Alcohol‐Induced Osteopenia Among In‐Custody and Homicide Deaths from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences

Four cases of in‐custody or unlawful death are presented as examples of increased bone fragility with an associated increase in fracture rates due to ethanol‐induced osteopenia. In addition, one of the individuals suffered fractures several weeks premortem, allowing some healing to take place. Using radiographs and physical examination, the ribs from these individuals are compared with those retained from three individuals with no history of alcoholism to illustrate diagnostic characteristics that will be notable using standard autopsy and anthropological procedures. Trabecular bone mass is notably decreased in the alcoholic group leading to a greater chance of fracture occurring during conflict, including arrest and in‐custody situations. The average number of perimortem fractures among the alcoholic individuals is 15, while the control group is six. In the case of the individual with healing, the degree of bone repair on the ribs was less than is expected considering the interval between injury and death.     

Fighting Cosmic Warriors: Lessons from the First Seven Years of the Global War on Terror

This article argues that a successful strategy for fighting the Global War on Terror (GWOT) requires actions aimed not only at defeating the Al Qaeda network and denying its operatives sanctuary, but also efforts to delegitimize Al Qaeda's ideology; the United States has focused on the former at the expense of the latter. The GWOT requires a new strategy, one that continues to target Al Qaeda operatives and their assets, while undermining Al Qaeda's message. This requires a better understanding of Al Qaeda's ideology, how U.S. foreign policy may fuel that ideology, and a strategy for undermining militant Islam's worldview.     

Negative emotional states,life adversity,and interrogative suggestibility

Purpose. Interrogative suggestibility has been shown to vary according to cognitive and personality factors and if reliably measured may predict performance in real forensic interviews. It is therefore of both theoretical and practical interest to identify which psychological factors are most closely related to suggestible responding. This study examines the extent to which individual differences in negative emotional states predict performance on a measure of interrogative suggestibility and also tests the assumption that self‐reports of negative life events are associated with suggestibility. Method. A non‐clinical sample (N= 80) of participants was administered the brief form of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS‐21), the Life Experiences Survey (LES), and the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS‐1). Results. Negative emotional states were found to correlate positively, although moderately, with all of the suggestibility measures. Multiple regression analyses found significant predictive models emerged for Yield 1, Yield 2, and Total Suggestibility. Each of these predicted a small proportion of the variance. Negative life event impact ratings were not associated with interrogative suggestibility. Conclusions. The findings suggest that brief self‐report measures of negative emotional states are limited as predictors of interrogative suggestibility. The results also call into question the predictive utility of traditional checklist measures of life adversity for forensic purposes.     

Does Sex Encourage Commitment? The Impact of Candidate Choices on the Time-to-Decision

The sex of a congressional candidate can influence voting choices, but does candidate sex also influence the timing of those choices? This paper examines that question in light of other information that voters weigh in making their decisions. Using a national survey from the 2006 election, and a unique dataset of political informants, we find that the sex of the candidate conveys ideological information that permits voters to make swifter judgments. Additionally, it reduces the probability of a delayed decision by supplying information helpful to the choice between candidates—even in the absence of ideology. In fact, the impact of candidate sex rivals other variables that are traditionally used to explain the time-to-decision. Consistent with the literature on sex stereotypes, we find a stronger influence for Democratic than Republican female candidates.     

The Effects of Structures and Power on State Bargaining Strategies

When and why will states adopt more (or less) cooperative bargaining strategies? Standard answers to this question focus on the role of state power. Other scholars highlight socialization effects. I argue that in most international negotiations, the institutional bargaining structure will mitigate the effects of power and socialization, and drive state bargaining behavior. Factors highlighted by formal models of international bargaining should therefore best explain the variation in the strategies states adopt. I introduce empirical measures of these abstract concepts, and test their effects against those of power and socialization using an original dataset of state bargaining strategies in the European Union (EU). The results show that structural factors best explain variation in the EU states’ bargaining strategies. I conclude by highlighting the conditions under which these effects should explain state bargaining behavior in other international negotiations, and discuss the implications of this argument for the study of international bargaining.     

Double-Speak: The European Union and Gender Parity

Ideas about pursuing a more equal balance between men and women in decision-making bodies and ‘parity democracy’ have been promoted by both the Council of Europe and the institutions of the European Union for nearly 20 years. In the early 1990s, the institutions of the EU played an important role in providing a platform for discussion and debate and thus brought these notions into mainstream political discourse in some of the member states. In response, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, several member states implemented policy to encourage more balanced participation for men and women in national and sub-national decision-making bodies. However, despite its own policy statements to the contrary, the EU decision-making bodies themselves remain male-dominated. This article asks how the EU on the one hand provided an impetus for some of the member states to take action to increase gender balance in decision-making while, on the other hand, its own institutions have remained largely unchanged.     

Disagreement over 'relevant sector' when determining prior art under the Community design right

This case concerns assessment of the relevant product sectorto determine what constitutes prior art when examining whethera design, having previously been ‘made available to thepublic’, would not qualify for protection as a Communityregistered design for lack of novelty.     

Predictors of receiving counseling in a national sample of youth: the relative influence of symptoms,victimization exposure,parent–child conflict,and delinquency

This paper identifies factors that predict children’s use of counseling services within a 2-year period. Using two waves of data from a national survey of 1009 youth age 6–17, we describe differences in utilization by demographic characteristics and compare receipt of counseling between children who scored high versus lower on: (1) levels of mental health symptoms, (2) multiple victimization exposure; (3) levels of delinquency; and (4) parent–child conflict. Multivariate logistic regressions were also performed to examine the relative and independent effects of a these factors on receiving counseling. Results indicate that counseling was received by only one- quarter or less of the 10–17 year olds and one-third or less of the 6–9 year olds with the highest levels of symptoms, victimization or delinquency. For the 10–17 year olds, delinquency and parent–child conflict were better predictors of treatment than were mental health symptoms or victimization exposure. In contrast, younger children (age 6–9) were most likely to receive counseling if they lived in a single parent or stepfamily household. The findings suggest that more counseling should be made available to distressed and victimized children, particularly those who do not engage in high delinquency and conflict which tend to promote referral.

The influence of vehicle model and colour on assessments of speed and culpability: the case for (and against) Computer Generated Exhibits (CGE)

Computer Generated Exhibits (CGE) are frequently deployed in legal contexts under the rubric of demonstrative evidence, i.e. to facilitate juror comprehension. However, a number of legal and academic commentators have suggested that the nature of the computerised moving image could exert undue prejudice on decision makers, e.g. judge and/or jury. The current study aimed to assess the manipulation of vehicle characteristics (make and colour) when a road traffic accident was presented in the format of a computer generated animation (CGA). In experiment 1, two groups of subjects watched two different makes of car, a Range Rover Sport and a Volkswagen Touran in a black-and-white format; no significant differences emerged over vehicle model with regards to vehicle speed or overall responsibility for the accident. Experiment 2 presented the same vehicles to four groups of participants in full colour, with the cars in contrasting red or beige; significant differences emerged with regards to culpability for vehicle make only. The findings could have implications for the format and style of CGE used in legal settings.