A comparison of adjustment methods to test the robustness of an STR DNA database comprised of 24 European populations

An aim of the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) is to produce a DNA database of second generation multiplex (SGM) STR profiles that is representative of the resident cosmopolitan populations. To achieve this, data were collected from 24 different populations. All of the data were combined to form one database of 5700 profiles from which allele proportions were calculated. The robustness of this combined European database was tested by estimating parameter d for every DNA profile, where d=log(10)(Pm(c)/Pm(E)) Pm(c) is the match probability of the profile calculated from its cognate database and Pm(E) is the match probability of the combined European database. Overall there was a small tendency for Pm(c)>Pm(E) primarily because of sampling bias. This bias was removed by the simple expediency of applying an adjustment factor to the calculation of Pm(E). These were selected from the Balding size bias correction, the Balding and Nichols Fst correction, a minimum allele proportion (between 0.01 and 0.02), an upper bound of a 95% confidence interval (CI) and a lower bound on the genotype match probability. It was demonstrated that a single European database is a feasible proposition. A combination of different adjustment methods can be used to ensure that the result is conservative relative to the cognate database, and their effect measured by parameter d.     

‘Great Expectations’: Rehabilitating the Recalcitrant War Poets

Formulating a definition of ‘good’ poetry is, and should be, impossible. Yet women's poetry of the First World War seems generally to have been condemned as ‘bad’. It inspires an ambiguous response from readers who recognize the value of its historical, social and psychological content, but shudder at the limitations of its form. However, I believe that a much more fruitful reading of these ‘recalcitrant’ texts is possible. It is not my intention to deny either their problematic nature, or the diversity and complexity of male responses to the war, but rather to emphasize that women's experience of the First World War was radically different from that of men, and we should not therefore be constrained by the traditional parameters of 1914-18 criticism when we explore these works. This article examines a selection of this poetry in the light of the psychological processes of grief and bereavement, and in so doing indicates other areas in which constructive readings of these texts might be made.Why do we expect the articulation of a radically new and uniformly consistent poetic voice from what was a large and diverse group of women? The expectations of modernism ironically have created a literary ‘mainstream’ out of a selection of experimental, and largely male, writing. I hope to show that the ‘failure’ of these women to conform to our textual ‘great expectations’ is irrelevant. The single most characteristic feature of these women's experience of war was isolation. Their position had neither the homogeneity of the trenches, nor the intense intellectualism of experimental circles. Predominantly middle class, alienated by absence and bereavement, they attempted to articulate the unprecedented nature of their experience. That their experiments were not wholly successful is perhaps indicative of the near impossibility of the task they undertook.     

Exclusion of a man charged with murder by DNA fingerprinting

DNA fingerprinting was used to demonstrate that two murder-rapes committed in 1983 and 1986, respectively, were connected. The probability of chance association of the fingerprint was calculated as 5.8 x 10(-8). The man who had been charged with the murder was excluded because his DNA fingerprint did not match sperm DNA fingerprints obtained from swabs and clothing attributed to the two victims.     

Ten years of "body packers" in New York City: 50 deaths

We reviewed all 50 body packer deaths in New York City from 1990 to 2001. The majority (37/50) of deaths were caused by acute intoxications due to open or leaking drug packets in the gastrointestinal tract. The number of packets recovered ranged from 1 to 111 (average 46). The weight of the combined packets ranged from 9.4 to 1,200 g (average of 377). The age ranged from 19 to 57 years (mean 37.1). The decedents were: 82% male, 66% Hispanic, 24% Black, and 10% White. The manners of death were 47 accidents, 1 homicide, 1 natural, and 1 undetermined. The causes of death included 42 acute intoxications, 5 intestinal obstructions/bowel perforations, 1 gunshot wound, 1 intracerebral hemorrhage due to hypertensive disease, and 1 undetermined. Of the 50 decedents, 42 were transporting opiates, 4 cocaine, and 4 both opiates and cocaine. There were 9 deaths from 1990-1995 and 41 from 1996-2001. Of the 41 deaths between 1996 and 2001, only 6 involved cocaine. In New York City there has been an increase in body packer deaths from the early 1990s to the late 1990s. Along with this increase is a marked predominance of opiate body packer deaths with few cocaine deaths.     

Fatal pulmonary thromboembolism and hereditary thrombophilias

Pulmonary thromboembolism (PE) is found commonly in forensic pathology practice, as it typically causes sudden death. It is attributed to a wide variety of predominantly acquired etiologies. Although likely etiologically multifactorial, some common proximate causes include: surgery, pregnancy, injury, inactivity of any cause, cancer, obesity, or serum hyperviscosity. On occasion, no apparent predisposing condition is identified. In these instances, occult hereditary thrombophilias may play a causal role. Deaths referred to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) of New York City between December, 2000 and September, 2003 and due to PE were retrospectively reviewed. Molecular analysis (FRET) was performed on selected cases for three common hereditary thrombophilias: mutations in factor V Leiden (FVL), prothrombin G20210A (PT), and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR).During the study period, 124 of 15,280 deaths were primarily attributable to PE. Of those, 34 were selected for molecular analysis. One or more mutations were detected in 35% of those, five of which were clearly causally related to death. Given the potential benefits to surviving family members, our data indicate that postmortem molecular testing for the common hereditary thrombophilias is warranted in at least selected cases.     

Violence and Violation: Women and Secure Settings

This article focuses on service provision for women who are involuntarily referred under the UK Mental Health Act (1983) into medium and high security care in England and Wales. We explore how physical and procedural security in such settings is prioritized over relational care (see also Fallon Report, Department of Health, 1999a and NHS Executive, 2000 – Tilt Report). Weare not arguing against the importance of protecting the public from the acts of dangerous members of our society. However, we are arguing that many of the women in our secure services are inappropriately placed and receive inappropriate forms of treatment and care. Rather than physical security, it is high relational care, which the women require. Further, we argue that current service provision often re-produces forms of violence and violation which have marked many of women's lives prior to their entry into the secure system.