Oligonucleotide fingerprinting using (GTG)5 and (GACA)4 probes for the differentiation of body fragments

For the detection of postmortem stability of DNA and for the identification of parts of dead bodies of unknown origin the oligonucleotide probes (GTG)5 and (GACA)4 can be used. (GTG)5 is a highly discriminating probe which allows to differentiate in the 4 to 25 kilobase range of DNA fragments. DNA fingerprints obtained by (GACA)4 show useful results especially in the short fragment range. The (GACA)4 probe can therefore be used to analyze partially degraded DNA.     

The Quality of Management and Government Performance: An Empirical Analysis of the American States

Government performance is an enduring concern for students of public management, public administration, and political science. Government's administrative arrangements and managerial behavior can profoundly influence programmatic content, activities, and outcomes; therefore, considering public management's effects is necessary for a true understanding of public policy and government performance. This article uses data from the Maxwell School's Government Performance Project to examine the relationship between state governments' managerial capacity and a measure of government performance (specifically, state policy priorities). We find that state management capacity has direct effects on state policy commitments: States possessing higher levels of management capacity tend to favor programmatic areas that distribute societal benefits widely (that is, collective benefits) as opposed to narrowly (that is, particularized benefits). Our analysis demonstrates that public interest group activity, government ideology, and citizen ideology each have significant, predictable effects on state policy commitments. Thus, our findings place managerial capacity alongside other more commonly studied state characteristics as an important influence on government activities.     

FEMA, Federalism, Hugo, and 'Frisco

This article examines intergovernmental performance during naturaldisasters. The United States has an ongoing response systemwhich requires the cooperation of national, state, and localgovernments. This system was severely tested during the fallof 1989 by four major crises: Hurricane Hugo in the Caribbean,South Carolina, and North Carolina, and the Loma Prieta earthquakein San Francisco. The intergovernmental response functionedvery differently in the four situations. Three patterns emergeto describe the intergovernmental dynamics of disaster relief.The article discusses the causes and consequences of these differentpatterns.     

Mitochondrial DNA in the Central European population. Human identification with the help of the forensic mt-DNA D-loop-base database

Sequencing of mtDNA is an advanced method for the individualisation of traces. Disadvantages of this method are expensive and time-consuming analysis and evaluation procedures as well as the necessary stock of population-genetic data which is still insufficient. Central European institutes of forensic medicine from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland have been working together since the beginning of 1998 to establish a mtDNA database. The aim is to build up a large stock of forensically established data and provide population-genetic data for frequency investigations, which will serve as a basis for expert opinions and scientific research. Good data quality is ensured by using original sequences only. Ring tests, which have been conducted to enhance analytical reliability, revealed a high correspondence rate of the analytical results obtained by the individual member institutes. Today 1410 sequences are available for comparison, of which 1285 sequences in the HV1 and HV2 regions cover the full ranges from 16051 to 16365 and from 73 to 340 (according to Anderson). The major part is formed by Central European sequences comprising 1256 data sets from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Today the database contains sequences from a total of 12 European, six African and three Asian countries including 100 sequences from Japan. This paper is aimed at discussing the individualisation potentials of mtDNA as well as the possibilities and limits of ethnic differentiation by means of pairwise sequence differences on the basis of the data stock available.     

Reviews

Arms and the African: Military Influences on Africa's International Relations edited by William J. Foltz and Henry S. Bienen Yale University Press, New Haven (Connecticut), and London, 1985. xv plus 221 pp. including map, tables, appendix and index. $22,50.

Language, Society and Paleoculture: Essays by Edgar C. Polome Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 1982. xiii plus 387 pp. including bibliography. $20,00.

Indigenous Agricultural Revolution: Ecology and Food Production in West Africa by Paul Richards Hutchinson, London, 1985. 192 pp. including figures, tables, illustrations, appendix, bibliography and index. $12,95.

Rural‐Urban Balance: Policy and Practice in Ten African Countries by T.J.D. Fair Africa Institute of South Africa, Pretoria, 1985. 37 pp. including tables, map and references. R4,00 paperback.

Hundert Jahre Afrika und die Deutschen edited by Wolfgang Höpker Günther Neske (for the Deutsche Afrika‐Stiftung), Pfullingen (West Germany), 1984. 178 pp. including map and illustrations. DM28,00.

Kenya: The Quest for Prosperity by Norman N. Miller Westview Press, Boulder (Colorado), and Gower, London, 1984. x plus 180 pp. including map, illustrations, figures, tables, notes, bibliography and index. £14,45.

Colonial Evangelism: A Socio‐Historical Study of An East African Mission at the Grassroots by T.O. Beidelman Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1982. xix plus 274 pp. including maps, tables, notes, bibliography and index. $12,50 paperback.

Zimbabwe: A Revolution that Lost its Way? by André Astrow Zed Press, London, 1983. xv plus 254 pp. including maps, tables, notes, bibliography and index. R.20,75 paperback.

