Succession pattern of carrion-feeding insects in Paramo, Colombia

The minimum postmortem interval can be estimated based on knowledge of the pattern of insect succession on a corpse. To use this approach requires that we take into account the rates of insect development associated with particular climatological conditions of the region. This study is the first to look at insect succession on decomposing carcasses in the high altitude plains (Paramo) in Colombia, at 3035 m above sea level. Five stages of decomposition were designated with indicator species identified for each stage: Callíphora nigribasis at the fresh stage; Compsomyiops verena at the bloated stage; Compsomyiops boliviana during active decay; Stearibia nigriceps and Hydrotaea sp. during advanced decay and Leptocera sp. for dry remains. A succession table is presented for carrion-associated species of the region, which can be used for estimating time since death in similar areas. Compsomyiops boliviana is reported for the first time in Colombia.     

Who's Afraid of… Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Research

In the light of her latest study the author investigates ethical challenges of qualitative research connected to the issue of privacy and publicity. The value of any research is that its findings are recognizable to the informants. This is the presupposition of a dialogue and of a possible change of practice. This is, however, also the dilemma of anonymity. To make the analysis recognizable it is important that the steps are transparent, so that it is possible to follow the reasoning of the researcher. Visiting various researchers the author maintains that any research takes colour, not only of the researcher and the subjects, but also by the power games played on the scene. She underlines the responsibility of all parts to participate in an on‐going discussion of the result.     

Metropolitan challenges and reform pressures across Europe – the perspectives of city mayors

Metropolitan governance arrangements and their policy purposes have been a matter of debate among researchers and practitioners around the globe. While we may trace three broad schools of metropolitan governance – reform school, public choice theory and new regionalism – with each still having its proponents, we are interested to learn whether there are assumptions on metropolitan governance that have today become general knowledge among urban political elites. By investigating the attitudes and perceptions of city mayors across Europe, we show that functional multipurpose governance bodies are indeed more generally associated with equitable service distribution, whereas the preconditions for cost-efficiency and sustainable development are more equivocally placed at different modes of governance. Moreover, we show that a perceived general lack of problem-solving capacities does not automatically translate into pressures for metropolitan reform, but it is only in combination with a general disaffection with the governance structures currently in place.     

Friend or Foe? Digital Technologies and the Changing Nature of Party Membership

As membership levels decline, parties are developing new forms of linkage with supporters, many of which rely on Internet technologies. To date, the discussion of these new modes of affiliation has been largely theoretical in nature, with little, if any, systematic empirical analysis undertaken on their appeal and impact on formal membership. This article seeks to fill this gap by examining the presence of three new types of digital affiliation—audience, friends, and digital activists—among the French electorate using original survey data from the 2012 Presidential election. Our findings are important in showing that while the new methods of affiliation are increasing parties’ reach into society, they are not necessarily widening parties’ socioeconomic support base. Furthermore, digital activism is mostly a supplementary channel for members’ input although there are a smaller group of people engaging in these activities that avoid formal membership ties. Such results suggest that digital methods of affiliation might offer an important new resource to parties during campaigns.     

The (im)plausibility of racism in Europe: policy frameworks on discrimination and integration

ABSTRACT

Rodríguez Maeso and Araújo analyse the reproduction of a dominant understanding of racism in policy discourses of integration and discrimination used by monitoring agencies in Portuguese and European Union (EU) institutional contexts. More specifically, they question the political concern over racism and discrimination vis-à-vis the idea of Europe ‘becoming increasingly diverse’ and the need to gather ‘evidence’ of discrimination. To that end, they examine periodic reports issued by EU monitoring agencies since the 1990s—paying specific attention to reporting on school segregation of Roma pupils in Portugal—and national integration policies and initiatives that, since the 2000s, have targeted mainly Roma and black families and youth. They argue that the dominant discourse of integration and cultural diversity conceives of racism as external to European political culture, and as a ‘factor’ of the ‘conflictive nature’ of social interactions in ethnoracially heterogeneous settings. This paves the way for calls for the ‘strengthening of social cohesion’—on the assumption that policy initiatives need to act on the ‘characteristics’ of so-called ‘vulnerable’ populations—whereas institutional arrangements and everyday practices remain unchallenged.     

The impact of the Texas top ten percent law on college enrollment: A regression discontinuity approach

We use regression discontinuity methods on a representative survey of Texas high school seniors to discern the impact on flagship‐enrollment behavior of the Texas top 10 percent law, which guarantees admission to any Texas public university to students who graduate in the top decile of their class. By comparing students at and immediately below the cut‐point for automatic admission, we find that the top 10 percent law affects flagship enrollment of Hispanic students eligible for the admission guarantee, as well as rank‐eligible graduates from high schools where minority students predominate and from high schools with the state average share of economically disadvantaged students. Our findings are robust to various model specifications and different bandwidth choices using local linear estimation. © 2010 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Surgical Sutures as a Means of Identifying Human Remains*

Abstract: The Food and Drug Administration does not require surgical sutures to be tracked by manufacturer, physician, or patient; thereby, surgical sutures have been of little use to forensic practitioners who are tasked with establishing a positive identification with biological evidence. This study demonstrates the investigative process used to pinpoint suture manufacturers by presenting a case where surgical sutures were a distinctive characteristic that aided in the positive identification of skeletal remains. The suture’s manufacturer, construction material and structure, size, and medical use was determined by contacting a local surgical suture and orthopedic implant manufacturer and utilizing publicly available manufacturer websites, which provide catalogs and specific product details. This research was one of many lines of evidence used to establish the positive identification of a 47‐year‐old male.