The indirect transfer of glass fragments to a jacket and their subsequent persistence

Experiments were conducted to investigate a scenario sometimes encountered in casework, where a police officer has attended a scene and shortly afterwards arrested a suspect. The experiments involve the transfer of glass fragments from a surface scattered with broken glass to a hand, and then from the hand to the sleeve of a poorly retaining jacket. The persistence of the transferred fragments was studied by collecting the glass fragments as they fell off the jacket, whilst the wearer was walking on the spot. The recovery regime allowed the number and proportion of fragments picked up and transferred to the jacket from the hand to be determined, and the rate at which they were lost from the jacket to be monitored. The results show that large numbers of glass fragments can be picked up on a hand from a suitable surface. A subsequent firm grip to a poorly retaining jacket was found to transfer a significant proportion of the glass fragments from the hand to the jacket. In seven of nine tests performed, ten or more glass fragments were recovered from the jacket 60 minutes after the original contact between the hand and the broken glass. More than twenty fragments were recovered in three of these tests. Consequently, where possible and appropriate, the full circumstances of a case should be considered carefully before indirect transfer is ruled out as a possible explanation for recovered “matching” glass. This is the case even for poorly retaining clothing.     

Book reviews

Reckless Legislation: How Lawmakers Ignore the Constitution by Michael A. Bamberger. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000. Pp.ix + 233. $32 hb ISBN 0 8135 2732 5.

An Accidental MP by Martin Bell. London: Viking, 2000. Pp.230 £16.99 hb ISBN 0 670 89231 9.

Politico's Guide to Parliament by Susan Child. London: Politico Publishing, 1999. Pp.vi + 461 £25 hb ISBN 1 902301 23 4.

The European Parliament by Richard Corbett, Francis Jacobs and Michael Shackleton. London: John Harper, 4th edn, 2000. £37.50 hb ISBN 0 953 62782 9; £14.95 pb ISBN 0 953 62781 0.

The C‐Span Revolution by Stephen Frantzich and John Sullivan. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999. Pp.xiv + 433. $14.95 pb ISBN 0 8061 3130 6.

Pivotal Politics: A Theory of U.S. Lawmaking by Keith Krehbiel. Chicago, IL and London: University of Chicago Press, 1998. Pp.xvi + 258. £39.55 hb ISBN 0 226 45271 9; £13.50 pb ISBN 0 226 45272 7.

Legislative Enterpreneurship in the U.S. House of Representatives by Gregory Wawro. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press, 2000. Pp.xiv+193. $39.50 hb ISBN 0 472 11153 1.     

European health regulations and Brazil nuts: Implications for biodiversity conservation and sustainable rural livelihoods in the Amazon

Abstract

The Brazil nut industry comports with the principal objectives of European policy on development co‐operation (poverty reduction linked with environmental protection) and forest conservation (maintaining forest cover). However, European Regulation 1525–98 EC, which decreases acceptable levels of aflatoxins in Brazil nuts to 4 parts per billion, may cause a crash in the Brazil nut trade. Thus, European policies on food quality, development co‐operation and forest conservation are likely to operate a cross‐purposes. Brazil nut producer countries have questioned the legal basis of the Regulation in terms of scientific justification for the stricter limits on aflatoxin content and lack of conformity with international standards set by Codex Alimentarius. The EC has countered by invoking the precautionary principle. This article documents the debate in the context of the World Trade Organisation's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement and discusses the implications for the relationship between agendas of trade, environment and sustainable development.     

The (im)possibility of development studies

Abstract

Development studies is commonly understood to be committed both to a principle of difference (the Third World is different, hence the need for a separate field of studies) and a principle of similarity (it is the job of development policy to make ‘them’ more like ‘us’). This double commitment has led to important challenges to the intellectual standing of the discipline and/or its object of study, development. This paper begins by reviewing five theorems which pronounce the impossibility of development studies. It then offers a more sympathetic account of the field. While recognizing the urgent need for development studies to be critical and at times oppositional, the paper suggests that an allied commitment to public policy-making can be taken as a sign of maturity. Development, and development studies, should be understood as sets of social practices, or technologies of rule, the organization and effects of which need to be (and in key respects are) contested and subjected to political and scholarly review.     

