Image analysis of gunshot residue on entry wounds. II--A statistical estimation of firing range.

A statistical investigation of the relationship between firing range and the amount and distribution of gunshot residue (GSR), used automated image analysis (IA) to quantify GSR deposit resulting from firings into pig skin, from distances ranging between contact and 45 cm. Overall, for a Ruger .22 semi-automatic rifle using CCI solid point, high velocity ammunition, the total area of GSR deposit on the skin sections decreased in a non-linear fashion with firing range. More specifically there were significant differences in the amount of GSR deposited from shots fired at contact compared with shots fired from distances between 2.5 and 45 cm; and between shots fired from a distance of 20 cm or less, with shots fired at a distance of 30 cm or more. In addition, GSR particles were heavily concentrated in the wound tract only for contact and close range shots at 2.5 cm, while the particle distribution was more uniform between the wound tract and the skin surfaces for shots fired from distances greater than 2.5 cm. Consequently, for future scientific investigations of gunshot fatalities, once standards have been established for the weapon and ammunition type in question, image analysis quantification of GSR deposited in and around the gunshot wound may be capable of providing a reliable, statistical basis for estimating firing range.     

The continuing search for proper perspective: whose reasonableness should be at issue in a prescription product design defect analysis?

This Article is based on a presentation given at Seton Hall University School of Law's Seventh Annual Health Law Symposium on February 12, 1999.     

Tax Increment Debt Finance: An Analysis of the Mainstreaming of a Fringe Sector

Despite the persistent efforts of federal tax policymakers to place binding constraints on the economic development bond market in the United States, it has grown since the Tax Reform Act of 1986 and is a well established segment of the municipal securities market. This article provides an analysis of the development bond market by describing tax increment debt finance (TIF) in the United States and conducting an empirical analysis of California TIF debt. Our analysis indicates that tax increment debt finance (TIF) is no longer an obscure infrequently used financing tool, but for local governments in many states is a commonly used means of raising capital for multiple purposes. Our empirical analysis highlights the unique project-specific features of tax increment finance that bond issuers must understand and manage to enhance the credit quality and minimize the financing costs of tax increment debt.     

Mixed-Sex Settings and the Perception of Competence

This study examines the association of self-perceptions with sixth to eighth graders' exposure to mixed-sex and dating contexts. It contrasts two hypotheses: the stress hypothesis, which suggests that the transition to romantic relationships will be associated with declines in self-esteem, especially for girls, and the leisure hypothesis, which suggests that movement into a desired role in an emotionally positive social context will be associated with positive emotions and higher self-esteem. Results indicate that adolescents experience mixed-sex settings positively, and that comfort with the other sex (for girls) and more time spent with the other sex (for boys) are predictive of more positive self-perceptions. Activity diary data suggest that these differences are due to differences in the emotional climate of same- and mixed-sex settings, rather than to the activities adolescents engage in with same- and mixed-sex groups. Dating boys who are less interested in dating experience lower self-esteem. Results are discussed in light of the transitional nature of mixed-sex relationships in early adolescence and the preparatory role played by same-sex friendships.     

School Socioeconomic Contexts and Adolescent Self-Descriptions in India

Many Western developmental theorists (e.g., Baumeister, 1986; Erikson, 1968) propose an increasingly autonomous self-construal during adolescence (e.g., Erikson, 1968). In this study self-construal among 191 older children and young adolescents (ages 9 through 16) from private and public schools in Madras, India, was assessed by means of the self attitudes instrument (Kuhn and McPartland, 1954) and the scoring system of Trafimow et al. (1991). Individuality in self-construal did not increase with age across all groups but was mediated by socioeconomic strata (SES, as indexed by school) and gender. Boys from high SES schools best conformed to the Western conceptualization of self-concept development. Boys from lower SES schools exhibited opposite patterns with higher group responses in the older age group. The findings highlight the importance of social context in individual development.     

Suicidal behavior in the Ukraine, 1988-1998

This report studies the available data concerning suicide rates in the Ukraine and points to the importance of appropriate monitoring of suicides and attempted suicides. It illustrates the necessity of collecting this information and of developing "The Ukrainian National Program on Suicide Prevention." Unfortunately, suicide research and publications about suicide rates were prohibited in the former Soviet Union, so some of the data about suicidal behavior in the Ukraine is incomplete. We used the official suicide death statistics of the Ukraine from the Center of Statistics (Ukrainian Ministry of Health) for the period 1988-1998. The overall rate of suicide in the Ukraine is relatively high. Official statistics in the Ukraine show that there were 29.6 suicides per 100,000 population in 1998. The frequency of completed suicide differs in the various regions of the country, suicides being more frequent in the industrially developed regions and in the rural areas of the country than in the cities. In the western part of the Ukraine the frequency of suicide is relatively low (11.1 per 100,000). Between 1988 and 1997 the suicide rate increased by 57%. In 1998 the suicide rate for women was approximately five times lower than that for men.