The computer and the law: coordinate analysis of skull shape and possible methods of postmortem identification.

Mechanisms accelerating or retarding the disintegration of soft tissues are briefly discussed, as well as the need to reconstruct the missing profile for postmortem identification purposes. The application of X-ray and computer-based analyses is discussed in the context of providing data to predict and reconstruct the most probable soft tissue profile of a dry skull. In addition, information from extensive studies of the facial bones and profiles of veterans has been applied to methods in forensic medicine of determining age, sex, and racial background of unknown subjects.     

Value and Nature: Rethinking Capitalist Exploitation and Expansion

Value is central to the political economy of capitalism, but Marxian value theory has generally been abandoned when it comes to including nature in the analysis. An important exception is the recent work of Jason Moore, and in this paper an effort is made to fill several lacunae in Moore’s approach. I argue for a unified measure of labor-nature time and joint exploitation of surplus value, then explore the significance of that for capitalist growth via rising productivity and cheap inputs, as well as what these mean for geographic expansion in search of labor and resources. I finish on the classic note of the insatiable drive for capital accumulation and its implications for the fate of the earth.     

I Get By with a Little Help from My Friends: Leveraging Campaign Resources to Maximize Congressional Power

Central to the study of Congress is the study of relationships among members. Electoral collaboration is a function of a member's position in the broader congressional power network. It allows members to leverage their campaign resources to achieve the four classic goals of members of Congress: reelection, making good public policy, obtaining power within the institution, and having one's party in the majority. Using nearly 3.2 million FEC records from 2010 to 2016, we explore the dynamics that influence electoral collaboration. We find members are most likely to collaborate electorally with other members from the same state, party, and committee, and the most electorally vulnerable. Further, party leaders share most frequently with the rank and file. These findings build upon our expanding understanding of congressional collaboration, the networks members of Congress form, and the congressional power structure members operate within.