Alicia Alonso's Passion and Exuberance (An Interview with Alicia Alonso)

Abstract

Profiles of Excellence: Achieving Success in the Nonprofit Sector E. B. Knauft, Renee Berger, and Sandra T. Gray San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991, 197 pages, cloth $22.95

Strategic Management in Non-Profit Organizations: An Administrator's Handbook Robert D. Hay Westport, CT: Quorum Books, Greenwood Press, 1990, 408 pages, cloth $59.95

A Nonprofit Organization Operating Manual: Planning for Survival and Growth Arnold J. Olenick and Philip R. Olenick New York: The Foundation Center, 1991, 484 pages, paper $29.95

Reviewer Brann J. Wry is director of the Performing Arts Management program at New York University.

Exhibiting Cultures: The Poetics and Politics of Museum Display Ivan Karp and Steven D. Lavine, eds. Washington, D.C. and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1991, 468 pages, paper $15.95.

Reviewer Danielle Rice is curator of education for the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Accounting and Budgeting in Public and Nonprofit Organizations C. William Garner San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991, 272 pages, cloth $29.95

Reviewer Jan Masaoka is staff consultant/trainer for the Support Centers of San Francisco.

Quality Management in the Nonprofit World Larry W. Kennedy San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1991, 194 pages, cloth $22.95

Reviewer Brian Backe is the national marketing director for the Support Centers of America, a national service organization that provides management consulting, training, and information to non-profit organizations across the country.     

The Proper Purpose Rule as a Constraint on Directors’ Autonomy – Eclairs Group Limited v JKX Oil & Gas plc

The recent case of Eclairs Group Limited v JKX Oil & Gas plc highlights the pressures faced by company directors in change of control situations, in which they may be tempted to take action to prevent or discourage such change. The Supreme Court decision provides important clarity on the scope of the proper purpose rule in these (and other) situations. We explore the implications of different judicial interpretations of the proper purpose rule for the autonomy of directors in their decision‐making. We do this by focusing on the scope of the proper purpose rule, whether a subjective or objective test is employed in the application of the rule and the test for causation where a director is motivated by mixed purposes.     

死刑威慑力的犯罪学分析

Death penalty is the most effective deterrence to grave crimes, which has been the key basis for the State to retain death penalty. In fact, either in legislation or in execution, death penalty can not produce the special deterrent effect as expected. With respect to this issue, people tend to conduct normative exploration from the perspective of ordinary legal principles or the principle of human rights, which is more speculative than convincing. Correct interpretation based on the existing positive analysis and differentiation based on human nature which sifts the true from the false will not only help end the simple, repetitive and meaningless arguments regarding the basis for the existence of death penalty, but also help understand the rational nature of both the elimination and the preservation of death penalty, so as to define the basic direction towards which the State should make efforts in controlling death penalty in the context of promoting social civilization. Zhang Yuanhuang is a professor of law at Beijing Normal University, and a doctoral tutor and director of the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Policy. He has been to Paris II University as a senior visiting scholar. He is an executive director of Chinese Criminological Society and a director of the Chinese branch of International Association of Penal Law. His main publications include: Basic Issues of Modern Criminology (China Procuratorial Press, 1998), Principles of Criminology (Law Press, 2^nd ed. 2008), Criminology (Renmin University of China Press, 2008); and he has more than 70 articles published in law academic journals.     

(Non‐)Enforcement of Directors’ Duties in Corporate Groups: Goh Chan Peng v Beyonics Technology Ltd

Corporate groups, a ubiquitous feature of modern business, pose formidable challenges for common law courts relying on traditional corporate law doctrine. Arising out of a corporate group's recent bid to recover millions of dollars in lost profits from a former director and CEO who had diverted a core business, Goh Chan Peng v Beyonics Technology Ltd raised thorny issues of separate legal entity doctrine, single economic unit theory, and reflective loss shared by common law legal systems. Despite finding that the defendant had breached his duties to the ultimate holding company, the Singapore Court of Appeal absolved the faithless director from most of his liabilities, relying on limited domestic precedent to the exclusion of a rich body of Commonwealth jurisprudence – including the House of Lords’ landmark Johnson v Gore Wood decision. This note explores the paths not taken by the court, and highlights the pitfalls of a narrow, autochthonous approach to problems of common law doctrine.     

