Postmortem Skeletal Survey Practice in Pediatric Forensic Autopsies: A National Survey*

Abstract: Recommendations for the evaluation of an unexplained death in infancy include a postmortem skeletal survey (PMSS) to exclude skeletal trauma. Objectives of this study were to assess adherence to these recommendations in forensic autopsies in children equal to or less than 36 months of age, and what factors influence the use or nonuse of the PMSS. We surveyed pathologists who were members of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. The survey included practice characteristics about where, when, and how PMSS were done. Nearly all respondents (99.6%) indicated they performed PMSS at least some of the time; however, almost a third did not use PMSS for all suspected Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), abuse, unsafe sleep, or undetermined causes of death. Despite evidence that “babygrams” are inappropriate in a SIDS workup, 30% of pathologists use them preferentially. Despite SIDS being a diagnosis of exclusion that requires a PMSS, almost 10% of pathologists do not order a PMSS. Future research is necessary to reduce barriers to this important component of the pediatric forensic autopsy.     

Geographic and technological R&;D spillovers within the triad: micro evidence from US patents

This paper aims at assessing the magnitude of R&D spillover effects on large international R&D companies’ productivity growth. In particular, we investigate the extent to which R&D spillover effects are intensified by both geographic and technological proximities between spillover generating and receiving firms. We also control for the firm’s ability to identify, assimilate and absorb the external knowledge stock. The results estimated by means of panel data econometric methods (system GMM) indicate a positive and significant impact of both types of R&D spillovers and of absorptive capacity on productivity performance.

Money laundering in a two-sector model: using theory for measurement

This paper implements a methodology that exploits firms and households’ optimality conditions to measure money laundering for the Italian economy. This approach, first implemented by Ingram et al. (J Monet Econ 40:435–436, 1997) to the household production sector, and by Busato et al. (Using theory for measurement: an analysis of the behaviour of underground economy working paper, Aarhus University, 2006) for measuring the underground economy, allows to generate high frequency time-series for money laundering using a theoretical two-sector dynamic general equilibrium model calibrated over the sample 1981:01–2001:04. The analysis of the generated series suggests two main results. First, money laundering accounts for approximately 12 percent of aggregate GDP; second, money laundering is more volatile than aggregate GDP and it is negatively correlated with it.

Substance Use and Intimate Violence Among Incarcerated Males

The purpose of this study was to examine substance use patterns among a sample of incarcerated males who report engaging in levels of intimate violence, as well as identifying similarities and differences in demographic, economic status, mental health, criminal justice involvement, relationships, and treatment factors for three groups of incarcerated males - those who report perpetrating low intimate violence, those who report perpetrating moderate intimate violence, and those who report perpetrating extreme intimate violence the year preceding their current incarceration. Findings indicated that low intimate violence group's perpetration consisted almost exclusively of emotional abuse. Moderately intimate violent males and extremely intimate violent males, however, report not only high rates of emotional abuse but physical abuse as well. The distinction between moderate and extremely violent groups was substantial. Findings also indicated that perpetrators at different levels of violence in this study did not vary significantly in age, employment history, marital status, or race. However, the three groups showed significant differences in three main areas: (1) cocaine and alcohol use patterns, (2) stranger violence perpetration and victimization experiences, and (3) emotional discomfort. Implications for substance abuse and mental health treatment interventions and for future research are discussed.     

Love,sex and the spaces in-between: Kepri wives and their cross-border husbands

In the Riau Islands of Indonesia significant numbers of women have entered into marriages with men from the nearby countries of Singapore and Malaysia. In many cases, neither spouse migrates after marriage: instead, husband and wife continue to reside in their country of origin. Their close geographical proximity means that the couples can see each other regularly while at the same time taking advantage of the economic opportunities presented by living on different sides of the border. These cross-border marriages challenge the normative model of the nuclear cohabiting couple/family. Our research into the motivations and desires of these cross-border couples living in the Riau borderlands reveals that space and mobility mediate their interactions with the Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian states, thus producing localized accounts of citizenship in which class mobility (rather than physical mobility) becomes the dominant frame through which they view state regulation of marriage and migration. This research challenges the state-centric tendencies in some of the scholarly literature on international and transnational marriage which places overwhelming emphasis on the ability of states to regulate access to citizenship rights. In presenting a view of inconsistent and sometimes incoherent states, we highlight the significant differences between perceptions of state influence and actual state practices in relation to the regulation of international marriages.     

