Intimate partner violence against women. Does violence decrease after the entry of the alleged offender into the criminal justice system?

Intimate partner violence(IPV)is simultaneously assumed as a serious crime and a major public health issue,having recurrences as one of its main characteristics and,consequently,re-entries of some alleged offenders in the criminal justice system(CJS).The main goal of this study is to assess if in cases of female victims of IPV,violence decreases after the first entry of the alleged offender in the CJS.A retrospective study was performed based on the analysis of police reports of alleged cases of IPV during a 4-year period.The final sample(n=1488)was divided into two groups according to the number of entries in the CJS(single or multiple)followed by a comparative approach.Results suggest that violence decreases after the first entry of alleged offenders in the CJS.Re-entries were found in only 15.5%of the cases but they were accountable for 3.3 times more crimes on average.Besides,victims of recidivism presented more injuries and required more medical care.Thus,a small group of alleged offenders seems to be more violent and accountable for most of the IPV crimes registered in the CJS suggesting that regardless of legal sanctions aiming to deter violence,these measures may not be enough for a certain group of offenders.This study sustains the need for a predictive model to quantify the risk of repeated IPV cases within the Portuguese population.     

The Campesino-to-Campesino agroecology movement of ANAP in Cuba: social process methodology in the construction of sustainable peasant agriculture and food sovereignty

Agroecology has played a key role in helping Cuba survive the crisis caused by the collapse of the socialist bloc in Europe and the tightening of the US trade embargo. Cuban peasants have been able to boost food production without scarce and expensive imported agricultural chemicals by first substituting more ecological inputs for the no longer available imports, and then by making a transition to more agroecologically integrated and diverse farming systems. This was possible not so much because appropriate alternatives were made available, but rather because of the Campesino-a-Campesino (CAC) social process methodology that the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) used to build a grassroots agroecology movement. This paper was produced in a 'self-study' process spearheaded by ANAP and La Via Campesina, the international agrarian movement of which ANAP is a member. In it we document and analyze the history of the Campesino-to-Campesino Agroecology Movement (MACAC), and the significantly increased contribution of peasants to national food production in Cuba that was brought about, at least in part, due to this movement. Our key findings are (i) the spread of agroecology was rapid and successful largely due to the social process methodology and social movement dynamics, (ii) farming practices evolved over time and contributed to significantly increased relative and absolute production by the peasant sector, and (iii) those practices resulted in additional benefits including resilience to climate change.     

The Family Antecedents and the Subsequent Outcomes of Early Puberty

The purpose of this study was to examine both the family antecedents and the outcomes of early puberty, with a particular focus on factors related to family socioeconomic status (SES). The study employed a comprehensive measurement of pubertal development and longitudinal data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth. The sample (N = 8,440; 49% girls) included four cohorts of children who were followed biennially for 10 years, starting from age 4–11 to 14–21 years. Data were drawn at different years of age from these cohorts of children. Girls whose fathers were unemployed were more likely to experience early puberty than those whose fathers were employed. For boys, those living with fathers who had not finished secondary school were more likely to experience early puberty. Early maturing girls tended to engage in smoking and drinking at an earlier age compared with their peers. These findings provide support for psychosocial acceleration theory and suggest that different aspects of low family SES may act as a psychosocial stress for early pubertal maturation in boys versus girls, which may lead to engagement in drinking and smoking at a younger age, at least for girls.     

Multicriteria Decision Aid to support Multilateral Environmental Agreements in assessing international forestry projects

The three Rio Conventions—the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification—face the challenge to create synergies at different levels. The objective of this article is to describe how we have assessed synergies between the Rio Conventions at the project level in the forest sector. Since the complexity of the decision problem is high, we adopted the Multicriteria Decision Aid approach, which can provide a broad insight into the decision problem and find a compromise solution to a problem with multidimensional and conflicting criteria including social, economic and environmental features. The ELECTRE TRI model was used for assessing synergies at the project level, and has been a useful tool to quantify the performance of afforestation and reforestation projects into three categories (synergistic, reasonably synergistic, and not synergistic). For the first time, afforestation and reforestation projects have been assessed in a comprehensive way through decision criteria that reflect global and local interests using a non-compensatory multicriteria method.     

Analyzing Brazilian vehicle documents for authenticity by easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry

Using desorption/ionization techniques such as easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry (EASI-MS), it is possible to analyze documents of Brazilian vehicles for authenticity, providing a chemical profile directly from the surface of each document. A method for the detection of counterfeit documents is described, and the falsification procedure is elucidated. Forty authentic and counterfeit documents were analyzed by both positive and negative ion modes, EASI(±)-MS. EASI(+)-MS results identified the presence of (bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate plasticizer and of dihexadecyldimethylammonium biocide in both types of documents. For EASI(-)-MS results, the 4-octyloxybenzoic acid additive ([M + H](+): m/z 249) is present only in counterfeit documents. It was also found that counterfeit vehicle documents are produced via Laserjet printers. Desorption/ionization techniques, such as EASI-MS, offer therefore, an intelligent way to characterize the counterfeiting method.     

