Allele frequency data for 15 autosomal strs and ancestral proportions using aims-indels in the shuar ethnic group from Ecuador

The ethnic group Shuar is located in Ecuador. To identify their genetic composition, 46 ancestry-informative insertion deletion markers (AIM-INDELs) were used. Also, characterization of 15 tandem repeats (STRs) in the AmpFISTR Identifiler Kit were applied. Forensic parameters showed a matching probability of 0.1535, a power of discrimination of 0.8465, a polymorphism information content of 0.6584, probability of exclusion of 0.415 and a typical paternity index of 1.78. The Shuar are not influenced by admixture population events, being a Native American group 98.7%, along with a genetic diversity of 0.699346+/-0.356964.     

Shrunken head (tsantsa): A complete forensic analysis procedure

Based on the analysis of shrunken heads referred to our forensic laboratory for anthropological expertise, and data from both anthropological and medical literature, we propose a complete forensic procedure for the analysis of such pieces. A list of 14 original morphological criteria has been developed, based on the global aspect, color, physical deformation, anatomical details, and eventual associated material (wood, vegetal fibers, sand, charcoals, etc.). Such criteria have been tested on a control sample of 20 tsantsa (i.e. shrunken heads from the Jivaro or Shuar tribes of South America). Further complementary analyses are described such as CT-scan and microscopic examination. Such expertise is more and more asked to forensic anthropologists and practitioners in a context of global repatriation of human artifacts to native communities.     

Identification of DYS385 allele variants by using shorter amplicons and Northern Thai haplotype data

Primers currently used for amplification of locus DYS385 on the Y chromosome give quite long amplicons that are difficult to resolve on native polyacrylamide gels. We therefore designed new primers that give much shorter products for easy separation. With this system, two allele variants that were characterized by sequencing as 14.1 (GAAA --> GAAAA) and 14.2 (GA insertion), were identified in two unrelated Northern Thai men due to their decreased mobility. Interestingly, initial capillary electrophoresis mistyped the 14.1 variant amplified with the traditional primers as allele 14. Forty different haplotypes were found in 147 Northern Thais with a haplotype diversity of 0.9430. Haplotype 13-18 (frequency 0.136) is the most frequent one: for comparison: haplotype 14-18 (frequency 0.074) was found to be the most common in a population from Bangkok (n = 95) in an earlier study. This striking difference within Thailand's population probably results from genetic differences in the founding populations.     

Spousal Violence Among Immigrants from the Former Soviet Union—General Population and Welfare Recipients

This study examines psychological and marital risk factors of 322 immigrant FSU couples in Israel. The research focuses on two populations: the general immigrant population and the welfare immigrant population; the latter group is comprised of couples treated in welfare service departments. The dependent variable is spousal violence. The independent variables are: education level, gender, symbolic loss, psychological adjustment (both positive and negative emotions) and the “cultural–familial gap”. Surprisingly, it was found that the welfare immigrant population reports less spousal violence than the regular immigrant population. In addition, a correlation was found between spousal violence and the following factors: higher education, lower level of psychological adjustment and greater familial-cultural gap between the country of origin and Israel. The discussion focuses on the characteristics of FSU immigrants—educational level and orientation towards cultural preservation—within the Israeli context that connects to psychological responses which, in turn, creates spousal violence.     

Fertility and migration in the heart of the industrial revolution.

