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While the role of discourse connectives has long been acknowledged in argumentative frameworks, these approaches often take a coarse-grained approach to connectives, treating them as a unified group having similar effects on argumentation. Based on an empirical study of the straw man fallacy, we argue that a more fine-grained approach is needed to explain the role of each connective and illustrate their specificities. We first present an original corpus study detailing the main features of four causal connectives in French that speakers routinely use to attribute meaning to another speaker (puisque, étant donné que, vu que and comme), which is a key element of straw man fallacies. We then assess the influence of each of these connectives in a series of controlled experiments. Our results indicate each connective has different effects for the persuasiveness of straw man fallacies, and that these effects can be explained by differences in their semantic profile, as evidenced in our corpus study. Taken together, our results demonstrate that connectives are important for argumentation but should be analyzed individually, and that the study of fallacies should include a fine-grained analysis of the linguistic elements typically used in their formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to better understand risk factors associated with drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA), this study examined complainant-specific and contextual factors, as well as the toxicological profile of DFSA in Victoria, Australia. Clinical files and toxicological analysis results collected by the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) for all cases of alleged DFSA in Victoria that occurred between 1st January 2011 – 31st December 2013 were reviewed. Two hundred and four cases of alleged DFSA were identified; complainants were predominately female (93%), and their median age was 26 years (range = 18–54). Self-reported premorbid depression (21.1%) and drug and alcohol abuse (9.8%) were four and two times higher than 12-month prevalence rates in Australia, respectively. All assailants were male, half were known to the complainant and half of alleged assaults occurred in private residences. Most (93.6%) complainants reported voluntary consumption of psychoactive substances prior to the alleged DFSA. Alcohol was the most commonly self-reported substance consumed (n = 164; 64%) and concomitant use of alcohol, prescription and illicit drugs was also commonly self-reported (24%). There were 14 cases that produced a positive toxicology result where the complainant did not report voluntary consumption, which suggests these drugs may have been used covertly to facilitate sexual assault. The results of this study indicate that Females in their mid-20's who exhibit higher rates of mental health concerns represent a sub-group of the Australian population with increased vulnerability to DFSA, which typically occurs in a familiar setting in the context of voluntary alcohol and other substance use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated methylamphetamine (MA) exposures in the deaths of children (≤ 12 years old) reported to the Coroner in the state of Victoria, Australia, between 2011 and 2020. Demographics, autopsy findings including the cause of death, self-reported prenatal or caregiver drug use, child protection services information, and toxicological findings were summarized by descriptive statistics. Validated methods of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry were used in the analysis of drugs. There were 50 child deaths with MA detected in blood, urine, and/or hair with 64% (n = 32) identified in 2018–2020. Most children were 1–365 days old (66%, n = 33) and the cause of death was unascertained in 62% (n = 31) of cases. MA was toxicologically confirmed in hair (94%, n = 47) significantly more than blood (18%, n = 9). Prenatal or caregiver drug use was self-reported in 44% (n = 22) and 42% (n = 21) of cases, respectively. Moreover, only 54% (n = 27) of deceased children were a child protection client at their time of death. These findings suggest the number of deceased children exposed to MA has increased over the past 10 years, which is consistent with the greater supply of crystal MA in the Australian community. Hair analysis provided additional means to identify cases that were unknown to child protection services and may have implications for other children in the same drug exposure environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A retrospective observational study of Victorian deaths involving MA between 2010 and 2019 was conducted to determine the prevalence and contribution of methylamphetamine (MA) toxicity to death in the absence of other factors. Demographics, autopsy findings, toxicology, and the cause of death were reviewed. Coronial cases were categorized into five groups: deaths due to MA toxicity in the absence of other factors (Group A1); deaths due to MA toxicity in the setting of other potentially contributing factors (Group A2); deaths due to MA toxicity in the setting of significant natural disease (Group B); deaths primarily due to multiple-drug toxicity (Group C); and deaths primarily due to natural causes (Group D). There were 506 deaths involving MA categorized into Group A1 (n = 1, 0.6%), Group A2 (n = 8, 1.6%), Group B (n = 28, 5.5%), Group C (n = 229, 45%), and Group D (n = 240, 47%). Significant natural disease was prevalent among deaths involving MA and mainly concerned forms of cardiovascular disease (n = 277, 55%). The MA concentration in the one death included in Group A1 was 2.1 mg/L. The median MA concentrations of Group A2 (1.6 mg/L) and Group B (0.5 mg/L) were significantly higher than Group C (0.2 mg/L) and Group D (0.2 mg/L). Additionally, many other toxicologically significant drugs were detected and mostly comprised of central nervous system depressants. Deaths due to MA toxicity in the absence of other factors were rare despite the greater availability of crystal MA in the Australian community. The study highlights the interpretative challenges of MA blood concentrations and the continuing harms of this drug in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]