Y-STRs in forensic medicine: DNA analysis in semen samples of azoospermic individuals

ABSTRACT: The incidence of rape has increased, especially in metropolitan areas, such as the city of São Paulo. In Brazil, studies about it have shown that the majority of this type of crime is committed by the relatives and persons close to the victim. This has made the crime more difficult to be denounced, as only 10% of the cases are reported to competent police authorities. Usually, cytological exams are carried out in sex crime investigations. The difficulty in showing the presence of spermatozoa is frequent, but it does not exclude the presence of male DNA. The absence of spermatozoa in material collected from rape victims can be due to several factors, including the fact that the agressor suffers from azoospermia. This condition can be the result of a successful vasectomy. As the majority of DNA in the ejaculation sample is from spermatozoa, there is much less DNA to be analyzed. This study presents the application of Y‐STRs (DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, and DYS393) in DNA analysis of sperm samples from 105 vasectomized men. The study demonstrated a great variation in DNA concentration. DNA extraction and amplification was possible in all sperm samples even in the absence of spermatozoa. The same profile was observed, for each individual, from DNA extracted from blood, pre‐ and postvasectomy semen samples. The use of markers specific for Y chromosome in sex crime cases, especially in the absence of spermatozoa, is very important, mainly because in most situations there is a small quantity of the agressor's DNA in the medium and a large quantity of the victim's DNA.     

Cardiac Injuries Caused by Blunt Trauma: An Autopsy Based Assessment of the Injury Pattern

Abstract:  Nonpenetrating chest trauma with injury to the heart and aorta has become increasingly common, particularly as a result of rapid deceleration in high-speed vehicular accidents, over the past 2–3 decades. The high mortality rate of cardiac injuries and possible late onset complications make blunt cardiac injuries an important challenging point for legal medicine. One hundred and ninety cases with blunt cardiac injuries in a period of 3 years were analyzed retrospectively in terms of patterns of cardiac injury, survival times, and demographic profiles of the cases in this study.     

<Emphasis Type="Bold">A</Emphasis>nti-corruption agencies: between empowerment and irrelevance

The anti-corruption activity of the 1990s is characterized by the rise of new players, such as specialized anti-corruption bodies. Anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) are public bodies of a durable nature, with a specific mission to fight corruption and reducing the opportunity structures propitious for its occurrence in society through preventive and/or repressive measures. Independently of their format and powers, ACAs encounter various constraints to their mandate, which explains the meagre results obtained by some of them. This introductory paper tries to understand the rise, future, and implications of this new kind of “integrity warrior” and to locate them in the evolving doctrine of corruption control. The objective of this edited volume is to re-launch the debate on ACAs as the most innovative feature of the anti-corruption movement of the last two decades.     

Perceiving others as different: a discussion on the stigmatization of the mentally ill

This commentary on the stigmatization of people with mental illness explores social perceptions of them as dangerous and uncivilized. The authors discuss how the legal system suggests that these are people who should be ousted from the community while mental health professionals attempt to reiterate the fact that these individuals are simply human. The authors describe ways people with mental illness have been subjected to discrimination, ridicule, and humiliation. This commentary discusses multiple perspectives of mental illness, from past to present, and how those perspectives influenced social, legal, and psychological frameworks.     

National survey of the incidence of missing anterior teeth: Potential use in bite mark analysis in the Brazilian context

Bite mark analysis in forensic dentistry presupposes that the human dentition is unique and that its characteristics can be transferred precisely to several materials. The aim of the present study was to register the frequency of missing anterior teeth in the Brazilian adult population, discussing its potential importance in bite mark analysis. Data from the Brazilian Oral Health Survey were used; 13,431 male and female individuals aged 35 to 44 were examined according to the criteria of the World Health Organization. The analysis of Poisson regression was performed in order to calculate the rating ratios and the respective confidence interval at 95%. A total of 13,431 adults participated in the study. Among male individuals, 2063 (47.00%) were dentate and 2036 (46.40%) had at least one missing tooth. Only 254 (5.83%) were totally edentulous. A significant number of males and females presented 6 missing teeth in the same dental arch, revealing the poor state of oral health of adult Brazilians. Missing teeth were more frequent in the upper dental arch than in the lower arch. In the upper dental arch, the incisor group (central and lateral) was missing the most. In the lower dental arch, however, a certain lack of homogeneity was observed among the different dental groups as regards missing teeth. White individuals presented a smaller proportion of missing teeth compared to the other ethnic groups. Females were 1.61 (CI 1.50–1.73) times more likely than males to present missing teeth. The absence of upper teeth and the presence of lower teeth were observed in 16.10% of the individuals. Further research should also include an analysis of different age groups. This would increase the potential of applying this kind of information to bite mark analysis.     

No class! A comment on Simon Bromley's American power and the prospects for international order

This intervention argues that Bromley's account of American power underplays some of the structural weaknesses in the US-made liberal order. These weaknesses are not principally the result of relative economic decline, but chiefly the product of a political insistence among US ruling classes in getting their own way (that is, for the immediate American interests to prevail) regardless of their longer-term socio-economic or political consequences. It is the quest for American primacy, not the pursuit of a liberal international order that is the chief driver of US external relations. Likewise it is the more volatile dynamics of class antagonism and alliances both within and outside the USA—not the rational calculation of states as Bromley suggests—that tend to determine the success or failure of American primacy. I flesh out these claims by looking successively at the ideology of post-war American Empire, the contradictions of its actual implementation and the forms of socio-economic and political instability it generates. Bromley's sanguine view of the future of liberal order, it is argued, is only persuasive with a very narrow, inter-statist conception of world order and one which therefore underestimates the social origins of geopolitical disorder.     

Evaluation of a Freezer Mill for Bone Pulverization prior to DNA Extraction: An Improved Workflow for STR Analysis

Traditional methods for bone pulverization typically generate heat, risking stability of DNA sample. SPEX? has developed cryogenic grinders which introduce liquid nitrogen to cool the sample and aid in the grinding process. In this study, the Freezer Mill 6970 EFM was used with two DNA extraction methods and routine downstream STR analysis procedures. DNA from as little as 0.1 g of bone powder was used to develop full STR profiles after freezer mill pulverization, and the method was reproducible. Further, no contamination was detected upon cleaning/reuse of the sample vials. There were no significant differences in DNA yield, STR alleles detected, or peak heights using the freezer mill as compared to traditional grinding, and successful DNA profiles were achieved from as low as 0.1 g of bone powder with this method. Overall, this work indicates that this cryogenic mill method may be used as a viable alternative to traditional tissue grinders.     

Determining the order of deposition of natural latent fingerprints and laser printed ink using chemical mapping with secondary ion mass spectrometry

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) chemical mapping was used to investigate the order of deposition of natural latent fingerprints and laser printed ink on paper. This feasibility study shows that sodium, potassium and C₃H₅ positive ions were particularly abundant endogenous components of the natural fingerprints and also present in the paper examined, but were mostly absent in the laser printed ink. Mapping of these ions enables the observation of friction ridges from latent prints on the ink surface, only when a fingerprint was deposited above the layer of ink. As a demonstration of proof of concept, blind testing of 21 samples from three donors resulted in a 100% success rate. The sensitivity of this technique was investigated within this trial through the examination of up to fifth depletion fingerprints and ageing of up to 28 days. Migration of fingerprint and paper components to the ink surface, although observed with increased ageing time, was not found to compromise determination of the deposition sequence.