This study examines demographic growth and change in Tilleur in the valley of Meuse in Belgium during 1807-80 during the process of industrialization and urbanization. The proportion of immigrants (foreigners and Flemings) increased from 15% in 1807 to 65% in 1856. After 1856, population and industrial growth stabilized. During 1856-66 the proportion of natives stabilized, and the proportion of Flemings increased. It is argued that in Tilleur there were two phases: a foundation phase of industrial and population growth and a phase of maturation with decreased non-native population and greater similarity between groups. Immigrants contributed to the birth rate in greater proportions than their proportion in the population of Tilleur. During 1847-66 native population increased annually from 2.4% to 3.8%. Migrants' annual increases were diminished by the effects of mortality but expanded by the influence of in-migration. During 1857-66 the proportion of foreigners declined and marked the transition to a new phase. During 1830-66 the sex ratio grew from 93 to 119. During the Industrial Revolution in Tilleur, women shifted from outnumbering to undernumbering men. The iron and coal in the region attracted men. The sex ratio among the Flemish was 214 in 1866. In 1830 the proportion of fertile women was higher among immigrants and declined thereafter. Age at marriage rose for natives and declined for immigrants. The native population structure by sex, age, and marriage did not favor the birth rate. During 1866-80 the birth rate of foreign immigrants and rural natives declined, the birth rate of natives doubled, and the gap between these two groups narrowed. The changes among immigrants during the foundation phase led to fertility decline in the maturation phase. Marriage and migration interactions linked the industrial revolution with the demographic transition.     

Thousands of years of Malay and Chinese population history in Indonesia and its implication on Paternity Index in DNA paternity testing

The existence of the Chinese population in the predominantly Malay population in Indonesia can be traced back thousands of years, and it has been suspected that it played an essential role in the history of the Malay population origin in Maritime South East Asia. With the fact that the Malay-Indonesian population is currently predominant compared to the Chinese population in Indonesia (Chinese-Indonesian), the selection of the origin of the STRs allele frequency panel population becomes an issue in DNA profiling, including in paternity testing. This study analyses the genetic relationship between the Chinese-Indonesian and Malay-Indonesian populations and how this affects the Paternity Index (PI) ??calculation in paternity test cases. The study of the relationship between populations was carried out using neighbour-joining (NJ) tree analysis and multidimensional scaling (MDS) on the allele frequency panel of 19 autosomal STRs loci of Malay-Indonesian (n = 210) and Chinese-Indonesian (n = 78) populations. Four population groups were used as references: Malay-Malaysian, Filipino, Chinese, and Caucasian. An MDS analysis was also performed based on the pairwise F_ST calculation. The combined Paternity Index (CPI) calculation was carried out on 132 paternity cases from the Malay-Indonesian population with inclusive results using a panel of allele frequencies from the six populations. The pairwise F_ST MDS indicates a closer relationship between the Chinese-Indonesian and Malay-Indonesian compared to the Chinese population, which is in line with the CPIs comparison test. The outcome suggests that the alternative use of allele frequency database between Malay-Indonesian and Chinese-Indonesian for CPI calculations is not very influential. These results can also be considered in studying the extent of genetic assimilation between the two populations. In addition, these results support the robustness claim of multivariate analysis to represent phenomena that phylogenetic analyses may not be able to demonstrate, especially for massive panel data.     

THE TIMING OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS*

Research Summary: This study examines self-reports from two samples to assess the timing of delinquency. Results imply that the after-school hours are a time of elevated delinquency, but that the peak is modest compared with that observed in official records. Additionally, children who are unsupervised during the after-school hours - the primary target population for after-school programs - are found to be more delinquent at all times, not only after-school. Policy Implications: This finding suggests that factors (including social competencies and social bonding) in addition to inadequate supervision produce delinquency during the after-school hours and that the effectiveness of after-school programs for reducing delinquency will depend upon their ability to address these other factors through appropriate and high quality services.     

Introduction

This paper presents the results of the first two longitudinal historical cradle-to-grave datasets constructed in Australia: the Aboriginal population of the state of Victoria, reconstituted backwards using genealogical research and vital registrations, 1835–1930; and an impoverished European population born at the Melbourne Lying-In Hospital, 1857–1900 and traced until 1985. It investigates the hypothesis that the health transition in indigenous people was different from that of the dominant non-indigenous population. Both of these studied sub-populations were highly stressed, resulting in high infant mortality and persistent tuberculosis mortality. The Aboriginal population suffered the additional burdens of racism and social exclusion, even though after the passage of the 1886 ‘Half-Castes Act’, the majority of Aboriginal Victorians were legally ‘white’. The impact of that legislation and the systematic exclusion of Aboriginal Victorians from federal entitlements in the twentieth century sent the Aboriginal health transition into reverse. The contrasting fates of poor whites and ‘unofficial blacks’ during the health transition demonstrate the health burdens of inequality and racial discrimination, and reveal that ‘the gap’ in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is a historical product of long-term government policy and exclusion from citizenship and its entitlements.     

