Developmental validation of RSID™-Semen: a lateral flow immunochromatographic strip test for the forensic detection of human semen

Abstract: Tests for the identification of semen commonly involve the microscopic visualization of spermatozoa or assays for the presence of seminal markers such as acid phosphatase (AP) or prostate‐specific antigen (PSA). Here, we describe the rapid stain identification kit for the identification of semen (RSID?‐Semen), a lateral flow immunochromatographic strip test that uses two antihuman semenogelin monoclonal antibodies to detect the presence of semenogelin. The RSID?‐Semen strip is specific for human semen, detecting <2.5 nL of semen, and does not cross‐react with other human or nonhuman tissues tested. RSID?‐Semen is more sensitive with certain forensic evidence samples containing mixtures of vaginal secretions and semen than either of the commercially available PSA‐based forensic semen detection tests or tests that measure AP activity that were tested in parallel. The RSID?‐Semen kit also allows sampling a fraction of a questioned stain while retaining the majority of the sample for further processing through short tandem repeat analysis.     

The Impact of the USSR on Lithuania's Domestic Policy and Its International Orientation in the Third Decade of the Twentieth Century

This article investigates links between domestic and foreign policy, topics which are usually discussed rather than analyzed in any detail. The case of the USSR and Lithuania is taken as an historical example of the impact of the external factor on domestic policy, and an attempt is made to elucidate how the Soviets tried to influence and correct Lithuania's policy in the inter-war period by providing financial assistance to parties and their press. In this way they sought to set Lithuania against Poland and fuel the conflict between them, so that they would not become reconciled, would not create the so-called Baltic Union with Latvia, Estonia and Finland and would not orient themselves to the West. Using financial and other levers of secret policy, the Soviets contributed significantly to pushing the pro-Western Christian Democratic Party away from power in Lithuania so that the Nationalists, who sought to establish closer relations with the USSR, came to be established. The overseas financing of parties which remained unknown to the public distorted the political process of Lithuania and hindered the maturing of social awareness.     

T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land in Lithuanian translation

Small states, argued Peter Katzenstein a quarter of a century ago, were different. Faced with the fluctuations of world markets, they adopt democratic corporatism and domestic compensation, thus ensuring political legitimacy and successful economic adjustment. The Baltic countries are an interesting case study for this framework, because in many ways they are “smaller” than the seven countries analyzed by Katzenstein. This article finds that, on a broader level, Katzenstein’s framework is very helpful in highlighting the key developments in the Baltic countries. On the other hand, the specific causal mechanism that can be drawn from this framework running from smallness, to democratic corporatism, to political legitimacy, as well as domestic compensation, has not developed in the Baltics.     

Does the Criminal Justice System Treat Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Offenders Leniently?

We examine whether men who physically assault their female partners or who commit sexual assault receive more lenient treatment than offenders who commit other types of assaults. Analyses of the National Violence Against Women Survey do not support these hypotheses. Rather, they suggest that women who assault their male partners are particularly likely to avoid arrest. In addition, both men and women who assault partners are more likely to avoid conviction than other offenders. Evidence suggests that there has been an increase over time in rates of arrest and conviction for partner violence.     

Liberating Discretion: The Effect of Rape Myth Factors on Prosecutors’ Decisions to Charge Suspects in Penetrative and Non-Penetrative Sex Offenses

Abstract

In sexual assault cases, prosecutorial charging decisions may be influenced by legal factors like offense seriousness and convictability and extralegal rape myths. We use data on sexual assaults in Los Angeles, to test for the effects of victim behavior, victim credibility, and “real rape” stereotypes on the decision to file charges. We also test the liberation hypothesis, examining whether rape myths influence the charge decision more in less serious nonpenetrative cases then in penetrative cases. Results show that victim credibility and behavior, but not consistency with real rape stereotypes, affect charging decisions, even after controlling for legally relevant factors, and they influence prosecutors’ charging decisions equally in penetrative and nonpenetrative cases. Rape myths also influence the charging decision indirectly via victim cooperation. We conclude that rape myths are incorporated into the criminal justice system’s definition of and response to sexual violence, so cannot be addressed by changing case screening policies.     

