Memory Ability is Associated With Disagreement About the Most Recent Conflict in Polysubstance Abusing Couples

There is strong evidence that men and women do not agree about the occurrence of intimate partner violence (IPV). However, few studies to date have attempted to test explanatory models of violence concordance. One possible mechanism underlying disagreement is cognitive impairment, specifically, memory dysfunction. The principal goal of this study is to test whether memory ability and overall cognitive functioning is related to disagreement about the most recent occurrence of IPV within the dyad. Data were collected from both partners of cohabiting or married couples. The male partners were polysubstance abusers within their first year of abstinence. Results indicate that the men and womens memory ability, problem solving, disinhibition, and verbal ability are significantly related to disagreement about the most recent IPV episode. Thus, cognitive ability, particularly memory ability, of the participants should be considered when assessing the accuracy of measuring IPV among individuals diagnosed with polysubstance abuse. Other implications are discussed.1Portions of this paper were presented at the 128th annual meeting of the American Public Health Association (2000).     

Forensic intoxication with clobazam: HPLC/DAD/MSD analysis

Clobazam (Castillium, Urbanil), a benzodiazepine often used as an anxiolytic and in the treatment of epilepsy, is considered a relatively safe drug. The authors present a fatal case with a 49-year-old female, found dead at home. She had been undergoing psychiatric treatment and was a chronic alcoholic. The autopsy findings were unremarkable, except for multivisceral congestion, steatosis and a small piece of a plastic blister pack in the stomach. Bronchopneumonia, bronchitis and bronchiolitis were also diagnosed. Anhigh-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/diode array detector (DAD)/mass spectrometry detection (MSD) with electrospray method was developed in order to detect, confirm and quantify clobazam in the post-mortem samples. In the chromatographic separation, a reversed-phase column C18 (2.1 x 150 mm, 3.5 microm) was used with a mobile phase of methanol and water, at a 0.25 ml/min flow rate. Carbonate buffer (pH 10.5) and 20 microl of prazepam (100 microg/ml) as internal standard were added to the samples. A simple and reliable liquid-liquid extraction method for the determination of clobazam in post-mortem samples was described. Calibration curves for clobazam were performed in blood, achieving linearity between 0.01 and 10 microg/ml and a detection limit of 1.0 ng/ml. The clobazam concentration found in post-mortem blood was 3.9 microg/ml, higher than the reported therapeutic concentration (0.1-0.4 microg/ml). The simultaneous acquisition by photodiode array detection and mass spectrometry detection results allowed benzodiazepines to be identified with sufficient certainty. An examination of all the available information suggested that death resulted from respiratory depression due to clobazam toxicity.     

Pesticide intoxications in the Centre of Portugal: three years analysis

Pesticides are used in most countries around the world to protect agricultural and horticultural crops against damage. Poisoning by these toxicant agents occurs as a result of misuse or accidental exposure, and also by oral ingestion (voluntary or not). In Portugal, pesticide intoxications are still a cause of death, found in a considerable number of cases. The authors retrospectively examined the cases of pesticide poisoning in the Centre of Portugal, from autopsies performed in the Forensic Pathology Service of Coimbra's Delegation of the National Institute of Legal Medicine (NILM) and from other autopsies carried out in the Centre of Portugal, as well as some samples taken in hospitals in cases of suspected intoxication. In this study, the positive cases have been especially studied, in order to identify the pesticide used, as well as the etiology. The frequency of intoxications and its distribution by sex and age were also analyzed. Between January 2000 and December 2002, the Forensic Toxicology Laboratory received 639 pesticide analysis requests. In 2000, in a total of 149 analysis requests, 30 cases were positive, 63.3% from male individuals and 36.7% from female. In 2001, the analysis requests increased to 240 as well as the positive cases (43), 74.4% from male individuals and 25.6% from female and in 2002, the total cases analyzed also increased to 250, with 38 positive (73.6% from male individuals and 26.4% from female). Among the pesticides, organophosphorus insecticides still constitute the most important class detected in forensic intoxications, representing 63% of the total positive cases, followed by herbicides, with 33% of the positive results. Quinalphos is the most important organophosphorus insecticide, present in 32 of the 111 positive cases, followed by the herbicide paraquat, detected in 31 cases. The study emphasizes the increasing number of pesticide analyses, particularly relevant for the organophosphorus compounds and herbicides. Intoxication suspicion, accidental or voluntary, seems to be the most common cause of the incidents, for which analyses are requested, but it is also evident that the putative cause is unknown in a large number of cases. Therefore, more stringent legislation and enforcement regarding the sale and distribution of these toxic substances are needed.     

