mtDNAprofiler: A Web Application for the Nomenclature and Comparison of Human Mitochondrial DNA Sequences,

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a valuable tool in the fields of forensic, population, and medical genetics. However, recording and comparing mtDNA control region or entire genome sequences would be difficult if researchers are not familiar with mtDNA nomenclature conventions. Therefore, mtDNAprofiler, a Web application, was designed for the analysis and comparison of mtDNA sequences in a string format or as a list of mtDNA single‐nucleotide polymorphisms (mtSNPs). mtDNAprofiler which comprises four mtDNA sequence‐analysis tools (mtDNA nomenclature, mtDNA assembly, mtSNP conversion, and mtSNP concordance‐check) supports not only the accurate analysis of mtDNA sequences via an automated nomenclature function, but also consistent management of mtSNP data via direct comparison and validity‐check functions. Since mtDNAprofiler consists of four tools that are associated with key steps of mtDNA sequence analysis, mtDNAprofiler will be helpful for researchers working with mtDNA. mtDNAprofiler is freely available at http://mtprofiler.yonsei.ac.kr .     

High‐Throughput STR Analysis for DNA Database Using Direct PCR,

Since the Korean criminal DNA database was launched in 2010, we have focused on establishing an automated DNA database profiling system that analyzes short tandem repeat loci in a high‐throughput and cost‐effective manner. We established a DNA database profiling system without DNA purification using a direct PCR buffer system. The quality of direct PCR procedures was compared with that of conventional PCR system under their respective optimized conditions. The results revealed not only perfect concordance but also an excellent PCR success rate, good electropherogram quality, and an optimal intra/inter‐loci peak height ratio. In particular, the proportion of DNA extraction required due to direct PCR failure could be minimized to <3%. In conclusion, the newly developed direct PCR system can be adopted for automated DNA database profiling systems to replace or supplement conventional PCR system in a time‐ and cost‐saving manner.     

Consequential Responsibility for Client Wrongs: Lehman Brothers and the Regulation of the Legal Profession

Should transactional lawyers bear responsibility when their competent actions facilitate unlawful activity by their client? Or is a lawyer's only concern to act in the client's interest by providing her with the advice and support she seeks? The high profile failure of Lehman Brothers provides a unique opportunity to explore these questions in the context of the provision of a legal opinion by a magic circle law firm. A legal opinion which, although as a matter of law was accurate, was a necessary precursor to an accounting treatment by Lehman Brothers which was described by the Lehman's Bankruptcy Examiner as ‘balance sheet manipulation’. The article argues that the law's existing understanding of when consequential responsibility should be imposed on those who assist another's wrongdoing provides a theory and a tool‐kit whose application can be justifiably extended to the professional regulation of transactional lawyers.     

Analysis and counter‐policies on elderly criminals in Korea

The second counter‐policy is an establishment of a proper network of legal systems, including the establishment of accurate statistical data and well‐structured criminal law and defense systems for the elderly — comparable to the currently operative systems established to process and to deal with crimes of teenage and female offenders.

Research on indigence, health, recreation, housing and other welfare areas of the elderly is common in Korea, but research on elderly criminals is rare. Projecting that their crime rates will rise, this preliminary research was conducted in order to understand their crime status and to establish proper counter‐policies.

This research focuses on the analysis of the present elderly population and changes of their status, in addition to criminal theories and criminal trends. Analysis on criminal statistics is done through classifying criminal offenses and special offenses according to the present governmental criminal classification methods of Korea. Criminal offenses are further separated into serious and estate‐related offenses.

The result of analysis on elderly criminals in Korea indicates that the most common crimes are assaults and related offenses, including battery and bodily injuries. Most assaults or related charges were, however, not decidedly serious. Among estate‐related offenses, misappropriation and property‐damage were the most common. Among special offenses, constructional violations have the highest rate. The majority of estate related offenses were less serious and produced less than W‐ 1,000,000 (approximately $1150 US dollars) in damages.

Destruction of traditional society is the major source of criminal activities. While younger generations demand less authoritarian and more interdependent relationships, the elderly insist upon adhering to their traditional ways of thinking. The elderly commit crimes out of the animosity and exasperation created from a perceived incompatibility with modern society. Their diminishing social and family hierarchies, along with carelessness and lack of recreation, lead the elderly into feeble or fatuous life styles, eventually leading to various offenses.

