Progressivism Armed? Reform and the Origins of the Modern U.S. Military

During the four decades before World War I, both the United States Army and the United States Navy underwent a massive transformation. What had been a frontier constabulary in 1880 became a world class army in 1918. What had been a hodgepodge of obsolete vessels in the 1880s emerged as a force second only to the Royal Navy during the same period. This article discusses the factors that help account for this remarkable change.     

Transnational innovation networks aren’t all created equal: towards a classification system

This paper examines the growth of transnational networks of innovation and proposes a preliminary classificatory system of four distinct kinds of forces which give rise to social networks that facilitate knowledge flows, relationship building, and collaborative activities important to accessing global markets. The networks may form around a technology sector, be identity based, emerge from a government-led initiative, or be stimulated by a civic or philanthropic organization. Each has a different mode of organizing, financing, and meeting its objectives, as shown by examples presented in the paper. The proposed classification of these characteristics is intended to open a conversation within the social sciences and among policy makers about how better to understand the ways in which transnational networks get formed, operate and produce desired results.     

State Solicitors General,Appellate Expertise,and State Success Before the U.S. Supreme Court

This article examines how institutional design leads state governments to win their cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. We analyze whether states are more likely to prevail on the merits when they create a formal solicitor general office and have an attorney from that office argue their cases before the Court. We employ an analytical matching approach and find that attorneys from state solicitor general offices are significantly more likely to win their cases compared to other kinds of state attorneys. Accordingly, if states prioritize victory before the Court, they should consider creating state solicitor general offices and granting those solicitors general the authority to control their appellate litigation.     

Toxicological investigation of liquid petroleum gas explosion: human model for propane/ethyl mercaptan exposures

Four individuals died as the result of a propane explosion. As with many propane explosions, the question was raised as to the adequacy of the product's odorization after the autopsy studies had been conducted. In most cases, this question leads to litigation. Ethyl mercaptan is a widely used odorant for propane and was used in this instance. Three of the four victims had blood available at autopsy for study. Quantitative analyses of the victims' blood, obtained during autopsy, were performed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, without subjecting the samples to hydrolysis. These analyses determined the relative amounts of propane and ethyl mercaptan in the blood to be 90, 63, and 175 mL/m3 headspace, and 0.36, 0.34, and 0.77 microgram/L blood, respectively. Since mercaptans have been reported in human blood as products of metabolism, modeling studies were conducted to establish the validity of the autopsy data and to develop an autopsy toxicology protocol for investigating explosion deaths. When subjects were not exposed to an atmosphere containing ethyl mercaptan, dimethylsulfide was the only mercaptan detectable in their blood without severe hydrolysis prior to analysis. Metabolic ethyl mercaptan is sufficiently bound to be undetectable by the methods used without hydrolysis. Human subjects were exposed to a flammable mixture of air and propane odorized with ethyl mercaptan. The analyses of the blood from these subjects produced results which were comparable with those for the explosion victims, establishing that the question of odorant adequacy can be addressed at the autopsy of propane explosion victims. It is extremely important that the pathologist and toxicologist investigating gas explosion deaths recognize the valuable evidence existing in the victim's blood.     

The Reliability of Pattern Classification in Bloodstain Pattern Analysis—PART 2: Bloodstain Patterns on Fabric Surfaces,

This study was designed to produce the first baseline measure of the reliability of bloodstain pattern classifications on fabric surfaces. Experienced bloodstain pattern analysts classified bloodstain patterns on pairs of trousers that represented three fabric substrates. Patterns also varied in type (impact, cast‐off, expiration, satellite stains from dripped blood, and transfer) and extent. In addition, case summaries that accompanied each pattern contained contextual cues that either supported the correct answer (i.e., positive bias), were misleading toward an incorrect answer (i.e., negative bias), or contained no directional information (i.e., neutral). Overall, 23% percent of the resulting classifications were erroneous. The majority (51%) of errors resulted from analysts misclassifying satellite stains from dripped blood. Relative to the neutral information, the positive‐bias information increased correct classifications and decreased erroneous classifications, and the negative‐bias information decreased correct classifications and increased erroneous classifications. The implications of these findings for BPA are discussed.     

A case study in public child welfare: county-level practices that address racial disparity in foster care placement

Racial disproportionality has been a longstanding issue within child welfare. The continued overrepresentation of black children in the foster care system is troubling. The authors of this article conducted a case study of two counties in New York State that have steadily decreased the number of black children in foster care in an effort to identify what aspects of their child welfare practice impacted the decline. The case study employed document analysis, in-depth interviews, and focus groups with child removal decision makers. Utilizing a grounded theory approach to content organization and analysis, several themes emerged as noticeable factors. Some of the most salient themes included preventive services and resources, community collaborations, case practice development, family meetings, workforce diversity, the court system, and, the most unique, blind removal meetings. The themes found in this study present promising practices to assist in decreasing the racial disparity in child welfare removal decisions.