Sudden Unexpected Death due to Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Syndrome

The hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) syndrome is a hyperimmune disorder characterized by lymphohistiocytic infiltrations, elevated cytokine levels in the blood, macrophage activation, and hemophagocytosis, frequently presenting with a febrile septic picture. This unusual disease is more common in infancy and childhood than adulthood. It is classified as primary or familial when a genetic defect is identified and secondary or acquired when triggered by certain infections, autoimmune disorders, or malignancies. If or when such patients expire, they typically do so within a hospital or under a physician's care and so such cases rarely come to the attention of forensic pathologists. We report on the unexpected deaths of two hospitalized adult cases of HLH brought to autopsy without a premortem diagnosis. Postmortem examination demonstrated marked hepatosplenomegaly and lymphadenopathy in association with hemophagocytosis. Although very uncommon HLH must be considered in infants, children, or adults who die unexpectedly with an undiagnosed septic presentation.     

Climate change and crime: monthly temperature and precipitation anomalies and crime rates in St. Louis, MO 1990–2009

This study provides insights on how climate change may already be impacting crime rates. Based on analysis of 20 years of monthly data from St. Louis, MO, this study finds that most major crime types are likely to be impacted by rising temperatures. Whereas previous studies on the impact of climate change have used annual data, the current study suggests that shorter time periods provide a more accurate assessment once seasonality effects are accounted for. What is more this study incorporates not just temperature data, but also precipitation data. Results indicate that the relation between climate change and crime is significant for most crime categories. While the strength of the relationship between temperature anomalies and crime may appear relatively mild, considering potential future warming, climate change may come to have a significant impact on crime rates. Theory and policy implications are discussed.     

The Practice of Nonviolence in the Contemporary World: An Interview with Daniel Berrigan

Critical race theory provides a much‐needed framework for improving the study of race and racism's influence on psychological health and illness. Implicating the mundane and extraordinary, critical race theory explains how racism determines lifestyles and life chances. It also clarifies the individual and institutional nature of racism. Such clarification should be meaningful to sociologists of mental health, especially those interested in how race‐related inequality alters the distribution of psychological health and illness. Towards improving research linking race and racism with mental health, the present essay exposes five weaknesses in the sociology of mental health literature: (1) misspecification of perceived discrimination; (2) neglect of the psychological wages of Whiteness; (3) conflation of race and ethnicity; (4) assumption of mental health measurement invariance; and (5) disregard for narratives about how racism hurts mental health. These weaknesses and the strategies for overcoming them are uncovered by systematically applying select critical race theory tenets.     

Spike lee's do the right thing : Filmmaking in the American grain

Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing is one of the most important American films of the 20th century. On one level it raises questions about racial conflict in New York City during the 1980s but, on another, about the struggle to be human in America, specifically the requirements of a justice that takes into account the needs of all. In other words, the film is about the struggle each of us faces to recognize each other as a being of value and worth regardless of our state- and market-defined merits or deserts. The authors argue that Do the Right Thing is a film consistent with the true American character which reflects a desire to be not a power-wielding sovereign but a person connected to a community of human concern, one in which the needs of all are taken into account.     

Migrants’ intentions to return home and capital transfers: A study of Tongans and Samoans in Australia

This article examines the attributes of migrants from the Pacific island states of Tonga and Samoa living in Australia to assess the extent to which return migrants could contribute to the human and physical capital stock of the migrant‐sending countries. It also examines the impact of intention to return on remittances and asset accumulation. The study finds that very few migrants plan to return home and very little evidence that those who plan to return embody significant human capital (education, experience and skills). Intention to return may be important, nevertheless, since those who plan to return remit significantly more than those that do not and also accumulate far more physical capital at home than those that do not intend to return.     

Elitocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina and its impact on the contemporary understanding of the crime of genocide

In my paper I will present and discuss the theoretical concept of elitocide (a systematic elimination of leading figures of a society or a group) and its impact on the crime of genocide on the example of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992–1995. A systematization and scientific classification of elitocide as a sociological phenomenon bears great importance to the field of study on genocide, mass murder and human rights abuses. The scientific elaboration of new or hitherto neglected occurrences of organized violence has a significant impact on the understanding of the phenomenon of systematic war crimes and mass atrocities in modern war conflicts. In order to better understand how genocide or potentially genocidal mass murders emerge and how they can be prevented, it is necessary to modify and redevelop their conventional theoretical framework. Since the premises of modern war have changed, the science is obliged to adapt its approach to this new reality. This paper is a contribution to making the causes and consequences of mass atrocities practically cognizable and theoretically comprehensive.     

Militant Islam and the Futile Fight for Reputation

The reputation debate in international relations has split into two camps: those suggesting actions affect perceptions of resolve and those who say they do not. This article engages the reputation debate in the context of militant Islamists. Using political psychology, we offer a theory of biased attributions that challenges Mercer's “desires” hypothesis that reputations for irresolution do not form when an act is desirable from the perceiver's eye. Motivated biases undercut any reputation for resolve in cases of firmness and challenge rationalist claims of reputation formation. Militant Islamist perceptions of U.S. and Soviet interventions in the Muslim world since the 1980s support this thesis and caution against futile wars for reputation.     

An investigation into the enhancement of fingermarks in blood on fruit and vegetables

A number of studies have reported the successful enhancement of latent fingermarks on fruit and vegetables. A study was set up to identify the most effective technique for the enhancement of fingermarks in blood on various fruit and vegetables. The enhancement techniques targeted different components in blood and consisted of protein stains (e.g. acid black 1), peroxidase reagents (e.g. leuco crystal violet) and amino acid stains (e.g. ninhydrin). Different variables such as the ageing periods of the marks and a diminishing series were employed to assess the suitability and sensitivity of the enhancement techniques.Overall, the use of different protein stains appeared to be the most effective techniques for the enhancement of fingermarks in blood on fruit and vegetables. In addition, the aubergine and cucumber skins appeared to be the most responsive surface to the different chemical techniques during enhancement. On the contrary, little or no enhancement was achieved for fingermarks in blood on the nectarine fruit.