Characterising stutter in forensic STR multiplexes

Stutter is an artefact seen when amplifying short tandem repeats and typically occurs at one repeat unit shorter in length than the parent allele. In forensic analysis, stutter complicates the analysis of DNA profiles from multiple contributors, known as mixed profiles, a common profile type. Consequently it is important to both understand and predict stutter behaviour in order to improve our understanding of the resolution and interpretation of these profiles. Whilst stutter is well recognised and documented, little information is available that identifies and quantifies what influences the formation of stutter. In this work we use a novel approach to examine this. We have used synthetic oligonucleotides comprising multiple repeat units to test; the influence of repeat number, the influence of repeat sequence and the impact of interruptions to the repeat sequence length. Using multiple replicates allows detailed statistical analysis. We have confirmed a linear relationship between stutter ratio and repeat number. We have shown that increased A-T content increases stutter ratio and that interruptions in repeating sequences decreased stutter ratios to levels similar to the longest uninterrupted repeat stretch. We also found that there was no relationship between stutter ratio and repeat number for a repeat unit with an A-T content of 1/4 and that half of the interrupted repeat sequences stuttered significantly less than their longest uninterrupted repeat stretches. We have applied the knowledge gained to examine specific features of the loci present in the AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® multiplex kit used in our laboratory.     

‘Throbb[ing] with a consciousness of a knowledge that appalled her’: Embodiment and Female Subjectivity in the Desert Romance

This article examines the relationship between the desert and embodiment in E. M. Hull’s international best-seller The Sheik (1919). This novel, a desert romance, has been the focus of feminist scholarship for decades because of its controversial rape narrative. Drawing on theories of embodiment, in particular the work of Elizabeth Grosz, the author interrogates how the desert is paradoxically presented as a space of liberation and oppression within which female sexuality could be explored despite the gendered violence of pre-existing patriarchal frameworks. Ultimately, the author provides a reading of Diana in terms of her transition from an androgynous ‘girl’ to a sexually desiring, seemingly feminized ‘woman’, and examines the connotations associated with this. The author establishes a connection between the transient nature of the desert and the liberation offered to women within this liminal space. Through an in-depth examination of the protagonist Diana’s corporeal subjectivity over the course of the novel, the author positions The Sheik as offering a voice to female sexuality and erotic fantasy, demonstrating Hull’s depiction of the desert as an appropriation of that space through which to explore female desires. This opens up new understandings of what constituted innovative literature in interwar Britain and marks Hull’s book, with its overtly erotic content and specific focus on female desire, as a political and social departure.     

Seeking Justice and Redress for Victim-Survivors of Image-Based Sexual Abuse

Feminist Legal Studies - Despite apparent political concern and action—often fuelled by high-profile cases and campaigns—legislative and institutional responses to image-based sexual...     

The United Kingdom Identity Cards Act 2006 Civil or Criminal?

After much controversy and debate, the United Kingdom Parliamentpassed the Identity Cards Act in March 2006. The new nationalidentity registration scheme established under the legislationwill be in operation in 2 years. Initially the scheme will notbe generally compulsory, though the intention is eventuallyto make it mandatory. The Act uses a mix of civil penalty andoffence provisions as part of its enforcement regime. This articleconsiders the approach of the legislation, particularly thepractical implications of authentication and verification ofidentity under the scheme and the potential impact on the effectivenessof the enforcement regime, having regard to the right againstself-incrimination under the Human Rights Act 1988 (UK) andArticle 6 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rightsand Fundamental Freedoms 1950, and the common law privilegeagainst self-incrimination.     

Bullying in schools: It's not a crime - is it?

The nature and prevalence of school bullying, and the detrimental and serious impact that it has upon its victims, has been the focus of research and debate since the early 1980s. Where a response is made to incidents of bullying, this is typically seen as the domain of the school, which has a powerful role to play in terms of socialising and disciplining its pupils. From the perspective of the victims of bullying, I argue that despite the existence of school disciplinary mechanisms, intervention by those working within the criminal justice arena is appropriate in two situations. First are situations where school measures are ineffective and the school is unable or unwilling to tackle the bullying. Second are situations that are too serious to be dealt with by the school alone. This issue is rarely discussed in literature on bullying. Using Lacey's metaphor of a set of lenses, I examine the 'criminalisation' of bullying, both at a formal level and at a practical level. I draw upon research that has studied the attitudes of adults and children to crime generally, as well as a qualitative survey of teachers, in order to explore the social construction of bullying as a crime and barriers to this.