Does the minimum drinking age affect traffic fatalities?

Since the mid-1970s numerous states have raised their minimum legal drinking age in an effort to reduce alcohol-related traffic accidents. This study examines determinants of a variety of traffic fatality rates at the state level for 1978, with particular attention to drinking age and drinking experience. The legal drinking age has no perceptible influence on fatalities, but inexperience in drinking is an apparent risk factor independent of age. The findings suggest that the effectiveness of higher drinking ages as a safety policy tool probably has been overstated.     

Photographic Image Comparison of Vegetation

Images and videos are common types of evidence in crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis. Images may be taken by the suspect and/or by crime scene investigators and may serve as crucial elements in forensic laboratory analysis. Forensic photographic image comparison is the process of comparing one or more objects or persons in photographs/images when at least one image is known to be related to a crime. The forensic examiner usually compares the images in order to determine whether or not an association between the exhibits in the images can be made. This paper proposes an extension to the currently prevalent photographic image examination method. The extension introduces comparison of landscape and vegetation over time. It is revealed that similarities between images may still be found between the period of time the suspect photograph was taken and the period the crime scene investigator took the photograph from the same area. In this case report, two suspects to be involved in growing a marijuana field were arrested by the police. The forensic experts were asked to examine images taken by the crime scene investigators and to compare them to the images found in the suspects’ phones. They then tried to determine whether the suspects could be linked to the specific locations. While applying techniques derived from morphological comparison methodologies, the plants at the scene provided significant additional information. A tree trunk, branches, and twigs on a hedge in the photographs revealed specific individual characteristics that led the examiner to reach a conclusive decision.     

Developments in Policy Analysis and Evaluation in Public Administration

Established in 1948, Israel can be considered a new developing state in transition; on the other hand, it can be viewed as a modern western society and the only strong democracy in a rather unstable region. While the former implies lack of public administration tradition and the need to invest in basic infrastructures, the latter requires, among other responsibilities, the adoption of norms of systematic policy planning and accountability. In Israel, security problems, limited (and loss of) resources, lack of stability and huge waves of immigration have displaced more mundane issues such as administrative reforms and systematic policy planning approaches. From its inception, there was constant criticism of the state's lack of established norms, functions, and skilled practitioners, particularly in policy analysis and evaluation. At first the criticism came from academia (especially Dror 1968, 1971), but in time it crossed lines and was raised by parties and Members of Parliament (the Knesset), and constituted a major issue in the work of different committees concerned with reforms in the public service and in government reorganization. This paper (1) will discuss the main reasons for the shortcomings of Israeli public policy analysis, evaluation and planning, and (2) will present shifts in conceptualization during recent years, with regard to systematic policy making.     

Creating Chaos at the Borders

The morbidity and mortality issues likely to arise for geriatric superstars are not unlike those already realized for so-called miracle babies. The therapeutic imperative and other social pressures, the technological imperative, financial interests, and media hyping have driven the overzealous medical-science pursuits of very old individuals and very young fetal infants. This article discusses lessons learned and lessons expected.

Photographic comparison of surface topography as a viable solution when physical match is challenging

Physical matching methods are a family of well‐known methods that are utilized in order to determine whether two pieces of a tearable/breakable material used to be one object. When performing physical match of polymers, it is sometimes difficult to reach an unambiguous conclusion. This is due to various reasons. One is when the tear/fracture resides in an inaccessible or hidden‐from‐view region of the piece. Another is when the shape of the tear/fracture at the object's tear/fracture line is insufficient for deducing a complete match. Third is deficiency of material along this line. These are examples of processes where the line is affected so drastically, so that a match renders impossible. Specifically, when addressing elastic materials, the tear/fracture line may even be squashed. This may also be a reason for difficulty in performing a physical match. In this paper, a method is proposed where a match is alternatively achieved by means of photographic comparison of marks on the surface topography of the pieces‐in‐question. Comparisons of pairs of torn pieces of silicon rubber were made. The procedure involved photography of the surface topography the pieces. Then, the photographs were horizontally mirror‐flipped. Lastly, a comparison was made between two photographs: a photograph of one piece and a mirror‐flipped photograph of the opposite piece. The results show that after comparing the pieces to one another, only one unique pair turned out to be positively matched. Using the proposed method, not only the comparison is done by a more informative method (comparing to physical match), it is also more convenient, faster, less expensive, and technically simpler.     

Are China and Japan rivals in Latin America? A rivalry perception analysis

Abstract

This article investigates whether the People’s Republic of China and Japan perceive each other as rivals in Latin America (LA; both the Chinese and Japanese governments tend to refer to the region as Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), but for the purposes of this article we focus mainly on LA), and what impact such a perception might have on their foreign policy decision-making. We take LA as a case study because China’s and Japan’s recent (re-)engagement there began almost simultaneously in the early 2000s, and has developed against the background of domestic leadership transitions, growing demands for energy and markets, as well as international political agendas in which LA might play a key role. Developing the work of Thompson [(1995). Principal rivalries. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 39 (2), 195–223; (2001). Identifying rivals and rivalries in world politics. International Studies Quarterly, 45(4), 557–586] and Vasquez [(1993). The War Puzzle. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press; (1996). Distinguishing rivals that go to war from those that do not: Aa quantitative comparative case study of the two paths to war. International Studies Quarterly, 40 (4), 531–558] on rivalry, in combination with perception theory [Jervis, R. (1976). Perception and misperception in international politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press], the article suggests three indicators by which to measure the extent to which China and Japan might perceive each other as rivals. Drawing on content analysis of a range of Chinese- and Japanese-language official writing, news reports, and academic analysis, the article argues that, despite some media representation of China and Japan as competitors for resources and power in LA, in fact mutual perceptions concerning rivalry have not affected LA policy decisions of these two countries.     

A Unique Denial: Israel's Foreign Policy and the Armenian Genocide

This article focuses on the Israeli politicization of the Armenian genocide from the perspective of foreign policy. Since the early 1980s Israel's official position has been to not recognize the Armenian genocide. The issue of recognition came to the surface in 1982 after Turkey put pressure on Israel to cancel a Holocaust and genocide conference. This article shows that Israel agreed to pressure the conference organizers to cancel the conference in order to secure protection for Jews fleeing Iran and Syria through the Turkish border. This article also explores the role of informal ambassadors in shaping Israel's position on this issue. Using recently declassified archival documents and oral interviews with key Israeli stakeholders, this is the first investigation into the role of informal ambassadors, specifically the Jewish minority in Turkey, and the American Jewish pro-Israeli lobby. The article also addresses a secondary incentive for Israel's refusal to recognize the genocide: ethnic competition between Jews and Armenians as victims of genocide.