Calculating Point of Origin of Blood Spatter Using Laser Scanning Technology

The point of origin of an impact pattern is important in establishing the chain of events in a bloodletting incident. In this study, the accuracy and reproducibility of the point of origin estimation using the FARO Scene software with the FARO Focus^3D laser scanner was determined. Five impact patterns were created for each of three combinations of distances from the floor (z) and the front wall (x). Fifteen spatters were created using a custom impact rig, scanned using the laser scanner, photographed using a DSLR camera, and processed using the Scene software. Overall results gave a SD = 3.49 cm (p < 0.0001) in the x‐direction, SD = 1.14 cm (p = 0.9291) in the y‐direction, and SD = 9.08 cm (p < 0.0115) in the z‐direction. The technique performs within literature ranges of accepted accuracy and reproducibility and is comparable to results reported for other virtual stringing software.     

A Biomechanical Evaluation of Skull–Brain Surrogates to Blunt High‐Rate Impacts to Postmortem Human Subjects

The field of forensic injury biomechanics is an emerging field. Biomechanically validated tools may assist interdisciplinary teams of investigators in assessing mechanisms of blunt head trauma resulting in skull fractures. The objective of this study is to assess the biofidelity of spherical, frangible skull–brain (SB) surrogates. Blunt impacts were conducted at 20 m/s, using an instrumented 103 g rigid impactor, to the temporo‐parietal region of four defleshed cephalic postmortem human subjects (PMHS). Force–deformation response, fracture tolerance, and fracture patterns were recorded for comparison to spherical skull–brain surrogates. Three brain substitutes were assessed: 10% gelatin, lead shot with Styrofoam and water. Force–deformation response of the skull–brain surrogates was similar to defleshed PMHS up to the point of fracture; however, none of the surrogates fractured at tolerance levels comparable to the PMHS. Fracture patterns of the skull–brain surrogates were linear and radiating, while PMHS fractures were all depressed, comminuted.     

Squaring the Virtuous Circle: Exploring the Potential of the ‘Five Cs’

During his May 2014 visit to Australia Pascal Lamy, former Director General of the World Trade Organization, urged ‘public institutions, civil society, and global businesses’ to forge ‘creative coalitions’ for the purpose of engaging constructively and positively with the complex problems standing in the way of achieving social and economic sustainability. Lamy's visit was but the first of several occasions during 2014 in which intense public discussion erupted about the need for government, business, and civil society to pool their capacities in boundary‐spanning efforts to address complex policy problems. This article investigates whether the public discussion portends a heightened policy focus on the ‘five Cs’: co‐production, co‐design, corporate social responsibility, collective impact, and Lamy's creative coalitions.     

The Politics of Parliamentary Strengthening

Parliament's International Development Committee made a powerful case this year that DFID should put more money into parliamentary strengthening in developing countries. Arguing that parliaments were central to tackling corruption, improving economic development and building stable political settlements, they recommended that parliaments should be at the ‘heart of DFID's governance work’. The report, though, also touched on wider issues of how DFID commissions and monitors its political programmes, suggesting fundamental changes to both. DFID recognises these challenges, and offered either full or partial agreement with most of the recommendations. The challenge that remains, though, is moving from the rhetoric of ‘engaging with politics’ to a much improved form of political and parliamentary programming.     

Science Use in Regulatory Impact Analysis: The Effects of Political Attention and Controversy

Scholars, policy makers, and research sponsors have long sought to understand the conditions under which scientific research is used in the policy‐making process. Recent research has identified a resource that can be used to trace the use of science across time and many policy domains. U.S. federal agencies are mandated by executive order to justify all economically significant regulations by regulatory impact analyses (RIAs), in which they present evidence of the scientific underpinnings and consequences of the proposed rule. To gain new insight into when and how regulators invoke science in their policy justifications, we ask: does the political attention and controversy surrounding a regulation affect the extent to which science is utilized in RIAs? We examine scientific citation activity in all 101 economically significant RIAs from 2008 to 2012 and evaluate the effects of attention—from the public, policy elites, and the media—on the degree of science use in RIAs. Our main finding is that regulators draw more heavily on scientific research when justifying rules subject to a high degree of attention from outside actors. These findings suggest that scientific research plays an important role in the justification of regulations, especially those that are highly salient to the public and other policy actors.     

Technocracy,democracy, and public policy: An evaluation of public participation in retrospective regulatory review

Retrospective review of existing regulations is an increasingly common aspect of the regulatory policy cycle. As with prospective regulatory policymaking, public participation is a central feature of many retrospective review initiatives. Despite its theoretical and practical significance, participation in retrospective review has received little scholarly attention. This paper presents the first systematic assessment of participation in United States retrospective regulatory review. Utilizing content analysis of an original dataset of government documents and public input produced pursuant to Executive Orders 13563, 13579, and 13610, the paper analyzes participatory institutional design, the level and composition of participants, and participation processes. The results suggest that retrospective review participation processes largely reflected the modes of stakeholder outreach and engagement employed in prospective regulatory policymaking, but resulted in comparatively low levels of participation. Consistent with the purposes enumerated in the executive orders, participation processes facilitated information exchange and were relatively representative of and responsive to stakeholders.     

教育纠纷的权利救济体制刍议--教育仲裁制度初探

随着我国高等教育事业的发展 ,高校与学生基于教育与受教育活动而产生的各种纠纷 (以下称教育纠纷 )也出现多样化和复杂化的特点。如何从总体上建立一个各种救济途径配置得当的救济体制以解决这些不同性质的纠纷是一个复杂的问题。文章从现实出发创造性地尝试建立一种新的教育纠纷解决途径——教育仲裁 ,由三方 (学生、学校、国家教育行政主管部门 )专家代表组成仲裁委员会。根据争议的不同性质和特点把部分教育纠纷纳入教育仲裁 ,并赋予学生救济途径的选择权。这种纠纷解决方式的特点是在保证高校对教学活动进行依法独立管理的前提下 ,既能保护学生的合法权益 ,又能发挥国家教育主管部门的监督管理与指导权能 ,具有效益性、公平性和可操作性     

网络时代物权原则的确立

互联网络基于其自身的特殊性,已经对物权法制产生了许多重要影响,其中,尤为突出的是它动摇了物权法定原则存在的合理性基础,使意思自治能够全面在物权法领域得以贯彻.然而关于网络对物权法乃至民法的影响,基本上没有引起学者的注意.因此,在我国目前正在准备起草制定物权法和民法典时,深入研究互联网络对物权法和民法的影响,不仅对丰富和发展物权法和民法理论具有重要意义,而且也对物权法和民法典的制定具有重要的现实意义.     

“To This Day She Continues to Struggle with the Terror Imposed upon Her”: Rape Narratives in Victim Impact Statements

This study locates the victim impact statements of raped women in the sociolegal context of significant sentencing law reforms introduced in Canada to address an ascendant victim’s rights movement. We examine 38 reported sentencing decisions in sexual assault cases in Ontario, Canada (1999–2010). Our objectives are to discern (a) whether the archetype of the ideal victim continues to influence juridical discourse after conviction and (b) what narratives of harm intersect with sentencing objectives and aggravating factors. Our findings suggest women express profound fear of re-victimization and traumatic effects of sexual violence regardless of the relational context of their rape experience. Most surprisingly, our data show sentencing judges view the sexual assault of an intoxicated rape victim as an aggravating factor. Future consideration for victim impact statements in sexual assault cases is discussed.