The geopolitics of climate change: power transitions,conflict and the future of military activities

Climate change is emerging as one of the primary geopolitical challenges of the early twenty-first century, one that will likely involve military engagements and deployments in both traditional and non-traditional missions. Unlike mass casualty terrorism, climate change does not have a single galvanising event that can encourage collective mitigation efforts by both developed and developing states. International efforts to counter putative climate change causes have, thus far, been only marginally successful. Consequently, some of the more pernicious effects of climate change—extreme weather, heat waves, droughts and floods—will likely continue to manifest in the years and decades ahead. From a geopolitical perspective, climate change may influence the trajectory of rising or declining states in an increasingly multipolar world. It may also induce or exacerbate resource competition between states, particularly with regard to energy resources, water and food. Climate change may also exert a general weakening effect on lesser developed countries, thus necessitating increasingly intrusive and costly humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) missions, some of which may be conducted by military agencies. Overall, these trends suggest that climate change will continue to emerge as a significant factor that shapes and defines future military missions and deployments.     

A novel histological technique for distinguishing between epithelial cells in forensic casework

There are a number of forensic cases in which the identification of the epithelial cell type from which DNA originated would provide important probative evidence. This study aimed to develop a technique using histological staining of fixed cells to distinguish between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelium. First, 11 different stains were screened on formalin-fixed, wax-embedded cells from five women. Samples were analysed qualitatively by examining staining patterns (colour) and morphology (absence or presence of nuclei). Three of the staining methods – Dane's, Csaba's and Ayoub-Shklar – were successful in distinguishing skin epithelial cells from buccal and vaginal. Second, cells were smeared directly onto slides, fixed with one of five fixatives and stained with one of the three stains mentioned above. Methanol fixation, coupled with the Dane's staining method, specific to keratin, was the only technique that distinguished between all three cell types. Skin cells stained magenta, red and orange and lacked nuclei; buccal cells stained predominantly orange–pink with red nuclei; while vaginal cells stained bright orange with orange nuclei and a blue extracellular hue. This staining pattern in vaginal cells was consistent in samples collected from 50 women aged between 18 and 67. Identification of cell type from unlabelled micrographs by 10 trained observers showed a mean success rate of 95%. The results of this study demonstrate that histological staining may provide forensic scientists with a technique for distinguishing between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelial cells and thus would enable more conclusive analyses when investigating sexual assault cases.     

Female officers and the ethic of care: Does officer gender impact police behaviors?

Most of the empirical literature on gender and policing has assessed gender differences in arrest levels and police use of force. While simple gender differences in police behavior are important for understanding skills men and women bring to the policing occupation, research must also determine under what conditions gender differences emerge and what factors impact the relationship between officer gender and behavior for this knowledge to be constructive. Although sexy, arrest and force decisions occur when police discretion is often limited, adding little to the knowledge of how gender affects everyday police-citizen encounters. Using data from systematic social observations of police-citizen encounters in St. Petersburg, Florida and Indianapolis, Indiana, this article replicates past analyses of gender differences in police utilization of controlling and supporting behaviors, but also extends the analyses by assessing the possible impact of intervening situational and organizational characteristics, determining under what conditions female officers utilize different behaviors from their male counterparts. The findings provide mixed support for the general hypothesis of gender-specific responses. Consistent with previous literature, this research suggests that women are much less likely than men to utilize extreme controlling behavior, such as threats, physical restraint, search, and arrest. Surprisingly, the findings do not confirm that women are more likely than men to use supporting behaviors, even when controlling for women's greater likelihood to hold community policing assignments. These findings, while unexpected, are important. Simply assuming female officers manifest stereotypically feminine traits in policing tasks is clearly an overly simplistic conceptualization of the meaning and impact of gender in policing. The implications for female officers, policing, and future research are discussed.     

A cross‐Canada analysis of the efficiency of residential recycling services

Abstract: The primary purpose of this article is to investigate the factors that predict the efficiency of residential recycling collection services in Canadian local governments. The findings are based on a survey of 128 residential recycling producers from all regions of Canada. One of the most significant findings is the lack of a relationship between private‐sector companies collecting recyclables and the overall efficiency of collection operations. The dominance of the private‐sector collection of recyclables (over seventy‐seven per cent of all producers were contracted companies) does not translate into greater efficiencies. The most important variables in the model are amenable to local control. They include tonnes collected per vehicle per year, requiring full bins, inclusion of composting operations in the overall recycling program, the number of different kinds of materials recycled, participation rate, and reliance on side‐loading collection vehicles. Among the direct predictors of unit costs, the key underlying factor is the productivity of residential recycling operations. Because recyclables are marketed, handling them takes time, reduces the weights that collection vehicles can carry, and generally reduces productivity. Even diligent efforts to improve productivity will not bring recycling costs down to the levels for residential solid‐waste collection. Sommaire: L'objectif principal du présent article est d'examiner les facteurs qui prévoient l'efficacité des services de collecte de produits recyclables résidentiels dans les municipalités canadiennes. Les résultats reposent sur un sondage réalisé auprès de 128 producteurs de collecte de produits recyclables résidentiels opérant dans toutes les régions du Canada. L'un des résultats les plus notoires est le manque de relations entre les sociétés du secteur privé qui récupèrent les produits recyclables et l'efficacité d'ensemble des opérations de collecte. La prédominance de la collecte de produits recyclables par le secteur privé (plus de soixante‐dix‐sept pour cent de tous les producteurs étaient des sociétés contractuelles) ne se traduit pas par une plus grande efficacité. Les variables les plus importantes du modèle peuvent faire l'objet d'un contrôle local. Elles comprennent les tonnes récupérées par véhicule par an, l'exigence de poubelles pleines, l'inclusion d'opérations de compostage au programme général de recyclage, le nombre de différentes sortes de matériaux recyclés, le taux de participation, et le recours à des camions de collecte à chargement latéral. Parmi les variables explicatives directes des coûts unitaires, le principal facteur sous‐jacent est la productivité des opérations de recyclage résidentiel. Comme les produits recyclables sont commercialisés, leur manutention prend du temps, réduit le poids que les camions de collecte peuvent transporter, et réduit d'une manière générale la productivité. Même des efforts diligents pour améliorer la productivité ne feront pas baisser les coûts du recyclage aux niveaux de ceux de la collecte des déchets solides résidentiels.