Analysis of Hypodermic Needles and Syringes for the Presence of Blood and Polydimethylsiloxane (Silicone) Utilizing Microchemical Tests and Infrared Spectroscopy

Suspect hypodermic needles and syringes were seized from an unlicensed individual who was allegedly injecting patients with silicone (polydimethylsiloxane [PDMS]) for cosmetic enhancement. Since control syringe barrels and needles often contain an interfering PDMS lubricant, a risk for false positives of foreign PDMS exists. The focus of this report was to minimize this risk and determine a quick and reliable test for the presence of blood in PDMS matrices. Using ATR‐FT‐IR spectroscopy, the risk for false‐positive identification of foreign PDMS was reduced by (i) overfilling the sampling aperture to prevent spectral distortions and (ii) sampling a region of the suspect syringe/needle assembly where manufacturer‐applied PDMS is not typically located. Analysis for blood indicated that the Teichman microchemical test was effective for detecting blood in the presence of PDMS. Overall, detecting PDMS established intent and detecting blood established that the needle containing the PDMS had been used for injection.     

Child Suicide in the North of Portugal

Suicide in children is a rare finding and is probably motivated by acts of impulsiveness. This study aims to contribute to the characterization of child suicide in a forensic perspective in the Portuguese population. Data of forensic autopsies from 2004 to 2012 related to suicide victims under 18 years were reviewed. A total of 17 cases, with a male predominance (64.7%) and a mean age of 15.24 ± 1.348 for both genders, were registered. The leading suicide method was hanging (35.3%), and a suicide note was found in 41.2%. Psychological autopsy proved to be useful in promoting a better understanding of these incidents and their antecedents. This study also offers useful information, namely the implied risk factors, for future programs of suicide research and prevention.     

True and false memories in middle childhood: the relationship with cognitive functioning

This study was designed to investigate developmental changes in true and false memories and to detect links among them in middle childhood. Participants were 372 Italian children (from 6 to 11 years, 174 males) divided into two age groups. After hearing a story, children provided a free-recall and their true and false retrieved information was measured. Then children were repeatedly asked some true and misleading questions about the story and their cued-recall and interrogative suggestibility were measured. Finally, children again recalled the story to assess the post-event misinformation effect of the suggested information. Individual differences in fluid intelligence, working memory and executive functions were also assessed to investigate their relationships with true and false memories. Typical age effects were found in memory recall and interrogative suggestibility. Interesting links among true, spontaneous and suggested false memories were found. Finally, analyses did not reveal the existence of a relationship between suggestibility and cognitive functioning.     

NHS Inquiries and Investigations; an Exemplar in Peculiarity and Assumption

There is little research focussing on how bereaved families experience NHS inquiries and investigations. Despite this gap, there is a consistent assumption that these processes provide families with catharsis. Drawing on my personal experiences of NHS investigations over a five‐year period after the death of our son, Connor Sparrowhawk, I suggest the assumption of catharsis is misplaced and works to erase the considerable emotional ‘accountability’ labour that families undertake during these processes. I further question whether inquiries or investigations are an effective way of holding stakeholders to account. I conclude with two points: first, qualitative research is needed to better understand bereaved family experiences of inquiries and investigations and second, the ‘lessons learned’ objective underpinning inquiries should be replaced with ‘leading to demonstrable change’, which is what families typically want.     

Vulnerability Factors among Women Victimized by Intimate Partner Violence and the Presence of Children

