An ethnography of global labour migration

An ever more aggressive anti-migration propaganda war is being waged by the majority of British media, where migration in any form is consistently portrayed on the basis of forming and consolidating a response to a security threat. While tens of thousands of migrant workers are exchanging their sweated labour for meagre wages in the 3-D jobs – dirty, dangerous and degrading – in Britain's food-processing, electronic manufacturing, catering, cleaning and hospitality industries outside any mechanism of labour protection, Britain today is still declining to at least ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families in effect since last year. In the post-Morecambe debate on migration and demand for regularizing gangmasters, policing and immigration raids are seen as the quick cure for migrant labour exploitation. The argument sounds as if the only way to get rid of employers' violation of minimum labour rights is to get rid of migrant workers. Britain has forgotten to ask – who are the migrant workers? They are the ones who sweep British roads, clean British supermarkets and serve you food in restaurants in every high street. They are the ones who sew the clothes you wear, put together your microwaves and process the British salads that you have on your dinner table everyday. Migrant workers are people you don't meet everyday but upon whom you depend. To find out about the chain of exploitation in which migrant workers live and the impact of British immigration controls that are fundamental to their lives, I lived undercover among the Chinese workers from whom I learnt a great deal.     

Evaluation of the DNA stability of forensic markers used in betel-quid chewers' oral swab samples and oral cancerous specimens: implications for forensic application

Chewed betel-quid (BQ) residues are often considered vital biological evidence at crime scenes, since the human DNA extracted from the residues is actually from buccal epithelial cells and can be associated with suspects. BQ-chewing is also a risk factor for oral diseases and/or cancers. Archived medical oral-specimens can be used to identify specific individuals under adverse conditions, although STR markers are known to be unstable in various tumor tissues. This study evaluates the DNA stability of forensic marker systems in BQ-chewers' oral epithelial cells, and in archived clinical specimens of oral cancer patients. The genotypes of oral and paired peripheral blood samples in 200 subjects were compared, using the commercialized typing systems of HLA-DQA1, PM (including LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, and GC loci), and AmpFlSTR markers (including 9 STR loci and the Amelogenin gene). The 100 healthy BQ-chewers had consistent oral swab and paired blood sample genotypes analyzed withboth DQA1/PM and STR marker systems. In the 100 oral cancer patients, one discordant result at D7S8 was found in the 600DQA1/PM-marker loci, and 25 allelic alterations with expansion or contraction were detected in the 900 STR loci. The findings herein suggest that when cancerous specimens were tested, the HLA-DQA1/PM system with point polymorphism appears more reliable than the STR system with length polymorphism. Our results also indicate that healthy BQ-chewers' oral cotton swabs containing buccal epithelial cells are useful for forensic purposes using the HLA-DQA1, PM, and STR marker systems.     

Mitochondrial DNA sequence alterations observed between blood and buccal cells within the same individuals having betel quid (BQ)-chewing habit

There are hundreds of millions of betel quid (BQ) lovers widely spreading around the world. Compositions in BQ may generate reactive oxygen species, which would induce DNA damage. However, oral epithelial cells as well as blood have often been used as reference samples in comparison with the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence of hairs. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of mtDNA sequence variation in regular BQ-chewers' oral epithelial cells, and thus to evaluate the forensic availability of the buccal cells from BQ-chewers using the mtDNA markers. The hypervariable segments I and II in the D-loop control region of mtDNA between paired samples of blood and buccal scrape cells from 75 non-BQ-chewers (to be a control group), 60 BQ-chewers, and 67 oral cancerous patients were DNA sequenced and compared. Among the three groups, the alteration rates of 1.3% (1 out of 75), 10% (6 out of 60), and 61% (41 out of 67) were identified from the control, BQ-chewers, and the cancerous group, respectively. In the cancerous group, as expected, high rate of DNA alteration between blood and buccal samples was found. In the BQ-chewers, one and five individuals had the length and point alterations, respectively. Interestingly, most of point alteration sites, e.g., mtDNA positions 153, 16189, 16093 identified from BQ-chewers, were also observed in previous literatures. As for the control subjects, one case with point alteration, and none with length alteration, was identified. For all the three groups, not only the oral cells but also the normal blood samples exhibited high frequency (>55%) of length heteroplasmy at poly-(C)n track. Statistical analyses revealed that significance was observed between the severity of mtDNA alteration in BQ-chewers' oral epithelial cells and the history of BQ-chewing (p = 0.02), with a tendency of positive association. Based on the guidelines by Carracedo et al., we suggest that the interpretation of mtDNA variations between criminal evidences and the oral epithelial cells (as a reference or known sample) from BQ-chewers should be performed with particular caution using the PCR-based mtDNA sequencing. Our findings would be valuable in mtDNA analysis of hair evidence, especially for those countries where the habit of BQ-chewing is popular.     

