Analysis of artificial fireplace logs by high temperature gas chromatography

High temperature gas chromatography is used to analyze the wax of artificial fireplace logs (firelogs). Firelogs from several different manufacturers are studied and compared. This study shows that the wax within a single firelog is homogeneous and that the wax is also uniform throughout a multi-firelog package. Different brands are shown to have different wax compositions. Firelogs of the same brand, but purchased in different locations, also have different wax compositions. With this information it may be possible to associate an unknown firelog sample to a known sample, but a definitive statement of the origin cannot be made.     

Theoretical and Empirical Work on the Relationship Between Unemployment and Crime

Part of the ongoing debate between Cantor and Land and Greenberg centers on differing opinions about the question of interest in Cantor and Land (1985). We begin this article with our opinion that Cantor and Land's theory relates changes in the business cycle to changes in the aggregate rate of crime. We then question whether year-to-year changes adequately reflect changes in the business cycle, which last on average 4 years, and we refer to an article by Cook and Zarkin (1985) which presents an alternative method of measuring business cycle changes. We also discuss how Greenberg's use of cointegration provides an alternative way of addressing the difficult statistical problem of nonstationarity without resorting to first differences. Our final contribution involves noticing that opportunity and motivational theories of crime can be structurally identified by focusing on different types of crime rather than temporal lags. We demonstrate this idea by splitting car theft into joyriding and theft for profit. We show that joyriding appears to be driven by opportunity, while the causal structure of theft for profit is less clear.     

Organised crime groups in cyberspace: a typology

Three categories of organised groups that exploit advances in information and communications technologies (ICT) to infringe legal and regulatory controls: (1) traditional organised criminal groups which make use of ICT to enhance their terrestrial criminal activities; (2) organised cybercriminal groups which operate exclusively online; and (3) organised groups of ideologically and politically motivated individuals who make use of ICT to facilitate their criminal conduct are described in this article. The need for law enforcement to have in-depth knowledge of computer forensic principles, guidelines, procedures, tools, and techniques, as well as anti-forensic tools and techniques will become more pronounced with the increased likelihood of digital content being a source of disputes or forming part of underlying evidence to support or refute a dispute in judicial proceedings. There is also a need for new strategies of response and further research on analysing organised criminal activities in cyberspace.

Hydraulic Fracturing in North Carolina: How It Came to Be,and What It Means for Our State

This article details the process of legalizing hydraulic fracturing in North Carolina, which began with a request by the North Carolina Congress for a study of implementation strategies and geologic concerns from the state's environmental agencies. Steadily afterwards several pieces of legislation were introduced to create a regulatory scheme to encompass the issuing of drilling permits, regulating operations, and protecting surrounding groundwater. This article illustrates the legislative history, highlighting key components. Lastly, two recent studies regarding groundwater safety around hydraulic fracturing sites are explored in order to gain a brief understanding of the scientific consensus of the process.     

Human Rights and State-Corporate Crimes in the Practice of Gas Flaring in the Niger Delta,Nigeria

This article addresses the social harm of gas flaring by petroleum companies in the Niger Delta, Nigeria and makes a conceptual case for human rights and state-corporate crimes. It outlines the human and environmental harms caused, the role of the state and Shell and other corporate entities in producing such harms, the disregard shown to the communities when concerns are raised about the effects on their health and livelihood, and the disrepute brought to the administration of justice. It also outlines the insecurity spawned in the communities in the Niger Delta as a result of these harms and the high level of impoverishment suffered despite the wealth generated since the discovery of oil in the 1950s, thus broadly contributing to the literature on green criminology.     

Globalization,democratization, and the Arab uprising: the international factor in MENA's failed democratization

What explains the almost wholly negative impact of international factors on post-uprising democratization prospects? This article compares the utility of rival “diffusionist” and neo-Gramscian political economy frames to explain this. Multiple international factors deter democratization. The failure of Western democracy promotion is rooted in the contradiction between the dominance of global finance capital and the norm of democratic equality; in the periphery, neo-liberalism is most compatible with hybrid regimes and, at best, “low intensity democracy”. In MENA, neo-liberalism generated crony capitalism incompatible with democratization; while this also sparked the uprisings, these have failed to address class inequalities. Moreover at the normative level, MENA hosts the most credible counter-hegemonic ideologies; the brief peaking of democratic ideology in the region during the early uprisings soon declined amidst regional discourse wars. Non-democrats – coercive regime remnants and radical charismatic movements – were empowered by the competitive interference of rival powers in uprising states. The collapse of many uprising states amidst a struggle for power over the region left an environment uncongenial to democratization.     

The Fates of Challengers in U.S. House Elections: The Role of Extended Party Networks in Supporting Candidates and Shaping Electoral Outcomes

Extended party network (EPN) theory characterizes political parties in the United States as dynamic networks of interest groups that collaboratively support favored candidates for office. Electoral predictions derived from EPN theory have yet to be tested on a large sample of races. We operationalize EPNs in the context of organized interest contributions to U.S. House campaigns. We deduce that support by a partisan community of interests signals the ideological credibility and appeal of a candidate. EPN integration overcomes voter ambiguity surrounding challengers’ ideological preferences, and resources provided by these coordinating interest groups promote a consistent message about the candidate. Using data from the 1994–2010 cycles, we apply network analysis to detect EPN support of challengers and find that EPN integration substantially improves the electoral prospects of challengers. The effect of EPN integration is distinct from that of campaign resources. The findings provide support for EPN theory, as applied to congressional elections.     

The need for child maltreatment research and program evaluation

The knowledge base supporting child abuse treatment and prevention rests upon clinical experience and applied research. An analysis of program funding in the United States indicates that unevaluated clinical programs are funded rather than research or program evaluation projects. Grant funding patterns for the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect were analyzed for 4 years. Overall, 66% of projects had no research or evaluation component. Without such programs, we cannot determine the effectiveness of treatment and prevention efforts that, while well intended, may have no effects on the participating parents and children, or, worse still, may have unintended negative consequences. Quality programs must be based on the maintenance of a balance between research and clinical efforts with evaluation being an important component of the latter.Portions of this paper were presented at the Seventh International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 27 September, 1988.