Reviews

The Letters of Frederic William Maitland. Edited by C. H. S. Fifoot. Chitty & Jacob's Queen's Bench Forms. Nineteenth edition. By I. H. Jacob, LL.B. Studies in Criminal Law. By Norval Morris and Colin Howard. Ventures in Criminology. Selected Recent Papers. By Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck. Hendrick the Axe Collector. A Study in juvenile criminal guilt. By Denis Hart. Forgery Detection–A Practical Guide. By Wilson R. Harrison, M.SC., PH.D. The Law of Carriage by Inland Transport. Fourth Edition. By Otto Kahn-Freund, M.A., LL.M., DR.JUR., with the assistance of John Hucker, LL.B. Chalmers on Bills of Exchange. Thirteenth edition. By David A. L. Smout. Carver's Carriage by Sea. Eleventh edition. By Raoul P. Colinvaux. Scrutton on Charter Parties and Bills of Lading. Seventeenth edition. By Sir W. L. McNair, Sir A. Mocatta and M. J. Mustill. Developments in the Law of the Sea, 1958–1964. The British Institute of International and Comparative Law: International Law Series No. 3. Linje-Konferanser og Kartell-Lovgivning. (With summary in English.) By Arvid Frihagen. The Sources of the Law of International Trade, with Special Reference to East-West Trade. Edited by Clive M. Schmitthoff. The Changing Structure of International Law. By Wolfgang Friedmann. Protection of Human Rights under the Law. By Gaius Ezejiofor. Conflict of Interests. International Law in a Divided World. By Rosalyn Higgins. The Law of Delict. Sixth edition. By R. G. McKerron. [Cape Town: Juta & Co. Ltd. Stocked and distributed in the United Kingdom An Outline of the Constitutional Development of Malta under British Rule. By Professor the hon. J. J. Cremona, LL. D., B. A. (Malta), B. A. (Lond), PH. D. (Lond.), D. Litt.(Rome), F. R. Hist. S., Attorney-General and Member of the Consultative Council, Malta.     

Film in Review

Angels in America. The play by Tony Kushner, adapted for television by the author. Produced for HBO by Cary Brokaw and Mike Nichols. Directed by Mike Nichols. The Angels DVD set was released in June 2004 .     

Analysis of non-suspect samples lacking visually identifiable sperm using a Y-STR 10-plex

Y-STRs are valuable in the investigation of sexual assaults in which autosomal STR genotype interpretation is challenging. To detect male DNA from compromised sexual assault evidence, 45 non-suspect samples were differentially extracted and analyzed with 10 Y-STRs. These samples were positive for the presence of human seminal fluid, but were negative for spermatozoa by microscopic examination. Y-STR data were obtained in approximately 86.2% of the epithelial or sperm fractions. On samples yielding incomplete profiles, results were obtained on an average of 5 loci per sample. The inability to obtain results may be due to insufficient amplifiable male DNA, PCR inhibition, or unfounded accusations of sexual assault. This study indicates that it is possible to obtain a male STR profile even in the absence of visually identifiable spermatozoa. Furthermore, Y-STR loci should become components of CODIS if they are to be used in solving non-suspect sexual assaults.     

The fetishism of humanitarian objects and the management of malnutrition in emergencies

This paper examines two common objects in humanitarian assistance: a therapeutic food called Plumpy’nut, and a tape for measuring malnutrition known as the muac band. It argues that humanitarian relief has become a standardised package reliant on such objects, which receive excessive commitment from aid workers and are ascribed with almost magical powers. Drawing on the Marxist notion of commodity fetishism, the paper proposes a three-part model for examining this phenomenon, in which humanitarian objects are bound up in processes of concealment, transformation and mystification. First, these objects are perceived as rootless, recent discoveries, allowing the complex history and ambivalent results of technology to be concealed. Second, they facilitate a single-minded attention to efficiency and aggregate survival, which transforms the way humanitarian action is understood. Third, these objects are imbued with a mystical and autonomous spirit, redefined as irreplaceable elements of aid. This ‘fetishism of humanitarian objects’, the paper concludes, prevents a more flexible and people-centred approach to relief.     

Corrections for age in estimating older adults' stature from long bones

Stature estimates based on long bone measurements require a correction factor to compensate for stature decrease in older people. Such a correction should exclude the effect of any secular trend in stature and reflect the age at which stature begins to decrease, sex differences, and the increasing rate of change with age. Stature correction which meet these requirements for ages 46 through 85, based upon two recent large-scale longitudinal anthropometric studies, are provided in tabular form.