Fatal non-accidental pediatric cranial fracture risk and three-layered cranial architecture development

This study examines the influence of three-layered cranial architecture development upon blunt force trauma (BFT) cranial outcomes associated with pediatric non-accidental injury (NAI). Macroscopic and microscopic metric and morphological comparisons of subadult crania ranging from perinatal to 17 years of age chronicle the ontogenetic development and spatial and temporal variability in the emergence of a mature cranial architecture. Cranial vault thickness increases with subadult age, accelerating in the first 2 years of life due to rapid brain growth during this period. Three-layer differentiation of the cranial tables and diploë initiates by 3–6 months but is not consistently observed until 18 months to 2 years; diploë formation is not well developed until after age 4 and does not manifest a mature appearance until after age 8. These results allow topographic documentation of cortical and diploic development and temporal and spatial variability across the growing cranium. The lateral cranial vault is identified as expressing delayed development and reduced expression of the three-layer architecture, a pattern that continues into adulthood. Comparison of fracture locations from known BFT pediatric cases with identified cranial fracture high-risk impact regions shows a concordance and suggests the presence of a higher fracture risk associated with non-accidental BFT in the lateral vault region in subadults below the age of 2. The absence or lesser development of a three-layered architecture in subadults leaves their cranial bones, particularly in the lateral vault, thin and vulnerable to the effects of BFT.     

Colonization of diatoms in and on porcine bone substrate and considerations of diatom ecology for forensic science

The presence of diatom algae in bone marrow has been used as forensic evidence of drowning for several decades; however, these studies are based on known or suspected recent drowning events. This study addresses the potential for diatoms to enter the bone marrow of skeletal remains, that is, de-fleshed long bones post-mortem. In laboratory and field experiments, bones were either inflicted with two access points by a cut and acid pitting or left intact. The bones were submerged in water for at least 1 week and up to 3 months. Samples of the bone surface and marrow were inspected for diatoms. The analysis considered the time required for diatoms to enter marrow and whether genus characteristics like size or mobility affect entry. The presence of an access point influenced diatom entry in that bones without an introduced access point had zero to one diatom present in the marrow, whereas a bone with an access point had >150 diatoms present in the marrow. The results of both laboratory and field phases suggest that diatoms will reliably colonize bone in as quickly as 1 week, establishing and maintaining communities for at least 3 months. However, the bone surface assemblages differ from the source community. Bone marrow displayed even more restrictive access to diatom colonization, resulting in communities dominated by small raphid diatoms. Based on these findings, we suggest some caveats on the use of diatoms as trace evidence in forensic science with recommendations for future avenues of research.     

Prototypicality analysis of the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP): A cross-cultural perspective

The Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) model is a new lexically based concept of psychopathy that has potential clinical utility. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the generalizability of the CAPP conceptual model in South Korea. In the current study, 88 experts and 1727 laypeople in South Korea were asked to evaluate the prototypicality of the symptoms of psychopathy (CAPP items) by using a Korean translation of the CAPP model (K-CAPP). In addition, 11 international prototypicality studies were systematically compared to the ratings by experts in the present study. As a result, it indicated that Korean experts and laypeople, on average, rated K-CAPP symptoms as moderately to highly prototypical of psychopathy, and more prototypical of psychopathy than symptoms theoretically unrelated to psychopathy (foils). Also, prototypicality ratings of K-CAPP symptoms made by those two groups were similar to each other as well as to ratings by experts and laypeople using the CAPP in other 11 countries. In conclusion, these results clearly show that both experts and laypeople in the current study conceptualized PPD in almost the same way as experts and laypeople from previous studies using the CAPP model.     

Revisionism in the economics of backwardness

This article introduces the concept of structural competitiveness to explain the rapid development of South Korean steel industry. Three elements of structural competitiveness are: state autonomy, sound economic policy and indigenous technological capability. These elements have a significant bearing on the bargaining capacity of the state, autonomous investment decisions, labour control, the acquisition and absorption of modern technology, and ultimately international competitiveness. Global competitiveness of South Korea does not refute the technological dependence of developing countries. Rather it suggests the kind of socio‐institutional and economic policy contexts that are often necessary to foster competitive industries.     

The role of the sociologist in local planning

The role of the sociologist in development projects can be misunderstood by other members of an interdisciplinary team in ways that may have undesirable consequences for development research and can distort the resultant team recommendations. Technological professionals can define the sociologist's role in such a way that he is expected to produce answers to unreal and unanswerable questions and to refrain from attempting answers to important and answerable ones. These latter tend to be categorized as ‘evaluative’ or ‘political’ and excluded from the scope of the research project, with the result that major policy decisions are smuggled into the conclusions of the study in the guise of purely technical recommendations. The real goals of development can thus be largely ignored in the formulation of the report. Greater attention should be paid to the sociology and organization of development research itself if these dangers are to be avoided.