Framing Andijon,narrating the nation: Islam Karimov's account of the events of 13 May 2005

Tashkent's handling of anti-government protests and violence in the city of Andijon on 13 May 2005 has generated enormous controversy and had significant political repercussions. However, there has been no detailed analysis of rival interpretations of what happened. This paper begins to redress this lacuna by analysing a book on the subject authored by the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov. Using framing theory, it identifies four key themes deployed in the narrative to delegitimize the government's opponents: terrorism and criminality; inauthentic Uzbekness and deviant masculinity/religiosity; constitutional illegitimacy; and the subversion of the scientific laws of states. Significantly for an understanding of regime legitimization and nationalism in Uzbekistan, no recourse is made to the government's intellectual framework known as the ‘ideology of national independence’. The paper points to the need for further research to enable scholars to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the contemporary politicization of national belonging in independent Uzbekistan.     

Reverberate,Resonate, Reproduce: A Reconsideration of Ideological Influence in Crime News Production

For decades, scholars have increasingly been concerned with media representations of crime. Content analyses have chronicled pervasive distortions in media representations of crime. Many have argued these issues are particularly troubling in the news, as it supposedly provides an invaluable democratic service, spurring many theories of crime news production. Classic works often conceptualized crime news as either a product of dominant ideologies and top–down power, or journalistic routines and values, coupled with reflexive agency by journalists. More recently scholars have argued for hybrid perspectives. However, such hybridized approaches often brusquely treat the role of ideology in crime news. This article rethinks the role of ideology in crime news production, particularly the ways in which various ideologies interact and mutually strengthen each other.     

Medium‐Chain Acyl‐CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency in Adulthood: A Potential Diagnosis in a Patient with Mental Status Changes Suspected of Drug Toxicity

Medium‐chain acyl‐CoA dehydrogenase (MCAD) deficiency is a rare but important component of the differential diagnosis for adults with a history of premortem mental status changes and the postmortem finding of hepatic steatosis. This case report describes a 30‐year‐old white man who, following a period of nausea and vomiting, was admitted to the hospital with sudden mental status deterioration followed rapidly by clinical deterioration and death. Treating physicians in this case suspected acute illicit drug toxicity with synthetic cathinones based on social history. Clinicians and medical examiners should be aware that the presentation, signs, and symptoms described may indicate an underlying inborn error of metabolism such as MCAD deficiency and take action accordingly.     

GC‐MS and IR Studies on the Six Ring Regioisomeric Dimethoxyphenylpiperazines (DOMePPs)

A number of N‐substituted piperazines have been described as drugs of abuse in recent years. This new drug category includes several series of aromatic ring substituted phenylpiperazines. The wide variety of available precursors makes regioisomerism a significant issue in these totally synthetic compounds. In this study, a complete series of regioisomeric dimethoxyphenylpiperazines were synthesized and evaluated using GC‐MS and FT‐IR. The EI mass spectra show fragments characteristic of both the dimethoxyphenyl and the piperazine portions of the molecules including the dimethoxyphenylaziridinium cation (m/z 180) and dimethoxyphenyl cation (m/z 137). The ion at m/z 56 for the C₃H₆N⁺ fragment is characteristic of the piperazine ring and was observed in all the spectra. The perfluoroacyl derivatives were resolved by GC, and their mass spectra showed some differences in relative abundance of ions. FTIR provides direct confirmatory data for differentiation between the regioisomeric dimethoxyphenylpiperazines, and GC separation was accomplished on an Rtx‐200 phase.     

The introduction of CCTV and associated changes in heroin purchase and injection settings in Footscray,Victoria, Australia

Objectives

In June 2011, closed-circuit television (CCTV) was introduced in Footscray (a suburb of Melbourne, Australia) to help deter street-based drug trading. We investigate whether there were subsequent shifts in the settings (e.g., street, house) in which heroin was purchased or injected by people who inject drugs (PWID).

Methods

Using heroin purchase data from the Melbourne Injecting Drug User Cohort Study, multinomial logistic models with fixed effects for CCTV introduction were used to estimate the percentage of: (1) heroin purchased on the street, from mobile dealers and in house settings; and (2) heroin injections occurring in street, car, public toilet, and house settings. Displacement effects were investigated with a logistic model capturing the likelihood of traveling to Footscray to purchase heroin.

Results

Following CCTV introduction, the percentage of heroin injections occurring in public toilet settings decreased by 13 % (95 % CI ?27 %, ?0 %). This was accompanied by a non-significant increase in the percentage of heroin injections in street settings of 23 % (95 % CI ?1 %, +41 %). Changes in other settings were small and non-significant. No suburb displacement effects were found.

Conclusions

The introduction of CCTV in Footscray may have displaced PWID who previously injected heroin in public toilets to street settings. Apart from this, Footscray’s street-based heroin market operates much as it did before CCTV.

