Scanning electron microscopy as an auxiliary method in the study of exhumed bones

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been used in forensic science in many ways. The reports of cases in which SEM has been used as an auxiliary method in the investigation of exhumed bones are rare. In this article, we report an exhumation that was made to determine if a seized weapon could have been used in a homicide. We used SEM to analyze a fracture in the interior of the skull of the victim. The findings described in this article showed us that it is possible to develop new researches in this field.     

Suicidality in male prisoners: influence of childhood adversity mediated by dimensions of personality

This study aims to study the influence of childhood adversity on suicidal behavior in male prisoners. Including a random sample of 899 male prisoners (French National Mental Health Prison Survey, 2003), this paper studied suicidal ideations and suicide attempts using MINI criteria, and personality using Temperament and Character Inventory. Risk factors of suicidality were examined, and structural equations studied the influence of childhood trauma on suicidality, mediated by personality dimensions. The prisoners reported high levels of childhood adversity. More than a third reported recent suicidal ideations. Childhood adversity and dimensions of personality were associated with suicidality. Structural equations showed that childhood adversity was positively associated with suicidality, mediated by poor dimensions of character (affective stability, self-cooperativeness, and self-transcendence). In conclusion, these results confirm the importance of screening and treatment of childhood trauma among male prisoners. They suggest the importance to study dimensions of personality and tailor treatment to specific needs.     

Basic Personal Values Underlie and Give Coherence to Political Values: A Cross National Study in 15 Countries

Do the political values of the general public form a coherent system? What might be the source of coherence? We view political values as expressions, in the political domain, of more basic personal values. Basic personal values (e.g., security, achievement, benevolence, hedonism) are organized on a circular continuum that reflects their conflicting and compatible motivations. We theorize that this circular motivational structure also gives coherence to political values. We assess this theorizing with data from 15 countries, using eight core political values (e.g., free enterprise, law and order) and ten basic personal values. We specify the underlying basic values expected to promote or oppose each political value. We offer different hypotheses for the 12 non-communist and three post-communist countries studied, where the political context suggests different meanings of a basic or political value. Correlation and regression analyses support almost all hypotheses. Moreover, basic values account for substantially more variance in political values than age, gender, education, and income. Multidimensional scaling analyses demonstrate graphically how the circular motivational continuum of basic personal values structures relations among core political values. This study strengthens the assumption that individual differences in basic personal values play a critical role in political thought.     

Same Game but More Players? Sub-national Lobbying in an Enlarged Union

This contribution builds on the insights provided by the literature on sub-national mobilization in the European Union (EU) to assess whether the 2004–2007 rounds of enlargement have changed anything in this respect. Empirical analysis uses two types of data sources. The first is a survey of over a 100 regional offices in Brussels, and the second consists of 29 semi-structured interviews with Commission officials led in the aftermath of the 2004–2007 enlargements. These data are used to answer the following two research questions: (1) is there a ‘new’ versus ‘old’ cleavage at the territorial level in Brussels? (2) Is there anything like an ‘enlargement effect’ on sub-national mobilization? Analysis reveals that, while there is fading evidence of a ‘new’ versus ‘old’ cleavage in Brussels, enlargement has nevertheless had an impact on sub-national mobilization at the EU level, reinforcing older but also newer trends.     

Magister- en doktorale navorsing — Departement Kommunikasiekunde,Unisa, 1991/92

SUMMARY

The visual representation of meaning is an extremely complex activity in computer system design. Apart from a few simple guidelines for screen design, little attention is being paid to the visual construction of meaning by means of illustrations, diagrams, symbols, etc. Also no widely agreed set of icons or symbols exist for use by system designers. Nor are there any proven procedures to improve the effectiveness of screen designs. Current design practices fail to address the underlying problem of the structural analysis of images and the communication of meaning.

This dissertation therefore investigates the nature of visual literacy in computer applications and offers a paradigmatic approach to the analysis and design of computer images as a method to increase the probability that the user will receive and interpret the intended message accurately. The proposed model includes taxonomies of the structure and organisation of visual images and a set of evaluation criteria.     

Majority Rule in Consensual Democracies: Explaining Political Influence in Norwegian Local Councils

Norwegian local government has traditionally been strongly rooted in the consensus ideal. When the new Local Government Act of 1992 allowed the municipalities to introduce parliamentary models and abolished the statutory requirement of qualified majority decisions in the councils, this therefore implied a significant change in the local government ideal. Even though the municipalities have been reluctant to formally adopt a parliamentary model, this paper argues that in practice a majority system is replacing the traditional consensual model, with functional roles for a governing majority and an opposition. The empirical analysis employs data on local politicians from 1994 and 1998 to test the proposition that representatives of the governing parties exert more influence on local policies than members of the opposition. Two different indicators of political influence are used: (1) the councillors' budgetary influence measured as the distance between the councillors' ideal point and the actual decision outcome, and (2) the councillors' ability to have initiatives accepted in the various local political bodies. In addition to the variable representing membership of the governing majority or the opposition, the model also controls for factors such as the representatives' formal institutional affiliation, individual characteristics and community context. Even when controlling for these determinants, the empirical results strongly support the hypothesis.     

Poderes fácticos,problemas drásticos

The article reconstructs systematically a definition analytically dense of the factual powers. By focusing on the implications factual powers in Latin America, the article inquiries into the resistance of these powers to the State of law, evidencing their propensity to promote their own private interests and impose them on society at large. On its turn, the author elaborates a diagnosis of the cultural expansion of factual powers in Mexican society, demonstrating that their influence expresses and reinforces political deficiencies, legal voids and cultural paucity, identifying the ideological preponderance of private television.     

Intimate Partner Violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Prevalence and Risk Factors

This paper presents results from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of married women (N?=?3,500) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Interviews assessed the 12-month prevalence of participants’ exposure to psychological, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence (IPV) and risk factors including: demographic characteristics, several factors of marital relations, stressful life events, political violence, status inconsistency, family size, locality, region, help resources in the community, and locality-level acceptance of wife abuse. The prevalence estimates of IPV were: psychological aggression, 50 % minor and 12 % severe; physical assault, 17 % minor and 6 % severe; and sexual coercion, 4 % minor and 6 % severe. Results revealed that stressful life events, husbands’ controlling behavior, and marital conflicts were related to all forms of IPV (all p-values?<?0.05). Greater locality-level acceptance of wife abuse was statistically associated with greater odds of each type of violence except sexual violence. The limitations and implications of the study for future research are discussed.