Psychological adjustment in a forensic sample: relationship with approach- and avoidance-coping typologies

Most studies that relate coping strategies with psychological symptoms usually consider a single coping dimension. This means that interpretation of the results is unclear and only partially true as subjects activate different types of coping strategies simultaneously when faced with a stressor. The objective of the present study is to analyze the relationships between coping and psychopathology in young inmates, taking into account the number of approach and avoidance answers simultaneously. The results show that the inmates with above-average scores in avoidance coping and below average in those of approach (coping responses inventory--adult form, [CRI-A]) show higher symptomatology (MMPI-2) than the inmates who obtain above-average scores in both avoidance and approach strategies. It can be deduced that it is not the high use of avoidance coping that is related to psychopathology, but rather the combined use of many avoidance strategies and few approach strategies. The convenience of jointly taking into account both types of coping is discussed.     

<Emphasis Type="Bold">A</Emphasis>nti-corruption agencies: between empowerment and irrelevance

The anti-corruption activity of the 1990s is characterized by the rise of new players, such as specialized anti-corruption bodies. Anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) are public bodies of a durable nature, with a specific mission to fight corruption and reducing the opportunity structures propitious for its occurrence in society through preventive and/or repressive measures. Independently of their format and powers, ACAs encounter various constraints to their mandate, which explains the meagre results obtained by some of them. This introductory paper tries to understand the rise, future, and implications of this new kind of “integrity warrior” and to locate them in the evolving doctrine of corruption control. The objective of this edited volume is to re-launch the debate on ACAs as the most innovative feature of the anti-corruption movement of the last two decades.     

National survey of the incidence of missing anterior teeth: Potential use in bite mark analysis in the Brazilian context

Bite mark analysis in forensic dentistry presupposes that the human dentition is unique and that its characteristics can be transferred precisely to several materials. The aim of the present study was to register the frequency of missing anterior teeth in the Brazilian adult population, discussing its potential importance in bite mark analysis. Data from the Brazilian Oral Health Survey were used; 13,431 male and female individuals aged 35 to 44 were examined according to the criteria of the World Health Organization. The analysis of Poisson regression was performed in order to calculate the rating ratios and the respective confidence interval at 95%. A total of 13,431 adults participated in the study. Among male individuals, 2063 (47.00%) were dentate and 2036 (46.40%) had at least one missing tooth. Only 254 (5.83%) were totally edentulous. A significant number of males and females presented 6 missing teeth in the same dental arch, revealing the poor state of oral health of adult Brazilians. Missing teeth were more frequent in the upper dental arch than in the lower arch. In the upper dental arch, the incisor group (central and lateral) was missing the most. In the lower dental arch, however, a certain lack of homogeneity was observed among the different dental groups as regards missing teeth. White individuals presented a smaller proportion of missing teeth compared to the other ethnic groups. Females were 1.61 (CI 1.50–1.73) times more likely than males to present missing teeth. The absence of upper teeth and the presence of lower teeth were observed in 16.10% of the individuals. Further research should also include an analysis of different age groups. This would increase the potential of applying this kind of information to bite mark analysis.     

Evaluation of a Freezer Mill for Bone Pulverization prior to DNA Extraction: An Improved Workflow for STR Analysis

Traditional methods for bone pulverization typically generate heat, risking stability of DNA sample. SPEX? has developed cryogenic grinders which introduce liquid nitrogen to cool the sample and aid in the grinding process. In this study, the Freezer Mill 6970 EFM was used with two DNA extraction methods and routine downstream STR analysis procedures. DNA from as little as 0.1 g of bone powder was used to develop full STR profiles after freezer mill pulverization, and the method was reproducible. Further, no contamination was detected upon cleaning/reuse of the sample vials. There were no significant differences in DNA yield, STR alleles detected, or peak heights using the freezer mill as compared to traditional grinding, and successful DNA profiles were achieved from as low as 0.1 g of bone powder with this method. Overall, this work indicates that this cryogenic mill method may be used as a viable alternative to traditional tissue grinders.     

Mergers and difference-in-difference estimator: Why firms do not increase prices?

Difference-in-difference methods are being increasingly used to analyze the impact of mergers on pricing and other market equilibrium outcomes. Using evidence from an exogenous merger between two retail gasoline companies in a specific market in Spain, this paper shows how concentration did not lead to a price increase. In fact, the conjectural variation model concludes that the existence of a collusive agreement before and after the merger accounts for this result, rather than the existence of efficient gains. This result may explain empirical evidence reported in the literature according to which mergers between firms do not have significant effects on prices.     

