Does ink age inside of a pen cartridge?

In questioned document examination and ink dating, it has been assumed that the ink inside of a pen cartridge does not begin aging until the ink is dispensed onto paper. Positive ion laser desorption (LD) mass spectra were obtained of ink-on-paper samples containing methyl violet, from new and old pens. Mass spectral studies with methyl violet have established the mechanism for how the dye degrades over time, and have provided structural information concerning the dye's degradation products. This information was used as an indication of the relative age of ink on paper. The LD mass spectrum of the ink from a new pen was indicative of "new" ink, whereas the spectra of the ink found in some older pens may appear to be either new or old. The ink from most of the old pens studied appears not to have aged, supporting the common assumption, whereas other ink samples produced "aged" ink spectra, suggesting otherwise.     

Assessing the developing knowledge-base of product counterfeiting: a content analysis of four decades of research

Considering the steady and rapid growth of product counterfeiting and the damage it causes to society, it is important for criminology and criminal justice scholars to assist criminal justice officials, industry practitioners, and law makers in understanding the product counterfeiting problem and developing strategies to combat it. However, for researchers to be effective in their advisory role they must first establish what is known about product counterfeiting. As a first step in this process, we investigated relevant published research through a content analysis of 47 articles discussing product counterfeiting published in criminal justice and criminology journals through 2014. We analyzed various characteristics about the articles themselves, their authors, the journals they appeared in, and the nature and extent of their focus on product counterfeiting. We conclude this study with an evaluation of the state of product counterfeiting research and recommendations for future research.     

Don’t reinvent the wheel: possibilities for and limits to building capacity of grassroots international NGOs

Abstract

How can support organisations build the capacity of volunteer-driven non-governmental organisations (NGOs)? Citizen aid for relief and development has expanded rapidly in the twenty-first century, and the number of American aid organisations operating in the Global South has grown to nearly 10,000. These grassroots international NGOs – GINGOs – are small-budget, volunteer-driven organisations typically launched by Americans without professional experience in international development or nonprofit management. These groups prize the expressive and voluntaristic dimensions of development work, yet face challenges of amateurism, material scarcity, fragmentation, paternalism and restricted focus. We investigate whether support organisations, whose primary goals are to build the capacity of organisations and strengthen the organisational field, offer solutions to GINGOs’ inherent weaknesses. We draw on 15 semi-structured interviews with a stratified selection of support organisations, including associations tailored towards international development and towards nonprofit work at large. We find that support organisations offer resources to help GINGOs in managerial and administrative domains. Fewer support organisations help GINGOs build technical development skills, and fewer still push GINGOs to critically reflect on their role in development. We find that peer learning and online platforms could help engage GINGOs volunteers in networking spaces, even as their geographic dispersal in the US encourages their fragmentation and isolation.     

Courting the Women’s Vote: The Emotional,Cognitive, and Persuasive Effects of Gender-Based Appeals in Campaign Advertisements

Political Behavior - In this paper, we examine the ways in which citizens emotionally react to and cognitively process campaign advertisements that contain group-based appeals. Specifically, we...     

Two States: A Comparative Analysis of Gujarat and Bihar’s Growth Performance Between 1981–2011

We examine the growth performance of two states, Gujarat and Bihar, whose economic turnaround under the leadership of Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar has received a lot of attention in the run up to the recently concluded national elections. We study if there are trend breaks in the growth rates in Gujarat and Bihar relative to the national average after these respective leaders came to power. We decompose the growth rates in these two states by sector, namely, agriculture, industry, and services, and try to ascertain where any potential growth spurt may have come from. We also look at the evidence on trend breaks in growth of real wages in these states relative to the national average as a first step to understand how growth may or may not have trickled down to the poorer sections.