A search for obligatory paternal alleles in a DNA database to find an alleged rapist in a fatherless paternity case

Abstract: A sexual assault case resulted in a pregnancy, which was subsequently aborted. The alleged father of the fetus was unknown. Maternal and fetal types were obtained using the 11‐locus AmpF?STR^® SGM Plus^® kit. The national DNA database was searched for the paternal obligatory alleles and detected two suspects who could not be excluded as father of the male fetus. Additional typing using the AmpF?STR^® Minifiler^? kit, containing three additional autosomal loci, was not sufficient to exclude either suspect. Subsequent typing using the PowerPlex^® 16, containing four additional loci, and Y‐Filer^? kits resulted in excluding one suspect. Searching a database for paternal obligatory alleles can be fruitful, but is fraught with possible false positive results so that finding a match must be taken as only preliminary evidence.     

MIS‐MATCHED: TAKING A STATE APPROACH TO ENFORCING THE GROWING INTERNATIONAL MATCHMAKING INDUSTRY

Each year, hundreds of U.S. men and foreign women find their future spouses through international matchmaking agencies. Foreign women are attracted to the opportunity for a life in America and men are offered money‐back guarantees to find the perfect wife. An alarming number of these unions however, have resulted in the abuse, exploitation and even death of foreign women at the hands of their U.S. citizen husbands. While the federal International Marriage Broker Regulation Act requires disclosure of a male client's criminal background history prior to communicating with a potential foreign bride, the Act does not impose any requirements for disclosure of information about the international marriage brokers themselves. Thus the peddlers behind the rapidly growing industry are largely unaccounted for, with no one really knowing who they are or where they are operating. This Note proposes that states fill the enforcement gap by adopting a statute requiring international marriage brokers to register and become certified to do business with state residents. This legislation will result in collecting much needed data on international marriage brokers, create more transparency in the international matchmaking industry and prevent potential violence and abuse of foreign women.     

Development of a rapid, 96-well alkaline based differential DNA extraction method for sexual assault evidence

We present a rapid alkaline lysis procedure for the extraction of DNA from sexual assault evidence that generates purified sperm fraction extracts that yield STR typing results similar to those obtained from the traditional organic/dithiothreitol differential extraction. Specifically, a sodium hydroxide based differential extraction method has been developed in a single-tube format and further optimized in a 96-well format. The method yields purified extracts from a small sample set (∼2-6 swabs) in approximately 2 h and from a larger sample set (up to 96 swabs) in approximately 4 h. While conventional differential extraction methods require vigorous sample manipulation to remove the spermatozoa from the substrate, the method described here exploits the propensity of sperm to adhere to a substrate and does not require any manipulation of the substrate after it is sampled. For swabs, sample handling is minimized by employing a process where the tip of the swab, including the shaft, is transferred to the appropriate vessel eliminating the need for potentially hazardous scalpels to separate the swab material from the shaft. The absence of multiple handling steps allows the process to be semi-automated, however the procedure as described here does not require use of a robotic system. This method may provide forensic laboratories a cost-effective tool for the eradication of backlogs of sexual assault evidence, and more timely service to their client agencies. In addition, we have demonstrated that a modification of the procedure can be used to retrieve residual sperm-cell DNA from previously extracted swabs.     

Conflicting Consensus

Abstract

Limited research exists on the extent to which the public supports the criminalization of domestic violence, and whether people believe police pro-arrest policies will deter future offending. Based on conflict theory, it is hypothesized that there will be differences in support for criminalization between powerful (i.e., middle to upper class Caucasian men) and less powerful demographic groups (i.e., women, minorities, and the economically and educationally disadvantaged). Data were collected from a randomized telephone survey of Alabama residents and analyzed using ordered regression models. Results indicate that a majority of respondents agreed with a pro-arrest policy for domestic violence; however, age, education, income, and gender subgroup differences offer support for the conflict model. An additional finding that domestic violence victimization plays a significant role in the formulation of respondents' attitudes toward these policies needs to be more closely investigated.     

国际侦查合作法律依据简论

在国际侦查合作的发展进程中,世界各国在大量实践的基础上形成了较为系统的规则,并最终上升为各类效力不同的规范性法律文件,为国际侦查合作的顺利开展和健康发展奠定了坚实的法律基础。从国际法和国内法两大范畴对国际侦查合作的法律依据进行梳理、分类和整合,归纳出全球范围的国际侦查合作法律依据的三大特点及发展趋势。