Eye Witness Research Articles

The Robot Eye Witness

Eyewitness reporting, particularly on warfare, environmental disasters, and other dramatic news events, might involve considerable journalistic risk taking. This study investigates in what ways the innovation of drones for journalistic purposes might extend and improve the use of eyewitness accounts, especially in areas or fields where human coverage would be impossible or too dangerous. It examines the interrelationships among new technologies, journalistic innovation, and the audience’s quest for constant visual enforcements, drawing on diffusion theory and social constructivist models for process innovation. It argues that the emergent genre of drone journalism might come to exemplify a “disruptive innovation,” an innovation that has emerged accidentally, but disrupts existing conceptions of visual journalism, and subsequently contributes to the creation of new markets and value networks.

Narrative, text and time: Telling the same story twice in the oral narrative reporting of 7/7

The question of whether it is possible to ‘tell the same story twice’ has been explored in work on conversational narratives, which has set out to understand the existence of some kind of ‘underlying semantic structure’ and ‘script’ (Polanyi, 1981). In conversational narratives, ‘local occasioning’ and ‘recipient design’ (Sacks et al., 1974) are factors that determine the form and function of the story. Here, ongoing talk frames the narrative while other participants provide a ready made audience, all of which, form part of the storytelling process. What happens, however, when a survivor of 7/7 (the date in 2005 of the co-ordinated terrorist bomb attacks on the London transport system in the morning rush hour, which killed 52 and injured hundreds of people), whose personal narrative was reported globally on the day of the event, is again interviewed two and a half years later for their experience of that morning? Is the ‘same story’ retold? Specifically, how far does the latest story replicate the experience and events of the first and which of the prototypical features of a personal narrative – at the level of both the macrostructure and microstructure – remain constant? By comparing both interviews and using Labov and Waletzky’s (1967) narrative framework as the central model for analysis, it is possible to see whether events within the complicating action or features of evaluation remain the most memorable, that is, they are recalled in the second telling as important aspects of the experience, and may be seen to be core narrative categories. While findings show that both narratives are comparable in form, a closer investigation finds compelling differences as well as unexpected linguistic choices. Not only has the second narrative become informed by other, external narratives to become part of a broader, mediated narrative but various discourse strategies of ‘dissociation’ in both interviews have resulted in a retelling of a traumatic experience that appears to have features of an eye witness report rather than a personal narrative. Moreover, this blurring of two distinct genres of storytelling provides a true insight of how the narrator positions himself inside this terrible experience.

Le Grand-duche de Varsovie vu par un emigre français ou la relation de cet episode politique dans les Memoires de l'abbe Pochard (1806-1815)

The article by Jeremie Fischer titled The Grand Duchy of Warsaw as Seen by a French Emigrant or an Account of this Political Development in the „Memoires” of Fr. Pochard (1806--1815) presents so far unknown threads of political, social and military developments in the period of 1806-1815 connected with the history of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, of which the French tutor of children from the Skorzewski family was an eye witness. Although the focus of the account contained on the two hundred pages of the diary is largely on the family of Polish landed gentry, due Father Pochard’s many travels and encounters it definitely sheds new light on the historical events pertaining to the history of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, and thus the diary becomes a valuable source for research on the history of Poland.

Have thirteen beggars been killed by a serial killer?

Introduction: From 2010-2011, several murders of beggars were reported from Colombo and suburb. The motive of such killings was not obvious and some parties suspected an attack targeting beggars by an organized group. Objective: To analyse the medico-legal aspects of the series of killing. Methods: Data of beggars who had been killed, serially, under similar circumstances in Colombo and suburbs were collected from January 2010 to December 2011. Results: There were 14 murders (12 males) in 9 towns. The bodies were left on the location of killing without being moved. The causes of death had been blunt force trauma to head. No suspects were arrested. Sole eye witness confirmed the presence of ‘rituals’ and ‘cooling-off period’ in suspect. In November 2011, a beggar was arrested while attempting to kill another beggar when the latter was a sleep. The suspect was produced for medico-legal examination and later referred to a Psychiatrist. He was diagnosed to have anti-social traits. On a subsequent day, he admitted that he had murdered altogether 14 beggars. He had shown all the crime scenes to the investigators. He was sent for inward psychiatric treatment and is awaiting trial. Conclusions: Usually serial killers are males with past criminal records who kill strangers, perform ‘rituals’, leave ‘signature’, display the dead bodies and remove souvenirs. All above characteristics except the last two were evident in this case. Fourteen independent, planned murders with potential “cooling-off periods” indicate that the suspect could be the highest 'potential serial killer' in Sri Lanka. The importance of the establishment of a National Criminal Investigating Centre is suggested to investigate such unsolved crimes. Galle Medical Journal, Vol 18: No. 2, September 2013;Page 17-21 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/gmj.v18i2.6196