Z‐Transform Method for Pairwise Osteometric Pair‐matching,

A new pairwise osteometric pair‐matching approach based on the Z‐transform method is presented. In contrast to previous methods that perform a global t‐test on the summed skeletal element pair measurement distances, this approach performs t‐tests on each individual distance, facilitating the capture of measurement‐specific variation. This new approach is compared to published pairwise sorting methods using a standard reference dataset of postcranial remains maintained by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis indicates significantly improved performance for the clavicle and radius over all previous methods (p < 0.01). The z‐transform method weighted by the effect size outperformed the t‐test (Byrd and Adams) and the mean t‐test (Lynch) for all elements (p < 0.01). The method performed better than the absolute value t‐test (Lynch) for five elements (p < 0.01) and performed at least as well for the remainder. To facilitate usability all methods are available at: https://github.com/spawaskar-cora/z-transform-method .     

Assessing Psychopathic Traits and Criminal Behavior in a Young Adult Female Community Sample Using the Self‐Report Psychopathy Scale

This study assessed psychopathic traits in a nonforensic female population (N = 343). Respondents completed the Self‐Report Psychopathy Scale‐4: Short Form (SRP‐SF) and also reported on their Criminal Behavior. The results revealed relatively higher scale elevations for the Interpersonal and Lifestyle SRP‐SF facets, compared to the Affective and Antisocial facets. Also, those with a history of Criminal Behavior had significantly higher SRP‐SF facet scores on all four psychopathy domains, compared to those without such history. Consistent with a number of previous studies, the structural equation modeling results revealed good fit for the four‐factor SRP‐SF model. In addition, a super‐ordinate SRP‐SF factor, which accounted for the majority variance of all four SRP‐SF first‐order factors, also accounted for 50% of the variance in a latent Criminal Behavior factor. Taken together, findings support use of the SRP‐SF to assess psychopathic features in a moderately large sample of Belgium women.     

Book reviews

D. Leebart (ed.), The Future of Software, The MIT Press, 1995. Hardcover, £19.95, 300 pp, ISBN 0‐262‐12184‐0

David Bainbridge, Software Copyright Law, 2nd edn, Butterworths, 1994. Softcover £35.00, 272 + xvi pp. ISBN 0‐406‐04841‐X

Andrew Christie, Integrated Circuits and Their Contents: International Protection, Sweet & Maxwell, 1995. Hardcover, £85.00. ISBN 0‐421‐48380‐6

S. White, S. Bate and T. Johnson, Satellite Communications in Europe: Law & Regulation, 2nd edn, FT Tax and Law, 1996. Hardcover, £135.00 xlvi + 456 pp. ISBN 0‐752‐002119‐8

A. Valente, Legal Knowledge Engineering: a Modelling Approach. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, Volume 30, IOS Press, 1995. Softcover, £52.00, 227 pp. ISBN 90‐5199‐23‐0

Professor Christopher Arnold, Outsourcing Contracts, Pearson Professional, 1995. 114 pp.     

From the Lubianka to the Kremlin,and Back

Literatumaia gazeta today held one of its regular meetings at "Club–206." Our guest was Sergei Vadimovich Stepashin, director of the Federal Agency on Counterintelligence Services.     

