A fast analysis system for forensic DNA reference samples

On January 1st, 2006, the Swedish legislation on obtaining DNA reference samples from suspects and the recording of DNA profiles in databases was changed. As a result the number of samples analysed at the Swedish National Laboratory of Forensic Science (SKL) increased from about 4500 in 2005 to more than 25,000 in 2006. To meet this challenge, SKL launched a new analysis system to create an unbroken chain, from sampling to incorporation of a profile in the national DNA database and subsequent automatic generation of digitally signed hit reports. The system integrates logistics, digital data transfer, new functions in LIMS (ForumDNA Version 4, Ida Infront AB) and laboratory automation. Buccal swab samples are secured on a FTA^® card attached to an identity form, which is barcoded with a unique sample ID. After sampling, the police officer sends a digital request to SKL. The sample is automatically registered in LIMS and processed on delivery. The resulting DNA profiles are automatically classified according to quality using a custom-made expert system. Building the evaluation around mathematical rules makes it reproducible, standardised and minimises manual work and clerk errors. All samples are run in duplicate and the two profiles are compared within LIMS before incorporation in the database. In the first year of operation, the median time for completion of an analysis was 3 days, measured from delivery of the sample to incorporation of the profile in the national DNA database. In spite of the dramatic increase in the number of reference samples there was no backlog.     

Evaluation of the IDS One-Step™ ELISA kits for the detection of illicit drugs in hair

This work presents the validation of a new immunological assay, the One-Step™ enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) tests from International Diagnostic Systems Corp. for the screening of drugs of abuse (cannabis, amphetamines, opiates, and cocaine) in human hair, with subsequent GC–MS confirmation. After decontamination and segmentation into small pieces, 50 mg of hair sample were incubated in 1 ml of methanol during 16 h at 40 °C. A 100 μL aliquot was collected and evaporated to dryness in presence of 100 μL of methanol/hydrochloric acid (99:1, v/v) to avoid amphetamines loss. The dried extract was dissolved in 100 μL of the “sample and standard diluent” solution included in the kit. This solution was submitted to analysis according to the recommended instructions of the manufacturer. During the validation phase, GC–MS confirmations were conducted according to our fully validated and published methods for opiates, cocaine, cannabis, and amphetamines determinations in hair. In a last development step, these procedures were slightly modified to directly confirm ELISA results by GC–MS using the methanolic extract. Ninety-three specimens were simultaneously screened by the ELISA tests (103 for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)) and confirmed by GC–MS. Twenty were found positive for cannabis (THC: 0.10–6.50 ng/mg), 21 for cocaine (0.50–55.20 ng/mg), 24 for opiates (6-acetylmorphine (6-AM): 0.20–11.60 ng/mg, MOR: 0.20–8.90 ng/mg, codeine (COD): 0.20–5.90 ng/mg), and 13 for amphetamines (AP: 0.20 and 0.27 ng/mg, methamphetamine (MAP): 0.30 and 1.10 ng/mg, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA): 0.22–17.80 ng/mg). No false negative results were observed according to the Society of Hair Testing's (SoHT) cutoffs (0.5 ng/mg for cocaine, 0.2 ng/mg for opiates and amphetamines, and 0.1 ng/mg for THC). The One-Step™ ELISA kits appear suitable due to their sensitivity and specificity for drug of abuse screening in hair. This technology should find interest in workplace drug testing or driving license regranting, especially when many samples have to be tested with a high rate of negative samples, as ELISA is an easy and high-throughput method.     

Legislating Crime Policy from the White House: Presidential Success with Congress in the Passage of Federal Crime Control Policy

Previous research has found that presidents, in general, have the power to influence congress in the passage of federal crime control policy. What has not been fully explored is whether presidential supported bills are more likely to influence congress to pass federal crime control bills. Therefore, this study draws upon the theory that presidents influence congress to test the hypothesis that president supported legislation on crime will achieve greater success in congress than non-supported bills. Analysis of legislative, presidential and congressional data from 1946 through 1996 suggests support for the theory that presidential supported bills are 2.8 times more likely (or 185% more likely) to become law.     

