RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE IN POST-CIVIL WAR SRI LANKA

Post-civil war, Buddhism has gone from being a privileged religion in Sri Lanka to a hegemonic religion. If the ethnic conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam calcified Sinhalese Buddhist sensibilities, the comprehensive victory over the group has emboldened Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists who insist on majority superordination and minority subordination. This essay discusses how the nationalist ideology undergirding Sinhalese Buddhist majoritarianism has exacerbated religious intolerance especially towards the island's Muslims and Christian Evangelicals.     

Properties of novel and widely studied Y-STR loci in three South African populations

The objective of the present study was to examine the properties of a set of single-copy Y-STR loci to assess their suitability for forensic casework in three South African populations. Three criteria were used to select markers for assessment. Firstly, the single-copy markers of the minimal haplotype were selected based on their established use in forensic studies. Secondly, 8 markers were selected on the basis of high gene diversity values reported for several population studies, and thirdly 19 markers were chosen from a survey of Y-chromosome sequence with selections made primarily on the basis of the number of repeated elements present. Samples were typed from 101 English-speaking Caucasians, 88 Xhosa individuals and 77 Asian Indians. Gene diversity values, the number of alleles identified and the average stutter was determined for each locus.     

The Effect of Survey Mode and Sampling on Inferences about Political Attitudes and Behavior: Comparing the 2000 and 2004 ANES to Internet Surveys with Nonprobability Samples

Jon A. Krosnick Departments of Communication, Political Science, and Psychology, Stanford University, 434 McClatchy Hall, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305 e-mail: krosnick{at}stanford.edu e-mail: neilm{at}stanford.edu (corresponding author) Since the inception of the American National Election Study(ANES) in the 1940s, data have been collected via face-to-faceinterviewing in the homes of members of area probability samplesof American adults, the same gold-standard approach used bythe U.S. Census Bureau, other federal agencies, and some nongovernmentresearchers for many of the most high-profile surveys conductedtoday. This paper explores whether comparable findings aboutvoters and elections would be obtained by a different, considerablyless expensive method: Internet data collection from nonprobabilitysamples of volunteer respondents. Comparisons of the 2000 and2004 ANES data (collected via face-to-face interviewing withnational probability samples) with simultaneous Internet surveysof volunteer samples yielded many differences in the distributionsof variables and in the associations between variables (evencontrolling for differences between the samples in reportedinterest in politics). Accuracy was higher for the face-to-face/probabilitysample data than for the Internet/volunteer sample data in 88%of the possible comparisons. This suggests that researchersinterested in assuring the accuracy of their findings in describingpopulations should rely on face-to-face surveys of probabilitysamples rather than Internet samples of volunteer respondents. Authors' note: We thank Randy Thomas of Harris Interactive andMorris Fiorina for very helpful suggestions. Jon Krosnick isUniversity Fellow at Resources for the Future.     

The uniqueness of the human anterior dentition: a geometric morphometric analysis

The analysis of bitemarks has a significant bearing on forensic odontology and has attracted an increasingly sophisticated array of techniques in its evaluation. Two postulates underlie all bitemark analyses: firstly, that the characteristics of the anterior teeth involved in the bite are unique, and secondly, that this uniqueness is accurately recorded in the material bitten. Here, we investigate the question of the uniqueness of the anterior dentition. To do this, we use geometric morphometric techniques based on landmark and semilandmark data. The incisor and canine occlusal surfaces of 50 randomly selected orthodontic casts of young individuals (17-20 years) of both sexes form the material for this study. We analyzed the sizes of these teeth by means of landmark and semilandmark analysis to calculate Procrustes distances between tooth outlines. In order to analyze shape variation among individuals, we carried out principal components analyses on the partial warp scores. These are derived from Partial Procrustes coordinates aligned by means of thin-plate spline decomposition based on the bending energy matrix. The results indicate that there is no sexual dimorphism in the shape of the upper or lower arches. Plots of centroid size and first relative warps show less superposition among individuals than in shape analysis. This means that, when the size and shape are considered together, the difference between arches increases. Procrustes superimposition between the two individuals located most closely (0.0444) and the two most separated (0.1567) along the first axis of relative warp analyses show that individuals are not only differentiated by the relative position of their teeth but also by their arch shape. In conclusion, it appears that the incisal surfaces of the anterior dentition are in fact unique.     

Preliminary investigations into tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium III as a chemiluminescent reagent for the detection of 3,6-diacetylmorphine (heroin) on surfaces

The use of tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium (III) as a chemiluminescent spray reagent spot-test for heroin is discussed. Two forms of the reagent are investigated an aqueous and an anhydrous where both were found to give vastly different results. The aqueous reagent giving slow, low intensity chemiluminescence whilst the anhydrous reagent gave a fast, bright response in the presence of 3,6-diacetylmorphine. The anhydrous reagent is less sensitive the slow, intensity response is characteristic of only two opiates tested 3,6-diacetylmorphine and 3-monoacetylmorphine.     

Jhering's Philosophy of Authority

This article offers a critical reassessment of the jurisprudenceof Rudolf von Jhering. During the 20th century, Anglo-Americanlegal philosophers who drew inspiration from Jhering's workusually lauded him either as a German forerunner to Americanlegal realism or as an early proponent of a jurisprudence ofinterests. These representations of his work do not do justiceto Jhering's jurisprudential project. This study demonstratesthat he sought to explain how legal systems originate and howthey maintain authority. It is shown that his explanation oflegal authority depends not only upon familiar jurisprudentialnotions such as reciprocity and positional duty, but also uponthe concept of Rechtsgefühl—namely, the idea thatauthority is conditioned by citizens’ feelings of whatis right or just. Jhering, it is demonstrated, believed thatthe authority of a legal system depends very much on its abilityto negotiate and accommodate struggles based upon feelings ofright—struggles between citizens, between citizens andState, and between States. It is also argued that the mannerin which Jhering relies on the idea of Rechtsgefühl underminesthe received wisdom that he was an interest theorist.     

Femoral artery pseudoaneurysm and sudden death

Pseudoaneurysm formation may be a late complication of vascular grafting. A case of sudden death in an 83-year-old woman with a previous aortobifemoral bypass graft is reported that was due to spontaneous hemorrhage from a pseudoaneurysm of the graft site that had eroded through the overlying skin and subcutaneous tissues. Pseudoaneuryms do not have to be of a particularly large size for rupture to occur. Social isolation and age-related cognitive impairment may delay treatment in older individuals resulting in a lethal outcome. The elderly are also more vulnerable to serious morbidity and death under these circumstances owing to significant underlying cardiovascular and respiratory disease and/or anticoagulant medication. Rarer conditions that may cause pseudoaneurysms include tumors and vasculidites. The possibility of an infectious contribution to the pseudoaneurysm should be considered and microbiological sampling undertaken.