Characterization of surface organic components of human hair by on-line supercritical fluid extraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry: a feasibility study and comparison with human identification using mitochondrial DNA sequences

This paper discusses results of a supercritical fluid extraction-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SFE-GC/MS) study of small samples ( 100 microg to 1 mg) of human scalp hair. The method offers a number of benefits including greater sensitivity than liquid extraction methods because the entire extractable mass is transferred to the analytical system, compared with only a few percent from a conventional liquid extraction/injection. The project's goals were to determine if SFE-GC/MS analyses of the surface-extractable components of an individual's hair yield consistent chemical profiles and to investigate if the profiles are sufficiently different to distinguish them from those of other individuals. In addition, the mtDNA sequences from ten of the same individuals used in the SFE-GC/MS study from four family units were determined, and, while the families were distinguishable, the maternal relations yielded identical sequences. In tandem, SFE-GC/MS and mtDNA techniques may provide valuable complementary data from forensic hair samples.     

Evaluating the Dimensionality and Invariance of ”Low Self-Control”

According to Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) A General Theory ofCrime, all illegal activity is the manifestation of a single underlyingcause. The authors argue that inadequate child-rearing causes individualsto develop a similar type of propensity for criminal and analogousbehavior. Gottfredson and Hirschi label this characteristiclow self-control. Six dimensions, which can be identified intheir theory, are suggested to comprise a final low self-controltrait. Further, low self-control is proposed to be an invariantcharacteristic (i.e., its form does not change with the age of theindividual or context in which the person resides). In this research, weevaluate these two propositions. First, the six dimensions are measured andused to determine if a multidimensional model can explain another commonfactor—low self-control—in two samples of individuals (fromdifferent locales) with dissimilar mean ages. Second, low self-control inboth samples is tested for invariance. We test the proposed invariance oflow self-control by examining if the parameter values in a model, which isreflective of Gottfredson and Hirschi's conceptualization of thecharacteristic, differ across the two samples of individuals. The resultssupport both of Gottfredson and Hirschi's propositions. Lowself-control does appear to be a multidimensional characteristic whosedimensions represent another common factor. Low self-control also appears tobe an invariant latent trait that members of these two samplespossess. These tests help to clarify Gottfredson and Hirschi'sconceptualization of low self-control.     

Ethics and Public Sector Management: The Western Australian Experience

This paper considers two specific difficulties in developing a code of ethics for the public sector, the contested nature of the values to be expressed in a code of ethics and the organisational demands of a corporate managerialist framework which uses performance indicators. Using the example of the Western Australian public sector code of ethics, the authors conclude that a good strategy for developing a public sector code of ethics will recognise contestability, demonstrate philosophical integrity in the code, mesh the code with identified performance indicators and provide whistleblower protection. The strategy described provides a sufficient framework for any public sector bureaucracy to develop a justifiable code of ethics for use by public sector employees.     

Teaching legal techniques

Starting from the position that it is necessary to have some model of the learning process, if legal education is going to respond to pressures for change in a useful way, the article introduces John Dewey and his model of learning. It identifies shared concerns and techniques that informed Dewey's understanding of the learning process and that inform legal processes. Traditional and clinical approaches to legal education are mapped against the model of learning supplied by Dewey, with the hope of providing an intermediate level linkage between his learning theory and the task of curriculum design in legal education at institutions of Higher Education in the UK.     

Gordon Tullock’s The Organization of Inquiry: A critical appraisal

The major themes of Gordon Tullock’s 1996 book The Organization of Inquiry are identified. Tullock’s treatment of the philosophy of science is criticized, as is his explanation for the backwardness of the social sciences relative to the natural sciences. The paper closes with a listing of some of Tullock’s proposals for the reform of science.     

Making the difference: Deleuze's difference and Derrida's différance

This paper seeks to explore the differences between Derrida's différance and Deleuze's difference. Derrida ‘s différance can be seen as based on a phenomenological theory of time, whereby the future is ‘prior’ to the past, and on a Hegelian theory of negation (but without final term or synthesis). Deleuze's, by contrast, relies on a Bergsonian theory of time as the actualization of virtualities, along with a positive and qualitative notion of difference derived from Nietzsche, Leibniz and Spinoza. The paper suggests some implications of these differences for Derrida's and Deleuze's approaches to criticism.     

Object-oriented Bayesian networks for paternity cases with allelic dependencies

This study extends the current use of Bayesian networks by incorporating the effects of allelic dependencies in paternity calculations. The use of object-oriented networks greatly simplify the process of building and interpreting forensic identification models, allowing researchers to solve new, more complex problems. We explore two paternity examples: the most common scenario where DNA evidence is available from the alleged father, the mother and the child; a more complex case where DNA is not available from the alleged father, but is available from the alleged father’s brother. Object-oriented networks are built, using HUGIN, for each example which incorporate the effects of allelic dependence caused by evolutionary relatedness.