Constructions of girls’ bodies in Israeli academic literature: a critical scoping review

This scoping review offers an opportunity to examine the spread and reclaiming of feminist theoretical tenets in a central domain of youth studies. We examined critically the development of the academic literature on Israeli girls and their bodies, based on a girlhood studies perspective. Data consisted of the 255 academic works (articles, book chapters and graduate theses) published on the topic since Israel’s inception. The analysed variables included: decade, language, discipline, topic, focus population, approach and genre. The findings outline a gradual increase overtime of works on the bodies of girls, dominated by health-related topics and quantitative methodologies, alongside a relatively small number of studies on sub-populations of girls and based on a critical approach. The discussion situates the trends found regarding study populations, topics and approaches in the global and local literature on girls, highlighting signs of an emerging girlhood studies perspective in the reviewed literature in the past two decades.     

County council politicians' attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention: a qualitative cross-cultural study

The purpose of the present study was to compare county council politicians' attitudes toward suicide and suicide prevention in five European countries. A questionnaire was distributed and here the responses to the open-ended questions are analyzed qualitatively. Considerable differences were found in what the politicians in the five countries believed to be the most important causes of suicide and how suicide can be prevented. There were also differences in to what degree the politicians revealed a judgmental attitude toward suicide, which seemed to be related to the magnitude of the problem in the respective countries. A certain implicit inconsistency in the logic directing the politicians' responses was found when their views on causes to suicide and suicide prevention strategies were compared. The responses indicate a need for increased consciousness and knowledge about suicide and suicide prevention among politicians in all the five countries. This is important since they are responsible for initiating and funding suicide preventive efforts.     

Party,Politics and Deciding What Is Proper: Army Officers’ Attitudes after Two Long Wars

Drawing on recent research, the author shows how a majority of officers still believe that the active duty military should not criticize civilian leaders publicly. However, fewer today think this way than those surveyed in the late-1990s. This is a surprising finding given the poisoned state of civil-military relations towards the end of the Clinton Administration, but perhaps is indicative of the Army's frustrated experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past decade.     

The judicialisation of politics: Contemporary trends in research on European and other courts

Courts, Law, and Politics in Comparative Perspective. By Herbert Jacob, Erhard Blankenburg, Herbert M. Kritzer, Doris Marie Provine and Joseph Sanders. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996. Pp.408, index. $20 (paper). ISBN 0–300–06379–2.

The Constitutional Jurisprudence of the Federal Republic of Germany, 2nd ed. By Donald P. Kommers. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1997. Pp.617, notes, sources, index. $75 (cloth), $34.95 (paper). ISBN 0–8223–1838–5.

The Global Expansion of Judicial Power. Edited by C. Neal Tate and Torbjörn Vallinder. New York: New York University Press, 1995. Pp.556, index. $25 (paper). ISBN 0–8147–8227–2.

Judicial Misconduct, A Cross‐National Comparison. Edited by Mary Volcansek. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1996. Pp.163, index. $56 (cloth). ISBN 0–8130–1421–2.

Law Above Nations, Supranational Courts and the Legalization of Politics. Edited by Mary Volcansek. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1997. Pp.177, index. $50 (cloth). ISBN 0–8130–1537–5.     

Fast Multiplexed Polymerase Chain Reaction for Conventional and Microfluidic Short Tandem Repeat Analysis

Abstract:  The time required for short tandem repeat (STR) amplification is determined by the temperature ramp rates of the thermal cycler, the components of the reaction mix, and the properties of the reaction vessel. Multiplex amplifications in microfluidic biochip-based and conventional tube-based thermal cyclers have been demonstrated in 17.3 and 19 min, respectively. Optimized 28-cycle amplification protocols generated alleles with signal strengths above calling thresholds, heterozygous peak height ratios of greater than 0.65, and incomplete nontemplate nucleotide addition and stutter of less than 15%. Full CODIS-compatible profiles were generated using the Profiler Plus ID, COfiler and Identifiler primer sets. PCR performance over a wide range of DNA template levels from 0.006 to 4 ng was characterized by separation and detection on a microfluidic electrophoresis system, Genebench-FX^™. The fast multiplex PCR approach has the potential to reduce process time and cost for STR analysis and enables development of a fully integrated microfluidic forensic DNA analysis system.