Recovery of human DNA profiles from poached deer remains part 2: Improved recovery protocol without the need for LCN analysis

Although poaching is a common wildlife crime, the high and prohibitive cost of specialised animal testing means that many cases are left un-investigated. We previously described a novel approach to wildlife crime investigation that looked at the identification of human DNA on poached animal remains (Tobe, Govan and Welch, 2011). Human DNA was successfully isolated and amplified from simulated poaching incidents, however a low template protocol was required which made this method unsuitable for use in many laboratories. We now report on an optimised recovery and amplification protocol which removes the need for low template analysis.Samples from 10 deer (40 samples total — one from each leg) analysed in the original study were re-analysed in the current study with an additional 11 deer samples. Four samples analysed using Chelex did not show any results and a new method was devised whereby the available DNA was concentrated. By combining the DNA extracts from all tapings of the same deer remains followed by concentration, the recovered quantity of human DNA was found to be 29.5 pg ± 43.2 pg, 31 × greater than the previous study. The use of the Investigator Decaplex SE (QIAGEN) STR kit provided better results in the form of more complete profiles than did the AmpF?STR® SGM Plus® kit at 30 cycles (Applied Biosystems). Re-analysis of the samples from the initial study using the new, optimised protocol resulted in an average increase of 18% of recovered alleles. Over 17 samples, 71% of the samples analysed using the optimised protocol showed sufficient amplification for comparison to a reference profile and gave match probabilities ranging from 7.7690 × 10^? 05 to 2.2706 × 10^? 14.The removal of low template analysis means this optimised method provides evidence of high probative value and is suitable for immediate use in forensic laboratories. All methods and techniques used are standard and are compatible with current SOPs. As no high cost non-human DNA analysis is required the overall process is no more expensive than the investigation of other volume crime samples. The technique is suitable for immediate use in poaching incidents.     

Marital cruelty: reconsidering lay attitudes in England,c. 1580 to 1850

The mid-eighteenth century is seen as a turning point after which English legal and lay attitudes to cruelty expanded from life-threatening violence to include a wider range of behaviours. This article reconsiders this chronology of changing ideas about marital cruelty. It follows the lead of recent scholarship that challenges the thesis of a ‘civilising’ process in attitudes towards state-violence and inter-personal violence and draws on new conclusions about marital relationships, spouses' gendered roles, and early modern manhood, which complicate simplistic views of patriarchal unions. Focusing upon the full array of acts – not just life-threatening ones – discussed in cruelty cases from c. 1580 onwards, this article questions the convention that social toleration for husbands' use of violence against their wives declined from the 1750s as part of an overall civilising process.     

State policies and programs to preserve federally assisted low‐income housing

Abstract

Preservation of the existing assisted housing stock is likely to be a major housing issue throughout the 1990s and into the twenty‐first century. Federal legislation—the Emergency Low‐Income Housing Preservation Act and the Low‐Income Housing Preservation and Resident Homeownership Act—addresses the first wave of preservation needs and provides critically needed programs to maintain eligible units as assisted housing for the next 50 years.

This paper presents a brief review of federal preservation requirements and argues for state participation in the implementation of preservation programs. Seven areas are identified for state action, and leading state preservation programs are reviewed. Each state needs to ensure that a foundation is established to preserve these units over their useful life as decent, affordable housing. What the states learn from participating in the implementation of the federal preservation program will help them address future preservation needs and develop the capacity to manage the interdependent provision of assisted housing by the public, for‐profit, and nonprofit sectors.     

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Pathology After Shotgun Injury to the Brain

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) was initially conceptualized in boxers, but has extended to other athletes in recent years, albeit with limited clinical correlations. It is often asserted that CTE pathology represents the substrate for progressive neurodegenerative disease. We report the case of a shotgun injury to the brain with 42‐year survival and no neurological disease progression until shortly before death. The decedent had no other traumatic brain injury (TBI) exposure and did not play football or other high energy collision sport. Neuropathological examination confirmed tissue damage, but additionally demonstrated localized patterns of phosphorylated tau (p‐tau) meeting criteria for CTE pathology. P‐tau and TDP‐43 deposits within marginal tissue of damaged brain were also present focally. No amyloid‐β (Aβ) deposits were present. These findings indicate that CTE pathology may occur following a single, severe TBI.     

