Allele frequencies for 70 autosomal SNP loci with U.S. Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic samples

189 samples from 3 different U.S. sample groups Caucasian (74), African American (71) and Hispanic (44) were typed for 70 autosomal genetic markers. These 70 markers are bi-allelic (C/T) short nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). For each sample, the 70 SNP markers were typed in 11 unique 6-plexes and a single 4-plex PCR. A total of 10 of the 210 tests (70 loci x 3 populations) for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium indicated a statistically significant result. In order to evaluate the minimum number of SNP loci needed to distinguish all 189 samples from one another, we ranked the loci according to their levels of observed heterozygosity and p-values obtained upon testing for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The top 12 loci according to these ranking criteria were tabulated along with the number of unique genotypes observed when combining subsequent SNP markers. The 12 selected SNPs possessed an observed heterozygosity of >0.45 in all three populations examined and thus would be expected to exhibit more differences between samples. All of the 189 samples in this study were individualized with a subset of 12 SNP loci. However, it is likely that the addition of more than 12 SNP loci will be required to resolve larger sets of unrelated individuals from one another. By way of comparison, in these same 189 individuals all but one pair is resolved from one another with three of the traditional short tandem repeat (STR) loci possessing the highest heterozygosity values (D2S1338, D18S51, and FGA) run with the Identifiler kit. The final pair of unrelated samples could be resolved with the combination of 4 STR loci: D2S1338, D18S51, FGA, and VWA.     

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.     

An unusual case of child head injury by coat hanger*

Traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children suspected of child abuse. Penetrating cranio-facial injuries are generally rare in the pediatric age group and are caused by both accidental and inflicted mechanisms. We report an unusual case of a 2-year-old female who was admitted to a pediatric emergency room with an industrial stainless steel coat hanger impaled in her skull. Pertinent clinical forensic medicine examination, coupled with home inspection and interviews by the local law enforcement, revealed a horrible episode of domestic violence.     

Are We All Predictably Irrational? An Experimental Analysis

Political Behavior - We examine the question of rationality, replicating two core experiments used to establish that people deviate from the rational actor model. Our analysis extends existing...     

Independence or Union: Scotland's Past and Scotland's Present

Independence or Union: Scotland's Past and Scotland's Present. By T.M. Devine (London: Allen Lane, 2016), pp. xiii + 306. £20.00 (cloth).     

Microlevel Dynamics of Violence: Explaining Variation in Violence among Rural Districts during Northern Ireland's Troubles

Violence varies in intensity across intrastate political conflicts. This study suggests that interactions between local state agents and nonstate radicals affect the intensity of violence. When contention develops in a community and nonstate actors radicalize, whether or not some local state agents deviate from their institutional role as providers of law and order to support radicals is a crucial feature that explains how some communities experience more violence than others. This argument explains the different trajectories of violence in two neighboring rural districts during the 1971–76 period of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The major implication of the study is that these interactions affect not only the intensity of violence in particular communities but also the breadth, length, and end of violence in the overall intrastate conflict.     

Worker Influence on Capital Account Policy: Inflow Liberalization and Outflow Restrictions

How do workers impact openness to international investment flows? This article distinguishes between two types of openness: openness to inflows and openness to outflows of investment. Workers benefit from inflow openness due to increases in wages, productivity, and efficiency and due to reductions in borrowing costs, which are associated with investment inflows. Workers are hurt by outflow openness, as investors gain investment options, and therefore bargaining power, when outflows are permitted. Labor rights help workers overcome collective action problems, and democratic institutions increase policymakers’ responsiveness to labor organizations and make their commitment to labor rights credible. The theory thus predicts that, particularly under democratic institutions, labor rights are positively correlated with inflow openness and negatively correlated with outflow openness. Evidence from time-series, cross-sectional data is consistent with the theoretical expectations.     

Symptom Checklist‐90‐Revised Scores in Adult Children Exposed to Alienating Behaviors: An Italian Sample

This study addresses a particular form of child psychological maltreatment, exposing a child to alienating behaviors in the context of a high degree of conflict between the parents. The objective of this research was to identify retrospectively the alienating behaviors that occurred in an Italian sample of children and the reported associated psychosocial symptoms. Seven hundred and thirty‐nine adults in Chieti, Italy, completed an anonymous and confidential survey regarding their childhood exposure to parental alienating behaviors and measures of current symptomatology. About 75% of the sample reported some exposure to parental alienating behaviors; 15% of the sample endorsed the item, “tried to turn me against the other parent.” The results revealed strong and statistically significant associations between reported exposure to parental alienating behaviors and reports of current symptomatology.