Detection of human proteins in buried blood using ELISA and monoclonal antibodies: towards the reliable species indentification of blood stains on buried material.

The survival of human proteins in blood stains on fragments of cloth buried in exposed soil was examined in a 15-month investigation carried out from September 1990 to December 1991. During this period there was a wide variety of weather conditions. Samples were exhumed at 4-weekly intervals for 16 weeks and finally at 65 weeks; extracts of the stains were tested for albumin and IgG using a highly specific and sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) performed with monoclonal antibodies. Human albumin survived well throughout the 15 months of study, but IgG could be detected only in the 4- and 8-week samples. The reactions for IgG were weaker than those for albumin, although the method's sensitivity (10 ng) was the same for each protein. Appropriate buried and non-buried control experiments were carried out using cloth, either unstained or stained with human blood or animal sera; there was no cross-reactivity between human and the other species investigated and soil did not affect the assay; under laboratory conditions, IgG and albumin survived equally well. The system's versatility was illustrated by using monoclonal anti-bovine-albumin to detect specific albumin in the extracts of buried cloth which has been stained with bovine serum. It was concluded that ELISA performed with monoclonal antibodies could be of great value in identifying blood stains for forensic purposes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Typing of mitochondrial DNA coding region SNPs of forensic and anthropological interest using SNaPshot minisequencing

The development of new methodologies for high-throughput SNP analysis is one of the most stimulating areas in genetic research. Here, we describe a rapid and robust assay to simultaneously genotype 17 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) coding region SNPs by minisequencing using SNaPshot. SNaPshot is a methodology based on a single base extension of an unlabeled oligonucleotide with labeled dideoxy terminators. The set of SNPs implemented in this multiplexed SNaPshot reaction allow us to allocate common mitochondrial West Eurasian haplotypes into their corresponding branch in the mtDNA skeleton, with special focus on those haplogroups lacking unambiguous diagnostic positions in the first and second hypervariable regions (HVS-I/II; by far, the most common segments analyzed by sequencing). Particularly interesting is the set of SNPs that subdivide haplogroup H; the most frequent haplogroup in Europe (40–50%) and one of the most poorly characterized phylogenetically in the HVS-I/II region. In addition, the polymorphic positions selected for this multiplex reaction increase considerably the discrimination power of current mitochondrial analysis in the forensic field and can also be used as a rapid screening tool prior to full sequencing analysis. The method has been validated in a sample of 266 individuals and shows high accuracy and robustness avoiding both the use of alternative time-consuming classical strategies (i.e. RFLP typing) and the need for high quantities of DNA template.     

Managing Fiscal Federalism: Revenue Allocation Issues

Like most federal systems, Nigeria has a revenue distributionsystem in which the national government shares revenues withstate and local governments. Since the early 1970s, the bulkof revenue has been collected by the national government. Muchof this revenue has been derived from petroleum taxes and miningrents and royalties. Various proportions of this revenue havethen been distributed to state and local governments under arevenue allocation system (RAS) using different formulas. Akey problem, however, is that revenue allocations since 1970have been driven largely by political considerations and byformula factors, such as jurisdictional population and stateequality, rather than by factors associated with economic developmentimperatives.     

Prosecuting assaultive psychiatric patients.

For many reasons, inpatient psychiatric units are increasingly faced with treatment and management of violent individuals. This fosters a need to consider potential institutional responses to patient violence. This paper focuses on one response--prosecution of these persons. The existing literature on this topic is reviewed. In addition, the case history of a difficult but successful prosecution of an assaultive patient is presented. This case highlighted the development of guidelines, which are outlined herein, for determining the appropriateness of seeking legal action against patients. The paper concludes with an assessment of the benefits and risks associated with patient prosecution.     

Cocaine and homicide in Memphis and Shelby county: an epidemic of violence

In Memphis and the surrounding county, there were a record number of homicides (179) in 1986. During the same year, there was a marked increase in medical examiner cases where tests were positive for cocaine or its metabolites. Review of medical examiner and toxicology records from 1980 to 1986 found 87 cocaine related deaths; 46 of these were homicides. In 1986 alone, there were 53 cocaine related deaths, all manners, and 31 cocaine related homicides. In this year, 17.3% of the homicides were positive for cocaine or metabolite. The cocaine related homicides were similar to other homicides in terms of age, race, sex, blood ethanol concentration, and cause of death being due most often to firearms. In homicide cases in which an abuse drug was detected, cocaine accounted for the entire increase in 1986. Police records indicated that cocaine directly contributed to the homicide in 39% of the cases in which the drug was found. In other cases, we speculate that cocaine altered behavior may have contributed to the victim's being murdered either during the drug "high" or during the posteuphoric depression or withdrawal phase.     

Minimizing the social cost of drug abuse: An economic analysis of alternatives for policy

The use of heroin, with its concomitant social problems, is facilitated by an illicit market process which functions similarly to economic markets in general. The analysis of this process, incorporated in a model embodying the interacting relationships of crime generation and control, permits evaluation of three fundamentally different strategies for social control. These are controlling supply through law enforcement and other strategies, controlling demand by detaining addicts, or reducing illicit market activitity by introducing an effective substitute for the services of that market. When all the social costs of addiction are taken into account and when minimizing the total of those costs is taken to be the objective, the authors conclude that the best solution will lie with the establishment of a drug maintenance program. Properly administered, such a program would undermine the illicit market by reducing demand. Furthermore, it can be expected to reduce levels of drug related crimes and to moderate factors encouraging addiction.The authors wish to acknowledge the helpful comments of Perry Shapiro and an unnamed referee and the support of the Russell Sage Foundation during the writing of this analysis.     

U.S. Power and the Politics of Economic Governance in the Americas

This article examines the nature of the emerging regional economic regime in the Americas and argues that the dominant approach to economic governance is one defined by the assertion of U.S. power in the region and oriented toward distinctively U.S. interests and preferences. This has been clearly evident in the evolution of the Free Trade Area of the Americas but also, with the deceleration and fragmentation of that process during 2002 and 2003, in the growing prioritization of bilateralism. The leverage afforded by the bilateral negotiation of trade agreements acts to situate primary influence in shaping the rules that constitute the regional economic regime, and the primary functions associated with governing in this context, firmly within the agencies of the U.S. state. This essay therefore explores how the hegemonic power of the United States manifests itself in the substance of the hemispheric project and the shape of the economic regime associated with it.