Quantification of Osteon Morphology Using Geometric Histomorphometrics

Many histological methods in forensic anthropology utilize combinations of traditional histomorphometric parameters which may not accurately describe the morphology of microstructural features. Here, we report the novel application of a geometric morphometric method suitable when considering structures without anatomically homologous landmarks for the quantification of complete secondary osteon size and morphology. The method is tested for its suitability in the measurement of intact secondary osteons using osteons digitized from transverse femoral diaphyseal sections prepared from two human individuals. The results of methodological testing demonstrate the efficacy of the technique when applied to intact secondary osteons. In providing accurate characterization of micromorphology within the robust mathematical framework of geometric morphometrics, this method may surpass traditional histomorphometric variables currently employed in forensic research and practice. A preliminary study of the intersectional histomorphometric variation within the femoral diaphysis is made using this geometric histomorphometric method to demonstrate its potential.     

The assessment of capable guardianship measures against bullying victimization in the school environment

Abstract

Policymakers, school officials and the law enforcement community have expanded legal tools and other strategies to address bullying in recent years. This has resulted in a larger and more challenging role for law enforcement officers working in school settings. The present study seeks to understand the ways in which local law enforcement officers interpret this new role and their efforts to prevent and respond to bullying. We draw upon Routine Activities Theory as a lens to view officer perceptions of promoting guardianship and reducing target suitability of young people most at-risk for bullying victimization. Data collected from qualitative interviews of law enforcement officers working with local schools, suggest that officers see a role for law enforcement in promoting guardianship around this health and safety concern, but recognize the limitations of using arrest authority. They emphasize promoting trust and building relationship in efforts to support potential and current bullying victims.     

FINANCING THE WAR ON DRUGS: THE IMPACT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT GRANTS ON RACIAL DISPARITIES IN DRUG ARRESTS

This study estimates the impact of the discretionary Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program (EBMGP) on drug arrests and crime. The 1986 and 1988 Anti‐Drug Abuse Act allocated federal funds to state and local municipalities to combat illicit drug use and violent crime associated with drug sales and trafficking. The results show that the implementation of the EBMGP resulted in an increase in police hiring, an increase in drug sales arrest rates for Blacks and Whites, and a decrease in total crime. Nonetheless, Black‐White racial disparity in the drug sales arrest rate still significantly increases by approximately 1 for every 1,000 Black residents. Our findings highlight the role of federal crime control policies in state and local policing. Although, the EBMGP was a color‐blind policy initiative, it was not race neutral in its implementation.     

Reshaping Employment Relations in the UK Voluntary Sector: an Exploratory Study into the Impact of Best Value

This paper provides exploratory insights into the impact of the UK government's Best Value policy on employment policies in voluntary organisations. Best Value is one of a number of institutional pressures on HR policies within the sector: many of which have positive implications for the conduct of HR and delivering care. However, the data also reveal tensions in this institutional environment with regard to meeting demands of twenty-four hour care and family-friendly policies for the workforce. Moreover, continuation of aspects of the New Public Management agenda within Best Value means that pressure on pay and conditions in the sector persist, raising concerns regarding worker morale and quality of care.     

Educating for polyarchy: A new pa challenge

Resource constraints, citizen activism, and the threat of privatization are driving public organizations toward responsiveness and efficiency. Hierarchy is giving way to polyarchy in the administrative system. An interactive classroom which uses analysis and feedback to leverage the students’ experiences in management situations can prepare public administration students for this new polyarchal work environment.     

Cutting with the Grain: Human Rights,Conflict Transformation and the Urban Planning System—Lessons from Northern Ireland

This article examines how the urban planning system in Northern Ireland served to concentrate segregation and systemic inequalities during the course of the recent conflict. Using documents recently uncovered from the Northern Ireland Public Record Office (PRONI), this article will show how the security forces ‘cut with the grain’ of a planning system that had historically been predicated upon segregation and exclusion in order to better control and manage politically motivated violence leaving a divided city in which systemic inequalities have been built into the fabric of the urban environment. Drawing on developments within regulatory theory this article will outline a way forward for creating an integrated post-conflict planning agenda for Belfast that takes account of the limits of traditional forms of legalism and adds learning to the debate around the relationship between systemic inequalities and the process of conflict transformation.     

Transferring MSW Education to Practice: A Qualitative Study With Public Child Welfare Employees

This study used a qualitative analysis of survey data collected from public child welfare employees (n = 168) as they completed master's of social work courses in a weekend/hybrid program, to examine their perceptions of ability to apply classroom learning to practice. The program, which combined a focus on direct practice and management, was developed in partnership with the state's public child welfare agency, during a period of systemic change and case practice reform. Findings indicate that students readily transferred knowledge and skills to the workplace, albeit with some challenges. In particular, management courses appeared to provide an important framework in understanding the organizational context of practice.     

The inhibiting factors that principal investigators experience in leading publicly funded research

Securing public funding to conduct research and leading it by being a principal investigator (PI) is seen as significant career development step. Such a role brings professional prestige but also new responsibilities beyond research leadership to research management. If public funding brings financial and infrastructure support, little is understood about the inhibiting factors that publicly funded PIs face given the research autonomy offered by publicly funded research. Our study finds that there are three key PI inhibiting factors (1) political and environmental, (2) institutional and (3) project based. Traditional knowledge, skills and technical know-how of publicly funded PIs are insufficient to deal with the increasing managerial demands and expectations i.e. growing external bureaucracy of public funding agencies. Public funding is no longer the ‘freest form of support’ as suggested by Chubin and Hackett (Peerless science: peer review and US science policy. Suny Press, New York, 1990) and the inhibiting factors experienced by publicly funded PIs limits their research autonomy. We also argue that PIs have little influence in overcoming these inhibiting factors despite their central role in conducting publicly funded research.     

Operationalizing risk: The influence of measurement choice on the prevalence and correlates of prison violence among incarcerated murderers

A retrospective review was performed on the disciplinary records of 1,659 convicted murderers who had been admitted to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice between February 2001 and November 2003. Institutional violence was disaggregated by type of infraction, inmate or staff victim, extent of injury, and weapon usage to determine baseline prevalence and rates. Characteristics of the perpetrators, including younger age, more serious murder conviction, and longer sentence were associated with a higher incidence of prison assaults. Logistic regression analysis of a restricted sample of 1,440 male, non-death row inmates resulted in modestly predictive models for potentially violent acts (AUC = .668), assaults (AUC = .700), and assaults resulting in serious injury (AUC = .750). The findings suggest that the choice of measure used when operationalizating prison violence is crucial in determining baselines, but may have a more limited effect on identifying correlates and predicting outcomes.     

The BodeChecks solution: A high throughput analysis software combining GeneMapper ID, FSS-i, LIMS, and artificial intelligence

Combining key attributes of GeneMapper^® ID and FSS-i³ software packages with our internally created LIMS and some additional analytical programming has permitted us to increase quality checks on DNA profile data review while eliminating analysis time.