X‐ray Diffraction and Rietveld Refinement in Deferrified Clays for Forensic Science

Soil vestiges might provide information about a crime scene. The Rietveld method with X‐ray diffraction data (RM‐XRD) is a nondestructive technique that makes it possible to characterize minerals present in the soils. Soil clays from the metropolitan region of Curitiba (Brazil) were submitted to DCB treatment and analyzed using XRD with CuK_α radiation in the step‐scan mode (0.02° 2θ/5 s). The GSAS+EXPGUI software was used for RM refinement. The RM‐XRD results, together with the principal component analysis (PCA) (52.6% total variance), showed the kaolinite predominance in most analyzed samples and the highest quartz contents in “site 1.” Higher anatase, and gibbsite and muscovite contents influenced discrimination, mainly in “site 3” and “site 1,” respectively. These results were enough to discriminate clays of four sites and two horizons using a reduced amount of sample showing that the technique can be applied to the investigation into soil vestiges.     

An Investigation into the Relationship between Human Cranial and Pelvic Sexual Dimorphism

When faced with commingled remains, it might be assumed that a more “masculine” pelvis is associated with a more “masculine” cranium, but this relationship has not been specifically tested. This study uses geometric morphometric analyses of pelvic and cranial landmarks to assess whether there is an intra‐individual relationship between the degrees of sexual expression in these two skeletal regions. Principal component and discriminant function scores were used to assess sexual dimorphism in 113 U.S. Black individuals. Correlation values and partial least squares regression (PLS) were used to evaluate intra‐individual relationships. Results indicate that the os coxae is more sexually dimorphic than the cranium, with element shape being more sexually dimorphic than size. PLS and correlation results suggest no significant intra‐individual relationship between pelvic and cranial sexual size or shape expression. Thus, in commingled situations, associations between these skeletal elements cannot be inferred based on degree of “masculinity.”     

Study of the adhesion of explosive residues to the finger and transfer to clothing and luggage

It is important to understand the extent of transfer of explosive particles to different surfaces in order to better evaluate potential cross-contamination by explosives in crowded security controls such as those at airports. This work investigated the transfer of nine explosive residues (ANFO, dynamite, black powder, TNT, HMTD, PETN, NH₄NO₃, KNO₃, NaClO₃) through fingerprints from one surface to another. First, the extent of adhesion of explosive residues from different surfaces to the bare finger, nitrile and latex gloves was studied. Then, the transfer of explosive residues from one surface to another through fingerprints was investigated. Cotton fabric (hereinafter referred to as cotton) as clothing material and polycarbonate plastic (hereinafter referred to as polycarbonate) as luggage material were chosen for the experiments. These surfaces containing explosive particles were imaged using a reflex camera before and after the particles were transferred. Afterwards the images were processed in MATLAB where pixels corresponding to explosive residues were quantified. Results demonstrated that transfer of explosive residues frequently occurred with certain differences among materials. Generally, the amount of explosive particles adhered to the finger decreased in the following order: skin>latex>nitrile, while the transfer of particles from the finger to another surface was the opposite. The adhesion of explosive residues from polycarbonate to the finger was found to be better compared to cotton, while the amount of particles transferred to cotton was higher.     

A Bilingual,Bicultural Approach to Detachment and Appraisal in the Law: Tracing Impersonality and Interaction in English and Spanish Legal Op-Eds

The present research study carries out a contrastive analysis between two corpora of legal opinion columns as special types of genres, with a view to assess their opposing patterns of impersonality—authorial detachment—and attitude—emotion, judgment, appreciation, taking as a point of departure appraisal theory, or the interpretation of Halliday's Systemic-Functional Linguistics (1994/2004) by the so-called Sydney School. The long-established perspective is that legal genres are highly impersonal; authoritative instruments representing an intentional exercise of elitist and exclusionary practices. However, the hypothesis embedded in the present study is that some texts, such as news editorials and op-eds, constitute hybrid genres where the writer makes use of all kinds of inducement devices to support his/her theses with effectiveness and credibility (Dafouz in J Pragmat 40:95-113, 2008), nonetheless retaining one of the basic traits of monogloss legal discourse: impersonality. However, it is hypothesized that this hybridity is to take place in different degrees, in tune with the influence exerted by legal system that constitutes the background of each corpus. To prove such a point, 40 legal op-eds—roughly, a thirty-five-thousand-word corpus in English and Spanish overall—were scrutinized, having been extracted from the specialized legal sections of two national newspapers of undisputed prestige as opinion-formation media. Through a contrastive study, the purpose of the present work was set to describe, explain and assess how lexicogrammar devices unveil interesting differences between the expression of impersonality and attitude in legal opinion columns as genres in either language, hence reflecting different ways in which the law is envisioned in each of the particular legal systems they belong to.