Major incident response: collecting ante-mortem data

The Asian tsunami of 26 December 2004, which devastated coastal parts of more than 10 countries in and around the Indian Ocean caused over 200,000 casualties. People from more than 58 nationalities were amongst the victims and subsequently an international effort for disaster victim identification (DVI) was set up, coordinated by Interpol. DVI teams from more than 20 countries took part in the identification process which, because of the complexity of the situation, had to be conducted in an internationally agreed upon procedure. Standard operating protocols of post-mortem (PM) procedures were established for fingerprinting, forensic pathology, forensic odontology and DNA profiling and were crucial in the quality of the entire DVI process of the quickly decomposing bodies. A very important and underestimated part of the DVI process is the gathering of the ante-mortem (AM) data of the persons reported missing in their home countries. In the wake of this tsunami event it appeared to be even more problematic as entire families had died and information was difficult to obtain. As dentistry proved to be the most valuable identification mean--up to 85% of the cases--the AM dental records proved to be crucial elements for DVI. Standard operating protocols (SOP) were again established as to who, where, when and what information had to be collected by the dentists by the AM teams abroad. Transcribing the AM dental information by experienced forensic odontologists was another crucial element in the whole identification procedure as the information had to be loaded into the DVI System International (Plass Data, Holbaek, Denmark) for comparison with incoming PM data. The Interpol DVI Standing Committee thus recommends that forward planning, adequate funding, international cooperation and standardisation are essential to guarantee an effective response to any major mass disaster of this kind in the future.     

Constitutionality of removals of magistrates in the Commonwealth Caribbean

This article considers the constitutional protections provided to magistrates in the Commonwealth Caribbean. It explores decisions of the Privy Council that have stated that: first, removal of magistrates could only be made where there is reasonable cause for such removal after proper inquiry into the matter; and, second, contractual damages are payable for breach of contract but vindicatory damages are also payable to vindicate the constitutional right of the magistrate. The article also considers the relationship between the contractual provisions by which the services of magistrates might be terminated and the provisions of the Constitution relating to removal of magistrates. Additionally, it examines the question of whether short-term and temporary contracts for magistrates are permissible under the Constitution.     

Estimating Sex Using Metric Analysis of the Scapula by Postmortem Computed Tomography

Postmortem computed tomography (CT) has been extensively used in the last decade for identification purposes and in various anthropologic studies. Postmortem CT measurements of scapulae, analyzed using logistic discriminant function developed in this study, showed 94.5% accuracy in estimating sex. Data analyzed using the Dabbs and Moore‐Jansen (2010) discriminant function and the discriminant function generated in this study provided nearly identical results with disagreement in only one case. Height and weight were not statically significant in sex prediction. The results of this study show that data obtained from volume rendered postmortem CT images can be considered reliable and treated as a practical option to standard anthropological methods, especially in mass fatalities as a rapid triage tool for sex determination.     

PPBS in Nigeria: Its origin,progress and problems

One of the normative models of budgeting prescribed for the Third World countries is PPBS. This paper examines the attempts made by the Nigerian Federal Government to make PPBS part of its budgeting system. Although the idea of PPBS was first highlighted by the 1974 Udoji Public Service Review Commission, it was only in 1980 that a serious attempt was made to start experimenting with PPBS. It was hoped that, by the end of the 1983, PPBS would be fully utilized in all the government ministries and departments. It was the intention of the government to use PPBS to achieve a ‘coordinated and comprehensive’ budgetary system that relates cost with output in order to achieve ‘quick results’ in the implementation of its programme. However, as at the end of 1986, apart from documentary reform (that is improvement in classification of expenditure categories in the budget documents), not much was achieved in Nigeria. In addition to the general difficulties encountered with PPBS in other places where it was tried, the effectiveness of PPBS was circumscribed by a variety of institutional, economic and political factors. The paper concludes by asking whether the exercise was not a retreat from the reality facing the country.     

Parental Incarceration during Childhood, Family Context, and Youth Problem Behavior across Adolescence

Over the past several decades, the number of youth with parents in prison in the U.S. has increased substantially. Findings thus far indicate a vulnerable group of children. Using prospective longitudinal data gathered as part of the population-based Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT) randomized controlled trial, adolescents who had an incarcerated parent during childhood are compared to those who did not across four key domains: family social advantage, parent health, the parenting strategies of families, and youth externalizing behavior and serious delinquency. Past parental incarceration was associated with lower family income, parental education, parental socioeconomic status, and parental health, and with higher levels of parental depression, inappropriate and inconsistent discipline, youth problem behaviors and serious delinquency. The effect sizes for significant associations were small to moderate.     

Sexual orientation,work values,pay, and preference for public and nonprofit employment: Evidence from Canadian postsecondary students

Evidence shows that gay men hold fewer government jobs in the US than their share of the population would predict. Two large surveys of Canadian university and college students, however, indicate no lack of interest in public sector jobs among gay, lesbian, transgender and queer people (GLBTQs). This article explores data on the differing perceptions, motivations, and expectations of GLBTQ students of public and nonprofit employment. We find that (1) GLBTQs are more likely than heterosexuals to prefer public and nonprofit sector employment; (2) GLBTQ career goals and work values predict stronger desire for public and nonprofit sector jobs than heterosexuals; and (3) GLBTQs expect to pay a smaller penalty for working in the public and nonprofit sectors.