An analysis of data curated from 5 years of identifying human remains

An archive of 5 years of cases involving the identification of human remains was curated, collecting information on: The sample type submitted, the number of STR loci yielding interpretable results, the kinship challenge posed, and the outcome for the case. A total of 129 cases of remains ID were investigated using manual DNA extraction and recovery methods with amplification of STR markers using the Power Plex 21 multiplex STR kit from Promega Corp. In 52 cases, blood spots collected by the ME were provided as sample and in 100% of those cases, probabilities of relatedness to the reference samples was ≥99%. In 77 cases, tissue other than blood was provided as a source of DNA. These other samples were grouped categorically into long bones (femur and tibia; 40 cases), skull bones/teeth (11 cases), other bones (16 cases), and tissue (normally adherent to bone) (10 cases). Reference samples provided for cases included alleged parents or child(ren) of the victim (86 cases), alleged full siblings of the victim (38 cases), or alleged second-order relatives (five cases). The overall success rate in confirming the identity of the source of the remains in these cases was 89.2%. Our results demonstrate that a laboratory can be often successful identifying human remains using methods easily implemented in any DNA typing laboratory.     

Interventions with women offenders: a systematic review and meta-analysis of mental health gain

Currently, a conjunction of policy, legislative change in health and social care and the criminal justice system, combined with funding for innovative services make it opportune to assess the evidence base for interventions with women offenders. Women offenders have a distinctive criminological, health and social profile and a gender specific approach to their difficulties is advocated. This systematic review and meta-analysis focus on mental health gain in adult women offenders in forensic health settings, criminal justice institutions and in the community, following therapeutic interventions. Interventions were assessed in terms of specific outcome measures of depression, trauma symptomatology and global mental health status. Comprehensive search strategies yielded 3018 articles, from which we obtained 199 full text articles. Seventeen articles were included in the final review, of which six were excluded from the meta-analysis as there was no comparator group. There is a modest, but increasing, body of evidence for the utility of some interventions, notably those addressing the consequences of earlier trauma, including interventions which also address comorbid substance misuse. This does not amount, to date, to a robust evidence base. Limitations of these studies are discussed and include small sample sizes, their restriction mainly to prison populations and that they were substantially undertaken in the US. Variations in outcome measures follow-up and the difficulties inherent in measuring change in this complex population are also detailed. However, the review delineates definite avenues for further work. To achieve this, those responsible for policy, practice and purchase of services should both be mindful of existing evidence and promote additional, high quality research into interventions which are designed around a coherent, theoretical approach.     

Therapies of Resistance? Yuta,Help-seeking,and Identity in Okinawa

In contemporary Okinawa shamanism and psychiatry are both employed by Okinawans to bring relief from what are understood to be godly or psychiatric interventions in their lives. This paper examines some of the reasons that shamanism is still popular and well-patronized in a society that is part of one of the world's most developed nations. By situating the role of shamans within a historical context, it becomes clear that repression of these women has taken place at a number of junctures in Okinawan history, mainly because they were seen as “backward,” “primitive,” or “too” Okinawan. In other words, their primary identity as Okinawans led those in political power to attempt to remove them from being socially acceptable, forcing them underground as the state reinvented itself to suit broader political strategies. Notwithstanding almost four centuries of discrimination and attempted repression, shamans continue to prosper in contemporary society, using markers of Okinawan identity (in particular ancestor worship) to legitimate their roles as therapists and healers. Patients, too, hybridize both systems today in informed and idiosyncratic ways, moving comfortably between treatment regimes. Both shamans and psychiatrists are perceived as therapists in this article.     

State,society and the African crisis

Rehabilitation after violent conflict is today relevant to many countries - especially but not only in SSA - and hopefully will become so for more. It is in generally too narrowly specified, too short term and too fragmented with no macro strategic or conceptual frame. Further it is usually based on quite inadequate knowledge of the history, priorities and dynamics of the afflicted country. Rehabilitation has-or should have-interacting economic (especially livelihood rebuilding), social (stress and perceived inequity reducing) and political (reconciliation and legitimacy restoration not least by rehabilitating basic service access including user friendly, personal security oriented civil police and magistrates courts system). In severely war impacted countries these are likely to be among the most economically efficient ways to regaining growth and restructured economic development as well as of rebuilding social and political reconcilliation and religitimisation.     

Voluntary environmental agreements in developing countries: the Colombian experience

Voluntary agreements (VAs) negotiated between environmental regulators and polluters are increasingly popular in developing countries. According to proponents, they can sidestep weak institutions and other pervasive barriers to conventional mandatory regulation in such countries. Yet little is known about the drivers of their use and their effectiveness in poor countries. The considerable literature on voluntary initiatives in industrialized countries, where both VAs and socioeconomic conditions differ, may not apply. Using a conceptual framework drawn from the economics literature, we examine four prominent VAs in Colombia, a global leader in the use of this policy. We find that the main motive for using VAs has been to build capacity needed for broader environmental regulatory reform and that partly as a result, VAs’ additional effect on environmental performance has been limited. These findings contrast with those from industrialized country studies, which typically conclude VAs are used as a low-cost substitute for impending mandatory regulation and have few benefits because of weak regulatory pressure. Our findings suggest that in developing countries, VAs may be best suited to capacity building, not environmental management per se.     

Democracy-Speak: Party Manifestos and Democratic Values in Britain,France and Germany

This article analyses changes in party-manifesto references to democracy in post-war Britain, the French Fifth Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany in order to explore changes in political parties' statements about democracy. It finds that in recent decades parties in all three countries have generally become more supportive of and more vocal in their calls for citizen participation in political decision-making, with a related increase in expressed support for direct democracy and other opportunities for participation. It also finds that left-wing parties have tended to be more enthusiastic than right-wing parties. The article suggests that changes are most likely parties' responses to wider shifts in societal values, and it concludes with a discussion of the significance of democracy-speak for both parties and citizens.     

Causes of Sudden Death in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea

There are few autopsy studies of patients dying suddenly with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Twenty‐five forensic autopsies of unexpected sudden death in individuals with OSA were reviewed. The causes of death were as follows: cardiomyopathy (n = 11); sudden unexpected death without morphologic findings (SUDNA, n = 6); and other cardiovascular diseases not related to OSA (n = 8). The cardiomyopathy group comprised five hearts with concentric left ventricular hypertrophy without dilatation and six with left ventricular diameter >4 cm (dilated cardiomyopathy). Four of six hearts in the SUDNA group showed right ventricular dilatation compared with seven of 11 showed cardiomyopathy and one of eight miscellaneous. The degree of obesity was greatest in the dilated cardiomyopathy group (10 of 11 obese) followed by the SUDNA group (four of six obese). The cardiac findings in patients dying suddenly and unexpectedly with OSA include nonspecific cardiomyopathy, other cardiac conditions, and hearts without a morphologic cause of death, which show frequent right ventricular dilatation as the only finding.     

Merging law and ethics: Discourse legal theory and freedom of expression in Hurley

This article, analyzing and building on the work of Jürgen Habermas, demonstrates how discourse legal theory disavows a separation between law and ethics. The article suggests that discourse theory puts forward a more political theory of law that promotes the normative goal of creating a more just society through discursive practices. A critique of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Hurley v. Irish‐American Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Group of Boston shows how the Court overvalued the private function of speech and undervalued its public, discursive function. The article argues that discourse theory provides a more protective access standard for disempowered groups, especially when public fora are used for the expression of ideas.