Effects of Parental Differential Treatment on Relationship Quality with Siblings and Parents: Justice Evaluations as Mediators

Based on equity theory, the present study analyzes to what extent justice evaluations mediate the effects of perceived parental differential treatment (PDT) on relationship quality with siblings and parents as experienced in middle adulthood. Middle-aged adult offspring (N = 709) rated how often they and a sibling received parental recognition, nurturance, and demands for assuming filial responsibility. In addition, they indicated their justice evaluations of PDT and completed measures of relationship quality to sibling and parents. Justice evaluations emerged as either partial or complete mediators between PDT and relationship quality. Moreover, justice evaluations turned out to be more powerful predictors of relationship quality to parents than PDT per se. Implications are discussed concerning factors contributing to justice evaluations and the role of PDT within the context of other justice issues in families.     

Financial Liberalization and Stock Price Behaviour in Asian Emerging Markets

This paper exhibits tests of the random walk hypothesis and market efficiency for seven Asian emerging markets as a result of the influence of financial market integration. Random walk properties of equity prices influence the return dynamic and determine the trade strategies of investors. To examine the stochastic properties of local index returns and to test the hypothesis that stock market prices follow a random walk, the single variance ratio tests of Lo and MacKinlay, as well as the multiple variance ratio test of Chow and Denning are employed. The multiple statistical comparison of variance ratios is based on the Studentized Maximum Modulus distribution with control of the joint-test’s size. The weak-form market efficiency is also tested directly, using a nonparametric runs test. These tests are particularly useful for investigating stock prices the returns of which are frequently not distributed normally. Documented evidence shows that, from the perspective of local investors, weekly stock prices in major Asian emerging markets do not follow a random walk in the pre-liberalization period. However, in the post-liberalization period the weak-form efficiency hypothesis is generally adopted at the 5% level except for the smaller stock markets of Indonesia and Thailand. These empirical findings suggest that financial integration affects the return predictability in such a way that domestic investors might not be able to develop trading strategies allowing them to earn abnormal returns.     

The failure of the Philippine presidential system

This article explains why the Philippines continues to be a weak state and that the prospects for building a stronger, sustainable state are dim under the current political system. Philippine elections are won through a mix of popularity, populism and money politics. This seriously undermines the strength of the state since the oligarchy expects returns for their investment in a candidates campaign. The extraordinary power of the president and the ministers makes it possible to repay and buy the loyalty of the financial and political oligarchy by giving away jobs within the bureaucracy. A predatory political elite, whose prime goal it has been to win the coming elections and to assure that their family interests are protected and promoted further undermines the independence and meritocracy of the Philippine bureaucracy. I argue that as long as the current presidential system continues to exist in the Philippines the chances for building a strong state are slight.This article represents an abbreviated version of the introduction of the MA thesis of Bastiaan van de Loo titled: The Election and Presidency of Joseph Estrada: A Case Study of Philippine Politics. The complete version of the thesis can be found on http://www.thephilippines.org     

HAIRVEQ: an external quality control scheme for drugs of abuse analysis in hair

The Istituto Superiore di Sanità of Rome, Italy, in cooperation with Institut Municipal d'Investigaciò Mèdica of Barcelona, Spain, set up an external quality control program (HAIRVEQ) to evaluate reliability in hair testing for drug abuse by laboratories from the Italian National Health Service. Samples included in the program were real hair samples from drugs consumers. Prior to sending, hair samples were reduced to powdered form, mixed to ensure homogeneity and tested with GC/MS by four Reference Laboratories. Up to now, four different exercises have been concluded and 23 laboratories participated. Samples containing high and low concentrations of opiates, cocaine and metabolites, low concentrations of MDMA and two blank samples, were included in the intercomparison exercises performed in the first year of HAIRVEQ activities. Results show an insufficient performance of participating laboratories. About 82% of laboratories reported incorrect results on a qualitative basis (false positive and false negative results) for some of the submitted samples. More than one-half of laboratories reported quantitative results (60%). On the basis of the calculated z scores, only between 35 and 55% of results reported should be considered as satisfying. Guidelines have to be provided by Italian authorities for method validation as well as set of recommended cut-off concentrations to orientate laboratories in their quality objectives when developing analytical methodologies as tools to improve reliability and consequently performance of hair analysis.     

