Validation of the InnoXtract™ DNA extraction method for bone,teeth, and rootless hair

Forensic casework samples often include human hairs, teeth, and bones. Hairs with roots are routinely processed for DNA analysis, while rootless hairs are either not tested or processed using mitochondrial DNA. Bones and teeth are submitted for human remains identifications for missing persons and mass disaster cases. DNA extraction from these low templates and degraded samples is challenging. The new InnoXtract DNA extraction method utilizes magnetic beads that are optimized to bind small DNA fragments, as small as 100 base pairs, to purify high-yield DNA from compromised samples. This validation study evaluates InnoXtract's ability to obtain amplifiable DNA from samples such as rootless hairs and skeletal remains. Studies performed include sensitivity, stability, repeatability, reproducibility, non-probative samples, and comparison to standard organic extractions. Sensitivity studies demonstrate average yield recoveries ranging from 53% to 100% and 73% to 85% for the InnoXtract hair and bone methods, respectively. Studies demonstrate consistent results across a range of sample types, such as insulted and un-insulted bone and teeth, as well as hair shafts from donors of various ages, gender, race, and hair characteristics. The InnoXtract bone method outperformed organic extraction. The method was successfully automated on a MagMAX™ Express-96, with recoveries over 70% relative to the manual version. InnoXtract has the potential as an automated high-throughput, high-yield bone extraction method with 6 h of total extraction time for up to 96 samples. The validation study results demonstrate that the InnoXtract kits produce high-yield and high-quality DNA from compromised bone, teeth, and hair shaft samples.     

Parental Abuse Towards Their Children with ADHD in Iran

This study assesses whether or not the three different forms of child abuse, parental “Nonviolence discipline”, “psychological abuse” and “physical abuse”, are associated with ADHD symptoms. The parents of a clinical sample of 108 ADHD children and 102 mothers of school children reported their behaviors using Parent–child Conflict Tactics Scales (CTSPC). The age range of children was from 6 to 15 years old. The mean scores of all the three types of abuse in the ADHD group were statistically higher than those in the comparison group. Inattentiveness and hyperactivity/impulsivity scores are not associated with the scores of abuse in ADHD children. Parental abuse occurs in a cluster of different types of abuse. Mental health professionals can be involved for all the three types of prevention of parental abuse.     

Naegeli–Franceschetti–Jadassohn Syndrome in a Saudi Arabian Family

In the course of applying to become a soldier, a 23‐year‐old Saudi Arabian man was found to have no fingerprints. Further medical examination has been carried out for the young man and for the rest of family members including two sisters, mother, and brothers except the father who had died sometime previously. Subsequent medical investigations suggested that he and his two brothers displayed most of the features of the Naegeli–Franceschetti–Jadassohn (NFJ) syndrome. These features included skin changes with hypo‐ and hyperpigmentation, hypohidrosis, dystrophy of the nails, diffuse thickening of the palms and feet, a lack of fingerprints (dermatoglyphics), and atrophic changes in the skin of the face; there were also dental anomalies. A typical feature of the Naegeli–Franceschetti–Jadassohn syndrome was found in a Saudi Arabian family. The aim of this study was to present this rare condition affecting a Saudi Arabian family and review the current literature on the subject.     

Adaptation vs. development: basic services for building resilience

In a transect along Indus River after the 2010 floods in Pakistan, this article explores the relationship between the use and duration of use of basic services, among those who recovered well and those who did not, using non-parametric statistical testing in a quasi-experimental design. The research shows a clear and strong correlation between access and duration of usage of certain services before the disaster, and the rate of recovery in each location. This analysis demonstrates a relatively robust and cost-effective methodology to identify and prioritise development interventions that build resilience against climatic shocks that are not undertaken at the cost of poverty reduction.     

Corruption and the Decline of the State in Pakistan

Pakistan is generally included in most discussions of ‘failing states’ that pose the maximum danger to global security, with the rise of Islamic militancy being the most commonly cited reason for the ‘failure’. However, Islamic militancy is a result of impending state failure, not a cause of it. This article argues that the state's inability, caused by decades of systemic corruption, to provide any appreciable level of public goods or services, broadly defined, is responsible for the delegitimization of the state and its inability to maintain law and order in the cities or suppress Islamist insurgents in the rest of the country.     

Addressing Workers’ Freedom of Association and its Dispute Resolution in the Context of the Shari’ah

Freedom of association for trade union has been generally accepted as part of basic human rights in Islam. Freedom of association, which include the right to join and participate in trade union activities, can be susceptible to disputes between employers and employees as well as trade unions. Islam provides freedom of association in labour relations and also mechanisms to settle disputes pertaining to such freedom. Conciliation (sulh) and arbitration (tahkim) are both used methods in the inception of Islam, which have similarities with the modern sense. We shall discuss in this article the right to dispute resolution between employers and trade unions in the context of freedom of association in labour relations as based on Shari’ah law and using modern legal systems of Islamic countries such as Iran, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia as examples.