The reactivity of gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) in alcoholic solutions

In this work the stability of GBL (gamma-butyrolactone) and GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) in alcoholic media was studied. Under acidic conditions the GBL will react with ethanol or methanol to give the corresponding ethyl and methyl esters of GHB. It can be seen that ester formation is dependent on the type of alcohol, the alcohol content of the solution, and the pH of the solution. Under the same conditions it was shown that GHB does not give rise directly to the corresponding ester when merely in the presence of an alcohol; however the ester will be formed if the conditions are present for conversion of GHB to GBL followed by subsequent reaction with alcohol. In alcoholic beverage samples spiked with GBL the expected conversion to GHB occurred, and the formation of the ethyl ester of GHB was also seen in some samples. Wine samples were analyzed for the presence of the ethyl ester of GHB, and the effect of adding GHB/GBL to hot beverages was studied.     

Community Perceptions of Allowable Counterforce in Self-Defense and Defense of Property

Law and Human Behavior - What level of force do people believe is appropriate to use in self-defense and defense of property? One answer is that a person may use only the bare minimum of force...     

Is cooperation the answer? Canadian environmental enforcement in comparative context

In recent years, a number of authors have been critical of the adversarial U.S. “regulatory style,” and have expressed interest in more cooperative regulatory approaches common in Western Europe. They have argued that the inflexible, deterrence-based approach that has characterized enforcement of U.S. health, safety, and environmental laws is not only inefficient in treating minor and significant violations equally, but counterproductive in fostering antagonistic relationships between regulators and the regulated. This article examines the effectiveness of the cooperative Canadian approach to enforcement of environmental regulations, using the pulp and paper industry as a case study. The resulting levels of compliance are compared with rates of compliance in the United States for the same industry. Significantly lower rates of compliance in Canada cast doubt on the growing consensus in favor of cooperative regulatory approaches.     

Gender differences associated with playing high school varsity soccer

Despite the increased participation of girls in competitive high school athletics, it is unclear that play on sports teams holds the same meaning for adolescent boys and girls. This study investigated school, grade, (freshman and sophomore vs junior and senior), and gender differences associated with a range of factors related to participation in high school varsity soccer play among 65 students attending two high schools, one emphasizing achievement, the other emphasizing competitive involvement in athletics, including soccer. Also of interest was the relationship between both soccer involvement and soccer knowledge and school climate, empathy, occupational interest, and perceived parent behavior. Because gender differences were found in comparative and correlational analysis, it is concluded that play on varsity soccer teams holds different meanings and values for adolescent boys and girls.An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Denver, November 1984. The two authors shared equally in carrying out the research reported here.She received her doctorate in sociology and education from the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include children's social development and games, the transition from school to work, and schools in central cities.He received his doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research interests include social cognitive development, gay and lesbian relationships, and the effects of divorce on children.     

Do courtship-violent men have characteristics associated with a “Battering Personality”?

Three studies explored the presence of characteristics associated with battering personalities in courtship-violent college men. These characteristics were derived from Signs to Look for in a Battering Personality developed in Fayetteville, AR, to describe wife-batterers. In the first study, two questions measured aggression. In the second and third study, Straus's (1979) Conflict Tactics Scale was also used. Attitudes toward Women (Spence et al., 1973) were measured in the first two studies. Sexual aggression (Koss et al., 1987) was measured in the third investigation. Univariate ANOVAs in all three studies showed that many of the characteristics associated with wife-battering men were also associated with college men who admitted to engaging in low-level courtship violence. However, stepwise discriminant analyses showed that two variables, threats and verbal abuse, were the most predictive of courtship violence in college men. Additional notable associations were found between the use of playful force during sex and self-reported sudden mood swings and/or a quick temper and courtship violence.     

The Adolescent Society Revisited: Cultures, Crowds, Climates, and Status Structures in Seven Secondary Schools

The authors used data from seven schools in a metropolitan region to explore continuity and change in adolescent cultures and status structures; they identified six major types of status structures and explained variation among them in terms of characteristics of communities and schools. A key feature of the study is comparison of school climates, using both survey data and qualitative case studies that provide an interpretive context for the survey responses; this methodology allows a contextual level of analysis that is unavailable in either single-school ethnographies or large data sets that aggregate responses from individuals situated in many schools.Roberta Garner is Professor of Sociology at DePaul University. She received a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Chicago (1966). Her interests are in sociological theory, political sociology, and the sociology of culture.Judith Bootcheck is Associate Professor of Sociology at DePaul University and received the Ph.D. from Purdue University (1969). Her interests are in youth and the aging, families, and social problemsMichael Lorr is a Ph.D. student in Urban Studies at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received an MA in sociology from DePaul (2002) and his interests are in sociology of culture, political sociology, and sociology of educationKathryn Rauch received an MA from DePaul University with a focus on sociology of education and youth     

Fading Green? Environmental Politics in the Mercosur Free Trade Agreement

This article explores the role of environmental concerns in free trade areas made up entirely of developing countries. It surveys the environmental institutions of Mercosur, the Common Market of South America, and its member states. It also presents a case study of the recently terminated negotiations over a regional environmental legal instrument as an example of collective environmental decisionmaking. The article concludes that all the environmental components of the agreement are weak, and have even been downgraded in recent years. Even so, national environmental protections have increased during the years of the Mercosur agreement, and some regional actors are poised to join their northern counterparts in opposition to any potential free trade area of the Americas that does not include environmental provisions.     

Early Life Socioeconomic Disparities in Children’s Sleep: The Mediating Role of the Current Home Environment

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Despite identified concurrent socioeconomic disparities in children’s sleep, little research has examined pathways explaining such associations. This study...     

Examining Youth and Program Predictors of Engagement in Out-of-School Time Programs

Prior research suggests that youths’ engagement in out-of-school time programs may be a crucial factor linking program participation to positive outcomes during adolescence. Guided by the theoretical concept of flow and by stage-environment fit theory, the present study explored correlates of engagement in youth programs. Engagement was conceptualized as the extent to which youth found the program activities enjoyable, interesting, and challenging. The current study examined how program content, monetary incentives, and youth demographic characteristics were linked to youth engagement among a sample of primarily low-income middle and high school youth attending 30 out-of-school programs (n = 435, 51 % female). Results from multilevel models suggested that program content and staff quality were strongly associated with youth engagement. Youth who reported learning new skills, learning about college, and learning about jobs through activities in the program were more engaged, as were youth who found the staff caring and competent. Results demonstrated that the link between learning content for the future and engagement was stronger for older youth than younger youth. In addition, there was a trend suggesting that providing a monetary incentive was associated negatively with youth engagement. Taken as a whole, these findings have important implications for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers interested in understanding the characteristics of out-of-school time programs that engage older youth.