A New Robust Epigenetic Model for Forensic Age Prediction

Forensic DNA phenotyping refers to an emerging field of forensic sciences aimed at the prediction of externally visible characteristics of unknown sample donors directly from biological materials. The aging process significantly affects most of the above characteristics making the development of a reliable method of age prediction very important. Today, the so-called “epigenetic clocks” represent the most accurate models for age prediction. Since they are technically not achievable in a typical forensic laboratory, forensic DNA technology has triggered efforts toward the simplification of these models. The present study aimed to build an epigenetic clock using a set of methylation markers of five different genes in a sample of the Italian population of different ages covering the whole span of adult life. In a sample of 330 subjects, 42 selected markers were analyzed with a machine learning approach for building a prediction model for age prediction. A ridge linear regression model including eight of the proposed markers was identified as the best performing model across a plethora of candidates. This model was tested on an independent sample of 83 subjects providing a median error of 4.5 years. In the present study, an epigenetic model for age prediction was validated in a sample of the Italian population. However, its applicability to advanced ages still represents the main limitation in forensic caseworks.     

Gunshot residues on dry bone after decomposition-a pilot study

Abstract: Very little literature exists concerning radiochemical and microscopic analyses of gunshot wounds in decomposed material, and even less concerning skeletonized samples; the most advanced technologies may provide useful indications for the diagnosis of suspect lesions, especially if gunshot wounds are no longer recognizable. However, we know very little of the survival of gunshot residues (GSR) in skeletonized samples. This study examined nine gunshot wounds produced on pig heads which then underwent skeletonization for 4 years, and four gunshot entries on human heads from judicial cases which were then macerated to the bone in water; the samples underwent scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X‐ray (SEM‐EDX) analysis. Positive results for GSR were observed only in four of the nine animal samples and in all four human samples. Among the human samples, two lesions showed Pb and Sb, one lesion only Pb, and one Pb, Sb, and Ba. This pilot study showed the survival of GSR in skeletal material and therefore the crucial importance of SEM‐EDX analyses on skeletonized material. Further studies are needed in order to ascertain the role of environmental modifications of GSR.     

John Barrett and collective approaches to United States foreign policy in Latin America, 1907-20

As the United States was becoming a major power in the early years of the twentieth century, it was confronted by a dilemma in its desire to promote a democratic free-enterprise system among the republics of the Western hemisphere. Should the United States act unilaterally or collectively to pursue its goals? The rise of the Pan American Union as a collective political and economic organization provided the means to deal with such issues as revolution and economic instabiliry in Latin America. Nations such as Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic provided early opportunities to test US policy approaches. However, the Mexican Revolution of 1910, and subsequent civil war, provided a major testing ground for both the Taft and Wilson administrations. Ultimately Woodrow Wilson chose to pursue unilateral military intervention in Mexico despite the offer from the Pan American Union and its director, John Barrett, to provide collective negotiations to avoid war and establish political stabiliry in Mexico. As we enter the twenry-first century, the United States finds itself still confronted by these choices on a global scale.     

Government employment and pay: the global and regional evidence

Against the background of paucity of complete and reliable data as the basis for sound policy, this article reports on the results of a major international survey of government employment and wages in about 100 countries. Key findings are that: in developing countries as a whole, relative government employment is now less than half the level of OECD countries; the reduction in the role of the state in the ‘decade of adjustment’ is striking, and so is the erosion in real government wages in the poorest countries—particularly in anglophone Africa; decentralization in Latin America is visible in the substantial shift of employment from central to subnational government levels; and the lean and well-paid civil service of East Asia is one possible reason why rapid economic growth could coexist for so long with the governance weaknesses that have surfaced in the form of the Asian crisis. The article then undertakes an aggregate cross-sectional analysis of the determinants of government employment. In Africa and Latin America, relative government employment is positively associated with per capita income and the fiscal deficit, and negatively associated with relative wages and population. Clearly, the tendency for government to expand as the economy grows—the so-called ‘Wagner law’—is still operative in developing countries. However, it seems no longer at work in OECD countries, suggesting that Wagner's law ceases to operate beyond certain per capita income level. The article concludes, nevertheless, with a reminder of the limits of cross-sectional analysis: even ‘good facts’ prove little by themselves—good analysis and policy must rest on country-specific quantitative and qualitative evidence. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Die pragmatistische Soziologie der Kritik heute

Ohne Zusammenfassung Mauro Basaure  Ich bedanke mich an dieser Stelle ausdrücklich bei Luc Boltanski für die viele Zeit und Mühe, die er darauf verwendet hat, mir bei der Erstellung dieses Dokuments zu helfen. Die Entwicklung der Fragen hat sehr von den Diskussionen mit Nora Sieverding profitiert, die auch mit meiner Unterstützung diese Ver?ffentlichung in deutscher Sprache vorbereitet hat. Für ihre sorgf?ltige Lektüre und hilfreichen Kommentare danken wir Gabriele Wagner und Philipp Hessinger.

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State Government Targeting in Economic Development: The New York Experience

New York State has made extensive use of social, geographic,and sectoral targeting in economic development. It has targetedboth distressed industries, particularly manufacturing, andgrowth industries. When the initial assistance provided to manufacturingin the 1960s did not stem the decline of this sector, the stateresponded by providing larger subsidies. Even though manufacturingcontinued to decline, both absolutely and relatively, supportfor its preferred status has, nevertheless, remained strong,and few of the programs initially aimed at this sector haveseen any sign cant changes in their manufacturing focus. Effortsto target distressed areas and individuals, however, were notsustained over time. The state's two most significant effortsat geographic targeting were expanded statewide over relativelyshort periods of time.     

Remaking the Italian party system: How Lijphart got it wrong by saying it right

Italy is in the midst of a major party system transformation. The process has been gradual, caused by the decline of the former Communist Party and by the rise of the Northern League which has eroded the ‘stable instability’ of the Christian Democrats' one‐party dominance. Yet the direction of change remains uncertain. On electoral grounds, the recently introduced majoritarian electoral law should encourage the formation of competing coalitions. However, this change is taking place just at a time when the awakening of long‐established territorial cleavages is endangering national unity. A majoritanian government for a divided country might turn out to be the worst of the unintended consequences of institutional reform.