Researching the registered: challenges and suggestions for researchers studying sex offender populations

As interest in registered sex offenders proves to be a popular topic among community members, the media, and legislators alike, researchers must continue to examine the experiences of this offender group. Sex offender registration and community notification laws are diverse across states, creating a difficult and confusing environment for registered sex offenders post-conviction. Often, registered sex offenders report experiences with social stigmatization and physical isolation from their communities as a result of their labeled status. This leads them to be distrustful of outsiders; researchers included. This paper examines the experiences of researchers who have conducted three quantitative and qualitative research projects focused on registered sex offenders and life on the registry. In addition to highlighting the challenges in conducting this type of research, this paper provides a discussion of four specific challenges that may occur when gathering data from community sex offender samples, and several recommendations to overcome these challenges.     

Welfare and Work: Job-Retention Outcomes of Federal Welfare-to-Work Employees

On March 8, 1997, President Clinton announced the federal government's Welfare-to-Work Initiative, a major effort to provide job opportunities for welfare recipients in federal agencies. Using data from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management's Central Personnel Data File, the authors compare differences in job-retention outcomes for Welfare-to-Work employees and similar non–Welfare-to-Work employees in federal agencies. This approach provides an innovative way to measure job-retention by comparing job-retention outcomes of Welfare-to-Work employees against non–Welfare-to-Work employees. The findings suggest that Welfare-to-Work employees have greater odds of retaining their jobs than non–Welfare-to-Work employees. The results provide useful insights into the dynamics of job retention among welfare recipients who are hired into federal-sector employment.     

Restructuring Local Government in Hampshire: A Case of Mistaken Community Identity?

This article examines the impact of the idea of community identity upon the Local Government Review in England. It considers the extent to which the notion of community identity was built into the Local Government Review nationally and, moreover, locally in Hampshire, and the extent to which it shaped the outcomes of the Local Government Review. Three conceptions of community identity are examined - affective, effective and deliberative community identity - and their interplay assessed in shaping the process of restructuring local government. The article argues that the issue of community identity figured prominently in the early stages of the Local Government Review, but faded away as it got caught up with the political machinations of central government, local authorities and political parties.     

Cocaine- and methamphetamine-related deaths in San Diego County (1987): homicides and accidental overdoses

Cocaine- and methamphetamine-related homicides and fatal accidental overdoses in San Diego County were studied retrospectively for the 1987 calendar year. Cocaine was involved in 66 cases (39 homicides, 27 accidental overdoses), methamphetamine in 32 cases (23 homicides, 9 accidental overdoses), and a combination of cocaine and methamphetamine in 10 cases (4 homicides, 6 accidental overdoses). The composite for cocaine-related deaths was a 30-year-old black man in whom was also found at least 1 other drug, usually ethanol or morphine. The composite for methamphetamine-related deaths was a 32-year-old Caucasian man who used methamphetamine with at least 1 other drug (usually ethanol). For cases involving both cocaine and methamphetamine, the composite was a 36-year-old Caucasian man in whom was also found at least 1 other drug, usually ethanol, codeine, or morphine. Mean tissue concentrations of cocaine and benzoylecgonine were significantly higher in accidental overdoses than in homicides except for cocaine concentrations in liver, which did not differ significantly between the two groups. For methamphetamine-related deaths there was no significant difference between mean tissue concentrations in accidental overdoses and in homicides. Cocaine or methamphetamine or both were involved in approximately one third of homicides in San Diego County in 1987, and when fatal accidental overdoses were included, cocaine was involved in twice as many cases as methamphetamine.