Dental amalgam and mercury levels in autopsy tissues: food for thought

Eighteen cadavers from routine autopsy casework were subject to a study of tissue levels of total mercury in brain, thyroid, and kidney samples by atomic absorption. On these same cadavers, all dental amalgam fillings (the most important source of inorganic mercury exposure in the general population, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) were charted. Total mercury levels were significantly higher in subjects with a greater number of occlusal amalgam surfaces (>12) compared with those with fewer occlusal amalgams (0-3) in all types of tissue (all P < or = 0.04). Mercury levels were significantly higher in brain tissues compared with thyroid and kidney tissues in subjects with more than 12 occlusal amalgam fillings (all P < or = 0.01) but not in subjects with 3 or less occlusal amalgams (all P > or = 0.07).     

Validation of a large Italian Database of 15 STR loci

Results from a collaborative exercise with proficiency testing conducted by 20 Italian laboratories on the 15 loci included in the Identifiler kit were analyzed by allele sharing methods and by standard population genetics tests. The validated database, including about 1500 subjects, was merged with that of a previous exercise conducted on nine loci, and the resulting allele frequencies, subdivided by Italian region, were published on-line.     

Genetic data on 15 STR loci in the ethnic group of Polish Tatars residing in the area of Podlasie (Northeastern Poland)

Population genetic data for the 15 STRs included in the AmpFlSTR Identifiler kit were obtained from a sample of 168 unrelated individuals of the ethnic group of Polish Tatars residing in the Northeastern Poland. Significant differences revealed in relation to the autochthonous Poles by using R x C test as well as F(ST) and F(IS) estimates suggest that the ethnic group of Polish Tatars is a distinct genetic community.     

The nature of regional and national identity in Catalonia: problems of measuring multiple identities

Abstract. National identity learning processes become quite problematic in multiple identity territories. In the case of Spain, bilinguism and conflictual identities in the periphery is often opposed to the unilinguism and majoritarian culture of the centre. The contents of actual Catalan identity and the political behaviour that it entails can perhaps be explained by the perception that today's Catalan and immigrant adolescents have of what it means to 'be a catalan'. The view of the political arena by the young depends mainly on the language approach.