Postmortem Blood Concentrations of R‐ and S‐Enantiomers of Methadone and EDDP in Drug Users: Influence of Co‐Medication and P‐glycoprotein Genotype

Abstract: We investigated toxicological and pharmacogenetic factors that could influence methadone toxicity using postmortem samples. R‐ and S‐methadone were measured in femoral blood from 90 postmortem cases, mainly drug users. The R‐enantiomer concentrations significantly exceeded that of the S‐enantiomers (Wilcoxon’s test, p < 0.001). The samples were divided into four groups according to other drugs detected (methadone only, methadone and strong analgesics, methadone and benzodiazepines, or methadone and other drugs). There was no significant difference in any of the R‐methadone/total methadone ratios among the four groups. The median R/S ratio was 1.38, which tends to be higher than that reported for the plasma of living subjects. In addition, we investigated whether small nucleotide polymorphisms in the MDR1 gene that encode the drug transporter P‐glycoprotein were associated with the concentrations of R‐ and S‐methadone and its metabolite 2‐ethylidene‐1,5‐dimethyl‐3,3‐diphenylpyrrolidine. No significant association was detected.     

Gendered Genocide: The Socially Destructive Process of Genocidal Rape,Killing, and Displacement in Darfur

Accounts of mass atrocities habitually focus on one kind of violence and its archetypal victim, inviting uncritical, ungendered misconceptions: for example, rape only impacts women; genocide is only about dead, battle‐aged men. We approach collective violence as multiple, intersecting forms of victimization, targeted and experienced through differential social identities, and translated throughout communities. Through mixed‐method analyses of Darfuri refugees' testimonies, we show (a) gendered causes and collective effects of selective killing, sexual violence, and anti‐livelihood crimes, (b) how they cause displacement, (c) that they can be genocidal and empirically distinct from nongenocidal forms, (d) how the process of genocidal social destruction can work, and (e) how it does work in Darfur. Darfuris are victimized through gender roles, yielding a gendered meaning‐making process that communicates socially destructive messages through crimes that selectively target other genders. The collective result is displacement and destruction of Darfuris' ways of life: genocide.     

Pathogen detection using a liquid array technology

Abstract: Low concentrations of microbial pathogens in pure and mixed samples were detected using a bead‐based, liquid array technology. A 20‐bp sequence in the 23S rRNA gene, rrl, was amplified in four microorganisms: Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica and Staphylococcus aureus. PCR products were positively identified with the Luminex^® 100? system. The system could detect very low amounts of DNA and the instrument response was proportional to the input concentration. The lower limit of detection (LLD) was determined to be 0.5 ng for B. cereus and E. coli and 2 ng for S. enterica. The LLD for S. aureus was not determined as the instrument response was still above the threshold when quantities of DNA as low as 0.25 ng were used. The platform positively identified organisms present in mixed samples even when the minor component was overshadowed by a 10‐fold excess of the major component.     

Eliciting cues to deception by tactical disclosure of evidence: The first test of the Evidence Framing Matrix

Purpose. Research on real‐life suspect interviews shows that disclosure of evidence is a very common tactic and that it occurs in all phases of the interview. It is therefore remarkable that there is hardly any research on the effectiveness of different disclosure tactics. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of three different disclosure tactics: presenting the evidence early and two versions of the Strategic Use of Evidence (SUE) technique. Methods. For the SUE‐Basic technique (SUE‐B), the evidence was disclosed late in the interview. For the SUE‐Incremental technique (SUE‐I), we used a stepwise disclosure tactic derived from the so‐called Evidence Framing Matrix. The tactic consists of revealing evidence of increasing strength and precision. A mock‐theft scenario was employed with 195 participants who were randomly allocated to one of six conditions: guilty or innocent suspects were interviewed with one of the three techniques. Two measures of inconsistency were used as dependent variables: statement‐evidence inconsistency and the newly developed within‐statement inconsistency. Results. By interviewing with SUE‐I, strong cues to deception were elicited, especially for the statement‐evidence inconsistency variable. For the SUE‐B, significant but smaller differences between guilty and innocent suspects were obtained. Conclusions. We found that both when and how the evidence was disclosed moderated the effectiveness of disclosure. With respect to when, it was more effective to disclose the evidence late (vs. early), and with respect to how, it was more effective to disclose the evidence in a stepwise (vs. direct) manner. The tactical aspects of evidence disclosure are discussed.     

