Detecting Submerged Bodies: Controlled Research Using Side‐Scan Sonar to Detect Submerged Proxy Cadavers

Forensic investigators routinely deploy side‐scan sonar for submerged body searches. This study adds to the limited body of literature by undertaking a controlled project to understand how variables affect detection of submerged bodies using side‐scan sonar. Research consisted of two phases using small and medium‐sized pig (Sus scrofa) carcasses as proxies for human bodies to investigate the effects of terrain, body size, frequency, swath width, and state of decomposition. Results demonstrated that a clear, flat, sandy pond floor terrain was optimal for detection of the target as irregular terrain and/or vegetation are major limitations that can obscure the target. A higher frequency towfish was preferred for small bodies, and a 20 m swath width allowed greater visibility and easier maneuverability of the boat in this environment. Also, the medium‐sized carcasses were discernable throughout the 81‐day study period, indicating that it is possible to detect bodies undergoing decomposition with side‐scan sonar.     

ABO位点限制性扩增片段长度多态性的研究

建立了PCR扩增、限制性酶切、8％（T）、5％（C）聚丙烯酸胺凝胶垂直电泳和银染检测ABO位点的限制性片段长度多态性的方法体系。应用Amp-RFLP技术对185名中国人（哈尔滨）ABO位点的基因频率和基因型分布进行了调查和统计分析。ABO位点特异片段长度为140～200bp，基因频率为0．2000～0．5568。6种基因型频率为0．973～0．3135，杂合度0．5838，Dp值0．7146。经H－W平衡吻合度检测，完全符合群体遗传多态分布。通过对11个家庭33名相关个体的分析，证明完全符合孟德尔遗传定律。ABO基因型检验适用于法庭科学的个体识别和亲权鉴定。     

根据足迹掌宽值推断体重公式的修正计算

目的为提高实战中对留痕人体重推断的准确率;方法根据足迹长宽的比值更能准确地反映人的胖瘦这一规律,提出修正计算公式m=2.5M/R进行初步实验检验;结果该方法是对原根据足迹掌宽值推断留痕人体重公式的补充,对偏离标准体态的人,用该公式修正使足迹掌宽值与体重的关系有了较为准确的反映。     

利用赤足外缘长推算身高

利用赤足足迹分析身高在案件侦破工作中具有较为重要的价值。赤足外缘长与足长存在着一元线性回归关系 ,据此可由赤足外缘长推算足长 ,进而推算留痕人的身高。     

Coping with lengthy ballots

Given voters' limited cognitive abilities, the learning environments voters face may have implications for how voters learn and make decisions. One prominent feature of American elections is the variation in the length of the ballot across jurisdictions and elections. This paper explores the consequences of lengthy ballots on the ability of voters to learn about candidates. Using an experimental design and a dynamic information board (Lau and Redlawsk, 2006), subjects participate in a mock election where they are asked to gather information about a single election or multiple elections. The results indicate that while voters compare more information as ballot length increases, they spend significantly less time learning about individual pieces of candidate information.     

IMPRISONMENT LENGTH AND POST‐PRISON EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS

This study considers the relationship between imprisonment length and employment outcomes. The data are a unique prospective, longitudinal study of Dutch pretrial detainees (N = 702). All subjects thus experience prison confinement of varying lengths, although the durations are relatively short (mean = 3.8 months; median = 3.1 months). This contrasts with prior research that was limited to the study of American prison sentences spanning an average of 2 years. These data thus fill a gap in the empirical base concerning short‐term confinement, which is the norm in the United States (e.g., jail incarceration) and other Western countries. Using a comprehensive array of pre‐prison covariates, a propensity score methodology is used to examine the dose–response relationship between imprisonment length and a variety of employment outcomes. The results indicate that, among prison lengths less than 6 months in duration, longer confinement is largely uncorrelated with employment. In contrast, among spells in excess of 6 months, longer imprisonment length seems to worsen employment prospects.     

Long Bone (Humerus,Femur, Tibia) Measuring Procedure in Cadavers

In this work, we present a measuring methodology for long bones of the limbs (humerus, femur, and tibia) of human corpses. Measurements of cadaveric height and long bone lengths were conducted on 72 corpses (20 females and 52 males) from the School of Medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Additionally, these measurements were compared with those taken from dry bones of a subsample of individuals. Our results show marginal differences (TEM% = 0.59) between cadaveric and dry bone measurements, resulting from different osteometric technical procedures. This note outlines the measuring methodology, which will be subsequently used to create regression formulas for stature estimation.     

