The Prime Minister's Women

This is a biographical account of the early years of the Women's Affairs Branch, later the Office of the Status of Women, within the Canberra bureaucracy. It invokes personal experience in order to set the record straight, to address historical absences and to bring past strategies to bear on present policy.     

Gouvernance municipale et information: étude exploratoire sur l’utilisation optimale des données 311

This article presents exploratory research into the potential for using artificial intelligence to analyze information obtained through requests made to municipal non-emergency call centers/centres municipaux d’appels non urgents (CANU). The research identifies three possible uses of information from a CANU, either for internal management, service delivery or strategic decision-making. These uses of information are explored through the analysis of the City of Gatineau CANU. The results determine two sets of hypotheses to promote optimal use of the data collected using sophisticated digital tools. Research shows that CANUs could be information nodes dedicated to the processing, distribution and strategic analysis of information.     

The Scavenging Patterns of Feral Cats on Human Remains in an Outdoor Setting

Two cases of feral cat (Felis catus) scavenging were documented at the Forensic Investigation Research Station in Whitewater, Colorado. Human remains at the facility are placed outside, observed daily, documented with field notes, and photographed; decomposition is scored on a Likert scale. Scavenger activity is monitored with game cameras. The cases documented included: preferential scavenging of the soft tissue of the shoulder and arm, differential consumption of tissue layers, superficial defects, and no macroscopic skeletal defects. This pattern more closely parallels the documented pattern of bobcat (Lynx rufus) scavenging than that of domestic cats. Scavenging among felids is relatively rare, as felids typically prefer to hunt. Such cases studied in detail are relatively few, spatially relative, and lack statistical robustness. While only two examples are reported here, these cases are rare overall, and this documentation may help field investigators understand the place of feral cats within a local scavenger guild.     

Sharing the costs of fighting justly

ABSTRACT

Combatants who attempt to obey the laws of war often have to take considerable risks in order to effectively discriminate between legitimate and illegitimate targets. Sometimes this task is made even more complicated by systemic factors which influence their ability to discriminate effectively without unduly risking their lives or the mission. If they fail to do so, civilians often pay the price. In this paper, I argue that to the extent that non-combatants benefit from the attempt to fight justly, and to the extent that wars in which combatants attempt to fight justly can be understood as a system of social cooperation which produces both burdens and benefits, non-combatants have a responsibility to shoulder their fair share of these burdens. Thus, if combatants (and by extension enemy non-combatants) are disproportionately burdened in a conflict, non-combatants ought to take on some costs, for instance in order to reduce the strain imposed on combatants by systemic factors such as the availability and distribution of resources.     

The legacy of lethargy: How elections to the European Parliament depress turnout

Why has turnout in European Parliament (EP) elections remained so low, despite attempts to expand the Parliament’s powers? One possible answer is that because little is at stake in these second-order elections only those with an established habit of voting, acquired in previous national elections, can be counted on to vote. Others argue that low turnout is an indication of apathy or even scepticism towards Europe. This article conducts a critical test of the “little at stake” hypothesis by focusing on a testable implication: that turnout at these elections will be particularly low on the part of voters not yet socialized into habitual voting. This proposition is examined using both time-series cross-section analyses and a regression discontinuity design. Our findings show that EP elections depress turnout as they inculcate habits of non-voting, with long-term implications for political participation in EU member states.     

EU update

This is the latest edition of Baker & McKenzie’s column on developments in EU law relating to IP, IT and telecommunications. This article summarises recent developments that are considered important for practitioners, students and academics in a wide range of information technology, e-commerce, telecommunications and intellectual property areas. It cannot be exhaustive but intends to address the important points. This is a hard copy reference guide, but links to outside web sites are included where possible. No responsibility is assumed for the accuracy of information contained in these links.     

False Positives Observed on the Seratec® PSA SemiQuant Cassette Test with Condom Lubricants

Abstract: In the course of the validation of a new component of the prostate‐specific antigen (PSA) SemiQuant Cassette Test marketed by Seratec^®, a false‐positive reaction was observed when testing samples collected from the surface of unused, lubricated condoms. A variety of personal lubricants and condoms were tested to determine the frequency of the false positive, as well as its potential source. Samples were extracted in both water and the manufacturer‐provided buffer, and the test was performed according to the manufacturer’s suggested protocol. The false positive was observed intermittently, but occurred consistently with samples containing nonoxynol‐9, a strong detergent utilized as a spermicide. The reaction may be attributable to the combination of latex and nonoxynol‐9. Because of the unreliability of the test to confirm the presence of PSA in samples collected from condoms, the PSA cassette is an unsuitable method for confirming the presence of seminal fluid in condoms.