An evaluation of the polymerase chain reaction method for forensic applications

This paper describes the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for amplifying small amounts of DNA obtained from samples of interest to the forensic scientist. A region of the HLA DQalpha (DQa) locus was amplified in DNA prepared from the following: hair roots, liquid blood, blood-stains, semen and vaginal swabs (semen free and semen contaminated). A population study was conducted using DNA from 78 unrelated individuals. The observed distribution of HLA DQa alleles varied from that reported for an American population but obeyed the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Interpretation problems associated with the PCR technique are discussed.     

Iranian STR variation at the fringes of biogeographical demarcation

The integrative relationship between population genetics and forensic biology allows for a thorough genetic characterization of extant human populations. This study aimed to genetically characterize 150 unrelated healthy donors from a general population in Iran both forensically and phylogenetically. The allelic frequencies of 15 STR loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA) were generated. This constitutes the core of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based DNA genetic markers in the US Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) plus two additional loci (D2S1338 and D19S433) that together are consistent with several other worldwide database requirements. There were no deviations from Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Based upon the allelic frequencies, several important forensic parameters were calculated including: gene diversity (GD) index, power of discrimination (PD), polymorphic information content (PIC) and power of exclusion (PE). G-tests indicate the allelic frequencies of the Iranians are statistically non-significant compared to two Turkish populations yet, statistically different from the remaining 18 groups obtained from the literature and examined in this study. This suggests that the Iranian dataset may be forensically equivalent to the dataset from the Turkish region of Eastern Anatolia and the general population from Turkey. Phylogenetic analysis of our population with the full set of 15 loci indicate the Iranians occupy an intermediate position relative to the major Caucasian and East Asian clades on a global level. A regional phylogenetic analysis using 13 of the 15 loci indicate the Iranians segregate in a more compact association with groups from southeastern Spain, Arabs from Morocco and Syria, and especially with the general population from Turkey and those from Eastern Anatolia. These groups are flanked by highly differentiated populations from northern India and a Berber group from Tunisia on opposing ends of the regional phylogram. This report also demonstrates the necessity to thoroughly characterize the genetic composition of populations located in geographic intersections in order to choose the appropriate dataset on which to base forensic calculations, not only at an intra-population level, but also at an inter-population level as well.     

Continuities in the Prediction of Human Trafficking: A Research Note

The stated purposes of this paper are twofold: 1) to build upon Bales’ (2007) earlier paper regarding the factors that predict human trafficking by adding transit countries to the analysis, which included origin and destination countries; and, 2) to demonstrate the efficacy of using the Global Programme Against Trafficking (GPAT) database sponsored by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in ongoing trafficking research, especially when the country is the unit of analysis. Bales (2007) and this research used different sets of measures, with some overlap. So it was not surprising that the results were mixed. Both Bales (2007) and this study identified governmental corruption and the percentage of the population under fourteen years of age as the two top predictors of trafficking from a country. This study identified the percentage of the population under fourteen as the primary predictor of trafficking through transit countries, a category Bales did not include in his study. Bales reported that the proportion of the country's population over 60 years old and corruption were the two strongest predictors of trafficking to a destination country. By way of contrast, this study found that the Human Development Index and the total population measure were the strongest predictors of trafficking to a destination country. Overall this study suggested the need to conduct more research with the data currently available in sources like the GPAT before making global policy recommendations.     