A Whole of Government Strategy for Family Violence Reform

The Family Violence Reform strategy in Victoria is one of a number of contemporary government initiatives that have been framed within a whole of government model of policy reform. This article shows how the principles and processes of the whole of government approach were applied to the social problem of family violence. We examine the reasoning behind the adoption of this approach, what it was intended to achieve, the processes and activities that took place and stakeholders’ views about the outcomes and impact of this approach. The choice of a whole of government strategy reflected the need to address philosophical and organisational cultural differences about family violence and responses to it. Key elements were: the demonstrated commitment to reform and leadership provided by ministers, agency heads and senior managers; the involvement of community sector representatives; and the role of the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD).     

Reducing intimate and paying partner violence against women who exchange sex in Mongolia: results from a randomized clinical trial

Women who exchange sex for money or other goods, that is, female sex workers, are at increased risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence from both paying and intimate partners. Exposure to violence can be exacerbated by alcohol use and HIV/STI risk. The purpose of this study is to examine the efficacy of a HIV/STI risk reduction and enhanced HIV/STI risk reduction intervention at decreasing paying and intimate partner violence against Mongolian women who exchange sex and engage in harmful alcohol use. Women are recruited and randomized to either (a) four sessions of a relationship-based HIV/STI risk reduction intervention (n = 49), (b) the same HIV/STI risk reduction intervention plus two additional motivational interviewing sessions (n = 58), or (c) a four session control condition focused on wellness promotion (n = 59). All the respondents complete assessments at baseline (preintervention) as well as at immediate posttest, 3 and 6 months postintervention. A multilevel logistic model finds that women who participated in the HIV/STI risk reduction group (OR = 0.14, p < .00), HIV/STI risk reduction and motivational interview group (OR = 0.46, p = .02), and wellness (OR = 0.20, p < .00) group reduced their exposure to physical and sexual violence in the past 90 days. No significant differences in effects are observed between conditions. This study demonstrates the efficacy of a relationship-based HIV/STI risk reduction intervention, a relationship-based HIV/STI risk reduction intervention combined with motivational interviewing, and a wellness promotion intervention in reducing intimate and paying partner violence against women who exchange sex in Mongolia. The findings have significant implications for the impact of minimal intervention and the potential role of peer networks and social support in reducing women's experiences of violence in resource poor settings.     

B. Reviews: general

DISCOVERING ISLAM: MAKING SENSE OF MUSLIM HISTORY AND SOCIETY. By AKBAR S. AHMED. London and New York, Routledge and Kegan Paul, Ltd., 1988. 251pp.

THE CRUSADES THROUGH ARAB EYES. By AMIN MAALOUF. Translated by JON ROTHSCHILD. London, Al‐Saqi Books, 1984 (first published as Les Croisades vues par les Arabes, Paris, 1983). 295 pp., 2 maps.

THE SOCIAL ORIGINS OF THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST. By HAIM GERBER. Boulder, Lynne Rienner/London, Mansell, 1987. 300pp. £26.50 (U.K.)

PAN‐ARABISM AND ARAB NATIONALISM: THE CONTINUING DEBATE. Edited by TAWFIC E. FARAH. London/Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press, 1987. 208pp., notes, tables.

POLITICAL SOCIALIZATION IN THE ARAB STATES. Edited by TAWFIC E. FARAH and YASUMASA KURODA. Boulder, Lynne Rienner, 1987. vii‐xiv, 215pp.

ZIONISM AND THE ARABS, 1882–1948: A STUDY OF IDEOLOGY. By YOUSEF GORNY. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1987. 342pp. £32.50.

SHI'ISM, RESISTANCE, AND REVOLUTION. Edited by MARTIN KRAMER. Boulder, Co., Westview/London, Mansell, 1987. 324pp.

EGYPT: INTERNAL CHALLENGES AND REGIONAL STABILITY. Edited by LILLIAN CRAIG HARRIS. (Chatham House Papers, 39.) London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1988. 116pp. £5.95.

PALESTINIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WEST BANK AND GAZA: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT. By SAMIR N. ANABTAWI. London, KPI, 1986. 84pp. 1 map, tables.

POLITICS AND THE ECONOMY IN SYRIA. Edited by J.A. ALLAN. London, Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1987. 142pp., maps, figs., tables.

