DNA Profiles from Fingerprint Lifts—Enhancing the Evidential Value of Fingermarks Through Successful DNA Typing

This study evaluated the compatibility of the most common enhancement methods and lifting techniques with DNA profiling. Emphasis is placed on modern lifting techniques (i.e., gelatin lifters and Isomark?) and historical fingerprint lifts for which limited research has been previously conducted. A total of 180 fingerprints were deposited on a glass surface, enhanced, lifted, and processed for DNA typing. DNA could be extracted and profiled for all the powders and lifts tested and from both groomed fingerprints and natural prints with no significant difference in the percentage of profile recovered. DNA profiles could also be obtained from historical fingerprint lifts (79.2% of 72 lifts) with one or more alleles detected. These results demonstrate the compatibility between different powder/lift combinations and DNA profiling therefore augmenting the evidential value of fingerprints in forensic casework.     

The Language of Miranda Warnings in American Jurisdictions: A Replication and Vocabulary Analysis

Miranda warnings are remarkably heterogeneous in their language, length, and content. Past research has focused mostly on individual Miranda warnings. Lacking in generalizability, these studies have limited applicability to both public policy and professional practice. A large-scale survey by R. Rogers et al. [2007b, Law and Human Behavior, 31, 177-192] examined Miranda warnings from across the United States and documented striking differences in the length, content, and reading comprehension. In moving from single jurisdiction studies to nationally representative research, the replication of the Rogers et al. survey is essential. With an additional 385 general Miranda warnings, most of the original findings were confirmed; this replication allows Miranda researchers to use findings based upon nationally-representative warnings for their subsequent research. Beyond reading comprehension, the study makes an original contribution to the understanding of Miranda vocabulary that is often infused with abstruse words and legalistic terms. It provides the first analysis of sentence complexity, which affects both Miranda comprehension and retention. As a result of these analyses, preliminary guidelines are provided for increasing the comprehension and understanding of Miranda warnings.     

Politicians,the Representativeness Heuristic and Decision-Making Biases

Political Behavior - Do politicians use the representativeness heuristic when making judgements, that is, when they appraise the likelihood or frequency of an outcome that is unknown or unknowable?...     

Justice of Conjugal Divisions of Labor—You Can't Always Get What You Want

The new intramarital distributions of 190 young parents in their third month of first parenthood were studied in a multifaceted distributive and procedural justice framework. For a large majority, justice was an important dimension in their intramarital distributions of household labor, child care, leisure time, breadwinning. Justice ratings of various principles in general were more liberal than the reported practice, in women even more than in men. The practice reported was mainly traditional, with a gender-segregated distribution of labor. A pattern of marked consistencies and inconsistencies between the principles rated as just and factual practice emerged. Inconsistencies occurred more often in women than in men.     

A novel fluorescence-based method in forensic science for the detection of blood in situ

Full DNA profiles can be generated from just a few cells; however these profiles can be contaminated from other cell types present at the crime scene. We report here on the development of an immunofluorescent technique to spatially locate human-specific blood in situ and also on the ability of this technique to detect individual leukocytes and the DNA contained within them. Four monoclonal mouse anti-human antibodies were evaluated; anti-glycophorin A to detect erythrocytes and anti-CD45, anti-myeloperoxidase (MPO) and anti-histone H1 to detect the nucleated leukocytes. Each antibody was labeled with either Alexa Fluor 488 or 568 for direct application to blood smears which allowed the simultaneous detection of erythrocytes and leukocytes. Furthermore, because histones are DNA binding proteins, the application of anti-histone H1 allowed the detection of DNA within a blood smear. Importantly it was found that full DNA profiles could be achieved after using this method with similar peak area ratios compared to untreated cells. The fluorescent antibodies were found to be human-specific with the exception of anti-histone H1 due to its conserved sequence. However, used in combination with anti-CD45 or anti-MPO the location of DNA from human-specific leukocytes could be detected. The technique was also tested on older blood stains and was still found to be sensitive and cell-specific after 4 months. Following the optimization of the methodology, the fluorescent antibodies were applied to short lengths of black cotton fibres covered with human blood spots. Although the background fluorescence from the cotton was found to be high, erythrocytes and even individual leukocytes could easily be detected, indicating that this technique could be used to detect extremely minute amounts of blood. Used in combination with laser capture microdissection (LCM), this method could be used to pick off individual leukocytes for LCN DNA techniques.     

Evaluation of a semi-automated, magnetic bead-based DNA extraction method for genetic fingerprinting of forensic casework samples

In order to cope with the demanding workload for DNA profiling of forensic casework samples a concept for a semi-automated processing system was developed at the Landeskriminalamt (Office of Criminal Investigation) Baden-Württemberg, Germany [K. Vollack, et al., Implementation of a semi-automated processing system for DNA profiling of forensic casework samples, this issue]. The applied magnetic bead extraction method is based on ChargeSwitch^® Technology (CST) from Invitrogen and was established on a liquid handling workstation Freedom EVO^® 150 from Tecan.     

The Challenges of Contracting and Accountability Across the Federal System: From Ambulances to Space Shuttles

This article focuses on two questions related lo governmentcontracting and accountability. How are key components of contractingsimilar or different for city, state, and federal governmentsin the United States? To what extent do the three levels ofgovernment share the widely recognized challenges of contractdesign and contract management? To address these questions,we compared and contrasted six contracting cases, two each forlocal, state, and the federal governments. We found that forall governments in the U.S. federal system, the public managementfunctions of contracting are remarkably similar, and that contractmanagement and the achievement of accountability are "weak links"in the contracting process. Our findings do not support thehypothesis that contract management is more effective in localgovernment relative to state and federal governments.     

Signs and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in children

Summary Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in children is a complex interaction of cognitive, affective, and physiological responses to an event that is outside the range of usual human experience and would be markedly distressing to almost anyone. Traumatic stress reactions in children are conscious and unconscious efforts to assimilate an overwhelming event and have been identified in the past as panic reaction, acute grief hysterical reaction, and physical shock. PTSD in children is complicated by multiple issues of developmental stages, family dynamics, physical maturity, genetic predisposition, and cognitive skills. Characteristic symptoms of PTSD which must persist for more than one month include re-experiencing (flashbacks, nightmares); avoidance; numbing of general responsiveness; and persistent autonomic arousal. Children exhibit characteristic PTSD symptoms, but research suggests four criteria specific to traumatized children independent of chronological age and the course of the disorder: 1) visualized and repeatedly perceived memories; 2) repetitive behaviors; 3) trauma-related fears; 4) altered attitudes about life and future orientation. These four criteria appear to remain clustered together in childhood trauma victims even when other diagnosis would appear more appropriate. PTSD in children encompasses a complex spectrum of diagnosis and remains technically intricate for the mental health professional.