Alteration of expirated bloodstain patterns by Calliphora vicina and Lucilia sericata (Diptera: Calliphoridae) through ingestion and deposition of artifacts

Abstract: Bloodstain pattern analysis can provide insight into a sequence of events associated with a violent crime. However, bloodstain pattern analysis can be confounded by the feeding activity of blow flies. We conducted two laboratory experiments to investigate the relationships between Lucilia sericata (green bottle fly) and Calliphora vicina (blue bottle fly), expirated bloodstains, and pooled bloodstains on a range of surfaces (linoleum, wallpaper, textured paint). C. vicina and L. sericata changed bloodstain pattern morphology through feeding and defecation. They also deposited artifacts in rooms where blood was not present originally. Chemical presumptive tests (Hemastix^®, phenolphthalein, leucocrystal violet, fluorescein) were not able to differentiate between insect artifacts and bloodstains. Thus, C. vicina and L. sericata can confound bloodstain pattern analysis, crime scene investigation, and reconstruction. Crime scene investigators should be aware of these fundamental behaviors, and the effects that blow flies can have on expirated and pooled bloodstain patterns.     

Changes in the morphology and presumptive chemistry of impact and pooled bloodstain patterns by Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Bloodstain pattern analysis can be critical to accurate crime scene reconstruction. However, bloodstain patterns can be altered in the presence of insects and can confound crime scene reconstruction. To address this problem, we conducted a series of controlled laboratory experiments to investigate the effect of Lucilia sericata (Meigen) on impact bloodstains and pooled bloodstains in association with three combinations of common surfaces (linoleum/painted drywall, wood floor/wallpaper, and carpet/wood paneling). L. sericata fed from the pooled bloodstains and added insect stains through regurgitation and defecation of consumed blood. L. sericata formed defecatory trails of insect stains that indicated directionality. Defecatory stains fluoresced when viewed at 465 nm with an orange filter. These observations differed from Calliphora vicina insect stains because feeding on blood spatter was not observed and trails of insect stains were formed by L. sericata. The fluorescence of defecatory stains can be used as a method to detect insect stains and discriminate them from real bloodstains.     

One Bad Apple May Not Spoil the Whole Bunch: Best Friends and Adolescent Delinquency

This study compared the association of adolescent delinquency with that of their best friend and remaining social network. Findings are reported from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, a multi-wave nationally representative panel study of adolescents who were in grades 7–12 in 1994. Four delinquent outcomes were examined: Smoking, getting drunk, fighting, and a variety index of general delinquency. All analyses were replicated for three distinct criteria for identifying a “best friend.” We also examined several moderating factors and potential interrelationships between the best friend and remaining friendship group. Relative to the influence of the best friend, the influence of the remaining friendship group increased with group size, and with larger absolute disparities in delinquency levels between best and remaining friends. Our findings extend knowledge on the influence of best friends, and further underscore the importance of whether peer behaviors are measured directly (from the peers themselves) or indirectly (when focal respondents estimate the delinquent behavior of their peers).     

On using gait in forensic biometrics

Given the continuing advances in gait biometrics, it appears prudent to investigate the translation of these techniques for forensic use. We address the question as to the confidence that might be given between any two such measurements. We use the locations of ankle, knee, and hip to derive a measure of the match between walking subjects in image sequences. The Instantaneous Posture Match algorithm, using Harr templates, kinematics, and anthropomorphic knowledge is used to determine their location. This is demonstrated using real CCTV recorded at Gatwick International Airport, laboratory images from the multiview CASIA-B data set, and an example of real scene of crime video. To access the measurement confidence, we study the mean intra- and inter-match scores as a function of database size. These measures converge to constant and separate values, indicating that the match measure derived from individual comparisons is considerably smaller than the average match measure from a population.     

Do school disciplinary policies have positive social impacts? Examining the attenuating effects of school policies on the relationship between personal and peer delinquency

Purpose

Empirical research has yet to demonstrate that strict school disciplinary policies deter student misconduct. However, underlying the null and negative effects observed in prior research may be competing social impacts. What is missing from prior research is an acknowledgement that the deviance amplification effects of criminogenic risk factors may be partially offset by the general deterrence effects of strict school sanctions.

Methods

Using data from the school administrator questionnaire, the in-school interview, and the in-home interview from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study employs logistic hierarchical models to investigate whether strict school sanctions condition the relationship between personal and peer smoking, drinking, and fighting.

Results

Results indicate that the effects of peer smoking, drinking, and fighting on corresponding respondent delinquency are attenuated in schools with strict sanction policies for these behaviors.

Conclusions

Results suggest that school policies can aid in preventing crime in unanticipated ways, for example, by reducing the crime-inducing effects of having delinquent peers. Prior research may therefore be unintentionally discounting the general deterrence effects of school disciplinary policies by neglecting the moderating mechanisms through which these policies operate.     

No One To Stand By Us: Reintegrating Formerly Abducted Child-Mothers in Uganda

The returnee child-mothers who have survived abduction by the Lord's Resistance Army return to civilian communities in Northern Uganda as stigmatized outsiders. They are child-mothers with children who are not accepted by the community. Years after they have returned to civilian communities they are struggling for themselves and their children. This failure to access security on a social, economic and personal level is found to garner further insecurities including neglect and abuse, which prevail and are passed on to their children. The need to provide reintegration and reconciliation assistance is recognized by both the international community and the Government of Uganda; however, it is found that assistance is failing to help this group of formerly abducted people to reintegrate in communities. This article analyses the multi-faceted perceptions and experiences of reintegration, identifying root causes and gaps where assistance can provide security and integration to these returnees.     

Whatever happened to the new public administration?

The “New Public Administration” advocated the infusion of value preferences into areas of administrative practice. In assessing the historical legacy and contemporary applicability of the movement, the authors examine its objectives in view of changing political and administrative commitments. The article criticizes the extent to which institutionalizing administrative values gives way to “value-shifting” when electoral moods change.     

Current practices for procuring affordable housing: The Canadian context

Abstract

This article describes the current housing system in Canada, focusing particularly on the various mechanisms still available for providing affordable housing. Beginning with an overview of the Canadian housing system, it provides a brief history of Canadian housing policy and program initiatives instrumental in developing the inventory of affordable housing available today.

Current practices and procedures in private lending for affordable housing are highlighted. A discussion of current initiatives available to provide affordable housing follows, with a focus on the role of government, the third sector, and new partnership arrangements implemented to encourage more affordable housing. The conclusion highlights recent changes, the current state of the affordable housing sector, and the impact these changes may have on low‐ and moderate‐income households in Canada.     

How European Integration Changes National Parties: Evidence from a 15-Country Study

This article examines the impact of European integration on the balance of power within national political parties. It does this by drawing on the results of a survey of key actors in up to 55 parties in the 15 pre-2004 enlargement member states. The analyses show that, when they are involved in EU-level decision-making, party elites are relatively powerful vis-à-vis their national parties and that in a number of instances their intra-party power has also increased over time. National parties have, to some extent, attempted to constrain their elites but appear to be fighting a losing battle. Although there are some minor differences by country and by party, the empowerment of party elites is a general phenomenon. This research provides an empirical dimension to the existing research on the Europeanisation of national political parties and presents an important substantiation of the widely discussed democratic deficit that exists within the EU system of governance.