Prospects for the New Chinese Leadership's Economic Policy

Under Hu Jintao’s leadership, the Chinese economy grew so rapidly that it rose from being the sixth largest in the world as of 2001 to the second largest in 2010. Along with the impressive expansion of the economy, however, worries began to rise over increasing risks of the middle-income trap and the “system transition trap.” The first and foremost task that the new Xi Jinping regime should accomplish now is thus to prevent the Chinese economy from falling into either of these traps. Complicating the prospects of success for the new regime, however, is the dilemma of having to maintain the rapid growth.Members of the newly elected fifth-generation leadership of the Chinese Communist Party share core common characteristics in their essential orientation to stability and their experience in local administration. These members joined the Communist Party after experiencing, in their late teens, the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution as first eye witnesses. The priority of stability is thus deeply ingrained in their mindset. They have also impressively led the successful the economic development of various regions of China. They have a deep insight into the economic issues affecting the lives of ordinary people. They are unlikely to make a firm commitment to any one doctrinaire side. They are extremely skilled at managing “the politics of the system” that the labyrinthine Chinese bureaucracy demands.Another noticeable fact about the members of the new leadership is that, with the exception of Yu Zhengsheng who majored in engineering as a student, the remaining six have backgrounds in the humanities and social sciences. This composition breaks away with the tradition of the previous regimes that favored technocrats with specialties in sciences and engineering. Whereas the first and second generations of Chinese political elite were revolutionaries and the third and fourth generations were technocrats, the fifth generation could be called professional bureaucrats.Under the new leadership, Li Keqiang, as the Premier, will assume the supervision over the country’s economic affairs in general. Zhang Gaoli will serve as the Vice-Premier of commercial affairs to assist Li’s work, while Wang Yang will oversee affairs in industries, energy, transportation, and communications; Ma Kai, finance, budget making, and trade; Liu Yandong, agriculture and water resources; and Wang Huning, diplomacy and foreign relations.Li Keqiang obtained a doctorate in economics from Beijing University. After a brief stint as the first-rank secretary in the Communist Youth League of China, he went on to work in the local administrations of Hunan and Liaoning. After he rose to the position of Vice-Premiership in the central government, he has actively led policies on urbanization, industrialization, and the modernization of agriculture. Zhang Gaoli’s official career began with his fourteen-year service in the Ministry of Petroleum, followed by work in the provincial bureaucracies of Guangdong and Shandong. Zhang rose to prominence after he successfully managed the economic development of Tianjin with intensive investment. Ma Kai is a bureaucrat whose career has been steeped in the evolution of the Chinese economy. He served as the Vice-Director of the Office of Price Administration and oversaw macroeconomic management, energy policy, and the Grand Western Development projects from 2003 through 2008 as the chair of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). Wang Yang is also a bureaucrat with substantial influence, as he has successfully reformed the economy of Guangdong amid the worldwide financial crisis while serving as the province’s Communist Party Chief. He had previously served as a civil servant in Anhui and a deputy head on the NDRC.

Assessing and evaluating continuing professional development

“Learning is a never ending process”. The above quotation is so apt as the present day technological world is the eye witness. Continuing professional development (CPD) is a platform that provides practical guidance for a teacher educator for his learning and growth. This abstract focuses on how a teacher can become a trendsetter by evaluating oneself continuously for progressive success. Continuing professional development (CPD) or Continuing professional education (CPE) is the means by which people maintain the knowledge and skills related to their professional lives. Continuing education is part of ongoing requirements for members. The paper aims to highlight some of the issues of self assessment and present some insights that enrich the efficacy and quality of our education to ensure phenomenal success. Key words: Learning, education and self assessment.