Midline facial soft tissue thickness database of Turkish population: MRI study

Facial reconstruction is the approximation of an antemortem face from human skeletal remains. Since the nineteenth century, several methods have been developed for reconstruction of the face; all of them require the measurement of average tissue thicknesses at various points on the face. To our knowledge, there are no publications on soft tissue thickness in the Turkish population. In addition, there are few publications on the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in measuring soft tissue thickness for forensic sciences. The aim of this study was to create a reference database of facial tissue thickness in the Turkish population, and to present data illustrating the successful use of MRI for this purpose. The study included 161 patients (79 males and 82 females) between the ages of 18 and 78 who had undergone brain MRI in our radiology clinic, and showed no sign of maxillofacial pathology. Measurements were taken at 9 points at the midline; glabella, nasion, end of nasals, mid-philtrum, upper lip margin, lower lip margin, chin-lip fold, mental eminence, and beneath chin points. The mean values for these points in the patient sample population were determined, and differences related to age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) were calculated. The values were then compared to the findings of the Manhein study.     

Permanent teeth development in a Spanish sample. Application to dental age estimation

The purpose of this study is to clarify the chronology of different stages of dental development, according to Demirjian, in a sample of Spanish children, which will enable us to build a database that will be used as a reference in regard to the dental development of individuals of our socio-geographic environment. In the same studied sample, a calculation of the dental age according to Demirjian was carried out. This study was conducted in a final sample consisting of 1010 orthopantograms, corresponding to Spanish children (485 boys and 525 girls) ages 2-16. Comparing the age of onset of the different stages among the children, evidence was found that girls had an earlier general development than boys. These differences were only statistically significant in teeth and concrete stages. The canine teeth revealed greater gender dimorphism, with significant differences in all stages compared with the upper canines. The method proposed by Demirjian for dental age calculation resulted in a significant overestimation of dental age in relation to the chronological age in boys (average of 0.87 years) and girls (average of 0.55 years). Data from this study may be used as reference for dental maturity, as well as a standard for estimating age in Spanish children.     

Identification of gunshot residues in fabric targets using sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry technique and ternary graphs

During criminal investigations involving firearms, the detection of gunshot residues (GSRs) is one of the most important evidences. In the present study, a new method to identify trace evidences of GSRs, deposited around the bullet entrance hole, in different types of fabrics used as targets, is described. The experiments were carried out using a 0.38-inch caliber revolver, and 9-mm and 0.40-inch caliber pistols. Testimonies of 2.25 cm(2) of the fabrics were cut around the bullet entrance and digested with 10% nitric acid. Antimony, barium, and lead were analyzed in the remaining solution using a sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer. The concentrations of the elements were detected at levels up to few microgram per square centimeter. The use of ternary graphics allowed us to identify specific patterns of distribution for blank samples and the clear distinction between the revolver and pistols used.     

Identification and synthesis of by-products found in 4-methylthioamphetamine (4-MTA) produced by the Leuckart method

The synthesis of the designer drug 4-methylthioamphetamine (4-MTA) has been carried out using the well-known Leuckart reaction in four versions. The treatment of 4-methylthiophenylacetone with formamide, mixture of formamide/formic acid, ammonium formate, and mixture of ammonium formate and formic acid followed by acid hydrolysis brought about the formation of 4-MTA contaminated with a number of impurities. The gas chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of the reaction mixtures allowed identification of the most prominent impurities, such as diasteromers of N,N-di-[β-(4-methylthiophenyl)isopropyl]amine, N,N-di-[β-(4-methylthiophenyl)isopropyl]methylamine, N,N-di-[β-(4-methylthiophenyl)isopropyl]formamide, the Schiff bases derived from 4-MTA and 4-methylbenzaldehyde (benzaldimine) and 4-methylthiophenylacetone (ketimine) as well as some heterocycles: 4-methyl-5-(4'-methylthiophenyl)pyrimidine, 4-(4'-methylthiobenzyl)pyrimidine, 2,6-dimethyl-3,5-di-(4'-methylthiophenyl)pyridine, 2,4-dimethyl-3,5-di-(4'-methylthiophenyl)pyridine. The correctness of identification was confirmed by independent synthesis of these compounds. Each synthesized reference compound was characterized by means of MS, (1)H and (13)C NMR, and IR methods. The stereochemistry of (RR/SS) diasteromer of N,N-di-[β-(4-methylthiophenyl)isopropyl]amine was confirmed by a crystallographic method.     

Independent Discretion or Democratic Legitimisation? The Relations between National Regulatory Authorities and National Parliaments under EU Regulatory Framework for Network‐Bound Sectors

The European legislator, being supported in that regard by the Court of Justice, confers upon national regulatory authorities (NRAs) the exercise of the most important tasks concerned with the regulation of the network‐bound sectors, while at the same time guarantees NRAs a far‐reaching independence in exercising of their discretionary powers and shielding NRAs against other public authorities, including national parliaments. This, in turn, raises many doubts from the perspective of some essential constitutional principles of the Member States, such as, among others, ‘the domain of the law,’ which reserves the regulation of issues sensitive to the citizens as an exclusive parliament's prerogative. It is submitted in this article that national parliaments should play a much more active role in regulating the network‐bound sectors. The main point is to strengthen the protection of fundamental rights of regulated parties and create the real democratic legitimisation of NRAs, while not undermining those regulatory objectives that are already accorded at the EU level.