The Use of Mitochondrial DNA Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms to Assist in the Resolution of Three Challenging Forensic Cases

Abstract:  Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in an 11-plex assay were typed in three missing person cases involving highly degraded human remains. Unlike the traditional forensic approach to analyzing mtDNA which focuses on sequencing portions of the noncoding Control Region, this assay targets discriminatory SNPs that reside principally in the coding region. In two of the cases, the SNP typing successfully excluded one of two reference families that could not be excluded on the basis of mtDNA hypervariable region sequencing alone, and resulted in the final resolution of both decades-old cases. In a third case, SNP typing confirmed the sorting and reassociation of multiple commingled skeletal elements. The application of a specific mtDNA SNP assay in these cases demonstrates its utility in distinguishing samples when the most common Caucasian hypervariable region type is encountered in forensic casework.     

Criminal Exploitation of Online Systems by Organised Crime Groups

This article considers how information and communications technologies (ICT) can be used by organised crime groups to infringe legal and regulatory controls. Three categories of groups are identified: traditional organised criminal groups which make use of ICT to enhance their terrestrial criminal activities; organised cybercriminal groups which operate exclusively online; and organised groups of ideologically and politically motivated individuals who make use of ICT to facilitate their criminal conduct. The activities of each group are then assessed in relation to five areas of risk: the use of online payment systems, online auctions, online gaming, social networking sites and blogs. It is concluded that the distinction between traditional organised crime groups and the other two groups—cybercriminal groups and ideologically/politically motivated cyber groups—is converging, with financially-motivated attacks becoming more targeted. Legislation will need to adapt to deal with new technological developments and threats that organised criminals seek to exploit.

Developments in pharmacists' disciplinary processes and outcomes

Pharmacy disciplinary processes and outcomes protect consumers by deterring pharmacists from unacceptable practices and maintaining the reputation and standing of the pharmacy profession. It is important that pharmacists are informed of disciplinary processes and outcomes in order to predict what is regarded as unacceptable behaviour and the potential consequences thereof. Disciplinary procedures and outcomes also play an important role in maintaining public trust in the pharmacy profession and it is therefore important that the public has confidence in the disciplinary structure. The outcomes of pharmacy disciplinary cases that reflect the patient care role of pharmacists are particularly important in helping to determine pharmacists' changed professional responsibility and potential legal liability in the provision of these patient care services.     

Exploring Aggregate vs. Relative Public Trust in Administrative Agencies that Manage Spent Nuclear Fuel in the United States

Trust is a key component of democratic decision‐making and becomes even more salient in highly technical policy areas, where the public relies heavily on experts for decision making and on the information provided by federal agencies. Research to date has not examined whether the members of the public place different levels of trust in the various agencies that operate within the same policy subsystem, especially in a highly technical subsystem such as that of nuclear energy and waste management. This paper explores public trust in multiple agencies operating within the same subsystem, trust in each agency relative to aggregate trust across agencies that operate within the nuclear waste subsystem, and trust in alternative agencies that have been suggested as possible players in the decision‐making process. We find that trust accorded to different federal agencies within the nuclear waste subsystem varies. The variation in trust is systematically associated with multiple factors, including basic trust in government, perceptions about the risks and benefits of nuclear energy/waste management, party identification, and education. These findings have significant implications for research on public trust in specific government agencies, alternative policy entities, and for policy makers who want to design robust and successful policies and programs in highly technical policy domains.     

The welfare cost of terrorism

Data from 117 countries over the period 2006 to 2011 are used to estimate a macroeconomic cross-country system of equations that examines the association between terrorism, self-reported life satisfaction, and national income. Results indicate that terrorism is negatively associated with life satisfaction, whereas no such association is found between terrorism and real GDP per worker. Stark contrasts are found, however, between OECD and non-OECD members. In all, our results suggest that the social costs of terrorism are potentially much higher than the economic costs, and measuring only the conventional economic costs of terrorism significantly underestimates the true costs.     

Substance-Abusing Female Offenders as Victims: Chronological Sequencing of Pathways Into the Criminal Justice System

This study assesses the entrance of substance-abusing female offenders (N = 1,209) into the criminal justice system through temporal patterns (using age of first victimization, drug use, and arrest). Nine pathways were identified. Unexpectedly, the leading path was a sequence where drug use preceded arrest in absence of childhood victimization. However, women under a path inclusive of victimization possessed more risk factors. Findings support feminist pathway research, which states that childhood victimization is generally present in female offenders’ lives. Nevertheless, results also revealed that a drug pathway without childhood abuse proved to be as important and even more dominant among criminal justice–involved women.     

Intuitive Ethics and Political Orientations: Testing Moral Foundations as a Theory of Political Ideology

Originally developed to explain cultural variation in moral judgments, moral foundations theory (MFT) has become widely adopted as a theory of political ideology. MFT posits that political attitudes are rooted in instinctual evaluations generated by innate psychological modules evolved to solve social dilemmas. If this is correct, moral foundations must be relatively stable dispositional traits, changes in moral foundations should systematically predict consequent changes in political orientations, and, at least in part, moral foundations must be heritable. We test these hypotheses and find substantial variability in individual‐level moral foundations across time, and little evidence that these changes account for changes in political attitudes. We also find little evidence that moral foundations are heritable. These findings raise questions about the future of MFT as a theory of ideology.     

Highly polymorphic minisatellite DNA probes. Further evaluation for individual identification and paternity testing

Reliable and reproducible protocols have been developed for the routine DNA fingerprinting of individuals using the highly polymorphic minisatellite DNA probes 33.15 and 33.6. Comparison of DNA fingerprinting from 50 individuals has generated further data on the level of band sharing in the DNA fingerprints of unrelated individuals, as well as the number of bands scorable in individuals. These results are consistent with previous studies. The occurrence of mutant bands in offspring has been examined in over 100 families. Further support is presented for the Mendelian inheritance of minisatellite loci and for lack of significant allelism and linkage between different variable DNA fragments detected in a human DNA fingerprint.