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Physical Evidence (physical + evidence)
Selected AbstractsAntagonism and Architecture: How Physical Evidence Reflects Workers' Ethnic StrugglesANTHROPOLOGY OF WORK REVIEW, Issue 2 2000Associate Professor Susan R. Dauria First page of article [source] Medical Evidence and Expert Testimony in Child Sexual AbuseJUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JOURNAL, Issue 1 2006LORI D. FRASIER ABSTRACT Expert medical testimony in child sexual abuse cases can be critical to the outcome of a legal case. This article will review the development of the medical knowledge and clinical expertise in child sexual abuse. Since the passage of mandatory child abuse reporting laws, the forensic medical examination of a child for evidence of sexual abuse has become standard. Until recently, many myths regarding female genital anatomy existed but were based primarily on dogma and lack of empirical research. Over the past 25 years, many research studies and accumulating clinical evidence have expanded medical knowledge and debunked old myths. Physical evidence, even in cases of alleged genital or anal penetration is rare. Sexually transmitted infections are also uncommon and often require medical interpretation as to their significance in a prepubertal child. Specialized medical knowledge, training, and clinical expertise have developed in order to evaluate children presenting with allegations of sexual abuse. Such medical expertise provides invaluable service to courts. We review criteria for evaluating such expertise in light of current medical practice. [source] Application of carbon isotope analysis to ancient maize agriculture in the Petexbatún region of GuatemalaGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2007Kristofer D. Johnson The ancient Maya subsisted in an environment limited by shallow soils and unpredictable weather patterns until their collapse ,A.D. 800,900. Ancient subsistence can be a difficult subject, with little physical evidence of agricultural artifacts and structures. This study characterized soil profiles and utilized changes in stable carbon isotope ratios of soil organic matter (SOM) to locate and interpret areas of ancient C4 plant growth and maize (Zea mays) cultivation among the Maya. The investigation indicated some of the challenges the Maya faced, including shallow and sloped soils in some areas. The C4 plant signature was found in seasonal wetland soils on the opposite side of the Laguneta Aguateca from the ruins of Aguateca, but not in the perennial wetlands on the immediate side. No C4 plant signature was detected in the shoulder and backslope soils. Based on these findings, the ancient Maya of Aguateca probably adapted to their environment by farming rich toeslope soils. It is possible that maize was also grown in the seasonal wetlands adjacent to the site. If the steep backslope soils around Aguateca were used in ancient agriculture, the evidence has probably eroded away. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] When doctors disagree: a qualitative study of doctors' and parents' views on the risks of childhood food allergyHEALTH EXPECTATIONS, Issue 3 2008Wendy Hu MBBS Dip Paed MHA PhD FRACGP Abstract Objective, To examine the views of doctors which underpin clinical practice variation concerning an uncertain health risk, and the views of parents who had sought advice from these doctors, using the example of childhood food allergy. Study design, Qualitative study involving in-depth interviews and participant observation over 16 months. Focus groups and consultation audio-recordings provided corroborative data. Setting, Three specialist allergy clinics located in one metropolitan area. Participants, Eighteen medical specialists and trainees in allergy, and 85 parents (from 69 families) with food allergic children. Results, Doctors expressed a spectrum of views. The most divergent views were characterized by: scientific scepticism rather than precaution in response to uncertainty; emphasis on quantifiable physical evidence rather than parental histories; professional roles as providers of physical diagnosis and treatment rather than of information and advocacy; libertarian rather than communitarian perspectives on responsibility for risk; and values about allergy as a disease and normal childhood. Parents held a similar, but less divergent range of views. The majority of parents preferred more moderate doctors' views, with 43% (30 of 69) of families expressing their dissatisfaction by seeking another specialist opinion. Many were confused by variation in doctors' opinions, preferring relationships with doctors that recognized their concerns, addressed their information needs, and confirmed that they were managing their child's allergy appropriately. Conclusions, In uncertain clinical situations, parents do not expect absolute certainty from doctors; inflexible certainty may not allow parental preferences to be acknowledged or accommodated, and is associated with the seeking of second opinions. [source] Skeletal Estimation and Identification in American and East European Populations,JOURNAL OF FORENSIC SCIENCES, Issue 3 2008Erin H. Kimmerle Ph.D. Abstract:, Forensic science is a fundamental transitional justice issue as it is imperative for providing physical evidence of crimes committed and a framework for interpreting evidence and prosecuting violations to International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The evaluation of evidence presented in IHL trials and the outcomes various rulings by such courts have in regard to the accuracy or validity of methods applied in future investigations is necessary to ensure scientific quality. Accounting for biological and statistical variation in the methods applied across populations and the ways in which such evidence is used in varying judicial systems is important because of the increasing amount of international forensic casework being done globally. Population variation or the perceived effect of such variation on the accuracy and reliability of methods is important as it may alter trial outcomes, and debates about the scientific basis for human variation are now making their way into international courtrooms. Anthropological data on population size (i.e., the minimum number of individuals in a grave), demographic structure (i.e., the age and sex distribution of victims), individual methods applied for identification, and general methods of excavation and trauma analysis have provided key evidence in cases of IHL. More