Accurate STR allele designations at the FGA and vWA loci despite primer site polymorphisms

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based STR DNA typing systems are used extensively in the field of human identification. Under optimal PCR conditions, the amplicon yield from both alleles of an STR locus is expected to be approximately equivalent. However, it is reasonable to expect that rare genomic sequence polymorphisms will co-localize with well-designed primer sets and induce allele imbalance or "dropouts". Two samples were identified in the course of genotyping thousands of individuals with AmpF/STR Profiler Plus that showed strong disparity in amplitude peak height of heterozygous peaks at the loci vWA and FGA. These samples were reamplified at reduced annealing temperature in an attempt to balance the peak heights. Nucleotide sequencing documented polymorphisms at the PCR primer binding sites of the affected alleles. The results indicate that reducing the annealing temperature to improve primer-binding efficiency at the mismatch and employing an alternative multiplex enhanced the data from both samples. Reducing annealing temperatures could provide a simple general solution to improving data quality for samples where polymorphisms are suspected to cause allele imbalance. Finally, we report on additional polymorphisms surrounding the vWA locus in a genetically diverse population.     

Detection and quantification of low levels of benzoylecgonine in equine urine

Cocaine (COC) is a highly addictive plant alkaloid expressing strong psychostimulatory effect. It has no medical use in equine veterinary practice. The contamination of the environment with cocaine such as its presence on the US paper currency has been reported few times. There are anecdotal reports of low benzoylecgonine (BE) concentrations (usually much less than 100 ng/mL) being found in urine of race horses. In order to protect horsemen against harsh penalties associated with the presence of trace amounts of BE in horse urine as a result of environmental contamination, in February 2005 the Illinois Racing Board issued new medication rules that established the threshold level of 150 ng/mL for BE in equine urine. The penalties associated with this rule provide for increasing fines ($250, $500, $1000) with successive positive reports against a trainer for levels of BE below 150 ng/mL. A total of 19,315 urine samples were collected over the 2-year period of time from winning horses (both harness and thoroughbred) at race tracks in Illinois for routine drug screening (ELISA). The presence of BE was confirmed by GC/MS in 28 urine samples (0.14%). The concentration range for BE in harness horses (21 detections) was < 5-91 ng/mL, and for thoroughbred (seven detections) was 7-52 ng/mL. To date, the laboratory has not reported concentrations of BE that exceed the established threshold concentration of 150 ng/mL.     

Treating Words as Data with Error: Uncertainty in Text Statements of Policy Positions

Political text offers extraordinary potential as a source of information about the policy positions of political actors. Despite recent advances in computational text analysis, human interpretative coding of text remains an important source of text-based data, ultimately required to validate more automatic techniques. The profession's main source of cross-national, time-series data on party policy positions comes from the human interpretative coding of party manifestos by the Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP). Despite widespread use of these data, the uncertainty associated with each point estimate has never been available, undermining the value of the dataset as a scientific resource. We propose a remedy. First, we characterize processes by which CMP data are generated. These include inherently stochastic processes of text authorship, as well as of the parsing and coding of observed text by humans. Second, we simulate these error-generating processes by bootstrapping analyses of coded quasi-sentences. This allows us to estimate precise levels of nonsystematic error for every category and scale reported by the CMP for its entire set of 3,000-plus manifestos. Using our estimates of these errors, we show how to correct biased inferences, in recent prominently published work, derived from statistical analyses of error-contaminated CMP data.     

Particle size analysis of soils under simulated scene of crime conditions: the interest of multivariate analyses

Two simulated scenes of crime have been studied. Soil traces adhering to boots, sport shoes and tissues have been compared with control samples using particle size analysis. Comparisons of percentage of particles per class interval and multivariate analyses were used to determine how the size distribution of each suspect sample varied compared to the original distribution. A loss of coarse fractions characterized most of the suspect samples even though they were derived from soils having different distributional patterns. However, the differences between control and suspect samples were found to be more important for soils dominated by extreme size classes than for soils rich in medium size particles. The differences among soil samples from the same source were found to be restricted to the extreme size classes. The finding of significant differences within size classes ranging from 1 to 0.063 mm should be then considered as a dissimilarity sign between trace sample and hypothetic control soil.     

Malaysia: perception of contemporary China and its economic,political and societal determinants

This article looks at the Malaysian perception of the contemporary rise of China by focusing more on the country’s societal response rather than from a broad overall perspective of international strategic relations and diplomacy. The Malaysian society is seen as a complex multi-entity construct, constituted by often sharply differentiated fragments and sub-fragments which could exhibit vastly different responses to the implications of the rise of China. Within such a construct, perception of the rise of China and the appropriate Malaysian response are intricately entwined with domestic power politics, generational transition and governmental control over public discourse. Hence, the Malaysian perception of the contemporary rise of China is as complex as the Malaysian society itself, and what is revealed in official government policies and public discourses in the dominant mass media would fail to reflect the real depth of the issue if the intrinsic complexity of the Malaysian society is not taken into due consideration.     

Sexual Violence Against Women Through the Lens of Environmental Criminology: Toward the Accumulation of Evidence-based Knowledge and Crime Prevention

Sexual violence against women is a serious problem worldwide. In this study, we organize and critically review previous empirical studies on sexual offenses against women through the lens of environmental criminology. For this purpose, we use the questions asked by environmental criminologists/crime analysts in the study of crime events; that is the: who, what, where, when, and how this phenomenon typically occurs. Based on the current state of the criminological research literature, we then provide a discussion on the prevention of sexual offenses against women drawing on a situational crime prevention framework. By engaging in this exercise, we argue that environmental criminology can substantially contribute to understanding and informing prevention practices in the field of sexual offenses against women.