Forensic entomology: application, education and research in Western Australia.

Forensic entomology as a science and a tool for investigation has had slow beginnings in Australia. A number of small animal decomposition trials have been recorded in the literature but mostly from an ecological rather than a forensic entomology perspective. In the last 20 years, a number of more forensically orientated field trials on small pigs and some fly developmental trials in the laboratory have been conducted but lack any replication. The following article was presented at an international seminar to detail the current research in forensic entomology, the applications of forensic entomology in scene of crime (SOC) and homicide investigations and the education of police and judiciary in the discipline of forensic entomology in Western Australia over the last 10 years.     

Coalitions of Contention: The Case of the WTO Protests in Seattle

Coalitions of organizations are cooperative arrangements that require ongoing management of conflicts among members and potential members. Using data on both successful and unsuccessful attempts at coalition building during the 1999 protests against the WTO in Seattle, we explain the variation in the formation of one type of coalition of organizations, the 'event coalition', in which social movement organizations coalesce around a specific protest event. We find that objectively common organizational interests and framing are necessary but not sufficient for explaining coalition partnering. Organizational representatives must also calculate a benefit from pooled resources and be able to commit credibly to delivering promised resources and to resolving the inevitable tensions that arise among coalition partners.     

Energy transitions and trade law: lessons from the reform of fisheries subsidies

Fossil fuel subsidies, like subsidies to the fishing sector, lead to trade-distorting and ecologically harmful practices. The US$35 billion in subsidies provided by countries every year to the fishing sector leads to more and more boats being built, even as 90% of fish stocks are either fully exploited or overfished. An estimated US$444 billion in subsidies are provided annually for the production of fossil fuels by G20 countries, even as evidence emerges that oil, gas and coal reserves must remain unexploited to limit global warming increases to 2 °C. Of course, each country has its own development priorities, livelihood concerns and need for food and energy security. Agreeing upon subsidy reform is a complex undertaking that requires the assessment of social, political and historical considerations, as well as the involvement of international and transnational legal regimes that govern climate change, energy, fisheries and trade. This article reviews proposals for reform within the World Trade Organization and regional trade agreements, including the new disciplines on fisheries subsidies that were endorsed in the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Although the latter agreement is unlikely to enter into force, consensus is emerging on the need to prohibit subsidies that contribute to overfishing or that are linked to illegal, unreported or unregulated fishing. The article shows how these legal developments might inform attempts to limit fossil fuel production and consumption subsidies. It highlights the need for learning and open deliberation about subsidy reform by affected stakeholders, including representatives from international organizations and civil society. It also points to new arrangements that link compliance with subsidy rules to standards and benchmarks from fisheries regimes, and demonstrates how such inter-regime connections are legitimate in the context of the fragmentation of international law. While reform to fisheries subsidies is still preliminary and fraught, there are useful lessons for the equally important project of energy transitions.     

Mechanism of Death in Hanging: A Historical Review of the Evolution of Pathophysiological Hypotheses

Abstract: In cases of hanging, the exact mechanism leading to death has yet to be elucidated. Most of our contemporary knowledge is still based on writings from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. This article reviews the historic experiments that shaped our current theories. Medico‐legal textbooks written in English and French from 1870 to 1930 were reviewed. Various animals, such as rabbits, mice, and dogs, have been used to develop animal models of hanging. Limited human studies on cadavers and judicial hangings have provided some additional insight into the pathophysiology of death by hanging. The main pathophysiological theories described were respiratory asphyxia, interruption to cerebral blood flow because of occlusion of vessels in the neck, and cardiac inhibition secondary to nerve stimulation. The relative contributions of each of these theories to death in cases of hanging is still debated today.     

Investigating Differences in Truthful and Fabricated Symptoms of Traumatic Stress over Time

False allegations of victimization typically are accompanied by malingered emotional symptomology to corroborate claims. This analog study was designed to compare truthful and fabricated symptom profiles on measures of post-traumatic stress (i.e., Revised Impact of Event Scale, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Checklist, Trauma Symptom Inventory) and levels of symptom consistency over time. Participants (undergraduate students) described their mental health symptoms for both traumas at time 1 (N?=?291), time 2 (N?=?252, 3 month), and time 3 (N?=?181, 6 months). Results indicated that fabricated traumas were associated with inflated symptom profiles. Validity scales were not effective at discerning symptom veracity, although reports could be discriminated somewhat by atypical responding and clinical scales. PTSD symptoms in malingerers also were reported more consistently over time. This research offers applicable information for identifying feigned traumatic stress.     

Monitoring the uninsured: a state policy perspective

Because states have primary responsibility for the implementation of public health insurance programs, states need timely, good quality data to evaluate programs, monitor trends in the number and characteristics of the uninsured, and better understand the dynamics of health insurance coverage. This article provides a synthesis of the data sources available to states for monitoring rates of health insurance coverage. Information was collected through a comprehensive review of state and national health surveys and in-depth interviews with state analysts in all fifty states. Our findings suggest that national surveys do not meet states' needs for data, and in response, states have initiated their own household surveys. We provide information on thirty-six household surveys that are used to estimate state levels of health insurance coverage. We recommend that national and state efforts be better coordinated to facilitate efficient use of resources to achieve good state-level date.