Understanding rib fracture patterns: incomplete and buckle fractures

Reconstructing traumatic thoracic events, especially when soft tissues are absent, requires an advanced understanding of ribcage fracture patterns. The morphology and orientation of ribs complicate the fracture pattern, as a single blow often causes multiple fractures at various locations. Furthermore, fracture types observed in ribs are not explained easily by current bone biomechanic literature. Using evidential skeletal material archived at the Regional Forensic Center, Memphis, the ribs of 43 blunt force trauma cases were analyzed. A total of 195 incomplete fractures and 63 buckle fractures were noted. Incomplete fractures, previously thought to be common in children but rare in adults, were found among individuals ranging in age from 21-76 years. A buckle fracture, failure resulting from compressive instability, has been undefined previously in bone trauma literature but was repeatedly observed in this sample. This study elucidates recognizable rib fracture patterns while emphasizing gross bone examination for force and mechanical factors.     

Providing rural credit in southern India: A comparison of commercial banks and cooperatives

This paper contrasts the recent experiences of two different institutions in providing credit and savings facilities in the countryside of Tamil Nadu, southern India. Ever since the late-1960s, there has been a rising demand for credit to finance investment in agriculture. This has been reinforced by Government policy over the last two decades, and especially since 1980, to provide credit both to priority activities, including agriculture, and to disadvantaged rural groups. Part of that policy has been to encourage the commercial banks to offer services in the countryside, alongside the previously well-developed network of cooperatives offering formal rural credit. The commercial banks have had considerable success in expanding their network of branches, and in increasing bank deposits and loans in rural areas. Operating as corporate bureaucracies, the banks have been able to expand without being crippled in the process. On the other hand, their institutional strength has meant that Government credit policy has been implemented cautiously. The agricultural credit cooperatives, no newcomers to the countryside, have still to fulfil their long-declared function of providing short-term credit for crop production to the majority of agricultural households. Loan recovery by the cooperatives has been weak. The cooperatives have suffered partly from the internal contradictions inherent in any cooperative structure imposed upon the peasantry, from major flaws in the organizational structure of Tamil Nadu cooperatives, as well as from the increasing appropiation of the cooperatives for party political ends. The contrasting experiences of the two different institutions in providing rural credit illustrate how policy applied through different institutions can produce quite different outcomes. They also demonstrate how changes in the socio-political environment, neither immediately obvious nor predictable, can critically affect policy results.     

Depression,Suicidal Ideation,and Substance Use Among Continuation High School Students

This study examines the structural relationships among depression, suicidal ideation, gateway substance use (including cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana), and hard substance use (including cocaine, stimulants, and inhalants) in a sample of continuation high school students at high risk for drug abuse. When the model was examined separately by ethnic group (Latino and Caucasian) and gender, significant differences among the factor correlations emerged. Compared to Latinos and females, Caucasians and males, respectively, demonstrated a greater number of significant relationships among the factors. For Latinos and females, only the depression and suicidal ideation factors were significantly correlated with each other, as were the gateway and hard substance use factors. For Caucasians and males, four of the six factors were significantly intercorrelated. One implication is that mood enhancement may be a particularly important reason for hard substance use among Caucasian and male adolescents.     

Managing AIDS in the workplace

Because of the AIDS epidemic and the protections afforded individuals with AIDS under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), employers are well advised to ensure compliance under applicable law to reduce exposure to employee claims of discrimination and to efficiently manage workplace issues associated with AIDS. Employers should implement AIDS policies and programs designed to educate their workforce to reduce the spread of AIDS and to clear up any misunderstandings about the disease which could wreak havoc in the workplace. This article summarizes suggested action steps for employers and outside resources to consult for guidance.     

Longitudinal Relations Among Depression,Stress, and Coping in High Risk Youth

The structural relationships among risk and protective factors were examined in a sample of 646 continuation high school students. Although depression predicted more perceived stress, it was not a unique predictor of anger coping, seeking social support, or substance use. Perceived stress increased seeking social support. Seeking social support decreased the utilization of anger coping, which suggests that it may be a means of prevention for adolescents. Anger coping behaviors were implicated as being significant in sustaining depression and perceived stress, and in increasing hard drug use over time. Moderation analysis indicated that although there was no difference in the stress–coping–depression relationship between Latinos and Caucasians, the relationship among perceived stress, anger coping, and depression was stronger for female than for male adolescents. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Who benefits from minority business set-asides? The case of New Jersey

Race-based remedies often are justified by evidence of prior discrimination. They work when they benefit groups previously disadvantaged. This article examines one such remedy—minority business set-asides—and its application in the award of public procurement and construction contracts by the state of New Jersey. Analyzed are contract awards to minority and non-minority/non-women-owned business enterprises in 1990, as well as in periods before, during, and after the imposition of a state minority set-aside program. Using a conventional decomposition approach, the article reveals significant discriminatory gaps in the success of minority- versus non-minority-owned firms in obtaining contracts from the state of New Jersey. The analysis suggests that minority contracting success rates fell from the pre-set-aside era to the set-aside era and that discriminatory outcomes persisted. The particular remedy chosen—while justified based on evidence of prior discrimination—appears not to have reduced the original discrimination nor did it unambiguously benefit minority businesses.     

The Victimization of LGBTQ Students at School: A Meta-Analysis

ABSTRACT

Although research suggests that LGBTQ youth are at risk for victimization at school, it remains unclear just how much more likely they are to be victimized relative to heterosexual or cisgender youth, or the conditions under which their risks for victimization are highest. Accordingly, we conducted a meta-analysis on the relationship between LGBTQ identification and school victimization. Multilevel analysis of 276 effect size estimates, from 55 studies, revealed a moderate overall mean effect size (r = .155). Moderator analyses indicated the relationship was stronger for transgender youth, homophobic victimization, and students in the Western United States; and weaker for questioning youth. We conclude with recommendations for policy and future research, and suggest that theories of victimization be broadened to better explain the risks that LGBTQ students face.     

Cold War counter-terrorism: the evolution of international counter-terrorism in the RCMP Security Service, 1972–1984

This piece provides a detailed case study of the evolution of counter-terrorism within a specific domestic security agency of a liberal-democratic state in the context of the Cold War. It does so by examining the creation of a counter-terrorism unit within Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police Security Service and how it responded to international terrorism. This occurred in between major terrorist attacks in Canada in 1970 and 1985 and included a growing focus on counter-terrorism even as counter-subversion remained a top priority within a still dominant Cold War domestic security framework. Ultimately, the article, based on thousands of pages of previously secret documents, argues that the Security Service could conceive of in a broader strategic sense the threat of terrorism but found it more challenging, for a variety of reasons, including the dominance of the Cold War and the difficulties around infiltrating ethnic communities, to collect intelligence.