Psychosocial Correlates of Affective Distress: Latent-Variable Models of Male and Female Adolescents in a Community Sample

Latent-variable confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the interrelationships of depressive and anxious symptomatology and 13 measures of psychosocial functioning in a community-based sample of adolescents participating in a school-based drug abuse prevention intervention. Measures of psychosocial functioning included: cognitive self-efficacy, self-management, self-reinforcement, decision-making and problem-solving skills, interpersonal skills, social anxiety, behavioral style, risk taking, conventionality, somatic complaints, perceived tangible, and adult support. Simultaneous group comparison and nested hierarchical tests were used to statistically contrast parameters obtained from male and female models. Overall, the hypothetical constructs were statistically reliable and models were psychometrically sound. Partial factorial invariance was obtained, however, the patterns of covariation between distress and psychosocial functioning were dissimilar for male and female youth. Differences clustered around affective distress, cognitive skills, and perceived functional support. More socially anxious females perceived less social support, whereas support and anxiety were positively related among male students. Male youth with high levels of conventional behavior were also socially anxious, whereas for females this relationship was absent and nonsignificant. For both male and female students, distress was moderately and inversely related to cognitive efficacy and personal competence skills. Distressed youth were also less conventional (behavioral control) and less diligent, and were characterized by greater sensation-seeking, poorer competence, and perceived less social support, and were more socially anxious with less interpersonal skills. Findings are discussed in terms of potential contributors to gender differences in distress and psychosocial functioning and their implications for the understanding of adolescent mental health.     

The MMPI-2 and statisfactory police academy performance: Differences and correlations

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and its later revision (MMPI-2) have been the most frequently employed psychological instrument in the selection of law enforcement officers (Bartol, 1996). In this study, state police trooper cadets were given a broad number of measures including the MMPI-2 prior to academy admission. Their performance at the police academy was then analyzed and related to their performance on the MMPI-2. Using step-wise multiple linear regression. Hy3 and Sc4 scores produced significant negative correlation’s with academy final grade point average. Student’s unpaired 1-tests between successful and unsuccessful cadets revealed differences between the groups for several MMPI-2 subscales including, but not limited to, K, MA, and SI, Lastly, logistic regression revealed no single subscale, or combination of subscales, which significantly predicted classification of the cadets as either successful or unsuccessful based on their MMPI-2 scores alone. Author Note: Elements of this article have been presented at the 27^th Annual Conference of the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology in Portland, OR, October 1998.     

Pathologic features of farm and tractor-related fatalities in children

A study of 15 childhood fatalities due to farm or tractor-related accidents demonstrated extensive injuries typified by crushing, evisceration, and amputation of limbs. Although these injuries are characteristic of industrial accidents in adults, such accidents do not commonly occur in children. However, the unique circumstance of the farm, which incorporates home and industrial environments, results in particularly severe patterns of injuries in accidental childhood deaths. A knowledge of the range of machines that are used and the environment of the farm facilitates assessment of the types of injuries that may be found at autopsy in cases of pediatric farm accident.     

Net campaign contributions, agricultural interests, and?votes on liberalizing trade with China

We consider the potential influence of contributions from interest groups to political rivals in the voting behavior of US legislators on international trade policy issues. Our application addresses the determinants of the Permanent Normal Trade Relations with China decision, and focuses particular attention on the agriculture/agribusiness lobby. A simultaneous voting-net contributions model suggests that these contributions were very effective relative to organized labor and other corporate groups, despite their relatively small dollar value. Possible explanations arising from differences in targeting strategies are explored.     

Coping with Canadian federalism: the case of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities

Abstract: Since the early 1960s, the only pan‐Canadian association of municipalities has shown two decades of decline followed by two decades of growth. This paper analyses this decline and subsequent growth in the context of the changing position of municipalities with Canada, particularly those in Quebec. Examination of the association's recent history provides useful insights into how Canada's municipalities cope with Canadian federalism. It provides lessons as to how best to prosper as a pan‐Canadian organization concerned with what are mainly matters of provincial interest. The paper's theoretical contribution includes reference to the nature and roles of interest groups in Canadian federalism and to the application of structural contingency theory. Sommaire: Depuis le début des annees 1960, l'unique association pancanadienne de municipalités a connu deux décennies de déclin suivies par deux décennies de crois‐sance. Le présent article analyse ce déclin et cette croissance dans le contexte de la position changeante des municipalites à l'égard du Canada, en particulier celles du Québec. L'examen de la récente histoire dee l'association suscite des réflexions utiles sur la maniére dont les municipalités au Canada font face au fédéralisme canadien. II explique comment un organisme pancanadien principalement préoccupé par des questions d'intérséCt provincial pour prospérer le mieux possible. La contribution théorique de l'article fait référence à la nature et aux rôles des groupes d'intéráCts dans le fédéralisme canadien et à l'application de la théorie de contingence structurale.     

