Mitochondrial Genome DNA Analysis of the Domestic Dog: Identifying Informative SNPs Outside of the Control Region*

Abstract: While the mitochondrial control region has proven successful for human forensic evaluations by indicating ethnic origin, domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) of seemingly unrelated breeds often form large groups based on identical control region sequences. In an attempt to break up these large haplotype groups, we have analyzed the remaining c. 15,484 base pairs of the canine mitochondrial genome for 79 dogs and used phylogenetic and population genetic methods to search for additional variability in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We have identified 356 SNPs and 65 haplotypes in the remainder of the mitochondrial genome excluding the control region. The exclusion capacity was found to be 0.018. The mitochondrial control region was also evaluated for the same 79 dogs. The signals from the different fragments do not conflict, but instead support one another and provide a larger fragment of DNA that can be analyzed as forensic evidence.     

The offender in the community: Implications of the experience in the United States for the new Czech Republic

This paper reviews America's community corrections history in order to draw relevant penal policy implications for the Czech Republic in their transition to democracy. The review reveals the implementation of numerous community-based correctional programs that have resulted in mixed results, at best. The paper concludes that if the Czech Republic is to advance a new and professional, effective penal system, they must address five critical areas: dealing with the Romany underclass, establishing intermediate sanctions, promoting a professional correctional work force, confronting the media coverage of crime, and managing the politics of crime policy. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

STR Profiles from DNA Samples with "Undetected" or Low Quantifiler™ Results

Abstract:  Screening methods capable of identifying DNA samples that will not yield short tandem repeat (STR) profiles are desired. In the past, quantitation methods have not been sensitive enough for this purpose. In this study, low level DNA samples were used to assess whether Quantifiler™ has a minimum quantitation value below which STR profiles would consistently fail to be detected. Buccal swabs were obtained and the DNA extracted, quantified, and serially diluted to concentrations ranging from 0.002 to 0.250 ng/μL. Samples were analyzed once with Quantifiler™, followed by Profiler Plus™ amplification and capillary electrophoresis analysis. An absolute minimum value below which STR results were unobtainable could not be defined. From the 96 low level samples tested, STR loci (including one full profile) were successfully amplified and detected from 27% of the samples "undetected" by Quantifiler™. However, no STR alleles were detected in 73% of these "undetected" samples, indicating that Quantifiler™ data may be useful for predicting STR typing success.     

“Kind of Natural,Kind of Wrong”: Young People's Beliefs about the Morality,Legality, and Normalcy of Sexual Aggression in Public Drinking Settings

Unwelcome touching, groping, and kissing are illegal, but widely tolerated in public drinking settings. This contingency in the law's response means that patrons routinely negotiate the moral boundaries of nonconsensual sexual contact. We use 197 interviews with college‐age individuals to examine the discursive strategies young people employ when negotiating those boundaries. We find that most interviewees have experiences with sexual aggression, do not categorize it as aggression, but advocate for stronger legal punishments against offenders. In accounting for this paradox, they draw on contradictory legal and cultural narratives that both normalize and condemn men's sexual aggression. We build on legal consciousness theories and gender theories by highlighting the complex ways that gender stereotypes enshrined in law are implicated in the construction of a social problem. We also contribute to the sociology of culture by explicating the often unconscious link between culture and action revealed in young people's narratives about sexual aggression.     

Metric Assessment of the Pubic Bone Using Known and Novel Data Points for Sex Estimation,

Biological sex estimation of skeletal remains is essential in forensic and archaeological analyses. Anthropologists most often use the pelvis, which is the most sexually dimorphic element both morphologically and metrically. While nonmetric pubic bone features have been studied extensively, few metric studies have examined this individual bone for dimorphism. For this study, three observers examined three previously identified and ten novel measurements of the pubic body on a modern sample of isolated pubic bones from the Maricopa County Forensic Science Center (FSC), in Phoenix, Arizona (n = 400). A relationship between pubic body measurements and biological sex was demonstrated, with significant correlations. Discriminant function analyses found that five measurements, four of which were novel, discriminated between males (89%) and females (86%). Observer experience level did not significantly impact the results. These five measurements were reliable and show promise for inclusion in metric methods for assessment of sex.     

Culture,Obesity Stereotypes,Self-Esteem,and the “Thin Ideal”: A Social Identity Perspective

Recent concerns with the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adults indicate the need to better understand the psychosocial correlates of weight. We examined the relationships among negative stereotypes of obesity, thin ideal beliefs, perceptions of the causes of obesity and of control over weight, body esteem, and global self-esteem. A negative correlation between beliefs in control over one's weight and self-esteem was mediated by both negative attitudes toward obesity and thin idealization. Additionally, body esteem and gender were related but this relationship was mediated by beliefs in control over weight and valuation of the thin ideal. Central to the theoretical foundation of this research, however, was the observed negative correlation between negative attitudes toward obesity and self-esteem. This relationship was mediated primarily by the belief that obesity is caused by personality shortcomings. This last finding is explained from a social identity perspective.     

Traumatic asphyxial deaths due to an uncontrolled crowd

Nine people died of traumatic asphyxia due to an uncontrolled crowd at a community basketball game in New York City in 1991. We reviewed the circumstances, postmortem findings, and the causes of death. The majority of people had petechiae of the conjunctivae and face consistent with chest compression. There were minimal superficial blunt injuries and no fractures or acute intoxications. These deaths are often incorrectly attributed to blunt force injuries, while the cause typically is asphyxia due to chest compression.     

Space-age medicine, stone-age government: how Medicare reimbursement of telemedicine services is depriving the elderly of quality medical treatment

We have the technology. What is needed is government financial commitment, so argues Kristen Jakobsen in the following discussion of "telemedicine." The term refers to the delivery of health care services by means of modern telecommunications technology. According to Ms. Jakobsen, the telephone, the fax machine, the Internet, and interactive audio-visual transmissions hold the key to making medical care more accessible and less expensive. Potential beneficiaries include vast populations of elderly in rural areas, who tend to be remote from upscale health care facilities and in need of the wherewithal to reach them. Standing in the way, in Ms. Jakobsen's view, is a government which lacks the boldness and the vision to lay an adequate fiscal foundation for this promising possibility.