A new algorithm for use in computer identification

On 9 May 1987, a Soviet-made IL-62M Polish airliner, LOT Flight 5055, crashed, exploded, and burned, killing the crew and 183 passengers. A forensic science team from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, comprised of 6 dental officers, 3 forensic pathologists, and 3 medical photographers, worked in concert with the Polish forensic science team. The small number of antemortem records and the extreme fragmentation of the remains presented a new scenario for computer use. Typically, the Computer-Assisted Postmortem Identification (CAPMI) software is used to compare remains against an antemortem database. Results are listed by the number of tooth-to-tooth matches based on restorative or other characteristics or both. The Polish disaster confounded this approach to some degree, however, and suggested a reconsideration of the theory on which the sort is made, that is, that the cases with maximum number of matches to preexisting dental records would be the most likely identification (ID) match. A hypothesis was constructed that, if searches were accomplished for fragments with a minimum number of mismatches, the correct matches would appear higher in the rank order. Six antemortem records (that had all dental information) were sorted against one hundred and twelve postmortem fragmented records. The resulting report was reordered so that records were listed by minimum number of mismatches. There was significant improvement in rank placement for all of the records. Thus it was accepted that in the situation of highly fragmented remains a different sorting based on the number of mismatches is indicated. Programming changes to make this option available have been implemented in the new version of CAPMI.     

Are Fish Wild?

Liverpool Law Review - As the global biodiversity crisis continues, it is important to examine the legislative protection that is in place for species around the world. Such legislation not only...     

Women's participation in democratic innovation apparatuses: the case of the autonomous region of the Basque country,Spain

Since 1990, many democratic regimes have seen an increasing number of democratic innovation apparatuses that have been the subject of many of the reflections of democratic theory. Furthermore, the notion of participation has been a priority since the early stages of the institutionalisation of gender studies. Many analyses of the presence and the voice of women in representative spaces and in social movements have been made. However, both areas of study seem to have developed in parallel, giving rise to a knowledge gap when it comes to the participation of women in public affairs by the democratic innovation apparatuses. This article is situated at the intersection of those areas. It analyses the relationship between women's participation and the extension of the public sphere in terms of obstacles. Based on the analysis of the participatory biographies of 42 women and six men who participate in 15 democratic innovation apparatuses implemented between 1978 and 2014 in the Autonomous Region of the Basque Country (Spain), five discussion groups and two direct observations, the obstacles met by the women when carrying out their participatory project in those governance apparatuses are identified. The article concludes by highlighting the currency of the public versus private and reason versus emotion categories to explain the objectivized and incorporated structure of the obstacles. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fathers Who Kill Their Children: An Analysis of the Literature

Abstract:  Roughly half of filicidal acts are committed by fathers, though the majority of the literature focuses on maternal filicide. This paper reviews the existing literature on paternal filicide with the goal of identifying characteristics common among these fathers. Fathers who killed their children were, on average, in their mid thirties. The mean age of their victims was five. They may have multiple victims. Sons and daughters were killed in equal numbers. Reasons included death related to abuse, mental illness (including psychosis and depression), and revenge against a spouse. The method often involved wounding violence. Suicide following the act occurred frequently. After being tried for their crimes, filicidal fathers were more frequently incarcerated than hospitalized. Given the range of those capable of this act, mental health professionals must be alert to the possibility of filicide in a variety of fathers. Considering this risk, clinicians should inquire about thoughts of harming children, partners, and themselves.     

Corporations as Moral Agents: Trade-Offs in Criminal Liability and Human Rights for Corporations

This article argues that a common way of defending corporate criminal liability creates a dilemma: it provides a strong justification for giving human rights to corporations. This result follows from approaches to punishment and human rights which predicate each on the status of moral agency. In short, if corporations are moral agents in a sufficient sense to attract criminal liability, they are eligible holders of human rights. The article also discusses the doctrinal application of this philosophical claim. Drawing on US jurisprudence, it illustrates how the European Court of Human Rights might deploy corporate moral agency as a theoretical foundation for its otherwise weakly-reasoned attribution of human rights to corporations. If proponents of corporate criminal liability are dissatisfied with these conclusions, they face difficult policy trade-offs: they must abandon the doctrine, or adopt alternative approaches to punishment or human rights.     

Disproportionality and Disparities among Sexual Minority Youth in Custody

Research indicates that sexual minority youth are disproportionately criminalized in the U.S. and subjected to abusive treatment while in correctional facilities. However, the scope and extent of disparities based on sexual orientation remains largely overlooked in the juvenile justice literature. This study, based on a nationally representative federal agency survey conducted in 2012 (N?=?8785; 9.9% girls), reveals that 39.4% of girls and 3.2% of boys in juvenile correctional facilities identified as lesbian, gay, or bisexual. These youth, particularly gay and bisexual boys, report higher rates of sexual victimization compared to their heterosexual peers. Sexual minority youth, defined as both lesbian, gay, and bisexual identified youth as well as youth who identified as straight and reported some same-sex attraction, were also 2–3 times more likely than heterosexual youth to report prior episodes of detention lasting a year or more. Implications for future research and public policy are discussed.     

Investigating the Institutional Norms and Values of the Productivity Commission: The 2011 and 2015 Childcare Inquiries

The Productivity Commission (PC) has a mandate to provide independent advice to government that promotes community wellbeing. Whilst it plays a significant role in social and economic reform, the underlying institutional values and norms of the PC that shape its advice have not been examined. This paper examines policy problematisations (Bacchi 2009, 2012) across two PC ‘inquiries’ into childcare (2011, 2015) between Labor and Coalition governments, and the advice provided by the PC. In doing so, this research demonstrates that PC recommendations are imbued with economic values that are highly institutionalised. These values give preference to targeted social welfare and traditional gender norms, despite current evidence suggesting alternative approaches would have better social and long‐term economic outcomes. Our findings raise questions over the conflict between the traditional economic values of the PC and providing social policy advice that reflects best practice, indicating that further investigation into the PC is urgently needed.