Multiple gunshot wounds of the head: an anthropological view

A decomposed body was judged at the scene to have two gunshot wounds of the thorax and three of the head. Confirmed at autopsy, the condition of the remains precluded conclusions about the precise nature of the defects. Preparation and reconstruction of the skull disclosed seven large cranial defects and a series of fractures. This preparation allowed the application of well-known principles of gunshot wound analysis. Although the analysis of specific gunshot wound defects is well covered in the literature, there are few examples of the application of gunshot wound principles to complex wound cases. Three entrances and three exits were identified. A seventh defect resulted from bullet passage. Finally, the wounds were sequenced.     

The variation in the colour of paint on individual vehicles

The Nanospec 10S microspectrophotometer has been used to study the variations in topcoat colour over the external painted surface of a number of vehicles. The colour differences observed between samples of the manufacturers' original finish topcoats from different points on the vehicles were relatively small. Visual inspection of the reflectance spectra obtained from individual paint layers is a satisfactory method for showing that two layers have the same pigment composition.     

Perceptions of Sexual Harassment: The Effects of Gender,Legal Standard,and Ambivalent Sexism

This research tests the possibility that the reasonable woman as compared to the reasonable person test of hostile work environment sexual harassment interacts with hostile and benevolent sexist beliefs and under some conditions triggers protectionist attitudes toward women who complain of sexual harassment, We administered to a sample of undergraduates the ambivalent sexism inventory along with the fact patterns in two harassment cases and asked them to make legally relevant decisions under either the reasonable woman or person standard. We found that those high in hostile sexism, and women, found more evidence of harassment. However, those high in benevolent sexism did not exhibit the hostile sexism effects. Although men were less sensitive to the reasonable woman standard than women, under some conditions the reasonable woman standard enabled both genders to find greater evidence of harassment. The results are discussed from the perspectives of law and psychology.     

Announcement

The process of calibrating a tachograph makes use of a mechanical head drive unit and an electronic clock tester. Both these devices should be checked against a standard at 6-month intervals. The design of such a substandard, based on a highly stable 1 MHz crystal oscillator, is described.     

Mbeki's African Renaissance Vision as Reflected in isiXhosa Written Poetry: 2005–2011

IsiXhosa literary critics have not yet interrogated literature that was produced during and after the tenure of Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki as deputy president and president of the Republic of South Africa in order to study the impact of his African Renaissance doctrine. This article analyses poetry that was produced from 2005 to 2011. The content of the isiXhosa written poetry is profoundly influenced by the context of former President Mbeki's African Renaissance philosophy, its implementation structures and philosophy of self-confidence and self-reliance. The selected poems analysed and interpreted in this article suggest that Mbeki's legacy of the African Renaissance empowered poets to develop a narrative that advances the building of a regenerated South African nation and the African continent. Selected poetry of the period is contextualised, and the findings reveal that the poets have a dialectical relationship with historical developments of the time, and that they demonstrate acquiescence to the African Renaissance ideology, and support the operational structures created; namely African Union, Pan-African Parliament and the Vuk’uzenzele programme.     

Political Cultural Variations in State Economic Development Policy

The impact of political culture on state politics has been investigatedwidely, but little is known about the relationship between politicalculture and economic development policy, even though such policiesplay a prominent role in contemporary state politics. DrawingonDanielJ. Elazar's analysis of American political subcultures,I suggest that moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalisticvalues imply quite different strategies for promoting economicgrowth Empirical evidence shows that moralistic states pursuestrategies that emphasize solidarity, while individualisticstates employ policies that confer particularistic benefitson investors. For their part, policymakers in traditionalisticstates prefer exclusionary incentives that tend to reinforceexisting patterns of domination. Whether any of these strategiessucceed in realizing their cultural objectives remains to beseen; however, actions that positively affect economic performancemay lead to the erosion of cultural values by triggering migrationsthat bring new values into play.     

Improving the quality and quantity of whole blood supply: limits to voluntary arrangements

The inadvertent transmission of AIDS virus through contaminated whole blood has shaken the viability of the American voluntary blood supply system. For the first time since the voluntary donor system replaced the commercial blood system, there are widespread doubts about the ability of blood suppliers to meet the nation's increasing health care demands. This paper presents a framework for analyzing blood collection. First, we critique the existing literature on blood collection, arguing that its focus on donor motivation is difficult to integrate with policy analysis. We then present a specific model of the individual's decision to donate blood as a comparison of the costs and benefits of donating. The current system of collecting whole blood relies on donors receiving only altruistic benefits. We explore the limits of this approach to dealing with the quantity and quality problems presented by the AIDS virus. Alternative approaches....     

Coming to terms with facial reproduction

The process of building human faces by applying clay to skulls to generate leads for identification of unknown human remains is plagued by the use of a number of terms which are already used for other purposes. Reconstitution, reconstruction, restoration, death mask, moulage, and sculpture have all been used, but each is used in another context in forensic science. "Facial reproduction" is suggested as a term which is not already in use in forensic science, which is precise, and which would thus be preferred over any of the other terms.