Validation of the AMPFℓSTR® MiniFilerTM PCR Amplification Kit for Use in Forensic Casework*

Abstract: The AmpF?STR^® MiniFiler^TM PCR Amplification Kit is designed to genotype degraded and/or inhibited DNA samples when the AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^TM PCR Amplification Kit is incapable of generating a complete genetic profile. Validation experiments, following the SWGDAM guidelines, were designed to evaluate the performance of MiniFiler. Data obtained demonstrated that MiniFiler, when used in conjunction with Identifiler, provided an increased ability to obtain genetic profiles from challenged samples. The optimum template range was found to be between 0.2 and 0.6 ng, with 0.3 ng yielding the best results. Full concordance was achieved between the MiniFiler kit and Identifiler kit except in a single case of a null allele at locus D21S11. Numerous instances of severe heterozygous peak imbalance (<50%) were observed in single source samples amplified within the optimum range of input DNA suggesting that caution be taken when attempting to deduce component genotypes in a mixture.     

Arrhythmogenesis and diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis. An immunohistochemical study in a sudden cardiac death

We present an uncommon case of sudden cardiac death in a 34-year-old white woman. She was found lifeless at home by her parents. Three months before death she was recovered at the Emergency Room for chest pain, palpitation and loss of consciousness. Subsequent cardiological evaluation with ECG showed sinusal rhythm, QRS deviation to the left, QS aspect, asymmetric and rounded T waves and slight length of QT. During hospitalization she presented some episodes of supraventricular paroxysmal tachycardia and non-sustained ventricular tachycardia. No echocardiography alterations were found. An anti-arrhythmic treatment was prescribed. Autopsy revealed some fibrotic scarring in the myocardium of left ventricle. The histological examination of the heart revealed diffuse and extensive fibrosis with non-caseating sarcoid granulomas. The lungs, kidneys and lymph node also showed the same non-caseating granulomas. The diagnosis of sarcoidosis with massive and extensive cardiac involvement was established as cause of death.     

Interpersonal Aspects of Justice in Relationships Between Consumers and Service Providers: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

There is a controversy in the justice literature as to whether interpersonal aspects of justice are best represented as one construct (interactional justice) or two (interpersonal justice and informational justice). Using confirmatory factor analysis, we tested competing models of these constructs on a sample of healthcare consumers (n = 1919) with respect to their justice judgments of primary care physicians. We found that the single factor model (interactional justice) represented a better fit to the data. Our results do not necessarily contradict those of prior studies that have found a better fit for a bi-dimensional model in organizational settings, however. Instead, we are suggesting a contingency approach: the results may be due in part to the halo effect, which may manifest itself where consumers are unfamiliar with the service provider and with the complexities of that person’s role.     

Differentiating Between Generally and Partner-Only Violent Subgroups: Lifetime Antisocial Behavior,Family of Origin Violence,and Impulsivity

The present study examined self-reported lifetime antisocial behavior, family of origin violence, and impulsivity/behavioral disinhibition of 73 men entering treatment for partner violence. Participants were designated as generally violent (GV) (n = 46) or partner only violent (n = 27), based on self-reported violence against non-intimate individuals during the year prior to intake. As hypothesized, GV men reported more conduct disorder/delinquent behaviors, lifetime antisocial behaviors, and family of origin violence. The GV men also reported more behavioral disinhibition, however, group differences on impulsivity only approached statistical significance. In addition, as hypothesized, GV men reported they were more psychologically abusive toward their intimate partners. However, contrary to expectations, the subgroups did not differ on reports of physical violence toward their partners. This study employed a fairly simple technique of dividing men into groups based on self-reports of violence over the past year, thereby producing subgroups that differed on a number of important characteristics that may have implications for treatment. An advantage of this technique is that it would be relatively easy for other treatment programs to apply.

Communal violence and ethnic polarization before and after the 2015 elections in Turkey: attacks against the HDP and the Kurdish population

Given its duration and intensity, the decades-old civil war in Turkey between the Turkish state and the PKK has resulted in relatively low levels of lethal inter-communal conflict between Kurdish and Turkish populations. However, around the June 2015 elections an unprecedented wave of systematic anti-Kurdish violence swept across western Turkey. The paper will assess these events in relation to literature on communal riots and electoral violence. It will consider the impact of state led anti-Kurdish discourse and the growth of the HDP, as potential factors that aggravated the dormant tensions and laid the groundwork for widespread inter-communal violence.     

Reflections on law and impact in the light of Brexit

ABSTRACT

The impact agenda in academic research affords rich opportunities – to inform the media, policymakers and the general public; to co-produce research with third sector organisations. In the context of Brexit, the prevailing ignorance of politicians and other stakeholders has been so profound, and the falsehoods that have had popular purchase so baseless, as to make the need for impact and public engagement all the more acute. This is not simply about fact-checking, but about making the case for the very worth of expertise, and reasserting the basic, core scientific values that drive academic work – values that have been trashed by the precepts of a postmodern nihilism, in which all positions are equally (in)valid and only your own gut can be trusted. But challenging these precepts in public arenas has personal and professional costs: significant workload implications, the acquisition of new skills and often a torrent of abuse. As such, this work needs institutional support. Departments need to value it appropriately, to promote equal access to impact opportunities and to confront the discriminatory barriers to (and consequences of) taking up the impact gauntlet. Throughout the Brexit process, expertise and experts have been dismissed and denigrated. The task now is to restore public faith in the value of the pursuit of truth.     

Justification Under Uncertainty

There is a controversy as to the moral status of an action in the face of uncertainty concerning a non-moral fact that is morally significant (according to an applicable moral standard): According to the objective conception, the right action is determined in light of the truth, namely the actual state of affairs (regarding the pertinent fact), whereas according to the subjective conception, the right action depends on the epistemic state of the agent, namely her (justified) belief (concerning the pertinent fact). A similar debate concerns the law, with respect to uncertainty regarding a legally significant fact. In this paper, I argue that moral and legal normative concepts are ambiguous and include two aspects: The ideal aspect, which is concerned with the constitutive feature of the normative standard, and the pragmatic aspect, which determines the correct action under uncertainty. With regard to each aspect, a different conception is appropriate: The objective conception should govern the ideal aspect and the subjective conception the pragmatic aspect. And the relevant aspect (and therefore the appropriate conception) depends on the question under consideration regarding the pertinent normative standard: what is its constitutive feature or whether an action is right (according to the applicable normative standard) in the face of uncertainty.