Use of the "SMITEST" PSA card to identify the presence of prostate-specific antigen in semen and male urine

To determine whether the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) could be identified in semen using the "SMITEST" PSA immunochromatographic membrane test card, we examined semen and other body fluids, including urine. Although PSA activity was detected in semen with high sensitivity using the "SMITEST" PSA card, it was also detected in adult male urine. However, the lower detectable limit in the urine was 1000-fold lower than that in semen. The concentration of PSA in adult male urine was found to be 800 ng/ml using the card. PSA activity usually can be detected in urine of individuals over 14 years old and it has been detected in urine from children as young as 11 years old. Therefore, the appearance of PSA in urine may occur anytime between the age of 12 and 14 years. To determine the stability of PSA activity in urine, dried samples of urine on filter paper were kept at room temperature for up to 3 years. Although the immunoreactive line showing PSA activity became weak after storage, it was still detectable, but faint, after 3 years. In addition, PSA activity was not detected in male serum or saliva and in the urine from human females, male cats or male dogs using the PSA card. We conclude that the PSA card is useful for identification of PSA in both semen and adult male urine.     

Why the shift from kokubô (national defense) to anzen hoshô (security)? A study of the basic issues surrounding Japan's security

The Japanese term anzen hoshô is usually translated into English as "'security," but its literal meaning is "the securing of safety." While this term means many things, in order to understand its true meaning, we must first take a fresh look at another term, kokubô or "national defense," the idea that only when the safety of the nation has been secured can the personal safety and freedom of the individual be guaranteed. In this article, Professor Seizaburo Sato, former Director of Research at the Institute for International Policy Studies, argues that the reasons for the existence of the military capabilities of the advanced democracies must be reexamined to enable an expansion of the debate on Japan's security.     

A sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for ABO blood typing of semen by using anti-p 84 monoclonal antibody as a marker of blood group substance in semen

A blood group substance (BGS), a protein with ABH antigenic activity, was isolated from human seminal plasma and designated as p 84 (Sato, 1995). We have developed a method for determining the ABO blood type of semen by performing a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in which p 84 is captured with an anti-p 84 monoclonal antibody, and evaluated the specificity and sensitivity of this method. Although BGS activity was detected in semen sensitively by this method, it was not detected in saliva, urine, breast milk, blood or vaginal secretions. Since the concentration of p 84 in semen was independent of the secretion status, the status can be determined as non-secretor when p 84 but not BGS activity was detected. To determine the stability of BGS activity on p 84, dried stains of semen on filter paper were kept at 4, 26, and 37 degrees C for 8 months, 2 years and 1 month, respectively, and their BGS activities were examined. After 8 months at 4 degrees C, over 60% of the original BGS activity was recovered from the stain. The activity could be detected even from a square as small as 0.25 by 0.25 cm. After 1 month at 37 degrees C and 2 years at 26 degrees C, 31 and 20% of the BGS activity, respectively, still remained. It could be detected from the pieces of 1.0 by 1.0 cm and 0.5 by 0.5 cm squares, kept for 1 month at 37 degrees C and 2 years at 26 degrees C, respectively. Finally, semen was mixed with saliva or blood at varying volumetric ratios and used for the sources of dried stains. The BGS activity of p 84 could be detected in the stains until the ratio between semen and saliva or blood reached 1:4. We conclude that this sandwich ELISA offers a more sensitive and specific method for determining the ABO blood type of semen samples obtained from sexual assault victims than existing methods, such as the conventional absorption-elution and classical hemagglutination-inhibition tests.     

Evaluation of Raman spectroscopy for the analysis of colored fibers: a collaborative study

A collaborative study on Raman spectroscopy was carried out by members of the ENFSI (European Network of Forensic Science Institutes) European Fibres Group (EFG) on three dyed fibers: two red acrylics and one red wool. Raman instruments from six different manufacturers were tested as well as nine different laser wavelengths ranging from blue (lambda = 458 nm) to near infrared-NIR (lambda = 1064 nm). This represents the largest comparison study of Raman analytical parameters carried out on identical fiber samples. For the chosen fiber and dye samples, red lasers (lambda = 633 and 685 nm) gave the poorest spectral quality whereas blue (458 nm), green (514 nm) and near infrared lasers (785, 830 and 1064 nm) provided average results. Blue (488 nm) and green lasers (532 nm) globally gave the best quality spectra. Fluorescence problems were often encountered with some of the excitation wavelengths and therefore a flexible Raman instrument equipped with different lasers can be recommended to measure forensic fiber samples. The instrument should also be equipped with a Raman microscope in order to be able to focus on a single fiber. This study shows that Raman spectroscopy usually enables the identification of the main dye present in a colored fiber; however, minor dye components are much more difficult to detect. SERRS (Surface Enhanced Resonance Raman Scattering) techniques give an improvement of the dye's spectral intensity but no spectral improvement was observed for the two red acrylic and red wool fibers tested.     