Characteristics of victims coarrested for intimate partner violence

This study evaluated the frequency of coarrest in female victims who utilized 911 for intimate partner violence (IPV) and any patterns or circumstances that increased the likelihood of coarrest. All cases of police-documented IPV where a female IPV victim was arrested in conjunction with the perpetrator were included. Each incident report was reviewed to determine demographic characteristics of the victim, weapon and substance involvement, presence of children, and violence severity. Of IPV victims, 9% (131 of 1,489) were arrested. Having a weapon, alcohol use, not being married, and older age were associated with increased likelihood of arrest (p < .001). The presence of a child decreased the likelihood of victim arrest (p < .001). Race, prior incidents of IPV, offender restraining order, and incident severity were not significantly associated with coarrest. Although coarrest occurred in a minority of cases, it may deter victims from contacting police for future incidents of police.     

Extraction of human DNA for PCR from chewed residues of betel quid using a novel "PVP/CTAB" method

Residues of chewed betel quid (BQ) are often found on crime scenes in Taiwan and possibly some of the Southeast Asian countries. Although these residues are important biological evidences relating to the suspects, the forensic analysis of BQ evidence has been hindered by failures in extraction of human DNA for PCR analysis. Therefore, it is a prerequisite for relevant forensic casework to establish a reliable method for extracting DNA from chewed BQ residues. Three conventional methods (salt/chloroform, 5% Chelex-100 resin, and QIAamp) were first tested for extraction of human DNA from 33 mock BQ samples, which had been stored for less than two months, and 50 four-year-old forensic BQ samples. PCR amplifications from the HLA-DQA1&PM and the STR loci were then used to test the quality of the extracted DNA. For the mock samples, three observations were made. First, PCR amplification of DNA extracted by using these conventional methods had low success rate. Second, the addition of extra Taq DNA polymerase could compensate the lost enzyme activities due to putative inhibitors and, thus, increase the yield. Third, using the Centricon-100 column to remove putative inhibitors substantially improved the efficiency of PCR. However, for the four-year-old forensic BQ samples, none of the attempts for PCR were successful. In order to solve the problem in PCR analysis of DNA from old BQ samples, we developed a DNA extraction method based on the use of polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), which bind to two common classes of PCR inhibitors in plants, polyphenols, and polysaccharides, respectively. The result showed that this "PVP/CTAB" method is completely successful for the mock BQ samples, and 92% (46 out of 50) successful for the four-year-old forensic BQ samples. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of a reliable method for the extraction of human DNA for PCR from chewed BQ residues. This method should provide a useful means for forensic identification in countries where betel chewing is common.     

Descending thoracic aortic aneurysm rupture during postpartum period

Aortic aneurysm refers to the pathological dilatation of the normal aortic lumen involving one or several segments. Thoracic aortic aneurysms are much less common than aneurysms of the abdominal aorta. Descending thoracic aortic aneurysm leading to dissection and spontaneous rupture is a potentially catastrophic illness. Although rare, dissection and rupture of a preexisting aortic aneurysm have been reported during pregnancy and early puerperium. To the best of our knowledge, such cases among young pregnant women are rarely reported in literature. Herein, an autopsy case of spontaneous rupture of a clinically undiagnosed descending thoracic aortic aneurysm during early puerperium in a young woman is presented along with the review of relevant literature. The victim was found dead on her hospital bed on the seventh day of puerperium. Autopsy with ancillary investigations revealed that the young woman died because of hemothorax from a ruptured dissecting descending thoracic aortic aneurysm secondary to chronic aortitis.