Campaigns Matter: How Voters Become Knowledgeable and Efficacious During Election Campaigns

Election campaigns are more than simple competitions for votes; they also represent an opportunity for voters to become politically knowledgeable and engaged. Using a large-scale Web panel (N ≈ 5,000), we track the development of political knowledge, internal efficacy, and external efficacy among voters during the 2011 Danish parliamentary election campaign. Over the course of the campaign, the electorate’s political knowledge increases, and these gains are found across genders, generations, and educational groups, narrowing the knowledge gap within the electorate. Furthermore, internal and external efficacy increase over the course of the campaign, with gains found across different demographic groups, particularly narrowing the gaps in internal efficacy. The news media play a crucial role, as increased knowledge and efficacy are partly driven by media use, although tabloids actually decrease external efficacy. The findings suggest that positive campaign effects are universal across various media and party systems.     

Automated washing of FTA Card punches and PCR setup for reference samples using a LIMS-controlled Sias Xantus automated liquid handler

We have implemented and validated automated methods for washing FTA Card punches containing buccal samples and subsequent PCR setup using a Sias Xantus automated liquid handler. The automated methods were controlled by worklists generated by our LabWare Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). The protocols were validated according to EN/ISO 17025 for use with STR amplifications kits AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^® and Y-filer^® (Applied Biosystems).     

Testing the Use of Pigs as Human Proxies in Decomposition Studies

Pigs are a common human analogue in taphonomic study, yet data comparing the trajectory of decomposition between the two groups are lacking. This study compared decomposition rate and gross tissue change in 17 pigs and 22 human remains placed in the Forensic Investigation Research Station in western Colorado between 2012 and 2015. Accumulated degree days (ADD) were used to assess the number of thermal units required to reach a given total body score (TBS) (1) which was used as the measure of decomposition. A comparison of slopes in linear mixed effects model indicated that decomposition rates significantly differed between human donors and pig remains χ²₍₁₎ = 5.662, p = 0.017. Neither the pig nor the human trajectory compared well to the TBS model. Thus, (i) pigs are not an adequate proxy for human decomposition studies, and (ii) in the semiarid environment of western Colorado, there is a need to develop a regional decomposition model.     

Doing Harm While Doing Good: The Child Protection Paradox

Every Australian citizen expects state and territory governments to protect children from child abuse and neglect. Protecting children from harm is seen as good. This however is not a simple matter. The ultimate act in protecting children is to remove them from parental care. This causes trauma for the child and pain and distress for parents no matter how inadequately they may have been caring for their children. In that respect removing a child from parental care does harm to parents and children. This article explores the paradox of doing harm while doing good. The article has an Australian focus but the authors think that this issue affects child protection services in many countries.     

Developing Countries in Need: Which Characteristics Appeal Most to People when Donating Money?

Abstract

A discrete choice experiment was conducted to discover the relative importance of five characteristics of developing countries considered by people when choosing countries to donate money to. The experiment was administered via an online survey involving almost 700 university student participants (potential donors). The most important recipient country characteristic for participants on average is hunger and malnutrition, followed by child mortality, quality of infrastructure, income per capita, and, least importantly, ties to the donor’s home country. A cluster analysis of participants’ individual ‘part worth utilities’ representing the relative importance of the country characteristics reveals they are not strongly correlated with participants’ demographic characteristics.