Interindividual variability, pathological changes and decomposition as an impediment to the morphological determination of human specificity of bone finds

Playing children discovered several teeth close to the wall surrounding a village church. A subsequent police search yielded further teeth, three neurocranial fragments, a metacarpal bone and the fragment of a long tubular bone. The circumstances along with the results of the investigation and the morphological findings suggested historical bones from a former graveyard. However, a large fragment of bone shaft from a long bone could not definitely be classified as being of human origin. The tibia of a deer was amongst the possibilities considered. Comparative tests run at the Institute of Veterinary Anatomy of the University of Giessen in addition to histological examinations, however, ultimately established the human specificity. Interindividual variability and decomoositional changes were determined as causes for the conspicuous macroscopic and microscopic findings for the tibia fragment. Pathological changes could not be demonstrated.     

The ideal subject distance for passport pictures

In an age of global combat against terrorism, the recognition and identification of people on document images is of increasing significance. Experiments and calculations have shown that the camera-to-subject distance - not the focal length of the lens - can have a significant effect on facial proportions. Modern passport pictures should be able to function as a reference image for automatic and manual picture comparisons. This requires a defined subject distance. It is completely unclear which subject distance, in the taking of passport photographs, is ideal for the recognition of the actual person. We show here that the camera-to-subject distance that is perceived as ideal is dependent on the face being photographed, even if the distance of 2m was most frequently preferred. So far the problem of the ideal camera-to-subject distance for faces has only been approached through technical calculations. We have, for the first time, answered this question experimentally with a double-blind experiment. Even if there is apparently no ideal camera-to-subject distance valid for every face, 2m can be proposed as ideal for the taking of passport pictures. The first step would actually be the determination of a camera-to-subject distance for the taking of passport pictures within the standards. From an anthropological point of view it would be interesting to find out which facial features allow the preference of a shorter camera-to-subject distance and which allow the preference of a longer camera-to-subject distance.     

Relative Advantages of Person- and Variable-Based Approaches for Predicting Problem Behaviors from Kindergarten Assessments

Kindergarten teacher ratings of physical aggression, hyperactivity,inattention, anxiety, and prosocial behavior were used to predictself-reported delinquency, peer-rated social withdrawal, and schoolplacement in preadolescence (ages 10 to 12 years) in a large longitudinalsample of boys from low socio-economic neighborhoods. Two analyticstrategies were used: person-oriented and variable-oriented approaches. Inthe person approach, eight clusters, based on the kindergarten behaviors,were used to predict delinquency, social withdrawal, and schoolplacement. In the variable approach, the kindergarten behaviors were used asdimensions in logistic regressions. Family adversity was used as the firstpredictor in both approaches; it significantly predicted all the outcomes inpreadolescence. The results obtained using the two approaches were partly inaccordance. In both sets of results, kindergarten teacher-ratedexternalizing behavior problems were most related to later self-reporteddelinquency, and internalizing problems to peer-rated socialwithdrawal. However, the person approach showed that all patterns ofkindergarten behavior problems increased the risk for placement out of anage-appropriate regular classroom, while only inattention and lack ofprosocial behavior were the significant dimensional predictors of thisnegative outcome according to the variable approach. Also, the personapproach showed that the Multiproblem kindergarten boys had the highestpercentage of comorbidity of preadolescent problems. The ROC curvesindicated that prediction of delinquency, social withdrawal, and schoolplacement were equally accurate using the cluster and variableapproaches. Advantages and limits of both approaches are discussed withreference to their usefulness for clinicians.     

Modifying children's court care plans to acknowledge poverty and disadvantage

This think piece suggests that Children's Court Care Plans should include a new section that documents poverty and social disadvantage, especially of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, when they are under investigation for child abuse and neglect. New South Wales in Australia is used as the exemplar state, but this suggestion may find an echo elsewhere.

Points for practitioners

• As a general proposition social and economic circumstances should be considered in addition to parental dysfunction in child protection proceedings in Children's court.
• Care Plans prepared for hearings in the NSW Children's Court, often developed in response to serious harm report investigations, currently do not contain information about parents' poverty and social disadvantage and hence decontextualise family living circumstances.
• Consistent with international evidence, Care Plans should require information about parents' socioeconomic situation, including social disadvantage of residential neighbourhood, status and cost of household tenancy, and household income.
• Taking account of social and economic circumstances has the potential to generate savings in out-of-home care that can be re-allocated to support services to reduce poverty and social disadvantage and thereby reduce the need for removal of children from parental care.

     

Issue opacity and sustainability standard effectiveness

Many voluntary sustainability standards govern opaque environmental and social issues, which are difficult to understand and address. Extant studies show mixed evidence around the effectiveness of such standards. We develop a theoretical framework that relates different degrees and types of opacity to standard effectiveness. Systemic opacity results from issues embedded in complex, diverse, and dynamic settings, whereas behavioral opacity stems from human challenges in interpreting and acting upon focal issues. Rigid sustainability standards, oriented toward compliance, are effective for addressing issues that are transparent or enshrouded by behavioral opacity, but are counterproductive for issues with systemic opacity. The trade-off between rigidity and flexibility leads to optimal effectiveness when standards governing systemically and behaviorally opaque issues are moderately rigid. Our ideas are illustrated with two leading sustainability standards in the fisheries and real estate sectors, which effectively address transparent issues but show limited success when facing opacity. We conclude that unpacking issue opacity is instrumental in designing and implementing more effective sustainability standards.