AN EVALUATION OF SUPERVISED ACCESS I

This study describes the Supervised Access Pilot Project, implemented in 14 locations in Ontario, from the perspective of those offering the service and community organizations whose members use the service. Two services were offered: visits and exchanges. The average cost of a visit varied considerably across centers (range $15 to $309), a result that is partly attributable to economies of scale. Centers in large urban centers were more cost-efficient than those situated in small communities. Centers provided neutral and safe circumstances for visiting. Only 1.6 serious rule violations occurred during every 1,000 visits. It was estimated that about 3 out of every 10,000 persons used the service. Intake and safety procedures, essential to the smooth running of the centers, have been outlined. Staff fell that they would benefit from increased training in the areas of conflict resolution and the effects of divorce on family members.     

Factors associated with escalation and problematic approaches toward public figures

Detailed comparison of factors associated with abnormal approach to the prominent and with escalation from communication to approach has not hitherto been undertaken. This partially reflects the failure of individual studies to adopt compatible terminologies. This study involves a careful dissection of six public figure studies, three involving U.S. politicians, two Hollywood celebrities, and one the British Royal Family. Common findings were unearthed across six headings. Approachers were significantly more likely to exhibit serious mental illness, engage in multiple means of communication, involve multiple contacts/targets, and to incorporate into their communication requests for help. They were significantly less likely to use threatening or antagonistic language in their communications, except in those cases involving security breaches. These results emphasize the importance of integrating mental health findings and preventive measures into risk management. Approach should not be regarded as a single behavioral category and has multiple motivations. Future studies should adopt standard terminology, preferably taken from the general stalking research.     

The Contours of “Cap and Trade”: The Evolution of Emissions Trading Systems for Greenhouse Gases

This article documents the evolution of “cap and trade” as a policy response to global climate change. Through an analysis of 33 distinct policy venues, the article describes how the cap and trade policy domain has developed along spatial, temporal, and institutional dimensions. This discussion demonstrates that following initial discussions of cap and trade in the Kyoto Protocol negotiations, the idea quickly spread to other policy venues, creating a complex system of multilevel governance, where many questions about how to govern emissions trading remain contested. The analysis contextualizes recent questioning of emissions trading as an appropriate mechanism for controlling GHG emissions, as well as the ongoing debates about who should govern cap and trade and how it should be carried out. The findings highlight the value added of a domain‐level perspective and suggest the need for future research on the sociopolitical nature of cap and trade policy debates.     

Agency in earth system governance: refining a research agenda

In the face of global environmental change, a key question for the social sciences is how to organize the co-evolution of societies and their natural environment. In this context, a new long-term research program, the Earth System Governance Project, proposes several key issues to be examined: architecture, agency, adaptiveness, accountability, and allocation and access. The contributions to this special issue have focused on the analytical problem of agency. For example, they have examined newly emerging or understudied agents of global environmental governance, or offered a fresh assessment of agency in the context of existing governance mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism. This concluding article outlines several insights provided by the contributions to this special issue regarding four key questions underlying the study of agency in global environmental governance. First, they call attention to the ingredients or processes that characterize agency in the first place and thus distinguish actors from agents. Secondly, the authors highlight the differences among agents and how they interact with each other. Thirdly, they point toward variation in the ways that agents may acquire authority. Finally, the contributions to this special issue suggest that there may be several approaches to evaluating agency, with different consequences. Thus, taken together, the contributions to this special issue provide a starting point for broadening our understanding of agency in earth system governance.