Evaluation of the Postmortem Glucose and Glycogen Levels in Hepatic,Renal, Muscle,and Brain Tissues: Is It Possible to Estimate Postmortem Interval Using These Parameters?

The aim of our study was to investigate the postmortem levels of glucose and glycogen in hepatic, renal, muscle, and brain tissues and then examine the changes in those levels that could be useful for estimating postmortem interval. We established an animal model. Seventy female BALB/c albino mice were used in this study. After being sacrificed, the mice were randomly divided into six groups according to time elapsed since death (Group 1: 0 h; Group 2: 12 h; Group 3: 24 h; Group 4: 36 h; Group 5: 48 h; and Group 6: 60 h). Glucose levels were significantly different between groups for all tissues studied. Slope of the change per unit time was higher for the hepatic glucose levels. Based on these results, it is possible to estimate postmortem interval using postmortem glucose levels in hepatic tissue. Tissue‐specific assessment may contribute valuable information to postmortem interval studies.     

Accuracy and reliability in sex determination from skulls: a comparison of Fordisc® 3.0 and the discriminant function analysis

Identification in forensic anthropology and the definition of a biological profile in bioarchaeology are essential to each of those fields and use the same methodologies. Sex, age, stature and ancestry can be conclusive or dispensable, depending on the field. The Fordisc(?) 3.0 computer program was developed to aid in the identification of the sex, stature and ancestry of skeletal remains by exploiting the Forensic Data Bank (FDB) and computing discriminant function analyses (DFAs). Although widely used, this tool has been recently criticised, principally when used to determine ancestry. Two sub-samples of individuals of known sex were drawn from French (n=50) and Thai (n=91) osteological collections and used to assess the reliability of sex determination using Fordisc(?) 3.0 with 12 cranial measurements. Comparisons were made using the whole FDB as well as using select groups, taking into account the posterior and typicality probabilities. The results of Fordisc(?) 3.0 vary between 52.2% and 77.8% depending on the options and groups selected. Tests of published discriminant functions and the computation of specific DFA were performed in order to discuss the applicability of this software and, overall, to question the pertinence of the use of DFA and linear distances in sex determination, in light of the huge cranial morphological variability.     

A cross‐cultural comparison of the self‐concepts of imprisoned young offenders by country,race, and parental status

The Tennessee Self‐Concept Scale (TSCS) was administered to 193 imprisoned male youthful offenders in a southern U.S. state and to 161 male young offenders in one of Her Majesty's young offender institutions in England. The purpose of the study was to determine if the self‐concept scores of the subjects differed significantly according to the subject's ethnicity (Country), whether the youth resided with one or both parents or separate from either parent (Parental Status Residence) at the time of imprisonment, and Race. Analyses reveal the Total Self Concept scores of the U.S. and English offenders, as well as the sub‐scale scores, which together make up the Total Self Concept score, are significantly lower than for normal subjects. The U.S. offenders’ scores were more abnormal than the English offenders, often falling below the lowest normal range score, in some instances so low as to suggest serious psychopathological conditions. Discriminant function (DF) analysis was used to analyze the effects of the 12 self‐concept measures in distinguishing subjects by Country, Race, and Parental Status. Analyses correctly classified group membership more than two thirds of the time for each of the three variables and produced moderate to strong correlation coefficient values for various sub‐scales on each of the three variables. Black subjects in both cultures were found to score significantly lower than their White counterparts, a finding that contradicts numerous earlier studies. Findings also question the labeling theory proposition that the stigma of delinquency and subsequent imprisonment with other delinquents exacerbates one's negative regard of self. And perhaps more important, the findings suggest that cultural influences in both countries, rather than the effects of the stigma of the delinquent label and imprisonment, operate to cause low‐self‐concept long before one becomes involved in the justice system. Findings also reveal that delinquent youths from intact families have significantly higher self‐concepts than those from fragmented families.     

