Trajectories of public administration and administrative history in Australia: Rectifying ‘a curious blight’?

Anyone who has taught courses or conducted research under the rubric of ‘public administration’ must have been troubled more or less frequently by two characteristics of his ‘field’‐ its nebulous scope and its lack of any distinctive technique. He must have felt himself a Jack of all trades as he pottered amateurishly about, now on the fringes of administrative law, now at the margins of accounting and budgeting, and then at the edges of industrial relations and occupational psychology. As a teacher, how often did he face a class of public servants, each more expert and experienced in some specialty than he was in any?     

Attachment cognitions and college and work functioning two years later in late adolescent women

This longitudinal study of 134 female high school seniors investigated the relationship between attachment cognitions and school and work functioning two years later. School functioning was indexed by interviewer-rated strain, stressful events, academic performance, and self-reported attitudes toward college. Work functioning was indexed by interviewer-rated strain, stressful events, and self-reported attitudes toward work. Attachment cognitions were found to be correlated with school strain, number and stress of school-related events as well as self-reported satisfaction, stress, and problems meeting deadlines. Attachment cognitions were found to be correlated with work strain, work satisfaction, tendency to overcommit, and performance anxiety. Most of these relationships persisted even when initial symptomatology was accounted for. These findings lend support to the hypothesis, derived from attachment theory, that secure attachment cognitions provide a secure base that allows the late adolescent to negotiate the challenges of college and work successfully.This research was supported by a PHS National Research Service Award to the first author, and by a grant from the W. T. Grant foundation to the second.Postdoctoral fellowDoctoral candidate     

Indian NGO challenges penal code prohibition of "unnatural offences"

On 7 December 2001, the Naz Foundation (India) Trust (NFIT), a non-governmental organization based in New Delhi, filed a petition in the Delhi High Court to repeal the "unnatural offences" section of the Indian Penal Code that criminalizes men who have sex with men.     

Municipal‐Aboriginal advisory committees in four Canadian cities: 1999–2014

How have municipal governments in Canada been engaging Aboriginal peoples and First Nations? This project examined municipal Aboriginal relations offices and/or advisory committees across Canada and focuses on four cases in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto. This study identified their mandates, size, locations and initiatives these offices and advisory committees have undertaken, which include: awareness training; employment strategies to recruit, hire and retain Aboriginal municipal employees; and improve Aboriginal representation on municipal agencies, boards and commissions.     

Convention on laundering,search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from crime

Convention on laundering, search, seizure and confiscation of the proceeds from crime     

Validation of the InnoXtract™ DNA extraction method for bone,teeth, and rootless hair

Forensic casework samples often include human hairs, teeth, and bones. Hairs with roots are routinely processed for DNA analysis, while rootless hairs are either not tested or processed using mitochondrial DNA. Bones and teeth are submitted for human remains identifications for missing persons and mass disaster cases. DNA extraction from these low templates and degraded samples is challenging. The new InnoXtract DNA extraction method utilizes magnetic beads that are optimized to bind small DNA fragments, as small as 100 base pairs, to purify high-yield DNA from compromised samples. This validation study evaluates InnoXtract's ability to obtain amplifiable DNA from samples such as rootless hairs and skeletal remains. Studies performed include sensitivity, stability, repeatability, reproducibility, non-probative samples, and comparison to standard organic extractions. Sensitivity studies demonstrate average yield recoveries ranging from 53% to 100% and 73% to 85% for the InnoXtract hair and bone methods, respectively. Studies demonstrate consistent results across a range of sample types, such as insulted and un-insulted bone and teeth, as well as hair shafts from donors of various ages, gender, race, and hair characteristics. The InnoXtract bone method outperformed organic extraction. The method was successfully automated on a MagMAX™ Express-96, with recoveries over 70% relative to the manual version. InnoXtract has the potential as an automated high-throughput, high-yield bone extraction method with 6 h of total extraction time for up to 96 samples. The validation study results demonstrate that the InnoXtract kits produce high-yield and high-quality DNA from compromised bone, teeth, and hair shaft samples.     

Characteristics of female patients admitted to an adolescent secure forensic psychiatric hospital

Bluebird House is the only mixed gender NHS secure forensic psychiatric hospital for adolescents in the South of England. It has admitted more than 30 female patients since the service opened in 2008. The admission criteria are that patients must be detained under the Mental Health Act and present evidence of being a risk of harm to others. This article describes the clinical characteristics of 30 consecutive female patients admitted to a highly specialised adolescent forensic inpatient service. Key results include a very high rate of incidents of risk behaviours exhibited by female patients within the unit but good clinical outcomes. The majority of patients had severe symptoms of mental disorder, especially emotional instability, self-harm behaviours and aggressive behaviours. Few had diagnoses of mental illness. Assessment findings from the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory and the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk are discussed, as are parallel with studies from other female secure services.