Willingness to Self-Disclose among Late Adolescent Female Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

The primary aim of this study was to compare the willingness of sexually abused (n = 22) and non–sexually abused (n = 36) late adolescent women to self-disclose both general and sexual information to strangers and intimate partners. Results, based on a sample of college women, indicate that those who were sexually abused in childhood are less likely than nonabused counterparts to be highly disclosing of sexual and general information to intimate partners. Avoiding extensive disclosure of personal information to intimate partners may serve to keep survivors of abuse at a relatively safe distance from their own dysphoric feelings and suggests that mistrust of others is an ongoing issue for this population.     

The politics of sustainable development: impediments to pollution prevention and policy integration in Canada

Abstract: Sustainable development has been widely hailed in Canadian environmental -policy circles, as has its related goals of promoting pollution prevention and integrating policy across sectoral, jurisdictional, and medium (e.g., air, water, land) boundaries. But such broad support has generally not served to translate sustainability into concrete policy initiatives at the federal or provincial levels. Indeed, most Canadian efforts to foster sustainability appear to be largely symbolic in nature, leaving the bulk of environmental regulatory functions highly fragmented by medium and oriented towards pollution control. In comparison with the United States, it remains much more difficult to discern prevention and integration principles being put into practice in Canada in many important areas of environmental policy. The decentralization of policy-making and the lack of policy entrepreneurship within environment ministries in Canada appear to contribute to this comparatively slower response to the challenge of sustainability. Sommaire: Dans les milieux qui formulent les politiques environnementales au Canada, on chante les louanges du développement durable; on vante aussi ses objectifs de promouvoir la prévention de la pollution et d'integrer les politiques au niveau des secteurs, des territoires administratifs et de I'ensemble des trois milieux: air, eau, terre. Cet appui généralisé n'a cependant pas permis, dans l'ensemble, de traduire la durabilité en initiatives concrètes aux niveaux fédéral et provincial. En fait, la plupart des efforts canadiens favorisant la durabilité semblent avoir un caractère largement symbolique, la plupart des fonctions de réglementation environnementale étant fortement fragmentées selon les milieux (air, eau, terre) et orientées vers le contrôle de la pollution. A l'encontre des États-Unis, on a du mal à voir pratiquer au Canada les principes de la prévention et de l'intégration dans de nombreux domaines de politique environnementale. La décentralisation de la formulation des politiques, ainsi que I'inactivité des ministères de l'environnement dans ce domaine, semble contribuer à cette plus grande lenteur face au défi de la durabilité.     

Tramadol (Ultram) concentrations in death investigation and impaired driving cases and their significance

We reviewed a series of 66 deaths in Washington State between 1995-2000 in which tramadol (Ultram and Ultracet, Ortho-McNeil) was detected in the decedent's blood, in order to assess the role tramadol was determined to have played. Additionally, we reviewed a series of 83 impaired driving cases in which tramadol was detected in order to establish a non-lethal blood tramadol concentration reference range. In both populations, tramadol was consistently found together with other analgesic, muscle relaxant, and CNS depressant drugs. Death was rarely attributable to tramadol alone. However, tramadol may be a significant contributor to lethal intoxication when taken in excess with other drugs, via the potential interaction with serotonergic antidepressant medications, as well as the potential for increased CNS depression. Although the incidence of tramadol detection has increased consistently over the last eight years, there is no evidence of a corresponding increase in the number of cases in which death was attributed solely to tramadol. Blood drug concentrations in many deaths exceeded the therapeutic serum range of 0.28-0.61 mg/L; however, the concentrations overlapped almost completely with the range identified in living subjects arrested for impaired driving. These findings suggest caution in the interpretation of blood tramadol concentrations outside of the recognized therapeutic range. It also suggests that the drug, even when used in moderate excess, is not a principle cause of death in suicidal or accidental deaths.