A study on ten short tandem repeat systems: African immigrant and Spanish population data

This work presents the results obtained from a genetic-population study for the D1S1656 system in the population of Southwest Spain (Huelva, Cádiz and Sevilla), Spaniards of Caucasian origin from North Africa (Ceuta), as well as in the black Central West African and Moroccan immigrant populations in Spain. The results of a study of the autochtonous population of the Canary Islands (n=138), and immigrant Central West African populations in Spain (n=132), obtained for nine short tandem repeat (STR) loci (D3S1358, VWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820), as well as the amelogenin locus, all contained in Profiler Plus (Perkin-Elmer) PCR amplification kits, are also presented. Except for the FGA and VWA data on immigrant Central West African populations in Spain, no deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were detected.     

Making Every Vote Count: The Important Role of Managerial Capacity in Achieving Better Election Administration Outcomes

A public agency's capacity to implement policy and achieve valued public outcomes has been a long-running area of research in public administration. Many articles provide theory and empirics regarding the capacity to implement policy, but relatively few examine multiple types of agency capacity within the same analysis. This article develops a model based on the election administration literature in political science and public administration to examine the effects of managerial capacity, financial capacity, and technology on the election management outcome of the residual vote rate in North Carolina election jurisdictions. The results indicate that higher levels of management capacity and technology significantly reduce problems with voting as measured by the residual vote rate. Financial capacity shows a negative association with the residual vote rate but is not significant. The article concludes by discussing how studying election administration provides an important and uniquely good administrative context for developing administrative theory.     

Inhabiting Mourning: Spectral Figures in Cases of Extrajudicial Executions (False Positives) in Colombia

In this article we analyse various forms of emotional management of mourning in the experiences of six female relatives of victims of extrajudicial executions in Colombia. Referencing the concept of the ‘spectral’, we discuss the ways in which family members establish ways of living with mourning that emphasise the impossibility of achieving closure, and explore the ways in which they keep the wounds of their suffering open as a means of organising themselves politically, in pursuit of justice. The article suggests an alternative to a teleology of closure, suggesting that, in contexts of impunity such as the one prevailing in Colombia, mourning becomes a scenario of habitability.     

A multidisciplinary investigation of chronic animal abuse: Collaboration between veterinary forensics and forensic anthropology

An unknown juvenile female mixed breed dog was found non‐ambulatory on a dead‐end street in an urban setting adjacent to a public park. During initial veterinary examination, she was assessed to have untreatable injuries and was humanely euthanized. The forensic veterinarian requested consultation from a forensic anthropologist to assist with documenting antemortem skeletal trauma. Analyses of skeletal tissues indicated numerous injuries in various stages of healing diagnostic of non‐accidental injuries. Veterinary forensic cases may benefit from collaborative analysis of bony remains by forensic anthropologists.     

CHILD PROTECTION EVALUATIONS The Forensic Stepchild

In child protection cases, the mental health evaluator is required to have a broad range of expertise in family violence and child and adult psychological issues. This article reviews epidemiological as well as other quantitative data to provide an empirical foundation by which to understand the problem of family violence, the characteristics of abusers and victims, and the consequences to the child who is a witness to or victim of family violence. Forensic evaluation guidelines and recommendations for structuring child protection evaluations are addressed.     

Mobilizing the Seldom Voter: Campaign Contact and Effects in High-Profile Elections

Decades of research suggests that campaign contact together with an advantageous socioeconomic profile increases the likelihood of casting a ballot. Measurement and modeling handicaps permit a lingering uncertainty about campaign communication as a source of political mobilization however. Using data from a uniquely detailed telephone survey conducted in a pair of highly competitive 2002 U.S. Senate races, we further investigate who gets contacted, in what form, and with what effect. We conclude that even in high-profile, high-dollar races the most important determinant of voter turnout is vote history, but that holding this variable constant reveals a positive effect for campaign communication among “seldom” voters, registered but rarely active participants who—ironically—are less likely than regular or intermittent voters to receive such communication.