Analysis of DNA multilocus profiles in a paternity case in which the child's profile may be partial

This report describes a simple approach to multilocus paternity analysis for cases where the child's sample may be inadequate leading to a partial profile. A specimen calculation is given. A previous paper described how the various band sharing configurations in the DNA multilocus profiles of a mother-child-putative father trio could be combined in a comprehensive mathematical analysis to give an overall Bayesian likelihood ratio. In that paper, it was assumed that all three members of the trio gave full DNA profiles. In some cases that assumption may not be valid but it is possible to extend the analysis to allow for partial profiles. This paper demonstrates how this may be done by considering the case where the child's profile may be partial for one reason or another. A specimen calculation is given.     

The stalking victim's decision to contact the police: A test of Gottfredson and Gottfredson's theory of criminal justice decision making

There is a significant body of research exploring the reporting behaviors of crime victims. Much of this literature has focused on specific types of victimization (e.g., sexual assault) and the correlates of victim reporting. Recently, the crimes of stalking and cyberstalking have received empirical attention; however, few studies have examined the reporting behaviors of victims of these crimes. Using the theoretical framework proposed by Gottfredson and Gottfredson (1988), the current study explored how offense seriousness, the victim-offender relationship, and the prior record of the offender influenced a victim's decision to contact the police. Data were drawn from the 2006 stalking supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which examined stalking in the United States. Results offered support to Gottfredson and Gottfredson (1988) and highlighted the significance of understanding the reporting behaviors for this sample of crime victims. Differences in reporting for victims of stalking and cyberstalking were also examined.     

DNA profile evidence in complex disputed paternity cases: The analysis of 300 real cases

In disputed paternity cases where the putative father is unavailable DNA from one or more of his relatives could be used. However, interpreting results is often difficult, because of the partial information regarding the parental genotype obtained from his relatives. We analyzed results obtained in 300 real paternity cases performed through close relatives of the real father (sib, half-sibs, one grandparent and/or uncle). DNA was typed with PowerPlex (Promega) and the LR estimated with the Software BDGen. As expected the higher LR values were achieved with sibs and half-sibs (in such cases where his/her mother was available for testing). The LR values were tight related to the number of uninformative loci, which varied between 0 and 13. In 10% of the reviewed cases, 10 or more non-informative loci were observed; all of them associated LR values below 0.01. Thus, providing evidence in favor of no relatedness.     

DNA数据库9个STR基因座比中认定亲权的可靠性分析

目的探讨Profiler plus试剂盒9个常染色体STR基因座用于DNA数据库中双亲亲缘关系比中结果认定亲权的可靠性。方法在DNA数据库中搜集无关个体与已知母子（或父子）在9个STR基因座不排除亲缘关系的比中记录54例，组成54例假定的三联体家庭，计算其PI值与RCP值；应用Identifiler试剂盒加做到15个常染色体STR基因座，观察其排除情况。结果在54例假定三联体中PI值最低为178．598597（RCP=99．443203％），最高为97318．085812（RCP=99．998972％）。加做到15个STR基因座后，54例假定三联体中每个三联体至少出现2个基因座排除，最多5个基因座出现排除的现象，平均排除基因座数为3．52个。结论Profilerplus试剂盒9个STR基因座用于亲缘关系鉴定可能出现错误结论；单纯利用RCP值来认定亲缘关系是不安全的；建议应用16个或更多的基因座建设DNA数据库和进行亲缘关系判定。     

Value of DNA tests: a decision perspective

ABSTRACT: Before a Court of Law testifying in DNA‐evidence cases, scientists are often challenged with the idea that the more markers (loci) the better, i.e., why does the scientist not use 16 or more markers? This paper introduces a new perspective, decision analysis, to deal with the problem of the number of markers to type in a criminal context. The decision‐making process, which plays a key role in the routine work of a forensic scientist, consists of the rational choice, given personal objectives, between two or more possible outcomes when the consequences of the choice are uncertain. Simulated results support the hypothesis that analytical added value does not increase with the number of markers.     

Decision games applied to police decision making -an exploratory study of information usage-

An analysis of police decision making is presented using the decision board technique developed by Leslie Wilkins. This method assumes that decision making can be measured by observing a subject's response to stimuli presented in the form of pieces of information. A board was created and employed with fifty municipal police officers. Findings suggest that police demonstrate individualized preferences for varying amounts and kinds of information. The nature of the offense was considered most frequently. The attitude of the offender was also an important determinant of the decision outcome; and the offender's attitude then influenced the amount and type of information subsequently used.     

The potential contribution of MVR-PCR to paternity probabilities in a case lacking a mother.

Minisatellite variant repeat (MVR) mapping using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to a paternity case lacking a mother to evaluate the paternity probability. After three flanking polymorphic sites at each of MS31A and MS32 loci were investigated from the child and alleged father, allele-specific MVR-PCR was performed using genomic DNA. It was confirmed that one allele in the child was identical to that in the alleged father at both loci. Mapped allele codes were compared with allele structures established from population surveys. No perfect matches were found although some motifs were shared with other Japanese alleles. The paternity index and probability of paternity exclusion at these two MVR loci were then estimated, establishing the power of MVR-PCR even in paternity cases lacking a mother.     

Probability of exclusion in paternity testing: time to reassess

The average exclusion probability is a measure of efficiency in paternity testing; it refers to the a priori ability of a battery of tests to detect paternity inconsistencies. This parameter measures the capacity of the system to detect a false accusation of paternity. Traditionally, this average exclusion probability has been estimated as the probability of excluding a man who is not the father by an inconsistency in at least one of the studied loci. We suggest that this criterion should be corrected, as currently the presumed father is excluded when at least three genetic inconsistencies are found with the child being tested, not just one. This change of criterion has occurred because of the use of microsatellite loci, whose mutation rates are much greater than those of the coding genes used previously in paternity studies. We propose the use of the average probability of exclusion for at least three loci (not only one), as an honest measure of the combined probability of exclusion of several loci, and we propose an algebraic expression to calculate it.     

DNA fingerprints: the importance in forensic medicine. II. The significance of examining DNA polymorphisms of placental tissues for the purpose of paternity determination during the early stages within the first trimester

Investigation of genomic polymorphisms detected by a minisatellite named tentatively "Myo", which is expected to correspond to the minisatellite in human myoglobin gene of Jeffreys et al., gives distinct and different aspects of chorionic villus and the decidual membrane in the same placenta. The chorionic villus, which is regarded as the extraembryonal tissue, represents the essential embryonal DNA fingerprint pattern, while the decidual membrane reveals the maternal one. A comparison between the DNA fingerprints from the chorion villus and from the blood sample of the suspected father provides the possibility of setting a paternity determination which can be achieved during the first trimester of a pregnancy.     

Biostatistical basis of individualization and segregation analysis using the multilocus DNA probe MZ 1.3: results of a collaborative study.

A collaborative study using the multilocus minisatellite DNA probe MZ 1.3 was carried out to investigate segregation information, mutation rate, DNA fragment frequencies as well as band sharing characteristics. The fingerprint patterns of 393 children as well as 694 unrelated individuals were analysed after digestion of DNA with the restriction enzyme HinfI. A mutation rate of 1% per meiosis or 0.04% per band was found with a mean number of 26 bands/individual. It was shown that maternal and paternal fragments are inherited in equal proportions. Population frequencies of restriction fragments demonstrated a distribution with increasing frequencies in the small fragment size range below 10 kb as well as the absence of very common or very rare fragments. Our data can be used to calculate simple exclusion probabilities based on the number of non-maternal bands in the child.     

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.