Extending environmental justice research to religious minorities

For more than 30 years, significant research in the United States has found that racial and ethnic minorities suffer disproportionately from nearness to environmental disamenities compared with white non-Hispanics and that these results persist even controlling for poverty and “which came first,” the minorities or the disamenities. The engrained discriminatory findings of this environmental justice (EJ) research have led some to argue that we observe “systemic racism,” built into our social systems in ways that may be difficult to perceive. Yet, within the history of the United States, racial and ethnic minorities are not the only groups that have been systematically discriminated against; various religious groups also have histories of discrimination. Here we consider whether, holding constant race and ethnicity, some religious groups may also suffer from “EJ syndrome.” Since the US Census does not collect data on religion, to measure the presence of some religious groups that may be discriminated against, we use an original dataset on the presence of Jewish, Muslim, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, aka Mormon), and Roman Catholic houses of worship within California's Census tracts. Our results indicate that even controlling for race/ethnicity and income, the presence of Jewish or Muslim houses of worship in a California Census tract increases the likelihood of environmental burden as measured by the CalEnviroScreen 3.0 index of pollution and community vulnerability.     

The advocacy coalition framework in Japan: Contributions to policy process studies and the challenges involved

The advocacy coalition framework (ACF), a unified framework for understanding the policy process, has been applied in various countries and regions; however, there are few contributions from Japan, despite seemingly favorable conditions for applying it. An exploration of what hinders ACF applications in Japan is worthwhile for developing the ACF as a framework for comparative policy process studies across various social and political settings. Therefore, this study aims to systematically review previous Japanese ACF studies. Our review found that Japanese ACF studies are fewer in number, have less coverage of policy fields, and have less methodological diversity and transparency than international trends. While most of the Japanese ACF studies supported the basic hypotheses of the ACF, we found a need to refine some hypotheses and research methods of the ACF studies. We also discuss the background factors in the inactivity of ACF studies in Japan and suggest solutions for it.     

Application of 3D documentation and geometric reconstruction methods in traffic accident analysis: with high resolution surface scanning, radiological MSCT/MRI scanning and real data based animation

The examination of traffic accidents is daily routine in forensic medicine. An important question in the analysis of the victims of traffic accidents, for example in collisions between motor vehicles and pedestrians or cyclists, is the situation of the impact. Apart from forensic medical examinations (external examination and autopsy), three-dimensional technologies and methods are gaining importance in forensic investigations. Besides the post-mortem multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the documentation and analysis of internal findings, highly precise 3D surface scanning is employed for the documentation of the external body findings and of injury-inflicting instruments. The correlation of injuries of the body to the injury-inflicting object and the accident mechanism are of great importance. The applied methods include documentation of the external and internal body and the involved vehicles and inflicting tools as well as the analysis of the acquired data. The body surface and the accident vehicles with their damages were digitized by 3D surface scanning. For the internal findings of the body, post-mortem MSCT and MRI were used. The analysis included the processing of the obtained data to 3D models, determination of the driving direction of the vehicle, correlation of injuries to the vehicle damages, geometric determination of the impact situation and evaluation of further findings of the accident. In the following article, the benefits of the 3D documentation and computer-assisted, drawn-to-scale 3D comparisons of the relevant injuries with the damages to the vehicle in the analysis of the course of accidents, especially with regard to the impact situation, are shown on two examined cases.     

Tax incentives for innovation: time to restructure the R&;E tax credit

The R&E tax credit has never been effective and subsequent attempts to restructure it have not addressed the major deficiencies. Moreover, in the 25 years since the R&E tax credit was enacted, a steadily increasing number of countries have implemented or expanded competing tax incentives, which in many cases are better structured and larger in size. As a result, the relative impact of the US credit is now negative in terms of incentives to conduct R&D within the domestic economy. The inadequacy of the credit stems largely from its small size and its incremental format. The impact of an R&D tax incentive is affected by its scope of coverage, the ability of industry to take advantage of it over the entire R&D cycle, the magnitude of the incentive relative to other nations’ tax policies, and its ease of implementation. In the end, a tax incentive must sufficiently lower the user’s cost of R&D to overcome barriers to allocation of private-sector resources commensurate with the potential rates of return on such investments. As a policy instrument, a tax incentive for R&D should be most effective if its form is a flat rate applied to all R&D.

