Development of an Audit Tool to Evaluate the Documentation of Partner Abuse Assessments within a Provincial Emergency Department: An Exploratory Study

The aim of this study was to develop a clinically valid and reliable audit tool that evaluates the assessment documentation of females presenting to the emergency department following an assault secondary to partner abuse. A 5-step process informed by a quality improvement approach was used to develop the tool and good inter-rater reliability was achieved. The tool developed has wide utility in services implementing family violence intervention in which nurses have a key role.     

Variation in nuclear DNA concentrations during urination

This study examined the cellular origin and concentration of nuclear DNA in human urine. Ten subjects provided two entire, first-morning voids: one as a single specimen and one as a consecutive series of samples. The serial samples were centrifuged, organically extracted, and quantified by slot-blot analysis. Total DNA concentrations ranged from 0.02 to 21.3 ng/mL for the males and 25.0 to 96.9 ng/mL for the females. The female samples were found to contain numerous vaginal epithelial cells. DNA was detected in all of the serial samples of nine subjects; however, the DNA concentrations varied considerably. With six subjects, the DNA concentration of the first serial sample was at least three times greater than that of the entire void. DNA was only detected in the first 21% of the void from one male subject. The results of this study have implications for the collection of urine samples.     

Sex estimation in a modern American osteological sample using a discriminant function analysis from the calcaneus

Reliable methods for sex estimation during the development of a biological profile are important to the forensic community in instances when the common skeletal elements used to assess sex are absent or damaged. Sex estimation from the calcaneus has potentially significant importance for the forensic community. Specifically, measurements of the calcaneus provide an additional reliable method for sex estimation via discriminant function analysis based on a North American forensic population. Research on a modern American sample was chosen in order to develop up-to-date population specific discriminant functions for sex estimation. The current study addresses this matter, building upon previous research and introduces a new measurement, posterior circumference that promises to advance the accuracy of use of this single, highly resistant bone in future instances of sex determination from partial skeletal remains. Data were collected from The William Bass Skeletal Collection, housed at The University of Tennessee. Sample size includes 320 adult individuals born between the years 1900 and 1985. The sample was comprised of 136 females and 184 males. Skeletons used for measurements were confined to those with fused diaphyses showing no signs of pathology or damage that may have altered measurements, and that also had accompanying records that included information on ancestry, age, and sex. Measurements collected and analyzed include maximum length, load-arm length, load-arm width, and posterior circumference. The sample was used to compute a discriminant function, based on all four variables, and was performed in SAS 9.1.3. The discriminant function obtained an overall cross-validated classification rate of 86.69%. Females were classified correctly in 88.64% of the cases and males were correctly classified in 84.75% of the cases. Due to the increasing heterogeneity of current populations further discussion on this topic will include the importance that the re-evaluation of past studies has on modern forensic populations. Due to secular and micro evolutionary changes among populations, the near future must include additional methods being updated, and new methods being examined, both which should cover a wide population spectrum.     

Isolation and Individualization of Conceptus and Maternal Tissues from Abortions and Placentas for Parentage Testing in Cases of Rape and Abandoned Newborns*

Abstract: Abortion specimens are often submitted to forensic laboratories as the only piece of physical evidence in rape and incest cases. The recovery of conceptus tissues from this evidence permits the use of paternity testing to evaluate suspects. In cases of abandoned newborns, the recovery of maternal tissue from the placenta allows for the direct comparison of genetic profiles between the suspected mother and the biological mother. We report on the identification and isolation of conceptus tissues from embryonic‐ and fetal‐period abortions, and maternal tissues from delivered placentas, by gross and low‐magnification examination with manual dissection. Hundreds of single‐source samples have been successfully recovered by this method and short tandem repeat typed using standard forensic procedures. We additionally describe extraembryonic tissues that can be recovered and typed in the absence of the embryo proper. We conclude that an expertise and protocols can be developed by forensic laboratories for the routine analysis of this evidence.     

The Race to Punish in American Schools: Class and Race Predictors of Punitive School-Crime Control

Despite the general agreement that US schools have become increasingly punitive since the 1980s, researchers are uncertain about what types of schools use tough-on-crime measures. Some assert that punitive control is concentrated in poor, predominantly ethnic minority schools. Governing-through-crime scholars argue that US schools with mostly middle-class and white students are also punitive, but in less harsh ways using soft surveillance techniques. Relying on data from large, stratified samples of middle and secondary US public schools, we found that high rates of ethnic minority enrollment predicted heavy reliance on law enforcement and security personnel. As rates of student poverty increased, use of soft surveillance techniques as well as reporting students to the police significantly increased. Implications for governing-through-crime, racial control, and reproduction of inequalities theories are discussed.