples in the test. In particular, the hyperspectral imaging approach allowed for the identification of particles with trace elements that would have been missed with a more traditional approach to forensic microanalysis. The importance of combining signals from multiple length scales and analytical sensitivities is discussed.     

Isolation and identification of unique marker compounds from the Tasmanian poppy Papaver somniferum N. Implications for the identification of illicit heroin of Tasmanian origin

Tasmanian opium accounts for 25% of the world's legal supply of opium straw, and in 1998-99 sufficient numbers of flower pods (66,013) to manufacture ca 500 kg of heroin were stolen. Whilst the heroin signature program has been developed to determine the origin of heroin from other key producers, no such signature currently exists for Tasmanian derived heroin. Tasmanian poppies contain a unique alkaloid, oripavine, which is the source of 'marker' impurities in illicit heroin produced from Tasmanian poppy straw. Treatment of oripavine (500mg) under Thiboumery and Mohr heroin processing conditions, followed by simple evaporative workup afforded 613 mg of a dark orange residue, which upon extensive chromatographic purification yielded oripavine 3-acetate (2) 22 mg; 3-acetyl-N-acetyldesthebaine (3) 35 mg; 3-acetyl-6-methoxy-4,5-epoxyphenanthrene (4) 5.8 mg; 3,4-diacetyl-6-methoxyphenanthrene (5) 27 mg; and 3,4,6-methoxy-5-[2(N-methylacetamido)]ethylphenanthrene (6) 52 mg. Compounds (2-6) are derived from oripavine and are unique to heroin derived from the Tasmanian poppy Papaver somniferum N. Analysis of illicit heroin samples seized from Turkey, Pakistan, Columbia and Myanmar did not reveal any of the aforementioned marker compounds. We have, however, identified four of these marker compounds (3-6) in seized heroin samples from Australia suggesting that they are of Tasmanian origin. Complete details of the isolation and identification of these compounds are provided.