Forensic utility of carbon isotope ratio variations in PVC tape backings

Forensic interest in adhesive tapes with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) backings (electrical tape) derives from their use in a variety of illicit activities. Due to the range of physical characteristics, chemical compositions, and homogeneity within a single roll of tape, traditional microscopic and chemical analyses can offer a high degree of discrimination between tapes, permitting the assessment of potential associations between evidentiary tape samples. The carbon isotope ratios of tapes could provide additional discrimination among tape samples. To evaluate whether carbon isotope ratios may be able to increase discrimination of electrical tapes, particularly with regards to different rolls of tape of the same product, we assessed the δ(13)C values of backings from 87 rolls of PVC-based black electrical tape (~20 brands, >60 products) Prior to analysis, adhesives were removed to prevent contamination by adhering debris, and plasticizers were extracted because of concern over their potential mobility. This result is consistent with each of these tapes having approximately the same plasticizer δ(13)C value and proportion of carbon in these plasticizers. The δ(13)C values of the 87 PVC tape backings ranged between -23.5 and -41.3 (‰, V-PDB), with negligible carbon isotopic variation within single rolls of tape, yet large variations among tape brands and tape products. Within this tape population, carbon isotope ratios permitted an average exclusion power of 93.7%, using a window of +/-0.3‰; the combination of carbon isotope ratio measurement with additional chemical and physical analyses raises the discrimination power to over 98.9%, with only 41 out of a possible 3741 pairs of tape samples being indistinguishable. There was a linear relationship between the δ(13)C value of tape backings and the change in δ(13)C value with the extraction of plasticizers. Analyses of pre- and post-blast tape sample pairs show that carbon isotope signatures are within 0.3‰ of pre-blast values, indicating that carbon isotope values are largely preserved during an explosion.     

Community benefit activities of private, nonprofit hospitals

The definition of hospital community benefits has been intensely debated for many years. Recently, consensus has developed about one group of activities being central to community benefits because of its focus on care for the poor and on needed community services for which any payments received are low relative to costs. Disagreements continue, however, about the treatment of bad debt expense and Medicare shortfalls. A recent revision of the Internal Revenue Service's Form 990 Schedule H, which is required of all nonprofit hospitals, highlights the agreed-on set of activities but does not dismiss the disputed items. Our study is the first to apply definitions used in the new IRS form to assess how conclusions about the adequacy of nonprofit hospital community benefits could be affected if bad debt expenses and Medicare shortfalls are included or excluded. Specifically, we examine 2005 financial data for California and Florida hospitals. Overall, we find that conclusions about community benefit adequacy are very different depending on which definition of community benefits is used. We provide thoughts on new directions for the current policy debate about the treatment of bad debts and Medicare shortfalls in light of these findings.     

Diamonds,gold and crime displacement: Hatton Garden,and the evolution of organised crime in the UK

The 2015 Hatton Garden Heist was described as the ‘largest burglary in English legal history’. However, the global attention that this spectacular crime attracted to ‘The Garden’ tended to concentrate upon the value of the stolen goods and the vintage of the burglars. What has been ignored is how the burglary shone a spotlight into Hatton Garden itself, as an area with a unique ‘upperworld’ commercial profile and skills cluster that we identify as an incubator and facilitator for organised crime. The Garden is the UK’s foremost jewellery production and retail centre and this paper seeks to explore how Hatton Garden’s businesses integrated with a fluid criminal population to transition, through hosting lucrative (and bureaucratically complex) VAT gold frauds from 1980 to the early 1990s, to become a major base for sophisticated acquisitive criminal activities. Based on extensive interviews over a thirty year period, evidence from a personal research archive and public records, this paper details a cultural community with a unique criminal profile due to the particularities of its geographical location, ethnic composition, trading culture, skills base and international connections. The processes and structures that facilitate criminal markets are largely under-researched (Antonopoulos et al. 2015: 11), and this paper considers how elements of Hatton Garden’s ‘upperworld’ businesses integrated with project criminals, displaced by policing strategies, to effect this transition.     

The deployment of Canadian experts and teachers in international development

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it examines the deployment of Canadian experts and teachers in international development. Secondly, it assesses the extent to which the distribution of Canadian expertise among developing countries is consistent with the Canadian policy of concentrating on the needs of the poorest of the poor and those in greatest need. The results show that over one-half of all Canadian experts go to Africa and that about 20 per cent are women, mostly in traditional female-dominated professions. Using more objective social and economic development indicators, such as the Physical Quality of Life Index and Disparity Reduction Rates, however, the results show that the deployment of Canadian expertise does not reflect the real needs of many of the developing countries receiving aid from the Canadian International Development Agency. These contradictions and inconsistencies are discussed in the light of competing and often conflicting foreign policy objectives which often override the legitimate development needs of the most needy countries. Specific suggestions are made to alleviate some of the inconsistencies. Sommaire: Cet article poursuit un double objectif. Il se penche tout d'abord sur le contingent d'experts et de professeurs canadiens nommés à l'étranger dans le cadre du développement international. Ensuite, il évalue si la répartition des compétences canadiennes dans les pays en voie de développement est conforme à la politique canadienne selon laquelle il faut se concentrer sur les besoins des plus pauvres parmi les pauvres et des plus démunis. Les résultats montrent que plus de la moitié de tous les experts canadiens vont en Afrique et qu'environ 20% d'entre eux sont des femmes, celles-ci exerçant surtout des professions typiquement féminines par tradition. Toutefois, en s'appuyant sur des indicateurs de développement économique et sociaux plus objectifs, comme 1'Indice de la qualité physique de la vie et les Taux de réduction des disparités, les résultats montrent que le contingent d'experts canadiens ne reflete pas les vrais besoins de beaucoup de pays en voie de développement bénéficiant de l'assistance de 1'Agence canadienne de développe-ment international. Dans l'article, on analyse ces contradictions et ces illogismes à la lumière des objectifs de la politique étrangère, lesquels sont souvent en conflit les uns avec les autres et ne tiennent pas compte des besoins légitimes des pays les plus démunis en matière de développement. L'article contient des suggestions précises visant à réduire certaines contradictions.     

Major Life Events and the Age-Partisan Stability Association

Political Behavior - Stable partisanship in the United States is often attributed to attachments to political parties that become slowly and incrementally stronger with age. Here, I show that...