Panel regression formulas for estimating stature and body mass from immature human skeletons: a statistical approach without reference to specific age estimates

Anthropologists require methods for accurately estimating stature and body mass from the human skeleton. Age-structured, generalized Least Squares (LS) regression formulas have been developed to predict stature from femoral length and to predict body mass in immature human remains using the width of the distal metaphysis, midshaft femoral geometry (J), and femoral head diameter. This paper tests the hypothesis that panel regression is an appropriate statistical method for regression modeling of longitudinal growth data, with longitudinal and cross-sectional effects on variance. Reference data were derived from the Denver Growth Study; panel regression was used to create one formula for estimating stature (for individuals 0.5–11.5 years old); two formulas for estimating body mass from the femur in infants and children (0.5–12.5 years old); and one formula for estimating body mass from the femoral head in older subadults (7–17.5 years old). The formulas were applied to an independent target sample of cadavers from Franklin County, Ohio and a large sample of immature individuals from diverse global populations. Results indicate panel regression formulas accurately estimate stature and body mass in immature skeletons, without reference to an independent estimate for age at death. Thus, using panel regression formulas to estimate stature and body mass in forensic and archaeological specimens may reduce second stage errors associated with inaccurate age estimates.     

Writing sex and sexuality: archives of colonial North India

This article focuses on disparate sites and subjects to reflect on and problematize the relationship between sexuality and the archives in colonial north India. I dwell on how ‘recalcitrant’ and hidden histories of sexuality can be gleaned by not only expanding our arenas of archives, but also by decentering and recasting colonial archives. I do so by specifically investigating some of the “indigenous” writings in Hindi, through texts concerning homosexuality, sex manuals, the writings of a woman ayurvedic practitioner, didactic literature and its relationship to Dalit (outcaste) sexuality, and current popular Dalit literature and its representations of the past. The debate for me here is not about the flaws of archival uses but rather of playing one archive against another, of appropriating many parallel, alternative, official, and popular archives simultaneously to shape a more nuanced and layered understanding of sexuality.     

Belief System Continuity and Change in Policy Advocacy Coalitions: Using Cultural Theory to Specify Belief Systems,Coalitions, and Sources of Change

This paper evaluates the prospects for application of the “grid/group” cultural theory (CT), as advanced by Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky, to the Advocacy Coalition Theory (ACF). CT would seem to be relevant to several key aspects of the ACF: the content of the core beliefs that provide the “glue” that binds coalitions; the resilience of core beliefs and associated implications for belief change and learning; and the structure of coalitions and the mechanisms for coordination and control within them. The paper considers the compatibility of the ACF's account of deep core beliefs and coalition structure with that of CT; surveys an array of empirical studies based on variations of CT; and extends accounts of change in cultural identities from CT to the ACF. In addition, we highlight some of the ways in which the ACF may offer important theoretical insights for scholars of CT, potentially clarifying hypotheses concerning the relationships among basic worldviews, more specific beliefs, and behaviors.     

Advocacy Group Messaging on Social Media: Using the Narrative Policy Framework to Study Twitter Messages about Nuclear Energy Policy in the United States

Increasingly, policy scholars are using the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to systematically study the narrative elements and strategies that policy actors and groups use to advance their agendas. The majority of these studies analyze reports, documents, and websites published by the actors and groups that are most active in the policy subsystem. Though useful, these “public consumption documents” can be difficult to find and relatively static. In this article, we suggest that the constant flow of messages and content that competing actors and groups publish on social media may provide a solution to this problem. To test this proposition, we use the NPF to analyze messages published on Twitter by competing advocacy groups in the U.S. nuclear energy policy subsystem from January 2014 to May 2014 (n = 703). We find that both groups use Twitter to disseminate messages that contain the basic elements of policy narratives. Moreover, the narratives they use include strategies that are consistent with their position in the subsystem. These findings demonstrate the utility of the NPF for research on social media and, more importantly, validate the use of Twitter data in future work on the NPF.     

Can Grassroots Mobilization of the Poorest Reduce Corruption? A Tale of Governance Reforms and Struggle against Petty Corruption in Bihar,India

The rural poor in India have long experienced corruption, exclusion from welfare schemes and the denial of rights. Critical accounts of development policy and practice advocate the need for pro‐poor governance reforms as well as effective mobilization of the poor for exercising their rights and entitlements. However, there is a dearth of empirical work which examines the following questions. What are the dynamics of such mobilization strategies in the environment of pro‐poor governance reforms? How do they affect local power relations from the perspective of the poorest social groups? And what are the challenges involved in sustaining struggles led by civil society organizations on behalf of the poorest and against petty corruption? This article addresses these questions in the context of a grassroots mobilization of Musahars (a Dalit caste group) in Bihar, one of the poorest provinces in India, which has recently initiated pro‐poor governance reforms. It explains what has or hasn't worked (and why) for the Musahars, in terms of their dealings with public officials. The authors argue that pro‐poor governance reforms and welfare schemes on their own are not sufficient; both grassroots mobilization and political will of the ruling dispensation are also necessary.     

Indian student protests and the nationalist–neoliberal nexus

This article discusses the wider relevance of recent, 2014 and onwards, student protests in Indian higher education institutions, with the global neoliberal reorganisation of the sector in mind. The argument is tracked from specific high-profile junctures of student protests toward their grounding in the national/state level situation and then their ultimate bearing on the prevailing global condition. In particular, this article considers present-day management practices and their relationship with projects to embed conservative and authoritarian norms in the higher education sector.     

Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Model of West Bengal,India

We deliver a next-generation Probabilistic Seismic Hazard model of West Bengal based on improved seismogenic source characterization considering both the Layered Polygonal sources & Tectonic sources in the hypocentral depth range of 0–25 km & 25–70 km, seismic local-specific site condition, and adaption of appropriate region specific ground motion prediction equations in a logic tree framework. The surface consistent Probabilistic seismic hazard distribution in terms of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) & 5% damped Pseudo Spectral Acceleration (PSA) at different time periods for 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years have been generated and the design response spectra computed.