Droplet-based optical trapping for cell separation in mock forensic samples

Optical tweezers have a wide range of uses for mechanical manipulation of objects in the microscopic range. This includes both living and static cells in a variety of biomedical and research applications. Single-focus optical tweezers, formed by focusing a laser beam through a high numerical aperture immersion objective, create a significant force, which enables controlled transport of a variety of different cell types and morphologies in three dimensions. Optical tweezers have been previously reported to capture and separate spermatozoa from a reconstituted simulated postcoital sample. We report herein the development of a simplified, more efficient cell transfer protocol that can separate and isolate both spermatozoa as well as leukocytes, with similar efficiencies as those previously reported. The new cell transfer method was used to separate sperm cells from a reconstituted mixture of spermatozoa and vaginal epithelial cells, with complete STR profiles developed from 50 cells with little evidence of contribution from the female contributor to the mixture. This modified protocol was then used to separate 21 samples of enriched leukocytes, with trapped cells ranging from 5 to 22 cells. Complete STR profiles were developed from as few as 10 leukocytes. Thus, with minimal sample preparation and a short trapping time, this method has the potential to provide an alternative to traditional differential extraction methods for separation of sperm:nonsperm mixtures while also providing versatility for separation of cells with differing morphologies.     

The association between psychopathic personality traits and health-related outcomes

Purpose

Psychopathy and psychopathic personality traits (PPT) have been linked to a long list of negative life outcomes. To date, however, few studies have provided a systematic analysis of whether psychopathic personality traits contribute to increased health burden. The current study was designed to address this gap in the literature.

Method

This study analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and employed a measure of PPT derived from the five-factor model of personality. Analyses were conducted using OLS, logistic, and Poisson regression techniques.

Results

The results revealed that relatively higher scores on psychopathic personality traits were associated with a slight increase in a wide range of negative health outcomes. These significant associations were detected for both males and females.

Conclusions

We speak to the importance of these findings for the potential to reduce health burden among psychopaths and those who score relatively high on measures of psychopathic personality traits.     

A biosocial analysis of the sources of missing data in criminological research

Purpose

Failing to deal with missing data patterns effectively may result in biased parameter estimates and ultimately may produce inaccurate results and conclusions. The vast majority of criminological research has addressed this issue with listwise deletion (LD) and multiple imputation (MI) techniques. Identifying the specific covariates that directly contribute to patterns of missingness is highly important in deciding which technique to use. One of the more surprising omissions from the identified list of covariates is the potential role of genetic influences in the development of missingness.

Methods

The current study addresses this gap in the literature by estimating genetic (A), shared environmental (C), and the nonshared environmental (E) influences on missingness across measures of delinquency and self-control within a longitudinal sample of twin and sibling pairs.

Results

The results indicated that genetic influences explain a significant portion of the variance in missing values related to both delinquency and self-control.

Conclusions

Current methodological techniques aimed at addressing missing data should be amended to take genetic influences into account. Such modifications and the implications of the findings for future research are discussed.     

Beyond the Comfort Zone? County Government Collaboration with Private-Sector Organizations to Deliver Services

Despite burgeoning research on collaboration, the preference and choice of public managers to partner with other public-sector institutions versus private-sector organizations has received comparatively little attention. This study proposes that public managers are inclined to partner with other government agencies, i.e., within their “comfort zone,” and presents a model to explain when they may go beyond the comfort zone to collaborate with private establishments. Using an embedded case study design, this study examines how the professional background of the manager, characteristics of the government organization, and the “market” of potential partners influence the reported incidence of collaboration with nongovernmental actors.     

Reviews and commentatry

CIAs inspector general — the DCI's independent eye: another view

Misplaced loyalties: the Pollards and “friends”

Wolf Blitzer: Territory of Lies: The Exclusive Story of Jonathan Jay Pollard: The American Who Spied on His Country for Israel and How He Was Betrayed. Harper & Row, New York, 1989, 336 p., $22.50.

Counterintelligence: hazards and goofs

Ronald Kessler: Spy vs. Spy: Stalking Soviet Spies in America Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1988, 308 p., $19.95.

The Lincoln assassination and the confederate secret service

William A. Tidwell, with James O. Hall and David Winfred Gaddy: Come Retribution: The Confederate Secret Service and the Assassination of Lincoln University Press of Mississippi, Jackson, Miss., 510 p., HB $38.50, PB $17.95.

A brief tour of American intelligence

Bruce D. Berkowitz and Allan E. Goodman: Strategic Intelligence for American National Security Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1989, 232 p., $19.95.

Les miserables in modern dress

Peter Maas: Manhunt: The Incredible Pursuit of a CIA Agent Turned Terrorist Random House, New York, 196, 301 p., $18.75.

Yale at war

Robin W. Winks: Cloak & Gown: Scholars in the Secret War, 1939–1961 William Morrow, New York, 1987, 322 p., $22.95.     

Identifying Urban Flashpoints: A Delphi-Derived Model for Scoring Cities’ Vulnerability to Large-Scale Unrest

Although great strides have been made toward forecasting state-level instability, little progress has been made toward the prediction of outbreaks of urban unrest. This article presents a method for the assessment of cities’ vulnerability to large-scale urban unrest. Forty-five factors correlated with urban unrest are identified and weighted by an expert panel. Based on expert elicitation through an iterative Delphi exercise, the explicitly methodological discussion describes both the process and the resulting assessment framework. Results include a tool that will allow users to rank cities on their vulnerability to large-scale urban unrest.     

By‐laws of I.A.I.

The launch of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) marks the most significant change to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) since it was launched in 2004. In the wake of the Georgia war in August 2008 and yet another gas crisis in January 2009, the EU clearly needs a more constructive policy towards Eastern Europe. But both the ENP and EaP are based on a contradiction. They offer only the remotest possibility of eventual accession to the EU, but are still based on “accession-light” assumptions, applying the conditionality model of the 1990s to weak states that are a long way from meeting the Copenhagen criteria. The priority in the eastern neighbourhood is not building potential members states but strengthening sovereignty, in the face of an increasingly assertive Russian neighbourhood policy. The game is playing the west off against Russia for geopolitical reward.     

Book reviews and notes

Hegemony through Restraint

After Victory : Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order after Major Wars / G. John Ikenberry. ‐ Princeton and Oxford : Princeton University Press, c2001. ‐ xvi, 293 p. ‐ (Princeton studies in international history and politics). ‐ ISBN 0–691–05091–0 (pbk)

Italy's Hobbled Search for a Better Place in the Sun

Fra Casa Bianca e Botteghe Oscure : fatti e retroscena di una stagione alla Farnesina / Lamberto Dini; intervista di Maurizio Molinari. ‐ Milano : Guerini e Associati, C2001. ‐ 139 p. ‐ ISBN 88–8335–185–1