Some important variables related to conservation knowledge and interest

This study was an attempt to isolate and identify some important variables related to conservation knowledge and interest in high school age youth. The major goal of this study was to establish some basic variable groups that could provide additional meaning and direction for reintroducing an integrated conservation program into the secondary school curriculum through a more appealing instructional approach. Findings indicated that the assumption of a direct relationship between knowledge and interest does not necessarily hold. Findings also contradict popular assumptions regarding rural-urban, male-female, and age differences in levels of conservation knowledge and interest. Open-ended program approaches based on the variables identified could lead to improved methods for increasing conservation knowledge and interest.Received his M.S. in forestry from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Major interest is natural resource education.Received his Ph.D. in education from The Pennsylvania State University. Major interests are recreation education and natural resource education.     

Locating,Identifying, and Comparing Sub‐visible Paint Particles

Forensic paint comparisons are generally conducted on samples which, while small relative to their source, are still visible to the unaided eye and are thus located and analyzed without great difficulty. Here we demonstrate that a more detailed examination of candidate transfer surfaces can capture materials (questioned samples), even when such traces are invisible to the unaided eye. While certain analytical details (such as layer sequence or a pure FTIR spectrum) may not be obtainable from such traces due to their size and condition, a detailed analysis of the sample characteristics that are analytically accessible may still provide sufficient analytical data to arrive at a probative result. Here we present the application of this approach to a suspected paint transfer case, involving particles of paint as small as 40 μm in size. Using a combination of stereomicroscopy, polarized light microscopy, infrared microspectroscopy, Raman microspectroscopy, and SEM/EDS, all performed on a single, subsample of the original minute particle, it was possible to demonstrate evidence of a two‐way transfer between the suspected sources. Furthermore, the transferred paint particle in one direction could be classified as automotive in nature based on a combination of polymer composition, microscopic texture, and pigment package (which included three specifically identified pigments). This work demonstrates (i) the potential for improving detection limits when searching for a questioned sample, (ii) the potential benefits of higher resolution analyses on samples that would be traditionally labeled as “sample‐size limited,” and (iii) the value of case‐specific interpretation over standardized, one‐size fits all report templates.     

Against General Theory in Comparative Research

This paper argues against the search for a general theory of crime causation in comparative criminology. It includes a critique of two advocates of general theory, and offers three propositions which suggest appropriate strategies for theory construction in comparative research.     

Associations between intimate partner violence and emotional distress among pregnant women in Durban, South Africa

Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy has been associated with multiple negative health outcomes including emotional distress during pregnancy. However, little is known about IPV during pregnancy and its association with emotional distress among South African women. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of both emotional distress and IPV during pregnancy, to identify whether different exposures of violence were associated with emotional distress and to assess whether social support attenuated the relationship between IPV and emotional distress. Pregnant women enrolled in the South Africa HIV Antenatal and Posttest Support Study (SAHAPS) who completed the baseline survey were included in this cross sectional analysis. We used logistic regression models to explore bivariate and multivariate relationships between the proposed covariates and emotional distress. Nearly a quarter of women experienced some type of IPV during the current pregnancy, with psychological violence being the most prevalent. The odds of emotional distress was 1.41 times (95% CI: [1.26, 1.57]) higher for each additional episode of psychological violence and 2.01 times (95% CI: [1.16, 3.77]) higher for each additional episode of sexual violence during pregnancy, adjusting for other covariates. Physical violence was only marginally associated with increased odds of emotional distress. Finally, social support was marginally significant as a main effect but did not attenuate the relationship between IPV and emotional distress. The high prevalence of IPV among South African women and its association with emotional distress during pregnancy suggest that interventions that reduce violence during or prior to pregnancy are needed.     

