Significance of tooth anomalies in personal identification

Described in the paper are the study results of the stomatological status of 385 cadavers, in whom the frequency rate of anomalies of separate teeth and of their varieties were evaluated as applicable to the personality identification tasks.     

Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage related to methamphetamine abuse: autopsy findings and clinical correlation

A healthy 31-year-old male abstinent from drug abuse during his recent incarceration developed slurred speech, a severe headache, and left-sided hemiparesis prior to his eventual death 9.5 hours after inhalation of methamphetamine. On postmortem examination, inspection of the brain revealed bilateral subarachnoid hemorrhage, with a prominent intralobar hemorrhage centered within the right frontal cerebral hemisphere. No evidence of vasculitis, infarction, intraventricular hemorrhage, or ruptured aneurysm could be observed. While this is not the first report of a methamphetamine-related stroke, this report describes the autopsy findings of an intracerebral hemorrhage secondary to methamphetamine abuse on autopsy and compares the findings and antemortem history to previously reported methamphetamine cerebral vascular deaths.     

Concurrent cross-validation of the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire: a tool for assessing violent and nonviolent recidivism and institutional adjustment on a sample of North Carolina offenders

The aim of this study was to determine whether the Self-Appraisal Questionnaire (SAQ), a tool that was found to be reliable and valid for assessing violent and nonviolent recidivism and institutional adjustment for Canadian offenders, would also be valid for the same purposes with a demographically different population of North Carolina offenders. The internal consistency alphas and SAQ total and subscale scores' correlations were high. Offenders with high SAQ total scores had significantly more violent offenses, had more total number of past offenses, had higher numbers of past arrests, and had more institutional infractions than those with low SAQ scores. There were no significant differences between the responses of the African American and Caucasian offenders on the SAQ scales. These results support previous findings regarding the reliability and validity of the SAQ for assessing recidivism and institutional adjustment and suggest that the SAQ could be used with diverse populations.     

States and the politics of incrementalism: health policy in Wisconsin during the 1990s

Wisconsin officials during the 1990s seemed poised to enact innovative and comprehensive health care reform. During that era, an ambitious, popular, and reform-minded governor led the state. The state had an unusually professional legislature. The state's economy was strong. Even with these advantages, however, the report card on the state's efforts is mixed. The state enacted a fairly modest set of reforms that were financed largely by the federal government and subject to extensive federal oversight. The Wisconsin story thus seems to be about the politics of incrementalism. But while critics of incrementalist politics point out that the number of uninsured continues to grow, the catalytic federalism witnessed in Wisconsin in the 1990s may well be the best model for implementing health care reform.     

Allele frequencies data and statistic parameters for 16 STR loci-D19S433, D2S1338, CSF1PO, D16S539, D7S820, D21S11, D18S51, D13S317, D5S818, FGA, Penta E, TH01, vWA, D8S1179, TPOX, D3S1358-in the Rio de Janeiro population, Brazil

Allele frequencies for 16 short tandem repeats (STR) loci were determined with a sample of 230-300 unrelated individuals from the population of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The loci are the most commonly used in forensic and paternity testing, being analysed by the Identifiler (Applied Biosystems) and PowerPlex 2.1 (Promega) commercial kits. It was proved that Penta E and D18S51 are the most polymorphic loci.     

Y-STR polymorphism in Central Anatolian Region of Turkey

Eight Y-chromosome specific STR (Y-STR) loci including DYS19, DYS388, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392 and DYS393 were investigated in a group of males from Central Anatolian Region of Turkey. Healthy 59 males living in this region for at least three generations were included in the study. PCR analysis was carried out with Y-STR specific primers on genomic DNA obtained from peripheral blood samples and size determination of PCR products was performed by silver staining following 6% polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). DYS388 was found to be the locus with lowest diversity (D) whereas DYS389II was the locus with highest diversity. The current study presented a framework of variation for the eight Y-STR loci in Central Anatolian population.     

Forensic analysis of hallucinogenic fungi: a DNA-based approach

Hallucinogenic fungi synthesize two controlled substances, psilocin and psilocybin. Possession of the fungal species that contain these compounds is a criminal offence in North America. Some related species that are morphologically similar, do not contain the controlled substances. Therefore, unambiguous identification of fungi to the species level is critical in determining if a mushroom is illegal. We investigate a phylogenetic approach for the identification of species that contain the psychoactive compounds. We analyzed 35 North American specimens representing seven different genera of hallucinogenic and non-hallucinogenic mushrooms. We amplified and sequenced the internal transcribed spacer region of the rDNA (ITS-1) and a 5' portion of the nuclear large ribosomal subunit of rRNA (nLSU rRNA or 28S). ITS-1 locus sequence data was highly variable and produced a phylogenetic resolution that was not consistent with morphological identifications. In contrast, the nLSU rRNA data clustered isolates from the same species and separated hallucinogen containing and non-hallucinogen containing isolates into distinct clades. With this information, we propose an approach that combines the specificity of PCR detection and the resolving power of phylogenetic analysis to efficiently and unambiguously identify hallucinogenic fungal specimens for legal purposes.