Breaking the silence. Family ties and social networks of the deaf. A case study of East Flanders,Belgium, 1750–1950

In this article the social networks and family ties of a pre-industrial (married and/or died between 1770 and 1850) and industrial (married and/or died between 1850 and 1950) cohort of deaf men and women are compared to each other and to a cohort of non-disabled siblings. The aim is to assess the extent to which the deaf participated in a full-fledged manner in family and social life and to evaluate the ways in which their social networks changed as a result of nineteenth-century industrialisation processes. The extent of social integration is deduced from the profile of the witnesses registered in marriage and death certificates. In the absence of personal testimonies of social experiences, demographic sources are invaluable for providing a glimpse of the everyday social life of ordinary people in the past. In combination with historical records identifying disabled individuals, this research is a first attempt to study the social opportunities of an up-until-now often forgotten, but nevertheless integral part of society: the disabled. Based on the analysis of the witnesses, this article argues that in the course of the nineteenth century deaf individuals became less embedded in their social environment and their relationship with their family weakened. The minority of married deaf persons, however, expressed a much higher connectedness with family.     

＂Common knowledge＂ and the legal construction of race： Constructions of white people through U.S. expansionism,naturalization and immigration law

This article takes as a starting point, key claims from studies of the invention of the human category ＂white＂ during the late Seventeenth Century in Colonial North America： that ＂white＂ reflecting a unique group of humanity was an invention deployed to divide laborers; that white people were by law assigned greater material value and rendered more valuable; and that those who were seen as white were thought to be like the British and believed to be superior to those seen as nonwhite. Each of these claims will be briefly reviewed. Building upon the foundation of whiteness studies in law and history, this article explores what Ian F. Haney Lopez identifies as the ＂common knowledge＂ of race, the legal standard established within naturalization prerequisite cases in order to determine whether one was racially ＂white＂ by law. This article works to bridge the ideas revealed through studies of the invention of white people within Colonial North America and this legal standard that emerged in the 1920s. U.S. expansionism, immigration and naturalization law in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries provide critical areas of inquiry for the developing understanding of the ＂common knowledge＂ of race and the role of law in the construction of race.     

Domestic service and female domestic servants: A port-city comparison of Bremen and Liverpool, 1850–1914

The author analyzes the development of domestic service in Bremen and Liverpool as two examples of major commercial ports in the 19th century characterized by significant merchant wealth and casual, dock-related employment. The migration pattern and age structure of domestic servants are examined and key aspects of their employment history are explored in terms of residential location, length of service, and social background of their employers. Census data are used for both port cities (drawing, in particular on the relational database currently being constructed for the Liverpool Mercantile Project), together with the Bremen civil registers for marriages and deaths, and qualitative material, such as diaries and autobiographies from members of the merchant class. By developing an explicitly comparative analysis within the framework of an established typology the article provides a basis for assessing the extent to which the nature of domestic service in the two port cities, as well as the recruitment and retention of domestic servants, was determined by similarities in the growth of merchant wealth and culture or by distinct regional or national characteristics in the underlying pattern of urban migration.     

Smallpox vaccination and the limits of governing through contagion in the Straits Settlements, 1868–1926

Vaccination involves the encounter of nonhuman biological matter and human bodies, recalibrating our susceptibility to illness and death. This boundary-crossing act has been caught in conflicting webs of moral significance, including the normalizing frameworks of public health governance and its corresponding forms of resistance. Such tensions and dynamics were a feature of smallpox vaccination - the first modern, systematic state-driven project to build population immunity. Focusing on smallpox vaccination in the British-ruled Straits Settlements (Singapore, Penang, and Malacca) between 1868 and 1926, we examine the recurrent features of contentions over vaccination from the tentative beginnings of the 1868 Vaccination Ordinance to the systematic extension of vaccination in the 20th century. Engaging science and technology studies of nonhuman agency and social theories on security, we argue that such contentions demonstrate the limits of a power formation we call governing through contagion (GTC). GTC centralizes law and other technologies to normalize public health measures that combat contagious diseases, while dysconnecting populations by its strategies of control. Our history of smallpox vaccination reveals: (i) GTC relies on the interconnectedness of human and nonhuman actors in protecting populations against viral threats; law is essential but does not necessarily drive vaccination or other strategies of control and (ii) resistance to GTC, in which law plays an integral role, reinforces inequalities and differentiated treatment, what we term endemic inter/dysconnectedness.     

