A fresh scientific look at transfer and persistence: From a materials science and tribology perspective

Knowledge of the mechanisms governing transfer, persistence, and recovery of trace evidence, together with background prevalence in the population of interest, and other task relevant information, is key for the forensic interpretation and reconstruction of what happened at the activity level. Up to now, this informational “toolkit” has largely been developed through empirical forensic studies on specific trace materials such as glass, textile fibers, and soil. Combined with the identified systemic siloing between disciplines, while valuable, such research tends to be very material-dependent, introducing specific parameters and interpretations that may have actually impeded the recognition of underlying foundational factors applicable to most material types. In Australia, there has been a renewed interest in developing a discipline-independent framework for the interpretation and/or reconstruction of trace evidence to interpret specific circumstances in casework. In this paper, we present a discipline agnostic “way of thinking” that has been anchored in foundational science underpinning the trace evidence discipline. Physical and mechanical material properties such as material geometry and surface topography, strength, stiffness, and hardness collectively influence contact interactions through underlying friction, wear, and lubrication cause and effect mechanisms. We discuss how these fundamental factors and parameters stemming from materials science and tribology may be adopted and adapted by forensic practitioners and researchers to contribute to a better understanding of transfer, persistence, and recovery mechanisms irrespective of evidence discipline and material type. Examples are provided to demonstrate the practical significance to real-life casework and academic research.     

Patterns of breaks in umbilical cords by different mechanisms*

Investigations of perinatal deaths often result in discrepancies between autopsy findings and witness accounts. The mechanism by which the umbilical cord is severed after delivery is a common quandary. Confirming or refuting the mother's stated method frequently has significant investigative importance; however, a surprising paucity of data currently exists to allow an objective opinion about the likely mechanism. Ninety-nine placentas with umbilical cords were examined. By random selection, each cord was severed by one of the following tools or mechanisms: knives, scissors, traction, or crush. Each break was examined and photographed, and a tissue section from the broken end examined microscopically. Differentiation of mechanism was best done grossly based on specific pattern recognition. Umbilical cords severed by blunt force have distinctly different morphology from those severed by sharp force. Even similar-appearing sharp force transections frequently have mechanism-specific distinctive patterns of injury.     

Place-based differences in the commission of recurrent animal cruelty

Despite the recent surge in research linking animal and human acts of violence, relatively few studies have been conducted examining animal cruelty itself. Although several researchers have begun to identify some of the correlates of animal cruelty, few have attempted to understand how differences in the backgrounds of rural and urban residents have led to their abuse of animals. Using survey data from 180 inmates, this study examines how demographic characteristics, exposure to animal cruelty in childhood, and the target animal's relationship with the abuser have contributed to the frequency of acts of animal cruelty in urban- and rural-based settings. Unlike their urban counterparts, rural respondents who engaged in recurrent animal cruelty were more likely to have witnessed family members and/or friends abuse an animal. Moreover, rural respondents who engaged in recurrent animal cruelty abused pet and stray animals, whereas recurrent animal abusers who grew up in urban areas tended to abuse pets only. These findings suggest possible place-based differences in the etiology of recurrent animal cruelty.     

‘Yeah but,no but’ – Pinnock and Powell in the Supreme Court

This note considers the Supreme Court decisions in Manchester CC v Pinnock and Hounslow LBC v Powell. It is argued that there are a number of remaining outstanding questions around proportionality, including: deference; section 89, Housing Act 1980; procedural issues; ‘publicness’; and the future landscape.     

Facial Soft Tissue Thickness Database for Craniofacial Reconstruction in Korean Adults

Abstract: One hundred Korean adults (50 men, 50 women) were scanned in the upright position using a cone‐beam CT (CBCT) scanner. The soft tissue (ST) thicknesses were measured at 31 landmarks, 10 midline and 21 bilateral landmark sites, and the means and standard deviations were obtained for male and female subjects. While 18 of 31 landmarks showed sex differences, the majority showed higher values for male subjects with the exception of a few landmark sites corresponding to the zygoma area, which showed smaller values in men than in women. The mandibular area showed greater differences between the right and left sides. Overall, the ST thickness measurements obtained in this study can be used as a database for the forensic craniofacial reconstruction of Korean adult faces.     

Les échevins et la formulation des politiques: Note méthodologique

Sommaire. Cet article examine la question du rǒle des échevins dans la formulation des politiques municipales, tout particulièrement les aspects méthodolo-giques de la question. Dans une première section, nous démontrons que la plupart des études qui ont analysé le rǒle des échevins n'ont pas réussi à ex-pliquer l'output municipal. L'échec s'explique par le fait que ces études privi-légient à peu près exclusivement les attitudes des échevins et n'accordent que peu de place aux comportements et au contexte objectif et concret dans lequel les échevins travaillent. Dans une deuxième section nous démontrons, à partir du cas de Hull, comment une étude des conditions concrètes de travail des échevins peut nous éclairer sur la formation des politiques municipales. Cette etude des ‘ faits matériels » du monde des échevins souligne l'importance des administrateurs municipaux. Les décisions du Conseil municipal ne relevent que très peu de considérations abstraites et ces décisions sont prises dans un cadre donné, un cadre en bonne partie façonné par les administrateurs municipaux. En somme, la principale conclusion qui nous semble émerger de l'étude, c'est l'importance, pour bien saisir le rǒle de l'échevin dans la formulation des politiques, de situer ce rǒle dans sa pratique quotidienne. Abstract. This article examines the question of the role of municipal councillors in the formulation of public policy, with particular emphasis on the methodological dimension of this question. In a first section the authors show that most of the studies that have examined the role of municipal councillors have not succeeded in explaining the municipality's policy output. This failure can be explained by the fact that these studies look principally at the attitudes of the councillors and give very little attention to behaviour or to the real environment in which the councillors work. In a second section we attempt to show, based on the example of Hull, how a study of the concrete working conditions of municipal councillors can illuminate the process of policy formulation. This study of the councillors' ‘real world’ illustrates the importance of the municipal administrators. Council decisions are not taken in the abstract, they emerge from a specific context or framework and this framework is largely structured by the municipal administrators. The major conclusion that emerges from the study is the importance, in order to understand the role of municipal councillors in policy-making, of situating this role in the context of the day-to-day work of the councillors.     

Inverting the impacts: Mining,conservation and sustainability claims near the Rio Tinto/QMM ilmenite mine in Southeast Madagascar

This paper traces a genealogy of land access and legitimization strategies culminating in the current convergence of mining and conservation in Southeast Madagascar, contributing to recent debates analyzing the commonalities and interdependencies between seemingly discrete types of land acquisitions. Drawing upon research carried out near the Rio Tinto/QMM ilmenite mine in 2009 (January–March), it focuses on how local Malagasy land users are incorporated into new forms of inclusion (into the neoliberal capitalist economy) and exclusion (from land-based, subsistence activities) resulting from private sector engagements in conservation and sustainability. Sustainability tropes and corporate partnerships with international conservation NGOs were found to play a part in land access, in part through the neoliberal project of commodifying, economically valuing and objectifying nature. Through a process of mimesis (of conservation NGOs) and alterity (‘othering’ land users), Rio Tinto's process of creating scarcity of biodiversity paradoxically lends support to the company's claim to be ‘saving’ biodiversity from local Malagasy people; this is described as a process of inversion, wherein actual mining impacts are abstracted and remediated as part of a broader sustainable development strategy.