Incestuous paternity detected by STR-typing of chorionic villi isolated from archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded abortion material using laser microdissection

Microscopic examination of a blood clot expelled by a physically and mentally disabled woman taken to the emergency room because of genital bleeding revealed the presence of chorionic villi encircled by decidua, hemorrhage, and necrosis. In order to identify the father of the product of conception, sections of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded abortion material were subjected to laser microdissection: DNA extraction from chorionic villi selectively isolated from the surrounding tissues allowed successful STR-typing of fetal cells, which was otherwise prevented by excess maternal DNA. The large number of homozygous genotypes in the fetal profile suggested incestuous paternity. Analysis of reference DNA samples from male relatives excluded the woman's father, paternal grandfather, and maternal grandfather, whereas the obligate paternal alleles of the fetus were constantly present in the genotypes of the woman's brother, clearly demonstrating brother-sister incest (probability of paternity > 99.99999%).     

Frequencies of morphological characteristics in two contemporary forensic collections: implications for identification

Positive identification relies on comparison of antemortem and postmortem data. Some identifications are based on morphological features such as fracture, pathological condition, and surgical hardware, despite little literature indicating the frequencies of such traits. This study examines whether such features are sufficiently rare as to be deemed individualizing. Data were collected on two modern North American skeletal collections (N=482 individuals). Presence/absence of features was scored by skeletal element and side. Results indicate that frequencies vary by geographic region (higher frequency of fractures and pathological conditions in New Mexico while individuals in Tennessee were more likely to have surgical interventions), many features such as fractures are remarkably common and that even suites of traits may not be individualizing. Caution is warranted when using written data rather than radiographic comparisons as the primary source of identification. The implications of these findings to missing person databases are also discussed.     

'I Find Myself as Someone Who is in the Forest': Urban Refugees as Agents of Social Change in Kampala, Uganda

An in-depth investigation of the Kampala Urban Refugee Children'sEducation Centre (KURCEC), a refugee-initiated community-basedorganization in Uganda, allows for detailed exploration of thelivelihood strategies employed by urban refugees in the sphereof education and of the ways in which these strategies can promoteself-reliance and individual and community development in urbansituations. Urban refugees' development of KURCEC challengesperceived notions of refugees as burdens or as passive recipientsin a system that fosters dependency and shows that they areagents of social change within their own and their host communities.The focus on what works in the midst of crisis, desperation,and uncertainty is a deliberate attempt to promote researchand policy-setting that is forward-looking and productive ratherthan reactionary and regressive in the context of new developmentsin policy and practice relating to urban refugees worldwide.     

Re-thinking feminism: Some thoughts on the limitations of ‘basics’-training

In this article, I draw on my experience as a Jew and a lesbian and as a Jewish lesbian—both outside and inside the Women's Liberation Movement—to examine the problem of feminist ‘basics’ and to assess the new ethos of ‘diversity’, which has emerged in recent years as ‘other feminists have begun to make our presence felt within feminism.