Population data on the thirteen CODIS core short tandem repeat loci in African Americans, U.S. Caucasians, Hispanics, Bahamians, Jamaicans, and Trinidadians

Allele distributions for 13 tetrameric short tandem repeat (STR) loci, CSF1PO, FGA, TH01, TPOX, VWA, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, and D21S11, were determined in African American, United States Caucasian, Hispanic, Bahamian, Jamaican, and Trinidadian sample populations. There was little evidence for departures from Hardy-Weinberg expectations (HWE) in any of the populations. Based on the exact test, the loci that departed significantly from HWE are: D21S11 (p = 0.010, Bahamians); CSF1PO (p = 0.014, Trinidadians); TPOX (p = 0.011, Jamaicans and p = 0.035, U.S. Caucasians); and D16S539 (p = 0.043, Bahamians). After employing the Bonferroni correction for the number of loci analyzed (i.e., 13 loci per database), these observations are not likely to be significant. There is little evidence for association of alleles between the loci in these databases. The allelic frequency data are similar to other comparable data within the same major population group.     

A validation study for the extraction and analysis of DNA from human nail material and its application to forensic casework.

A validation study was conducted to demonstrate that deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) could be successfully extracted from human nail material and analyzed using short tandem repeat (STR) profiling and/or mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequencing. This study involved the development of a DNA extraction protocol that includes a cleaning procedure designed to remove external contaminants (e.g., biological, chemical). This protocol was used to test human nail material that had been soaked in whole blood from a second donor and coated with gold-palladium to simulate scanning electron microscopic analysis. The results showed no indication of a mixture and were consistent with that of the nail donor. Fresh human nail material usually yielded both STR profiles and mtDNA sequence information; however, aged human nail material (approximately eight years old) yielded only mtDNA sequence information. Upon completion of the validation study, the extraction protocol was used for the analysis of a torn fingernail fragment recovered from the scene of a violent homicide in 1983. A partial STR profile and mtDNA sequence information indicated that the fingernail fragment was excluded as originating from the suspect and was, in fact, consistent with originating from one of the victims.     

Evaluation of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) membrane test assays for the forensic identification of seminal fluid.

Prostate specific antigen (PSA, also known as p30), a glycoprotein produced by the prostatic gland and secreted into seminal plasma, is a marker used for demonstrating the presence of seminal fluid. Methods for the detection of PSA include Ouchterlony double diffusion, crossover electrophoresis, rocket immuno-electrophoresis, radial immunodiffusion, and ELISA. The extremely sensitive ELISA technique can detect PSA in concentrations as low as approximately 4 ng/mL. However, all these techniques are cumbersome and time consuming to perform in forensic laboratories, especially when only a few samples per week are processed. Various membrane tests are currently used in clinical settings to screen a patient's serum for the presence of PSA at levels greater than 4 ng/mL. In this study we evaluated three immunochromatographic PSA membrane tests by analyzing semen stains stored at room temperature for up to 30 years, post-coital vaginal swabs taken at different time after intercourse, semen-free vaginal swabs, and various female and male body fluids, including urine. The data demonstrate that PSA membrane test assays offer the same sensitivity as ELISA-based tests and provide a rapid approach for the forensic identification of seminal fluid. Furthermore, when the supernatant from a DNA extraction is used for the assay, there is essentially no DNA consumption for determining the presence of PSA in a forensic sample.     

Recovering the Indigenous Legal Traditions of India: Classical Hindu Law in Practice in Late Medieval Kerala

The collection of Malayalam records entitled Vanjeri Grandhavari, taken from the archives of an important Namputiri Brahmin family and the temple under its leadership, provides some long-awaited information regarding a wide range of legal activities in late medieval Kerala. The organization of law and the jurisprudence represented by these records bear an unmistakable similarity to legal ideas found in dharmastra texts. A thorough comparison of the records and relevant dharma texts shows that landholding Namputiri Brahmins, who possessed enormous political and economic power in the region, mediated the implementation of dharmastra into the legal system. From this comparison arise new understandings of law and legal categories such as custom and positive law. Moreover, such comparisons begin to elucidate the problems involved in Western assumptions that it is textual law, not its interpretation and application by humans, which controls behavior. The Vanjeri records demonstrate not only the importance of dharmastra as a historical document but also the manner and extent to which dharmastra provided the foundation for legal systems in Kerala as well as in other regions of India.     