Where are the Ju/Wasi of Nyae Nyae?: Changes in a Bushman Society, 1958–1981 by John Marshall and Claire Ritchie Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, 1984. ix plus 187 pp. including diagrams, tables, maps, illustrations, appendices and references. R3,50 paperback.

South Africa in its International Context: Some Historical Reflections by F.H. Hinsley, Noel Garson and Sara Pienaar South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg, October 1986 (Bradlow Series, No. 4). 14 pp. R10,00 paperback.

The Surplus People: Forced Removals in South Africa by Laurine Platzky and Cherryl Walker Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. xxxiii plus 446 pp. including maps, tables, illustrations, bibliography and index. R.14,95 paperback.

From Control to Confusion: The Changing Role of Administration Boards in South Africa, 1971–1983 by Simon Bekker and Richard Humphries Shuter and Shooter, Pietermaritzburg, 1985. 258 pp. including maps, tables, notes, appendices, bibliography and index. R20,00 paperback.

The Ambiguities of Dependence in South Africa: Class, Nationalism, and the State in Twentieth‐Century Natal by Shula Marks Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1986. ix plus 171 pp. including map, illustrations, appendix, notes and index. R.13,50 paperback.

Khoikhoi and the Founding of White South Africa by Richard Elphick Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. xxii plus 266 pp. including maps, references, bibliography and index. R14,95 paperback.

The Colonization of the Southern Tswana, 1870–1900 by Kevin Shillington Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. xxii plus 311 pp. including maps, tables, illustrations, notes, appendices, bibliography and index. R18,00 paperback.

John Blades Currey, 1850 to 1900: Fifty Years in the Cape Colony edited by Phillida Brooke Simons Brenthurst Press, Johannesburg, 1986. 275 pp. including illustrations, notes, appendix, bibliography and index. R.195,00.

The World of Can Themba: Selected Writings edited by Essop Patel Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1985. 244 pp. R6,95 paperback.     

The Impact of Welfare Reform on Medicaid

Welfare reform did not usher in comprehensive Medicaid reform,if "reform" is defined as dismantling the basic framework ordesign of the nations's health-care system for the poor. Instead,it left much of the previous Medicaid system intact. However,welfare reform has contributed to changes in the Medicaid-eligiblepopulations, greater variability and experimentation with stateMedicaid initiatives, and greater sate control over Medicaidprogram decisions. Thus, the welfare-reform movement clarifieda major trend in contemporary American politics—the increasein state discretion and flexibility in social welfare policymaking.The states are now at the center of Medicaid decisionmaking,and they are in a key position to determine the future directionof heath-care assistance for the poor in the United States.     

Decapitation as a result of suicidal hanging

A report is presented on a 47 year old man who committed suicide by hanging himself from a staircase bannister of an apartment house. The man, weighing 144 kg jumped with the noose of a 2 cm thick and 2 m long hemp rope around his neck and was completely decapitated. Death from typical "normal" suicidal hanging is usually due to cerebral ischaemia caused by compression of the carotid (and vertebral) arteries. Except for bleeding at the clavicular insertions of the sternocleidomastoid muscles there are only occasional injuries to the cervical soft parts or hyoid bone and/or laryngeal cartilage. A fall with a noose around the neck, on the other hand, is associated with more frequent injuries to cervical structures through additional axial traction and radial shearing forces of the tightening noose. Complete decapitation can occur in rare cases under extreme conditions (heavy body weight, inelastic and/or thin rope material, fall from a great height).     

A new sign for the establishment of gunshot in suicide?

Two cases involving deadly bullet shots to the head are reported (entry wounds at the right temple, shots fired at absolutely close range, 7.65 or 9 mm caliber). In both cases bleeding was determined in the fissure of the right shoulder joint. This bleeding can be explained by hyperextension and extreme position of the joint at the time of the gun firing. Should further cases of bleeding be confirmed during additional autopsies, then this bleeding could be an indication of death "by one's own hand."     

Associations between Dating Aggression Involvement and Subsequent Relationship Commitment

Little is known about how an individual’s commitment to their romantic partner evolves over the course of a relationship following involvement in dating aggression (DA). The present study explored longitudinal associations between both psychological and physical DA involvement and subsequent changes in commitment. We hypothesized that experiences of physical and psychological DA may be related to decreased feelings of commitment (including both dedication and constraint) in a relationship, and that gender may moderate the link between DA and changes in commitment. One-hundred and twenty (60 female) young adults (ages 18–25) in a romantic relationship completed electronic questionnaires each month for 6 months, (M age Wave 1?=?22.44, SD =?2.20). DA involvement and commitment were measured by the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale, and the Revised Commitment Inventory, respectively. Using multilevel modeling, the current study examined shifts in commitment (dedication and constraint) following DA involvement. As hypothesized, physical and psychological dating aggression involvement were both associated with declines in relationship commitment. Analyses also tested for potential gender interactions with physical and psychological dating aggression involvement for both constraint and dedication. No significant gender interactions emerged. These findings add to the accumulating evidence for the deleterious effects of dating aggression on relationships, including on relationship commitment, and illustrate important implications for interventions aimed at reducing dating aggression among young adults.