Allele frequencies of six miniSTR loci (D10S1248, D14S1434, D22S1045, D4S2364, D2S441 and D1S1677) in a Spanish population

Allele frequencies and forensic parameters for six miniSTR autosomal loci (D10S1248, D14S1434, D22S1045, D4S2364, D2S441 and D1S1677) were obtained from a sample of 264 unrelated individuals from Spain. No significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg expectations were found. Due to the small PCR products (<125 bp), the use of these non-CODIS (NC) miniSTRs can increase the probability that a degraded sample can be typed. Additionally, these systems can be used in routine paternity analyses where more markers are needed to increase the power of exclusion or in complex paternity cases (e.g. involving closely related individuals).     

Analysis of body fluid mixtures by mtDNA sequencing: An inter-laboratory study of the GEP-ISFG working group

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) working group of the GEP-ISFG (Spanish and Portuguese Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics) carried out an inter-laboratory exercise consisting of the analysis of mtDNA sequencing patterns in mixed stains (saliva/semen and blood/semen). Mixtures were prepared with saliva or blood from a female donor and three different semen dilutions (pure, 1:10 and 1:20) in order to simulate forensic casework. All labs extracted the DNA by preferential lysis and amplified and sequenced the first mtDNA hypervariable region (HVS-I). Autosomal and Y-STR markers were also analysed in order to compare nuclear and mitochondrial results from the same DNA extracts. A mixed stain prepared using semen from a vasectomized individual was also analysed. The results were reasonably consistent among labs for the first fractions but not for the second ones, for which some laboratories reported contamination problems. In the first fractions, both the female and male haplotypes were generally detected in those samples prepared with undiluted semen. In contrast, most of the mixtures prepared with diluted semen only yielded the female haplotype, suggesting that the mtDNA copy number per cell is smaller in semen than in saliva or blood. Although the detection level of the male component decreased in accordance with the degree of semen dilution, it was found that the loss of signal was not consistently uniform throughout each electropherogram. Moreover, differences between mixtures prepared from different donors and different body fluids were also observed. We conclude that the particular characteristics of each mixed stain can deeply influence the interpretation of the mtDNA evidence in forensic mixtures (leading in some cases to false exclusions). In this sense, the implementation of preliminary tests with the aim of identifying the fluids involved in the mixture is an essential tool. In addition, in order to prevent incorrect conclusions in the interpretation of electropherograms we strongly recommend: (i) the use of additional sequencing primers to confirm the sequencing results and (ii) interpreting the results to the light of the phylogenetic perspective.     

Bridging the gap between judges and the public? A multi-method study

This article examines the gap between Dutch judges and the public in terms of preferred severity of sentences. It focuses on one particular explanation usually given for the gap: the lack of case-specific, detailed information on the part of the general public. Findings from three studies are reported and combined: (a) a survey among a sample from the Dutch population (N = 2,127), (b) a sentencing experiment with judges in Dutch criminal courts (N = 180), and (c) a sentencing experiment, using the same case materials as with judges, but now with a sample from the Dutch population (N = 917). Results show that providing the public with detailed case information indeed reduces severity of sentences preferred. Moreover, those members of the public who were given short and unbalanced newspaper reports preferred much harsher sentences than did those who were given the full case files. However, despite such a reduction in punitiveness as a result of information, the public’s preferred sentences remain much more punitive than judges’ sentences pertaining to exactly the same case files.

Coefficient stability and structural change in the Spanish economy

The main aim is the study of coefficient stability using comparative analyses of Spanish input–output tables of recent decades. We try to provide answers to questions related to the nature and intensity of changes in the production structure, implementing procedures both of a direct nature as well as of an indirect one, following Mesnard’s proposal. We further raise the possibility of forecasting branch evolution by means of demand-driven or supply-driven models, depending on coefficient stability, in accordance with the work of Ranko Bon.

