Genetic study of 15 STRs loci of Identifiler system in Angola population

Angola is located in the African continent, in the area of southern Africa and has a population of approximately 14 million inhabitants. The Angola population has origin from Occidental and Southern Bantu people that came from the great lakes region, creating the most ever known African migration of our days.Allele frequencies for the 15 STRs loci in the AmpFlSTR Identifiler kit (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, HUMTH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, HUMVWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, HUMFIBRA/FGA and including the segment of the X-Y homologous gene amelogenin) were studied for Angola population.The genotype frequency of the 15 STR loci showed no significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium expectations and great values for the combined power of discrimination and combined power of a priori exclusion validate the application of these markers in forensic genetics. Comparative analyses between Angola population data and other relevant population database from Africa, Europe and American are presented.     

Evaluation of Lip Prints on Different Supports Using a Batch Image Processing Algorithm and Image Superimposition

This study aimed to develop and to assess an algorithm to facilitate lip print visualization, and to digitally analyze lip prints on different supports, by superimposition. It also aimed to classify lip prints according to sex. A batch image processing algorithm was developed, which facilitated the identification and extraction of information about lip grooves. However, it performed better for lip print images with a uniform background. Paper and glass slab allowed more correct identifications than glass and the both sides of compact disks. There was no significant difference between the type of support and the amount of matching structures located in the middle area of the lower lip. There was no evidence of association between types of lip grooves and sex. Lip groove patterns of type III and type I were the most common for both sexes. The development of systems for lip print analysis is necessary, mainly concerning digital methods.     

A GIS‐based Quantitative Approach for the Search of Clandestine Graves,Italy

Previous research on the RAG color‐coded prioritization systems for the discovery of clandestine graves has not considered all the factors influencing the burial site choice within a GIS project. The goal of this technical note was to discuss a GIS‐based quantitative approach for the search of clandestine graves. The method is based on cross‐referenced RAG maps with cumulative suitability factors to host a burial, leading to the editing of different search scenarios for ground searches showing high‐(Red), medium‐(Amber), and low‐(Green) priority areas. The application of this procedure allowed several outcomes to be determined: If the concealment occurs at night, then the “search scenario without the visibility” will be the most effective one; if the concealment occurs in daylight, then the “search scenario with the DSM‐based visibility” will be most appropriate; the different search scenarios may be cross‐referenced with offender's confessions and eyewitnesses’ testimonies to verify the veracity of their statements.     

Sudden Death Secondary to an Undiagnosed B‐Cell Lymphoma of the Hypopharynx and Infiltration of the Inferior Constrictor Muscle

The aim of this presentation was to share an uncommon form of sudden death, suffered by a 64‐year‐old woman, due to a mechanical obstruction of hypopharynx by an undiagnosed B‐cell lymphoma, infiltrating the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle. A forensic approach by means of scene investigation, circumstantial data collection, autopsy, and histological and toxicological investigations led to conclude that the cause of death was asphyxia, correlated with B‐cell lymphoma of the hypopharynx. The autopsy examination highlighted the presence of a wall thickening, infiltrating, and projecting into the hypopharynx lumen. The histological analysis showed the essential finding of a B‐cell lymphoma of the hypopharynx, diffusely infiltrating the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle. To conclude, this case demonstrates once more that in the absence of specific data, a thorough forensic investigation including autopsy, histological examination, and circumstantial data collection is mandatory to reach a correct cause of death.     

Determinants of Government Effectiveness

The direct relationship between government effectiveness and the population's well-being has generated a growing interest about the explanatory factors of governance quality. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine the determinants of government effectiveness, in relation to the organizational environment and political and internal characteristics of public administrations. For this, we used a sample composed by 202 countries observed between 2002 and 2008. A World Bank governance indicator represents the government effectiveness. We estimated a panel data dependence model by the Generalized Method of Moments estimator to avoid heterogeneity and endogeneity problems. Furthermore, a CHAID algorithm provides a classification of governance quality according to the predicted determinants.

The results show that government effectiveness is initially explained by the organizational environment, related to economic development and educational status. Later, and according to countries’ income distribution, political constrains and some organizational characteristics, such as gender diversity and government size, may improve governance quality.     

The Correlates of Local Government Responsiveness Under Decentralization: Do Performance Ratings Matter in the Philippines?

To improve local service delivery under decentralization, performance ratings are often introduced. In this article, performance ratings and other correlates of the citizens’ assessment of the responsiveness of their local governments are investigated with a regression analysis of survey data collected during the pilot test of a performance rating scheme in 12 Philippine cities and municipalities in 2001–2003. The local governments in the eight sites where the ratings were announced are assessed less responsive by their own constituents than those in the four control areas by theirs. Possibly, the citizens exposed to the ratings expected better performances from their officials.     

Buried voices: Mexican migrants’ views on the question of illegality

How do immigrant Mexican workers perceive the policies and social discourses that regulate their insertion into American society as noncitizens and illegals? Using ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews, evidence is presented that unauthorized Mexican migrants do not consider themselves lawbreakers but rather moral actors responding to difficult socioeconomic conditions. Informed by a keen understanding of the social forces oppressing them, these migrants articulate a discourse of social justice that works as a powerful counterpoint to the hegemonic ideas of citizenship, belonging, and illegality. A careful analysis of migrant social reflexivity offers a much-needed corrective to the prevailing top-down perspective typically offered among contemporary scholars. By looking at the ways in which migrants make sense of immigration policies and articulate their right to have rights, this examination departs from the widespread tendency among scholars and policy makers of analyzing the migrant’s social and civic status as a matter of assimilation and immigration control.     

Drugs WorkBook (DWB): A tool for the analysis of illicit drugs in seized materials

Accurate and reliable analytical measurements are essential when data are to be used to assist the Court in deciding whether or not a drug offence has been committed and therefore about either the innocence or guilt of the accused. The Italian law on drugs demands that compliance with specification limits be assessed on the basis of the actual content of controlled substance contained in seized materials. As a consequence, the role of measurement uncertainty, significant figures and rounding errors becomes critical. In order to assist analysts of forensic toxicology laboratories with illicit drug-related cases, a software tool named Drugs WorkBook (DWB) has been developed. The tool is useful for the quantification of illicit drugs in seized materials along with their measurement uncertainties, the assessment of compliance to specification limits, the printing of comprehensive laboratory reports and the organization of case archives. Other quality control topics, such as control charts, are included. The tool's databases can be edited by the user and maintained up to date. The tool is made freely available to the scientific community.     

Identification of two cannabimimetic compounds WIN48098 and AM679 in illegal products

Two synthetic cannabinoids have been identified, during a survey, as new adulterants; they might have been intended to be used as ingredients for smart drugs. The characterization of these compounds has been made by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), Orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), leading to the identification of WIN48098, a compound disclosed as a new adulterant in herbal and powder products, and AM679, identified in Italy for the first time.Taking into account the high number of synthetic cannabinoids seized during the last year in Italy, how quickly they appear on the illegal market and the rapidity required for analytical results, a method was developed for the simultaneous quantitation of several synthetic cannabinoids, using gas chromatography–flame ionization detection (GC–FID).