Automatic Encoding of Ambiguous Child Behavior in High and Low Risk for Child Physical Abuse Parents

Recent theory and research suggest that physically abusive parenting behavior might be understood as originating from: 1) greater accessibility of hostile/negative schema, and/or 2) lower accessibility of benign/positive schema. This study examined whether parents at high and low risk for child physical abuse (CPA) differed in the extent to which they spontaneously encoded ambiguous caregiving contexts in negative versus positive terms. Twenty-five high and forty-one low risk for CPA parents were asked to memorize a set of sentences that described ambiguous caregiving situations. After a brief delay, participants were asked to recall the sentences. During recall, cues were given (e.g., negative and positive words) to facilitate recall. According to the cued-recall paradigm, to the extent that recall was facilitated by negative/positive cues, it was inferred that negative/positive meaning was activated when the ambiguous sentences were encoded. Although all parents tended to recall more information in response to negative relative to positive cues, the influence of cue type on recall was greater for high CPA risk parents. That is, high, compared to low, CPA risk parents obtained significantly higher recall difference scores (M = 4.6 versus M = 2.3); with higher recall difference scores indicating greater recall in response to negative relative to positive cues. Present findings are consistent with the proposition that high and low CPA risk parents differ in how they spontaneously encode information in ambiguous caregiving contexts.     

Analysis of friction ridge evidence for trace amounts of paracetamol in various pharmaceutical industries by Raman spectroscopy

The detection of potentially harmful substances presents a multifaceted challenge. On one hand, it can directly save lives, on the other, it can significantly aid and enhance police work, thereby increasing the effectiveness of investigations. The research conducted in this study primarily aims to identify paracetamol in fingerprints, considering situations involving direct contact of a person with paracetamol either chronically or in a single dose. The identification procedure presented, utilizing Raman spectroscopy, aims to rapidly detect the xenobiotic following ingestion by an individual, which involves touching the tablet with their fingers—this can be termed as touch evidence in forensic science investigations. Additionally, the authors focus on assessing the impact of additives present in drugs containing paracetamol as the main active ingredient. The screening results obtained will enable us to analyze the composition of drugs in terms of potentially toxic substances, and their influence on the physicochemical activity of the active substance. We successfully identified the paracetamol molecule using a noninvasive forensic trace detection method. Samples in the form of common drugs containing 500 mg of paracetamol were studied. Throughout the study, comprehensive validation of the method was ensured through the utilization of a statistical model, which excluded sensitivity to the presence of other substances, whether additives or from the external environment. The proposed approach to trace the content of substances in fingerprint using Raman scattering analysis provides a useful starting point to enhance current analytical methods not only in forensic science but also in toxicology.     

Introduction to the special section: minority politics and the territoriality principle in Europe

Territorial arrangements for managing inter-ethnic relations within states are far from consensual. Although self-governance for minorities is commonly advocated, international documents are ambiguously formulated. Conflicting pairs of principles, territoriality vs. personality, and self-determination vs. territorial integrity, along with diverging state interests account for this gap. Together, the articles in this special section address the territoriality principle and its hardly operative practice on the ground, with particular attention to European cases. An additional theme reveals itself in the articles: the ambiguity of minority recognition politics. This introductory article briefly presents these two common themes, followed by an outline of three recent proposals discussed especially in Eastern Europe that seek to bypass the controversial territorial autonomy model: cultural rights in municipalities with a “substantial” proportion of minority members; the cultural autonomy model; and European regionalism and multi-level governance.     

Sequence analysis of a new short tandem repeat locus D17S2266E located in the human growth hormone gene cluster HumGH@

D17S2266E is a new, variable genetic marker exhibiting polymorphism of the number of repeats of four- and two-nucleotide motifs. This study, carried out on a group of 250 unrelated persons from various regions of Poland, revealed the presence of 24 different alleles ranging in size from 232 to 290 base pairs. Analysis of the sequenced fragments demonstrated that the alleles consisted of two flanking regions and two variable blocks that were separated by a consensus sequence. There were (AAAG)(5)(AG)(1)(AAAG)(3-4) repeats in the first block, and [(AAAG)(2)(AG)(1)](0-1)[(AAAG)(6)(AG)(1)](0-1)(AAAG)(n) repeats in the second block. On the basis of the allele frequencies in the population, we were able to do biostatistical calculations, which gave the following results: expected heterozygosity 0.8947 +/- 0.0137, power of discrimination 0.9793, polymorphism information content 0.8837, probability of exclusion (PE) 0.7859, PE for motherless cases 0.6473, and an average paternity index of 4.7470. These biostatistical parameters show that the marker D17S2266E can find a wide range of applications in forensic testing.     

Posner versus Kelsen: the challenges for scientific analysis of law

Law & economics scholars claim, among other things, to provide explanations of how law impacts behaviour. The aim of this article is to shed light on the conceptual and methodological difficulties related to analysis of the impact that law has on behaviour. The analysis advanced in the paper takes as its starting point a commentary on Richard Posner’s interpretation of Hans Kelsen’s pure theory of law. The work of Kelsen is treated as a meta-theoretical analysis that reveals some of the presumptions of theoretical approaches to law that claim to be scientific and, in particular, that claim to scientifically analyse the law’s influence on behaviour. The article concludes with a methodological proposal on how to approach the identified methodological challenges and conceptual tensions that law & economics contends with.     

Genetic variation of STR loci D3S1358, TH01, D21S11, D18S51, Penta E, D5S818, D13S317, D7S820, D16S539, CSF1PO, Penta D, vWA, D8S1179, TPOX and FGA by GenePrint PowerPlex 16 in a Polish population

Allele frequencies for the fifteen STRs included in the GenePrint PowerPlex kit were determined in 870 unrelated individuals from Polish population. All loci met Hardy-Weinberg expectations. Exact tests disequilibrium analysis revealed no departures from independence out of 105 pair-wise comparisons. The combined MP and PE for all 15 loci are 6.00x10(-17) and 0.999999, respectively.     

Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA from a Burned,Ninhydrin‐Treated Paper Towel

Contact‐based evidence is likely to have limited quantities of DNA and may yield mixed profiles due to preexisting or contaminating DNA. In a recent arson investigation, a paper towel was collected and used as circumstantial evidence. The paper towel was partially burned and was likely set on fire with flammable liquid. As part of the investigation, the paper towel was treated with ninhydrin to visualize fingerprint evidence. Initial DNA analysis of two swabs was negative for short tandem repeat (STR) markers and revealed a mixture of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Analysis of 13 additional cuttings yielded four more mixed profiles, but also two samples with a common single‐source profile. The single‐source mtDNA profile matched that of the primary suspect in the case. Thus, even if initial mtDNA analysis yields a mixed profile, a sampling strategy involving multiple locations can improve the chance of obtaining valuable single‐source mtDNA profiles from compromised evidence in criminal casework.     

Y-chromosomal haplotypes for the AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR Amplification Kit in a population sample from Central Poland

Haplotype and allele frequencies for 17 Y-STR loci (DYS456, DYS389I/II, DYS390, DYS458, DYS19, DYS385 I/II, Y GATA H4, DYS437, DYS438, DYS448, DYS393, DYS391, DYS439, Y GATA C4, DYS392) were determined in 255 unrelated males from central Poland using AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR Amplification Kit. Two hundred and fifty-two different haplotypes were observed. The most common three haplotypes were shared by 0.8% of the sample, respectively. Two hundred and forty-nine haplotypes were encountered only once.