Comparative performance of the Phadebas® Forensic Press Test at room temperature and 37 °C for the detection of saliva stains on fabric exhibits

The Phadebas® Forensic Press Test (PFPT) is an enzyme-based colorimetric test used to visualise and locate latent saliva stains on forensic exhibits. The test relies upon the presence of the enzyme α-amylase which is present in high levels in saliva. Even though the optimal in vitro temperature for α-amylase activity is 37 °C, the PFPT manufacturer’s protocol specifies that the PFPT should be carried out at room temperature (RT). In this study, we compared the performance of the PFPT at RT and 37 °C using combinations of four fabric types (cotton, polyester, acrylic and a cotton/polyester blend), three saliva dilutions (neat, 1:10 and 1:100) and stains aged for four time periods (1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 3 months). The intensity of the PFPT colour reactions at RT and 37 °C were not statistically different across all fabric types, saliva concentrations and stain ages, indicating that maximum sensitivity and performance of the PFPT can be achieved at RT.     

The sensitivity and specificity of the RSID™-saliva kit for the detection of human salivary amylase in the Forensic Science Laboratory,Dublin, Ireland

We demonstrate here that the RSID?-saliva test can be used as a test for human salivary α-amylase on samples routinely examined in forensic casework. We show that the RSID?-saliva test detects salivary α-amylase at lower concentrations than the Phadebas^® Quantitative test, that the RSID?-saliva test does not cross-react with forensically important human fluids and that the RSID?-saliva test can be successfully integrated into the whole swab semen extraction method.     

Justice on the line? A comparison of telephone and face-to-face advice in social welfare legal aid

This paper investigates the impact on legal advice of the major shift to telephone-only services in social welfare legal aid, which took place in April 2013. An empirical study comparing telephone and face-to-face advice reveals that face-to-face contact has considerable advantages in the advice interview. Based on interviews and observations with housing law clients, their lawyers and advisers, the findings of this qualitative study demonstrate that clients and lawyers often find it easier to express themselves and understand each other face-to-face. The face-to-face interview benefits from features including the stronger emotional connection between lawyer and client, non-verbal communication, more expansive conversation and the greater ability to consult and confer over documents. Telephone-only advice may be suitable for some more capable clients and uncomplicated matters, but this qualitative research shows that vulnerable clients are more likely to be adversely affected by the potential disadvantages of telephone-only contact. Clients with more complex social needs or with more serious or urgent cases are better served by face-to-face advice. The findings of this research should inform the LASPO review and future priorities for legal aid funding.     

The police,social services and psychiatry cooperation in Denmark—A new model of working practice between governmental sectors. A description of the concept,process, practice and experience

In 2004 a new model of working practice between three public sectors, the local Police Department, Social Services and Psychiatry/Mental Health Services (PSP) was introduced in the municipality of Frederiksberg, Denmark. The aim of this cooperation was to enhance support to vulnerable citizens, who do not belong solely to one of the three sectors and thereby often get lost in the system. The PSP cooperation was introduced to ensure that relevant information concerning vulnerable citizens was shared between the three sectors and to improve collaboration between the sectors involved in order to provide the needed support to the individual citizen. Due to the success of the PSP cooperation in Frederiksberg, the PSP model was implemented by law in Denmark in 2009.In order to evaluate the model, a qualitative study based on structured interviews, focus group discussions and observations, was performed in four selected municipalities in Denmark: Frederiksberg, Odense, Amager and Esbjerg. The evaluation was undertaken by the Danish National Centre for Social Research.It is concluded that the PSP cooperation draws attention to marginalized groups of citizens and helps to prevent social downfall and crime. Participants of the PSP cooperations further highlight positive changes in the cooperation between the involved sectors, which is thought to further improve the support to vulnerable citizens and thereby enhance both prevention and follow up of cases. Furthermore, the recommendations drawn from the evaluation are to adapt PSP cooperations to local conditions, avoid unnecessary red-tape, keep a constant focus on citizens' ethics, as well as involve the frontline workers in the individual sectors, i.e. those who are actually in contact with marginalized citizens.     

