Application of forward‐looking infrared (FLIR) imaging from an unmanned aerial platform in the search for decomposing remains

Traditional methods of cadaver detection in outdoor environments include manual ground search, cadaver dogs, and manned aerial reconnaissance during daylight. These methods have limitations; however, a potential low‐cost alternative may be to employ thermal imaging equipment mounted on an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to detect heat emitted by insect and bacterial activity on the decomposing remains. No studies have addressed the influence of wrappings on detection of maggot mass thermal signatures nor assessed thermal detection of smaller body fragments. We addressed these knowledge gaps by utilizing a two‐phase experimental approach to explore thermal detection of carcasses using UAV‐mounted infrared imaging. In Phase 1, pig body fragments were deposited on the surface or shallow buried. In Phase 2, whole pig carcasses were deposited in four conditions: on the surface uncovered, wrapped in plastic or carpet, or buried. Our results demonstrated that observable heat emissions from remains corresponded to peak insect activity during active decay and could be readily detected in uncovered whole carcasses and fragments. Although plastic and carpet wrappings partly impeded detection of insect heat signatures, these materials were clearly detectable themselves because of their contrast to the background ground surface. Thermal signatures of buried partial remains and disturbed gravesoil were also observed; however, the buried whole carcass transitioned to adipocere prior to the decay stage and without any insect colonization or heat signature. These data can inform operational implementation of this technique to complement existing search strategies to offer a robust, low‐cost alternative for use where scene characteristics allow.     

Traumatic brain injury,temperament, and violence in incarcerated youth: a mediation analysis based on Delisi and Vaughn’s theory of temperament and antisocial behavior

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with violent behavior. A possible key mechanism to explain the relationship between TBI and violence is DeLisi and Vaughn’s temperament-based theory of antisocial behavior. Accordingly, the current study investigates whether temperament – the combination of effortful control and negative emotionality – mediates the relationship between TBI and violent behavior within incarcerated youth. A non-probability sample of youth (N?=?227) incarcerated in two long-term residential facilities completed a comprehensive assessment tool that collected data on TBI, temperament, childhood trauma, substance use, mental illness, and a variety of demographic characteristics. Preliminary results showed TBI significantly increased violent behavior, adjusting for confounds. Then, mediation analysis found that temperament accounted for 54% of the total effect between TBI and violence. The study findings show the potency of DeLisi and Vaughn’s temperamental construct in explaining the relationship between TBI and violent behavior within a sample of incarcerated youth. The dynamic interplay between effortful control and negative emotionality appears to be an important mechanism related to violent behavior. Both temperament constructs should be the focus of future assessment and intervention among incarcerated youth with TBI.     

Ideological Congruence and Electoral Institutions

Although the literature examining the relationship between ideological congruence and electoral rules is quite large, relatively little attention has been paid to how congruence should be conceptualized. As we demonstrate, empirical results regarding ideological congruence can depend on exactly how scholars conceptualize and measure it. In addition to clarifying various aspects of how scholars currently conceptualize congruence, we introduce a new conceptualization and measure of congruence that captures a long tradition in democratic theory emphasizing the ideal of having a legislature that accurately reflects the preferences of the citizenry as a whole. Our new measure is the direct counterpart for congruence of the vote-seat disproportionality measures so heavily used in comparative studies of representation. Using particularly appropriate data from the  Comparative Study of Electoral Systems,  we find that governments in proportional democracies are not substantively more congruent than those in majoritarian democracies. Proportional democracies are, however, characterized by more representative legislatures.     

A Comparative Study of Resource Nationalism in Russia and Kazakhstan 2004–2008

In neighbouring countries like Russia and Kazakhstan, resource nationalism that may look similar to outside observers has a different character and is driven by different circumstances in each state. To assess the underlying nature of state-centric models of resource-led development in the two post-Soviet states, we contrast recent state interventions into their respective resource sectors. In Russia, heightened state involvement in the resource sectors, including oil and gas pipeline networks, is characterised mainly by political goals, whereas Kazakhstan's resource nationalism is primarily motivated by economic goals. More specifically, Russia leverages its energy sector to achieve geopolitical objectives and domestic political stability. By contrast, Kazakhstan seeks widely dispersed economic development.     

Impermanent Apologies: on the Dynamics of Timing and Public Knowledge in Political Apology

Political apologies are commonly imagined as gestures of finality and closure: capstone moments that summate public knowledge. One manifestation of these assumptions is the position that apologies should be timed to come only after appropriate investigation into the wrongdoing has been completed. This article takes a different view, for two reasons. First, even apologies that seem based on robust knowledge can come to seem incomplete or inadequate in the light of subsequent learning and knowledge. Second, because apologies are complexly embedded in longer-term processes of activism and response, they can contribute to their own unravelling by encouraging further consideration and inquiry. We develop these arguments by considering two Canadian cases that illustrate these dynamics: apologies that addressed, respectively, the wartime internment of Japanese Canadians and the policy of forcing Indigenous children to attend residential schools.     

Sustainable intensification and ecosystem services: new directions in agricultural governance

Reconciling environmental objectives for land use with the need to produce more food is a prominent concern of scientific and policy discourses on sustainable agriculture. The idea of sustainable intensification has emerged as one prominent framing of this challenge. In this paper we elaborate this idea from an ecosystem services perspective to natural resource management, with particular reference to developments in the UK. The paper considers the general origins and attributes of the perspective and how the challenge of sustainable intensification would be conceptualized and approached through it. While efforts to link analysis of ecosystem services to policy development and delivery in the UK are revealed as consistent with prevailing, and often long standing, approaches to sustainable agriculture, the marketization of environmental assets is highlighted as a distinguishing feature of current policy applications. The character and limitations of this facet of the ecosystem services agenda are discussed. The need to animate ecological issues of sustainable intensification through frames of reference other than those of economic valuation is emphasized.