The chain of exploitation: intersectional inequalities,capital accumulation,and resistance in Burkina Faso's cotton sector

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how intersectional inequalities can facilitate the extraction of surplus value from agriculture. Through an ethnographic case study of the Burkina Faso cotton sector, I describe a ‘chain of exploitation’ wherein actors pass economic pressures on to less-powerful actors. People resist their own exploitation, yet justify exploiting others through discourses about intersectional inequalities – overlapping axes of social difference including class, gender, rural/urban status, and education level. I thus argue that intersectional social inequalities – exacerbated by economic pressures – can: (1) justify and thus facilitate the transfer of exploitation, and (2) fragment resistance efforts.     

Study of cathepsin A, B and D activities in the skin wound edges. Its application to the differential diagnosis between vital and postmortem wounds

The aims of the authors in this paper has been to check the diagnostic ability of the Cathepsin A, B and D concentrations in the skin wound edges to the differential diagnosis between vital and postmortem wounds. We have studied 56 domestic pigs grouped in seven experimental series consisting of 8 animals in each, according to the time (0, 5, 15, 30 min and 1, 3 and 6 h) after the injury. The enzymatic activities were investigated following the methods by Bowen and Davison Biochem. J., 131 (1973) 417-419, Suhar and Marks J. Biochem., 101 (1979) 23-30 and by Anson (modified by Yamamoto, Eur. J. Biochem., 95 (1979) 459-467) for Cathepsin A, B and D, respectively. For the differential diagnosis between vital and postmortem wounds, our results showed that the most useful markers studied are the Cathepsin A and D activities, Cathepsin D that of the first one.     

Analysis of ionic ratios in myocardial tissue and their relation to cardiac damage

The authors evaluated the usefulness of the postmortem biochemical analysis of ionic ratios in different parts of the heart and their relation to cardiac damage caused by chest trauma, as observed by anatomopathologic study. Fifty-nine 59 cases were studied, selected from routine necropsies, and samples were taken from different sites of cardiac tissue. The cause of death was trauma in 40 cases and nontraumatic causes in 19 cases. The object of this study was to analyze the levels of Na+, K+, Ca+2, Mg+2, and Zn+2 in different zones of the heart, and the relationship between intracellular and extracellular ion ratios and the different causes of death and any anatomopathologic alterations observed. The biochemical tests revealed a possible relation between the ionic values and cause of death. Alterations in cell membrane permeability and corresponding modification of the ionic ratios were produced earlier than histologic alterations, which need longer to establish themselves whether or not they follow a traumatic process.     

Glucose and lactate in vitreous humor compared with the determination of fructosamine for the postmortem diagnosis of diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic illness responsible for a great number of deaths. In postmortem diagnosis, because of the difficulty involved in interpreting blood glucose levels and relatively nonspecific pathologic features, biochemical markers in vitreous humor are useful. The aim of this study was to compare the results obtained for the combined determination of lactate and glucose with fructosamine levels recorded in the vitreous humor of two diagnostic groups (one diabetic and the other nondiabetic). The authors intended to ascertain the capacity of different markers measured in vitreous humor to diagnose diabetes mellitus. Fifty-one cadavers (mean age, 58.7 years; standard deviation, 17.09) were studied. The mean postmortem interval was 16.4 hours (standard deviation, 9.05). Cases were assigned to two diagnostic groups according to whether they were previously diagnosed as either diabetic or nondiabetic. Statistically significant differences for glucose, fructosamine, and the sum values of glucose and lactate were found between the two diagnostic groups. The highest levels were obtained in the group of cases with a previous diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. After the comparison of receiver operating characteristic curves, the sum values of glucose and lactate in vitreous humor is a better predictor of antemortem diabetes mellitus than the fructosamine.     

Assessing callous–unemotional traits in adolescent offenders: Validation of the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits

The presence of callous–unemotional (CU) traits designates an important subgroup of antisocial youth. To improve upon existing measures, the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits (ICU) was developed to provide an efficient, reliable, and valid assessment of CU traits in samples of youth. The current study tests the factor structure and correlates of the ICU scale in a sample (n = 248) of juvenile offenders (188 boys, 60 girls) between the ages of 12 and 20 (M = 15.47, SD = 1.37). Confirmatory factor analyses are consistent with the presence of three independent factors (i.e., Uncaring, Callousness, and Unemotional) that relate to a higher-order callous–unemotional dimension. Also, CU traits overall showed associations with aggression, delinquency, and both psychophysiological and self-report indices of emotional reactivity. There were some important differences across the three facets of the ICU in their associations with these key external criteria.     

The decision to provide discovery: an examination of policies and guilty pleas

Journal of Experimental Criminology - Prosecutors’ decisions to provide discovery can have vast implications for defendants. When prosecutors do not provide exculpatory information in the...     

Family violence as a determinant factor in juvenile maladjustment.

The family is one of the major socialization agencies for children. Parents are one of the most important models from whom the child and adolescent acquire a wide variety of behavior patterns, attitudes, values, and norms. The aim of this study was to determine the importance of factors related to family conflicts in the genesis of social maladjustment. A total of 189 young people (110 boys and 79 girls) from training schools connected with the juvenile court in Murcia (Spain) were studied. The subjects' ages ranged from 11 to 18 years (mean 13.51, SD 0.16). Our sample comprised a group of minors who experienced a high incidence of intrafamilial pathology, which was found to be a significant discriminant factor. Aggressive behavior, rules, norms, values, opinions, and attitudes toward aggressivity can be learned in the family setting.     

Study of postmortem blood circulation

The objective of this work was to study the postmortem redistribution of blood volumes and its influence of the distribution of substances of different molecular weight (194.2 and 150,000 Da). Lipiodol Ultrafluide, Omnitrast, or a radioisotopic mixture of aminohippuric acid and human IgG were injected into the left ventricle of a total of 20 rabbits divided into three groups. Our results demonstrate the importance of related factors, including left ventricular postmortem contraction, the arterial vascular bed, diffusion processes connected to the physicochemical characteristics of the substances, and the anatomical distribution of the vessels. Postmortem diffusion of aminohippuric acid to the urine was observed.