Age estimation by IBAS image analysis of teeth

The study of teeth to estimate age in a cadaver or in remains has become widely accepted in legal medicine, especially since the appearance of Gustafson's work in 1950. However, many studies published since that time have questioned the accuracy of these determinations. Computerized image analysis (IBAS) provides much more precise measurements of the parameters involved in these studies. An IBAS I (Kontron) image analysis system was used to study 19 different morphological parameters in midsagittal sections of a total of 173 upper and lower central incisors from as many live subjects. The data thus obtained provide useful information for determining the subject's age.     

Cocaine in decomposed human remains.

From March 1988 through March 1990, at the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office toxicology laboratory, samples from 77 decomposed human bodies were tested for the presence of cocaine, employing gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The material analyzed included decomposed soft tissue, bloody decomposition fluid, mummified tissue, maggots, and beetle feces. Twenty-two cases (28.6%) were positive for cocaine, many of these cases in states of advanced decomposition. These findings indicate the usefulness of testing decomposed tissue for cocaine in all cases where its presence is suspected. This is contrary to what might be expected, since cocaine is generally labile and rapidly broken down by both enzymatic and nonenzymatic mechanisms.     

Equal employment opportunity across states: The EEOC 1979–1989

This study uses unpublished EEOC data from 1979–89 to concentrate on how dwindling resources and policy changes advocated by the EEOC chairs regarding the time and intensity devoted to anti-discrimination cases may have yielded regional variation in discrimination outcomes. We arrive at two major conclusions. First, evidence here suggests that the EEOC counteracted potential regional resistance against anti-discrimination laws. Second, we argue that the seeming inefficiency of the EEOC during Thomas' first years as EEOC chair appears to have occurred because he inherited a large pool of low-merit cases.     

Now you see it,now you don't

The Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 1980, at best, is now moribund. Events, in light of the Reagan Administration's budget cuts, have overtaken the times. Moreover, the principal advocates — Stevenson, Wydler and George Brown, Jr. — have departed for other climes, pursuits and interests. Fundamentally, the Act was doomed from its inception. It widely dispersed responsibilities among Federal agencies that in the past have shown, at best, a passivity towards technology transfer, or at worst, a disdain for it. Like so much Federal legislation in recent years, the Act lays out mandates broadly, badly defines terms and conditions, and omits the most important element of any law: penalties for violating it. Benign neglect, which seems to be the direction for at least the next four years, would appear to be its destiny. Section 11, Utilization of Federal Technology, however, might survive, but in a drastically truncated form, which should give precious little comfort to those who worked so hard for the passage of the Act.