Mismatch distribution analysis of Y-STR haplotypes as a tool for the evaluation of identity-by-state proportions and significance of matches--the European picture

We suggest the use of the mismatch distribution methodology as an easy way to estimate the distance between all pairs of haplotypes present in a sample. This approach allows the evaluation of the proportion of pairs of Y-STR haplotypes that are prone to become identical by state (IBS), in one generation, by recurrent mutation, a statistic of major importance in the forensic field. The mismatch approach presents some advantages alternatively to the empirical one, since it is not necessary to have simultaneous information on STRs and SNPs, and it allows the evaluation of IBS also within-haplogroups. The estimation of IBS at an European scale showed that there is a high population substructuring for this parameter, increasing from southern-central European countries towards west and north, in accordance to what was found for Y-biallelic markers. This result seems to imply a more careful use of large databases for matching evaluation, even in the absence of population structure for general Y-STR diversity. Furthermore, mismatch distribution can be used to measure the distance between a particular haplotype and all the haplotypes in a sample. When applied to the most frequent haplotypes in Europe it revealed that the opportunity for IBS is not directly related to the frequency of a haplotype, but highly dependent on the proportion of neighbouring haplotypes--so, that reporting on the haplotype frequency for evaluating the significance of a match can be misleading.     

Allele frequencies of nine STR loci--D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, CSF1PO,TPOX, TH01, F13A01, FESFPS and vWA--in the population from Alagoas,northeastern Brazil

The polymorphism of nine STR loci has been studied in a sample of 598 individuals from the population of Alagoas, Northeastern Brazil. Determination of the allele frequencies as well as of several commonly used statistics in forensic and paternity testing were defined. The most polymorphic loci were TH01 and D7S317. The exact test demonstrated that the nine loci analyzed in the population have no deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P > 0.05).     

Pros and cons in the use of SNPs in forensic kinship investigation: a comparative analysis with STRs

Recent advances in single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) research have raised the possibility that these markers could replace the forensically established short tandem repeats (STRs). In this work, we compare STRs and SNPs applicability for kinship investigation in terms of expected informative content and probability of occurrence of "difficult cases" (when isolated Mendelian incompatibilities between alleged father and child are found). Since SNPs have a much lower mutation rate than STRs, these difficulties were expected to occur less frequently if SNPs were used instead of STRs. The purpose of this paper is to make some simulations allowing the estimation of how often such difficult cases are expected to occur using both types of markers and how serious can be their impact in routine work. Our results demonstrate that a battery based exclusively on SNPs matching the informative power of current STR kits would be prone, if applied to routine paternity investigation, to the occurrence of cases where the statistical evidence would be inconclusive. We infer that the introduction of a SNP based strategy, as a substitute to the now classical STR approach poses statistical problems that must be carefully evaluated.     

Allele frequencies of sixteen STRs in the population of Northern Portugal

Allele frequencies of sixteen autossomal short tandem repeats (STRs), D3S1358, VWA, D16S539, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, TH01, FGA, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, TPOX, CSF1PO, Penta D, Penta E (included in the PowerPlex 16 kit), and the SE33 (PowerPlex ES Monoplex System SE33) were determined in a sample of 200 healthy unrelated individuals from the north of Portugal.     

Chemical, physical and mineralogical characterization of soils from the Curitiba Metropolitan Region for forensic purpose

The objective of this paper is to propose a soil characterization methodology for forensic use, based on physical (textural and spectroscopic analyses), chemical (extractions with hydrofluoric acid, ammonium oxalate, sodium dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate and NaOH solution) and mineralogical (thermal analyses and X-ray diffraction) analyses. The study was carried out in the State of Paraná, Brazil, in three neighborhoods of Curitiba city and in two cities within the Curitiba Metropolitan Region. In order to verify the similarity between samples, four composite samples (repetitions) were prepared in each of the five studied sites. It was obtained a great number of quantitative variables (56) from a reduced amount of soil sample (1g). The variables selected from the chemical extractions (16) were more precise in grouping similar samples (same horizon and sampling site) as well as in separating samples collected in different horizons or sites. Seven distinct groups were formed, each with high intragroup similarity, but the unexpected dispersion of two samples (from a total of 40 samples) reduced the distinction of three other studied groups. The placement of the two samples in a different group and the higher dispersion (24 samples) for samples collected in the city of Curitiba are due to the great pedological homogeneity of this area (physical-chemical horizon characteristics, soil color and parent material). The methodology used in this work (analytical method and data treatment) presents high potential for forensic studies and can be easily validated for other areas.     

Grounding transnational business governance: A political-strategic perspective on government responses in the Global South

Recent scholarship on transnational business governance has begun to examine public-private interactions and the active role of governments. We make two key contributions that integrate and expand this literature. First, in juxtaposition to functionalist accounts, we foreground the fundamentally political and often contentious character of these interactions. As private transnational governance schemes and standards “hit the ground,” private-public interactions, we argue, are embedded in national political arenas and tied to domestic distributional struggles among competing regulatory coalitions. Building upon multiple empirical streams of research, we develop a political-strategic framework that maps the diversity of Southern government responses (substitute, adopt, repurpose, replace, or reject) to transnational private governance. Our framework shows that government responses are a function of both strategic fit with domestic industrial capabilities and structures, and strength of developmental state capacity. Second, our proposed framework adopts the vantage point of Global South governments and industries, particularly how development challenges and strategic options within global value chains affect their understanding of, and responses to, transnational schemes and standards. This is an important corrective to a Northern bias in the private governance literature.     

Campaign‐Style Enforcement and Regulatory Compliance

This article examines the recoupling mechanism of campaign‐style enforcement and its effects on environmental regulatory compliance. Drawing on the policy implementation literature and institutional theory, the authors develop a conceptual model of campaign‐style enforcement in which both resource mobilization and power redistribution are theorized to address decoupling problems in regulatory compliance. The two‐pathway recoupling mechanism is evidenced by an empirical investigation of the implementation of China's energy conservation and emission reduction policy as part of that country's 11th Five‐Year Plan. Findings suggest that campaign‐style enforcement can effectively improve regulatory compliance when it addresses the efficiency/legitimacy conflict by providing policy incentives and reorganizing a clear hierarchy of political authority. The article concludes with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of campaign‐style enforcement.     

The ethics of maxima and minima combined with social justice as a form of public corruption prevention

In recent decades, corruption has become one of the main problems perceived by Spanish society. As a result, the country’s citizens are experiencing a high level of disenchantment with politics and a general loss of confidence in the way public institutions function. Although in the last few years more stringent laws have been brought in to speed up procedures and help pursue crimes of corruption, the fact of the matter is that they have done little to reduce these cases and so they are not enough to put an end to the problem. There is a strong likelihood that, if a positive morality and a strong mutual union between ethics and politics were in place, legal loopholes would not be used for individual profitmaking operations that make a mockery of justice and the common good. Because of this, and taking public ethics as a basis, this article will review and discuss Adela Cortina’s hermeneutic definitions “of maxima and minima” and Agustín Domingo Moratalla’s concept of “social justice” in order to suggest tools that can be applied in preventing and fighting against political corruption.