Comparison of four skeletal methods for the estimation of age at death on white and black adults

ABSTRACT: When analyzing human adult skeletal remains, it is often difficult to decide whether a single aging method will give a more reliable age estimation than a combination of methods. This study evaluates four macroscopic indicators for age estimation on 218 American White and Black individuals, ranging in age from 25 to 90 years of age, from the Terry collection. Individuals in the sample were selected to have a balanced race, sex, and age distribution. The following aging methods were applied to each skeleton by one experienced observer: the Suchey–Brooks (SB) pubic symphysis method, the Lovejoy auricular surface method, the monoradicular teeth Lamendin (LM) method, and the I?can (IC) method for fourth ribs. The statistical study involved the evaluation of inaccuracy and bias (based on median age) for each age indicator and the combination of methods using Principal component analysis (PCA). Analysis was performed on the entire sample, then by race, then sex, and then age group (25–40 years, 41–60 years, and >60 years). PCA was the most accurate method for both racial groups when all age groups are analyzed together. When the sample was divided into age groups, SB was the most accurate for young adults (25–40 years) and LM was the most accurate for middle adults (41–60 years). After the age of 60, all methods are highly inaccurate, although IC gives the lowest inaccuracy. As regards bias, the study highlights the tendency of all methods to overestimate the age of young individuals and to underestimate in the older age group. No single skeletal indicator of age at death is ever likely to reflect accurately the many factors that accumulate with chronological age. In fact, one must use as many dental and skeletal indicators as possible. However, in order to maximize the potential of each method, in the final evaluation one should consider mainly the method or methods that have a higher accuracy for a particular age range.     

Cooling rates of the ear and brain in pig heads submerged in water: implications for postmortem interval estimation of cadavers found in still water

The state of the art for determining postmortem interval in submerged bodies reflects a serious lack of studies. The objectives of the present study were therefore to study cerebral and tympanic cooling in water and its relation to cooling in air, in a pig model. First of all, cerebral and tympanic cooling on a single head and on an entire body were compared and proven to be very similar in air and in water. Nine pairs of heads were then exposed to 9 temperature intervals from 0 degrees C to 20 degrees C. For every set temperature, one head was placed in water, the other in "ambient" air in a thermostatic chamber. Ear and brain temperature were simultaneously measured every 10 minutes during 8 hours. Results showed that both in air and in water, cooling curves were almost exponential, regardless of the site (ear or brain) or the environmental temperature. Cooling was always more rapid in water than in air. Cerebral and tympanic cooling always had a correlation coefficient of 0.98-0.99. Assuming that these cooling patterns are applicable to man, this research may provide a starting point for postmortem interval estimation in submerged cadavers.     

Injustice for All: A State Crime of Omission Beneath the Steps of the United States Capitol

This research examines a state crime of omission by members of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol. These crimes were perpetrated against a group of employees charged with maintaining the underground utility tunnels beneath the United States Capitol. Through a secondary analysis of congressional testimony; citations and documents issued by the Office of Compliance; medical records; and various media accounts of the events, this research seeks to examine the perpetrators’ actions as a state crime of omission and offer a theoretical explanation. Our findings suggest the actions and inactions of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, over a period of years, embody the definition of a state crime. Our theoretical explanation examines the conditions that combined to foster an environment in which occupational exposure to asbestos continued for years, placing the life and health of the tunnel crew in serious jeopardy.     

Back to first principles: a new model for the regulation of drug promotion

The US Food and Drug Administration''s (‘FDA’ or the ‘Agency’) current regulatory framework for drug promotion, by significantly restricting the ability of drug manufacturers to communicate important, accurate, up-to-date scientific information about their products that is truthful and non-misleading, runs afoul of the First Amendment and actually runs counter to the Agency''s public health mission. Our article proposes a New Model that represents an initial proposal for a modern, sustainable regulatory framework that comprehensively addresses drug promotion while protecting the public health, protecting manufacturers’ First Amendment rights, establishing clear and understandable rules, and maintaining the integrity of the FDA approval process. The New Model would create three categories of manufacturer communications—(1) Scientific Exchange and Other Exempt Communications, (2) Non-Core Communications, and (3) Core Communications—that would be regulated consistent with the First Amendment and according to the strength of the government''s interest in regulating the specific communications included within each category. The New Model should address the FDA''s concerns related to off-label speech while protecting drug manufacturers’ freedom to engage in truthful and non-misleading communications about their products.     