The Politics of Islamic Leadership and Representation in Nigeria: A Historical Analytical Study on the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA)

Nigeria is a leading African country with a Muslim majority population. Yet Nigerian Muslims, since the spread of Islam to the country in the thirteenth century, had continued to operate in disarray and were never known to have spoken in one voice until the founding of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) in 1973. This paper traces the origins of the Nigerian Muslims? quest for a united front and articulates the factors that informed their clamour for such a platform. The paper enumerates the early initiatives of the Council and its attitudes to various political crises in the country especially that which ensued after the annulment by former President Ibrahim Babangida of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections widely believed to have been overwhelmingly won by a Vice President-General of the Council, Alhaji Moshood Abiola. The paper relies more on primary sources and oral information formally collected from a number of individuals who were not only eye witnesses but also dramatic personae in the politics of Islamic leadership in contemporary Nigeria, owing to the dearth of sophisticated scholarship on the subject. So far, references to the effects of leadership crises on Islamic leadership in the country, have been broad, loose and general so much that they can hardly be related to a particular political experience or put in a specific perspective. The paper employs a philosophical method in its historical analysis and concludes by evaluating the activities of the Council and concluding that it is fast becoming moribund.

Hostile Witnesses in India - A Menace to Criminal Justice Administration

A witness is a person who has had a first hand experience of seeing an incident take place right before his/her eyes. In the context of a legal system, this has major implications. The first hand account of an incident, as narrated by a witness (normally referred to as “eye witness”) may prove to be an authentic piece of evidence, during any trial proceedings. Thus, it is always considered to be admissible in a Court of Law. However, very often, a witness may have a habit of changing statements before different authorities. In other words, due to various reasons, a witness may narrate different versions or accounts of the same incident before the law enforcement agencies, the advocates, the judges etc. In India, this mostly happens in high-profile criminal trials, whereby the accused or anyone related to him, may exert mental pressure on the witnesses, who may have seen them, when the alleged crime was being committed. The pressure exerted is mostly in the form of threats or fear of death, to the witness or his/her friends and relatives.This research paper critically analyzes the above problem and tries to suggest that the primary remedy to this problem is devising sufficient victim and witness protection measures, which can be implemented, mainly through the enactment of a separate witness protection legislation. The contents of this legislation should be formulated after a careful study of similar legislations, operating in other countries.

Sudden death due to massive hemoptysis secondary to pulmonary tuberculosis – A case report

Forensic pathologists deal not only with criminal, accidental and suicidal deaths, but also with a wide range of deaths from natural causes. Natural deaths at times can be sudden, unexpected and unattended by the relatives or friends or eye witnesses. In such cases, even though there is no criminal element in their causation, the case has to be investigated and medico-legal autopsy has to be conducted to know the exact cause of death, thus putting an end to the allegations raised. A 55-year-old male was found dead lying in his room in a pool of blood without any obvious injuries under suspicious circumstances with disturbed furniture in his room. The case was investigated due to suspicious circumstances of his death and absence of history of significant medical illness. The autopsy revealed the death was due to asphyxiation as a result of massive hemoptysis secondary to fibro-cavitatory tuberculosis.

SNP model development for the prediction of eye colour in New Zealand

The ability to predict externally visible characteristics (EVCs) from DNA has appeal for use in forensic science, particularly where a forensic database match is not made and an eye witness account is unavailable. This technology has yet to be implemented in casework in New Zealand. The broad cultural diversity and likely population stratification within New Zealand dictates that any EVC predictions made using anonymous DNA must perform accurately in the absence of knowledge of the donor's ancestral background. Here we construct classification tree models with SNPs of known association with eye colour phenotypes in three categories, blue vs. non-blue, brown vs. non-brown and intermediate vs. non-intermediate. A set of nineteen SNPs from ten different known or suspected pigmentation genes were selected from the literature. A training dataset of 101 unrelated individuals from the New Zealand population and representing different ancestral backgrounds were used. We constructed four alternate models capable of predicting eye colour from the DNA genotypes of SNPs located within the HERC2, OCA2, TYR and SLC24A4 genes using probability calculation and classification trees. The final model selected for eye colour prediction exhibited high levels of accuracy for both blue (89%) and brown eye colour (94%). Models were further assessed with a test set of 25 'blind' samples where phenotype was unknown, with blue and brown eye colour predicted correctly where model thresholds were met. Classification trees offer an aesthetically simple and comprehendible model to predict blue and brown eye colour.