There is no simple solution to prevent the elderly from committing crimes since complex social and/or personality problems cause these deviant behaviors. The government needs to understand the overall problems and establish necessary counter‐policies with regard to the elderly. Even if their present crime rates seem insignificant now, the numbers are growing rapidly.

Conclusively, the first counter‐policy is to eliminate the source of the problems. Some specific policies that can be adopted to eliminate these sources include the expansion of employment and related educational opportunities to improve their economic conditions; realignment of medical benefit systems; broader access to effective recreational activities through volunteer and other civic programs; and social adjustment programs that can guide the elderly to better adjust to the evolving social changes.     

Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors Among Adolescents

The purpose of this article is to examine the self-reported sexual attitudes and behaviors of adolescents living in the Midwest. A survey was administered to 463 African American youths ages 11–19. The results indicate that intent to have sexual intercourse, reported likelihood toward having sexual intercourse, and whether participants felt that they would have sex in the next 3 months were predictors of whether they had sexual intercourse at the 3-month follow-up. The results also revealed that the opinions of referent others did not predict sexual intercourse at 3 months. Negative attitudes toward condoms did predict condom use at 3 months and the opinions of referent others also predicted condom use at 3 months. Limitations as well as future research are also discussed.     

China in the North Korean Nuclear Crises: ‘interest’ and ‘identity’ in foreign behavior

China reacted very differently to the first and second North Korean nuclear crisis: engaging in passive and ‘behind-the-scenes’ diplomacy in the first and choosing more proactive and ‘stage-managing’ diplomacy in the second. This article has sought to explain this striking contrast in China's foreign behavior. Though most studies tend to rely on Chinese strategic and security interests in explaining China's proactive diplomacy as demonstrated in the six-party talks, those strategic and security interests do not explain directly the contrasting foreign behavior of China. China faced basically equal strategic and security concerns and equally dangerous potential military conflict between the US and North Korea through the first and the second nuclear crises. This article, then, argues that ‘same interests, but different behaviors’ should be explained not by China's external interest calculus but by internal changes within China itself. By the turn of the new millennium, China had undergone an evolutionary change of state identity from a cautious accommodator to an active constructor, or from a state of ‘taoguang yanghui’ to a state of ‘fuzeren daguo’. The contrasting foreign behaviors in the first and second nuclear crises are profoundly reflective of this identity shift of China.     

Generational Transmission of Collective Memory about Tiananmen in Hong Kong: how young rally participants learn about and understand 4 June

This article addresses the problem of generational transmission of collective memory in Hong Kong about the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. It focuses on the young participants in the annual 4 June commemoration rallies and examines the process of mnemonic socialization that brought them into the community of 4 June commemoration. Drawing upon a rally onsite survey and in-depth interviews, this study found that many young people went through a dynamic process of gradual discovery in which various social institutions—school, family and media—played complementary roles. Their understanding of Tiananmen tended to be simplified and essentialized. Yet the loss of details through essentialization has arguably allowed them to uphold a clear-cut moral judgment regarding the event and dismiss certain memory-blurring discourses straightforwardly.     

Assessing the Health Behaviors of African American Emerging Adults

The purpose of this article was to assess the overall health behaviors of African American emerging adults who live in a Midwestern city. Two hundred participants, ages 18–25, completed a 129-item survey. Results indicate that African American emerging adults are engaged in relatively healthy behaviors (i.e., physical activity, low substance use). The results also showed that within the emerging adult developmental period, there are differences in behavior for those who are in the younger (18–20) versus those that are older (21–25) in the developmental period. Limitations, future research, and implications for practice will also be discussed.     

The Adoption and Abandonment of Council‐Manager Government

What accounts for patterns of city adoption and abandonment of council‐manager government? Despite dozens of empirical studies, we lack a systematic understanding of these forces over time because previous work has relied on cross‐sectional designs or analysis of change over short periods. This article begins to fill this lacuna by constructing a historical data set spanning 75 years for the 191 largest cities with either mayor‐council or council‐manager governments in 1930. Event history analysis is applied to isolate adoption and abandonment trends and to provide new evidence revealing the forces that have shaped the trajectory of institutional change in U.S. cities. This analysis reveals that social context factors—in particular, economic conditions—generate both adoptions and abandonments.