Using FastID to analyze complex SNP mixtures from indoor dust

Forensically relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can provide valuable supplemental information to short tandem repeats (STRs) for investigative leads, and genotyping can now be streamlined using massively parallel sequencing (MPS). Dust is an attractive evidence source, as it accumulates on undisturbed surfaces, often is overlooked by perpetrators, and contains sufficient human DNA for analysis. To assess whether SNPs genotyped from indoor dust using MPS could be used to detect known household occupants, 13 households were recruited and provided buccal samples from each occupant and dust from five predefined indoor locations. Thermo Fisher Scientific Precision ID Identity and Ancestry Panels were utilized for SNP genotyping, and sequencing was completed using Illumina^® chemistry. FastID, a software developed to permit mixture analysis and identity searching, was used to assess whether known occupants could be detected from associated household dust samples. A modified “subtraction” method was also used in FastID to estimate the percentage of alleles in each dust sample contributed by known and unknown occupants. On average, 72% of autosomal SNPs were recovered from dust samples. When using FastID, (a) 93% of known occupants were detected in at least one indoor dust sample and could not be excluded as contributors to the mixture, and (b) non-contributor alleles were detected in 54% of dust samples (29 ± 11 alleles per dust sample). Overall, this study highlights the potential of analyzing human DNA present in indoor dust to detect known household occupants, which could be valuable for investigative leads.     

Demolition and Dispossession: Toward an Understanding of State Violence in Millennial Mumbai

Slum clearance campaigns and demolition drives have been understood as an integral part of the governance of the Indian city, but little effort has been made to analyze why the Indian state periodically invokes its monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force in this manner. To answer this question, this article analyzes three periods of heightened demolitions in post-independence Mumbai: the mid-1950s, amidst independent state formation; the mid-1970s, during the period of authoritarian rule referred to as the Emergency; and the mid-2000s, when Maharashtra’s Chief Minister initiated a campaign to “transform Mumbai into a world class city.” In each of these periods—as well as during the smaller-scale demolitions that are a consistent feature of life in the city—this article argues that slum evictions cannot be explained solely by what David Harvey and others have referred to as “accumulation by dispossession,” whereby the urban poor is dispossessed to initiate potentially lucrative urban development. Rather, it demonstrates that demolitions are embedded in contestations over authority and sovereignty in the governance of the Indian city. Furthermore, it demonstrates that despite a heightened awareness about this type of state violence, the explanations for demolition drives remain fairly consistent in the current globalizing or neoliberal era.     

Therapeutic abortion during adolescence: Psychiatric observations

This study investigates the psychological reactions of adolescent girls undergoing abortion during the first trimester of pregnancy. As far as we know, this is the largest such group heretofore reported in the psychiatric literature. Two major factors distinguish the adolescent emotional responses from those of adult patients. These are (1) the abortion decision is more outer-other directed by parents, peer group, or sexual partner and is therefore more difficult and hazardous; (2) developmental immaturity contributes to ambivalence about the decision, to a distorted perception of the procedure, and to a variety of pathological reactions. Postabortion symptoms of adolescent patients with successful and unsuccessful outcomes suggest the presence of mourning processes. These are in response to the failure to realize an expectation rather than to an object loss. Preabortion dreams are a potential adjuvant to the refinement of psychiatric diagnosis and prognosis for adolescent abortion patients.Received B.A. and M.S.W. from the University of Michigan; prior experience with adolescent delinquents. Main area of interest is social casework with gynecological and obstetrical patients.     

Limited Liability in California 1928-31: It's the Lawyers

Only in 1931 was the California Corporate Code revised to providefor limited liability. In earlier work I found that this movehad no detectable effect on shareholder wealth. In this articleI examine the potential beneficiaries of this change with aneye toward finding out who wanted this change. Using this historicalexample we can shed light on a number of issues including: (1)the economic impact of limited liability; (2) the role of lawyers,especially lawyers of high prestige, in determining the law;and (3) the competition or lack thereof among states in designingtheir corporate codes.     

The appraisal remedy and merger premiums

The appraisal remedy affords corporate shareholders the optionto redeem their shares for cash in the event of certain transactions,including mergers. Access to appraisal for publicly traded shares,however, differs from state to state. We present the first large-sampleempirical study of the effect of appraisal rights on targetshareholder gains from acquisitions. We examine 1,350 mergersinvolving publicly held firms. We find some evidence that appraisalreduces average shareholder gains in transactions involvingself-interested managers. For the entire sample, however, wefind no evidence that appraisal has any effect, positive ornegative, on target shareholder gains from takeovers.     

Resourceful communities: empowering traditional knowledge holders

Community Resources is itself a community resource (CR), interrogatingand reframing the debate over IP and traditional knowledge (TK)with a range and spirit that is rare in dense, arid academicliterature. With energy, insight, and originality, it probesthe dilemmas of global governance initiatives that aim to addressintrinsically local TK systems. The hundred-page bibliography, itself a CR, measures both theauthor's industry and the diffuse academic discourse this bookaugments. TK is a rich resource for the academic community.Yet can this analytical effort respect the irreducible diversityof those communities for whom TK is integral to their collectiveidentities? Community Resources systematically critiques international efforts,underscoring their limitations and embedded values, before settingout the conceptual foundations for a new form of internationalgovernance, with CR as the central organizing idea. How canjustice be done to the cultures, values, and interests of disparate     

IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF CHILDREN

In the traditional family law and child protection litigation where the court is asked to make determinations based on the best interests of a minor, the adversarial, rights-based model often fails to serve the interests of children and families and may be more harmful than beneficial to children relative to other possible methods of dispute resolution. This article examines the shortcomings of such an adversarial, rights-based model; briefly highlights the literature on dispute resolution systems design; and then proposes a new approach to better serve the interests of children in family law and child protection cases.