The Evidentiary Significance of Automotive Paint from the Northeast: A Study of Red Paint

This population study was conducted to assess the frequency of physical, microscopical, and chemical properties of automotive paint chips. Population studies of trace evidence provide valuable analytical data for criminalists to assess evidentiary significance. Two‐hundred automotive paint chips were collected from auto body shops from the Northeastern United States. All samples were analyzed using stereomicroscopy, brightfield, and polarized light microscopy. Red paints were targeted for further analysis using a sequence of modern instrumental techniques commonly used by forensic paint examiners: Fourier‐transform infrared (FT‐IR), Raman, and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) microspectroscopy. The discrimination potential of each analytical method was evaluated by inter‐comparing the paint samples. Results demonstrated that macroscopic and microscopic properties were able to differentiate 99.995% of the population (one undifferentiated pair out of 19,900). When combined with either FT‐IR or UV–Vis microspectroscopy, all paints were differentiated. The results of this research lead to the conclusion that one would not expect to encounter two indistinguishable paint chips originating from different sources during the investigation of a single event.     

Further evidence to show population specificity of discriminant function equations for sex determination using the talus of South African blacks

Several studies have shown that osteometric differences exist between different population groups. Thus, discriminant function equations derived for the determination of sex from skeletal elements are population specific. In a previous study, the authors derived such equations from nine measurements of the talus of South African whites with high levels of average accuracies. The validity of some of the equations was tested on data collected from a South African black sample that consisted of 120 tali, equally distributed by sex, derived from the Raymond A. Dart Collection of Human Skeletons. The average accuracies dropped significantly. This necessitated the derivation of new equations for the South African black population and the average accuracies obtained ranged between 80% and 89%. The validity of the equations derived from the present study was tested using the leave-one-out classification and two independent samples (1 and 2). The applicability of the equations with very high classification rate from the present study was tested on Independent sample 1 of 10 white tali with poor results. The result of the validity of these equations on an Independent sample 2 of 10 black tali revealed acceptably high average accuracies in correct classification thereby supporting earlier observations on population specificity of discriminant function equations.     

Y-chromosomal STR haplotypes in two endogamous tribal populations of Karnataka, India

POPULATION: Approximately 5.0 mL of blood sample was collected from a total of 150 men belonging to two tribal populations of coastal Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka, with their informed written consent. Both the populations are endogamous and they belong to the Dravidian linguistic family. Halakki is a tribal group having a population size of c. 3383. They claim that they originally belong to Gujarat and Rajasthan, and migrated through Andhra Pradesh to Karnataka. Kunabhi is also a tribal population, c. 35,214 in number. They were hunters and gatherers but presently they practice agriculture.     

The individuality of fibres used to provide forensic evidence--not all blue polyesters are the same.

Fibres used in forensic casework suffer from a disadvantage common to other forms of trace evidence--it is not possible to state with absolute certainty that they originate from a specific source. Target fibre studies, population studies and research on 'blocks of colour' have effectively demonstrated the polymorphism of textile fibres (particularly man-made ones) and have shown that when a fibre is believed to have a specific putative source, the chance that it has originated from a different source purely by coincidence is extremely remote. A study by Houck MM (Houck MM, Inter-comparison of unrelated fibre evidence. Forensic Science International 2003; 135: 146-149) has shown that no coincidental matching fibres were recovered from items of clothing examined in 20 unrelated crimes. The study involved over two million comparisons. This work goes a step further, and using the example of blue polyester fibres shows that even within a very narrow segment of the whole general fibre population, many examples of a specific colour/type of man-made fibre taken from random sources can be compared and the chance of any two being the same is very low. These studies should help to show the specificity and value of transferred fibres in providing forensic evidence.     

