Medicoritual trephinations in modern Israel.

Two recent cases of ritual trephinations that were revealed during regular autopsies are described. The osteologic findings are discussed in relation to hospital craniotomy and ancient trephination, and the forensic practitioner is offered a set of criteria to differentiate properly between trephination and craniotomy.     

Transactional telematics in the city

Barriers to women's progress in senior management are often referred to as ‘the glass ceiling ‘. This research investigated these barriers in one local authority where an equal opportunities policy was well established. Interviews with employees in six departments focused on perceptions of and experiences of women in senior management. This study provides some evidence that change has taken place and staff in some departments suggest that a new climate of working relations has been fostered through policies and training. This change continues to be mainly limited to non‐management grades. This research questions why there are so few women in senior management in the local authority and raises issues about their experiences.     

Serious tax fraud and noncompliance

Research Summary This article reviews what international evidence exists on the impact of civil and criminal sanctions upon serious tax noncompliance by individuals. This construct lacks sharp definitional boundaries but includes large tax fraud and large-scale evasion that are not dealt with as fraud. Although substantial research and theory have been developed on general tax evasion and compliance, their conclusions might not apply to large-scale intentional fraudsters. No scientifically defensible studies directly compared civil and criminal sanctions for tax fraud, although one U.S. study reported that significantly enhanced criminal sanctions have more effects than enhanced audit levels. Prosecution is public, whereas administrative penalties are confidential, and this fact encourages those caught to pay heavy penalties to avoid publicity, a criminal record, and imprisonment. Policy Implications Although it has yet to be proven that prosecution has a greater or lesser impact on these offenders, increased prosecution might be justified for purposes of moral retribution as well as perceived social fairness.     

A Critical Theory of the "Rationality" of US Foreign Policy: The Case of the American War in Vietnam

The attacks of September 11th, 2001, have increased the urgency of understanding the relationship between war-making and political culture. This essay uses Frankfurt School critical theory to analyze the development of the increasing "rationalization" of US foreign policy during the Cold War, focusing heuristically on the case of the US war in Vietnam. Particularly developing a Habermasian reading of these phenomena, the essay argues that, despite elite management and "steering" strategies, "subsystemic imperatives" are never completely "uncoupled" from the "cultural lifeworld." In the case of the US war in Vietnam, contradictions between elite political and economic instrumental rationalities and interests, and the broader American political culture and values, led to legitimation problems and loss of trust which have continued into the present period.     

A novel method for ABO genotyping using a DNA chip

ABO genotyping is often performed to identify the blood type of decomposed samples, which is difficult to be determined by a serological test. In this study, we developed a simple method for ABO genotyping using a DNA chip. In this method, polymerase chain reaction-amplified and fluorescent-labeled fragments in the ABO gene and primate-specific D17Z1 were hybridized with DNA probes on a chip designed to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the ABO gene and part of the D17Z1 sequence. Using blood samples from 42 volunteers and 10 animal species, we investigated whether the chip could be used to detect SNPs in the ABO gene and the D17Z1 sequence. This method was then applied to various forensic samples, and it was confirmed that this method was suitable for the simultaneous analyses of ABO genotyping and species identification. This method fulfills the recent need for the development of rapid and convenient methods for criminal investigations.     

Research note: evidence for moving to an 84-person photo lineup

The traditional six-to-ten person lineup is known to be extremely unreliable. Witnesses who choose someone when the suspect is innocent are too likely to choose that suspect. One solution is to enlarge the lineup in a manner that reduces mistaken identification far more than it lowers correct identification of the culprit. This experiment was built on past research, and it displayed to witnesses lineups consisting of sets of 12 photographs in an album, either two sets (24 photos) or seven sets (84 photos). No difference was found between witnesses for the 24-person lineup or the 84-person lineup in either their ability to identify the target whom they had seen previously, or in the number of mistaken choices of someone in lineups where the target was absent. Since the chance that the witness might mistakenly identify the suspect is far less in the 84-person lineup, lineups should consist of at least that number.