Effect of evaporation and matrix interferences on the association of simulated ignitable liquid residues to the corresponding liquid standard

Identification of an ignitable liquid in fire debris evidence can be complicated due to evaporation of the liquid, matrix interferences, and thermal degradation of both the liquid and the matrix. In this research, liquids extracted from simulated fire debris were compared to the original liquid using multivariate statistical procedures. Neat and evaporated gasoline and kerosene standards were spiked onto nylon carpet, which was subsequently burned. The ignitable liquid residues were extracted using a passive headspace procedure and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Pearson product moment correlation coefficients, hierarchical cluster analysis, and principal components analysis were used to compare the liquids extracted from the carpet to the corresponding neat liquid. For each procedure, association of the extracts according to liquid type was possible, albeit not necessarily to the specific evaporation level. Of the three procedures investigated, principal components analysis offered the most promise since contributions from matrix interferences were essentially eliminated.     

Political Sophistication and Vote Intention Switching: The Timing of Electoral Volatility in the 2009 German Election Campaign

This article investigates the link between political sophistication and electoral volatility. Showing that there is disagreement in the literature on whether switching party preferences is related to low or high levels of political sophistication, it is then argued that the effect of sophistication on vote switching might differ depending on when switching is measured. The effect of timing on volatility is investigated by means of the Short-term panel of the 2009 German Longitudinal Election Study. Results indicate that timing indeed matters, while sophistication increases the probability of switching parties before the campaign, the effect of political sophistication becomes more negative as Election Day draws near.     

WISC-R Verbal Performance IQ discrepancies among quay-classified adolescent male delinquents

Wechsler Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancies have been associated with the broad classification of delinquency, but not with a specific criterion of acting out or psychopathic adjustment. Accordingly, this study examined the hypothesis that the WISC- R Verbal-Performance IQ discrepancy would be larger or more frequent for persons classified as exhibiting a psychopathic delinquent adjustment than for persons classified as either neurotic or subculturally delinquent. Within-subject differences on intellectual measures were obtained for both the psychopathic and subcultural, but not the neurotic, delinquent adjustment classification. This result indicated consistency of intellectual asymmetry across behaviorally diverse delinquent subgroups. No between-group differences were obtained. The results were interpreted as affirming a reliable intraindividual intellectual asymmetry which provides a foundation to model and test hypotheses relating intellectual processes and delinquent behavior.This work was conducted while the second author was a Clinical Research Training Fellow in Ad-lescence (funded by T32 MH14668) with the Adolescent Program of the Illinois State Psychiatric Institute. The training program was also sponsored by the Departments of Behavioral Science (Human Development) and Psychiatry, University of Chicago, and the Institute for Psychosomatic and Psychiatric Research and Training, Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center.Received Ph.D. from Purdue. Research interest is cognition.Received Ph.D. from Purdue. Research interest is incest.     

Fatal intravenous fentanyl abuse: four cases involving extraction of fentanyl from transdermal patches

The transdermal fentanyl system delivers a specific dose at a constant rate. Even after the prescribed application time has elapsed, enough fentanyl remains within a patch to provide a potentially lethal dose. Death due to the intravenous injection of fentanyl extracted from transdermal patches has not been previously reported. We present 4 cases in which the source of fentanyl was transdermal patches and was injected. In all of these cases, the victim was a white male who died at home. Case 1 was a 35-year-old with no known history of drug use, who was found by his wife on the floor of his workshop. Police recovered a fentanyl patch, needle, and syringe at the scene. Case 2 was a 38-year-old with a known history of drug use whose family claimed that he was in a treatment program that used fentanyl patches for unknown reasons. His brother found him dead in bed, and law enforcement officers found a hypodermic needle beside the body; a ligature around his left hand, and apparent needle marks between his first and second digits were also noted. Case 3 was a 42-year-old with a recent attempted suicide via overdose who was found dead at his home. An empty box of fentanyl patches, Valium, Ritalin, and 2 syringes were found at the scene. Case 4 was a 39-year-old found by his mother, who admitted to removing a needle with attached syringe from the decedent's arm. Medications at the scene included hydrocodone, alprazolam, zolpidem, and fentanyl patches. All reported deaths were attributed to fentanyl intoxication, with blood concentrations ranging from 5 to 27 microg/L.     

Evaluation of a national prison-based treatment program for sexual offenders in England and Wales

Treatment efficacy is described for a sample of sexual offenders who had undertaken treatment in United Kingdom prisons (N = 647) and for a retrospectively selected comparison group (N = 1,910). The outcomes under observation in this study were sexual, sexual and/or violent, and general reconviction. Treatment impact was also examined in relation to offenders' risk of reconviction. The treatment group had slightly lower 2-year sexual reconviction rates than the comparison group, but these differences were not statistically significant. Significant differences were found between the treatment and comparison group for sexual and/or violent reconviction. Further analysis suggested that treatment produced a reduction in the probability of sexual and/or violent reconviction (p <.05) when other relevant variables were controlled for. General reconviction rates were consistently lower in the treatment group, but these differences were not significant.     

Recent developments in privacy legislation

In this article, Ruth Carey takes a critical look at recent privacy-of-personal-information legislation drafted in three Canadian provinces--Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia. The article begins with a historical overview of international legal instruments and other privacy guidelines, and the Canadian experience with privacy protection. It then critically analyzes the provincial initiatives in the context of the federal Personal Information Protection and and Electronic Documents Act and accepted privacy principles. The article goes on to highlight certain types of legislative provisions of particular interest to people with HIV/AIDS and those who advocate on their behalf. It concludes that the numerous legislative initiatives underway in Canada provide an opportunity to alter the public discourse around the virus, thereby improving the lives of people with HIV/AIDS.