Estimation of postmortem interval. Temperature-correction of extracellular abdominal impedance during the first 21 days of death

Extracellular impedance of the intact abdomen of rats increased from 79.0+/-7.4Omega, 1h postmortem (i.e. 0.04 day), to 130.5+/-14.4Omega at postmortem interval (PMI)=1 day. Impedance then decreased with time, reaching 64.2+/-9.9Omega at PMI=21 days. The time taken for mean abdominal impedance to decrease below the value at PMI=0.04 day averaged 16 days. It is therefore impossible, using extracellular abdominal impedance alone, to distinguish (in terms of interpolating PMI) between numerically equal impedances on the rising and falling phases of curves depicting impedance as a function of PMI.Correction of measured impedances to their theoretically-predicted values at an arbitrarily chosen temperature of 40 degrees C appreciably diminished the magnitude of the increase in impedance following death. Thus, temperature-corrected abdominal impedance increased from 56.2+/-4.8Omega at PMI=0.04 day to 59.5+/-6.2Omega at PMI=1 day. Impedance then decreased, reaching 29.2+/-4.1Omega at PMI=21 days. The time taken for mean, temperature-corrected abdominal impedance to decrease below the value at PMI=0.04 day averaged 3 days (as opposed to 16 days (see above) in the absence of temperature-correction).These findings are believed to improve the usefulness of extracellular abdominal impedance as a potential tool for estimation of postmortem interval.     

The Salinity Crisis in Western Australia: A Case of Policy Paralysis

This article focuses on the Court government's development of a State Salinity Strategy during the 1990s which took nine years from the initial announcement to the final realease. Western Australia has 70 percent of the nation's dryland salinity, a figure widely regarded as representing a potential environmental disaster with significant flow-on economic and social impacts. The paralysis that has surrounded decision-making on this issue is examined as a case study in the lack of effectiveness of government policy-making capacity on the environment. The shortcomings of the Salinity Strategy examined in the article include a lack of a leadership role for government, inadequate resourcing and weaknesses in the supporting institutional arrangements.     

Supplementary markers for deficient immigration cases: Additional STRs or SNPs?

Analysis with commonly available STR kits can sometimes fail to produce sufficient information in immigration cases containing only one parent. In these cases, not only does paternity/maternity need to be assured, but also other possible relationships dismissed (e.g. avuncular relationships).We have taken more than 50 of these cases and investigated which type of additional marker produces the greatest benefits: 48 SNPs or 6 additional informative STRs (including 5 additional markers from the new European extended set). The results of this analysis show the SNPs to be of greater value.     

Internal validation of 29 autosomal SNP multiplex using a ABI 310 genetic analyser

In the last few years genetic identification and paternity testing have begun to make increasing use of autosomal SNP (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism) typing as a supplement or alternative to STR analysis. With the improvement in detection technology SNP analysis is likely to be easier and more sensitive, with the generation of new methods and multiplex systems for a growing array of SNP markers. SNPforID consortium developed 52 SNP PCR multiplex for human identification purposes detected with 23 plex and 29 plex single base extension reactions (Auto1 and 2 respectively). In this study, internal validation for the 29 SNPs of Auto2 was carried out by performing a 29 plex PCR and single base extension reaction on control samples and previously analyzed forensic casework and subsequent detection with an AB 310 Genetic Analyzer. We tested the accuracy, precision, sensitivity and reproducibility of the Auto2 multiplex with this instrument in our laboratory. We used 9947A control DNA samples of the AmpF?STR Identifiler™ kit to test the validation parameters together with non-probative DNA samples from whole blood and buccal swab samples of 29 healthy donors from different parts of Istanbul. Good results were obtained but interpretation of the peak patterns obtained on the AB 310 requires care and thorough optimization before they can be readily compard to those obtained from multiple capillary AB 31xx Analyzers. We succesfully optimized and validated the SNPforID Auto2 multiplex system for identification analyses in our laboratory.     

A Comparison of Methods for Analyzing Criminological Panel Data

We demonstrate that fixed- and random-effects models for pooled cross-sectional and time series data, and latent growth curve models for panel data are special cases of a more general model. We compare the estimates obtained from each type of model for a data set consisting of homicide rates and a vector of explanatory variables for 400 US counties over a 15-year period. Most, but not all, estimates are similar in the two models. We identify circumstances under which one approach may be advantageous to the other.

The prosecution of hate crimes: the limitations of the hate crime typology

Since the development of bias crime legislation over the past few decades, scholars have debated the merits of the legislation and questioned its enforcement.(1) In light of such concerns, this study presents characteristics of all cases prosecuted as bias crimes in a New Jersey county between 2001 and 2004 and applies the hate crime typology originally developed in 1993. Results show that, in this jurisdiction, the typology is an inadequate tool for classifying cases prosecuted as hate crimes. Approximately one third of the cases are unclassifiable according to the typology. Findings indicate that the typology is useful for understanding cases in which bias is the sole motivation but inadequate for application to the many cases in which bias is a peripheral motivation.     

Deadlier in the U.S.? On Lone Wolves,Terrorist Groups,and Attack Lethality

Scholars, politicians, and pundits increasingly suggest lone wolf terrorists are substantial threats, but we know little about how dangerous these actors are—especially relative to other terrorist actors. How deadly are lone actor terrorists? A growing body of empirical research focuses on terrorist organizations, but similar work on lone actors is sparse. Furthermore, attempts to explicitly compare these or other types of terrorist actors are almost non-existent. This article considers theoretical arguments for why lone wolves ought to be especially lethal. However, it presents an argument for why terrorist groups should generally be more lethal. This argument is conditional upon the environment in which actors operate. Lone wolves should only be more deadly in states with especially strong counterterrorism capacity. The article uses data on terrorist attacks in fifteen developed countries, 1970–2010, to compare the lethality of terrorist acts. Around the world, attacks by organizations tend to be far more lethal than attacks by other actors. In the United States, however, lone wolves are generally the more lethal terrorist actors. This is argued to be because the robust counterterrorism capacity makes organized terrorism more difficult to accomplish.