Developing a new scoring method to evaluate human decomposition in a humid,continental (Dfb) climate in Quebec

The published literature shows a lack of methods to evaluate the patterns and extent of decomposition of human remains and to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI) in humid, continental (Dfb) climates such as Quebec. The aim of this study was to address this gap in the current knowledge base by providing the first observations from human corpses studied under controlled conditions in Quebec. A 12-month study was conducted at the site for Research in Experimental and Social Thanatology; the first human taphonomy facility in Canada. Six human donors with known time of death were deposited across spring (n = 1), summer (n = 3), and autumn (n = 2) 2021. The lack of suitability of the total body score method to evaluate the extent of decomposition at the facility prompted the development of a new scoring system based on the macromorphoscopic changes observed. The scoring system was applied to the donors to evaluate decomposition throughout seasons. All donors followed comparable decomposition trajectories, regardless of the season of deposition. Eighty-five percent of taphonomic patterns appeared in the first 25 experimental days or 5000 Kelvin accumulated degree days (350 ADD). Extensive desiccation of tissues was observed at a median of 21 experimental days across donors, resulting in a plateau within decomposition with no extensive skeletonization. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first published report of experimentally observed desiccation in such a form in a Dfb climate. This study provides new data on the types of decomposition patterns to expect in forensic investigations in southern Quebec and comparable climates.     

Using FastID to analyze complex SNP mixtures from indoor dust

Forensically relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can provide valuable supplemental information to short tandem repeats (STRs) for investigative leads, and genotyping can now be streamlined using massively parallel sequencing (MPS). Dust is an attractive evidence source, as it accumulates on undisturbed surfaces, often is overlooked by perpetrators, and contains sufficient human DNA for analysis. To assess whether SNPs genotyped from indoor dust using MPS could be used to detect known household occupants, 13 households were recruited and provided buccal samples from each occupant and dust from five predefined indoor locations. Thermo Fisher Scientific Precision ID Identity and Ancestry Panels were utilized for SNP genotyping, and sequencing was completed using Illumina^® chemistry. FastID, a software developed to permit mixture analysis and identity searching, was used to assess whether known occupants could be detected from associated household dust samples. A modified “subtraction” method was also used in FastID to estimate the percentage of alleles in each dust sample contributed by known and unknown occupants. On average, 72% of autosomal SNPs were recovered from dust samples. When using FastID, (a) 93% of known occupants were detected in at least one indoor dust sample and could not be excluded as contributors to the mixture, and (b) non-contributor alleles were detected in 54% of dust samples (29 ± 11 alleles per dust sample). Overall, this study highlights the potential of analyzing human DNA present in indoor dust to detect known household occupants, which could be valuable for investigative leads.     

The impact of lipid degradation on fingerprint quality on fired firearm cartridges

The recovery of identifiable fingerprints from fired cartridge cases is challenging. Therefore, the characterization of chemical modifications and their effects on fingerprint integrity post-firing is essential. In this study, the primary fingerprint lipids, including myristic acid, pentadecanoic acid, palmitoleic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, squalene, and cholesterol in fired and unfired cartridges, were extracted with acetonitrile, followed by derivatization using N,O-Bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide with 1% trimethylchlorosilane (BSTFA/1%TMCS). Squalane was used as the internal standard, and all quantifications were performed using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry using a triple-quadrupole mass filter. All lipids identified in the unfired cartridges were also detected in the fired cartridges, and statistical analysis using Student's t-test and F tests was performed with a 95% confidence level. The concentration of lipids in the unfired cartridges was found to be similar to that detected in the fired cartridges, except for squalene, the recovery of which was 28% lower in the fired cartridges.     