Central‐city and suburban migration patterns: Is a turnaround on the horizon?

Abstract

The huge population losses that characterized many older, larger U.S. cities during the 1960s and 1970s slowed and in some cases ceased during the 1980s and early 1990s. Periodic media reports of neighborhood turnarounds, commercial revitalization, and improvements in housing and the quality of life in selected inner‐city subareas have been taken as signs that central cities are retaining middle‐class residents and even attracting some back from the suburbs.

Analysis of metropolitan household migration patterns based on the U.S. Census Bureau's 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples and more recent Current Population Surveys shows that the dominant trend in residential movement among most population subgroups is still toward the suburbs. While not discounting reports of central‐city neighborhood turnarounds and selective demographic revitalization, our findings imply that those improvements are limited and that a widespread back‐to‐the‐city movement is not likely in the foreseeable future.     

International transactions in innovative machinery∗

The paper explores the economic implications of two different types of transactions to bring new technology into Third World industries — ’machine‐maker’ and ‘machine‐user’ transfers. Its main conclusion is agnostic. It suggests that there is no presumption in favour of ‘arms length’ transaction as opposed to the more complex transfers of the machine‐user type—not at least in terms of comparative static analysis. The comparative merits of the two types of transfer depend in the end on their international distributional effect and the relative case with which these can be controlled by government policy.     

Moving Towards More Effective Seed Aid

Seed aid is increasingly applied as an emergency response throughout Africa. This article describes its rise, its goals and the seed security principles which should shape it. Drawing on evidence of the effects of disaster, the article reviews the appropriateness of current seed aid responses and suggests ways to link the type of seed security problem with the type of response employed. Direct seed distribution, the dominant form, seems suited for a subset of conditions when farmers procure seed through formal channels and when seed is not sufficiently available in an area. Seed vouchers and fairs may be more widely applicable as this approach strengthens channels that farmers normally use (both formal and informal) and addresses the more common problem of farmers' lack of access to seed. Key for improving seed aid is a better understanding of how local seed markets function, as these provide a core of seed security in normal and stress periods.     

Distress Tolerance and Intimate Partner Violence among Men in Substance Use Treatment

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is overrepresented among men in substance use treatment. Individuals who relapse following substance use treatment report greater IPV perpetration relative to individuals who remain remitted. In addition, distress tolerance has been shown to be an important treatment target in substance use treatment, with distress tolerance predicting relapse following treatment. However, we are unaware of any research that has examined the relationship between distress tolerance and IPV among men in substance use treatment, which may hold important treatment implications. The current study therefore examined this relationship in a sample of men in substance use treatment (N = 138). Results demonstrated that distress tolerance was negatively associated with physical and psychological IPV perpetration. After controlling for age and substance use and problems, distress tolerance remained associated with psychological, but not physical, IPV perpetration. These findings suggest that distress tolerance may be an important component of treatments for IPV, particularly for psychological aggression. Substance use treatment programs that target distress tolerance may concurrently reduce the risk for relapse to substance use and IPV perpetration.     

Use of a solid absorbent and an accelerant detection canine for the detection of ignitable liquids burned in a structure fire

ABSTRACT: Ignitable Liquid Absorbent^™ (ILA), a commercial solid absorbent intended to assist fire scene investigators in sample location and collection, has been field tested in three separate room fires. The ability of the ILA to detect and absorb different amounts of gasoline, odorless paint thinner, and camp fuel on two different substrates after a full-scale burn was assessed against results from an accelerant detection canine and laboratory analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The canine correctly alerted on most of the panels that contained an ignitable liquid after the fire, while the ILA indicator dye failed to indicate in the presence of gasoline and camp fuel. GC-MS results for ignitable liquid residue from each panel and from the ILA showed that ILA absorbed odorless paint thinner and camp fuel from most of the test panels, but failed to absorb gasoline from the panels on which gasoline was confirmed to be present.