STR data for the AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus loci from Greece

Allele frequencies for the nine STRs included in the AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus kit (D3S1358, VWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317 and D7S820) were estimated from a sample of 143 unrelated individuals living in different regions of Greece.     

Testing a Model of Resistance to Peer Pressure Among Mexican-Origin Adolescents

This study examined the factors associated with resistance to peer pressure toward antisocial behaviors among a sample of Mexican-origin adolescents (n=564) living in a large Southwestern city in the U.S. A model examining the influence of generational status, emotional autonomy from parents, and self-esteem on resistance to peer pressure was tested independently for boys and girls. Gender differences emerged in the factors that influenced resistance to peer pressure. Results indicated that resistance to peer pressure was influenced by generational status and emotional autonomy from parents for both boys and girls. However, self-esteem was found to influence resistance to peer pressure only for boys.Mayra Y. Bámaca is a graduate student in Family and Human Development at Arizona State University. Her research interests include adolescent development among ethnically diverse populations, the influence of contextual factors in development, parenting adolescents, and resiliency among Latino adolescents and their families. This work was based on the master’s thesis of the first author.Adriana J. Uma?a-Taylor received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia and is currently an Assistant Professor of Family and Human Development at Arizona State University. Her research interests include ethnic identity formation during adolescence and resilience among Latino adolescents and their families.This study was supported, in part, by a grant to the second author from the Fahs Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation of the New York Community Trust.     

Efficiency Measurement in Spanish Local Government: The Case of Municipal Water Services

In this work, we established a procedure for evaluation of the efficiency of the water supply. This procedure has allowed us to find that the proposed indicators have a discriminating capability in the analysis of the service, and to reject criticisms traditionally assigned to the sensitivity of the data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique in relation to degrees of freedom. The results obtained show that the population density, as a factor that defines one of the particular characteristics of the surroundings of each municipality, has a statistically significant impact on the indexes of efficiency, this affirmation not being extended to the public or private ownership of the service. The scale inefficiency is higher than the technical inefficiency. These typologies of efficiency are, principally, motivated by the supply side of the service, which is specially linked with the necessary infrastructure. The demand of the citizens is satisfied with a behavior close to optimal.     

Allelic frequencies for the HLA-DQA1, D1S80, HUMTHO1, HUMTPOX, HUMCSF1PO and HUMVWA loci in Cantabria (middle north Spain)

Allele frequencies for six DNA polymorphisms have been studied in a population sample from Cantabria (middle north Spain) using the polymerase chain reaction. The HLA-DQA1 locus was analyzed by the reverse dot-blot technique and the other five by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by silver staining. Six alleles were found for HLA-DQA1. 15 alleles for D1S80, 6 alleles for HUMTHO1 and HUMCSF1PO, 7 for HUMTPOX and 8 alleles for HUMVWA. The 21 repeat allele in HUMVWA had not previously been reported in a Spanish population. The genotype distributions met Hardy-Weinberg expectations for all the systems and some statistical parameters of forensic interest were calculated. Comparisons with other populations revealed significant differences for HLA-DQA1, HUMVWA and HUMTHO1, with interracial differences being more pronounced than between Spanish populations. The HUMVWA system showed the highest forensic efficiency of the six polymorphisms studied.     

Advances in the diagnosis of wound vitality: a review

The diagnosis of the vital origin of wounds in many cases remains an unsolved problem for the forensic pathologist. Practical experience enables the expert to diagnose the vital or postmortem origin of wounds on the basis of macroscopic examination. In some cases, optic microscopy is used to confirm the diagnosis. In many other cases, additional more sensitive and specific markers of vitality are required. In the past 50 years, comprehensive research on this topic has resulted in a better understanding of the acute inflammatory reaction. The development and application of sensitive and specific markers through research in the areas of histochemistry, enzymology, and biochemistry has provided a partial solution to the problems involved in wound vitality diagnosis. A review of this challenging area of forensic pathology, including an explanation of these methods and markers, is presented in this paper.     

Alternative primers for DYS391 typing: advantages of their application to forensic genetics

The amplification of the STR DYS391, using the primers described in the Genome Data Base (GDB: G00-365-251), shows not only an additional band to the Y-specific one in males with a size range of 26 bp less than those of DYS391 locus alleles, but also a polymorphic pattern in females in the same size range as the additional band observed in males. The DYS391 pattern in families reflects a Y-specific linked locus and also a polymorphic X locus with an X-linked pattern of inheritance. A first screening in the X homologous locus allowed the identification of five different alleles. Allele frequencies were explored in different population groups for both the Y locus and the homologous locus in the X chromosome showing a similar allele distribution pattern in the X and Y homologous loci. An alternative reverse primer was designed to amplify the Y-chromosome specific STR in order to improve the specificity and applicability of this system to forensic genetics. Comparative results of the amplification with the new and the previously described primers proved that with this new primer there is a substantial increase in the specificity of the amplification. Moreover, a smaller fragment is amplified with a size out of the range of the alleles of the other Y-STRs usually used in forensic applications, therefore simplifying its inclusion in multiplex systems.     

Analysis of eight STR loci in two Hungarian populations

A collection of eight STR loci (D3S1358, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820) was used to generate allele frequency databases for two Hungarian population samples, Caucasians from the Budapest area and Romanies from Baranya county. During the analysis two intermediate sized alleles and a sequence variant allele were observed at the D7S820 locus. All three types of allelic variants were found to have modification (deletion, insertion, transversion) in the same block of a (T)(9) stretch located within the 3' flanking region of each allele, which may indicate a possible higher mutation rate of this (T)(9) block. For the loci D3S1358 and D7S820 the Romany population database showed departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The forensic efficiency values for the Romany population were slightly different from those found in the Hungarian Caucasian population. Comparing the allele frequency values by G-statistic, calculating the F(st) indices and with the pairwise comparisons of inter-population variance, the two Hungarian populations could be distinguished using data of the eight STR loci.     

Towards the Real Cross-examination Criminal Procedure in Hungary

Act of XIX/1998 on Criminal Procedure that had become known in theeyes of the public and the legal sciences as The New Code on CriminalProcedure was promulgated by the Hungarian Parliament on its sessionof 10th of March 1998. The reason for the creation of such an Act was theeagerness to finally get rid of the criminal procedure act of the socialistera, e.g. to get rid of its principle of equality of two main phases: theinvestigation and the procedure in front of the court. Also it was among thepurposes of the new act to adjust our rules of procedure to the regulationsof the Western European Countries. The legislator was took into considerationthe general principles and institutions of Act XXXIII of 1896 on CriminalProcedure, without reviving its surpassed parts. The practices of the Strasbourginstitutes were considered as well.     

Moving towards EU membership and away from liberal democracy

ABSTRACT

The article concludes the Special Issue, Illiberal Politics in Southeast Europe, on the retreat of liberal democracy in the region. It focuses on the central themes that link all the papers together: free and fair elections, media freedom, judicial independence, privileged access to public resources and the role of civil society. It seeks to disentangle the causes and consequences of illiberal politics in the region and explores the similarities in the illiberal practices and strategies incumbents use with the aim of staying in power indefinitely. The main argument is that democratic backsliding in Southeast Europe is deeply rooted in the unfinished transitions of the 1990s, which gave rise to new political and economic elites and that blending those two into one resulted in the dominance of the executive over the judiciary and legislature. These new elites became entrenched during the wars and conflicts that affected the region. The enabling factors were of societal origin – clientelist practices, corruption, nepotism and mistrust in politics accompanied by external factors – as well as international pull and push factors (from the EU and Russia) along with a domino effect of democratic backsliding in the region.