Fatigue Fracture of a Compressor Disc of an Aeroengine

There was an accident to a single engine aircraft. From the eye and ear witness accounts, it was established that the accident occurred because of engine failure. After preliminary examination of the wreckage of the crashed engine, a few suspected components were identified for detailed laboratory investigation. The objective was to establish the primary failure in the engine. While majority of the engine components submitted for laboratory analysis showed secondary damages due to either crash impact forces or post-accident fire, the fracture pattern in one of the compressor disks was different from other components of the engine. Fractographic study revealed that the failure of the disk was by fatigue mechanism. Subsequent investigation showed that the fatigue fracture of the compressor disk was the first in the chain of events that led to the engine failure. This finding was further substantiated through fracture mechanics calculations.

The Hammarskjöld Plane Crash

Dag Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash on 17 September 1961 on route to Ndola, Zambia, to negotiate an end to fighting between UN troops and the break-away Katanga army. The Rhodesian-led inquiry commission in 1961–62 concluded that a pilot error caused the crash while the UN commission in 1962 was inconclusive. These commissions neglected to actively search for Zambian witnesses of black African origin and neglected the testimonies from those that were heard. A systematic search during 2007–12 identified ten previously unknown Zambian eye witnesses whose testimonies provide sufficient new information to justify a new UN inquiry into the cause of the crash.

Eine frühe sozialpsychiatrische Schrift in der DDR

In 1966 the Leipzig neuropsychiatrist and psychotherapist Christa Kohler qualified as a university lecturer on social-psychiatric problems in patients aged 40 + suffering from psychoses and neuroses. This paper acknowledges this habilitation thesis in its historical context as an early contribution to East German social psychiatry. First the thesis itself is searched for points characteristic of Kohler's approach to social psychiatry. Parallel to that, her views are contextualised with other primary sources from or secondary sources about GDR psychiatry at that time. Finally archival sources and oral testimonies of eye witnesses have been considered to substantialise the study. The habilitation thesis is based on data from several hundreds of patients with regard to their demographic, medical and sociological features. Her approach to how older patients suffering from mental illnesses should be treated and rehabilitated is still highly relevant. Yet one must critically assess that many of Kohler's results as well as her psychotherapeutic treatment were ideology-based or oriented on the GDR system. Kohler's approach shows a clear, yet improper amalgamation of medical science and political ideology. Future research must show in how far this is typical for her concept only or for the whole of GDR social psychiatry.

Multiple Magnet ingestion resulting in small bowel perforation: A case report

Foreign body ingestion is a common clinical situation that is primarily diagnosed by emergency clinicians. Most foreign bodies can be evacuated without difficulty. Although rare, magnets that reach the lower intestinal tract may cause complications such as intestinal fistula formation, perforation, volvulus or appendicitis. We report herein a two-year-old girl who was admitted to our department 3 days ago with abdominal pain and non-bilious vomiting. Upon admission direct abdominal roentgenogram revealed a foreign body consisting of multiple spheric parts bound together forming a circle in the lower quadrants of the abdomen. Her family, unaware of this ingestion, stated that a magnetic toy matching the object present on the plain radiograph was lost several days ago. Surgical intervention showed a magnetic toy in the proximal part of the ileum causing multiple perforations in the intestinal wall and the neighboring mesentery. The ileal portion containing the magnet toy was seen folded over itself forming a blind loop. The patient was discharged uneventfully in the 7th postoperative day. Our case highlights a well known fact that foreign body ingestion in children may not have eye witnesses and should be taken into consideration when evaluating children with abdominal pain.