Convergence or path dependency in policies to foster the creation of university spin-off firms? A comparison of France and the United Kingdom

This paper examines attempts by French and UK governments to fill the gap between the US and Europe with respect to the creation of academic spin-offs. Analysis of the contrasting cases of the UK and France, shows that there is no convergence of national policies to foster the creation of firms by academics. Rather, the two countries demonstrate different rationales and approaches to policy in this area. In UK, the rationale for spin-off policy is mainly to develop a third stream of financing. Spin-offs are a part of a policy to commercialize technology and knowledge created by universities. Policy is at the university level, leading to the creation of diverse structures. Public schemes bring public money directly to universities. In France, the rationale for policy towards the creation of new ventures by academics is the development of high technology new ventures as part of a technological entrepreneurship policy. The notion of a third stream of financing for universities is an argument that is never advanced. The UK has placed the universities at the heart of policies aimed at the creation of spin-offs, this is not the case in France.     

Mass Violence and the Continuum of Destruction: A study of C. P. Taylor’s Good

There are important studies that have directly focused on how, in times of conflict, it is possible for previously law abiding people to commit the most atrocious acts of cruelty and violence. The work of Erich Fromm (Escape from Freedom), Hannah Arendt (Eichmann in Jerusalem), Zygmunt Bauman (Modernity and the Holocaust) and Ernest Becker (Escape from Evil) have all contemplated the driving force of aggression and mass violence to further our understanding of how people are capable of engaging in extreme forms of cruelty and violence. This paper specifically addresses these issues by focusing on C. P. Taylor’s play Good. This provocative play examines how a seemingly ‘good’ and intelligent university professor can gradually become caught up in the workings of the Third Reich. Taylor highlights the importance of appreciating how people can be steadily incorporated into an ideologically destructive system. I argue that the theatre is a powerful medium to explore these complex issues. The audience of Good find themselves confronted with the following question—‘What would you have done?’

     

Who were the families of “natural” children in nineteenth-century Rio de Janeiro,Brazil?: A comparison of baptismal and census records

The article analyzes the census records for Sao Cristovao in 1870 to determine the proportions of single mothers in the population and whether they were living in female-headed households, as companheiras in male-headed households (in consensual union), or as agregadas or dependent members of a household headed by someone else, who was not the sexual partner of the single mother. The socio-economic and racial characteristics of the single mothers are also compared to each other and to the married population. The data suggest that approximately one-third of single Brazilian mothers and their children were living in informal two-parent relationships. These women were not substantially different from the two-thirds of single mothers who were living either as female heads of households or as dependents in other households, in terms of race, age, or occupation. Women who were female heads of households were somewhat older than the average single mother in a consensual union, and the women living in dependent situations were slightly younger. The greatest difference between these two groups of women is that many married mothers had no occupations while the vast majority of single mothers listed professions. The baptismal records of illegitimate babies suggest that the vast majority of them had ritual kinfolk, and some were grandparents involved in their baptisms and perhaps also in their daily living arrangements.     

Who were the families of “natural” children in nineteenth-century Rio de Janeiro,Brazil?: A comparison of baptismal and census records

The article analyzes the census records for Sao Cristovao in 1870 to determine the proportions of single mothers in the population and whether they were living in female-headed households, as companheiras in male-headed households (in consensual union), or as agregadas or dependent members of a household headed by someone else, who was not the sexual partner of the single mother. The socio-economic and racial characteristics of the single mothers are also compared to each other and to the married population. The data suggest that approximately one-third of single Brazilian mothers and their children were living in informal two-parent relationships. These women were not substantially different from the two-thirds of single mothers who were living either as female heads of households or as dependents in other households, in terms of race, age, or occupation. Women who were female heads of households were somewhat older than the average single mother in a consensual union, and the women living in dependent situations were slightly younger. The greatest difference between these two groups of women is that many married mothers had no occupations while the vast majority of single mothers listed professions. The baptismal records of illegitimate babies suggest that the vast majority of them had ritual kinfolk, and some were grandparents involved in their baptisms and perhaps also in their daily living arrangements.     

Renaming States—A Case Study: Changing the Name of the Hungarian State in 2011. Its Background,Reasons, and Aftermath

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - A provision of the Hungarian constitution, adopted in 2011, has renamed the state. The name...