Qiagen's Investigator™ Quantiplex Kit as a Predictor of STR Amplification Success from Low‐Yield DNA Samples,

Qiagen's Investigator? Quantiplex kit, a total human DNA quantitation kit, has a 200‐base pair internal control, fast cycling time, and scorpion molecules containing a covalently linked primer, probe, fluorophore, and quencher. The Investigator? Quantiplex kit was evaluated to investigate a value under which complete short tandem repeat (STR) failure was consistently obtained. Buccal swabs were extracted using the Qiagen QIAamp^® DNA Blood Mini Kit, quantified with the Investigator? Quantiplex kit using a tested half‐volume reaction, amplified with the ABI AmpFlSTR^® Identifiler kit, separated on the 3100Avant Genetic Analyzer, and data analyzed with GeneMapper^® ID v.3.2. While undetected samples were unlikely to produce sufficient data for statistical calculations or CODIS upload (2.00 alleles and 0.82 complete loci on average), data may be useful for exclusionary purposes. Thus, the Investigator? Quantiplex kit may be useful for predicting STR success. These findings are comparable with previously reported data from the Quantifiler? Human kit.     

Internet intermediaries: The liability for defamatory postings in China and Hong Kong

The debate between protecting the freedom of expression on the one hand and the right to an individual privacy on the other is not new. Certainly with the introduction of the Internet, the debate has moved onto a whole new level. While no-one disputes that the Internet has significantly transformed lives by allowing netizens to create, share, and communicate within the global village, the Internet has also provided the means to publish and disseminate false information and derogatory remarks callously and expediently. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief comparative study of the approaches in China and in Hong Kong with respect to Internet intermediary liability for defamatory postings and whether the approaches taken provide the necessary balance between the right of free expression and the right to protect one’s reputation. The paper starts by dealing with the position in China pre and post Tort Liability Law. The paper then continues by examining the position in Hong Kong focusing particularly on the recent Court of Appeal decision in Oriental Press Group Ltd v Fevaworks Solutions Ltd. In comparing the position in China and Hong Kong, the paper provides a conclusion as a possible way forward for Internet intermediary liability in China and Hong Kong.     

“Who’s Gonna Take My Baby?”: Narratives of Creating Placement Plans Among Formerly Pregnant Inmates

Incarcerated pregnant women are nearly immediately separated from their babies after birth, which means they are forced to appoint a caregiver for their babies for the duration of their imprisonment. Little information is known about the caregiving plans of these women. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 35 women who were once pregnant and incarcerated in prisons across the United States, this research explores the ways in which these women construct and account for how they appointed caregivers. The narratives reveal how the women experienced stigma not only for being pregnant outside the societal boundaries that govern pregnancy but also over their placement plans.     

Police Sexual Misconduct: Female Police Officers' Views Regarding Its Nature and Extent

Sexual misconduct among on-duty police officers has received little scholarly attention. Existing research that has attempted to provide police officers' views on this matter has been dominated by the male perspective. The present study focuses on female officers' perspectives and provides insight into the nature and extent of such behavior. The findings show that female officers report that police sexual misconduct is common. Differences in perceptions about such behavior between female and male officers are identified. Theoretical explanations for police sexual misconduct are explored. Policy implications of how police sexual misconduct might be better controlled are discussed.     

Witness Interview Training: a Field Evaluation

The effect of a witness interviewing training program on interviewing performance in actual investigations was examined. Eighty interviews, conducted by police officers in one Canadian organization, were coded for the presence of 38 desirable practices. Results showed that, in general, trained interviewers outperformed their untrained counterparts. Specifically, there was a large improvement in engage and explain behaviors (d = 1.65), a moderate improvement in account behaviors (d = 0.54), and a large improvement in closure behaviors (d = 0.90). Trained interviewers also used more open-ended questions and fewer leading questions. The implications of the findings for transferring interviewing skills from the classroom to the field are discussed.     

Neighborhood Social Ties and Shared Expectations for Informal Social Control: Do They Influence Informal Social Control Actions?

Objectives

Social disorganization states that neighborhood social ties and shared expectations for informal social control are necessary for the exercise of informal social control actions. Yet this association is largely assumed rather than empirically examined in the literature. This paper examines the relationship between neighborhood social ties, shared expectations for informal social control and actual parochial and public informal social control actions taken by residents in response to big neighborhood problems.

Methods

Using multi-level logistic regression models, we integrate Australian Bureau of Statistics census data with the Australian Community Capacity Study survey data of 1310 residents reporting 2614 significant neighborhood problems across 148 neighborhoods to examine specific informal social control actions taken by residents when faced with neighborhood problems.

Results

We do not find a relationship between shared expectations for informal social control and residents’ informal social control actions. Individual social ties, however, do lead to an increase in informal social control actions in response to ‘big’ neighborhood problems. Residents with strong ties are more likely to engage in public and parochial informal social control actions than those individuals who lack social ties. Yet individuals living in neighborhoods with high levels of social ties are only moderately more likely to engage in parochial informal social control action than those living in areas where these ties are not present. Shared expectations for informal social control are not associated with the likelihood that residents engage in informal social control actions when faced with a significant neighborhood problem.

Conclusion

Neighborhood social ties and shared expectations for informal social control are not unilaterally necessary for the exercise of informal social control actions. Our results challenge contemporary articulations of social disorganization theory that assume that the availability of neighborhood social ties or expectations for action are associated with residents actually doing something to exercise of informal social control.

     

A microfluidic device for presumptive testing of controlled substances

A simple microfluidic device (MFD) has been developed to perform multiple color and crystal tests for controlled substance analysis. The MFD method uses less sample and reagents and generates less waste than traditional spot plate methods while performing several tests simultaneously. This methodology provides significantly more analytical information for a single sample analysis. The current generation device is the size of a microscope slide with four analytical channels: one for microcrystal tests and three for color tests. The optimized devices were subjected to a rigorous validation study using comparative replicate analyses and several operators. Target analytes were methamphetamine, amphetamine, cocaine, and oxycodone and color test reagents used were the Marquis, Simon, and cobalt thiocyanate. For the crystal tests, platinic chloride was used. The validation study showed the MFD's limits of detection to be in the picogram range. Positive tests results were observed in complex mixtures in which the controlled substance was present at concentrations of 5-10% (w/w). The microcrystal reagents showed greater sensitivity than color test reagents when used in the device. Reagent use and waste generation using the devices was 95% less that that used and generated using the traditional methods. The device performance was also shown to be operator independent.     

Evaluation of the rapid analyte measurement platform (RAMP) for the detection of Bacillus anthracis at a crime scene

The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of the rapid analyte measurement platform (RAMP) for presumptive identification of Bacillus anthracis spores. Test samples consisted of serial dilutions of spore preparations of several Bacillus species, including B. anthracis, which were tested, using the RAMP Anthrax test cartridge, according to the manufacturer's instructions. The fluorescence labelled antibody-antigen complexes were detected in the portable reader after 15 min following sample addition. Dilutions of common environmental and household powders were also tested to identify possible false positive results. B. anthracis spores were identified reliably in test samples containing more than 6000 spores. The test kits were highly specific, showing no cross reactivity with other Bacillus species or any environmental powders tested. The RAMP system for detection of B. anthracis spores, from environmental samples, showed consistent results under a variety of analytical conditions, enabling the trained user to provide a rapid, accurate preliminary risk assessment of a suspected bioterrorism incident.