Bioinformatics and human identification in mass fatality incidents: the world trade center disaster

Victim identification initiatives undertaken in the wake of Mass Fatality Incidents (MFIs) where high-body fragmentation has been sustained are often dependent on DNA typing technologies to complete their mandate. The success of these endeavors is linked to the choice of DNA typing methods and the bioinformatic tools required to make the necessary associations. Several bioinformatic tools were developed to assist with the identification of the victims of the World Trade Center attacks, one of the most complex incidents to date. This report describes one of these tools, the Mass Disaster Kinship Analysis Program (MDKAP), a pair-wise comparison software designed to handle large numbers of complete or partial Short Tandem Repeats (STR) genotypes, and infer identity of, or biological relationships between tested samples. The software performs all functions required to take full advantage of the information content of processed genotypic data sets from large-scale MFIs, including the collapse of victims data sets, remains re-association, virtual genotype generation through gap-filling, parentage trio searching, and a consistency check of reported/inferred biological relationships within families. Although very few WTC victims were genetically related, the software can detect parentage trios from within a victim's genotype data set through a nontriangulated approach that screens all possible parentage trios. All software-inferred relationships from WTC data were confirmed by independent statistical analysis. With a 13 STR loci complement, a fortuitous parentage trio (FPT) involving nonrelated individuals was detected. Additional STR loci would be required to reduce the risk of an FPT going undetected in large-scale MFIs involving related individuals among the victims. Kinship analysis has proven successful in this incident but its continued success in larger scale MFIs is contingent on the use of a sufficient number of STR loci to reduce the risk of undetected FPTs, the use of mtDNA and Y-STRs to confirm parentage and of bioinformatics that can support large-scale comparative genotyping schemes capable of detecting parentage trios from within a group of related victims.     

Identification of organic pigments in automotive coatings using laser desorption mass spectrometry

When one looks at an automotive coating, one sees color due to pigments. Modern organic pigments, with high molar absorptivities, may be only minor components of the mixture. Laser desorption mass spectrometry (LDMS) has been shown to be a useful tool for the analysis of colorants such as pen ink dyes. Here, LDMS is used to determine its utility for the identification of pigments, in simple media and in more complex paints. Small paint chips can be introduced into the LDMS instrument, and when an ultraviolet laser is focused on a portion of a chip, ions representative of the pigment(s) are selectively formed. Some pigments such as quinacridones and copper phthalocyanine are very stable and are desorbed and ionized intact. In contrast, benzimidazolones, which contain some single-skeletal bonds, form fragment ions. This method proves to be sensitive and convenient, as no sample preparation is required. The presence of inorganic pigments in addition to modern organic pigments can be determined, and pigments can be directly identified in actual automotive paint chip samples.     

The role of mobile computed tomography in mass fatality incidents

Mobile multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) scanners are potentially available to temporary mortuaries and can be operational within 20 min of arrival. We describe, to our knowledge, the first use of mobile MDCT for a mass fatality incident. A mobile MDCT scanner attended the disaster mortuary after a five vehicle road traffic incident. Five out of six bodies were successfully imaged by MDCT in c. 15 min per body. Subsequent full radiological analysis took c. 1 h per case. The results were compared to the autopsy examinations. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of imaging with mobile MDCT in relation to mass fatality work, illustrating the body pathway process, and its role in the identification of the pathology, personal effects, and health and safety hazards. We propose that the adoption of a single modality of mobile MDCT could replace the current use of multiple radiological sources within a mass fatality mortuary.     

Mass spectral and NMR spectral data of two new designer drugs with an alpha-aminophenone structure: 4'-methyl-alpha-pyrrolidinohexanophenone and 4'-methyl-alpha-pyrrolidinobutyrophenone

This study presents and discusses the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic and mass spectroscopic data of the new designer drug 4'-methyl-alpha-pyrrolidinobutyrophenone (MPBP) and its homolog 4'-methyl-alpha-pyrrolidinohexanophenone (MPHP) which were seized in 2004 and 2000 in Germany for the first time. The structure elucidation of the aliphatic part of MPBP was carried out by product ion spectroscopy of the immonium ion formed after electron ionization as well as with 1H and 13C NMR. Product ion spectroscopy of immonium ions again proved to be a powerful tool to determine the structure of designer drugs and to distinguish between isobaric structures of the alkyl-amino moiety.     

公安机关引导下的集会游行示威：一种减少群体性事件的新思路

近年来群体性事件频发,而维权几乎成了公民参与群体性事件的主要目的。群体性事件的实质是以集群的方式表达某种诉求或者意见,其表现形式具有明显的违法性。对群体性事件处置采用弹压模式,不仅容易造成矛盾升级激化,而且难以从根本上解决问题,只会使得矛盾和负面情绪积压。对此,我们可以改变思路,由公安机关引导公民进行集会游行示威,为公民维权和表达意见打开一条新的道路,从而减少群体性事件的发生,节约处置的成本。     

我党的群众路线与传统民本思想

我国古代民本思想是出于维护国家政权长治久安的衍生品,它不以维护民众的利益为出发点,有一定的局限性。群众路线的基本立足点是关于对人民群众概念的科学界定,包含了丰富的民力、民养、民主、民智等方面的民众思想,科学地论述了人民群众的地位价值。因此,群众路线开创了民本思想新境界。党员干部应树立马克思主义群众观,坚决反对和克服官僚主义作风,把解决民生问题作为党和国家工作中的重中之重。     

中国共产党整党整风活动的演进逻辑及时代启示

将中国共产党开展的整党整风活动纳入时间的一维视野中考察就不难发现:无论是新民主主义革命时期、社会主义革命和建设时期还是改革开放的新时代,整党整风必须结合党的事业,准确把握形势;要时刻坚持人民群众的主体地位,扩大民主参与;必须坚持领导干部率先垂范,充分利用好批评与自我批评的武器;更要抓好党员队伍建设,建立长效机制,从而保证党的各项事业科学发展。     

The Spanish model of New Journalism in a European context

This work deals with the study of the evolution and the historical experience of Spanish journalism in the context of decades of transition between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From the selection of the most relevant cases and the examination of tracking, or not, of models and European patterns of the reference press, singularities and analogies of the historical evolution of the Spanish journalism model may be seen – an evolutionary model fully registered within the framework of Western Europe and in one of its most fruitful phases: the origins and first development of the mass media. Therefore, the following trilogy of reference media is selected covering specified time periods: El Imparcial, Madrid, 1867–1933; La Vanguardia, Barcelona, 1881; and ABC, Madrid, 1903.     

毛泽东群众观点对保障和改善民生的引领

在革命和建设实际中,毛泽东特别强调群众的利益、群众的作用,强调要相信群众、依靠群众,让群众当家作主,尊重群众的首创精神。毛泽东的群众观点对我们今天保障和改善民生有着重要引领作用:保障和改善民生要从人民群众的利益出发,解决好人民最关心最直接最现实的利益问题;充分尊重人民群众的意愿,发挥人民群众的作用;真正落实国家的各项惠民政策,使人民群众切实分享改革开放成果。     

论青少年犯罪与大众传媒

青少年犯罪日益呈现出低龄化、多样化、频发性等特点。其原因主要包括社会因素、家庭因素、学校教育因素。而随着改革开放的不断深入,以及我国加入WTO后经济、文化领域同国际的不断接轨,大众传媒对青少年犯罪的影响越来越直接、深入。本文试从青少年犯罪与大众传媒的关系这一角度谈谈其原因及控制。