Mutation rates at 14 STR loci in the population from Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil

Definition about mutation rates of short tandem repeats (STRs) loci used in forensic analysis are useful for the correct interpretation of resulting genetic profiles and the definition of criterions for exclusion in paternity testing. Germline mutation of 14 STR loci was studied for 54,105 parent–child allelic transfers from 2575 paternity testing cases carried out during 2000–2007 from the Pernambuco State, Northeast Brazil. The parenthood in each of these cases was highly validated (probability > 99.99%). We identified 43 mutations at 12 loci. Locus-specific mutation rate estimates varied between 2 × 10⁻⁴ and 2 × 10⁻³, and the overall mutation rate estimate was 8 × 10⁻⁴. Mutation events in the male germline were more frequent than in the female germline. The majority of the mutations could be explained by losses or gains of one repeat unit and there was no evidence for selection between insertion or deletion changes. Our data were compared with those of Portuguese and North-American populations for CSF1PO, D18S51, D21S11, D7S820, TH01, TPOX and demonstrated, despite the great difference in the size of the sample, that mutation rates of STR loci in a mixed population do not differ from that encountered in different populations.     

Women who kill: a comparison of the psychosocial background of female and male perpetrators

The purpose of this study was to compare the psychosocial background of female and male perpetrators convicted of homicide in Sweden between 1995-2001. All women (n=43) who were convicted for lethal violence during the period and a corresponding number of randomly chosen men (n=43) were examined. In total, information about 86 individuals was collected retrospectively. Areas of interest were psychosocial variables during childhood and at the time of the current crime. Results showed that both female and male perpetrators were psychosocially encumbered already at an early age. Homicidal women had more severe childhood circumstances, but less aggressive childhood behaviour than did their male counterparts. At the time of the crime, women had a more ordered social situation, had more often been exposed to violence and searched for help than had the men. These gender differences suggest that specific actions are needed for preventing women's homicidal behaviour.     

论中国死刑的保留与限制及其对故意杀人罪的适用

死刑问题不是一个纯粹的刑法问题 ,死刑的存废取决于主导性社会观念的支持。在中国刑法理论界 ,虽未一般地将废除死刑作为自己的目标 ,但严格限制死刑的适用却一直是中国刑法界的态度。现行中国的刑事法律从适用对象、适用程序和死缓制度三个方面来严格限制死刑 ,故意杀人罪是当今中国刑法中死刑的主要适用对象。     

Firearm examination: Examiner judgments and computer‐based comparisons

Forensic firearm examination provides the court of law with information about the source of fired cartridge cases. We assessed the validity of source decisions of a computer‐based method and of 73 firearm examiners who compared breechface and firing pin impressions of 48 comparison sets. We also compared the computer‐based method's comparison scores with the examiners' degree‐of‐support judgments and assessed the validity of the latter. The true‐positive rate (sensitivity) and true‐negative rate (specificity) of the computer‐based method (for the comparison of both the breechface and firing pin impressions) were 94.4% and at least 91.7%, respectively. For the examiners, the true‐positive rate was at least 95.3% and the true‐negative rate was at least 86.2%. The validity of the source decisions improved when the evaluations of breechface and firing pin impressions were combined and for the examiners also when the perceived difficulty of the comparison decreased. The examiners were reluctant to provide source decisions for "difficult" comparisons even though their source decisions were mostly correct. The correlation between the computer‐based method's comparison scores and the examiners' degree‐of‐support judgments was low for the same‐source comparisons to negligible for the different‐source comparisons. Combining the outcomes of computer‐based methods with the judgments of examiners could increase the validity of firearm examinations. The examiners' numerical degree‐of‐support judgments for their source decisions were not well‐calibrated and showed clear signs of overconfidence. We suggest studying the merits of performance feedback to calibrate these judgments.     