IRAQ SINCE 1958: FROM REVOLUTION TO DICTATORSHIP. By MARION FAROUK‐SLUGLETT AND PETER SLUGLETT. London, KPI, 1987. 332pp. £12.95.

LAW AND JUSTICE IN CONTEMPORARY YEMEN: THE PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF YEMEN AND THE YEMEN ARAB REPUBLIC. By S.H. AMIN. Glasgow, Royston Ltd., 1987. vi, 159pp. £18.75

TRANSLATIONS OF EASTERN POETRY AND PROSE. By REYNOLD ALLEYNE NICHOLSON, with a new Introduction by C.E. Bosworth. London, Curzon Press/New Jersey, Humanities Press, 1987 (first published 1922). xvi, 200pp, 5 plates. £5.50.

FROM THE IVORY TOWER: A CRITICAL STUDY OF TAWFIQ AL‐HAKIM. By PAUL STARKEY. (St Antony's Middle East Monographs, no.19.) London, Ithaca Press, 1987. 260pp. £18.00.

IRAN: AT WAR WITH HISTORY. By JOHN W. LIMBERT. (Profiles: Nations of the Contemporary Middle East.) Boulder, Co., Westview Press/London and Sydney, Croom Helm, 1987. xviii, 186pp., 5 maps, 12 photographs, glossary, chronology and index. £25.00.

IMAM RÜHULLAH KHUMAINI, ?AH MUHAMMAD RIZA PAHLAVI AND THE RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS OF IRAN. By GUDMAR ANEER. (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, Historia Religionum, 8.) Uppsala, 1985. (Distributor: Almqvist and Wiksell International, Stockholm.) 93pp., 7 colour plates.

FUNDAMENTALS OF ISLAMIC THOUGHT: GOD, MAN AND THE UNIVERSE. By AYATULLAH MURTAZA MUTAHHARI. Translated by R. CAMPBELL. Berkeley, Mizan Press, 1985. 235pp.

SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CHANGE: AN ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE. By AYATULLAH MURTAZA MUTAHHARI. Translated by R. CAMPBELL. Berkeley, Mizan Press. 1986. 164pp.

DEVELOPMENT PLANNING IN IRAN: FROM MONARCHY TO ISLAMIC REPUBLIC. By KAMRAN MOFID. Cambridgeshire, MENAS Press, 1987. 320pp., tables and figures, notes, bibliography.

THE ELEMENTARY STRUCTURES OF POLITICAL LIFE: RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN PAHLAVI IRAN. By GRACE GOODELL. Oxford, O.U.P., 1986. 326pp.

BANKING AND EMPIRE IN IRAN (THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH BANK OF THE MIDDLE EAST, VOLUME I). By GEOFFREY JONES. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, xxiv, 418pp. £40.00.

PAKISTAN SOCIETY: ISLAM, ETHNICITY AND LEADERSHIP IN SOUTH ASIA. By AKBAR S. AHMED. Karachi, Oxford University Press, 1986. 279pp.

TOWARD ISLAMIC ANTHROPOLOGY: DEFINITION, DOGMA AND DIRECTIONS. By AKBAR S. AHMED. Ann Arbor, Michigan, New Era Publications/London, al‐Quds Publications, 1986.79pp. $6.00.

HÉRITER EN PAYS MUSULMAN: HABUS, LAIT VIVANT, MANYAHULI. Edited by MARCEAU GAST. Paris, Editions du C.N.R.S., 1987. 302pp. (French and English abstracts to p. 296; Index of vernacular terms to p. 302). FF. 130.

OPEC: THE RISE AND FALL OF AN EXCLUSIVE CLUB. By SHUKRI M. GHANEM. London, Kegan Paul International, 1986. 233pp. £30.00.

OPEC AID AND THE CHALLENGE OF DEVELOPMENT. Edited by ABDELKADER BENAMARA and SAM IFEAGWU. London, Croom Helm, 1987. 130pp. £25.00.

SYRIA AND IRAN: THREE STUDIES IN MEDIEVAL CERAMICS. Edited by JAMES ALLAN and CAROLINE ROBERTS. Oxford, O.U.P., 1987. 248pp. £25.00.