Automated processing of forensic casework samples using robotic workstations equipped with nondisposable tips: contamination prevention

An automated process has been developed for the analysis of forensic casework samples using TECAN Genesis RSP 150/8 or Freedom EVO liquid handling workstations equipped exclusively with nondisposable tips. Robot tip cleaning routines have been incorporated strategically within the DNA extraction process as well as at the end of each session. Alternative options were examined for cleaning the tips and different strategies were employed to verify cross-contamination. A 2% sodium hypochlorite wash (1/5th dilution of the 10.8% commercial bleach stock) proved to be the best overall approach for preventing cross-contamination of samples processed using our automated protocol. The bleach wash steps do not adversely impact the short tandem repeat (STR) profiles developed from DNA extracted robotically and allow for major cost savings through the implementation of fixed tips. We have demonstrated that robotic workstations equipped with fixed pipette tips can be used with confidence with properly designed tip washing routines to process casework samples using an adapted magnetic bead extraction protocol.     

Zur analogen Anwendung des § 29 Abs 2 MRG auf unbefristete Mietverträge mit Kündigungsverzicht des Mieters

Der OGH hat nunmehr bereits in zwei Entscheidungen die Auffassung vertreten, dass § 29 Abs 2 MRG nicht auf Wohnungsmietverh?ltnisse anwendbar ist, die zwar auf unbestimmte Zeit geschlossen werden, aber auf bestimmte Zeit mit einem Kündigungsverzicht des Mieters versehen sind. Der nachfolgende Beitrag erbringt den Nachweis, dass diese Auffassung mit dem Anliegen nicht vereinbar ist, das § 29 Abs 2 MRG verfolgt.     

Gesetzliches Vorzugspfandrecht der Eigentümergemeinschaft nach § 27 WEG 2002 – detaillierte Forderungsanmeldung für die Meistbotsverteilung im Exekutionsverfahren

Wenn Mindest-/Miteigentumsanteile eines s?umigen Wohnungseigentümers zwangsversteigert worden sind, müssen die entsprechenden gesetzlichen Vorzugspfandrechte nach § 27 WEG 2002 sp?testens in der Verteilungstagsatzung gem § 210 EO angemeldet werden, da diese von Amts wegen nicht zu berücksichtigen sind. Die Anmeldung hat alle anspruchsbegründenden Tatsachen, n?mlich Zeitpunkt der "rückst?ndigen", f?lligen Forderungen, H?he der angemeldeten Forderungen samt Rechtsgründen sowie Bestehen der gesetzlichen Vorzugspfandrechte und deren Deckung in den Meistboten, detailliert zu enthalten. Deshalb ist eine blo? "globale" Forderungsanmeldung unzul?ssig; sie muss vielmehr so aufgeschlüsselt werden, dass die Forderungen den einzelnen WE-Objekten und den die entsprechenden Mindestanteile sichernden gesetzlichen Vorzugspfandrechten zugeordnet werden k?nnen. Sollten einzelne in Exekution gezogene Mindestanteile samt den damit verbundenen WE-Objekten keinen Erwerber finden, dürfen die durch die gesetzlichen Vorzugspfandrechte gesicherten Forderungen nicht durch jene Meistbote befriedigt werden, die für die anderen, erfolgreich zwangsversteigerten WE-Objekte erzielt worden sind.     

MMPI-2 and 16PF-5 Personality Traits of Parents Involved in Personality Assessment

The present study focused on both the MMPI-2 scales and the 16PF-5 primary and global factors, involving 213 individuals who were court-ordered to undergo a personality assessment in neglect and/or abuse cases. Results showed a defensive approach to the assessment and specific psychological characteristics indicated by moderate range elevations in the MMPI-2 clinical scales 4 and 6 and in the 16PF-5 Tough-Mindedness, and high scores of 16PF-5 Self-Control associated with low scores of PSY-5 Disconstraint. Finally, this study revealed strong associations between MMPI-2 PSY-5 and 16PF-5 global factors, offering a detailed picture of psychological functioning.     

Assessment of PowerPlex® Fusion 5C’s ability to type degraded DNA

DNA samples collected at crime scenes are often degraded so this research focused on the ability of the Promega PowerPlex® Fusion 5C amplification kit to type both naturally and artificially degraded DNA.DNA was degraded naturally by placing equal volumes of blood on white fabric that was stored either inside, outside in a shaded area, or outside in direct sunlight. Samples were then collected every 10 days for 60 days and the DNA extracted (QIAamp® DNA Investigator). Artificially degraded samples were created by exposing extracted DNA to either UV light or 95 °C heat for varying times. DNA was also degraded artificially by placing blood samples into a 50% bleach solution for varying times prior to extraction.Following sample treatment, standard forensic DNA analysis was performed including quantification (Investigator® Quantiplex) and amplification (PowerPlex® Fusion 5C). Separation and detection were performed on an ABI 3130xl capillary electrophoresis unit and analysis was performed using GeneMapper ID v3.2.1.While the time and shade samples showed similar amounts of degradation, the samples exposed to direct sun showed more degradation. The artificially degraded samples showed more signs of degradation such as reduced overall peak height and peak height imbalance at heterozygous loci. There were also some cases where an allele that was known to be in the profile exhibited total dropout. Although there were some instances of both allelic dropout and heterozygote peak imbalance, PowerPlex® Fusion was able to reliably type degraded DNA as all alleles detected were consistent with the known donor profile. The results show that PowerPlex® Fusion is a robust kit capable of handling forensically challenged samples.     

