Age estimation charts for a modern Australian population

The ivory industry is the single most serious threat to global elephant populations. A highly sensitive, species-specific real-time PCR assay has been developed to detect and quantify African elephant (Loxodonta africana), Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and Woolly Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) mitochondrial DNA from highly processed samples involved in the international ivory trade. This assay is especially useful for highly processed samples where there are no distinguishing morphological features to identify the species of origin. Using species-specific Taqman(?) probes targeting a region of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene, we developed an assay that can be used to positively identify samples containing elephant or Woolly mammoth DNA faster and more cost-effectively than traditional sequencing methods. Furthermore, this assay provides a diagnostic result based on probe hybridization that eliminates ambiguities associated with traditional DNA sequence protocols involving low template DNA. The real-time method is highly sensitive, producing accurate and reproducible results in samples with as few as 100 copies of template DNA. This protocol can be applied to the enforcement of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), when positive identification of species from illegally traded products is required by conservation officers in wildlife forensic cases.     

Digital evidence from mobile telephone applications

In this paper we examine the legal aspects of the forensic investigation of mobile telephone applications. Mobile telephone applications might be involved with a variety of types of computer misuse including fraud, theft, money laundering, dissemination of copyrighted materials or indecent images, or instances where mobile telephone applications have been involved in the transmission of malware for malicious or criminal purposes. In this paper we examine the process of the forensic investigation of mobile telephone applications, and the issues relating to obtaining digital evidence from mobile telephone applications.     

If Brain Scans Really Detected Deception,Who Would Volunteer to be Scanned?

Abstract: Recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural correlates of deception among healthy people, have raised the possibility that such methods may eventually be applied during legal proceedings. Were this so, who would volunteer to be scanned? We report a “natural experiment” casting some light upon this question. Following broadcast of a television series describing our team’s investigative neuroimaging of deception in 2007, we received unsolicited (public) correspondence for 12 months. Using a customized template to examine this material, three independent assessors unanimously rated 30 of an initial 56 communications as unequivocally constituting requests for a “scan” (to demonstrate their author’s “innocence”). Compared with the rest, these index communications were more likely to originate from incarcerated males, who were also more likely to engage in further correspondence. Hence, in conclusion, if neuroimaging were to become an acceptable means of demonstrating innocence then incarcerated males may well constitute those volunteering for such investigation.     

Long‐Haired women,short‐haired spies: Gender,espionage, and America's war in Vietnam

Women who fought the Americans and the South Vietnamese in the Vietnam War performed many tasks. Some were the usual women's work: nursing, providing food, shelter, repairing trails, and preparing ambushes. But, they also were useful as combatants and spies. Less obvious than men, they exchanged information on troop movements while at market. They were couriers, demonstrators and recruiters. They fought and also performed intelligence through ingenious strategems. One old woman cut off her hair, was half naked, and convinced the Southern troops that she was harmless; then she entered a base and gathered information that aided the NLF forces to defeat the enemy. The communist women were indeed a key to victory.     

Municipal Rebate Programs for Environmental Retrofits: An Evaluation of Additionality and Cost‐Effectiveness

When policies incentivize voluntary activities that also take place in the absence of the incentive, it is critical to identify the additionality of the policy—that is, the degree to which the policy results in actions that would not have occurred otherwise. Rebate programs have become a common conservation policy tool for local municipalities seeking to retrofit residential properties with efficient appliances. This research evaluates whether such rebates can be cost‐effective means for water utilities to promote water conservation. A unique database is developed that combines water‐use data over a three‐year period for all households that participated in a utility's high‐efficiency toilet (HET) rebate program, water‐use data for a matched sample of neighbors who did not receive a rebate, and a survey of rebate participants. Difference‐in‐differences models indicate that installation of an HET reduces household water consumption by approximately 7 percent. While installation of an HET appears to be an effective means for achieving household reductions in water consumption, our results also suggest that the rebate program is a much less effective means for achieving household reductions in water consumption. Specifically, the rebate program is found to provide limited additional water savings beyond what would have occurred naturally and is responsible for only 37 percent of the total water reduction attributable to the installation of HETs over the study period. © 2013 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

People With HIV Now Live a Better Life

As a Un Volunteer,working with UnaiDS China,i have the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of areas.From working with community-based organizations,set up by people living with hiV to interacting with the mediaon topics related to hiV/aiDS to sup-porting campaigns to fight HIV/AIDS-related discrimination in the workplace,i get to do it all.