A method for calculating the strength of evidence associated with an earwitness's claimed recognition of a familiar speaker

The present paper proposes and demonstrates a method for assessing strength of evidence when an earwitness claims to recognize the voice of a speaker who is familiar to them. The method calculates a Bayes factor that answers the question: What is the probability that the earwitness would claim to recognize the offender as the suspect if the offender was the suspect versus what is the probability that the earwitness would claim to recognize the offender as the suspect if the offender was not the suspect but some other speaker from the relevant population? By “claim” we mean a claim made by a cooperative earwitness not a claim made by an earwitness who is intentionally deceptive. Relevant data are derived from naïve listeners' responses to recordings of familiar speakers presented in a speaker lineup. The method is demonstrated under recording conditions that broadly reflect those of a real case.     

Economic freedom, culture, and growth

How do economic freedom and culture impact economic growth? This paper argues that culture, as measured by the World Values Surveys, and economic institutions associated with economic freedom are both independently important for economic prosperity, but the strength of their impact can be better understood only when both are included in the growth regression. Our results indicate that economic freedom is more important than culture for growth outcomes, suggesting substitutability between the two. We posit that culture is important for growth when economic freedom is absent, diminishing in significance once economic freedom is established.     

Neuerungen im Zusammenhang mit der Volksanwaltschaft

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

The maquiladora electronics industry on Mexico’s northern border and the environment

The electronic sector, in particular, the computing industry, has become an increasing concern because of the environmental impact of its products throughout their life cycle. The United States, Europe and Japan as the greatest consumers of electronic goods have given special attention to this issue. The fast computer obsolescence and its difficult confinement, because of the hazardous substances contained, have required a special effort of technical innovation. Nevertheless, this effort seems to respond mainly to the standards required by the countries in which these goods are produced, consumed and confined, which are radically different in developed and developing countries. Though an important part of the production process (assembling) is done in developing countries, little attention has been paid to the environmental quality at this production stage. This study examines the environmental problems and strategy of the electronic assembly industry in the three northern border cities of Mexico. Almost half of 200 electronic maquiladora enterprises surveyed had not undertaken any active environmental policy and there was a limited environmental standards enforcement. Evidence was found that the firms that had operated for a longer period of time had better chances of taking better care of the environment. Environmental firm policies became weaker as one descended from the head office to the subsidiaries and then to their suppliers. It is also found that some transnational corporations operate with double standards in Mexico and thus strong national policies on environmental standards in Mexico are required to change this practice.

Computer assisted modeling of ethyl sulfate pharmacokinetics

For 12 volunteers of a drinking experiment the concentration–time-courses of ethyl sulfate (EtS) and ethanol were simulated and fitted to the experimental data. The concentration–time-courses were described with the same mathematical model as previously used for ethyl glucuronide (EtG). The kinetic model based on the following assumptions and simplifications: a velocity constant k_form for the first order formation of ethyl sulfate from ethanol and an exponential elimination constant k_el. The mean values (and standard deviations) obtained for k_form and k_el were 0.00052 h^?1 (0.00014) and 0.561 h^?1 (0.131), respectively. Using the ranges of these parameters it is possible to calculate minimum and maximum serum concentrations of EtS based on stated ethanol doses and drinking times. The comparison of calculated and measured concentrations can prove the plausibility of alleged ethanol consumption and add evidence to the retrospective calculation of ethanol concentrations based on EtG concentrations.     

