Population genetics of the STR loci HUMCSF1PO, HUMF13A01, HUMFES/FPS and D12S391 in Asturias (northern Spain)

In order to use genetic loci in forensic identity testing, some population data are needed. This paper presents a report of allele frequency data for the loci HUMCSF1PO, HUMF13A01, HUMFES/FPS and D12S391 in a population sample from Asturias (northern Spain).No deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was detected in any of the four markers investigated and there was no evidence of association between the alleles of these loci. Statistical analysis was also carried out to obtain some parameters of medico-legal interest and comparative studies were carried out with other populations studied to date for these loci. The Asturian sample does not differ substantially from other Caucasian and Spanish populations.     

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation-related injuries and homicidal blunt abdominal trauma in children

Defendants accused of inflicting fatal abdominal injuries to children occasionally raise the defense that the injuries were caused by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The purpose of this study is to answer the question: Does closed chest CPR result in fatal blunt abdominal injuries that can be mistaken for homicidal assault? To that end, a retrospective study was conducted of all homicidal blunt abdominal injuries in children 10 years and younger from the Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Medical Examiner's Offices from 1981 through 1997. These were compared to cases of children who died of natural causes during the same time period in Broward County who had CPR (control group 1) and to children who died of nonvehicular accidental blunt abdominal trauma (control group 2). Children with life-threatening head injuries were excluded. Medical examiner records, autopsy reports, documenting photographs, and clinical records were reviewed. The data analyzed included subject demographics, whether CPR was performed and by whom, and autopsy findings. Thirty-three child homicides with fatal abdominal injuries were reviewed. Twenty-four (73%) of the homicides received CPR. There was no difference in the nature and severity of injuries between the 24 children who received CPR and the 9 who did not. Three hundred and twenty-four cases of pediatric natural deaths were reviewed, all of which had CPR. No traumatic abdominal injuries were found in any of the children who died of natural causes. Only four children who died of natural causes had evidence of extraabdominal trauma related to CPR. No cases of nonvehicular accidental blunt abdominal trauma were identified during the 17-year period, although there were nonvehicular accidental fatalities due to extraabdominal injuries. The likelihood of CPR-related primary abdominal trauma in child homicides is very low.     

Statistical sampling in a legislative framework for peer review of medicare services

This article discusses problems addressed in developing an efficient way of identifying levels of inappropriate professional practice in delivery of Medicare services, using statistical sampling within a legislative peer-review scheme. An efficient alternative to the current sampling methodology is proposed.     

Adult psychopathology and intimate partner violence among survivors of childhood maltreatment

Childhood maltreatment is associated with psychopathology and revictimization in adulthood. Whether different types of childhood maltreatment have different long-term consequences, however, is largely unknown. The participants in this study included 42 female victims of intimate partner violence and 30 women with no history of serious trauma. These women completed measures of their trauma history, current psychological symptoms, and severity of current abuse. Regression-based techniques were used to assess the relationships among these constructs. Childhood maltreatment was associated with current distress and current conflict in relationships. There was a positive relationship between number of types of childhood traumatization and psychopathology. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression were negatively associated with current relationships involving physical assault. This work underscores the importance of assessing multiple types of childhood maltreatment and of considering the cumulative effects of such experiences.     

Performance Indicators for Police Oversight Agencies

This study addresses the question of performance indicators for police oversight agencies through a survey of the directors of agencies in Australia and an analysis of annual reports. The findings show that a variety of targets and measures are in place. The majority of oversight bodies adopt fairly basic and largely quantitative measures on matters processed, supplemented by case study accounts of positive impacts.     

Finding out rapidly: A soft systems approach to training needs analysis in Thailand

Thailand is experiencing the unfamiliar phenomenon of aid and multilateral agencies such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank lending money for internal development programmes. In the economic boom years, aid was neither sought nor required since structural development was funded from the growth which South-East Asian countries had begun to take for granted. Today, falling growth and rising unemployment linked to a depreciating currency and weak export markets have meant that Thailand has had to look elsewhere for development capital and to become proficient in managing educational projects. This article describes a rapid training needs analysis of the Thai educational sector commissioned by the British Council, the purpose of which was to discover the capacity of the education sector to undertake and deliver externally funded projects. Using the Kolb learning cycle as a paradigm of good practice, and an adapted version of the soft systems approach to planning, the paper describes a learning process for developing an action plan to produce a training package for enhancing project management skills. Finally, the paper reflects on the experience of the project and sets out some learning objectives for future exercises of this type.     

Does it pay to move from welfare to work?

