An experimental study of vertebrate scavenging behavior in a Northwest European woodland context.

Vertebrate scavengers can modify surface deposited human remains which can hinder forensic investigations. The effects of such scavenging vary between species and regions. Published research into the effects of the scavenging of human remains is dominated by work from North America with few studies covering Northwestern Europe. Forensic scientists, investigators, and police search officers in Northwestern Europe are often left questioning on a basic level as to which scavengers are active and how they might affect human remains. This paper presents the results of a field study utilizing deer (Cervus nippon; Capreolus capreolus) as surface deposits observed by motion detection cameras in a British woodland. The most common avian and rodent scavenger species recorded included the buzzard (Buteo buteo), carrion crow (Corvus corone), wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), and gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). The scavenging behaviors observed were affected by seasonality, rates of decomposition, and insect activity. Scavenging by buzzards, unlike carrion crows, was most frequent during fall to winter and prior to insect activity. Overall, avian scavengers modified and scavenged soft tissue. Rodents scavenged both fresh and skeletonized remains with gray squirrels only scavenging skeletal remains. Wood mice were most active in winter and scavenged both soft tissue and bone

Policies and Implementation of Global Development

International development is a very bulky topic of debate in today’s day in age. People from many different noble professions have extremely varying views of what exactly development is and how it should be executed. This paper is a starting point to understanding the various aspects of modern implementation of development. This paper gives an overview of definitions and measures of development, common paradigms in development theory and practices and implementation of post WWII development

Theme Issue: Self-care, Health and Well-being in the Academy

With growing expectations of productivity, it is not always easy to achieve a balance between research, teaching and service, between competitiveness and collaboration in the academy, and between work and personal life. Both new and experienced academics are in search of achieving a "happy medium" or a notion of "balance" to meet the expectations of the academy, the students they teach, the communities they serve, and in their own personal lives. In today's competitive higher educational settings, how are academics personally and professionally attending to their well-being and the well-being of their colleagues? As well as, how are they modeling such practices to students? For example, how are academics modeling ways to take care of themselves, increase balance, healthy behaviours, happiness to students, and to their colleagues? How are institutions, through policies, expectations, and other initiatives, supporting academics in this endeavour

Scavenging activity can produce predictable patterns in surface skeletal remains scattering: Observations and comments from two experiments

In forensic contexts, surface deposited remains are frequently found that have been scattered by various taphonomic processes. In an effort to develop strategies to improve recovery rates, this study evaluates whether patterns can be detected in the scattering of remains due to scavenger activity. In two experiments, 24 human analogues (pig carcasses) were placed in two adjacent but differing environmental contexts: 12 in wooded and 12 in open grassland. Six carcasses in each of these contexts were dressed in human clothing. Elapsed time and direction of movement information for each carcass and its parts were collected and analyzed. Unclothed carcasses and carcasses in open contexts exhibited scavenger activity sooner than the others. Scattering of remains occurred along game trails and was directed away from human population and activity. Due to the highly variable nature of scavenger activity, daily observations during a research project are the key leading to a better understanding of the development of these patterns