Diabetes in sex offenders

Thirteen diabetic male sex offenders were compared to 13 nondiabetic sex offenders matched on age, education and offense type. A standard battery of tests administered in the assessment of sex offenders was used to compare the two groups. The tests examine sexual history and preference, substance abuse, violence, personality, and neuropsychological impairment. Results showed that diabetics more often than controls complained of impotence and were nonresponders during phallometric testing. Diabetics, as adults, tended to have less sexual experience with adults and more with pubescent females. The two groups did not differ in number of sexual or nonsexual offenses. The diabetics reported more problems controlling their emotions and more often than controls presented in assessment with inappropriate and/or aggressive behavior and poor cooperation. MMPI results showed diabetics to have more overall clinical disturbance than controls including anxiety, health concerns, family problems, authority problems, criminality, confused thinking and ruminating. Diabetics and controls did not differ in reported frequency of violent behavior but the diabetics responded more extremely, given the circumstances. Diabetics tended to show more violence to their own children. The role of diabetes in the relapse cycle model of offending is discussed.     

A double blind trial of sex drive reducing medication in pedophiles

A sample of 100 men accused of sexual assault on a child and referred to a forensic clinic were approached for assessment and treatment in a double blind study of MPA (Provera). A total of 48 men completed assessment and 18 agreed to participate in the drug trial. Only 11 completed a 3-month course of MPA or placebo therapy. Those refusing treatment were less intelligent and less impaired on the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Test Battery but were more impaired on the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Test Battery. Dropouts differed only in reporting more frequent sexual fantasies of children. Of a possible 27 side effects for MPA, only two were statistically significant. MPA led to more depression and excess salivation than did the placebo, although the frequency of fatigue was noteworthy. MPA appeared as a useful sex drive reducing medication with few side effects but compliance in taking the drug was seen as a major obstacle in its use with pedophiles.     

Personality and sexual anomalies

Test properties of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) were examined in a sample of 419 sex offenders and controls in three different settings. The offender group included sexual aggressives, pedophiles, incest perpetrators and miscellaneous cases. Nineteen of the 20 scales of the MCMI had alpha reliability over 0.60 and for 13 scales it was over 0.80. The scales showed satisfactory discriminant validity from age but 9 scales showed a moderate influence of intelligence scores and education. Criminal history did not influence scale results. The scales unfortunately did show significant correlations with MMPI validity scales. Although the scales were not susceptible to naive lying, they were influenced by social desirability especially. Four factors were extracted in principal axes factor analysis that accounted for 91.2% of the total variance. The first factor explained 58.2% of the variance and was labeled general psychopathology. The other three factors suggested psychotic tendencies, extraversion and the bipolar dependency-antisocial tendencies. When the groups were compared, almost all scales significantly differentiated them. When the MMPI F-K Scale was forced to enter a stepwise discriminant analysis first, five scales still were significant; Narcissistic, Schizoid-Asocial, Alcohol Abuse, Paranoid, & Dependent-Submissive scales. The MCMI taps important dimensions in sex offenders but suffers from validity problems.     

Characteristics of sex offenders who were sexually victimized as children

From a data bank of 479 sex offenders, a comparison was undertaken of those reporting any childhood sexual abuse versus those reporting none. A total of 201 men (42.0%) reported abuse, 261 (54.5%) did not and for 17 (3.5%), information was unavailable. The Abused and Nonabused Groups were compared on demographic information, the MMPI, Clarke Sex History Questionnaire and the Clarke Parent Child Relations Questionnaire. The Abused and Nonabused groups were similar in age, marital status, income, and criminal history, but the Abused Group had significantly less education. The Abused Group showed sexualization of their childhood, not only in the number of contacts with adults but also with age peers and siblings of both sexes. They tended to have wider ranging and more frequent sexual experiences as adults both with men and women. They more often raped. The Abused Group tended to show more emotional instability than the Nonabused Group in more frequent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts, as well as in elevated Mania Scale Scores on the MMPI. The family background of the Abused Group was more disturbed than the Nonabused Group's; especially father-son relations. They reported more alcohol use and abuse in their parents and more parent-child aggression than nonabused offenders did. Although it is unlikely that child sexual abuse causes sexual anomalies, the results of the present study suggest that childhood sexual victimization in the lives of adult sex offenders merits further investigation and has implications for treatment.     

Phase I trial and pharmacokinetic study of raltitrexed in children with recurrent or refractory leukemia: a pediatric oncology group study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the toxicity, antileukemic activity, and pharmacology of raltitrexed administered weekly for 3 weeks to patients with refractory or recurrent leukemia. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Raltitrexed was administered as a 15-minute infusion for 3 consecutive weeks every 5 weeks, at doses ranging from 1.3 to 2.8 mg/m(2). The first course was used to determine the dose-limiting toxicities and maximum tolerated dose. Correlative studies included an assessment of raltitrexed pharmacokinetics and measurement of plasma 2'-deoxyuridine concentrations, a surrogate measure of thymidylate synthase inhibition. RESULTS: Twenty-one children (18 evaluable) with refractory leukemia received 25 courses of raltitrexed. The dose-limiting toxicity was reversible elevation in liver transaminases at the 2.8-mg/m(2) dose level and the maximum tolerated dose was 2.1 mg/m(2) per dose. Pharmacokinetics were best characterized by a two-compartment model with a clearance of 139 mL/min/m(2) (8.3 L/h/m(2)), a 2.4-L volume of distribution, an initial half-life (t(1/2alpha)) of 6 minutes, and a terminal half-life (t(1/2beta)) of 45 minutes. There were three objective responses. CONCLUSIONS: Raltitrexed was well tolerated when administered as a single agent to children with recurrent or refractory leukemia. We observed preliminary evidence of antileukemia activity using this weekly dosing schedule and these observations support further evaluation of raltitrexed in this population.     

Subcutaneous Tissue Mechanical Behavior is Linear and Viscoelastic Under Uniaxial Tension

Subcutaneous tissue is part of a bodywide network of “loose” connective tissue including interstitial connective tissues separating muscles and surrounding all nerves and blood vessels. Despite its ubiquitous presence in the body and its potential importance in a variety of therapies utilizing mechanical stretch, as well as normal movement and exercise, very little is known about loose connective tissue's biomechanical behavior. This study aimed to determine elastic and viscoelastic mechanical properties of ex-vivo rat subcutaneous tissue in uniaxial tension with incremental stress relaxation experiments. The elastic response of the tissue was linear, with instantaneous and equilibrium tensile moduli of 4.77 kPa and 2.75 kPa, respectively. Using a 5 parameter Maxwell solid model, material parameters μ₁ = 0.95 ± 0.24 Ns/m and μ₂ = 8.49 ± 2.42 Ns/m defined coefficients of viscosity related to time constants τ_1M = 3.83 ± 0.15 sec and τ_2M = 30.15 ± 3.16 sec, respectively. Using a continuous relaxation function, parameters C = 0.25 ± 0.12, τ_1C = 1.86 ± 0.34 sec, and τ_2C = 110.40 ± 25.59 sec defined the magnitude and frequency limits of the relaxation spectrum. This study provides baseline information for the stress-strain behaviors of subcutaneous connective tissue. Our results underscore the differences in mechanical behaviors between loose and high-load bearing connective tissues and suggest that loose connective tissues may function to transmit mechanical signals to and from the abundant fibroblasts, immune, vascular, and neural cells present within these tissues.