The analysis of casework sized alloy fragments by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) using discrete nebulisation

A discrete nebulisation technique has been developed for the multi-element analysis of 100-μl solution droplets by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The technique increases analytical speed and uses very small solution volumes with only a slight degradation in detection limits when compared to continuous solution introduction.To evaluate its suitability in casework, small alloy fragments were produced by cutting with a hacksaw, sample division and filing. The analysis of fragments from two different brasses indicated that quantitative data could be obtained from fragments as small as 10 μg. The accurate determination of lead, a non-homogeneous constituent of leaded brasses, required sample sizes an order of magnitude greater. Analysis of an alloy of fine grain structure (copper-nickel) demonstrated that quantitative data could be obtained from samples weighing a few micrograms or less.     

“(L)Activists and Lattes”: Breastfeeding Advocacy as Domestic Performance

This article considers how “lactivists” (lactation activists) consciously stage the act of public breastfeeding as a means of political advocacy, cultural resistance, and ideological subversion. Through the exploration of a specific nurse-in protest (the 2004 Nurse at Starbucks campaign in Silver Spring, Maryland), the author explores how the “domestic performance” of nurse-ins force spectators to confront (and hopefully, reconsider) latent and overt assumptions about motherhood in relation to parenting proficiency, civic responsibility, maternal sexuality, and political efficacy. In so doing, the author discloses how nurse-ins subvent traditional perceptions of mothers and mothering as a way of instigating social change.     

Coronial Inquests,Indigenous Suicide and the Colonial Narrative

Critical Criminology - This article explores the over-representation of Indigenous people in suicide statistics internationally as indicative of the broader impacts of colonialism. The purpose of...     

The bush administration's security strategy: Implications for transatlantic relations

There are signs of growing transatlantic estrangement over multiple international issues. An important catalyst for this estrangement is the National Security Strategy (NSS) that the Bush administration promulgated in September 2002, a document that is a detailed imperial blueprint. Despite its pretensions, however, it is not a global strategy, but instead appears to apply primarily to the 'Islamic Arc'--the territory from North Africa to the border of India. The administration's security strategy has important implications for the transatlantic relationship, since the United States is encouraging NATO to become a junior partner for missions throughout the Islamic Arc. Given the growing divergence in US and European interests and policy perspectives, the role that the Bush administration envisages for NATO is probably not sustainable. The 'West' was an artificial geostrategic concept that needed an extraordinarily threatening common adversary (the Soviet Union) to give it substance. The US and its allies will continue to drift apart strategically, and the Bush administration's security strategy may actually hasten that process. It is uncertain, however, whether the European Union will achieve the cohesion necessary to counterbalance US power. The main task facing statesmen on both sides of the Atlantic is to learn how to disagree about specific policies without becoming disagreeable.     

The analysis of some evidential materials by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry

Inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) is under evaluation at the Central Research Establishment for the analysis of evidential materials. The analysis of standard reference materials has demonstrated that quantitative multi-element data can be obtained from small samples of a variety of materials. The results of some determinations carried out in support of casework investigations are reported.     

Implementing regulatory reform: the saga of Michigan's debedding experiment

This paper traces the implementation of Michigan's program for hospital bed reduction through four phases in the critical first 30 months following enactment: standard-setting, plan development, plan approval, and legislative oversight. Procedural complexity and goal conflict complicated implementation from the start: what began as a simple proposal to close unneeded beds soon became enmeshed in efforts to address long-standing issues of equity in access to care. A combination of administrative, political, and economic factors peculiar to Michigan, as well as the more generic problems incurred in applying a regulatory approach to containing medical care costs, contributed to the difficulties encountered in implementing bed reduction. Long-range prospects for the program depend upon whether the modest results it is likely to achieve are deemed to be worth the costs incurred in administering it.