Investigation of the labial photoplethysmograph (LPG) in the idiographic assessment of female sexual interest: its viability in the forensic context

This paper presents a viability study of the labial photoplethysmograph (LPG) in the physiologic assessment of female sexual function and investigates whether it would meet the requirements of a female sex offender assessment. Evaluation of physiologic components of female sexual responding is technically challenging and there are several limitations that present some unique challenges to forensic clinicians. The present study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of the LPG as a measure of female sexual arousal with a view to evaluating it as an analogous technique to phallometric testing for male sex offenders. Seventeen sexually healthy women were evaluated. General and genital physiological measurements were taken at baseline and in response to erotic and control stimuli. The correspondence between subjective appraisal of arousal and physiological responses was also undertaken. Findings indicated a clear and unequivocal measureable response to the sexual stimuli using the LPG but challenges remain and are discussed.     

走到十字路口的日本法科大学院制度

本文介绍了日本借鉴美国法学教育模式建立的日本法科大学院制度和新司法考试制度的背景、理念,重点阐释了日本法科大学院在实施中出现的问题和挑战,对新的法律职业教育模式与旧有制度之间的冲突和矛盾进行了深入分析,并将日本制度和韩国的制度改革作了比较法上的研究,提出了一些值得深入思考的看法。     

Democratic Representation and the Property Franchise in Australian Local Government

Australia remains one of the last liberal democracies to retain a property franchise at the local government level. This particular feature is both the result of historical particularities and contemporary political arrangements. This article analyses the property franchise in the City of Melbourne, the capital of the Australian State of Victoria, based on democratic theory and an empirical study. It illustrates the tensions between the democratic principles of representation and political equality in defining structures for representation at the local government level. The authors suggest that a more nuanced interpretation of representation can be adopted at a local level based on territorial residency rather than legal citizenship. Despite this, based on analysis of both electoral and non‐electoral mechanisms, the property franchises are found to be anachronistic and indefensible from a democratic perspective and unrelated to the status of capital city. The article concludes that, at a local level, deliberative democracy holds the promise to better represent various interests, including property interests.     

Predicting and Preventing the Theft of Electronic Products

The research presented within this paper was conducted as part of a 2-year project (Project MARC) to develop and render operational a mechanism to assess the risk of theft of electronic products. Clarke and Newman (Secured goods by design - a plan for security coding of electronic products. London: Department of Trade and Industry, 2002) proposed the use of two checklists—one to measure vulnerability, the other to measure security—as a means of categorising products according to their vulnerability to theft. Consultation with key stakeholders yielded the common view that such a mechanism was worth pursuing, but that it must reflect the language of those who would use it. An extensive consultation with stakeholders from ten European member states ensued. Participants were asked to rate a range of electronic products in terms of vulnerability and security, and to explain their ratings. Their responses were used to develop two checklists that incorporate a variety of factors, weighted according to the frequency with which they were expressed. The crime vulnerability checklist developed within this paper is judged fit-for-purpose as a provisional measurement but we urge caution in relation to the security checklist.

Detecting Gunshot Residue from Sellier & Bellot Nontox Heavy Metal‐free Primer by in situ Cathodoluminescence

Gunshot residue (GSR) from the discharge of ammunition can provide crucial information in reconstructing criminal cases. Traditional primers create particles of heavy metals such as lead, barium, and antimony. In forensic laboratories, automatic inorganic particle detection is performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), using the backscattered electron signal to search for bright residues among the many darker environmental particles, due to higher electron density of the former. Some innovative primers, indicated as heavy metal‐free (HMF), produce a residue of elements with atomic numbers below 21, urgently demanding new detecting solutions. For the first time, residues from Sellier & Bellot Nontox HMF primer are demonstrated to emit visible light under electron beam stimulation in a SEM. Cathodoluminescence is then proposed as a promising tool to both detect and characterize residues in forensic cases involving HMF primers, with minor changes to traditional analytical apparatus used for inorganic GSR analysis.     

Regulation on coexisting legal and illegal markets with quality differentiation

European Journal of Law and Economics - This paper considers coexisting legal and illegal markets for goods with undesirable consumption externalities, such as marijuana markets. This paper...     

Building horizontal coordination in Sri Lanka

Horizontal coordination is a focal topic in contemporary public management. However, greater attention has been given to developed states while developing countries struggle to improve the quality of public service delivery amidst skills shortages and siloed organisations. This article presents a foreign‐funded training programme designed to promote horizontal coordination at the most local level of government in a developing country, Sri Lanka, and analyses the factors that contributed to its success. Using data collected through participant surveys, focus groups, and programme‐related projects, the article shows how the formation of a “locally directed, donor‐supported” programme aligned with national development priorities that enabled the country‐level partner institution to deliver a programme that improved horizontal coordination and enhanced delivery of public services. Although findings confirm the importance of contextualising programme design, content, and delivery for achieving aid effectiveness, a novel conclusion was that the participation of elected officials alongside career public servants greatly contributed to the programme's success by creating new levels of trust and facilitating more productive working relationships between key stakeholders, culminating in improved outcomes for local communities. This suggests that elected officials can play a key role in building horizontal coordination in developing nations.     

The Square of Intimate Citizenship: Some Preliminary Proposals

This exploratory paper suggests some emerging arenas of public debate across the personal life‐from 'test-tube babies' to 'lesbian and gay families'‐which when taken together may be captured by the term 'intimate citizenship'. This suggests a plurality of public discourses developing about how to live the personal and intimate life in a late modern and global world where we are often confronted by an escalating series of choices and difficulties around intimacies. A framework of four key issues is suggested for fuller examination. This entails the changing nature of the public sphere; the growth of culture wars and the need for dialogue; the narrativisation process and grounded moralities; and the links to global intimacies.