Chimpanzee homologous of human Y specific STRs. A comparative study and a proposal for nomenclature

Eleven Y specific microsatellites, previously studied in humans, were typed for fragment length and sequenced in chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).The primers described by Ayub et al. (Nucleic Acids Res. 28, 2000, 2) for amplifying DYS434, DYS435, DYS436, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439 and those described by White et al. (Genomics, 57, 1999, 433) for GATA A10, A7.1, A7.2, C4, and H4, were used to amplify DNA samples from chimpanzees.Primers described for Y GATA A4 were found to amplify the same region as reported for DYS439. Moreover, the GATA A4 forward primer only matches the repeat flanking region in 14 of the 28bp, being responsible for a very weak amplification. Therefore, this system was not included in this study.The analysis of the repeat and sequence structure observed in chimpanzee and human Y chromosomes allowed evolutionary comparisons as well as the basis for improving Y STR nomenclature and therefore, a unified nomenclature for these novel STRs is proposed to the scientific community following ISFG recommendations.     

A rare case of lethal methadone intoxication of a 3-week-old infant

The authors describe a rare case of lethal methadone intoxication of a 3-week-old infant. Born of a drug-addicted mother who was undergoing methadone substitution therapy, the newborn presented withdrawal symptoms and was immediately admitted to a paediatric ward where it was treated for 3 weeks, without administration of methadone. The infant died during bottle feeding within 24 h following discharge home.A post-mortem examination was performed as well as histopathological, toxicological and genetic tests were carried out in order to establish the cause and mode of death.The autopsy revealed obstruction of the lower air passages by stomach contents along with classical features of asphyxia. Toxicological tests revealed high concentrations of methadone and its metabolite in blood and urine as well as presence of methadone in stomach contents, and the DNA polymorphism analysis of the (sex-specific) amelogenin locus gave a negative result.On the basis of the results of the post-mortem examination, the laboratory tests and the police investigation, it was concluded that the drug was ingested with the bottle milk, and the possibility of administration of methadone at the hospital or its ingestion with the breast milk was precluded. Though both the cause and mode of death were established, the public prosecutor discontinued proceedings in the case due to inability to find the perpetrator.     

Theory of Land-Ocean Peaceful Cooperation: a Geopolitical Study of the Sustainable Security of One Belt One Road

The joint establishment of One Belt One Road is a practice of international cooperation initiated by China and actively participated by other countries. One of the important issues is how to ensure sustainable common security, and what kind of geopolitical theory should be employed for guidance. Traditional geopolitical theories, such as sea power theory, land power theory and Rimland theory, mainly serve for the fi ght for geopolitical hegemony or military strategy. They are in sharp contrast with the goal of One Belt One Road, which is of mutual interest and a win-win situation. However, One Belt One Road is still regarded by some countries from the traditional geopolitical perspective. To equip One Belt One Road with new geopolitical concepts, the author hereby proposes the theory of land-ocean peaceful cooperation, which is a non-alliance network community of common interests, security and destiny. This community would be established for mutual benefi ts, between ocean countries and land countries, among ocean countries and among land countries. It could help policy communication among participant countries of One Belt One Road, and the establishment of an open net-like system of peaceful operation and common development. The theory of land-ocean peaceful cooperation of sustainable security, together with the practice of international cooperation of One Belt One Road, will undoubtedly break through the vicious cycle of the Eurasian geographical fi ght and confrontation between sea powers and land powers illustrated by the traditional geopolitics.     

Batuque: African Drumming and Dance between Repression and Concession, Bahia, 1808–18551

In this essay I will discuss some of the meanings acquired by black revelry under slavery. Given the restrictions of the available sources, I discuss above all the attitudes and the views of masters, policemen, journalists and politicians towards the batuque. For this reason I have chosen those festive manifestations which are more African or seen as such by these individuals. I intend to point out particularly what changed and what did not during the first half of the nineteenth century in attitudes towards the batuque, which here generally means black percussion music usually accompanied by dance.     

COPARENTING ARRANGEMENTS IN A JURISDICTION WITH STATUTORY GUIDELINES

Some states have recently moved away from the traditional winner-loser model of child custody to one focused on coparenting. Under the old approach, divorce decrees typically "awarded" custody to one parent while relegating the other to a "visitor" with poorly defined status. The new system is premised on the child's need for a continuing relationship with both parents and promotes this goal by upgrading the noncustodial parent's status and time-share, assigning substantive rights and responsibilities to both parents. To give effect to the shared parenting idea, Texas adopted joint custody and statutory visitation guidelines legislatively. The policy covers all major aspects of parental rights and duties with great specificity (not just child support, for which all states must have guidelines). It applies equally to divorce and paternity cases. Judges are authorized to deviate from standard visitation guidelines but must state a rationale for doing so on request. Parties may also negotiate and agree to arrangements at variance with the guidelines, subject to approval by the court. This article describes the statutory regime in Texas and its implementation in the family court system. Based on a sample of divorce and paternity cases in the state's largest jurisdiction, it documents innovative court interventions and a wide array of coparenting and support arrangements.     

Victims and property victimization in Israel

Property victimization has increased in recent years in Israel. Apartment burglary and car theft have become a major component in the Israeli public's concern about crime. This paper explores the hypothesis that characteristics of the crime target are central to understanding property victimization. The hypothesis is tested with data from the Third National Israeli Victimization Survey. For apartment burglary, it was found that the larger the number of rooms in the apartment, the higher the risk of victimization. For car theft, it was found that newer cars were more likely to be stolen than older cars. The results shed light on the prominence of property characteristics in the offender's decision-making process and target selection. Data for this study were made available through the Social Sciences Data Archive, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.     

Analysis of 16 Y-chromosomal STRs in an African descent sample population of Chocó (Colombia)

We studied and established a database and some parameters of forensic importance were calculated of 16 Y-STR (DYS19, DYS385, DYS389I/II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS460, DYS461, GATA-A10, GATA-H4 and DYS635) in a population of 298 unrelated males of African descent of Chocó (Colombia) and a total of 257 haplotypes were identified using the present set of Y-STR markers, of which 224 were represented only once in the database. Twenty-six haplotypes were presents two times, six haplotypes were presents in three individuals and one haplotype in four men. The haplotype diversity was 0.9987 ± 0.0004. By combining the allelic states of the 16 Y-chromosomal STRs we could construct highly informative haplotypes that allowed the discrimination of 86.2% of the samples tested. With this work we established a database of Y-STR and some parameters of forensic importance. This approach represents a very powerful tool for individual identification and paternity testing in forensic genetic.