Factors influencing the precision of estimating the postmortem interval using the triple-exponential formulae (TEF). Part I. A study of the effect of body variables and covering of the torso on the postmortem brain, liver and rectal cooling rates in 117 forensic cases

Brain, liver, rectal and environmental temperatures were continuously monitored under controlled conditions, in 117 forensic fatalities, for up to 60 h after death. Cases were studied either naked (63%) or covered with two blankets (37%). Bodies were classified into fat and thin groups. Statistical analysis and curve-fitting of the data yielded the average triple-exponential formulae for each body site and each body group. The effects of covering of the torso and body parameters such as weight, height, surface area and 'cooling size factor' (Z) on postmortem cooling are assessed and discussed. Results show that covering of the torso has a significant influence on the rate of postmortem cooling, however, there is no good correlation between the body variables and the cooling rate.     

Factors influencing the precision of estimating the postmortem interval using the triple-exponential formulae (TEF). Part II. A study of the effect of body temperature at the moment of death on the postmortem brain, liver and rectal cooling in 117 forensic cases

The temperatures of three body sites, namely, the brain, liver and the rectum as well as the temperature of the environment were continuously monitored, every 5-10 min, in 117 forensic cases commencing soon after death and in most cases, within 45 min postmortem. The body temperature at the moment of death was empirically determined by a computer-based extrapolation method. Thus, temperature data for the first 3h of each body site were fitted to single-exponential equations and the fitted curve was extrapolated backwards to obtain the intercept on the Y-axis (the temperature axis). The effect of body temperature at the moment of death on postmortem cooling rate is examined and factors influencing body temperature at death are discussed. Forensic fatalities associated with hyper and hypothermia are reviewed briefly.     

Friction or flows? The translation of Resolution 1325 into practice in Rwanda

ABSTRACT

After almost 20 years with Resolution 1325 and the ‘women, peace and security’ agenda, the results achieved seem rather disappointing. This article analyses how the global gender norms laid out in Resolution 1325 have been translated into practice in a local post-conflict setting – Rwanda as a ‘best-case’ scenario on gender equality. Drawing on the theoretical literature on norm translation and the concepts of friction and flows, together with fieldwork-based research, the article analyses how international and national actors in Rwanda have reshaped and adapted the principles laid out in Resolution 1325. The main argument is that the processes of norm translation in Rwanda are characterised less by flows and more by friction and uneven processes of translation. The article concludes that the predominant successes are the inclusion of women in decision-making and at the lower levels in the security sector. However, women are still excluded, and gender issues marginalised, in the ‘big’ negotiations on peace and security, and high levels of violence against women persist.     

Women as Political Leaders: a Bibliometric Analysis of the Literature

The research of female leaders in politics indicates the important changes in global politics, which started in 1970s and continues slowly. As more women are occupying positions of power, the academic interest in women’s style of leadership grows. Our study, based on bibliometric analysis, reflects the publications development on this issue from 1967 to 2017.     

Fragmented control: Governing contentious labor organizations in China

How does an authoritarian state govern contentious civil society and what are the effects on grassroots mobilization? This article theorizes the relationship between repression and mobilization by examining the case of informal labor organizations in South China that threaten social stability. Findings based on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork inside these organizations suggest that the central state's mandate to maintain social stability is refracted through the interests and capabilities of local agencies. This results in “fragmented control”: divergent, even conflicting, forms of state governance over civil society. Local authorities work at cross‐purposes by simultaneously repressing, co‐opting, and neglecting underground organizing. Fragmented control generates political uncertainty on the part of activists and induces them to engage in “censored entrepreneurialism”—a set of tactical adaptations characterized by a mixture of self‐censorship and entrepreneurial experimentation.