Japanese population database for nine STR loci of the AmpFlSTR Profiler kit

Allele frequencies for nine short tandem repeats (STR) loci: D3S1358, vWA, FGA, TH01, TPOX, CSF1PO, D5S818, D13S317 and D7S820 were determined in a Japanese population using the AmpFlSTR Profiler PCR amplification kit (Applied biosystems).     

Distributive Justice and Crime

The heavy concentration of crime on a few areas, and the concentration on the chronically victimised within those areas, together illustrate the gross inequality of the risk of crime victimisation. This inequality also characterises other hazards of life. Criminology has too often reduced the problem of crime to the problem of the offender. Recognising crime hazard as an issue of distributive justice requires a different mind set. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 recognises the drivers of crime as lying outside criminal justice, but does not put in place a panhazard analysis of the kind required, community safety being presented as a type of crime prevention. Movement towards panhazard thinking may well be somewhat facilitated by the workingthrough of the incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights, actions flowing from section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act, and a reconsideration of how emergency services might work.     

Policy capacity in Saskatchewan: strengthening the equilibrium

Abstract: This article examines the views of provincial public servants concerning how policy capacity can be strengthened. The findings are based on interviews conducted in 1997 with thirty-three senior public servants in the Province of Saskatchewan. Findings indicate that most public servants regard their role in policy-making as both natural and important to maintain, but they all accept the division of responsibilities in the policy process between themselves, as system stabilizers, and politicians, as the providers of energy in the system. In this regard, the public servants interviewed welcome clearly articulated goals that apply directly to their departmental concerns. Overall, the responses indicate that policy capacity can be strengthened by improving the government's policy processes, especially those linking cabinet and the bureaucracy, and those that operate horizontally across departments. These views are consistent with the traditional self-image of senior career officials who see themselves as policy managers overseeing a process that invests decisions with a high degree of legitimacy, power and accuracy. Sommaire: Dans cet article, on examine I'avis des functionaries provinciaux en ce qui conceme le renforcement de la capacité de prise de décisions politiques. Les constatations découlent d'entrevues avec 33 hauts fonctionnaires de la Saskatchewan, effectuées en 1997. Selon les constatations, la plupart des fonctionnaires voient leur rôle de décideurs politiques comme étant naturel et important à maintenir, mais ils acceptent tous le partage des responsabilités dam le processus décisionnel, entre, d'une part, eux-mêmes en tant que stabilisateurs du système, et d'autre part, les politiciens comme source de dynamisation. Sur ce point, les fonctionnaires interviewés aimeraient voir des objectifs clairement formulés s'appliquant directement à leurs préoccupations ministérielles. Dans l'ensemble, les réponses indiquent qu'on peut renforcer la capacité décisionnelle en améliorant les processus décisionnels du-gouvernement, particulièrement ceux qui relient le conseil des ministres au fonctionnariat et ceux qui assurent le lien horizontal entre les ministères. Ces avis cadrent bien avec la perception de soi classique des hauts fonctionnaires qui se perçoivent comme des gérants de politiques souhaitant que le processus qu'ils surveillent accorde aux décisions plus de légitimité, de puissance et de précision.     

Microscopical study on estimation of time since death in skeletal remains

For the purpose of estimating time since death in skeletal remains, postmortem changes in human compact bones were examined by microradiography and electron microscopy. The UV-fluorescence of the peripheral zone of compact bone was also examined by microscopic spectrophotometry. Microradiographic examination revealed no morphological changes in bones left in the open air for long periods, except one of 15 years since death. In bones left in the soil, vacuoles of 5-10 microns diameter, which contained a honeycomb-like structure formed by small vacuoles of 0.5-1 microns diameter, were found in the peripheral zone of the substantia compacta approximately 5 years since death, and in bones of 6 years or more, this change extended to the mid-zone. In bones left in the sea for 4-5 years, vacuoles of 5-10 microns diameter were observed in the outer peripheral zone of the substantia compacta. The relative intensity of UV-fluorescence in bones dwindled with time since death and the correlation coefficient was considerably high.