People with disabilities working in the disability sector in Timor Leste: a study of ‘lived experience’ using PhotoVoice

Perspectives on disability originating from non-Western cultures are beginning to appear in disability literature, however discussions may become lost in rhetoric unless grounded in experiences of people with disabilities themselves. The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experience of physical disability in Timor Leste with the assistance of a group of Timorese participants with disabilities who were employed in the disability sector. These participants recounted experiences of disability from their own lives together with their observations of people with disabilities living in remote parts of Timor Leste who often lived with stigma or deprivation. The participants thus described their own lived experiences against a backdrop of a non-Western culture. A picture emerged of a stigmatising culture where acceptance of disability is uncommon yet where significant attempts are being made to change attitudes to disability within the culture of Timor Leste.     

Y-chromosomal STR haplotypes in Kalmyk population samples

Seventeen Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs), DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385ab, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, GATA-H4, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635 were typed in DNA samples from the Kalmyk population (n=99). The population is characterized by a high proportion of duplicated DYS19 alleles and deletions of the locus DYS448 on the background of the Central Asian haplogroup C*. AMOVA analysis reveals a close vicinity to Mongolian and Kazakh populations and large genetic distance to geographical neighbours from Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus.     

Comparative Analysis of the Chemical Profiles of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Based on Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography-Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (GC × GC-TOFMS)*

Abstract: The chemical profiling of illicit drugs is an important analytical tool to support the work of investigating and law enforcement authorities. In our work, comprehensive two‐dimensional gas chromatography–time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC‐TOFMS) combined with nontargeted, pixel‐based data analysis was adapted for the chemical profiling of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). The validity and benefit of this approach was evaluated by analyzing a well‐investigated set of MDMA samples. Samples were prepared according to a harmonized extraction protocol to ensure the comparability of the chemical signatures. The nontargeted approach comprises preprocessing followed by analysis of variances as a fast filter algorithm for selection of a variable subset followed by partial least squares discriminant analysis for reduction to promising marker compounds for discrimination of the samples according to their chemical profile. Forty‐seven potential marker compounds were determined, covering most of the target impurities known from the harmonized one‐dimensional profiling as well as other compounds not previously elucidated.     

Crime Control in the 2008 Presidential Election: Symbolic Politics or Tangible Policies?

Presidential candidates regularly use crime issues to help win electoral support. Contrary to conventional wisdom, crime control became an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. Despite decreasing crime rates and public opinion focused only temporarily on illegal immigration, the three major presidential candidates (Obama, Clinton, & McCain) discussed many anticrime initiatives during the campaign. Unlike past research which has found presidential candidates use primarily symbolic rhetoric in their anticrime rhetoric, all three presidential candidates in the 2008 presidential election were found to have employed tangible statements. The article discusses the different findings, making recommendations for future research.