多巴胺D3受体对安非他明诱导的条件性位置偏爱小鼠的作用

目的研究多巴胺D3受体对安非他明条件性位置偏爱小鼠的作用。方法采用条件性位置偏爱系统,观察腹腔注射安非他明前后多巴胺D3受体基因敲除小鼠(D3RKO)及具有相同遗传背景的野生型小鼠(C57BL/6)的位置偏爱效应,采用SPSS13.0统计软件包对实验数据进行两因素重复测量方差分析以及显著性检验。结果安非他明(5mg/kg)能使D3RKO小鼠产生明显的条件性位置偏爱效应,给药前、后以及同生理盐水对照组相比均有显著性差异(P<0.001),而C57BL/6小鼠没有形成明显条件性位置偏爱效应(P>0.05)。结论多巴胺D3受体基因敲除后可以使小鼠对安非他明产生明显条件性位置偏爱效应,提示多巴胺D3受体基因可能对安非他明依赖性形成具有抑制性作用。     

螺旋CT三维重建在肋骨骨折法医临床鉴定中的应用

目的探讨螺旋CT三维重建评价肋骨骨折在法医临床中应用价值。方法收集肋骨骨折35例,分别采用X线摄片、CT扫描及螺旋CT三维重建检查。结论35例检查都取得清晰的立体图像,且可以消除周围组织结构,单独观察肋骨骨折情况。结果:螺旋CT三维重建在肋骨骨折的诊断、法医临床学中有较高的价值。     

D6S1043和D12S391基因座在亲权鉴定中的应用

目的研究D6S1043和D12S391基因座在亲权关系鉴定案件中的应用价值。方法应用荧光标记复合扩增系统对日常检案中所收集的192名汉族无关个体血样DNA进行PCR扩增,用ABI3100-Avant遗传分析仪对扩增产物进行毛细管电泳,用GeneMapperv3.2软件进行基因分型,统计分析D6S1043和D12S391基因座的多态信息。结果在D6S1043和D12S391基因座分别发现12个等位基因,它们在中国汉族人群中的个体识别能力分别为0.9656和0.9510,二联体非父排除率分别为0.573和0.510,三联体非父排除率分别为0.731和0.679。结论D6S1043和D12S391基因座具有高度多态性,在亲权鉴定中具有重要应用价值。     

TW2、TW3法腕骨骨龄评价方法的诊断性试验

目的比较TW2法英国人标准、TW2法中国人南方标准和TW3法测定腕骨骨龄对特发性性早熟(IPP)女孩的诊断价值。方法女性IPP患儿55例;对照组83例。回顾性分析初诊左腕X线片,用TW2法、TW2CHC中国人南方标准和TW3法盲法分期,分别测得其腕骨骨龄及其百分位,并分为5个连续性的工作点,即:>P97、>P90、>P75、>P50和、≤P50。结果敏感度(Sen)和特异度(Spe)都比较高的有以下3个工作点:TW2CH“>P90”点,TW3“>P90”点,TW2“>P90”点。结论TW系统3种腕骨骨龄对于IPP女孩都有诊断价值,TW3法和TW2法中国人南方标准诊断价值比较高,TW2法英国人标准的诊断价值为中等。     

Does Hyperthyroidism Increase Risk of Death Due to the Ingestion of Ecstasy?

Ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) is a psychoactive amphetamine derivative widely used for recreational purposes. Deaths caused by acute drug intoxication with MDMA are rare but can often involve a severe hyperthermic episode. The factors underlying the increased risk of some ecstasy users to a fatal drug reaction are not known. We present a case report of a 24-year-old woman who developed fatal hyperthermia with multi-organ complications following MDMA use and was found at autopsy to have diffuse thyroid hyperplasia (Graves' disease). An antemortem blood MDMA concentration of 0.68 mg/L was measured in a sample obtained on admission to hospital. Although a cause and effect cannot be established, as the thyroid hormone is a major regulator of thermogenesis, we suggest that hyperthyroidism predisposed the subject to ecstasy-induced hyperthermia and that a pre-existing defect affecting temperature status could be one factor in explaining some ecstasy intoxication deaths.     

Effectiveness of comparison overlays generated with DentalPrint software in bite mark analysis

Validation studies of the new DentalPrint software were carried out with experimental bite marks in pigskin. The bite marks were digitally photographed according to the ABFO guidelines for evidence collection. Dental casts used in the experiment were scanned in 3D and 2D, and comparison overlays were generated using DentalPrint and Adobe Photoshop software, respectively. Digitized photographs of the experimental bite marks and the biting edges obtained in the overlays were compared by two different examiners to analyze the impact of training and experience with the two methods. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, sensitivity, specificity, and 95% confidence intervals for each cutoff point were calculated. The expert examiner using DentalPrint obtained the best results, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.76 (SE=0.057; CI at 95%=0.652-0.876). Fairly high specificity values were found for DentalPrint, and the best results were obtained for the cutoff value that discriminated between the examiner's response "biter" and the rest of the possible (specificity 97.9%, CI at 95%=93.2%-99.6%). Therefore, the results presented here indicate that DentalPrint is a useful, accurate tool for forensic purposes, although further research on the comparison process is needed to enhance the validity of bite mark analysis.