Predicting School Sense of Community: Students’ Perceptions at Two Catholic Universities

Understanding the factors that predict sense of community (SOC) among college students has important implications for higher education policy and practice. The present study determined whether perceptions of inclusion and religious pluralism across 2,199 university students' (1,442 women, 757 men; M age = 23.42, SD =7.84) at two Catholic universities predicted levels of school sense of community (SSOC). As expected, results indicated that perceptions of both inclusion and religious pluralism significantly predicted SSOC. However, mixed results were found regarding the interaction of university setting with inclusion and religious pluralism. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed.     

Partisanship and public reason

In the large body of literature concerning John Rawls’s Political Liberalism (1993) and his conception of public reason, little attention has been paid to the implications that the constraints of public reason have for partisans, i.e. citizens who participate in politics through political parties. This paper argues that even on the basis of a ‘mild’ understanding of Rawls’s conception of the constraints of public reason, which takes into account the various stipulations Rawls provided throughout his later work, when applied to partisans the constraints of public reason lose none or little of their hindering force. This seriously undermines the contribution that parties and partisans can provide to the change and the varieties of public reason that Rawls himself advocates as a response to social change and, therefore, to political justification and legitimacy. Parties articulate, coordinate and enhance societal demands which, without their support, may remain unheard and fail to change the acceptable terms of public reason and political justification. If the political speech of partisans is restrained, this potential for change (and, therefore, its contribution to political legitimacy) is seriously undermined.     

Unusual sources of Sn in GSR. An experimental study by SEM and IBA

Gunshot Residue (GSR) produced by the discharge of a firearm often provides very useful information in criminal investigations in cases involving the use of firearms. Scanning Electron Microscopy equipped with an Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometer (SEM-EDS) is typically used worldwide to visualize micrometric particles constituting GSR and to analyse their elemental composition. The 2017 ASTM Standard guide for gunshot residue analysis by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy specifies that “Particles classified as characteristic of GSR will have one of the following elemental compositions: Lead, antimony, barium; Lead, barium, calcium, silicon, tin”. For the first time, the presence of an additional element, such as Sn, plays a key role in ASTM particle classification. It is known that some ammunitions, used for pistols, revolvers and rifles, contain tin foil discs for sealing the primer mixture into the cup, resulting in GSR particles containing Sn. The authors faced some cases in which Sn was unexpectedly found in GSR particles from a 0.22 Long Rifle derringer and from some 12 gauge shotguns. No tin foil discs are used in rimfire ammunitions and there is no published evidence of tin foil discs in shotshell ammunitions. Following a “case by case” approach, experimental research has been carried out to explain how Sn can be present in GSR particles when the last discharged cartridge also does not contain any Sn either in components and in the explosive charges.Moreover, the use of Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) showed the capability to overcome overlap ambiguity of Sb and Sn peaks in the X-ray spectra, being a possible key issue in real shooting cases if Sn quantities are below the lower limit of SEM detection, especially when Sb is also present.     

Strategic cooperation for transnational adaptation: lessons from the economics of climate change mitigation

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - The literature on climate adaptation has so far conceptualized it as a domestic issue, to be governed somewhere between the...     

The Role of Forensic Botany in Solving a Case: Scientific Evidence on the Falsification of a Crime Scene

Forensic botany can provide useful information for pathologists, particularly on crime scene investigation. We report the case of a man who arrived at the hospital and died shortly afterward. The body showed widespread electrical lesions. The statements of his brother and wife about the incident aroused a large amount of suspicion in the investigators. A crime scene investigation was carried out, along with a botanical morphological survey on small vegetations found on the corpse. An autopsy was also performed. Botanical analysis showed some samples of Xanthium spinosum, thus leading to the discovery of the falsification of the crime scene although the location of the true crime scene remained a mystery. The botanical analysis, along with circumstantial data and autopsy findings, led to the discovery of the real crime scene and became crucial as part of the legal evidence regarding the falsity of the statements made to investigators.     

Estimating Biological Characteristics With Virtual Laser Data

Laser scanning technology is increasingly being used in forensic anthropological research to obtain virtual data for archival purposes and post hoc measurement collection. This research compared the measurement accuracy of two laser scanners—the FARO Focus^3D 330X and the FARO Freestyle^3D—against traditionally obtained (i.e., by hand) control data (N = 454). Skeletal data were collected to address a novel question: the ability of laser scanning technology to produce measurements useful for biological characteristic estimation, such as sex and stature. Results indicate that both devices produced measurements very similar to control (c. 3‐mm average absolute error), but also illuminate a tendency to under‐measure. Despite these findings, the virtual data produced sex and stature estimates that varied little from control‐produced estimates, signifying the usefulness of virtual data for preliminary biological identification when the skeletal elements are no longer available for physical analysis.     

An unusual case of a triple suicide pact at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic

In December 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared SARS-CoV2 a global pandemic. Home confinement, low social contacts, and fear of virus transmission played a major role as risk factors for suicides during the following period. Suicide pacts, in particular, showed a different pattern. A rare case of a triple suicide pact among members of the same family nucleus is presented. The victims were an elderly, severely ill woman and her adult children (a son and daughter), linked by a morbid relationship. The last time the family was seen alive was 40 days before the discovery. All corpses presented decompositional changes. After a full autopsy, the cause of death was determined to be a lethal intake of morphine for the mother and acute blood loss due to self-stabbing at the neck for the siblings. The younger woman was under the effects of a large amount of heparin. Toxicological analysis was positive for opioids and alcohol in both siblings. Suicide pacts have rarely been described during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the few cases reported, the victims were more often relatives than people in a romantic relationship. The involvement of three people is unusual, as is the use of different suicide methods among the victims. In the presented case, the elderly mother's imminent death from terminal cancer, her concern over dying in a nondomestic environment, and the siblings' fear of being alone likely led to the conception of the suicide pact. Social isolation and economic difficulties also played a contributing role.     

Neo-Jihadist Prosumers and Al Qaeda Single Narrative: The Case Study of Giuliano Delnevo

Scholars in the field of terrorism and violent extremism often refer to the so-called Al Qaeda single narrative. This article suggests that the Internet challenges the existence of a “single narrative,” by arguing that neo-jihadist prosumers may reinterpret Al Qaeda's narrative and create hybrid symbols and identities. The article discusses the case study of an Italian neo-jihadist allegedly killed in Syria, Giuliano Delnevo, presenting research on his YouTube and Facebook production. Delnevo's narrative, which emerges from the diverse messages circulating on the Internet, recasts the Al Qaeda narrative by hybridizing it with other cultural backgrounds and political symbols.