A test for carrion fly full siblings: a tool for detecting postmortem relocation of a corpse

We propose a genetic test for full sibship for a pair of carrion flies that could reveal the postmortem relocation of a corpse. A carrion fly larva is sometimes left behind when a corpse is moved. The discovery of full sibling larvae of approximately the same developmental stage at two locations would strongly suggest that a corpse was moved between those two sites. Distributions of pairwise comparisons of relatedness (R) coefficients were generated using amplified fragment length polymorphism profiles for nine samples of laboratory-generated full siblings as well as for a reference sample of nonfull sibling Phormia regina (Diptera: Calliphoridae). The mean relative R coefficient, a pairwise measure of the proportion of shared alleles, was 0.479 (±0.289 SD) for full siblings, close to the theoretical expectation of 0.5. A likelihood ratio (LR) test was based on observed distributions of R. R >0.55 corresponded to an LR >1000 favoring full sibship for that pair of individuals.     

Catching the Bad Guy: Morphing Composite Faces Helps

Composite faces built by eyewitnesses commonly are poor likenesses of the target face. When there are multiple witnesses, however, an opportunity exists to morph the composites. Morphs were rated as more similar to the target face than were the mean ratings of the individual composites. However, as hypothesized, the morph also came to resemble non-target faces more than the individual composites did (a prototype effect). This prototype effect was so strong that the morphs resembled non-targets more than the individual composites resembled the targets. In addition, morphing composites produced an attractiveness bias, which made the morphing of composites less effective for less attractive targets. Even when the prototype effect and the attractiveness bias were controlled for, however, a true morph-superiority effect continued to exist. The author won the Psi Chi/APS Albert Bandura Graduate Research Award in 2005--2006 for this study.     

Reducing intimate partner homicides: The effects of federally-funded shelter service availability in California

Over twenty-five years of policy and scholarly attention to the problem of intimate partner violence appears to have generated greater victim safety. Intimate partner homicides, the most serious form of violence between intimates, have been declining for nearly three decades in many contexts, but not all. This study built on a small number of studies that had advanced knowledge about the policy-relevant factors behind the intimate partner homicide decline. The analysis described here utilized a set of county-level data from California from 1987 to 2000 to estimate the effects of shelter-based service availability on race/ethnicity-specific female intimate partner homicide victimization. The study relied on a new measure of service availability in an attempt to overcome limitations with previously used indicators. This analysis did not reveal an effect of shelter-based service availability and criminal justice system responses on changes in female intimate partner homicide victimizations. Reasons for these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Spoken moments of a pernicious discourse? Querying Foucauldian critics' representations of development professionals

Critics influenced by Foucault understand development professionals to be determined by the official knowledge produced within their discourse to actions that harm their putative beneficiaries. This discourages these authors from looking more closely at development professionals and limits their value as allies for the social movements they champion. Through a series of interviews this paper finds that development professionals have a range of understandings of their knowledge, that each suggests distinct ranges of permissible action and that these offer terrains for the formation of alliances that are not anticipated by Foucauldian critics. It also finds that the practices required to exploit these opportunities perversely reinforce the status of official knowledge and that this status may ultimately constrain development in ways that are neither anticipated by Foucauldian critics nor operationally acceptable.     

DNA-based identification of forensically important Chrysomyinae (Diptera: Calliphoridae).

Identifying an insect specimen is an important first step in a forensic-entomological analysis. However, diagnostic morphological criteria are lacking for many species and life stages. We demonstrate a method for using mitochondrial DNA sequence data and phylogenetic analysis to identify any specimen of the blow fly subfamily Chrysomyinae likely to be collected from a human corpse within Canada or the USA. The reliability of the method was illustrated by analyzing specimens designed to mimic the information likely to be obtained from highly degraded specimens as well as specimens collected from widely separated geographic locations. Our sequence database may be suitable for another country provided the investigator knows the local fly fauna well enough to narrow the choice of chrysomyine species to those used in this study.     

Introducing computers into development programmes: Some problems and suggested solutions

The article identifies some of the problems encountered in using information technology in developing countries. It is based on field research into the use of computers in health programmes in East Africa and Nepal. The visits were part of an ODA-funded project to design guidelines on the selection, use, and maintenance of computers in a developing country. The article suggests reasons for the problems experienced, and offers some practical solutions.     

Reviews

Kaunda's Zambia, 1964 ‐ 1991. A Select and Annotated Bibliography compiled by Naomi Musiker.

South African Institute of International Affairs, Bibliographical Series No. 26, Johannesburg. 1993. viii plus 426pp.

Environment, Employment and Development edited by A.S. Bhalla. International Labour Office, Geneva, 1992. x plus 177pp. including bibliography.

Poverty in Developing Countries: A Bibliography of Publications by the International Labour Office World Employment Programme, 1975–91. International Labour Office Bibliography No 12. International Labour Office, Geneva, 1992. viii plus 152pp.

The South African Tripod: Studies in Economics, Politics and Conflict by B. Oden, T. Ohlson, A. Davidson, P. Strand, M. Lundahl, and L. Moritz. Scandinavian Institute of International Studies, Uppsala, 1994. 281pp. including tables and graphs.

Tears of the Dead, the Social Biography of an African Family by Richard Werbner. Baobab Books: Harare and Edinburgh University Press, 1991. xi plus 211pp. including genealogies and illustrations.

The Politics of the National Arts Festival by Kenneth Grundy. Occasional Paper, No. 34, Institute of Social and Economic Research. Rhodes University, Grahamstown. 66 pp. including notes.

The Agrarian Question in Southern Africa and Accumulation from Below: Economics and Politics in the Struggle for Democracy by Michael Neocosmos. Research Report No. 93, The Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, Uppsala, 1993. 79 pp. including notes and bibliography.

The Bushman Myth: The Making of a Namibian Underclass by Robert J. Gordon. Boulder, Westview Press, Colorado and Oxford, 1992. xiv plus 304 pp. including maps, tables, notes, references and index.

A Bed Called Home: Life in the Migrant Labour Hostels of Cape Town by Mamphela Ramphele. David Philip: Cape Town, 1993. vii plus 152pp. including illustrations, appendix, bibliography and index.

The Small and the New in Southern Africa: The Foreign Relations of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland since their Independence. A Select and Annotated Bibliography compiled by L.E. Andor. South African Institute of International Affairs, Bibliographical Series No. 25, Johannesburg, 1993. x plus 526pp.