This study aimed to a) examine the presence of children in relation to victim vulnerability factors and assessed risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) re-victimization, and b) examine the police response, in terms of risk management, in IPV cases with and without children, respectively. Data from a sample of 1407 women who had reported IPV victimization to the Swedish police was analyzed. The material consisted of risk assessments conducted by the police using the Swedish version of the Brief Spousal Assault Form for the Evaluation of Risk (B-SAFER) checklist, as well as the recommended risk management strategies. A series of chi-square tests of independence revealed that women with and without children, respectively, displayed different vulnerability factors to different extents. Women with children expressed more extreme fear of the perpetrator and were more likely to have an unsafe living situation, whereas women without children displayed more inconsistent attitudes or behaviors and health problems. However, binary logistic regression analyses showed that the victim vulnerability factors that were most strongly associated with an elevated risk rating for IPV re-victimization were generally the same for both groups of victims. Finally, the presence of children was related to a higher risk rating for imminent IPV re-victimization and to recommendations of more than standard levels of risk management strategies. The results indicate that the Swedish police consider the presence of children in relation to a victim’s risk for re-victimization as well as in terms of recommended risk management strategies.

     

Policy Preferences and Policy Legitimacy After Referendums: Evidence from the Brexit Negotiations

Political Behavior - How do votes in direct democratic ballots translate into policy preferences about future outcomes and affect the perceived legitimacy of those outcomes? This article examines...     

How postsecondary education improves adult outcomes for Supplemental Security Income children with severe hearing impairments

The rapid growth in the number of children participating in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program before the age of 18 has led policymakers to consider new methods of assisting children with disabilities in their transition from school to work. Postsecondary education represents one path that SSI children may take to acquire the skills necessary to enter employment and reduce dependency on the SSI disability program as adults. Yet little is known about SSI children's experience with postsecondary education, let alone their ability to increase their labor market earnings and reduce their time on SSI as adults in the long term. This lack of information on long-term outcomes is due in part to a lack of longitudinal data. This article uses a unique longitudinal data set to conduct a case study of SSI children who applied for postsecondary education at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) within the Rochester Institute of Technology. The data set was created by merging NTID administrative data on the characteristics and experiences of its applicants to Social Security Administration (SSA) longitudinal data on earnings and program participation. We used this data file to estimate the likelihood that an SSI child will graduate from NTID relative to other hearing-impaired NTID applicants, and we estimated the influence of graduation from NTID on participation in the SSI adult program and later success in the labor market. The results of our analysis show that the percentage of NTID applicants who were SSI children increased over time, from a low of 10 percent in 1982 to more than 41 percent in 2000. However, the differences in the probability of graduation from NTID between deaf SSI children and deaf applicants who were not SSI children did not change accordingly. The probability of graduation for SSI children who applied to NTID was 13.5 percentage points lower than for those who were not SSI children. The estimated disparity indicates that targeting college retention programs toward SSI children may be an effective way to improve overall graduation rates. Our results also show that SSI children who graduated from NTID spent less time in the SSI adult program and had higher earnings than SSI children who did not gradu- ate. Compared with SSI children who were accepted to NTID but chose not to attend, SSI children who graduated from NTID left the SSI program 19 months earlier, were less likely to reenter the program, and at age 30 had increased their earnings by an estimated 49 percent. Our findings demonstrate that SSI children need not be relegated to a lifetime of SSI participation as adults, despite the poor overall labor market experience of this population since the creation of the SSI program in 1974.     

What can we do to reduce disciplinary school exclusion? A systematic review and meta-analysis

Journal of Experimental Criminology - To systematically review and quantitatively synthesise the evidence for the impact of different types of school-based interventions on the reduction of school...     

Ridge Width Correlations between Inked Prints and Powdered Latent Fingerprints

A methodology to estimate the time of latent fingerprint deposition would be of great value to law enforcement and courts. It has been observed that ridge topography changes as latent prints age, including the widths of ridges that could be measured as a function of time. Crime suspects are commonly identified using fingerprint databases that contain reference inked tenprints (flat and rolled impressions). These can be of interest in aging studies as they provide baseline information relating to the original (nonaged) ridges’ widths. In practice, the age of latent fingerprints could be estimated following a comparison process between the evidentiary aged print and the corresponding reference inked print. The present article explores possible correlations between inked and fresh latent fingerprints deposited on different substrates and visualized with TiO₂. The results indicate that the ridge width of flat inked prints is most similar to fresh latent fingerprints_, and these should be used as the comparison standard for future aging studies.