Disaster victim identification: new applications for postmortem computed tomography

Abstract:  Mass fatalities can present the forensic anthropologist and forensic pathologist with a different set of challenges to those presented by a single fatality. To date radiography has played an important role in the disaster victim identification (DVI) process. The aim of this paper is to highlight the benefits of applying computed tomography (CT) technology to the DVI process. The paper begins by reviewing the extent to which sophisticated imaging techniques, specifically CT, have been increasingly used to assist in the analysis of deceased individuals. A small scale case study is then presented which describes aspects of the DVI process following a recent Australian aviation disaster involving two individuals. Having grided the scene of the disaster, a total of 41 bags of heavily disrupted human remains were collected. A postmortem examination was subsequently undertaken. Analysis of the CT images of all body parts ( n  = 162) made it possible not only to identify and side differentially preserved skeletal elements which were anatomically unrecognizable in the heavily disrupted body masses, but also to observe and record useful identifying features such as surgical implants. In this case the role of the forensic anthropologist and CT technology were paramount in facilitating a quick identification, and subsequently, an effective and timely reconciliation, of body parts. Although this case study is small scale, it illustrates the enormous potential for CT imaging to complement the existing DVI process.     

Value is Simple. Valuation is Complex

Value can appear so complicated that it is not only a terribly intimidating topic, but actually fruitless to pursue. That is, the concept of value is either a dead end or best left to the experts. We disagree. At the most general level, having value can be understood as having the capacity to be measured and compared against another thing (or a standard). This is consistent with Marxian concepts (which are elaborated with special reference to the capitalist value form), but it is also simple and general enough to provide a transportable frame for discussing the role of value and measurement in any context imaginable, whether it be a discussion of spiritualism, collective action, economic data, or physical science. Marx directs our attention to the political constitution of systems of measure on the very first page of Capital, and there is now a great deal of work in geography and in science and technology studies on the social constitution of systems of valuation. We believe a crucial topic deserves an accessible approach that reveals unities rather than barriers, and thus supplement them with the moral and critical political-economic critique made possible by Marxian value theory.     

How do Traditional Bullying and Cyberbullying Victimization Affect Fear and Coping among Students? An Application of General Strain Theory

School bullying victimization represents an important type of strain (or stressful event) experienced by individuals because it usually occurs frequently, over a long period of time, and is an intentional violation against another person. The current study utilizes the 2009 School Crime Supplement (SCS) of the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to assess the effect of bullying victimization on avoidance behaviors and carrying weapons to school. This study also examines how bullying victimization affects fear and whether this emotion mediates the relationship between victimization and outcomes. As expected, traditional bullying and cyberbullying increase the likelihood of fear. In addition, traditional bullying and cyberbullying victimization increase the likelihood of avoidance behaviors and bringing a weapon to school. Contrary to expectations, fear did not mediate the relationship between bullying and coping behaviors.     

Evaluation of Commercial Kits for Dual Extraction of DNA and RNA from Human Body Fluids, ,

STR typing of DNA evidence can identify the donor with a high power of discrimination but cannot identify the tissue origin of a body‐fluid stain. Using RNA to attribute a crime scene stain to a particular tissue may aid in reconstruction efforts. With blood from 10 donors, four DNA and RNA coextraction kits were evaluated by measuring yields and STR and mRNA profiles. T tests indicated some significant differences in kit performance. The Zymo Research ZR‐Duet^? kit performed best based on average DNA (41.4 ng) and mRNA (4.07 ng) yields and was the only kit to provide complete DNA/RNA profiles for all samples. The consistency of this kit was challenged by data from additional blood and saliva donors. Further testing is advised before a superior kit is unequivocally chosen. Stand‐alone DNA or RNA purification generally offers higher yield, but coextraction may still allow successful STR profiling and tissue source identification.     

A comparison of instruments for assessing competency to stand trial

The present study compared two instruments for assessing competency to stand trial, The Competency Screening Test and a revised version of The Georgia Court Competency Test. in a sample of 140 defendants admitted to the forensic unit of a state hospital for court-ordered pretrial evaluation. Scores on the tests were used to predict staff decisions about competency. Correlates of scores on the two tests also were examined. The tests were highly correlated with one another and with the decisions of forensic examiners. Although neither of these instruments should provide the sole basis for competency decisions, both may be useful components of a comprehensive program of competency evaluation.Portions of this paper were presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., August, 1986.     

