Copycatting the smell of death: Deciphering the role of cadaveric scent components used by detection dogs to locate human remains

Human remains detection dogs (HRDD) are commonly used by law enforcement agencies to search for cadavers. Biological material is typically used as a training stimulus, also called aids, to train dogs to recognize the smell of cadavers. While HRDD training approaches have received extensive attention, information remains limited on the olfactory cues used to train them. Here, we aimed to decipher the chemical basis of detection dog olfaction. Five specific objectives were explored to precise whether the composition or the concentration of the training aids drives the HRDDs responses. We recorded the behavioral responses of four HRDDs exposed to different cadaveric-like smells. We found that HRDDs recognized a simplified synthetic aid composed of cadaveric compounds. The lowest concentration at which HRDDs continued to perceive the cadaveric smell was determined. HRDDs were not impacted by slight modifications to the chemical composition of a blend of odors that they have been trained with. HRDDs associated sulfur and nitrogen compounds as human cadaver. Our findings highlight a lack of specificity of HRDDs to cadaveric compounds, which could lead to error of detection. Moreover, all dogs did not positively respond to the same blends, despite being trained with the same aids and procedure. However, we confirmed that dogs could be trained with a simplified blend of molecules. The chemical composition of a training aid has, therefore, high consequences on the performance of the trained animal, and this conclusion opens additional questions regarding olfaction-based detection animals.     

The Gendered Face of Partisan Politics: Consequences of Facial Sex Typicality for Vote Choice

Facial cues are consequential for voters’ behavior at the polls. Yet the facial cues that are associated with vote choice remain under-examined. We predicted that vote choice judgments rely, in part, on the sex typicality of facial cues (i.e., the degree of facial masculinity and femininity) that vary as a function of candidate gender and partisan identification. Stimuli included image pairs of winners and runners-up in the elections for the 111th U.S. House of Representatives. In Study 1, we found that female Republican candidates who appeared relatively more feminine and male Republican candidates who looked relatively less masculine in their appearance were more likely to win their election. Democratic candidates’ electoral success was not related to their sex typicality. In Study 2, we found that relatively masculine-appearing Democrats and feminine-appearing Republicans were more likely to be selected in a hypothetical vote choice task. Implications for U.S. partisan politics are discussed.     

Malaysia: perception of contemporary China and its economic,political and societal determinants

This article looks at the Malaysian perception of the contemporary rise of China by focusing more on the country’s societal response rather than from a broad overall perspective of international strategic relations and diplomacy. The Malaysian society is seen as a complex multi-entity construct, constituted by often sharply differentiated fragments and sub-fragments which could exhibit vastly different responses to the implications of the rise of China. Within such a construct, perception of the rise of China and the appropriate Malaysian response are intricately entwined with domestic power politics, generational transition and governmental control over public discourse. Hence, the Malaysian perception of the contemporary rise of China is as complex as the Malaysian society itself, and what is revealed in official government policies and public discourses in the dominant mass media would fail to reflect the real depth of the issue if the intrinsic complexity of the Malaysian society is not taken into due consideration.     

Measuring peace using household-level data from post-conflict Solomon Islands

The definition of peace and its quantification has challenged many researchers. The extant literature defines and measures peace in contradistinction to violence, thereby making the measure an indirect one. There is scope for the alternative of a direct measure of peace in the form of a Peace Perception Index (PPI) as revealed here. We use household-level survey data from Guadalcanal Province in the Solomon Islands to compute the PPI. Our analysis shows that the once conflict-affected communities on Guadalcanal have attained a PPI of 88 per cent of the level of peace prior to the conflict. That is, the perception of the level of peace in the sampled community has improved to 88 per cent since the installation of a peacekeeping mission a decade back. We argue that recognising the people’s perceptions, rather than the use of the absolute minimalist or maximalist notion of peace provides nuances on the levels of peace reached in a post-conflict situation.     

俄罗斯对美国战略认知的演变及其政策效应

俄罗斯对美国战略认知的演变过程分为友好合作、竞争凸显和激烈对抗三个阶段。俄罗斯的强势外交和安全政策,表现为俄罗斯对美国和北约的强硬战略姿态以及追求超出自身相对实力的外交和安全目标。俄罗斯战略认知的演变与俄美两国的利益冲突之间有着相互塑造的关系,但是俄罗斯战略认知的变化并不仅仅取决于利益考量。俄罗斯之所以把北约东扩、乌克兰走向、叙利亚局势等看得如此重要,不惜投入大量资源,这是与塑造俄罗斯战略认知的历史和心理因素是分不开的。美国采取的许多对俄政策和行为,正是因为忽略了这些因素,才被俄罗斯看作是“侮辱性”和“威胁性”的,从而导致了双方敌意的螺旋式上升。由于俄罗斯独特的历史记忆和大国情结,俄罗斯对俄美两国的利益冲突作出了激烈的回应,这些回应虽然不利于俄罗斯的国家实力和整体利益,但却是可以理解的。随着俄罗斯对美战略认知的逐步定型,俄美关系在短期内很难实现所谓的“重启”。从俄罗斯对美战略认知的案例分析可以看出,战略认知自身有其相对的独立性,在受到利益冲突影响的同时,也受到社会文化因素的深刻影响,从而使得国家的外交与安全政策未必完全遵循理性主义的路径。