Postmortem Measurement of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin in Vitreous Humor and Bile

Abstract: Postmortem human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) blood assay can confirm postmortem diagnosis of pregnancy or document situations in which HCG levels are elevated. In some cases, however, blood sampling is not possible at autopsy. In this study, HCG was quantified by enzyme‐linked fluorescent assay (ELFA) in the bile (n = 5), vitreous humor (n = 4), and postmortem blood (n = 4) of five pregnant women. There were no false negatives in the pregnant subjects (n = 5) or false positives in controls (n = 34), enabling this test to be recommended for routine use in forensic contexts in which the detection of elevated HCG levels could be of interest.     

Recovery of Environmental Human DNA by Insects*,†

Abstract: We tested the hypotheses that foraging insects can acquire human DNA from the environment and that insect‐delivered human DNA is of sufficient quantity and quality to permit standard forensic analyses. Houseflies, German cockroaches, and camel crickets were exposed to dusty surfaces and then assayed for human mitochondrial and nuclear loci by conventional and qPCR, and multiplex STR amplification. Over two experiments, 100% of insect groups and 94% of dust controls tested positive for human DNA. Of 177 individuals, 33–67% tested positive and 13 yielded quantifiable human DNA (mean = 0.022 ± 0.006 ng; mean dust control = 2.448 ± 0.960 ng); four had at least one positive allele call for one or more locus; eight others showed multiple peaks at some loci. Results imply that application to routine forensic casework is limited given current detection methodology yet demonstrate the potential use of insects as environmental samplers for human DNA.     

The organizational structure of international drug smuggling

While most group offending is not well organized, it is generally assumed that high levels of organization can be found in group offending that generates revenue, such as white-collar crime, drug sales, and smuggling drugs or humans. The organizational structure of international drug smuggling has typically been viewed as highly rational and formally structured. Employing interviews with thirty-four federal prisoners convicted of smuggling large volumes of cocaine into the United States, this study explored the organizational structure of high level international drug smuggling. The subjects described a general lack of formal structure and depicted the drug smuggling operations as composed of isolated work groups without formal connections among each other. These findings bring into question the idea that these groups are rationally organized around pursuing efficiency and support recent research that suggests network security or minimizing risk are key organizing principles of drug trading organizations.     

Exploring the Sequential Lineup Advantage Using WITNESS

Advocates claim that the sequential lineup is an improvement over simultaneous lineup procedures, but no formal (quantitatively specified) explanation exists for why it is better. The computational model WITNESS (Clark, Appl Cogn Psychol 17:629–654, 2003) was used to develop theoretical explanations for the sequential lineup advantage. In its current form, WITNESS produced a sequential advantage only by pairing conservative sequential choosing with liberal simultaneous choosing. However, this combination failed to approximate four extant experiments that exhibited large sequential advantages. Two of these experiments became the focus of our efforts because the data were uncontaminated by likely suspect position effects. Decision-based and memory-based modifications to WITNESS approximated the data and produced a sequential advantage. The next step is to evaluate the proposed explanations and modify public policy recommendations accordingly.     

Deviant Youth Groups in Italy and France: Prevalence and Characteristics

This paper sets out to compare the existence of Juvenile deviant groups in both France and Italy and their characteristics. The comparison between Italy (N = 5,236) and France (N = 3, 353) is based on the ISRD study of the year 2006 and shows that the term “gang” is commonly used to refer to a group of friends only. The strongest associated variables in both countries to illegal acts are the acceptance of doing illegal things, taking part in delinquent acts, considering the group as a gang as well as spending a lot of time in public places. Delinquent activity of Juvenile delinquent groups varies from one country to another and the French respondents show a greater participation in deviant youth groups than the Italians. Results show some differences in gender participation with a greater involvement of boys, although girls also take part in deviant or delinquent activities, both in Italy and France. At risk behaviour significantly characterises the young participants as well as victimisation. This last point highlights that although deviant or potentially dangerous, these young people are also more vulnerable and in need of protection.     

Validity and Determinants of Clinicians’ Return to Work Judgments for Individuals Following Whiplash Injury

Rehabilitation clinicians routinely make judgments about the capacity of individuals to return to work following whiplash injury, which can have serious implications for individuals’ continued access to salary indemnity benefits. The present study examined the validity and determinants of these judgments. During a standardized rehabilitation intervention, data regarding demographic factors, crash characteristics, pain severity, range of motion, pain-related psychological functioning, as well as change in the latter three factors over the course of treatment were collected for 104 whiplash-injured individuals (73 women, 31 men). Upon completion of the intervention, clinicians rated the number of hours each individual was capable of working per day. Follow-up data regarding the actual number of hours worked were collected 1 year later. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that clinicians’ judgments added significant unique variance to the return to work prediction beyond other predictive factors, and that clinicians were particularly influenced by patients’ pain severity and treatment-related change in pain severity in making these judgments. Although clinicians were significantly able to predict return to work, the limited variance accounted for by their judgments (12%) warrants caution in the use of these judgments in decisions related to access to services or indemnity. Factors predictive of clinician judgment and actual return to work are compared, and recommendations to enhance the utility of these judgments are made.     

Comparing social,emotional, and behavioral health risks among youth attending public versus parochial schools

Parochial schools are assumed to provide better social and academic experiences; however, few studies account for selection bias when comparing with public schools. This study contrasted public versus parochial schools using propensity score matching across a range of outcomes (e.g., perceptions of school, emotional symptoms, substance use, bullying). Using a sample of 58 public and 5 parochial high schools, the nonmatched analyses suggested a significant advantage for parochial schools students (e.g., better on 23 of 32 indicators). However, the propensity score matched analyses revealed nine differences (e.g., weapon carrying, smoking), two of which (i.e., stress and cyberbullying) favored public schools. While at first glance parochial schools generally appear to be healthier and safer learning environments, accounting for selection bias, the gap was narrowed. Students in parochial schools may struggle with issues related to social, emotional, and behavioral health risk, and thus prevention programs should also be implemented in these settings.     

Law enforcement access to personal data originally collected by private parties: Missing data subjects' safeguards in directive 2016/680?

Access by law enforcement authorities to personal data initially collected by private parties for commercial or operational purposes is very common, as shown by the transparency reports of new technology companies on law enforcement requests. From a data protection perspective, the scenario of law enforcement access is not necessarily well taken into account. The adoption of the new data protection framework offers the opportunity to assess whether the new ‘police’ Directive, which regulates the processing of personal data for law enforcement purposes, offers sufficient safeguards to individuals. To make this assessment, provisions contained in Directive 2016/680 are tested against the standards established by the ECJ in Digital Rights Ireland and Tele2 Sverige on the retention of data and their further access and use by police authorities. The analysis reveals that Directive 2016/680 does not contain the safeguards identified in the case law. The paper further assesses the role and efficiency of the principle of purpose limitation as a safeguard against repurposing in a law enforcement context. Last, solutions to overcome the shortcomings of Directive 2016/680 are examined in conclusion.     

Latina Fortitude in the Face of Disadvantage: Exploring the Conditioning Effects of Ethnic Identity and Gendered Ethnic Identity on Latina Offending

Recent literature has investigated if socialization and identity protect against the criminogenic effects of strainful experiences for African Americans. Here Latinas are brought to the forefront. This study not only investigates if a positive ethnic identity increases fortitude against strainful events, but if its effects are further influenced by gender socialization. Results reveal ethnic identity increases resilience against the criminogenic effects of vicarious victimization and acculturation and gendered ethnic identity protects against direct victimization. This study reinforces the need for further investigation into cultural explanations for within group differences in criminogenic outcomes.