Grouping of Y-STR haplotypes discloses European geographic clines

Y-STR haplotypes are widely studied in Europe and an extensive databasing effort has been conducted (http://www.ystr.org). The distribution of these haplotypes has been considered to present no evidence for substructure at central and southern European level. This picture contrasts with the one that results from Y haplogroups defined by binary markers. This paradox has been solved by admitting that the high STR mutation rate and corresponding recurrence has erased geographic structuration. This explanation prompted us to reanalyse Y-STR haplotypes distribution bearing in mind the commonly admitted model for the generation of diversity in these markers, namely the stepwise mutation model (SMM) and, thus, taking the molecular distance between haplotypes into consideration. Accordingly, we have studied the European distribution of the two most frequent haplotypes in the Iberian Peninsula and their one step neighbours using the European samples deposited in the Y STR database (http://www.ystr.org). For the first group we found a clear-cut decreasing W-E gradient, while for the second the highest frequencies were found in the Iberian Peninsula (3.98% in Portugal and 3.85% in Spain), dropping to 2.88% in France and showing a less well defined SW-NW gradient. Furthermore, we have tested the agreement between haplotype groups and binary markers haplogroups in a random sample of 292 individuals from Northern Portugal. Our results demonstrate that (a) Y-STR haplotype data can be used for wide-scale anthropological approaches disclosing information that has been considered only available through binary markers and (b) forensic use of continental databases needs careful refinement, due to the macro-geographic pattern now evidenced.     

A comparison of animal jaws and bite mark patterns

The purpose of this study was to compare the jaw shapes and bite mark patterns of wild and domestic animals to assist investigators in their analysis of animal bite marks. The analyses were made on 12 species in the Order Carnivora housed in the Mammalian Collection at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. In addition to metric analysis, one skull from each species was photographed as a representative sample with an ABFO No. 2 scale in place. Bite patterns of the maxillary and mandibular dentition were documented using foamed polystyrene exemplars, which were also photographed. A total of 486 specimens were examined to analyze the jaw and bite mark patterns. A modified technique for measuring intercanine distances was developed to more accurately reflect the characteristics seen in animal bite marks. In it, three separate areas were measured on the canines, rather than just the cusp tip. This was to maximize the amount of information acquired from each skull, specifically to accommodate variances in the depth of bite injuries.     

Two fatal intoxication cases with imidacloprid: LC/MS analysis

Imidacloprid [1-(6-chloro-3pyridylmethyl)-N-nitroimidazolidin-2-ylideneamine] is a new and potent nitromethylene insecticide with high insecticidal activity at very low application rates. It is the first highly effective insecticide that, like nicotine, acts on the nervous system, causing blockage of postsynaptic nicotinergic acetylcholine receptors. Two fatal cases with this insecticide in two male individuals, of 33 and 66 years old, are presented. An LC/MS with electrospray method for measuring imidacloprid and its metabolites in post-mortem samples is described. In the chromatographic separation, a reverse-phase column XTerra MS C18 (2.1mm i.d.x 150 mm, 5 microm) was used and the mobile phase composed with acetonitrile and 0.1% formic acid (15:85), at a 0.25 mL/min flow rate. Samples were prepared with a liquid-liquid extraction procedure with dichloromethane. Calibration curves for imidacloprid in blood and urine samples were linear from 0.2 to 15 microg/mL. The mean recovery was 86% with a coefficient of variation of +/-5.9%. The detection limit was 0.002 microg/mL. Quantitative results were obtained for all post-mortem matrices available of the two fatal cases: blood, urine, stomach contents, lung, liver and kidney. The imidacloprid blood concentrations found in two-cases were 12.5 and 2.05 microg/mL. The authors validated a method to detect and quantify imidacloprid in post-mortem samples, and to our knowledge for the first time a post-mortem tissue distribution was performed on various samples for this insecticide.     

Gender Bias in Attributions of Responsibility for Abuse

The bulk of previous research investigating attributions of responsibility in victimization scenarios have portrayed the assailant as male and the victim as female. The present study varied gender of the participant, gender of the assailant, and gender of the victim in order to examine gender bias in attributions of responsibility in abuse scenarios. Male and female participants were presented with scenarios depicting an abusive interaction between two males, two females, or a male and a female character and then made judgements of responsibility either with or without the narratives present. The results indicated that attributions made by females were biased against male victims of a male assailant when judging actions of the assailant. Attributions made by females and, to a lesser degree, attributions made by males were biased against the victim when the assailant and the participant were of the same gender and attributions of assailants' actions were made without the narrative present. In the analysis of attributions of actions of the victim, males attributed more responsibility to male than female victims. It is concluded that gender of all parties may be an important consideration when judging responsibility in victimization scenarios.     

The decision process of a professionalized legislature: A cognitive anthropology approach

Political science research indicates that some state legislatures have become more professionalized, i.e., taken on many of the characteristics of Congress such as yearround sessions, professional staffs, and formalized bill processes. But is professionalization a factor in legislators' decision making? Triangulated analysis—consensus, cluster, and multidimensional scaling—of two paired comparisons that were administered to a stratified random sample of a professionalized legislature suggests that some of the professionalized characteristics do affect legislators' perception of their decision making on one area of policy, the regulation of and resource allocation to public universities. The analysis also shows that influences on legislators' decision process fluctuate according to issue.