Y-chromosome STR-haplotype typing in El Salvador

Eight Y-chromosome STRs were investigated in a male population sample from El Salvador. Complete Y-chromosomal STRs haplotypes were obtained in 121 individuals, among which 107 different haplotypes were observed. The two most common haplotypes were shared by approximately 4% of the sample, while 100 haplotypes were unique. The gene diversity was 0.9883 and the discrimination capacity was 0.8926. The combined Y-chromosome STR polymorphisms provide a powerful discrimination tool for routine forensic applications.     

Learning through foreign market participation: the relative benefits of exporting,importing, and foreign direct investment

A growing literature explores the degree to which firms learn from exporting. Although this literature finds that firms that export subsequently enjoy enhanced innovative performance, there has been little research that compares the effect of exporting to that of alternative internationalization activities. In this paper, we extend the literature to explore theoretically the differential effects of a firm’s exporting, foreign direct investment, and importing activity on its innovative outcomes. We test the resulting hypotheses using a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms from 2000 to 2008. We find that (1) learning associated with exporting is more pronounced than that associated with a firm’s FDI activities, (2) exporting and FDI operate as substitutes in their effect on a firm’s learning, and (3) although importing is positively associated with learning as manifested in new product introductions, it is not associated with learning as manifested in patenting activity.     

Disagreeing in private or dissenting in public: an empirical exploration of possible motivations

European Journal of Law and Economics - There are different theories to explain judicial dissent in collegial courts or committees. In the Spanish Council of State (Consejo de Estado), councilors...     

Policy Congruence and Style of Representation: Party Voters and Political Parties

This article focuses on whether styles of representation influence policy congruence. Style of representation is defined at the party level as the proportion of representatives within parties who are partisans, delegates or trustees. Policy congruence refers to how close on the left–right scale the mean position of a party as placed by its candidates is compared to that of party voters. The article concludes that where there are higher proportions of trustees within parties, there is a greater degree of policy congruence, whereas a higher proportion of partisans results in less policy congruence. The proportion of delegates has no significant impact on congruence after taking account of other party and country measures. This indicates that party constraints on representatives are applied at the cost of congruence with voters, and that when representatives enjoy more flexibility to follow their own opinions, the party displays greater congruence with its own voters.     

Long Bone (Humerus,Femur, Tibia) Measuring Procedure in Cadavers

In this work, we present a measuring methodology for long bones of the limbs (humerus, femur, and tibia) of human corpses. Measurements of cadaveric height and long bone lengths were conducted on 72 corpses (20 females and 52 males) from the School of Medicine at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Additionally, these measurements were compared with those taken from dry bones of a subsample of individuals. Our results show marginal differences (TEM% = 0.59) between cadaveric and dry bone measurements, resulting from different osteometric technical procedures. This note outlines the measuring methodology, which will be subsequently used to create regression formulas for stature estimation.     

The Determinants of Local Government's Financial Transparency

This paper contributes to the scarce literature on government transparency by analysing the impact of political and socio-economic factors on municipal financial transparency. Our sample covers the 100 largest Spanish municipalities in 2008. Compulsory publicity and transparency are key to public management (rule-of-law theory). Our data show that Spanish municipalities are providing financial information beyond the legal requirements, thus exceeding the compulsory disclosures required by the rule-of-law theory. The more taxes and more transfers per capita, the more financial information is disclosed and, accordingly, the higher the transparency is. Therefore the municipalities are not taking advantage of fiscal illusion or principal–agent effects, since they are not concealing higher levels of taxes and transfers from citizens. Furthermore, left-wing parties are more transparent than right-wing ones. Finally, the population also has a positive effect on the achievement of financial transparency.     

The Ulster Defence Regiment and the Question of Catholic Recruitment, 1970–1972

This article aims to consider the factors which led to a serious under-representation of Catholics within the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) during the Northern Ireland “Troubles.” A considerable number of UDR members were implicated in collusion with loyalist paramilitaries in their targeting of Catholic civilians throughout the conflict. Further, neither the British political nor military establishment made any significant moves towards addressing Catholic grievances regarding the UDR during the crucially formative years of 1970–1972. Despite this, Catholic under-representation has often been discussed with sole or particular reference to Republican paramilitary targeting of Catholic members of the force; this is in order to dissuade any further such involvement on the part of this demographic. The validity of such assertions will be examined in this article, along with a number of other factors which have been hitherto largely underplayed or outright ignored as contributing to this under-representation.     

Assessing psychopathy in young people: the validity of the Psychopathic Checklist: Youth Version for a sample of Spanish offenders

In this study, we assessed the validity of the Psychopathic Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) in a Spanish sample of juvenile court-involved youths. Although recent Anglo-Saxon literature on the topic supports the usefulness of psychopathic traits in adolescent offenders for predicting recidivism and future violence, little is still known about their predictive ability for other cultures. The results of this study suggest that the PCL:YV possesses adequate concurrent criterion-related validity (by using self-reported version of Antisocial Process Screening Device) and retrospective validity (particularly as regards the antisocial, but also the affective–interpersonal domain). Specifically, retrospective validity was confirmed by positive correlations with history of truancy at school, poor parenting, parental delinquency, self-reported antisocial behaviour and illicit behaviour patterns including violent offences recorded in official files; however, careful analysis revealed that the Lifestyle and Antisocial factors are the main dimensions related to past offences, whether violent or otherwise. In conclusion, the PCL:YV is a convenient instrument for assessing psychopathy, and, hence, the risk of criminality, in youths.     

Rapid determination of scopolamine in evidence of recreational and predatory use

In recent years, scopolamine has become a drug of common use for recreational and predatory purposes and several ways of administration have been devised. A method for the rapid analysis of suspicious samples was developed, using a portable capillary electrophoresis with contactless conductivity detection. The method allows the separation of scopolamine from atropine which has a similar structure and is present along with scopolamine in some samples. The method was demonstrated to be useful for the fast analysis of several types of evidential items which have recently been reported to have been abused with fatal consequences or employed for criminal purposes. An infusion of Datura stramonium L., in which scopolamine and atropine naturally coexist, was analyzed for being frequently consumed for recreational purposes. A spiked moisturizing cream and six spiked alcoholic beverages were also analyzed. In spite of the complexity of the specimens, the sample pre-treatment methods developed were simple and fast.