Performance evaluation of two multiplexes used in fluorescent short tandem repeat DNA analysis

The performance of two commercial multiplex kits that together amplify the 13 core short tandem repeat (STR) loci currently in use by forensic laboratories and the U.S. national Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS) were evaluated. The typing systems examined were AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus and AmpFlSTR COfiler (PE Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA). Electrophoretic separation and detection of the fluorescent PCR products was achieved by capillary electrophoresis (CE) using an ABI Prism 310 Genetic Analyzer. The studies addressed the on-site validation of the instrument, the software, and each typing system. These studies included instrument sensitivity, resolution, precision, binning, peak height ratios, mixtures, stutter, and the amplification of non-probative and simulated forensic samples. Other additional developmental-type work is also reported herein, such as species specificity testing and amplification of environmentally insulted samples. Amplification conditions were found to be robust and the primer sets shown to be specific to human DNA. Stutter and peak height ratios fell within limits published by the manufacturer and other laboratories. The data demonstrate that the CE instrument can consistently resolve fragments differing in length by one base and that the +/-0.5 base bin used by the Genotyper software is acceptable for making accurate allele calls. Correct typing results were obtained from non-probative and simulated case samples, as well as samples exposed to outdoor environmental conditions. The results support the conclusion that DNA extracted from biological samples routinely encountered in the forensic laboratory can be reliably analyzed with AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus and COfiler using CE.     

Different Timelines for Different Technologies

Case studies of the first completed Advanced Technology Program (ATP) projects have shown considerable variation in commercialization patterns of ATP-funded technologies. These variations were apparent in the timing of initial revenues, commercialization in more mature and multiple applications, and diffusion of ATP technologies relative to the period of ATP funding of R&D. This study analyzes differences in commercialization patterns for different ATP-funded technologies in a systematic way.     

An Improved Equation for TBS and ADD: Establishing a Reliable Postmortem Interval Framework for Casework and Experimental Studies

Megyesi et al.'s (J Forensic Sci, 2005, 50, 618) paper was important to forensic anthropology as it introduced a quantitative framework for estimating time since death in human cadavers, based upon physical appearance by way of scoring on a novel scale. However, errors concerning rounding, temperature scale, and incorrect use of a statistical regression model render their predictive formula unusable. Based upon only their more reliable data, a more appropriate regression model to predict accumulated degree days (ADD) from total body score (TBS) is presented. The new model is also a superior fit (r² = 0.91) and produces markedly narrower confidence intervals than the original, which also allowed impossible, negative ADD values. Explanations of the shortcomings in the original analysis and calculations are presented, which it is hoped will help forensic scientists avoid making similar mistakes.     

Public Enterprises and Canadian Foreign Economic Policy

To what extent can public enterprises serve as instruments ofpolicy enabling the federal government to assert a measure ofcontrol over Canada's foreign economic relations? This articlepresents an overview of public enterprises in Canada and highlightsthe special features of the Canadian political economy whichdifferentiate it from other advanced industrial economies. Theactivities of the Canada Development Corporation and CanadianNational Railways are analyzed in terms of whether they reinforceor undermine the federal government's authority in foreign economicpolicymaking. It appears that the relative autonomy of publicenterprises from government controls, most pronounced in thecase of commercial enterprises operating in competitive markets,fragments decisionmaking. Given that governmental power in Canadais already fragmented due to competitive federalism, and giventhe expanded activities of provincial public enterprises inrecent years, a lack of direction over the "subgovernment" offederal public enterprises compounds the difficulties for Ottawato conduct a coherent, foreign economic policy.     

The effectiveness of social skills training (SST) for juvenile delinquents: a meta-analytical review

Journal of Experimental Criminology - To examine the effectiveness of social skills training (SST) for juvenile offenders and for whom and under which conditions SSTs are the most effective....     

Context Matters: Links Between Neighborhood Discrimination, Neighborhood Cohesion and African American Adolescents’ Adjustment

Racial discrimination has serious negative consequences for the adjustment of African American adolescents. Taking an ecological approach, this study examined the linkages between perceived racial discrimination within and outside of the neighborhood and urban adolescents’ externalizing and internalizing behaviors, and tested whether neighborhood cohesion operated as a protective factor. Data came from 461 African American adolescents (mean age = 15.24 years, SD = 1.56; 50 % female) participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Multilevel models revealed that perceived discrimination within youth’s neighborhoods was positively related to externalizing, and discrimination both within and outside of youth’s neighborhoods predicted greater internalizing problems. Neighborhood cohesion moderated the association between within-neighborhood discrimination and externalizing. Specifically, high neighborhood cohesion attenuated the association between within-neighborhood discrimination and externalizing. The discussion centers on the implications of proximal stressors and neighborhood cohesion for African American adolescents’ adjustment.     

Government Assistance Protects Low‐Income Families from Eviction

A lack of affordable housing is a pressing issue for many low‐income American families and can lead to eviction from their homes. Housing assistance programs to address this problem include public housing and other assistance, including vouchers, through which a government agency offsets the cost of private market housing. This paper assesses whether the receipt of either category of assistance reduces the probability that a family will be evicted from their home in the subsequent six years. Because no randomized trial has assessed these effects, we use observational data and formalize the conditions under which a causal interpretation is warranted. Families living in public housing experience less eviction conditional on pre‐treatment variables. We argue that this evidence points toward a causal conclusion that assistance, particularly public housing, protects families from eviction.     

The price of alliance: Anglo-American intelligence cooperation and Imperial Japan’s criminal biological warfare programme, 1944–1947

From 1932 to 1945, Imperial Japan secretly developed the largest state biological warfare (BW) programme of its time, which was unique in its use of biological weapons in warfare and in its inhumane experiments on captive Chinese civilians. After Japan’s surrender, US military intelligence teams searched for any evidence of BW activities, whilst sharing all it could find with its close partner, the UK. Despite the UK offering little intelligence material in return, it secured detailed US intelligence reports on Japanese BW war crimes, and colluded with the United States to keep these Japanese war crimes a secret.