The morphofunctional changes in the internal organs in the modelling of poisonings by psilocybine-containing mushrooms]

Histological analysis of the viscera in experimental poisoning with psilocybin-containing mushrooms showed nonspecific changes in all examined organs, presenting as expressed hemocirculatory disorders and intracellular dystrophy. Quantitative histochemical analysis showed appreciable shifts in the activities of enzymes involved in the cytoplasmic and mitochondrial redox processes and of specific enzymes involved in nerve tissue metabolism. This may reflect some features in the direct effects of narcotic alkaloids contained in psilocybin-producing mushrooms.     

Self-esteem and delinquency

Cross-lagged panel correlation technique is used to examine whether self-esteem has a greater effect on delinquency than delinquency has on self-esteem. Analysis of a nationwide study of tenth-grade boys shows that self-esteem is the more powerful causal factor, even when initial levels of delinquency are held constant. This result, however, is found to be stronger in the lower class than in the upper class. These data are interpreted as lending greater support to Kaplan's theory of the self-enhancing nature of delinquent behavior than to the idea of reflected appraisals.The research reported in this article was funded by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH27747), which is gratefully acknowledged. The data and tabulations utilized in this article were made available (in part) by the Institute for Social Research Social Science Archive. The data were originally collected by Dr. Jerald G. Bachman, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan. Neither the original collector of the data nor the archive bears any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Philadelphia, April 2, 1978.Received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and is interested particularly in the social influence on the self-concept.Received his Ph.D. from Columbia University and is interested in the structure and development of the self-concept.Received her Ph.D. from Stanford University. Current research interests are related to a longitudinal study of personality development.     

Actual and perceived intrafamilial attitudes of late adolescents and their parents

The present study assessed the comparability of adolescents' (N=184), their mothers' (N=184), and their fathers' (N=184) attitudes toward contemporary societal issues, as well as each familial group's perceptions of the other two groups' attitudes. Results of multivariated analyses of variance indicated that while there were significant overall differences between adolescents' and either parent's self-ratings for the 36 questionnaire items (dealing with such topics as drug use, sexuality, and dress codes), major (i.e., 2-scale-point) differences between generational groups existed on only about 20% of the items. However, as predicted, both adolescents and parents misperceived the extensiveness of the divisions between them. Adolescents significantly overestimated the number of major differences between themselves and their mothers and fathers, while these two parental groups significantly underestimated such divisions. These distortions in perceived attitudes were also reflected in the results of correlational analyses assessing intrafamilial attitude consistencies and inconsistencies across the 36 items. Self-alternative-family-members' perceived attitudes correlations showed greater consistency than existed in the self-alternative-family-members' actual attitudes correlations. Moreover, both analyses of variance and correlational analyses indicated that there was greater similarity between the actual attitudes of the mothers and fathers than between either parental group and their children. These results are discussed in terms of the cognitive and emotional significance of the intrafamilial attitudes of adolescents and parents.Received his Ph.D. from the City University of New York in developmental psychology. Current research interests include the relation of organismic variables to personality/social development.Received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Denver. Research interests include measurement theory and cognition.     

Competitive bidding and states' purchase of services: the case of mental health care in Massachusetts.

Over the past two decades states have significantly increased their use of competitive bidding to purchase health and social services from private agencies. Competitive contracting is thought to facilitate program administration, to reduce costs, and to increase the quality of delivered services. We evaluate these claims in light of Massachusetts' experience with competitive contracting for mental health care. We find that few of the expected benefits are achieved. In practice, supposedly competitive bidding systems often degenerate into administratively complicated negotiations between the state and private monopolies. This results in higher costs and lower quality of services. In light of this negative assessment, three strategies for reform are proposed and evaluated.     

Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws and Equitable Sharing Activity by the Police

Research Summary

For several decades, critics have argued that civil forfeiture laws create incentives for law enforcement to increase departmental revenue by “policing for profit.” By using data on federal equitable sharing payments to nearly 600 local law enforcement agencies between 2000 and 2012, we examine the relationship between the characteristics of state forfeiture laws and equitable sharing payments to local agencies. Our results indicate that agencies in states with state laws that are more restrictive or less rewarding to police collect more in federal equitable sharing. This finding supports the critics’ argument that police behavior in regard to forfeiture activities is influenced by the financial rewards and burdens involved.

Policy Implications

Our results reveal that the findings of investigative journalism and case study research, that is, that police forfeiture activities are influenced by financial rewards, may be more generalizable to law enforcement than previously thought. Despite recent state‐level reforms, federal equitable sharing and most state forfeiture laws provide limited due process protections and have minimal accountability or reporting requirements. Concerns about the impact of civil forfeiture practices on perceptions of procedural justice and police legitimacy are discussed, and possible policy reforms are reviewed.