The role of beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP) staining in the neuropathologic evaluation of sudden infant death and in the initiation of clinical investigations of subsequent siblings

This report highlights the importance of undertaking immunohistochemical staining of the brains of infants who die unexpectedly, as it may not only assist with the evaluation of the cause of death in an individual infant but may also help with the clinical management of subsequent siblings. A 5-month-old male infant who died suddenly was found to have diffuse beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP) staining in the brain, with no unusual features in his history, death scene examination, routine autopsy dissection, and ancillary tests to suggest any definite cause of death. Due to the beta-APP staining, the possibility of previous episodes of occult trauma, apparent life threatening events (ALTEs), and accidental or inflicted suffocation was raised in the autopsy report. As detailed analyses and investigations provided no supportive evidence for trauma or inflicted injury, hypoxia was clinically considered the most likely cause. Because of these concerns, sleeping oxygen saturation levels were monitored following the birth of a subsequent sibling who had normal APGAR scores and no evidence of any health problems. Oxygen desaturation to 70% occurred in association with a color change while on the postnatal ward, and a subsequent polysomnogram showed multiple episodic significant desaturations to around 80% in association with central apnea. Other testing was unremarkable. These cases demonstrate that beta-APP staining of the brain may not only provide clues as to possible mechanisms of death in pediatric forensic cases but may indicate a need for careful clinical evaluation of subsequent siblings for possible central apnea requiring oxygen therapy.     

Highly Emotional States: French-US Relations and the Iraq War

Understanding the true nature of the relations between France and the United States is central to an understanding of the diplomatic crisis that broke out between them in 2003 over the War in Iraq. An analysis of the political cultures of France and the US offers considerable explanatory power to this dramatic diplomatic dispute. The inordinately emotional aspects of the Franco-US arguments of 2003 mask the fact that the two countries understand each other little. In the French case, its self-view and related diplomatic comportment in the twentieth century was informed by its relationship to Germany; and from it a range of cultural characteristics emerged, among them: vulnerability, self-regard, a romanticized view of itself, and the personalization of national identity. At the moment France’s response to its cultural heritage was beginning to shift to a different (post-Gaullist) paradigm, the dispute with the US erupted.     

Socialism in France: An appraisal

The Mitterrand Era. Edited by A. DALEY. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1996. Pp.xiv + 285, index, £45.00 (cloth). ISBN 0–333–63265–6.

France during the Socialist Years. Edited by G. RAYMOND. Aldershot: Dartmouth, 1994. Pp.xi + 278, £41.50 (cloth). ISBN 185521–5187.

The Politics of Fun: Cultural Policy and Debate in Contemporary France. Edited by D. LOOSELEY. Oxford: Berg, 1997. Pp.xv + 279, biblio, index. £34.95 (cloth); £14.95 (paper). ISBN 1–85973013–2 and ‐153–8.     

Contextualizing the Construction and Social Organization of the Commercial Male Sex Industry in London at the Beginning of the Twenty-first Century

Feminist theories are concerned to analyse how women can transform society so that they are no longer subordinated, by understanding how patriarchal relations control and constrict them.(Abbott and Wallace, 1997: 284)Feminisms start from the position that women are oppressed within a society, which is patriarchal and socially constructed within knowledge which is malestream. This traditionally defines men such that they are rendered subordinate, within a social world constructed by men. Feminisms are engaged with making transparent patriarchal constructs, and illuminating the ‘spaces’ within which women-realities can become more visible.This paper presents research undertaken by two key services working with male sex workers in central London. The insights gained from this research are discussed, as they allow comparison between the traditionally subordinate position of women and the contextual experiences of the ‘hidden’ population of male sex industry workers. It demonstrates, that like women, for male sex workers, hegenomic and heterosexist constructs ensure that they also occupy a subordinated position within society.     

Linking confidence in the police with the performance of the police: Community policing can make a difference

The existing literature of community policing was silent on the linkage between police performance and confidence in the police. This study argued that broader measures of police performance were an inevitable result of the shift from the traditional model of police to community policing. Consequently, confidence in the police could be used profitably by police management as one alternative measure of officers’ effectiveness. Data from a northwest city were used to find out the sources of confidence in the police. The results indicated that volunteers involved in community crime prevention programs showed higher confidence in the police and informal collective security bred confidence in the police. Furthermore, victimization and traffic tickets reduced confidence in the police. These results and their implications for police management are discussed within the limitation of data.     

Upper‐Bounding the Incidence Rate of Associations Between Camouflage Uniforms and Surveillance Images*

Abstract: Camouflage garments can be associated with surveillance images of a crime scene even in the absence of unique wear marks or very high‐quality images. However, the probability of an accidental association, or incidence rate, is significant. The present work describes and validates a method for estimating the incidence rate based on a statistical model of the garment manufacturing process. The model was developed primarily for use with the current U.S. Army Combat Uniform (ACU), but can be applied to any camouflage garment. Eight garment manufacturers were studied, and all sources of variation in the manufacturing process were characterized. The marking and spreading procedures were found to be dominant and consistent sources of variation. However, some sources of variation, in particular those because of human operators, were not consistent enough to accurately characterize. Sources of variation that could not be well‐characterized were ignored in the statistical model, yielding a worst‐case estimate that is an upper‐bound to the true incidence rate. The model was evaluated for a variety of cases. Depending on the quality of the surveillance image, the manufacturing parameters, and the local population, incidence rates range from about 3% to negligibly small. The model was validated by returning to one manufacturer, and sampling a large number of completed garments and estimating empirical match probabilities. The empirical probabilities validated the estimates of the worst‐case incidence rate and also demonstrated that typical incidence rates are significantly lower.