World War One Italian and Austrian soldier identification project: DNA results of the first case

We report the results of an attempt to identify the supposed remains of a famous World War I (WWI) Italian soldier who was killed in battle along the Italian front in 1915.Thanks to the availability of offspring from both paternal and maternal lineage Y-STRs and mtDNA were analysed and both showed a clear exclusion scenario: the remains did not belong to the supposed war hero.This is the first effort of identification of the remains of soldiers who perished during World War I within a multidisciplinary project aimed at the retrieval of historical and cultural aspects linked to WWI, and the systematic study of the remains of soldiers and ultimately their identification. This last step involves both Italian and Austrian laboratories.     

Duplications of the Y-chromosome specific loci P25 and 92R7 and forensic implications

In the present study, we demonstrate that two commonly used Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), P25 and 92R7, are paralogous sequence variants (PSVs) originating from segmental duplications and that at least one of the sequence variants in each group of loci is polymorphic. Several methodologies were used in order to detect the SNP alleles and the PSVs of the loci. All results obtained with the various typing techniques supported the conclusion. The allele distributions of the binary markers were analysed in more than 600 males with seven different haplogroups. For P25, the ancestral allele C was found in several samples from different haplogroups. The derived allele A was always present with an additional C variant. Haplogroup P was defined by the derived allele A at the 92R7 locus. However, the ancestral allele G was always associated with an A variant due to the duplication.     

Positivism, Idealism and the Rule of Law

The modern lawyer operates within a conception of law as a bodyof rules. To confront the law of contract, of torts, or of property,is to familiarize oneself with an intricate set of rules. Suchfamiliarity is not yet legal scholarship, much less legal practice.For in order to use the rules as lawyers use them, the rulesmust be contemplated and considered, and the relationship betweenthe different rules must be understood. Because the intellectualprocesses involved in handling the rules exhibit a high degreeof sophistication, those intellectual processes may themselvesbecome the subject matter of philosophical argument. Thus wemay regard jurisprudential theories as embodying differing understandingsof the processes of handling legal rules; and we may conceiveof legal theory as the attempt to grasp the moral significanceof rules as a foundation for social order. This essay shalloffer some thoughts on the relationship between the rule oflaw, considered as a moral ideal, and the notion of rules asthe principal means by which legal order is manifested.     

A collaborative study of the EDNAP group regarding Y-chromosome binary polymorphism analysis

A collaborative study was carried out by the European DNA Profiling Group (EDNAP) in order to evaluate the performance of Y-chromosome binary polymorphism analysis in different European laboratories. Four blood samples were sent to the laboratories, to be analysed for 11 Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): SRY-1532, M40, M35, M213, M9, 92R7, M17, P25, M18, M153 and M167. All the labs were also asked to submit a population study including these markers. All participating laboratories reported the same results, indicating the reproducibility and robustness of Y-chromosome SNP typing. A total of 535 samples from six different European populations were also analysed. In Galicia (NW Spain) and Belgium, the most frequent haplogroup was R1b*(xR1b1,R1b3df). Haplogroup F*(xK) is one of the most frequent in Austria and Denmark, while the lowest frequency appear in Belgium. Haplogroup frequencies found in this collaborative study were compared with previously published European Y-chromosome haplogroup data.     

Crisis occurrence and resolution in patients with severe and persistent mental illness: the contribution of suicidality

Assertive community treatment appears to have limited impact on the risk of suicide in persons with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). This exploratory prospective study attempts to understand this observation by studying the contribution of suicidality to the occurrence of crisis events in patients with SPMI. Specifically, an observer-rated measure of the need for hospitalization, the Crisis Triage Rating Scale, was completed at baseline, crisis occurrence, and resolution to determine how much the level of suicidality contributed to the deemed level of crisis. Second, observer-ratings of suicidal ideation, the Modified Scale for Suicide Ideation, and psychopathology and suicidality, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, were measured at baseline, crisis occurrence, and resolution. A self-report measure of distress, the Symptom Distress Scale, was completed at baseline, crisis occurrence, and resolution. Finally, the patients' crisis experiences were recorded qualitatively to compare with quantitative measures of suicidality. Almost 40% of the subjects experienced crisis events and more than a quarter of these events were judged to be severe enough to warrant the need for hospitalization. Our findings suggest that elevation of psychiatric symptoms is a major contributor to the crisis occurrences of individuals with SPMI; although the risk of suicide may have to be conceived as somewhat separate from crisis occurrence.     

Disparate Measures: Public Managers and Performance-Measurement Strategies

Over the past two decades, many studies have investigated the scope and significance of performance measurement in public organizations. Nonetheless, there is more to learn about the challenges facing public managers who want to measure organizational outputs and use the feedback to improve performance. Specifically, managers are often faced with redundant measures of the same output, each of which may be preferred by a different political principal or stakeholder. Furthermore, a manager's choice of measures can have serious consequences for both the estimation of agency problems and the success of programmatic solutions. We test these assertions in an analysis of educational organizations in Texas. We find that managers' assessments of organizational performance and decisions regarding solutions depend on the choice of performance measures.     

An experimental comparison of question forms used to reduce vote overreporting

Via telephone, a national probability sample of 1464 respondents randomly received one of three question versions of a voter turnout question in the months of December, January, and February, following the November 1998 Congressional elections in the United States. The long version form contained memory cueing techniques and face-saving response options, the short form, modeled after the 2000 American National Election Studies (ANES) question, included only the face-saving response options, and the standard form, modeled after ANES questions used before 2000, included neither. The long form led to significantly lower reported turnout in comparison to both the short and standard forms, indicating that the long form successfully reduced vote overreporting in comparison to the other question versions.     

The Scary World of Online News? Internet News Exposure and Public Attitudes Toward Crime and Justice

Objectives

A substantial body of literature indicates that certain forms of media consumption may increase anxiety about crime and support for social controls. However, few studies have examined whether Internet news consumption is positively associated with such attitudes. The void is significant given the public’s increasing use of online news sources. This study addresses this research gap.

Methods

We draw on data from four national surveys conducted between 2007 and 2013, which collectively include interviews with more than 13,000 Americans. Using OLS and logistic regression, we assess the relationships between exposure to traditional and online media and perceptions of victimization risk, support for punitive crime policies, and views about police powers.

Results

Consistent with prior work, we find positive relationships between exposure to traditional forms of media—television news and crime programming—and anxiety about victimization and support for harsh crime policies. In contrast, Internet news exposure is generally not associated with anxieties about crime or support for getting tough on criminals. However, there is evidence of an interactive relationship between political ideology and Internet news exposure.

Conclusions

The results provide little support for cultivation theory in the context of Internet news consumption. We discuss the import of our findings, and suggest new lines of research to explore the correlates and the effects of exposure to online news sources.