Measures of opportunity and the calculation of the arson rate: The connection between operationalization and association

The crime of arson is complicated in part because of the motives associated with the offense and the vast assortment of combustible objects or targets deliberately burned in urban areas. This research attempts to conceptualize the crime in light of criminal law and demonstrates that arson occupies a rather unique position. Although classified as a property crime, the legislative intent appears to focus on the protection of human life. Moreover, legislative developments have brought us to the point where burning almost any property is designated arson. There is a growing concern over the incidence of arson, but there has been little discussion of how to calculate the arson rate when the targets of opportunity are not known. The exploratory research presented here addresses the structure of arson rates by using an assortment of indirect and direct measures of opportunity as denominators in the calculation of the arson rate. Factor analysis reduces a 27×27 correlation matrix to six significant factors and demonstrates that some measures share the same underlying rate structure. By using a factorbase scale (dependent variable) for each factor and a set of independent variables, regression analysis reveals that there are differences in the direction of association, the degree of association, and the types of independent variables that associate with different measures of the arson rate.     

合并自杀的杀人行为研究(附40例分析)

目的　探索合并自杀的杀人行为的犯罪学特征、发生机理 ,为责任能力的评定提供依据 ,并提出进一步研究方向。　方法　采用回顾性研究方法 ,3名研究人员从 1997年 1月～ 2 0 0 1年 10月的鉴定案例中挑出符合研究条件的案例 ,进行统计学分析 ,并结合国内外相关文献进行讨论。　结果　符合条件者共 40例 ,男性被鉴定人较多 (2 8名 ) ,平均年龄 33.5 5岁 ,主要年龄段 30～ 40岁 ,妄想和情绪低落等症状具有明显的作用 ,精神分裂症和无精神病在疾病诊断中占有显著地位。　结论　合并自杀的杀人行为具有一定的特征 ,应引起司法精神病学的关注 ,并展开更深入的研究。     

England's New Scheme for Funding Higher Education through Student Fees: ‘Fair and Progressive’?

From September 2012 most home undergraduates at English universities are being charged fees of £9,000 per annum. These are funded by a government loan, which attracts interest from the moment they start their course; after three years their accumulated debt exceeds £30,000. They can also borrow to cover their living costs, on the same terms, so that those studying in London can graduate with a debt of more than £50,000—although those from low‐income families can obtain grants and universities are encouraged to provide bursaries and other support to students from underrepresented groups. Graduates start repaying their debts once their annual income exceeds £21,000—at a rate of 9% of the difference between their income and that figure: until the debt is fully repaid it continues to attract interest, by as much as three percentage points above the current inflation rate. Using data from a calculator on a government website, this paper shows that the highest‐paid graduates pay back less than those on middle incomes: the ‘squeezed middle’ pays back more not only than those on low incomes but also the better‐paid and those whose incomes increase more rapidly. This has differential effects according to occupation—and sex; and middle‐income groups also contribute more to the costs of widening participation programmes, which all universities charging more than £6,000 per annum are required to fund.     

Autoerotic death: incidence and age of victims--a population-based study

Review of the Australian National Coronial Information System and the Swedish National Forensic Database was undertaken over a 7-year period from 2001 to 2007 for all cases where death had been attributed to autoerotic death or sexual asphyxia. In Australia, there were 44 cases (M:F = 42:2) with the majority of victims aged >30 years (77%)-a yearly national rate of approximately 0.3/million. In Sweden, there were nine cases (M:F = 9:0) with the majority of cases aged <30 years (55%)-a yearly national rate of approximately 0.14/million. The usual male predominance was present in both populations, although the Australian victims were older than is usually reported. Lethal sexual asphyxia is uncommon in both the Australian and Swedish populations, with a lower rate than has been cited for North America. Whether this is because of different kinds of paraphilic activities in different populations or of differences in methods of central data collection is uncertain.     

我国商业银行利率市场化问题研究——中小商业银行“被退市”危机及应对策略

2012年我国两次不对称降息政策进一步加快了利率市场化进程,并引发了商业银行利润总额和利润结构的急剧变化。从世界金融发展历史看,存贷利差的缩小,利润水平的大幅下降可能影响商业银行财务的连续性,使其遭遇重组甚至“被退市”的危机。我国的商业银行尤其是中小商业银行如不提前防备,同样面临“被退市”风险。因此,中小商业银行必须高度重视利率因素带来的生存危机,提高应对水平,以求在利率市场化过程中得以生存与发展。