Sex‐ and Size‐Related Patterns of Carrion Visitation in Necrodes littoralis (Coleoptera: Silphidae) and Creophilus maxillosus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)

The estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) based on successional patterns of adult insects is largely limited, due to the lack of potential PMI markers. Sex and size of adult insects could be easily used for such estimation. In this study, sex‐ and size‐related patterns of carrion attendance by adult insects were analyzed in Necrodes littoralis (Coleoptera: Silphidae) and Creophilus maxillosus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae). For both species, abundance of males and females changed similarly during decomposition. A slightly female‐biased sex ratio was recorded in N. littoralis. Females of N. littoralis started visiting carcasses, on average, one day earlier than males. There was a rise in size of males of N. littoralis at the end of decomposition, whereas for females of both species and males of C. maxillosus, no size‐related patterns of carrion visitation were found. Current results demonstrate that size and sex of adult carrion beetles are poor indicators of PMI.     

Courts and New Democracies: Recent Works

Recent literature on comparative judicial politics reveals a variety of roles that courts adopt in the process of democratization. These include, very rarely, serving as a trigger for democratization and, more commonly, serving as downstream guarantor for departing autocrats or as downstream consolidator of democracy. In light of these roles, this article reviews six relatively recent books: Courts in Latin America, edited by Helmke and Rios‐Figueroa (2011 ); Judges Beyond Politics in Democracy and Dictatorship: Lessons from Chile, by Hilbink (2007 ); Cultures of Legality: Judicialization and Political Activism in Latin America, edited by Couso, Huneeus, and Sieder (2011 ); The Legacies of Law: Long‐Run Consequences of Legal Development in South Africa, 1652–2000, by Meierhenrich (2008 ); Judging Russia: Constitutional Court in Russian Politics 1990–2006, by Trochev (2008 ); and New Courts in Asia, edited by Harding and Nicholson (2010 ).     

Does the Prior Application of the Field Kit Bullet Hole Testing Kit 3 on a Suspected Bullet Hole Bias the Analysis of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry?

Forensic ballistics is the study of bullet trajectory and consists of determining gunshot residue (GSR) to identify bullet holes. Among several highly sensitive methods, atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) is employed to analyze GSR in the laboratory. However, it is sometimes necessary to identify bullet holes immediately at a crime scene. The purpose of this examination was to determine whether the use of the field test Bullet Hole Testing Kit 3 (BTK3) on a suspected bullet hole would influence the outcome of AAS‐analysis: Three commonly encountered firearms (Glock17, Tokarev, and Colt) were fired at skin, wood, and cloth. AAS‐analysis was performed with and without previous BTK3 application. The results clearly indicate that there is no significant interaction on the grounds of BTK3 use (BTK3 vs. no‐BTK3 [kit_nokit] [Pb: p = 0.1309; Sb: p = 0.9111], material*kit_nokit [Pb: p = 0.5960; Sb: p = 0.9930], distance*kit_nokit [Pb: p = 0.4014; Sb: p = 0.9184], and firearm type*kit_nokit [Pb: p = 0.9662; Sb: p = 0.9885]); hence, applying this field kit does not falsify later AAS outcomes.     

An Assessment of the Utility of Universal and Specific Genetic Markers for Opium Poppy Identification

Abstract: The proper identification of illicit plants such as Papaver somniferum L (opium poppy) is important for law enforcement agencies. The identification of opium poppy was presently tested using 10 genetic markers that are universal for all plants or specific to a few poppy plants. The genetic distances of universal markers such as nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 18S rRNA, plastid rbcL, and trnL‐trnF intergenic spacer (IGS) of 14 species included in the Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae family were acquired by sequence comparisons. Both the ITS region and trnL‐trnF IGS showed high levels of interspecific divergence. Six Papaver genera‐specific markers were developed from coding regions involved in morphine biosynthesis. Three markers (TYDC, NCS, and BBE) produced amplicons only in opium poppy, providing a presence/absence test for opium poppy, while three additional markers (CYP80B1, SAT, and COR) were genus specific. These 10 markers might be useful for the forensic DNA analysis of opium poppy.     

