Should Abused Women's Reports of Partner Substance Abuse Be Accepted as Valid?

Current research suggests that a husband's substance abuse is correlated with severity of physical abuse and the woman's decision to leave a violent situation. Often, only the battered woman's report of abuse is available. This study compares women's reports of their partners' substance use/abuse with their partners' report using a brief measure of polydrug and alcohol abuse, the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI) and the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS). Data were analyzed for 25 recovery couples and 25 nonrecovery couples. The correlations for all 50 couples between the male's reported use and the female's report of her partner's use on the SASSI and the CTS were significant on all but one of the CTS scales. They ranged on SASSI from .73 to .33 and from .31 to .06 on the CTS. This suggests that the SASSI and possibly the CTS could be used as valuable tools for assessing women's reports of their partner's substance use/abuse.     

THE MPA CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE: FHE ESSENCE OF ANALYSIS IS SURPRISE

A final course, or project is a standard requirement in Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs. This requirement is intended to permit the student to demonstrate advanced ability in the discipline. This article examines one such course at Florida State University. The course included readings, exercises, oral presentations, and a written report. This author assesses the merits and drawbacks of the course as well as notes the unintended consequences that resulted. In concluding the article, the author makes several recommendations for future courses based on the experiences gained in the Florida state model.     

Highlights from a low-level area: infant mortality and social structure in eight East Frisian parishes, 1740–1839

Considerable variations in infant mortality rates have occurred within the low-lying region of northern Germany's East Frisia. Individual parishes can be assigned to three specific groups by registered mortality levels for the period 1740–1839. Differences also existed between parishes containing Geest (heathland), bogs, and marshland reflecting specific geographical and environment factors, as well as the structure of the local economy. In both Geest and bog parishes, the level of infant mortality and its trend over time were not homogeneous. In the two marshy river parishes, only environmental factors were significant; both registered the lowest rates of infant mortality. They had fertile soil, extensive grazing land, an exceptionally high number of large agricultural holdings, and households that were above average in size. By contrast, the highest rates of infant mortality were found in one bog and two Geest parishes, but these communities remained heterogeneous in terms of geographical size and population growth and density.     

Thyreoglobulin and violent asphyxia

The concentration of thyreoglobulin (tg) was determined for death caused by hanging, strangulation by ligature, and throttling. Cases of sudden death (traumatic aortic rupture, penetrating wounds of the heart) were used for comparison. The mean values in cases of hanging (149.9±202.3 ng/ml), strangulation by ligature (193.1±173.3), manual strangulation (561.6±173.9) are distinguishable from violent acute deaths (23.3±27.6) and living healthy individuals (17.3±16.1). By means of statistical comparisons, significant differences were found between throttling and strangulation by ligature and between throttling and hanging (adjusted P<0.001). In connection with examination of the bodies high tg values can be regarded as a vital reaction in obstructive asphyxia.     

The Whole-Brain Concept of Death Remains Optimum Public Policy

"Brain death," the determination of human death by showing the irreversible loss of all clinical functions of the brain, has become a worldwide practice. A biophilosophical account of brain death requires four sequential tasks: (1) agreeing on the paradigm of death, a set of preconditions that frame the discussion; (2) determining the definition of death by making explicit the consensual concept of death; (3) determining the criterion of death that proves the definition has been fulfilled by being both necessary and sufficient for death; and (4) determining the tests of death for physicians to employ at the patient's bedside to demonstrate that the criterion of death has been fulfilled. The best definition of death is "the cessation of functioning of the organism as a whole." The whole-brain criterion is the only criterion that is both necessary and sufficient for death. Brain death tests are used only in the unusual case in which a patient's ventilation is being supported. Brain death critics have identified weaknesses in its formulation. But despite its shortcomings, the whole-brain death formulation comprises a concept and public policy that make intuitive and practical sense and that has been well accepted by many societies.     

The distribution of ethanol in postmortem blood specimens.

Ethanol was determined by gas chromatography in a variety of tissues and body fluids secured at autopsy in 61 cases. The specimens tested included right and left heart blood, femoral blood, pericardial fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, vitreous humor, urine, stomach contents, and brain. Statistical analysis of the cases revealed no significant differences among the various blood sites tested. However, the variations in blood ethanol concentrations among the various sampling sites within each case were as follows: 40 cases showed differences of less than 25%; 16 cases revealed variability between 25% and 50%, 4 cases had differences exceeding 50%. In one case, satisfactory blood analyses could not be accomplished. The larger variances occurred especially in those instances in which stomach alcohol concentration was 0.50% or greater. In one case, the variability amongst the different blood sites exceeded 400% (femoral blood--0.043%, right atrium--0.070%, root of aorta--0.156%); the brain was 0.050%, and the stomach contents was 1.2%. For all 61 cases, variances in blood alcohol content among the different sampling sites in a single cadaver ranged from 1.8 to 428%.     

Industry/University interaction for simulation-based process improvement

This paper describes an effort by industry and university partners to centralize manufacturing decision making through the development of generic simulation tools. This ongoing, cooperative process improvement initiative between the Industrial and Systems Engineering faculty at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) and Chrysler’s Huntsville Electronics Division (HED) permits the involved faculty to broaden their experience and technical expertise in electronics fabrication, while the industry partner benefits from the transfer of technical knowledge and advanced analysis methodologies from the university. The focus of the project is the definition of generic electronic manufacturing models that can be easily defined and implemented through common user-oriented interfaces, allowing users who are not familiar with simulation and simulation languages to address the needs of their particular functional areas.