Maximizing order or harm? Arrests among a social network of people who inject drugs in a large urban city

Encountering the criminal justice system at the first point of entry---an arrest---is associated with heightened HIV and Hepatitis risk behavior among people who inject drugs (PWIDS). Intervening structurally through the criminal justice system impacts public health; therefore, determining arrest patterns is an important tool for risk reduction. Among a sample of 740 PWIDs, and their social network members recruited from predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Baltimore City, a third were recently arrested in the previous six months, and of those, the arrests were disproportionately African-American persons and characterized as nonviolent, i.e., drug possession/attempt to purchase (38%) and loitering (29%). Poisson regression models were built adjusted for age, sex, race, education level, homelessness, and monthly income after exploring bivariable characteristics of arrests using chi-squared tests. Active drug use was associated with a recent arrest (adjusted prevalence ratio: aPR 2.38 95% CI 1.6, 3.6), in addition to participants who recently reported attending a syringe exchange program (aPR 1.45 95% CI 1.1, 2.0). Our findings are suggestive of recent media coverage and burgeoning research revealing the prioritization of policing resources toward both communities of color and neighborhoods of intensified drug trafficking. Further research is warranted to contextualize the operationalization of criminal justice resources and the impact on community health.     

Finding a Safer Harbor: Mandating Health Care Clinics to Intervene in Child Sex Trafficking by Amending the Safe Harbor Act

When it comes to child sex trafficking, health care clinics have become spaces of duality. While these facilities provide medical care to child victims, many argue that this facilitates traffickers in concealing evidence of child sex trafficking. This Note proposes an amendment to New York's Safe Harbor Act and various sections of the Social Services Law to cure legislative ambiguity with respect to health care clinics. The amendment will mandate that all state‐run health care clinics implement a uniform process, utilizing mental health professionals and a standardized interview process, to identify and report instances of potential child sex trafficking.     

Identification of Eight Synthetic Cannabinoids,Including 5F‐AKB48 in Seized Herbal Products Using DART‐TOF‐MS and LC‐QTOF‐MS as Nontargeted Screening Methods

Synthetic cannabinoids are sprayed onto plant material and smoked for their marijuana‐like effects. Clandestine manufacturers modify synthetic cannabinoid structures by creating closely related analogs. Forensic laboratories are tasked with detection of these analog compounds, but targeted analytical methods are often thwarted by the structural modifications. Here, direct analysis in real time coupled to accurate mass time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (DART‐TOF‐MS) in combination with liquid chromatography quadruple time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (LC‐QTOF‐MS) are presented as a screening and nontargeted confirmation method, respectively. Methanol extracts of herbal material were run using both methods. Spectral data from four different herbal products were evaluated by comparing fragmentation pattern, accurate mass and retention time to available reference standards. JWH‐018, JWH‐019, AM2201, JWH‐122, 5F‐AKB48, AKB48‐N‐(4‐pentenyl) analog, UR144, and XLR11 were identified in the products. Results demonstrate that DART‐TOF‐MS affords a useful approach for rapid screening of herbal products for the presence and identification of synthetic cannabinoids.     

Parent-Child Agreement on Parent-to-Child Maltreatment

Parent-child agreement on child maltreatment was examined in a multigenerational study. Questionnaires on perpetrated and experienced child maltreatment were completed by 138 parent-child pairs. Multi-level analyses were conducted to explore whether parents and children agreed about levels of parent-to-child maltreatment (convergence), and to examine whether parents and children reported equal levels of child maltreatment (absolute differences). Direct and moderating effects of age and gender were examined as potential factors explaining differences between parent and child report. The associations between parent- and child-reported maltreatment were significant for all subtypes, but the strength of the associations was low to moderate. Moreover, children reported more parent-to-child neglect than parents did. Older participants reported more experienced maltreatment than younger participants, without evidence for differences in actual exposure. These findings support the value of multi-informant assessment of child maltreatment to improve accuracy, but also reveal the divergent perspectives of parents and children on child maltreatment.     

Myocardial hypertrophy induces carotid body hyperplasia

The carotid bodies tend to enlarge after long-standing cardiopulmonary disease. Our objective was to investigate whether cardiac hypertrophy is associated with carotid body hyperplasia. Fifteen autopsy cases with combined left and right ventricular hypertrophy were examined and compared with two control groups (16 cases). The study involved a meticulous dissection of carotid bifurcations, thin serial sections, and morphometric analysis of carotid body volume and cell types (progenitor, dark, light, and sustentacular). There was a significant increase in sustentacular cells in all individuals with cardiac hypertrophy, which was not drug-induced, and accompanied by a similar increase in carotid body volume. Dark or light cell accumulation was detected focally and only in three instances. It appears that the generalized sustentacular cell hyperplasia is the result of long-standing hypoxia, while a superimposed focal prominence of dark or light cells may be proliferative or metaplastic in nature and attributed to short-term hypoxia.     

Evaluation of vapor profiles of explosives over time using ATASS (Automated Training Aid Simulation using SPME)

Despite numerous instrumental achievements, canines are still considered the most effective field method for explosive detection. However, due to strict explosive regulations and safety requirements, it can be a challenge for agencies with "bomb dogs" to train using neat explosive materials. This establishes a need for non-explosive canine training aids with the same volatile component profiles as the explosives that they represent. In order to compare mimic materials to their explosive counterparts, a technique must be established that not only allows for identification of volatile compounds but also can monitor changes in the headspace profile over time with respect to time and temperature. The Automated Training Aid Simulation using SPME (or ATASS) was developed for that purpose. As described, ATASS was used to observe changes in the volatile profile of three explosives (Composition C-4, 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), and triacetone triperoxide (TATP)) and respective prototype training materials (0.1% by mass C-4, 1% by mass 2,4-DNT, and 1% by mass TATP). Samples were prepared in vials and metal tins within a gallon (≈ 3785 mL) paint can to simulate common field techniques for canine training. Monitoring these materials in real time provides a better understanding of the major volatile components present and how the relative abundances of these components can change over time. The results presented indicate that ATASS successfully allows for a sufficient comparison between explosive and non-explosive training materials.