The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act requires welfare recipients to look for work and has made it more difficult for nonworking recipients to remain on the welfare rolls. In addition, the economic boom of the 1990s and changes in federal and state policies have raised the net income gain associated with moving from welfare to work. This paper analyzes data from a panel survey of single mothers, all of whom received welfare in February 1997. In 1999, those who left welfare and were working had a higher household income and lower poverty rate, experienced a similar level of material hardship, engaged in fewer activities to make ends meet, and had lower expectations of experiencing hardship in the near future than did nonworking welfare recipients. Estimations of fixed‐effect regressions of income that control for both observable and unobservable time‐invariant characteristics show that monthly net income increases by $2.63 for every additional hour of work effort. About 60 percent of the observed monthly income difference between wage‐reliant and welfare‐reliant mothers can be attributed to differences in their work effort. Thus, after welfare reform, it does pay to move from welfare to work. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

The Limits of Rational Choice: New Institutionalism in the Test Bed of Central Banking Politics in Australia

This paper tests the explanatory capacities of different versions of new institutionalism by examining the Australian case of a general transition in central banking practice and monetary politics: namely, the increased emphasis on low inflation and central bank independence. Standard versions of rational choice institutionalism largely dominate the literature on the politics of central banking, but this approach (here termed RC1) fails to account for Australian empirics. RC1 has a tendency to establish actor preferences exogenously to the analysis; actors' motives are also assumed a priori ; actor's preferences are depicted in relatively static, ahistorical terms. And there is the tendency, even a methodological requirement, to assume relatively simple motives and preference sets among actors, in part because of the game theoretic nature of RC1 reasoning. It is possible to build a more accurate rational choice model by re-specifying and essentially updating the context, incentives and choice sets that have driven rational choice in this case. Enter RC2. However, this move subtly introduces methodological shifts and new theoretical challenges. By contrast, historical institutionalism uses an inductive methodology. Compared with deduction, it is arguably better able to deal with complexity and nuance. It also utilises a dynamic, historical approach, and specifies (dynamically) endogenous preference formation by interpretive actors. Historical institutionalism is also able to more easily incorporate a wider set of key explanatory variables and incorporate wider social aggregates. Hence, it is argued that historical institutionalism is the preferred explanatory theory and methodology in this case.     

B. reviews and notes: bibliographies and works of reference

WORLD SURVEY OF ISLAMIC MANUSCRIPTS. General editor: GEOFFREY ROPER. Volumes One and Two. London, Al‐Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1992–1993. 2 vols. Distributed by E.J. Brill, Leiden. Hfl. 250.‐ each vol.

MIDDLE EAST BIBLIOGRAPHY. By SANFORD R. SILVERBURG. (Scarecrow area bibliographies, no. 1.) Metuchen & London, Scarecrow Press, 1992. xxxi, 564 pp. US$69.50.

REPERTORIO BIBLIOGRÁFICO DE DERECHO ISLÁMICO (R.B.D.I.), Primera parte. By MARIA JESÚS CARNICERO, MARIBEL FIERRO, SUSANA PENA, DELFINA SERRANO, AMALIA ZOMENO‐ Madrid: Instituto de Coop‐eración con el Mundo Arabe, 1993. (Cuadernos de la Biblioteca Islámico ‘Félix María Pareja’, 55.) ix, 98pp.

THE JEWS IN IZMIR IN THE 19TH CENTURY: OTTOMAN DOCUMENTS FROM THE SHAR'I COURT. (YEHUDEY IZMIR BA‐ME'A HA‐TE?A’ ‘ESRE: TE'UDOT TURKIYYOT MIBBET HA‐DIN HA‐?AR'I). Edited by HAIM GER‐BER and JACOB BARNAI. Jerusalem, Misgav Yerushalayim, Institute for Research on the Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage. 1984. vi, 114 pp.

WOMEN IN THE MUSLIM WORLD: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES PRIMARILY IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. By HERBERT L. BOD‐MAN. Providence, Association for Middle East Women's Studies, 1991. v, 162pp. US$10.‐

NILE NOTES OF A HOWADJI: A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TRAVELERS’ TALES FROM EGYPT, FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TO 1918. By MARTIN R. KALFATOVIC. Metuchen & London, Scarecrow Press, 1992. xxxvi, 427 pp. US$49.50.

THE WATERS OF THE NILE: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY. By ROBERT O.COLLINS. London, Hans Zell, 1991. 315pp. £48.‐

DICTIONARY OF MANAGEMENT TERMS: ENGLISH‐FRENCH‐ARABIC. Compiled by JAMES COVENEY & SHEILA J. MOORE; Arabic terms edited by WAGDI RIZK GHALI & HANI G. TABRI. Beirut, Librairie du Liban, 1990. x, 109pp.

WHO'S WHO IN LEBANON 1993–1994. Twelfth edition (thoroughly revised and completed). Beirut, Publitec Publications; Munich, K.G.Saur, 1993. 482pp. £95.‐