Probability of exclusion in paternity testing: time to reassess

The average exclusion probability is a measure of efficiency in paternity testing; it refers to the a priori ability of a battery of tests to detect paternity inconsistencies. This parameter measures the capacity of the system to detect a false accusation of paternity. Traditionally, this average exclusion probability has been estimated as the probability of excluding a man who is not the father by an inconsistency in at least one of the studied loci. We suggest that this criterion should be corrected, as currently the presumed father is excluded when at least three genetic inconsistencies are found with the child being tested, not just one. This change of criterion has occurred because of the use of microsatellite loci, whose mutation rates are much greater than those of the coding genes used previously in paternity studies. We propose the use of the average probability of exclusion for at least three loci (not only one), as an honest measure of the combined probability of exclusion of several loci, and we propose an algebraic expression to calculate it.     

Criminalystic: effectiveness of lysochromes on the developing of invisible lipstick-contaminated lipmarks on human skin. A preliminary study

Latent prints are an important evidence for identification. Nowadays, the technical means, the implementation of image processing techniques and the use of database makes it possible to detect and get information from some prints that seem to be useless at first sight. On the other hand, the possibility of using the print as a DNA source has to be considered, so as to double its identifying value. Human skin is a particularly difficult surface for developing this kind of evidences. Although different methods for locating and developing latent fingerprints on the skin have been already described, it has not been found any method, at the revised bibliography, to obtain and develop invisible lipmarks, that is, lipmarks from protective lipstick, or permanent or long-lasting lipstick. The aim of the work that follows is to determine the effectiveness of several reagents for developing invisible lipmarks on the corpses' skin. Preliminary results show that, under the described experimental conditions, the reagents used, Sudan III, Oil Red O and Sudan Black, are effective for obtaining recent latent lip prints on corpse's skin.     

Genetic data on 10 STR loci a population of western Poland

Allele frequencies for 10 STRs included in the AmpFlSTR SGM Plus kit were determined in a population sample of 668 unrelated individuals living in western Poland. All loci met Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Exact tests disequilibrium analysis revealed two departures from independence out of 45 pairwise comparisons. The combined matching probability (MP) and power of exclusion (PE) for all 15 loci are 2.56 x 10(-13) and 0.99996, respectively.     

Solid-phase microextraction for the determination of cocaine and cocaethylene in human hair by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A method for the simultaneous determination of cocaine (COC) and cocaethylene (CE) in human hair was developed, using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as analytical technique to identify and quantify the drugs. Selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode was used to obtain higher sensitivity. The deuterated-labeled analogues were used as internal standards. The detector response was linear for the drugs studied over the range 0.4-15 ng/mg, with correlation coefficients higher than 0.995. The coefficients of variation oscillated between 0.65% and 14.18% and the accuracy was in the range from 0.73% to 11.20%. The limits of quantitation and detection were found to be acceptable. Finally, this method was applied to 15 hair samples from cocaine users, obtaining positive results in all cases. The mean concentrations were 5.39 ng/mg (range: 0.43-8.98 ng/mg) for cocaine and 1.11 ng/mg (range: 0.42-2.23 ng/mg) for cocaethylene.     

New findings concerning the pathogenesis of acute carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning

The pathomechanism of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning was studied by means of cardiopathological and neuropathological investigations in experimental CO intoxication. It has been shown that besides CO-hemoglobin association, the binding of CO to cytochromes is a significant factor. The latter is thought to be responsible for the cytotoxic phenomena. Combined ultrastructural and cytochemical studies have enabled differentiation between toxic, hypoxic, and mixed alternations.     

Typeability of AmpFlSTR SGM Plus loci in brain and thyroid gland tissue samples incubated in different environments

Autolysis and putrefaction are crucial factors responsible for degradation of cells, tissues, and organs. Postmortem changes may assume different course depending on extrinsic and intrinsic conditions. The aim of the study was assessment of environmental effect on typeability of AmpFlSTR SGM Plus loci: D3S1358, VWA, D16S539, D2S1338, D81179, D21S11, D18S51, D19S433, TH01, FGA, and gender marker amelogenin. Brain and thyroid gland tissue specimens collected during autopsies of five persons aged 20-30 years were incubated at 21 degrees C and 4 degrees C in different environmental conditions. DNA was extracted by organic method from tissue samples collected in 7-day intervals and subsequently typed using AmpFlSTR SGM Plus kit and ABI 310. A fast decrease in typeability rate was seen in specimens incubated in peat soil and in sand. Brain tissue samples were typeable in all AmpFlSTR SGM Plus loci within 126 days of incubation at 4 degrees C. Faster DNA degradation was recorded in thyroid gland specimens. In samples with negative genotyping results, no DNA was found by fluorometric quantitiation.     

Population genetic data for 18 STR loci in Costa Rica

Allele frequencies for 18 STR autosomal loci (D3S1358, VWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, TH01, TPOX, CSF1PO, Penta D, Penta E, D19S433, D2S1338 and SE33) were obtained from a sample of 191-500 unrelated individuals from Costa Rica, Central America.     

Searching for the origin of Romanies: Slovakian Romani, Jats of Haryana and Jat Sikhs Y-STR data in comparison with different Romani populations

Haplotype frequencies for 11 Y-STR markers (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385, DYS437, DYS438 and DYS439) in a Romani population (n=63) from Slovakia, Jats of Haryana (n=84) and Jat Sikhs (n=80) from India were determined. The Slovakian Romani, the Haryana and Sikh populations were endogamous based on their unique haplotype ratio and haplotype diversity values, although the Sikh population appeared to be more diverse. AMOVA revealed non-significant differences between the Romanies and significant differences with non-Romani populations. The Macedonian Romani population differed from all Romani populations examined. Frequent haplotypes observed in Romani populations were sporadic in northwest Indian populations. Thirteen out of 316 populations worldwide were found to share the six most frequent haplotypes of the Slovakian Romanies when the screening conditions were narrowed based on the population size to be over 40, the occurrence of the haplotypes was more than one and the sum frequencies of the most frequent haplotypes was at least 0.02. The most common haplotypes were also observed in other Romani groups. When searching with two Indian (Malbar and Malaysian Indian) most frequent haplotypes under the same conditions matches could be detected in all Romani populations except for the Macedonian Romanies. The search with the Jat Sikhs and Jats of Haryana most frequent haplotypes resulted no matches in Romani populations.     

Public and private sector wages interactions in a general equilibrium model

It is common wisdom that public sector wages are not determined in the same way as private sector wages. At the same time, the empirical evidence available for OECD countries finds a strong positive correlation between public and private sector wages. In this paper, we develop a model that is consistent with a political economy view of the determination of public sector wages and employment, while being consistent with the said empirical evidence. Public finance constraints are crucial: In booms, governments expand employment and wages, while in downturns, lack of tax revenues forces the government to cut back the wage bill.