Intellectual Quotient of Juveniles Evaluated in a Forensic Psychiatry Clinic After Committing a Violent Crime*

Abstract: The purpose of this preliminary study is to evaluate if there is a difference between the intelligence quotient (IQ) of 27 adolescent defendants referred to the Bellevue Hospital Center Forensic Psychiatry Clinic after committing violent crimes, and those adolescents in the same age group in the general population of the United States, as defined by the norms of the psychometric testing instrument Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition (WISC‐IV). The IQ scores and sub‐scores were compared to IQ scores of the general population (mean = 100, SD = 15) using a Z‐test. The mean for the Full Scale IQ was 82.93. The means for the subtests which include Processing Speed Index, Perceptual Reasoning Index, Verbal Comprehension Index, and Working Memory Index, were: 78.48, 87.78, 86.70 (p < 0.05), and 90.78 (p = 0.09) respectively. There is a statistically significant difference in the IQ scores of the violent juveniles studied when compared to the general population.     

Molecular Identification of Three Indian Snake Species Using Simple PCR–RFLP Method*

Abstract: Three endangered Indian snake species, Python molurus, Naja naja, and Xenochrophis piscator are known to be significantly involved in illegal trade. Effective authentication of species is required to curb this illegal trade. In the absence of morphological features, molecular identification techniques hold promise to address the issue of species identification. We present an effective PCR–restriction fragment length polymorphism method for easy identification of the three endangered snake species, Python molurus, Naja naja, and Xenochrophis piscator. A 431‐bp amplicon from cytochrome b gene was amplified using novel snake‐specific primers following restriction digestion with enzymes Mbo II and Fok I. The species‐specific reference fragment patterns were obtained for the target species, which enabled successful identification of even highly degraded shed skin sample confirming the utility of the technique in case of poor‐quality DNA. The assay could be effectively used for forensic authentication of three Indian snake species and would help strengthen conservation efforts.     

Dermestes maculatus (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) development under fluoxetine effect using two drug administration models

Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, commonly used for the treatment of a variety of psychopathological conditions. As such, fluoxetine may be expected to appear in clinical and forensic cases. Dermestes maculatus De Geer (Coleoptera: Dermestidae) has been recognized as a relevant component of the insect fauna associated with decomposing human and animal remains. Experiments were conducted to study the effect of fluoxetine on developing D. maculatus using two‐drug administration models: a non‐living animal model (pork muscle) and a living one (Sus scrofa L. pigs). We assessed the duration of immature stages and total life cycle, as well as morphological parameters (body length, cephalic width, and weight). The effect of fluoxetine was studied at an overdose concentration: In the non‐living animal model the drug was mixed with macerated pork muscle (2000 mg/kg) and in the living animal model, pigs were given the drug orally (833 mg/kg). A control was used for each model. Daily observations were performed from the beginning to the end of the experiments. GC‐MS was used for drug detection and quantification. There were no statistically significant differences in the duration of immature stages, life cycle, larval mortality, morphological parameters, or sex ratio, between treatment and control, regardless of the drug administration model. Given that fluoxetine had no detectable effect on the development of D. maculatus, detection of this drug in forensic situations would not compromise the accuracy of PMI estimations.     

Estimating the preappearance interval from temperature in Creophilus maxillosus L. (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae)

Abstract: Some carrion insects appear on carcasses late in decomposition. While using these late‐arriving taxa to estimate postmortem interval, it is vital to accurately estimate an interval preceding their appearance on a cadaver called the preappearance interval (PAI). This paper tests the possibilities of a PAI estimation from temperature in case of late‐arriving, predatory carrion beetle Creophilus maxillosus. The relationship between temperature and PAI of adult and larval C. maxillosus was modeled using the results of a large‐scale experiment on succession in forests of Central Europe. In both stages, PAI was found to be strongly, inversely related to temperature averaged for the duration of PAI. The PAI estimation from mean degree‐day accumulations (mDDA), estimated DDA, and “PAI*T” functions were tested using external successional data. The greatest accuracy of PAI estimates was achieved using an exponential “PAI*T” function.