Food politics: perspectives on food security in Central Africa

Food security is political. The identification of food insecurity and the development and implementation of responses to it are enveloped in layers of politics and power. This politics might not be as readily apparent in emergency situations where broad agreement on the need for a response is evident. But in the everyday governance of food it must not be forgotten that food security is a contested concept. This article offers a preliminary elucidation of this politics in the Central African context. To do so it presents findings from an analysis of publicly available information and media reports. This analysis hones in on the perspectives of differently situated stakeholders on food security imperatives in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community. To identify similarities and differences in the levels of emphasis different stakeholders place on different aspects of food security, the authors employ Olivier De Schutter's understanding of the relevant dimensions. Specific terms used in the presentation of food security information are associated with one of the three dimensions of food security advanced by De Schutter: availability, accessibility and adequacy. In light of this analytic approach, the article finds that stakeholders – including businesses, civil society groups, governments and multilateral and bilateral partners – do not necessarily articulate similar viewpoints on food security. There is simply no unified view on what should be done to advance food security in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea or Gabon. That being said, the article does identify intriguing areas of convergence.     

Voting Counts: Participation in the Measurement of Democracy

The measures of democracy commonly used in empirical research suffer notable limitations, primarily the exclusion of participation. As a result, quantitative studies may undervalue the effect of democracy on important social outcomes or misinterpret the aspect of democracy responsible for that effect. We respond by introducing and validating two variants of a new indicator, the Participation Enhanced Polity Score (PEPS), which augments institutional factors with the breadth of citizen participation. We demonstrate, using statistical evidence on democratic persistence, basic needs fulfillment, and gender equality, that no measure of democracy can be considered an accurate representation of its basic character without directly including participation as a core component. Bruce E. Moon is professor of international relations at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is the author ofThe Political Economy of Basic Human Needs (Cornell University Press. 1991) and two editions ofThe Dilemmas of International Trade (Westview Press, 1996, 2000). Jennifer Harvey Birdsall is a researcher for a NGO in Geneva, Switzerland. She received her B.A. in international relations and economics from Lehigh University and her M.S. in global affairs from Rutgers University-Newark. Sylvia Ciesluk is pursuing an M.A. at the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She received her B.S. in economics from Lehigh University. Lauren M. Garlett is a geography teacher at Bellamy Middle School in Chicopee, Massachusetts. She received both her B.A in international relations and her M.Ed. in secondary education from Lehigh University. Joshua J. Hermias is associate director of the Global Young Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C. He received his B.A. in economics from Lehigh University and his M.A. in international development from the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England. Elizabeth Mendenhall is pursuing a Masters in International Affairs (MIA) in economic and political development at Columbia University. She received a B.A. in international relations at Lehigh University. Patrick D. Schmid is a Ph.D. candidate in computer science at Lehigh University. He received both his B.S. and M.S. in computer science from Lehigh University. Wai Hong Wong is a research associate at FactSet Research Systems. He received his B.A. in international relations and economics at Lehigh University. We are grateful for the helpful suggestions of Frank Davis, Bill Dixon, Chaim Kaufmann, Rajan Menon, Pamela Paxton, Larry Taylor, and the anonymous reviewers.     

Constructing a social safety net in Africa: An institutionalist analysis of colonial rule and state social policies in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire

This article attempts to explain why, despite nearly identical cultural and economic landscapes and the potentially homogenizing pressures of globalization, social policies differ in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, two neighboring countries in West Africa. In Ghana, the government has generally attempted to strengthen the informal social welfare systems of the extended family and community through a more decentralized social policy, whereas the government in Côte d'Ivoire has tried to replace these informal social networks with the centralized arm of the bureaucracy. The article shows how different legacies of colonial rule produce these divergent social policies in a complex and iterative process over time. While domestic institutions do mediate the effects of globalization, the domestic factors highlighted in this article are not the formal political institutions cited in most studies. Rather, the analysis reveals the critical role of informal institutions, or normative frameworks, that existed under colonial rule and continue to endure in the post-colonial state. The article also contributes to current theories of institutions by showing how formal and informal institutions dynamically interact in the construction of the state and the African family.     

Chromatic Variation of Soot Soiling: A Possible Marker for Gunshot Wounds in Burnt Bone

Soot soiling is a crucial forensic parameter around gunshot lesions. Carbonization, however, can severely alter human tissues and mimic such clues. This study aims at evaluating the survival of soot soiling even after carbonization in bone. A total of 36 bovine ribs (half fleshed and half defleshed) were shot with two types of bullet (both 9‐mm; full metal‐jacketed and unjacketed) with a near‐contact range. With unjacketed bullets, the shot left in every case a clear, black, and roughly round soot stain around the entrance wound, whereas full metal‐jacketed bullets left no signs of soot. Every specimen then underwent calcination in an oven at 800°C. The analysis of the charred samples clearly showed the survival of the soot soiling in both fleshed and bony samples, with a clear correspondence with the former position, but with a different color (yellow). Thus, soot soiling may survive, although with a different color, even after charring.