Forensic DNA against wildlife poaching: Identification of a serial wolf killing in Italy

The recent expansion of the Italian wolf population through the Apennine and western Alps, after centuries of contractions, is causing conflicts with human activities leading to a rise in poaching or illegal killings. Here we show how molecular population genetics has been used to identify a suspect serial wolf killer. We analysed DNA extracted from a necklace made of ten presumed wolf canine teeth, confiscated in 2008 to a man living in the northern Italian Apennine (Liguria Region). Individual genotypes were determined using 12 unlinked autosomal microsatellites (STRs), mtDNA control-region sequences, a male-specific ZFX/ZFY restriction-site and three Y-linked STRs. Results indicate that the teeth belonged to six different individuals (three males and three females), which were assigned to the Italian wolf population with p > 0.90 by Bayesian procedures. One of these genotypes matched with the genetic profile of a male wolf previously found-dead and already non-invasively sampled in the same area. Another genotype matched with that of a female wolf non-invasively sampled twice in the same area 1 year before. These data are being used as forensic genetic evidence in the ongoing criminal trial against the suspect serial wolf killer.     

Russian Adaptations of General and Personal Belief in a Just World Scales: Validation and Psychometric Properties

In a questionnaire study, Russian versions of the General and Personal belief in a just world (BJW) Scales were validated. Results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Personal BJW Scale could be empirically differentiated from the General BJW Scale; however, both scales correlated positively. Good internal consistencies of both scales were demonstrated. Age was positively correlated with personal BJW but not with general BJW. Gender differences were found neither in personal nor in general BJW. Personal BJW was found to be stronger than general BJW. Convergent validity was tested by inspecting correlations of BJW scales with the Basic World Assumptions Scale. Divergent validity was examined by inspecting correlations with Markers for the Big Five Factor Structure Scale and Justice Sensitivity Scales. Both personal and general BJW showed positive connections with all subscales of the Basic World Assumptions Scale (self-worth, benevolence of world, justice, luck, and control). We demonstrated divergent validity of personal BJW regarding intellect, agreeableness, conscientiousness, beneficiary and perpetrator sensitivity, and divergent validity of general BJW regarding intellect, beneficiary, perpetrator, and observer sensitivity. Both BJW dimensions were unrelated to beneficiary and perpetrator sensitivity. In addition, general BJW was not related to observer sensitivity. Results give evidence for satisfactory psychometric properties and validation of the Russian versions of BJW scales.     

Belief in a Just World as a Resource of Victimized Students

In a cross-sectional questionnaire study with N?=?2593 German students, aged between 12 and 17 years (M?=?14.1, SD?=?0.5), we investigated the relation between students’ personal belief in a just world (BJW) and their victimization in bullying situations. According to the just-world theory and research, we expected that the more strongly the students endorsed the personal BJW, the less likely they were to report being victimized by other students. We aimed to extend previous findings that failed to confirm this negative relation by considering students’ personal experience of teacher justice as a possible mediator in this relation, while statistically controlling for sex and school type. We further considered the nested data structure with regard to school classes in our analyses. The results of latent mediation analyses at the individual and group levels showed that the more the students endorsed personal BJW, the more they evaluated their teachers’ behavior toward them personally as being just, and the less likely they were to report that they were bullied. However, the students’ personal experience of teacher justice did not mediate the relation between personal BJW and victimization at the individual or group level when controlled for sex and school type. We discussed the adaptive functions of BJW and implications for future school research and practice.     

Precariousness or prosperity? The diverse faces of widowhood in rural Buenos Aires during the nineteenth century

In this article, I will explore the resources and capacities women could mobilize in the countryside of Buenos Aires at the beginning of the nineteenth century when they had to confront the domestic crisis triggered by their husbands’ death. It is of course essential to study the foreseeable options (taking over the helm of the family farm, seeking refuge with relatives, or quickly remarrying) they had and the role played by what are commonly considered as crucial resources (family composition, patrimony, and networks). This study nevertheless seeks to identify other factors (notably the legal framework, patterns of colonization, and widows’ own know-how and experiences as farmers and settlers) that bring to light the specificity of widowhood in rural Buenos Aires during this period. As a consequence, the juridical aspects of inheritance proceedings and the concrete practices they reveal will be analyzed before I examine the wide social spectrum (namely the inhabitants of San Antonio de Areco, La Matanza, Quilmes, and San Vicente, four areas of rural Buenos Aires) registered by the censuses of 1813 and 1815.