Responding to mental distress in the Third World: Cultural imperialism or the struggle for synthesis?

This paper questions the appropriateness of some of the 'help' that has already been given in mental health in 'developing' countries, particularly Africa, and examines some of the complex ideological issues underlying different cultural understandings of the aetiology and treatment of mental illness. Some personal experiences, illustrating examples of the imposition of culturally inappropriate ideology in the teaching of psychiatry, are described. In conclusion, some principles of good practice are suggested which could form the basis of a synthesis between cultures, and maximise the possibility of Western aid in the field of mental distress being more culturally appropriate.     

Robust voting

The formal equivalence between social choice and statistical estimation means that criteria used to evaluate estimators can be interpreted as features of voting rules. The robustness of an estimator means, in the context of social choice, insensitivity to departures from majority opinion. In this paper we consider the implications of substituting the median, a robust, high breakdown estimator, for Borda's mean. The robustness of the median makes the ranking method insensitive to outliers and reflect majority opinion. Among all methods that satisfy a majority condition, median ranks is the unique one that is monotonic. It is an attractive voting method when the goal is the collective assessment of the merits of alternatives.     

Determination of ibogaine and noribogaine in biological fluids and hair by LC-MS/MS after Tabernanthe iboga abuse Iboga alkaloids distribution in a drowning death case

Tabernanthe iboga belongs to the Apocynaceae family. In this study, we report the case of a 37-year-old black male working as a security agent in Paris and found dead naked on the beach in Gabon after consumption of iboga. Autopsy revealed a drowning fatality and a myocardial abnormality (myocardial bridging). Samples of blood, urine, bile, gastric content, liver, lungs, vitreous, spleen and hair were taken. Biological fluids were liquid-liquid extracted with saturated NH4Cl pH 9.5 and methylene chloride/isopropanol (95/5, v/v) in presence of clonazepam-d(4), used as internal standard. After decontamination with dichloromethane, hair was cut into small pieces then sonicated for 2h in saturated NH4Cl pH 9.5 before extraction by methylene chloride/isopropanol (95/5, v/v). After evaporation the residues were reconstituted in methanol/ACN/formate buffer pH 3, from which 10 microL were injected into an ODB Uptisphere C(18) column (150 mm x 2.1mm, 5 microm) and eluted with a gradient of acetonitrile and formate buffer delivered at a flow rate of 200 microL/min. A Quantum Ultra triple-quadrupole mass spectrometer was used for analyses. Ionization was achieved using electrospray in the positive ionization mode (ESI). For each compound, detection was related to three daughter ions (ibogaine: m/z 311.4-->122.1, 174.1 and 188.1; noribogaine: m/z 297.4-->122.1, 159.1 and 160.1; clonazepam-d(4): m/z 319.9-->218.1, 245.1 and 274.1). Ibogaine and noribogaine were detected in all autopsy samples. Hair segmentation was not possible as hair was very short and frizzy. Concentrations of 1.2 and 2.5 ng/mg, respectively were detected. Neither other licit or illicit drugs nor alcohol were found. The presence of ibogaine and noribogaine in all autopsy samples was consistent with the recent absorption of Tabernanthe iboga, which was assumed to be responsible of the drowning fatality. The history of exposure, regarding hair analysis, is discussed. LC-MS/MS appears to be the best method for analyzing complex and poorly volatile alkaloids in autopsy samples and particularly in hair, due to the presence of a nitrogen ring and the relatively low concentrations to be measured.     

Positive “Water Test”—An External Indicator of Base of Skull Hinge‐Ring Fracture

Abstract: Despite having significant internal injuries, victims of motor vehicle accidents may have surprisingly few external manifestations of trauma. The water test describes a technique whereby water placed in an upwardly facing ear results in drainage from the nose and opposite ear, thus demonstrating transcranial passage of water. This sign can be demonstrated in cases of blunt cranial trauma where there is a “hinge” fracture involving the petrous temporal bones bilaterally associated with a ring fracture extending around the foramen magnum posteriorly. Such a fracture results in separation of the posterior and middle cranial fossae providing a track for water to traverse. The water test provides a quick and noninvasive method for demonstrating the presence of a particular type of skull fracture.