Analysis of the population heterogeneity in Hungary using fifteen forensically informative STR markers

Previous studies have shown that population analyses in Hungary can be of great importance from the viewpoint of the examination of population differentiation. This study provides additional population genetic data of the Hungarian population on the thirteen CODIS core STR loci and on two penta STRs (PentaE, PentaD). Allele frequency and profile databases were generated for four population samples. Comparing the allele frequency values by G-statistic, calculating the FST indices and with the pair-wise comparisons of inter-population molecular variance (AMOVA) the four Hungarian populations could be distinguished.     

Legitimacy in a Postcolonial Legal System: Public Perception of Procedural Justice and Moral Alignment Toward the Courts in Hong Kong

Legitimacy is said to be comprised of two underlying constructs: obligation to obey and moral alignment. However, legitimacy studies are mainly derived from contexts where the legal system has evolved naturally and is said to reflect the values of society. There is a paucity of research measuring public perceptions of legitimacy in postcolonial settings such as Hong Kong where the legal system was initially transplanted and many of its values may not reflect those of the local population. Procedural justice has been asserted to be a primary antecedent by which legal authorities improve their legitimacy and moral alignment. This study examines whether procedural justice is positively associated with legitimacy and moral alignment with the courts. Moreover, this study tests whether legitimacy is positively associated with cooperation with the courts. Using a random survey of the Hong Kong general population, both questions are answered in the affirmative. Implications are discussed.     

Application of subpopulation theory to evaluation of DNA evidence

The strength of any evidence can be assessed using a likelihood ratio (from Bayes' point of view). This is the ratio of the probabilities that the evidence would have been obtained given that the suspect is guilty and innocent, respectively. This, in turn, depends upon the probability that a match will be produced if the suspect is innocent. An essential population genetics parameter is the 'coancestry coefficient', or θ, or F(ST), which is the correlation between two genes sampled from distinct individuals within a subpopulation. In this paper, θ coefficients for the southern Polish population were calculated for three loci of forensic interest: TH01, TPOX and CSF1PO. Three small southern Polish subpopulations of different ethnic origin were analysed. The results suggest that values of θ appropriate to forensic applications are quite small in the southern Polish population (they vary in the range of 0.002 to 0.013), and the value of θ=0.03 suggested by the National Research Council is too conservative for the defendant.     

Colonialism and the health transition: Aboriginal Australians and poor whites compared, Victoria, 1850–1985

This paper presents the results of the first two longitudinal historical cradle-to-grave datasets constructed in Australia: the Aboriginal population of the state of Victoria, reconstituted backwards using genealogical research and vital registrations, 1835–1930; and an impoverished European population born at the Melbourne Lying-In Hospital, 1857–1900 and traced until 1985. It investigates the hypothesis that the health transition in indigenous people was different from that of the dominant non-indigenous population. Both of these studied sub-populations were highly stressed, resulting in high infant mortality and persistent tuberculosis mortality. The Aboriginal population suffered the additional burdens of racism and social exclusion, even though after the passage of the 1886 ‘Half-Castes Act’, the majority of Aboriginal Victorians were legally ‘white’. The impact of that legislation and the systematic exclusion of Aboriginal Victorians from federal entitlements in the twentieth century sent the Aboriginal health transition into reverse. The contrasting fates of poor whites and ‘unofficial blacks’ during the health transition demonstrate the health burdens of inequality and racial discrimination, and reveal that ‘the gap’ in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is a historical product of long-term government policy and exclusion from citizenship and its entitlements.     

Structure and strategy. Two rural communities in the Kempen region of Belgium, 1850–1910

This article starts with a methodological question: By carrying out a structural analysis of a local community, is it possible to gain insight into the labor strategies of the families within that community? This structural analysis is based on the reconstruction and integration of population, labor, and income data of individual households within two villages in 19th century Belgium. Basically, this exercise is to understand two sets of correlations: (a) between social differentiation and the family cycle and (b) between shifts in the social relationship between families and generations and the survival strategies of those families. This article shows that a structural approach to labor and income strategies can reveal how and why former strategies can lose their relevance and new choices are made relating to new networks of solidarity.