Fakhri (Fahrettin) Paşa and the end of Ottoman rule in Medina (1916-1919)

The siege of Medina (1916-1919) is one of the more significant events in the Near Eastern theatre in World War I. Fakhri Paşa (Fahrettin Türkkan, 1868-1948), the legendary figure of the siege, resisted several demands of the Sharif of Mecca, Husayn ibn ʿAli, and the British to surrender and even ignored orders from Istanbul to hand over the city but was eventually forced to surrender. The events in Medina have not gone unnoticed by historiography, although a full appreciation has still to be given. Eye witness reports by officers of the Ottoman garrison in Medina have constituted the basis for the narrative of the siege of Medina. British documents have added to our knowledge. Other sources used are the partially unpublished papers of Fakhri Paşa and German material.

Application of multifactor dimensionality reduction analysis and Bayesian networks for eye color and ancestry prediction for forensic purposes in the Czech Republic

Advances both in genotyping technology and human genetics resulted in forensic molecular phenotyping. We present model based approach to create panel of SNP markers for eye color and ancestry prediction for application in the Czech Republic. Population sample contained 131 unrelated individuals: 100 (76%) Caucasians and 31 (24%) Asians (Kazakhs). Samples were binned according to eye color: 47 (36%) light eye color and 84 (64%) dark eye color. Genotyping was performed by RT-PCR method using TaqMan MGB assays. All samples were analyzed with panel of 22 SNP markers selected from literature. Data were divided into two sets: the training (100 Caucasians, 31 Asians) and the testing (47 Caucasians, 81 Asians). Data for the testing set were obtained either by genotyping (Caucasian data) or they were extracted from HapMap (Asian data). SNP data of the training set were filtered using ReliefF. Consequently, multifactor dimensionality reduction was performed to uncover possible epistatic regulation between studied loci. For validation of selected markers Bayesian network was constructed. The constructed network contained SNP markers rs1426654 and rs16891982 for ancestry determination and rs12913832, rs7495174 and rs916977 for eye color prediction. Parameters of models for both phenotypes were determined – sensitivity in both cases was 100%. The predictions based on the presented Bayesian network could be useful in case of unknown body remnants identification and verification of eye witness testimony.

Hoe ziet een vis de rivier waarin hij zwemt? - Waarnemen vanuit een liminaal perspectief in de Berlijnse notities van Cees Nooteboom

In this article we use the concept of ‘liminality’ to shed new light on Berlijnse notities, a collection of essays written by Dutch author Cees Nooteboom. Nooteboom wrote his essays in 1989 and 1990, during the fall of the Berlin Wall and consequent German reunification. Although he was an eye witness to these historic events, he distances himself from the political turmoil, and „posits himself as an outsider and a stranger. We argue that within the text, the voice of the pensive, reflexive outsider opens up a liminal space, in which the narrator is neither completely estranged from the German people and their history, nor completely part of all that is happening. However, this liminal space is not a stable given; we analyze the way in which the narrator’s reflexive position is threatened by the chaos of the unexpected but also heavily mediatised events of 1989, and look at the different ways in which the author tries to reconstitute this liminal space.

Evaluation of staring episodes in children

Staring episodes are a frequent reason for referral to paediatrics, as parents and teachers fear the possibility of seizures. Staring episodes in childhood are common and a challenging clinical problem....

Justice will be done: Mistaken-identity parades

Eye witness misidentification accounts for three-quarters of wrongful convictions. Tweaking the line-up system can bring more accurate results

Shot Gun Firearm Injury: Reliability of Calculation of Range of Fire by Dispersion of Pellets - A Case Report

Introduction and case report: An interesting case of shot gun injury fired from a near range of 1.0 to 2.0 meter distance as per the eye witnesses is presented here which on examination revealed that the dispersion of pellets on the body indicates that the range of fire has occurred from a distance of 4 meters to 7 meters. Further the presence of wad in the wound adds to the confusion that the firing would have occurred within a distance of 5.0 meters. Conclusion : This case report reiterates the importance of examination of the crime weapon, test firing the similar cartridges with the same weapon and proper analysis of the wound ballistics is a must for a forensic expert to arrive at a proper opinion in fire arm injury cases.