The Politics of Technology Decline: Discursive Struggles over Coal Phase‐Out in the UK

The decline of carbon intensive technologies is a key element in the ongoing energy transition and our attempts to tackle climate change. At the same time, our understanding of technology decline and of the associated policies and politics is still limited. This paper builds on the sustainability transitions perspective, a novel approach to analyze socio‐technical transformation, including the complex interplay of policy and technology change. We study the decline of coal‐fired power generation in the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2017 by analyzing the discourse in The Guardian. We find scientists and environmental NGOs criticizing coal for climate and health reasons. Government and incumbent businesses tried to re‐legitimate coal but eventually, their resistance collapsed and coal was almost completely abandoned in just a few years. Particularly devastating for coal were failed promises around carbon capture and storage, rapid diffusion of wind energy, and pressure from various policies. This study contributes to better understanding the contested nature of decline, and the interplay of discursive struggles, technology change, and public policy in sustainability transitions.     

Household Costs and Resistance to Germany's Energy Transition

Germany is an exemplary case of an energy transition from nuclear energy and fossil fuels toward renewables in the electricity sector, but it also demonstrates repeated, increasingly successful countermobilization by energy incumbents and their allies. The course for Germany's energy transition was largely set with the adoption of a feed‐in tariff law in 1990, but since then the energy transition has been altered by a series of policy‐making episodes, each of which was shaped by the outcomes of the previous episodes; there has been a combination of reinforcing and reactive sequences. This article uses policy windows and advocacy coalition theory, supplemented by work on resistance to carbon pricing, to analyze the four periods in which opponents of the energy transition had the greatest opportunities to limit or reverse it. It makes three main arguments intended to influence future research on energy transitions: (1) episodes of opposition to the feed‐in tariff policy occurred when problem awareness and political commitment converged, (2) the outcomes of those conflicts depended on the balance of mobilization by advocacy and opposing coalitions, and (3) rising household costs due to the renewable energy surcharge drove both problem awareness and the composition of the opposing coalition, which helped lead to a more far‐reaching retrenchment of renewable energy policy in 2014 than in earlier periods.     

Exploring Aggregate vs. Relative Public Trust in Administrative Agencies that Manage Spent Nuclear Fuel in the United States

Trust is a key component of democratic decision‐making and becomes even more salient in highly technical policy areas, where the public relies heavily on experts for decision making and on the information provided by federal agencies. Research to date has not examined whether the members of the public place different levels of trust in the various agencies that operate within the same policy subsystem, especially in a highly technical subsystem such as that of nuclear energy and waste management. This paper explores public trust in multiple agencies operating within the same subsystem, trust in each agency relative to aggregate trust across agencies that operate within the nuclear waste subsystem, and trust in alternative agencies that have been suggested as possible players in the decision‐making process. We find that trust accorded to different federal agencies within the nuclear waste subsystem varies. The variation in trust is systematically associated with multiple factors, including basic trust in government, perceptions about the risks and benefits of nuclear energy/waste management, party identification, and education. These findings have significant implications for research on public trust in specific government agencies, alternative policy entities, and for policy makers who want to design robust and successful policies and programs in highly technical policy domains.     

Electric Shock: The 2012 India Blackout and Public Confidence in Politicians

How do disruptions in basic public service delivery shape people’s perceptions of politicians? We offer evidence from the July 2012 blackout in India, the largest in human history. Using data from the India Human Development Survey, we compare confidence in politicians between households that were surveyed during the outage and affected by it (treatment) and only days before it (control). Balance statistics show that the treatment and control groups are statistically indistinguishable, and further tests indicate that there was no disturbance to the pattern of surveying. Far from undermining public confidence in politicians, the outage increased it, as citizens reacted to the anxiety created by the crisis. The implications are normatively troubling, as politicians seem to have reaped benefits from disruptions in public service delivery.     

The Context of Responsiveness: Resident Preferences,Water Scarcity,and Municipal Conservation Policy

The extent to which municipal policy is determined by the preferences of residents is a topic of growing importance. Recent work on the subject has challenged conventional wisdom and found that municipal policy is often, but not always, responsive to the ideology of residents. This paper takes up an important potential implication of these findings, exploring how resident ideology may interact with issue severity in the adoption of municipal policy. Hypotheses suggest that resident preferences will have the greatest effect in the presence of high issue severity and that issue severity will have the largest impact when residents have ideological preferences in line with policy solutions. I test hypotheses using municipal water rates, with models showing that the effects of resident ideology and water scarcity interact with each other to influence water conservation policy.