Real-time forensic DNA analysis at a crime scene using a portable microchip analyzer

An integrated lab-on-a-chip system has been developed and successfully utilized for real-time forensic short tandem repeat (STR) analysis. The microdevice comprises a 160-nL polymerase chain reaction reactor with an on-chip heater and a temperature sensor for thermal cycling, microvalves for fluidic manipulation, a co-injector for sizing standard injection, and a 7-cm-long separation channel for capillary electrophoretic analysis. A 9-plex autosomal STR typing system consisting of amelogenin and eight combined DNA index system (CODIS) core STR loci has been constructed and optimized for this real-time human identification study. Reproducible STR profiles of control DNA samples are obtained in 2 h and 30 min with ≤0.8 bp allele typing accuracy. The minimal amount of DNA required for a complete DNA profile is 100 copies. To critically evaluate the capabilities of our portable microsystem as well as its compatibility with crime scene investigation processes, real-time STR analyses were carried out at a mock crime scene prepared by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office (PBSO). Blood stain sample collection, DNA extraction, and STR analyses on the portable microsystem were conducted in the field, and a successful “mock” CODIS hit was generated on the suspect's sample within 6 h. This demonstration of on-site STR analysis establishes the feasibility of real-time DNA typing to identify the contributor of probative biological evidence at a crime scene and for real-time human identification.     

Can holidays boost consumption? The case of Hong Kong

• Hong Kong's domestic economy has been through a roller coaster ride over the past decade. In early 2004, increasing the number of holidays as a strategy to boost domestic consumption was mooted. In this paper, we estimate the effect of holidays on private domestic consumption in Hong Kong. We do this by estimating both the long term and short‐term consumption functions. Our estimates suggest that an additional day holiday per quarter would increase private consumption expenditure (PCE) by HKD 213 on a per capita basis. Although an extra day holiday could add 0.34% to GDP, policy makers should also consider the possible costs (e.g. cost of unproductive) of such a policy.

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid and high-throughput forensic short tandem repeat typing using a 96-lane microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis microdevice

A 96-channel microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis (muCAE) device was evaluated for forensic short tandem repeat (STR) typing using PowerPlex 16 and AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus multiplex PCR systems. The high-throughput muCAE system produced high-speed <30-min parallel sample separations with single-base resolution. Forty-eight previously analyzed single-source samples were accurately typed, as confirmed on an ABI Prism 310 and/or the Hitachi FMBIO II. Minor alleles in 3:1 mixture samples containing female and male DNA were reliably typed as well. The instrument produced full profiles from sample DNA down to 0.17 ng, a threshold similar to that found for the ABI 310. Seventeen nonprobative samples from various evidentiary biological stains were also correctly typed. The successful application of the muCAE device to actual forensic STR typing samples is a significant step toward the development of a completely integrated STR analysis microdevice.     

Leverage,Technical Efficiency and Profitability: an application of DEA to foreign-invested toy manufacturing firms in China

Based on a representative sample of the 238 largest foreign-invested toy manufacturing firms in southern China by output value, we adopted a two-stage approach to examine the role of leverage on firm performance as measured by technical efficiency, and the effect of efficiency on profitability. In the first stage, we use data envelopment analysis (DEA) to estimate the technical efficiency of the sample firms. In the second stage, we conduct a regression analysis to study the effects of leverage on efficiency and of efficiency on profitability. Our empirical results support the view that leverage has a positive effect on firm technical efficiency and that there is a positive relationship between technical efficiency and profitability.     

A forensic laboratory tests the Berkeley microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis device

Miniaturization of capillary electrophoresis onto a microchip for forensic short tandem repeat analysis is the initial step in the process of producing a fully integrated and automated analysis system. A prototype of the Berkeley microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis device was installed at the Virginia Department of Forensic Science for testing. Instrument performance was verified by PowerPlex 16 System profiling of single source, sensitivity series, mixture, and casework samples. Mock sexual assault samples were successfully analyzed using the PowerPlex Y System. Resolution was assessed using the TH01, CSF1PO, TPOX, and Amelogenin loci and demonstrated to be comparable with commercial systems along with the instrument precision. Successful replacement of the Hjerten capillary coating method with a dynamic coating polymer was performed. The accurate and rapid typing of forensic samples demonstrates the successful technology transfer of this device into a practitioner laboratory and its potential for advancing high-throughput forensic typing.     

The Forms and Limits of Choice Architecture as a Tool of Government

Although the use of design‐based control techniques, broadly understood as the purposeful shaping of the environment and the things and beings within it toward particular ends, have been used throughout human history, until the publication of Thaler and Sunstein's Nudge, they have remained relatively neglected as a focus of regulatory scholarship. Nudge can be understood as a design‐based regulatory technique because it provides the means by which a choice architect intentionally seeks to influence another's behavior through the conscious design of the choice environment. But there are other forms of choice architecture besides nudge. The gunman who offers his victim “your money or your life?” is as much a choice architect as the cafeteria manager who places the fruit at eye level while placing the chocolate cake further back to encourage patrons to make healthier dietary choices and the supermarket owner who slashes grocery prices on their use by date to stimulate sales. This article focuses on three forms of choice architecture—coercion, inducements, and nudge—employed by the state in order to influence the behavior of others. It seeks to evaluate whether each form of choice architecture coheres with the fundamental values and premises upon which liberal democratic states rest and can therefore be properly characterized as libertarian. Chief among these values is the importance of individual liberty and freedom and the concomitant special status accorded to individual choice in liberal democratic communities. In so doing, it highlights different ways in which these techniques may be regarded as an interference with individual freedom, and the conditions under which such interferences might be rendered acceptable or otherwise justified.     

An Incomplete Victory: The Implications of QT v Director of Immigration for the Protection of Gay Rights in Hong Kong

QT v Director of Immigration is the most important decision on gay rights in Hong Kong since the unequal ages of consent between heterosexuals and homosexuals were held to be unconstitutional 10 years ago. The Court of Appeal of Hong Kong affirmed the right of same‐sex couples married or in a civil partnership overseas to be treated on an equal basis with married heterosexual couples. This note considers the strengths and shortcomings of the Court of Appeal's reasoning, in terms of its potential significance both to the rights of sexual minorities and to the wider protection of human rights by means of the common law.     

Time efficiency as a measure of court performance: evidence from the Court of Justice of the European Union

European Journal of Law and Economics - This work proposes an alternative measure of court performance, namely, time efficiency, which is equal to the length of a verdict divided by the time needed...