All Together Now? An Empirical Study of the Voting Behaviors of Homeowner Association Members in St. Louis County

Homeowner associations (HOAs), by design, collect homogenous members of a community into a residential development with defined boundaries and contain at least some very active individuals. This implies that HOAs may lower the transaction costs involved with voting resulting in HOA membership increasing voter participation. Further, as more HOAs provide goods and services to their members as substitutes for goods and services provided by the public sector, one would expect HOA members to vote more conservatively and in support of more privatization. Using a detailed population database constructed for Saint Louis County, Missouri, and results from the November 2004 general election, this article analyzes the effect that living in an HOA has on voter participation and on the results of several election issues. Following a similar study by the Public Policy Institute of California, the results show that, once population characteristics are controlled for, there is no HOA effect on the likelihood of HOA members to vote Republican. Unlike previous work, this study shows that if the vote reporting districts are broken into five mutually exclusive categories rather than using the 60% rule used in other studies, areas with more HOAs do show an increase in participation rates and an increased likelihood to vote against property tax increases. The results hold up even after the presence of spatial autocorrelation is confirmed and controlled for.     

Applications of Blue Light‐curing Acrylic Resin to Forensic Sample Preparation and Microtomy

This study discusses the results of an evaluation of a one‐part blue light‐curing acrylic resin for embedding trace evidence prior to the preparation of thin sections with a microtome. Through a comparison to several epoxy resins, the physical properties relevant to both trace evidence examination and analytical microscopy in general, including as viscosity, clarity, color, hardness, and cure speed, were explored. Finally, thin sections from paint samples embedded in this acrylic resin were evaluated to determine if, through smearing or impregnation, the resin contributed to the infrared spectra. The results of this study show that blue light‐curing acrylic resins provide the desired properties of an embedding medium, generate high‐quality thin sections, and can significantly simplify the preparation of paint chips, fibers and a multitude of other types of microscopic samples in the forensic trace evidence laboratory.     

Simultaneous Detection of Human Mitochondrial DNA and Nuclear‐Inserted Mitochondrial‐origin Sequences (NumtS) using Forensic mtDNA Amplification Strategies and Pyrosequencing Technology

Next‐generation sequencing technologies enable the identification of minor mitochondrial DNA variants with higher sensitivity than Sanger methods, allowing for enhanced identification of minor variants. In this study, mixtures of human mtDNA control region amplicons were subjected to pyrosequencing to determine the detection threshold of the Roche GS Junior^® instrument (Roche Applied Science, Indianapolis, IN). In addition to expected variants, a set of reproducible variants was consistently found in reads from one particular amplicon. A BLASTn search of the variant sequence revealed identity to a segment of a 611‐bp nuclear insertion of the mitochondrial control region (NumtS) spanning the primer‐binding sites of this amplicon (Nature 1995;378:489). Primers (Hum Genet 2012;131:757; Hum Biol 1996;68:847) flanking the insertion were used to confirm the presence or absence of the NumtS in buccal DNA extracts from twenty donors. These results further our understanding of human mtDNA variation and are expected to have a positive impact on the interpretation of mtDNA profiles using deep‐sequencing methods in casework.     

Shorter notices

The Future of Political Science. By Harold D. Lasswell. Tavistock Publications, 1964. Pp. xii+256. 50/‐.

Mass Persuasion in Communist China. By Frederick T. G. Yu. Pall Mall Press, 1964. Pp. viii+168. 40/‐.

The Emerging Elite: a Study of Political Leadership in Ceylon. By Marshall R. Singer. M.I. T. Press, 1964. Pp. xx+204. $7.50.

The Allocation of Economic Resources. By Moses Abramovitz and others. Stanford University Press, paper‐back edition, 1966. Pp. 244. 22/6.

The Ohlin‐Heckscher Theory of the Basis and Effects of Commodity Trade. By J. L. Ford. Asia Publishing House, 1965. Pp. viii+88. 25/‐.

Essays in Southern Economic Development. Edited by Melvin L. Greenhut and W. Tate Whitman. University of North Carolina Press, 1965. Pp. xx+498. 60/‐.

Scarcity and Growth: the Economics of Natural Resource Availability. By Harold J. Barnett and Chandler Morse. Johns Hopkins Press. 1965. Pp. 304. 18/‐.