Can Stable Isotopes and Radiocarbon Dating Provide a Forensic Solution for Curbing Illegal Harvesting of Threatened Cycads?

Cycads in South Africa are facing an extinction crisis due to the illegal extraction of plants from the wild. Proving wild origin of suspect ex situ cycads to the satisfaction of a court of law is difficult, limiting law enforcement efforts. We investigated the feasibility of using multiple stable isotopes to identify specimens removed from the wild. Relocated and wild specimens from two species in the African genus Encephalartos (E. lebomboensis and E. arenarius) were sampled. ¹⁴C analysis indicated that a ± 30‐year chronology could be reliably obtained from the cycads. For E. arenarius, pre‐relocation tissue was consistent with a wild origin, whereas tissue grown post‐relocation was isotopically distinct from the wild for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁵N. For E. lebomboensis, δ³⁴S, δ¹⁸O, and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr were different between relocated and control plants, consistent with the >30 years since relocation. Our findings demonstrate the potential for a forensic isotope approach to identify illegal ex situ cycads.     

Microsatellite stability in human post-mortem tissues

Human identification and forensic criminal casework may involve DNA profiling of decomposed material. Somatic microsatellite (STR) instability may lead to false exclusions and theoretically to false inclusions, both in criminal cases and in human identification. Hence, the somatic and postmortal stability of the actual sequences is crucial to the reliability of such analyses. Somatic STR stability in human tissues has been documented in small series only and the effect of postmortal tissue decomposition on microsatellite stability remains to be elucidated. On this basis, we have systematically searched for somatic STR mutations in 26 deceased humans without signs of decomposition at autopsy and 25 autopsy cases with obvious signs of postmortal decomposition. A blood sample and six tissue samples were collected from each case.Seven STRs were chosen for study, the tetranucleotides HUMVWA31/A, HUMTH01, HUMF13A1, and HUMFES/FPS, and the hyperpolymorphic markers HUMAPOAI1, D11S554 and HUMACTBP2. Denaturing gel electrophoresis was performed on an ABD Prism 377 gene sequencer with Genescan 672 software (Applied Biosystems, Inc.).The bone DNA profile of each case was chosen as the standard DNA profile. All cases gave profiles from additional tissues. By intraindividual comparison of DNA profiles in the cases without signs of degradation we find that the short repetitive sequences under study are stable, that is without evidence of somatic mutations. The cases with varying degree of decomposition display postmortal microsatellite stability, we detect no somatic mutations or other possible postmortal changes that could lead to between-organ non-matches.In conclusion, PCR-based STR analyses are suitable in human identification and forensic casework dealing with different tissues, even when the substrate is heavily decomposed.     

Are transformational and transactional types of leadership compatible? A two‐wave study of employee motivation

Transformational and transactional leadership strategies have become prominent in public administration research, but it is unclear whether they are compatible or whether they could undermine each other. We examine the combined and interactive effects of transformational and three types of transactional leadership (contingent verbal rewards, material rewards, and sanctions) on employee work motivation, conceptualized as work engagement and intrinsic motivation. Panel analyses using repeated measures of 385 leaders and 3,797 employees show that transformational leadership and contingent verbal rewards increased employee motivation. However, simultaneous use of contingent material rewards undermined the benefits of transformational leadership. Thus, the motivational potential of service‐ or community‐oriented visions was undercut when leaders also appealed to extrinsic material motives. This could help explain why financial incentives do not always have the expected benefits in public organizations. We therefore argue that research and practice should pay more attention to how different leadership strategies work in combination.     

Reconstruction of a real car-pedestrian-accident. Part I: Generating an individual digital topographic image of the victim

The aim of forensic biomechanics is the reconstruction of traumatic events based on the pathological findings in the victim's morphology, the accident traces and the car damages. The use of forensic documentation tools (e.g. Streifenlichttopometrie) enables 3-dimensional and proportional accurate documentation of the victim's body, of its injuries and of the car damages with submillimeter precision. The generated topographic image serves as input for a multi-body system model of the victim. It allows further to determine exactly the contact points between car and victim for a computer simulated dynamical reconstruction of the impact situation. In the case of an accident involving a car and a pedestrian the generation and application of computer aided 3-dimensional reconstruction models are shown.     

The Role of the Public Manager: Loyalty,Autonomy or Advocacy?

It is argued that the role of the public bureaucracy must be analysed along at least two dimensions. One dimension concerns the relationship between politicians and bureaucrats, i.e. the possible conflict between political loyalty and autonomy. The other dimension concerns the relationship between citizens and bureaucracy, i.e. the possible conflict between openness towards citizens and bureaucratic closedness. With the aid of data from a survey of 407 agency heads in Norwegian municipalities, it was possible to group different bureaucrats along the two dimensions. Four categories emerged from the analysis; a political bureaucrat, an autonomous bureaucrat, the "classic" administrator and the "linking pin". An attempt to predict group membership was made using variables on the societal, organizational as well as individual levels. This attempt was only partially successful, indicating that there is a need for other independent variables to explain group membership.     

Longitudinal Linkages between Older and Younger Sibling Depressive Symptoms and Perceived Sibling Relationship Quality

The sibling relationship has an important impact on children’s emotional functioning, but it is yet unclear whether and how sibling relationship quality affects adolescent depressive symptoms over time. This study contributes to existing knowledge by examining the relative importance of three aspects of sibling relationship quality (i.e., support, conflict and power balance) on the one hand and sibling depressive symptoms on the other hand in predicting adolescent depressive symptoms over time. Additionally, this study examined whether these influence patterns were moderated by perceived sibling relationship quality and by dyadic gender composition. Across six annual waves, 412 Dutch adolescents (57% boys; M_age?=?12.34 years) and their older siblings (47% boys; M_age?=?15.36 years) reported on depressive symptoms and sibling relationship quality. Cross-lagged panel analyses showed that only sibling depressive symptoms and not perceived relationship quality predicted adolescent depressive symptoms one year later. This effect was not moderated by sibling relationship quality or gender composition. These results indicate that sibling depressive symptoms may be a risk factor for adolescent depressive symptoms.

     

Zone of Acceptance under Performance Measurement: Does Performance Information Affect Employee Acceptance of Management Authority?

Public sector employees have traditionally enjoyed substantial influence and bargaining power in organizational decision making, but few studies have investigated the formation of employee acceptance of management authority. Drawing on the “romance of leadership” perspective, the authors argue that performance information shapes employee attributions of leader quality and perceptions of a need for change in ways that affect their acceptance of management authority, conceptualized using Simon's notion of a “zone of acceptance.” A survey experiment was conducted among 1,740 teachers, randomly assigning true performance information about each respondent's own school. When employees were exposed to signals showing low or high performance, their acceptance of management authority increased, whereas average performance signals reduced employee acceptance of management authority. The findings suggest that performance measurement can alter public sector authority relations and have implications regarding how public managers can use performance information strategically to gain acceptance of management authority and organizational change.