Multiplex amplification of mitochondrial DNA for human and species identification in forensic evaluation

We describe a method combining in a single-round polymerase chain reaction amplifications of both cytochrome b and hypervariable D-loop mitochondrial DNA allowing species determination and individual human identification. Following the amplification step, amplicons are first screened on an agarose gel. The presence of only one band indicates that the sample is nonhuman, while the presence of two bands indicates a human origin. Subsequent DNA sequencing of the hypervariable D-loop region DNA allows for individual human identification as the presence of cytochrome b fragment does not interfere with the analysis. Similarly, further species determination on the basis of the phylogenetically variable cytochrome b gene is possible by sequencing of the cytochrome b DNA fragment.     

Bad moon on the rise? Lunar cycles and incidents of crime

Popular cultures in Western societies have long espoused the notion that phases of the moon influence human behavior. In particular, there is a common belief the full moon increases incidents of aberrant, deviant, and criminal behavior. Using police, astronomical, and weather data from a major southwestern American city, this study assessed whether lunar cycles related with rates of reported crime. The findings fail to support popular lore, which has suggested that lunar phase influenced the volume of crime reported to the police. Future research directions examining qualitative rather than quantitative aspects of this problem may yield further inform the understanding of whether lunar cycles appreciably influence demands for policing services.     

Marriage patterns in 19th-century Vila do Conde: The study of an urban centre in northwest Portugal

This article investigates marital patterns in the urban town of Vila do Conde, northwest Portugal, during the 19th century. The analysis, which is based on the application of the family reconstitution method, reveals differences in marital patterns between rural and urban settlements. It was observed that Vila do Conde displayed different patterns of marriage than those that have often been described for the northwestern region of Portugal, with an emphasis on lower levels of celibacy, as well as lower fertility rates. It was discovered that migration played a very important role in these dynamics. It is a fact that the increasing outflow of male emigrants had a distortion effect on the marriage market. Nevertheless, the influx of in-migrants to the town contributed to alleviate the adult male shortage and resulting gender imbalance, generating lower proportions of celibacy and higher levels of total fertility. Although several important publications have already identified demographic trends in many parishes of the region in focus, few have been concerned with urban parishes. This research aims to contribute to a better understanding of the population dynamics of urban centres in northwest Portugal when set within the context of a number of the structural changes specific to that region and Portugal as a whole in the 19th century.     

Directed embryo donation: free choice or discrimination?

The issue of whether to allow or prohibit the directed anonymous donation of human embryos for reproductive use has been publicly contentious. The claims that directed donation are a donor's autonomous right contrast with claims that the practice is discriminatory. Recent legislation and legal recommendation on the issue has been inconsistent or contradictory. This article specifically addresses the question as to whether the directed donation of embryos is the exercise of free choice or an act of discrimination. This question is considered from both ethical and legal viewpoints.     

Derrida,Semiotics and Justice

In this essay, one of Derrida’s early texts, Plato’s pharmacy, is analysed in detail, more specifically in relation to its reflections on writing and its relation to law. This analysis takes place with reference to a number of Derrida’s other texts, in particular those on Freud. It is especially Freud’s texts on dream interpretation and on the dream-work which are of assistance in understanding the background to Derrida’s analysis of writing in Plato’s pharmacy. The essay shows the close relation between Derrida’s analysis of Plato’s texts and Freud’s study of the dream-work. The forces at work in dreams, it appears, are at play in all texts, which in turn explains Derrida’s contentions in relation to the pharmakon as providing the condition of possibility of Plato’s texts. The essay furthermore points to the continuity between this ‘early’ text of Derrida and his ‘later’, seemingly more politico-legal texts of the 1990s. A close reading of Plato’s pharmacy, with its investigation via ‘writing’ of the foundations of metaphysics, and thus also of the Western concept of law, is obligatory should one wish to comprehend how Derrida attempts to exceed the restricted economy of metaphysics through his analysis of concepts such as justice and hospitality.