Predictors of Women’s Same-Sex Partner Violence Perpetration

The present study examined family of origin, individual characteristics, and intimate relationship variables as predictors of women’s reports (N?=?209; M?=?29.5 years) of physical aggression toward their current or most recent same-sex partner in the past year. Participants completed measures that assessed a series of family of origin, individual, and intimate relationship variables. Results of a least-squares regression revealed that identifying as heterosexual (as opposed to lesbian), higher levels of relationship fusion, more experiences of psychological aggression victimization, and having more prior physically aggressive relationships were associated with more frequent perpetration of partner violence. Results of exploratory models testing whether internalized homophobia or dominance/accommodation were indirectly related to physical aggression perpetration revealed that fusion (i.e., enmeshment with one’s partner) mediated the relationship between internalized homophobia and perpetration of partner violence. Similarly, fusion mediated the association between dominance/accommodation and the perpetration of partner violence. Findings underscore the importance that individual and relationship characteristics have in predicting partner violence perpetration in women’s same-sex relationships.     

“The savage reduction of the flesh”:1 violence,gender and bodily weaponisation in the 1981 Irish Republican hunger strike protest

This article examines the relationship between performativity, the body and violent identity politics in HMP Maze from 1976 to 1981. In it, I outline a theory of ethnic violence that highlights the exposure of the body to abjection, focusing specifically on the violence against the bodies of Irish Republican hunger strikers during the protest of 1981. I pursue two lines of argument. First, that self-starvation was a means by which the hunger strikers could turn their bodies into weapons, rather than serving as the site of a passive or non-violent protest. Second, while the sexualised abuse of prisoners sought to feminise them, I conclude that the Hunger Strike Protest not only weaponised the bodies of the strikers, but also re-constituted them as masculine.     

网络时代政策议程设置机制研究

本文以立法进程为例,分析网络时代公民自媒体(微博客等)激活政策沉淀、助推焦点事件、触发公共政策议程的现象。采用过程追踪法并结合案例讨论,探讨网络时代由焦点事件触发的中国政策议程设置机制。基于媒体—公众—政策议程的经验模型和焦点事件理论,构建了网络时代中国政策议程设置的机制模型,揭示中国政策议程设置由传统"自上而下"、单向性方式向"自下而上"和交互性方式的转型趋势,提出政策议程设置的"自媒体触发模式"。     

A Crime–Terror Nexus? Thinking on Some of the Links between Terrorism and Criminality 1

Decreasing state sponsorship for terrorism in the post-9/11 environment has pressed terrorist groups to find alternative sources of financial support. Some groups have created their own “in-house” criminal capabilities, for example FARC, the LTTE, and Al Qaeda. Several analysts have argued that this “mutation” in organizational form may lead terrorist groups to ally with organized crime, whereas others have suggested that distinct organizational and ideological differences between the two will preclude cooperation. Drawing on both accounts, it is argued in this article that the degree of a terrorist group's organizational capacity and need are key predictors of the types of crime they will engage in, while ideological (political) distinctiveness will preclude fully symbiotic cooperation between terrorists and organized crime groups.     

Radical Islam and the struggle for influence in Central Asia

The threat of an Iranian‐style Islamic takeover of the newly independent states of Central Asia is currently more of a potential than actual threat to the secular rulers of these countries. Nonetheless, economic, environmental and nationality problems render these rulers vulnerable to a future Islamic potential challenge. The threat of Islam has been used by local leaders to justify dictatorships and intervene in neighboring countries, while foreign governments, such as Turkey and Israel, have sought to exploit the threat of Islam in Central Asia to strengthen their support from the United States. By contrast, Iran has downplayed the Islamic factor in its foreign policy toward these new republics and as a result has enhanced its relationship with Russia, which seeks to establish its hegemony over the region.     

Major-General Sir Douglas Gracey: Peacekeeper or Peace Enforcer?

Current events in Afghanistan have once again placed the political context of British forces acting in difficult circumstances under the global microscope. This article focuses upon the high policy difficulties of administering peacekeeping duties by examining the controversial role of Major-General Gracey in South Vietnam and Cambodia in 1945. Gracey's British and Indian troops were deployed in French Indo-China to oversee the surrender of Japanese forces and the liberation of the Axis occupied territory. But they quickly became entangled in peacekeeping duties between the returning French colonial regime and the emergence of various Vietnamese groups determined to take advantage of the power vacuum. By examining both primary and secondary sources and scrutinising Gracey's private papers this article attempts to reappraise a difficult period in British history.