     

Dynamic risk and protective factors

ABSTRACT

This paper reviews the literature regarding the identification and measurement of risk factors considered imminent precipitants of subsequent criminal conduct (i.e. dynamic risk factors). This paper also frames these risk factors against the so-called protective factors that are presumed to mitigate risk. Commonality among recent dynamic risk and protective measures reflects general agreement regarding viable candidate variables. Empirical studies suggest such factors yield incremental predictive validity and should inform case-formulaic understanding of criminal conduct and pathways to desistance, although this is not common practice. As well, definitional and measurement considerations are not well advanced and speak to the need for further conceptual clarity.     

Market Rental Housing Affordability and Rapid Transit Catchments: Application of a New Measure in Canada

Abstract

In high-income cities, the availability of affordable rental housing in locations served by fast and frequent public transportation enables low-income households access to more opportunities, including jobs, without the costs of owning and operating automobiles. This study operationalizes a residual income approach to identify market rental housing that is affordable to two household configurations (couples with children and couples without children) in two categories below the median income. The study is carried out on Canada’s least and most expensive major metropolitan housing markets, Montreal and Vancouver. In addition to spatially disaggregating the results into inside and outside rapid transit walking catchments, the results are spatially disaggregated into four zones (Urban Core, Inner City, Inner Suburbs, and Outer Suburbs). Implications of the uneven distribution of affordable rentals with respect to transit access are discussed.     

Verapamil toxicity: an unusual case report and review of the literature

Verapamil blocks the rapid influx of calcium into the cardiac myocytes of the cardiac conduction system and smooth muscle of the vasculature, resulting in decreased myocardial contractility, prolonged conduction time, and vascular relaxation. A sustained-release form, verapamil SR (or ER), is available that contains higher levels of medication and requires only once-daily dosing. The majority of reported fatal cases of verapamil toxicity are due to massive, intentional overdoses. Herein, we present an unusual case of fatal verapamil SR toxicity in a 57-year-old female that resulted from accidental overdose of only 3 tablets (720 mg), as witnessed by the decedent's daughter. In spite of the low dose ingested, the postmortem cardiac blood verapamil level was clearly toxic (6000 ng/mL, or 6 mg/L). Her preexisting medical conditions included hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, iron deficiency anemia, diabetes mellitus, and associated mild chronic renal failure. Complicating factors, which likely include the decedent's preexisting renal and cardiac disease, and a review of the available literature will be discussed.     

Is routine histopathologic examination beneficial in all medicolegal autopsies?

Postmortem examinations are performed for a number of reasons. Medical autopsies are performed at the request of and with the consent of the next of kin of a decedent and are often requested to determine the extent of a disease process or to evaluate therapy. In contrast, medicolegal autopsies are performed by a forensic pathologist primarily to determine cause and manner of death but also to document trauma, diagnose potentially infectious diseases and report them to the appropriate agencies, provide information to families about potentially inheritable diseases, provide information to family members and investigative agencies, and testify in court. As medicolegal and hospital autopsies differ in their purpose, so do they differ in procedure. Medicolegal autopsies often include histologic analysis, but not always, as with medical autopsies. We designed a prospective study to address the question of whether or not routine histologic examination is useful in medicolegal cases, defining a routine case as one where histology would not normally be performed and where the cause and manner of death were readily apparent during the gross autopsy. We reviewed brain, heart, liver, kidney, and lung sections on 189 routine forensic cases and compared the results to the gross anatomic findings. Of the 189 cases, in only 1 case did microscopic examination affect the cause of death and in no case did microscopic examination affect the manner of death. Thus, we feel that routine microscopic examination (performing histologic examination in all cases regardless of cause and manner of death) in forensic autopsy is unnecessary. Microscopic examination should be used, as needed, in certain circumstances but is not necessary as a matter of routine.     

Acute deaths in nonpregnant adults due to invasive streptococcal infections

Streptococcal organisms, part of the normal human bacterial flora, occasionally become infectious pathogens responsible for a wide array of clinical syndromes, ranging from mild pharyngitis to death. Notably, infections due to group A and group B beta-hemolytic strains are well known for causing invasive disease leading to death. These deaths, while often suspected clinically, occasionally are not diagnosed until autopsy. We present 3 rapid deaths, with very different presentations, due to streptococcal infection. Two decedents experienced sudden deaths due to pneumonia and severe meningoencephalitis caused by group B beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection, a common cause of neonatal meningitis but only rarely reported in nonpregnant adults. The final case involves a 69-year-old male who presented to the emergency room with a complaint of shoulder pain but over the next several hours developed signs of necrotizing fasciitis, became septic, and died. While antemortem cultures were negative, owing to antibiotic administration, postmortem cultures of bone and deep soft tissue were positive for group A beta-hemolytic Streptococcus sp. Acute and sudden deaths due to infectious etiology represent an uncommon yet well-documented occurrence. The importance of appropriate postmortem cultures in these situations and a review of the literature will be discussed.