Bone as a biomarker of acute fluoride toxicity

The use of bone as a biomarker for chronic and acute exposure to fluoride salts has been suggested, but there are no data published about its use to evaluate lethal intoxication. One hundred and sixty rats were divided into eight groups that received a single oral intubation dose from 0 (control) to 90 mg F/kg as NaF. The animals' time of death was recorded and their femurs were removed for fluoride analysis. Acid-soluble fluoride was determined in the whole bone and on the surface (periosteal), using an ion specific electrode. The data showed a statistically significant relationship between fluoride dose and the number of deaths (P<0.0001). A statistically significant relationship was also found between fluoride dose and fluoride concentration ([F]) in either the whole femur (P<0.0017), on the surface (P<0.0001) or for the ratio periosteal [F]/whole [F] (P<0.0001). However, the [F] on the femur surface was more closely correlated with mortality than that in the whole bone, showing statistically significant differences among the lethal doses and control (P<0.05). The data suggest that the ratio [F] periosteal bone/[F] whole bone, is a biomarker for acute fluoride toxicity.     

Results of the GEP-ISFG collaborative study on two Y-STRs tetraplexes: GEPY I (DYS461, GATA C4, DYS437 and DYS438) and GEPY II (DYS460, GATA A10, GATA H4 and DYS439)

A collaborative exercise was carried out by the Spanish and Portuguese ISFG Working Group (GEP-ISFG) in order to evaluate the performance of two Y-chromosome STR PCR tetraplexes, which include the loci DYS461, GATA C4, DYS437 and DYS438 (GEPY I), and DYS460, GATA A10, GATA H4 and DYS439 (GEPY II). The participating laboratories were asked to type three samples for the eight markers, using a specific amplification protocol. In addition, two control samples, with known haplotypes, were provided. The results obtained by the 13 different participating laboratories were identical, except for two laboratories that failed to type correctly the same two samples for GATA C4. By sequence analyses, two different GATA C4 allele structures were found. One control sample (allele 21) and two questioned samples (allele 22, correctly typed by all the laboratories, and allele 25) presented the following repeat structure: (TCTA)4(TGTA)2(TCTA)2(TGTA)2(TCTA)n, but different from the one found for allele 26 in one sample included in this exercise, as well as in the second control sample (allele 23), namely (TCTA)4(TGTA)2(TCTA)2(TGTA)2(TCTA)2(TGTA)2(TCTA)n. The collaborative exercise results proved that both Y-tetraplexes produce good amplification results, with the advantage of being efficiently typed using different separation and detection methodologies. However, since GATA C4 repeat presents a complex structure, with alleles differing in sequence structure, efficient denaturing conditions should be followed in order to avoid typing errors due to sizing problems.     

Age estimation using radiographic analysis of laryngeal cartilage

The laryngeal cartilages undergo age changes, including mineralization and ossification. Keen and Wainwright defined, in male and female subjects, recognizable stages of radiopacity of the thyroid, cricoid, and arytenoid cartilages. The present study analyzed quantitatively the degree of laryngeal radiopacity to determine whether radiography of the larynx can be used routinely in forensic pathology to estimate age at death. In each of 82 subjects, the larynx was removed during forensic autopsy and subjected to radiography in an anteroposterior orientation. Each radiograph was independently scored by two observers. For each case, the degree of laryngeal radiopacity was evaluated according to the classification of Keen and Wainwright. There was a positive correlation between the total score of laryngeal radiopacity and age (correlation coefficient = 0.74). It was concluded that this method is simple, fast, and nondestructive and has a good reproducibility between observers. Because there was a wide interindividual variability in the same age class, this method must be associated with more accurate methods.     

Frequency of bone/cartilage lesions in stab and incised wounds fatalities

A retrospective study was carried out on 58 fatalities due to stab or incised wounds. The frequency of bone or cartilage lesions was analysed according to the number of wounds, the circumstances of death and the anatomical site. Our findings showed that bone/cartilage lesions were present in about 53% of the cases. Cartilage lesions were more frequent than bone lesions. The mean number of wounds in the group with bone/cartilage lesions was statistically higher than the mean number of wounds in the group without lesions (P=0.0068). The main cause of death was thoracic injury in the groups with and without bone/cartilage lesions. In case of skeletal remains, only bone or cartilage lesions allow to diagnose stab or incised wounds. The discovery of these lesions, often of small size, justifies a complete and careful examination of skeletal remains with the help of stereomicroscopy.     

Genetic data on 12 STRs (F13A01, F13B,FESFPS, LPL,CSF1PO,TPOX, TH01, vWA,D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, D5S818) from four ethnic groups of São Paulo,Brazil

Allelic frequencies for 12 short tandem repeats (STRs) (F13A01, F13B, FESFPS, LPL, CSF1PO, TPOX, TH01, vWA, D16S539, D7S820, D13S317 and D5S818) were estimated, also as forensic parameters, from a sample of 916 unrelated Brazilian subjects classified into four ethnic groups: European-derived, African-derived, Brazilian Mulattos and Asian-derived.