Characteristic Features of Pediatric Firearm Fatalities—Comparisons Between Australia and the United States

Abstract:  Gunshot deaths in children less than 17 years of age from Adelaide, SA, Australia (1969–2005) and from San Diego County, CA, United States (1988–2005) were compared. Forty-two pediatric gunshot fatalities occurred in South Australia (1.1 cases/year; M:F = 30:12). There were 6 accidents (14%), 14 suicides (33%), and 22 homicides (52%). In San Diego there were 185 cases ( c. 10 cases/year; M:F = 148:37). There were 6 accidents (3%), 42 suicides (23%), 130 homicides (70%), and 7 undetermined cases (4%). The incidence of homicide was significantly higher in San Diego County compared to Adelaide ( p  < 0.001), with a higher proportion of murder–suicides occurring in Adelaide. There were markedly more accidents and suicides involving males in Adelaide and a far higher number of male homicide victims in San Diego County compared to females. Rifles of 0.22-caliber were preferred weapons in South Australia, compared to handguns in San Diego County.     

Modeling Temperature Variations Using Monte Carlo Simulation: Implications for Estimation of the Postmortem Interval Based on Insect Development Times*†

The association between insect development and temperature is well established. Thermal summation using accumulated degree-day measures is commonly used. However, the time at which evidence is collected is important in these estimates. The aim of this study was to provide a simulated model of the effect of temperatures on six dipteran species commonly associated with cadavers, from the death scene to the refrigerator, and finally at the time of autopsy. Temperatures measurements were sampled over a 16-month period from the external environment (external to the mortuary), within the mortuary refrigerator, and within the mortuary autopsy suite. Monte Carlo simulation using accumulated degree-days (ADD) was used to estimate the variations based on the mean and standard deviation of the temperature measurements. It was found that there was a negative correlation between the base temperature of the fly species (lowest temperature at which the flies will survive) and developmental likelihood. Species with high base temperatures (Chrysomya albiceps, Chrysomya chloropyga, and Musca domestica) were less likely to continue development in refrigerators than species with lower base temperatures (Lucilia sericata and Piophila casei). The findings of this study highlight the importance of recording temperature measurements and the period of refrigeration on PMI estimation especially when continued development occurs in spite of a period of cooling of the insect evidence.     

Trade and investment: Introduction to the special issue

This special issue focuses on a variety of political-economy questions on trade and investment and is guided by a shared understanding that trade and investment processes can no longer be studied in isolation from each other. Three articles provide new insights into the study of the design of preferential trade agreements and effects thereof, two of which focus on the politically salient issues of non-trade concerns. A third one investigates which export sectors win from improved market access opportunities, in order words, how gains from trade are distributed. Two articles study the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system. One contribution is unpacking the role of the most important and influential firms and investors in affecting US behavior in WTO disputes, a second contribution studies how leadership changes in democracies and autocracies have different effects on dispute behavior. Finally, the special issue includes a new study on how the shadow economies in developing states are affected by the integration into the world economy (trade and investment) and by policy programs of the International Monetary Fund.     

Crowding Out Civil Society: State Management of Social Organisations in Putin’s Russia

There is considerable debate about the impact of the 2006 NGO Law and related Kremlin policies on social organisations in Russia. This article uses interviews with members of organisations focusing on human rights, women, and youth to assess the effects of these policies on civil society. It finds that groups that are critical of the regime have been systematically pushed out of the public sphere and supplanted by groups that are either neutral to, or in favour of, the regime. This finding has implications for the future development of Russian civil society and demonstrates a way that non-democratic rule has been ‘upgraded’ in Russia.     

Towards a public service blend of human resource management and TQM

The objective of this paper is to contemplate changes in personnel system infrastructure required to implement Total Quality Management (TQM) in public organizations (perhaps formal organization in general). By infrastructure we mean systems such as those for the design of work and positions, rewards, performance appraisal, selection, etc. We introduced the subject by summarizing many of the concepts from the quality literature which express philosophy, structural aspects and practices. Even the industrial context in which TQM has flowered has not adapted significantly to implications of TQM philosophy and structure. Instead, traditional personnel management systems prevail with some concern for needed specia1 training, and anguish about negative effects of performance appraisal, some reward systems, and work standards.

Because the government context is bound to present difficulties and pitfalls we summarized another body of literature, that of the reasons why the idea probably won't work in government.

Ultimately, we get to the point of the essay: a discussion of contemplated types of personnel system changes that ought to support organizations operating in a quality mode. Changes are considered under the subjects of: work design, recruitment and selection, performance appraisal, training, compensation and labor-management relations. We conclude with a. brief case study on the Pacer Share Project.     

Mock jurors' perceptions of identifications made by intoxicated eyewitnesses

Abstract

Psychology research has generally neglected intoxicated eyewitnesses. The current study addressed this need by exploring mock jurors' perceptions of intoxicated witnesses. Undergraduate participants read summarized sexual or aggravated battery cases in which either the victim or a bystander identified the defendant under varying intoxication levels. They answered questions about the case and provided verdicts. Participants were sensitive to the effect that intoxication may have on witnesses' cognitive ability, but not to varying degrees of intoxication. Neither the role of the eyewitness nor the type of crime committed had an effect on perceptions of witness impairment. Participants' perceptions of witness impairment informed identification credibility ratings, and credibility assessments affected verdicts. Impairment and credibility ratings fully mediated intoxication's effect on verdicts. Unlike much prior research, our results suggest that mock jurors can consider potentially important witness information when rendering verdicts.