generally, the question of population variation and the applicability of demographic methods for estimating individual and population variables is important for American and International casework in the face of regional population variation, immigrant populations, ethnic diversity, and secular changes. The reliability of various skeletal aging methods has been questioned in trials prosecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Radislav Krsti, (Case No. IT-98-33, Trial Judgment) and again in the currently ongoing trial of The Prosecutor of the Tribunal against Zdravko Tolimir, Radivolje Mileti,, Milan Gvero, Vinko Pandurevi,, Ljubisa Beara, Vujadin Popovi,, Drago Nikoli,, Milorad Trbi,, Ljubomir Borovcanin (IT-05-88-PT, Second Amended Indictment). Following the trial of General Krsti,, a collaborative research project was developed between the Forensic Anthropology Center at The University of Tennessee (UT) and the United Nations, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Office of the Prosecutor (ICTY). The purpose of that collaboration was to investigate methods used for the demographic analysis of forensic evidence and where appropriate to recalibrate methods for individual estimation of age, sex, and stature for specific use in the regions of the former Yugoslavia. The question of "local standards" and challenges to the reliability of current anthropological methods for biological profiling in international trials of IHL, as well as the performance of such methods to meet the evidentiary standards used by international tribunals is investigated. Anthropological methods for estimating demographic parameters are reviewed. An overview of the ICTY-UT collaboration for research aimed at addressing specific legal issues is discussed and sample reliability for Balkan aging research is tested. The methods currently used throughout the Balkans are discussed and estimated demographic parameters obtained through medico-legal death investigations are compared with identified cases. Based on this investigation, recommendations for improving international protocols for evidence collection, presentation, and research are outlined. [source] Increased recombination frequency showing evidence of loss of interference is associated with abnormal testicular histopathologyMOLECULAR REPRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2003Susannah Varmuza Abstract Nondisjunction leading to aneuploid gametes has been linked genetically to both increases and decreases in recombination frequency on the aneuploid chromosome. In the present study, we present physical evidence of increased frequency of recombination nodules as measured by Mut-S-like homologue-1 (MLH1) foci on pachytene chromosomes from sterile male mice homozygous for a mutation in the protein phosphatase 1c, (PP1c,) gene. The pattern of elevated recombination frequency in PP1c, mutant spermatocytes is consistent with a loss of interference. Previous studies demonstrated: (1) spermiogenesis is impaired starting at step 8 with a severe reduction in elongating and condensed spermatids; (2) spermatids and sperm exhibit elevated rates of DNA fragmentation; and (3) haploid gametes exhibit elevated levels of aneuploidy. Morphometric analysis of developing testes revealed that the first wave of meiosis proceeds at a normal rate in mutant testes, a surprising result given that the PP1 inhibitor okadaic acid has been shown to accelerate progression of spermatocytes from pachytene to the first meiotic division (MI). Evidence of abnormal testicular histopathology is apparent at 3 weeks, before the appearance of haploid gametes, eliminating the possibility that the mutant phenotype is caused by the presence of abnormal spermatids, but coincident with the appearance of the first set of mid to late pachytene spermatocytes. These observations lead us to conclude that the PP1c, mutation causes a complex phenotype, including subtle adverse effects on meiosis, possibly mediated by defective signaling between germ cells and Sertoli cells. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 64: 499,506, 2003. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] POST-COLONIZATION INTERACTION BETWEEN VANUATU AND FIJI RECONSIDERED: THE RE-ANALYSIS OF OBSIDIAN FROM LAKEBA ISLAND, FIJI*ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 1 2010C. REEPMEYER PIXE,PIGME analysis of 19 obsidian artefacts from Lakeba Island in east Fiji identified contact with northern Vanuatu in the post-colonization period (c. 2500,1000 bp) of Fiji. The Lakeba obsidian is the only physical evidence for interaction across the 850 km water gap separating the archipelagos of Vanuatu and Fiji in the first millennium ad. New research on the Vanuatu obsidian sources with laser ablation , inductively coupled plasma , mass spectrometry (LA,ICP,MS) casts serious doubt on the validity of a long-distance inter-archipelago connection in the post-Lapita era. This paper presents the re-analysis of 18 obsidian artefacts from Lakeba using LA,ICP,MS and radiogenic isotope results that demonstrate that the Lakeba obsidian is not from Vanuatu, and it most likely derives from the Fiji,Tonga region. Geochemical evidence for long-distance interaction and migration between the West and Central Pacific in the post-Lapita era has yet to be identified. [source] THE EARLIEST USE OF CORUNDUM AND DIAMOND, IN PREHISTORIC CHINA*ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 1 2005P. J. LU The majority of prehistoric lithic artefacts were fashioned from rocks and minerals no harder than quartz, and there is no prehistoric evidence for the working of harder materials, such as corundum and diamond. The earliest physical evidence for the use of corundum (ruby, sapphire) is thought to be the abrasive grit recovered from Bronze Age Minoan quartz beads (c. 1700,1500 bc), while diamond is thought to have been used no earlier than 500 bc, in India. Here we show that corundum was worked c. 4000,3500 bc during the Neolithic period in China, in the form of polished axes from the Liangzhu and Sanxingcun cultures. We also present physical evidence that later Liangzhu axes (c. 2500 bc), made from the same previously undescribed rock whose most abundant component is corundum, were polished to a mirror-like finish with a diamond abrasive. Our findings, which are the first to support the use of corundum and diamond in a prehistoric context, may also help to explain the trademark feature of the Neolithic in China, vast quantities of finely polished nephrite jade artefacts. [source] | ||||||||||