Spatial displacement and diffusion of benefits among geographically focused policing initiatives: a meta-analytical review

Objectives  

To undertake a systematic review of the extent to which geographically focused policing initiatives appear to displace crime (simply relocate it to other places) or diffuse benefits (lead to reductions elsewhere).     

The Sutta on Understanding Death in the Transmission of Borān Meditation From Siam to the Kandyan Court

This article announces the discovery of a Sinhalese version of the traditional meditation (borān yogāvacara kammaṭṭhāna) text in which the Consciousness or Mind, personified as a Princess living in a five-branched tree (the body), must understand the nature of death and seek the four gems that are the four noble truths. To do this she must overcome the cravings of the five senses, represented as five birds in the tree. Only in this way will she permanently avoid the attentions of Death, Māra, and his three female servants, Birth, Sickness and Old Age. In this version of the text, when the Princess manages not to succumb to these three, Māra comes and snatches her from her tree and rapes her. The Buddha then appears to her to explain the path to liberation. The text provides a commentary, padārtha, which explains the details of the symbolism of the fruit in terms of rebirth and being born, the tree in terms of the body, etc. The text also offers interpretations of signs of impending death and prognostications regarding the next rebirth. Previously the existence of Khmer and Lānnā versions of this text have been recorded by Francois Bizot and Francois Lagirarde, the former publishing the text as Le Figuier a cinq branches (Le figuier à cinq branches, 1976). The Sinhalese version was redacted for one of the wives of King Kīrti Śrī Rājasiṅha of Kandy by the monk Vara?āṇa Mahāthera of Ayutthayā. This confirms earlier speculation that this form of borān/dhammakāya meditation was brought to Sri Lanka with the introduction of the Siyam Nikāya in the mid-eighteenth century. It also shows that in Sri Lanka, as in Ayutthayā, this form of meditation—which in the modern period was to be rejected as ‘unorthodox’—was promoted at the highest levels of court and Saṅgha.     

Racism and resource colonization∗

The attacks on our sovereignty and treaties are really attacks on our way of life, our way of viewing things. The environment is critical to our being. The same attacks to separate us from our resources and land are being used in Brazil, Alaska, and elsewhere. It's really racism, with many different names and faces     

D. Reviews and notes: bibliographies and works of reference

RANNYAYA PERSIDSKAYA LEKSIKOGRAFIYA, XI‐XV vv. [Early Persian lexicography, 11th‐15th centuries]. By S.I. BAEVSKII. Moscow, Nauka, 1989. 166pp.

PERIODICALS IN TURKISH AND TURKIC LANGUAGES: A UNION LIST OF HOLDINGS IN U.K. LIBRARIES. Edited by MUHAMMAD ISA WALEY. Oxford, Middle East Libraries Committee (U.K.), 1993. 95pp. £20.‐

DIRECTORY OF TURKISH STUDIES 1993. Edited by MALCOLM WAGSTAFF and CHRISTINE WOODHEAD. [Southampton,] Turkish Area Study Group, 1993. 19pp. £2.00

LEBANON. Compiled by C.H. BLEANEY. (World Bibliographical Series, 2.) Oxford, Clio Press, 1991. xxxi, 230pp. Map. £39.00.

THE ILLUSTRATED ATLAS OF JERUSALEM. By DAN BAHAT, with C.T. RUBINSTEIN. Jerusalem & New York, Carta Israel Map and Publishing Company; English‐language Edition: Simon & Schuster, 1990. 152pp. £60.‐

DER NAHOSTKONFLIKT SEIT AUSBRUCH DER INTIFADA: EINE AUSWAHL BIBLIOGRAPHIE / THE ARAB‐ISRAELI CONFLICT SINCE THE OUTBREAK OF THE INTIFADAH: A SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY. By IN‐GEBORG OTTO and MARIANNE SCHMIDT‐DUMONT. (Biblio, 17.) Hamburg, Deutsches Ubersee‐Institut, 1990. ix, 98pp. DM 15.‐

THE INTIFADA: THE PALESTINIAN UPRISING IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES 1987–1992. By HALA KALEH and SIMONETTA CALDERINI. (Middle East Libraries Committee Research Guides, 6.) Oxford, Middle East Libraries Committee, 1993. 59 + 10 + 50pp. [Arabic title: al‐INTIFADA. AL‐INTIFADA AL‐FILASTINIYYA FI AL‐ARADI AL‐MUHTALLA: BIBLIYUGHRAFIYYA LI‐L‐KUTUB WA‐AL‐MAQALAT i987–1992. By HALA KAYLA wa‐SIMUNITA KALDIRINI.] £25.‐

ALGERIEN‐BIBLIOGRAPHIE: PUBLIKATIONEN AUS DER BUNDES‐REPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND, ÖSTERREICH, UND DER SCHWEIZ, 1962–1989. Compiled by ERNSTPETER RUHE. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 1990. 181pp. DM48.‐

OPEC AND THE WORLD ENERGY MARKET: A COMPREHENSIVE REFERENCE GUIDE. By JOHN EVANS, fully revised by GAVIN BROWN. 2nd edition. Harlow, Longman Current Affairs, 1991. xxvii+749 pp. £115.‐

WHO'S WHO IN THE ARAB WORLD 1993–1994. Eleventh edition (thoroughly revised and completed). Beirut, Publitec Publications, in co‐edition with K.G. Saur, München, 1993. 978pp. £225.00.

RELIGION IN POLITICS: A WORLD GUIDE. Edited by STUART NEWS. (Longman International Reference.) Harlow, Longman, 1989. 332pp.     

Use of a Y chromosome probe as an aid in the forensic proof of sexual assault

Currently, the most common procedures for the forensic identification of semen that may be present due to a sexual assault include the microscopic identification of spermatozoa, acid phosphatase activity, or the detection of PSA. However, not all cases of sexual assault result in the deposit of semen. Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) has been found to be a very sensitive and specific method for detection of the Y chromosome from male cells. This study was undertaken to demonstrate the presence of epithelial cells of male origin in the postcoital vaginal tract using a commercially available probe. Results identified Y chromosome in intact epithelial cells on postcoital Days 1 through 4, and on Day 7. Additionally, Y chromosome positive epithelial cells were identified in vaginal swabs obtained following intercourse with no ejaculation. The method developed in this study demonstrates that FISH is a sensitive method for the identification of the presence of male epithelial cells in the postcoital vagina.