Vascular changes in the nasal submucosa of chronic cocaine addicts

A detailed, correlative, histologic evaluation of postmortem changes in the nasal mucosa of chronic cocaine users has shown characteristic mucosal and arteriolar changes as well as typical perivascular and subepithelial alterations compatible with chronic inflammation. These findings confirm and extend recent reports on the effects of cocaine in the coronary circulation and heart muscle as well as provide a new diagnostic tool to the forensic pathologist who suspects that a decedent has been a long-term cocaine abuser.     

Methods and motives: Exploring links between transnational organized crime and international terrorism

The nexus with transnational organized crime is increasingly a focus for security planners in their analyses of terror groups. Their approach is best described by the phrase “methods, not motives.” While the motives of terrorists and organized criminals remain divergent most often, our research indicates this is not always the case. For that reason, this report argues that such a general approach has become too restrictive and can be misleading since the interaction between terrorism and organized crime is growing deeper and more complex all the time. In short, the lines of separation are no longer unequivocal. The report analyzes the relationship between international organized crime and terrorism in a systematic way in order to highlight the shortcomings of the “methods, not motives” argument. In so doing, the report considers the factors that most closely correspond to crime-terror interaction and identifies those regions of developed and developing states most likely to foster such interactions. Likewise, the paper will suggest an evolutionary spectrum of crime-terror interactions that serves as a common basis for discussion of such often used terms as “nexus.” The centerpiece of the report is a groundbreaking methodology for analysts and investigators to overcome this growing complexity, identify crime-terror interactions more quickly and to assess their importance with confidence. The approach is derived from a standard intelligence analytical framework, and has already proven its utility in law enforcement investigations. The report is the product of a recently concluded and peer-reviewed 18-month NIJ sponsored research project, and includes empirical evidence drawn from numerous case studies developed in the course of the research program. This project was supported by Grant No. 2003-IJ-CX-1019 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the US Department of Justice. Research assistance on this project was provided by Allison Irby, Douglas M. Hart, Patricia A. Craig-Hart, Dr. Phil Williams, Steven Simon, Nabi Abdullaev, and Bartosz Stanislawski. Drafting and editing help was provided by Laura Covill.     

Liability in Negligence for Nervous Shock

Nicholas J. Mullany and Peter R. Handford, Tort Liability for Psychiatric Damage: The Law of ‘Nervous Shock,’     

Blood alcohol in fatally injured drivers and the minimum legal drinking age

Although most research on the effect of minimum legal drinking age (LDA) laws on proxies for alcohol-related fatalities find effects of higher LDAs in reducing such fatalities, recent research that supposedly controls for drinking experience claims that higher LDAs have little or no effect. This study examines the actual amount of alcohol in the blood of fatally injured drivers per licensed driver in states where more than 80 percent of such drivers were tested for alcohol and where licensure data were available for the period 1982-1986. The involvement of alcohol in fatal crashes increases with age as the LDA is approached. A higher LDA is associated with fewer alcohol-related crashes among those younger than the LDA. No effect of drinking experience was evident, but this study finds an age-related bias in previously used proxies for alcohol involvement that results in overestimates of alcohol levels in younger drivers.     

What sort of future for critical criminology?

This article argues for a criticalcriminology that is more mindful of the growing number ofcritiques of its general epistemologicaldirection. Specifically, such criticismtakes issue with the continued emphasis incritical criminology on crime and penalty,often to the detriment of a moreencompassing focus on issues associatedwith ``social harm'. In an attempt tohighlight the current weaknesses ofcritical criminology attention is drawn toa small although revealing conference thattook place at the University of WesternSydney in February 2001. In contrast to thenarrow concerns demonstrated at thisconference the article calls for a moreexpansive approach to the study of crimeand penalty that falls under thezemiological umbrella of social harm andwhich takes account of social movements andother disciplines that have givenrecognition to the question of humanrights. Such a call derives from StanCohen's evocation of the ``voracious Gods'that must be sated if a progressive andrelevant critical criminology is to bedeveloped in an era of rapid socio-economicand political transformation.