Selective detection of trace nitroaromatic, nitramine, and nitrate ester explosive residues using a three-step fluorimetric sensing process: a tandem turn-off, turn-on sensor

Detection of trace quantities of explosive residues plays a key role in military, civilian, and counter-terrorism applications. To advance explosives sensor technology, current methods will need to become cheaper and portable while maintaining sensitivity and selectivity. The detection of common explosives including trinitrotoluene (TNT), cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine, cyclotetramethylene-tetranitramine, pentaerythritol tetranitrate, 2,4,6-trinitrophenyl-N-methylnitramine, and trinitroglycerin may be carried out using a three-step process combining "turn-off" and "turn-on" fluorimetric sensing. This process first detects nitroaromatic explosives by their quenching of green luminescence of polymetalloles (lambda em approximately 400-510 nm). The second step places down a thin film of 2,3-diaminonaphthalene (DAN) while "erasing" the polymetallole luminescence. The final step completes the reaction of the nitramines and/or nitrate esters with DAN resulting in the formation of a blue luminescent traizole complex (lambda(em) = 450 nm) providing a "turn-on" response for nitramine and nitrate ester-based explosives. Detection limits as low as 2 ng are observed. Solid-state detection of production line explosives demonstrates the applicability of this method to real world situations. This method offers a sensitive and selective detection process for a diverse group of the most common high explosives used in military and terrorist applications today.     

Using indirect questions to detect intimate partner violence: the SAFE-T questionnaire

A screening instrument for detecting intimate partner violence (IPV) was developed using indirect questions. The authors identified 5 of 18 items studied that clearly distinguished victims of IPV from a random group of health conference attendees with a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 87%. This 5-item instrument (SAFE-T) was then tested on 435 women presenting to three emergency departments and the results compared to a direct question regarding current abuse. The SAFE-T questions detected only 54% of the women who admitted being abused and correctly classified 81% of the women who said they were not victims. The 1-year prevalence of IPV in this sample of women presenting to an emergency department was 11.6%. The authors conclude that indirect questioning of women appears to be more effective at ruling out IPV in an emergency department population and may be less useful for women "early" in an abusive relationship.     

Can Audience Development Promote Social Diversity in German Public Arts Institutions?

Despite generous public funding, arts institutions in Germany are primarily serving a small, educated section of the German population. This article presents findings from arts participation surveys, research from an empirical study on “Intercultural Audience Development” in public theaters and museums, and an analysis of cultural policy debates to reveal the role of audience development in overcoming the social imbalance of audiences in German cultural institutions. Research findings suggest that traditional concepts of audience development do not lead to sustainable changes in the social structure of the audience. More substantial institutional changes are necessary, supported by new cultural policies.     

Are we all torturers now? A reconsideration of women's violence at Abu Ghraib

In April 2004 photographs were publicized showing American servicewomen conspicuous among the tormentors of inmates at Abu Ghraib prison. These sadistic images defied gendered expectations about the proper behaviour of women and prompted a flurry of articles on women's involvement. Many responses to the Abu Ghraib disclosures implicitly accepted that such brutality is typical of military men but when enacted by women is aberrant in ways that merit special notice and explanation. Feminist writers tended to construe the photographs as either demonstrating women's equal capacity for conscienceless violence or as confirming women's subordination in the male-dominated military. This paper reconsiders the role of servicewomen in the Abu Ghraib abuses and critiques these foremost feminist readings (which are shown to mirror anti-feminist responses in significant respects). Commentaries on the role of military women neglect the opposition of prominent members of the US armed forces to policies that encouraged abuses. Recognizing the tension between US administration policies and military dispositions sheds a different light on the events at Abu Ghraib, women's involvement in these abuses, and the presumed normalcy of male violence.     

Width as an alternative measurement to length for post-mortem interval estimations using Calliphora augur (Diptera: Calliphoridae) larvae

The length of fly larvae collected from corpses is often used to help provide an entomological estimate of time since death. However, 'head-curling' by larvae can affect the accuracy of length measurements. To investigate a possible resolution to this problem, larvae of Calliphora augur were grown on sheep's liver at two constant temperatures (20 and 25 degrees C). Replicate samples were collected at set time intervals until pupation. Body length and width were measured for individual larvae and examined as predictors of age. It was found that body width, as measured at the junction of the fifth and sixth abdominal segments, is comparable with body length for age prediction of maggots of C. augur grown at these temperatures. Furthermore, conversion of width to length can be done with 95% accuracy from a simple linear model.     

Trials of battered women who kill: the impact of alternative forms of expert evidence

The introduction of battered woman syndrome testimony in trials of battered women who have killed has stirred considerable debate within the psycholegal community. Much of the controversy stems from the testimony's focus on the woman's passivity, as well as its partrayal of a single profile of battered women. In light of these concerns, proposals to alter the content of the testimony (e.g., dropping the syndrome terminology, focus on battered women's social reality as opposed to their psychological state and reactions) have surfaced. In the present research both the woman's prior response history (passive, active) and the presence of expert testimony (battered woman syndrome, social agency, no expert control) were manipulated in a homicide trial involving a battered woman who had killed her abuser. Overall, participants, drawn from both a university (N=195) and a nonuniversity setting (N=202), rendered more lenient verdicts and provided more favorable evaluations of the defendant's claim of self defense in the presence of expert testimony (either form) compared to a no expert control. Further, these effects were more pronounced for the student than the nonstudent sample. Implications of these findings for the use of expert evidence pertaining to battered women are discussed.