D-dimer assays for the identification of menstrual blood

A method to reliably distinguish menstrual blood from blood in the normal circulation (peripheral blood) would be of considerable use in the forensic analysis and interpretation of evidence in sexual offence investigations. Previous attempts to address this issue have explored microscopy, lactate dehydrogenase isozyme identification, mRNA and miRNA profiling, and identification of the products of fibrinolysis. Here, four assays for D-dimer, a terminal degradation product of fibrinolysis, are evaluated for their specificity and sensitivity in detection of menstrual blood. In addition the effect of exercise, and sample storage upon D-dimer detection was investigated. Comparison of different assays revealed significant differences in results given. Nevertheless, no positive results for D-dimer were obtained using peripheral blood, mixtures of peripheral blood with semen, or peripheral blood taken from donors after moderate exercise. D-dimer was found to be detectable in 100% of menstrual blood samples after 1 week at room temperature and also in samples stored long-term (>3 years) at -20 °C. D-dimer may be an effective, simple to use tool for the presumptive identification of menstrual blood identification.     

Do Debt Levels Influence State Borrowing Costs?

This article reports on research into the possible interest cost penalties when state governments impose increasingly high debt levels on their citizens. The potential effect of debt levels on borrowing costs is a material one, given the large amounts of state debt outstanding. At the same time that government borrowing is heavy, the demand for government obligations also appears to be strong. The authors examine state debt levels and borrowing costs over a six‐year period (2001–2006) and find little evidence of such an effect, despite rapidly growing debt burdens. Those concerned about state debt levels, the authors say, must look to sources other than investors for pressure to reduce debt issuance.     

Green and Grey: Water Justice,Criminalization, and Resistance

Since its initial proposal in the 1990s, ‘green criminology’ has focused on environmental crimes and harms affecting non-human and human life, ecosystems, and the planet as a whole. Describing global trends toward privatization of water supply systems and the criminalization of several water conservation activities and tactics, this paper employs theoretical perspectives offered by green, cultural, and critical criminologies, focusing on overt resistance to water privatization and oppressive regulations governing rainwater storage and residential water recycling. Taking a critical theoretical perspective, this paper examines water access and autonomy, individuals and groups openly resisting the criminalization of household water reuse and storage, and the cultural significance of water. This paper concludes with an exploration of the potential benefits of a green cultural criminology.     

Litigation, experimentation, and reputation

This paper develops a multiple-plaintiff game with a correlation across plaintiffs' private information (damage levels). It argues that the defendant engages in experimentation to learn (or remain uninformed about) the plaintiffs' types and play tougher (or softer) in the initial case when another party may also have an interest in the suit.     

Power to the people? Decentralizationin Papua New Guinea

Since 1977, after pressure from secessionists, Papua New Guinea has, with both boldness and hesitancy, sought to decentralize its unitary state. Nineteen elected provincial governments, which are financially dependent on the centre, now control the former colonial districts and the national government public servants within them. National parliamentarians, while competing with provincial governments, have gained strong influence over some of these nominally autonomous bodies. The hoped-for popular mobilization and the intended sensitization and improved co-ordination of the public service have not occurred widely, but rather abuses of position, waste of resources and a decline in the legitimacy of the state have resulted. This scheme, which was ill-suited to the political culture, the country's economic and financial balance and the available human resources, is being re-assessed at the national level.