A forensic laboratory tests the Berkeley microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis device

Miniaturization of capillary electrophoresis onto a microchip for forensic short tandem repeat analysis is the initial step in the process of producing a fully integrated and automated analysis system. A prototype of the Berkeley microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis device was installed at the Virginia Department of Forensic Science for testing. Instrument performance was verified by PowerPlex 16 System profiling of single source, sensitivity series, mixture, and casework samples. Mock sexual assault samples were successfully analyzed using the PowerPlex Y System. Resolution was assessed using the TH01, CSF1PO, TPOX, and Amelogenin loci and demonstrated to be comparable with commercial systems along with the instrument precision. Successful replacement of the Hjerten capillary coating method with a dynamic coating polymer was performed. The accurate and rapid typing of forensic samples demonstrates the successful technology transfer of this device into a practitioner laboratory and its potential for advancing high-throughput forensic typing.     

Gender Identification and the Fear of Crime: Do Masculinity and Femininity Matter in Reporting Fear of Crime?

ABSTRACT

Criminologists have been interested in the gap in reported levels of fear of crime between men and women for decades. Our study advances and empirically tests the hypothesis that gender identity is an important mechanism that accounts for the gap in fear of crime between men and women. Specifically, the current study incorporates Magliozzi, Saperstein, and Westbrook’s gradational measures of masculinity and femininity to test if these variables are related to fear of crime. Statistical analyses reveal that masculinity is negatively and significantly associated with fear of crime, suggesting that men may be doing gender in reporting fear of crime by suppressing their expression of fear when responding to survey items related to fear of crime. Additionally, the inclusion of the measures of masculinity and femininity in our statistical model reduces the effect of sex to non-significance.     

National image of North Korea in South Korean news media

This study aims to identify how American major newspapers frame the BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis in 2 major daily newspapers, The New York Times and USA Today. In addition, this study exams what kinds of themes are used in conjunction with news frames for covering the BP oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. 489 articles were analyzed, 353 articles for The New York Times and 136 articles for USA Today. In a pretest, this study identified 6 main frames and 9 themes used by the collected news articles, and these 6 frames and 9 themes were used to analyze the collected news articles. Among 6 frames, the most common primary frame in the New York Times was attribution of responsibility, as compared to the most common primary theme in USA Today, solution. On the other hand, the most common theme in The New York Times was stopping the oil, as opposed to the most common theme found in USA Today, politics.     

The optimum size of Seoul's districts in South Korea

The optimum size of a city is marginal size when the city has inefficiencies in urban administration or the point that when a city loses attraction from citizens. This paper is examining optimal size of Seoul Autonomous Districts in South Korea. Because of the highly dense population in Seoul area, the government of South Korea is trying to solve this problem by implementing policies on developing non Seoul areas. However, it is important why Seoul in South Korea has abnormal dense population in comparison to other areas. Seoul is consisted of 25 autonomous districts and this paper found one autonomous district. Gangnam‐gu is a highly inefficient district comparing to other districts in Seoul. This finding can be a cause of dense population problem in Seoul. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

University technology transfer through entrepreneurship: faculty and students in spinoffs

This research informs our understanding of the technology commercialization process in university spinoffs, focusing in particular on student involvement in the early phases of the spinoff development process and on the impact of the larger university ecosystem. Detailed case studies indicate that graduate and post-doctoral students are important participants in university spinoffs. We offer a typology of spinoff development with four pathways, based on the varying roles of faculty, experienced entrepreneurs, PhD/post-doctoral students, and business students. The effects of the larger university ecosystem, beyond the university technology transfer office and the university’s commercialization policies, are also considered, including an examination of programs and practices that may influence this process. We close with a discussion of guidelines for technology transfer and spinoff development at universities, based on the findings of this research.     

Exploring cynicism toward prison administrations as a mediator of the association between quality of treatment and inmate misconduct

This study explores the ability of inmate cynicism to mediate the relationship between perceptions regarding quality of treatment and inmate misconduct in a prison setting. Using a sample of inmates from prisons in South Korea, the generalizability of the process-based model is tested. Also, the indirect effect of quality of treatment on inmate misconduct through cynicism is estimated using a bias-corrected bootstrapped mediation analysis. The findings show that quality of treatment was negatively and significantly associated with inmate misconduct in South Korean prisons. Additionally, results indicate that the quality of treatment and social support are significant predictors of inmate cynicism. Finally, a regression-based path analysis reveals that cynicism mediates the relationship between quality of treatment and inmate misconduct. While quality of treatment was found to predict inmate misconduct significantly, mediation analyses support the hypothesis that inmate cynicism partially mediates this association. The findings suggest that correctional policies should pay more attention to reducing inmates’ cynicism.