Toxicology and Circumstances of Death of Homicide Victims in New South Wales, Australia 1996–2005

Abstract:  To determine the prevalence and circumstances of psychoactive substances amongst homicide victims, 485 consecutive cases autopsied at the NSW Department of Forensic Medicine (1/1/1996–12/31/2005) were analyzed. Substances were detected in 62.6% of cases, and illicit drugs in 32.8%. Alcohol, cannabis, opioids, and psychostimulants were most commonly detected. Alcohol and cannabis were both more prevalent amongst males. Mean ages were significantly younger for decedents who tested positive for a substance and for an illicit drug. Cases where death resulted from a physical altercation were more likely to have had alcohol and cannabis present. Illicit drugs were prominent amongst firearms deaths. The proportion of alcohol positive cases increased from 25.0% on Monday to 49.4% for Saturdays/Sundays. Alcohol was more common in incidents in the 0001–0600 h and 1800–2400 h periods. Psychoactive substances appear to substantially increase the risk of homicide, although there are important differences between drug classes in the circumstances of such incidents.     

Disobedience and Criticism. The Ethos of Ombudsman's Institution and the "East-European Revolution of Human Rights"

The commissioners of human rights in the Parliament aim at ensuring the protection and formation as well as the development of the culture of human rights with their activities in Hungary and all over the world. What else could be done by the citizens practising their disobedience during the non-violent revolutions in 1989 after Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and the American Henry David Thoreau? At a first glance, it perhaps seems to be strange to put the following question: what is the connecting link between the role of political law of a public state and the citizens breaking the rules in order to protect the constitutional rights? What will be the result of this comparison? I think, the result is that we can recognize the role of both functions more thoroughly in operating the constitutional state suitably in order to protect the culture of constitutional rights (reactive role) and to develop them (proactive role).     

The Evolving Construct of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): DSM-5 Criteria Changes and Legal Implications

In the DSM-5, the diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has undergone multiple, albeit minor, changes. These changes include shifting PTSD placement from within the anxiety disorders into a new category of traumatic and stressor-related disorders, alterations in the definition of a traumatic event, shifting of the symptom cluster structure from three to four clusters, the addition of new symptoms including persistent negative beliefs and expectations about oneself or the world, persistent distorted blame of self or others, persistent negative trauma-related emotions, and risky or reckless behaviors, and the addition of a dissociative specifier. The evidence or lack thereof behind each of these changes is briefly reviewed. These changes, although not likely to change overall prevalence, have the potential to increase the heterogeneity of individuals receiving a PTSD diagnosis both by altering what qualifies as a traumatic event and by adding symptoms commonly occurring in other disorders such as depression, borderline personality disorder, and dissociative disorders. Legal implications of these changes include continued confusion regarding what constitutes a traumatic stressor, difficulties with differential diagnosis, increased ease in malingering, and improper linking of symptoms to causes of behavior. These PTSD changes are discussed within the broader context of DSM reliability and validity concerns.     

阿拉斯加的辅导倡议:通过公民参与促进领导力的成长

本文对公民参与和青年领导力形成的关系进行了详细阐述,并介绍了安克雷奇大学与社区合作加强大学生公民参与的研究,提出在青年反社会行为上的"辅导空白",倡议进行阿拉斯加辅导项目,让大学生意识到公民参与的价值,并开始扮演其领导角色.     

Note – Walking on Solid Ground: A Replication Study of ‘Housing Health and Happiness’

This note summarises our replication study ‘Housing, Health, and Happiness’, henceforth HHH2009, which constitutes an important paper in the literature of housing and slum upgrading. The original authors conduct a quasi-experimental impact evaluation of ‘Piso Firme’, an intervention that replaced in-house dirt floors with cement in Mexico. We conduct a Pure Replication (PR), a Measurement and Estimation Analysis (MEA), and a Theory of Change Analysis (TCA). In our PR, we did not find any major discrepancy with the original study. In the MEA, we generally find the results to be strongly robust to different types of alternative analysis. Finally, in TCA we explore a dimension that was not reported on the published version of the study and found that households with high initial levels of cement-floor coverage benefitted significantly less from Piso Firme’s intervention. These findings are discussed in greater detail on International Initiative for Impact Evaluation’s (3ie) working paper version.     

Age estimation from sternal ends of ribs by phase analysis in South African Blacks

The sternal ends of ribs are used in age determination of unknown adult remains. Standards for American populations have been described and tested. The method described by I?can et al. is reviewed and compared with other age markers of the human skeleton. Three hundred and thirty-nine (265 male, 74 female) sternal ends of right fourth ribs, belonging to black individuals deceased in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, were collected during 1994, 1995, and 1996. Three South African investigators applied the existing method and found the repeatability among them acceptable, although the method was less accurate to predict age in this population. New phases with adjusted criteria and age ranges were developed specifically for the South African black population. A tendency toward delayed maturation was found, as well as a diversion of the appearance of female ribs perimenopausally. Future studies involving more individuals in the older age ranges, and females of all ages, could broaden the representativeness of these phases.