Elemental analysis of human cremains using ICP-OES to classify legitimate and contaminated cremains

The Tri-State Crematory Incident in Nobel, GA (February 2001) revealed limitations in traditional human cremated remains (cremains) analytical methodology. The goal of this study was to develop a method for effectively classifying questionable sets of cremains as legitimate or contaminated. Eighty-eight samples of known human cremains, concrete, mixtures of the two, and questionable sets of cremains were acid digested and analyzed for 21 elements by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Variable cluster and principle component analyses identified the seven elements (Sb, B, Li, Mn, Sr, Tl, and V) used to develop discriminant functions to classify questionable sets into two groups: cremains and concrete. The discriminant analysis shows that at the 0.90 probability level, mixtures of 50% or less human content were classified as concrete. Mixtures with 90% human content classified as cremains. Sixty percent and 75% human content mixtures remained in the questionable classification, but as the concentration of human increased in the mixture, the probability of assignment to the known cremains group increased. Most of the questionable human samples classified as cremains. This is a pilot study and cannot yet satisfy Daubert standards for courtroom admissibility, but it indicates that it is possible to determine the legitimacy of cremains using elemental analysis by ICP-OES coupled with multivariate statistical analysis.     

Risks and Opportunities of Faith and Culture: The Case of Abused Jewish Women

Intimate partner abusers often focus on physical violence, but abuse may also include exploiting a partner’s faith or subculture. Alternatively, faith or subculture may be a source of strength and support for victims. We explored this by analyzing case files from a Jewish domestic violence services agency. Jewish identity conditions women’s experiences with intimate partner abuse through the use of Judaism as a “tool” for abuse, the role of Jewish holidays and observances, and the role of the Jewish community. While partners of abused Jewish women often perverted the laws and traditions of Judaism to control their partners and the reaction of the larger community varied, being part of an integrated cultural and religious community offered support for some women.     

Agrarian adaptations in Tajikistan: land reform,water and law

In Central Asia, agriculture and water management have ranked as the two most important economic activities in this arid environment. These activities gained even more prominence during the Soviet era as planners expanded irrigation into previously marginal land that bolstered their vision that the best land be allocated exclusively for cotton production. In the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan has enacted laws meant to expand and clarify land use categories to meet the dual targets of expanding food production within the country while maintaining as much land as possible in cotton production – their economic mainstay. To this end, the Tajik government instituted five categories of land tenure. Though comprehensive, these new dispositions merely mask a continuation of top-down agrarian decision making implemented during the Soviet period. Consequently, this change has created new problems for farm labourers as they struggle to adapt to post-Soviet life and negotiate with the new bureaucracy in the face of ‘de-modernization’ and the loss of jobs, wages, and in many cases, access to productive land. This research demonstrates that the means by which the Tajik government expanded food production has contributed to agricultural problems apparent at the time of independence.     

Citizenship, mental illness, and the criminal justice system

The concept of citizenship in regard to persons with mental illness has gained increasing attention in recent years, but little empirical research has been conducted on this topic. In addition, little research or conceptual writing has been done on the topic of criminal justice in regard to citizenship for people with mental illness, in spite of the high incidence of criminal charges and incarceration among this group. We review our work on an applied theoretical framework of citizenship, including its origins in mental health outreach work to people who are homeless and in a jail diversion program. We then suggest the contribution the framework can make to the intersecting issues of mental illness, its criminalization in the U.S., and the goal of community integration for people with mental illness.     

Ideas, innovations, and networks: a new policy model based on the evolution of knowledge

In this paper, we argue that a new policy model for science and technology is needed and must be evolutionary in nature. The paper proposes utilizing the idea innovation network theory as a framework for assessing sectoral innovation patterns and identifies six types, or “arenas,” of research that are linked to innovation within these networks. Following the idea innovation network theory, the paper argues that two societal trends, the fragmentation of markets and the growth of knowledge, are driving organizations toward greater functional differentiation. Successful innovation will occur when these differentiated organizations become closely linked within innovation networks that integrate the arenas of research. The paper argues that this framework has predictive power, in that it allows the identification of path-dependent blockages or gaps within idea innovation chains that prevent the emergence of effective innovation networks in different countries. Policy makers can play an important role by fostering the development of tightly coupled networks that include organizations involved in each of the types of research. The paper provides empirical support for the framework using a cross-national European study of the telecommunications and pharmaceutical industries.