Sonic diaspora,vibrations, and rhythm: thinking through the sounding of the Jamaican dancehall session

Abstract

The propagation of vibrations may provide a better way of understanding the spread of diasporas than the conventional focus on the circulation of products (Hall 1980 Hall, S. 1980. “Encoding/decoding”. In Culture, media, language, Edited by: Hall, S., Hanson, D., Lowe, A. and Willis, P. 122–127. London: Unwin Hyman in association with the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies.  [Google Scholar], Appadurai 1986 Appadurai , A. 1986 . The social life of things: commodities in cultural perspective . Cambridge : Cambridge University Press .[Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 1996 Appadurai, A. 1996. Modernity at large: cultural dimensions of globalization, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.  [Google Scholar], Gilroy 1993a Gilroy, P. 1993a. The black Atlantic: modernity and double consciousness, London: Verso.  [Google Scholar], Brah 1996 Brah, A. 1996. Cartographies of diaspora: contesting identities, London: Routledge.  [Google Scholar]). Jamaican sound systems operate as a broadcast medium and a source of CDs, DVDs, and other commercial products (Henriques 2007a Henriques, J. 2007a. “The Jamaican dancehall sound system as a commercial and social apparatus”. In Sonic synergies: music, identity, technology and community, Edited by: Bloustein, G., Peters, M. and Luckman, S. 133–146. London: Ashgate.  [Google Scholar]). But the dancehall sound system session also propagates a broad spectrum of frequencies diffused through a range of media and activities – described as ‘sounding’ (following Small's 1998 concept of ‘musicking’). These include the material vibrations of the signature low-pitched auditory frequencies of Reggae as a bass culture (Johnson 1980 Johnson, L.K. 1980. Bass culture, [LP] London: Island Records.  [Google Scholar]), at the loudness of ‘sonic dominance’ (Henriques 2003 Henriques, J. 2003. “Sonic dominance and the reggae sound system”. In Auditory culture, Edited by: Bull, M. and Back, L. 451–480. Oxford: Berg.  [Google Scholar]). Secondly a session propagates the corporeal vibrations of rituals, dance routines, and bass-line ‘riddims’ (Veal 2007 Veal, M. 2007. Dub: songscapes and shattered Songs in Jamaican reggae, Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.  [Google Scholar]). Thirdly it propagates the ethereal vibrations (Henriques 2007b Henriques, J. 2007b. “Situating sound: the space and time of the dancehall session”. In Thamyris/intersecting: place, sex and race, Edited by: Marijke, J. and Mieskowski, S. 287–309. Sonic interventions.  [Google Scholar]), ‘vibes’ or atmosphere of the sexually charged popular subculture by which the crowd (audience) appreciate each dancehall session as part of the Dancehall scene (Cooper 2004 Cooper, C. 2004. Sound clash: Jamaican dancehall culture at large, New York: Palgrave. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). The paper concludes that thinking though vibrating frequencies makes it easier to appreciate how audiences with no direct or inherited connection with a particular music genre can be energetically infected and affected – to form a sonic diaspora.     

Accuracy of developing tooth length as an estimate of age in human skeletal remains: the deciduous dentition

Dental age assessments are widely used to estimate age of immature skeletal remains. Most methods have relied on fractional stages of tooth emergence and formation, particularly of the permanent dentition, for predicting the age of infants and very young children. In this study, the accuracy of regression equations of developing deciduous tooth length for age estimation (Liversidge et al.) is tested on a sample of 30 Portuguese subadult skeletons of known age at death. Overall the method shows high accuracy and the average difference between estimated and chronological age is between 0.20 and -0.14 years when using single teeth, and 0.06 years, when using all available teeth. However, there is a tendency for the deciduous molars to provide overestimates of chronological age. Results show that age estimates can be obtained within +/-0.10 years with a 95% confidence interval when several teeth are used. Overall between-tooth agreement in age estimates decreases with increasing age but there is less variability of estimates with more teeth contributing to overall mean age. One seemingly limitation of this method may be the fact that it was developed by combining the maxillary and mandibular teeth. The other is related to the accuracy with which radiographic tooth length can be used as a valid surrogate for actual tooth length. Nevertheless, the advantages of this metric method surpass the limitations of chronologies based on stages of dental development.