Identification of two fire victims by comparative nuclear DNA typing of skeletal remains and stored umbilical tissues

We describe here our collaborative efforts in identifying 2 fatalities of a fire disaster by using a variety of identification techniques. Postmortem findings in both cases were reinforced using Short Tandem Repeat (STR) DNA technology to establish with a high degree of certainty the identities of 2 child victims. STR markers used in the present study include HUMAMEL, HUMCSFIPO, HUMTHO1, HUMvWA, HUMFES/FPS, HUMF13A01, HUMFOLP23, D8S3O6, HUMFGA, and HUMTPOX. Unambiguous identification was made possible through matching DNA profiles generated from skeletal remains with those from umbilical tissues. These tissues were kept by their mothers in accordance with a Philippine tradition and were submitted for DNA analysis. Of the DNA profiles generated from exhumed bone samples of 21 child victims, comparison with the genetic profiles of children A and B obtained from umbilical tissues showed consistent DNA matches with remains 1756 and 1758, respectively.     

When Education Research Matters

The tangled relationship between education research and policy has received little serious scrutiny, even as paeans to “scientifically based research” and “evidence-based practice” have become a staple of education policymaking in recent years. For all the attention devoted to the 5-year-old Institute of Education Sciences, to No Child Left Behind’s call for “scientifically based research,” to professional interest in data-driven decision-making, and to the refinement of sophisticated analytic tools, little effort has gone into understanding how, when, or why research affects education policy. Instead, most discussion has focused on how to identify “best practices” or “scientifically based” methods and how to encourage classroom educators to use research findings. In this article, based on the new volume, When Research Matters: How Scholarship Influences Education Policy, Frederick M. Hess examines these questions.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization,trade, and the roles of Iran,India and Pakistan

This article seeks to explore the implications of Shanghai Cooperation Organization's (SCO) engagement with India, Pakistan and Iran. Not in terms of power-politics or as a counterbalance to the USA as this has been explored elsewhere, but what practical problems such an expanded organization could help solve, what opportunities it could realize, and how SCO's engagement in trade is a function of favourable political and bilateral developments in the region. It is argued here that the trade, infrastructure and energy sectors are of particular importance and that substantial potential gains could be realized if coordination is improved. Nevertheless, it is also recognized that China, Russia, Pakistan, India and Iran may have lower standards of democratic development and economic transparency than the West. What is the motivation behind the SCO's engagement with India, Pakistan and Iran? Should this engagement be conceived only in terms of balancing US unipolarity or are there legitimate concerns of increasing regional cooperation in Eurasia?     

Theophylline fatalities

Two fatal cases are presented involving the acute ingestion of theophylline resulting in blood theophylline concentrations greater than one hundred times the accepted therapeutic range.     

Federal Goverment Credit Program: Privatization Through Loan Sales

Privatization by sale of governmental financial assets provides a means to achieve program goals but does not preclude continued policy involvement. By loan guarantees the government has already privatized some aspects of its credit programs. Issues raised by loan sales differ from those concerning capital assets.     

Detection of amphetamine in bloodstains,semen, seminal stains,saliva, and saliva stains

Low nanogram quantities of amphetamine were detected in 100μl samples of dried bloodstains using radioimmunoassay. Saliva, saliva stains, semen, and seminal stains also contained measurable quantities of the drug.     

Doped hydrophobic silica nano- and micro-particles as novel agents for developing latent fingerprints

Novel hydrophobic silica based particles have been developed to visualise latent fingerprints. The composition of the particles has been designed to maximise both hydrophobic and ionic interactions between a variety of coloured and fluorescent reporter molecules and the silicate backbone within the particles. The resulting doped particles retain the incorporated dyes with high affinity. In addition, a variety of sub-particles have also been embedded to again produce coloured or magnetisable hydrophobic particles. The particles can be harvested as nanoparticles or microparticles. The former are applied to latent fingerprints as an aqueous suspension and the latter as a dusting agent using brushes or a magnetic wand. Examples of the prints produced using these agents are given. The resulting prints have good definition.