Evaluation of Degradation in DNA from Males with a Quantitative Gender Typing,Endpoint PCR Multiplex

Evidentiary samples submitted to a forensic DNA laboratory occasionally yield DNA that is degraded. Samples of intact chromosomal DNA (both nuclear and mitochondrial) were subjected to a heating protocol to induce DNA degradation. The DNAs were then analyzed using a multiplex PCR assay that amplifies targets of low and high molecular weight on the X/Y and mitochondrial chromosomes. If degradation is random, the amplification of larger DNA targets should be more adversely affected by degradation than smaller targets. In nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from a male donor, exhibiting degradation, DNA quantity estimates based upon higher molecular weight amplicons (HMW) are significantly lower than estimates made using low molecular weight (LMW) Q‐TAT amplicons. DNA degradation estimated using this approach correlated well with actual fluorescence associated with HMW and LMW STR alleles amplified from the same genomic DNA templates. Q‐TAT is thus useful not only as a quantitation tool, but also as an indicator of template degradation.     

The container security initiative costs,implications and relevance to developing countries

Following 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security established the Container Security Initiative (CSI) programme in 2002 in response to the threat from terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction transported by cargo containers. This project establishes the tracking and targeting of ‘high risk’ containers and their subsequent scanning with X‐ray machines before loading onto the U.S. bound ships. To date, 44 of the world's largest ports have agreed to become CSI‐compliant, the majority of which are located in industrialised countries, while developing and least developed countries are under‐represented. CSI‐eligibility requires that ports represent a considerable volume of U.S. bound container traffic and invest in container scanning devices. Every non‐intrusive inspecting device (NII) costs several million dollars while investments in IT and existing infrastructure often triple the compliance costs. Containers originating in a CSI port are expedited through U.S. customs, representing a comparative trade barrier for exporters from non‐CSI ports. Thus, CSI acts as a tool for the U.S. to improve security, while representing a challenge to exporting countries' market access. This article provides an evaluation of the impacts this plan will have on the export competitiveness of developing countries. It reviews the potential benefits this programme offers in terms of improved trade facilitation, as well as proposing recommendations for its expansion to include developing countries. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Personal Vote and the Efficacy of Education Spending

In this article we explore the ways in which incentives to cultivate a personal vote affect the efficiency of education spending in developing democracies. We argue that where the electoral system provides incentives for political particularism, resources are allocated less efficiently and the effect of increased spending on literacy is diminished. We test our hypotheses using data on education spending and performance in over 40 developing democracies since 1980. We find that though personal vote systems spend just as much on education as party vote systems, particularism in personal vote systems dampens the marginal effect of increased education spending on illiteracy and at its highest levels, incentives to cultivate a personal vote completely undermine the positive effects of increased education spending on literacy.     

刑事诉讼的法理和政治基础

本文从法治的核心内容出发,论述了证据法对诉讼制度的重要意义以及证据是法治的基石的原理.作者认为,证据法具有普适性,证据法的大部分内容在人类所有的诉讼程序中都是相同的,只有极其微小的例外.相比之下,刑事诉讼法具有地方性,体现了不同的制度安排和设想.诉讼法是本土化的,属于地方性知识;像实体法一样,它反映了时间空间的特殊性.刑事程序不能与其周围因素隔绝开来而孤立地加以看待,而要分析政府的性质、政府与民众的适当关系以及个人利益的性质等.因此,研究美国刑事诉讼法,不能仅仅考察成文法律和案例,还要深入了解美国的历史、文化、经济以及其他影响因素.要理解美国刑事司法制度的实际运作,需要深入研究其法理和政治问题,包括书本上的法律与实践中的法律之间的差别;程序法与实体法之间紧密的相互关系,特别是事实上程序法是实体法的载体,而非我们习惯上所认为的相反的情况;一般的历史,特别是种族关系和种族歧视问题;经济因素.     

Impact of Juror Attitudes about the Death Penalty on Juror Evaluations of Guilt and Punishment: A Meta-Analysis

This literature review summarizes the existing research examining how the attitude a potential juror has toward the death penalty impacts on the probability of favoring conviction. The summary of 14 investigations indicates that a favorable attitude toward the death penalty is associated with an increased willingness to convict (average r = .174). Using the binomial effect size display, this favorable attitude towards the death penalty translates into a 44% increase in the probability of a juror favoring conviction.