Addressing Information Needs in Employment Services Provision in Italy: The Role of Codesign Networks

This article examines how coproduction can contribute to information quality in support of labor-market decision-making. Data was gathered on different types of Labor Market Intelligence (LMI) as decision-support systems for stakeholders, and subsequently by analyzing a specific program, with a focus on the role of information within its coproduction process. Results confirm the importance of information systems to support employment services design, but highlight the limitations of existing channels, and outline the types of information needed for policy effectiveness: those that are gathered through continuous relations with employers and jobseekers, and that often derive from participation in policy networks.     

Alpha-amylase kinetic test in bodily single and mixed stains

Recently, in Italy, a murder and a putative sexual violence was accomplished on a child. A bodily fluids mixture on the child's underwear between the victim (female) and the suspect (male) was ascertained by short tandem repeat (STR) DNA typing and, due to the absence of seminal fluid, saliva from the suspect and urine from the child was hypothesized. In order to investigate the possibility of specifically and rapidly detecting saliva stains both alone and mixed with other bodily fluids, we used a quantitative spectrophotometric technique, named Amylase test, for the detection of alpha-amylases. We determined alpha-amylase activity and reaction kinetic curves in several samples collected from the child's underwear. In order to confirm our intuition, we first tested saliva, perspiration, and urine, singularly and in mixtures; second, several forensic stains including saliva, perspiration, urine stains, saliva/perspiration, and saliva/urine mixture stains were tested. Evaluating alpha-amylase activity values and time-course curves' behavior of alpha-amylase reactions we were able to recognize successfully, in all cases, the presence of saliva and to distinguish it specifically from other bodily fluids containing alpha-amylase. A further confirmation of our result was provided by STR DNA typing on several areas of the underwear: a clear correlation between alpha-amylases activity and male DNA was detected on all the samples evaluated.     

Informativeness of NGS Analysis for Vaginal Fluid Identification

The identification of vaginal fluids in forensic examinations plays an important role in crime scene reconstruction. Molecular detection of vaginal bacterial communities can lead to the correct discrimination of body fluids. These kinds of studies can be performed through multiplex real‐time PCR using primers for a specific selection of bacteria. The availability of next‐generation sequencing (NGS) protocols provided for the extension of the analysis to evaluate the prokaryotes present in specimens. In this study, DNA was extracted from 18 samples (vaginal, oral, fecal, yoghurt) and analyzed by real‐time PCR and NGS. The comparison between the two approaches has demonstrated that the information developed through NGS can augment the more conventional real‐time PCR detection of a few key bacterial species to provide a more probative result and the correct identification of vaginal fluid from samples that are more forensically challenged.     

Age estimation by pulp/tooth ratio in canines by peri-apical X-rays

Estimation of age in individuals has received considerable attention in forensic science, in which it is a widely used method for individual identification, together with paleo-demographic analyses to establish mortality patterns in past populations. The present investigation, which is a continuation of a previously published pilot study, was conducted to examine the possible application of the pulp/tooth area ratio by peri-apical images as an indicator of age at death. A total of 200 peri-apical X-rays of upper and lower canines were assembled from 57 male and 43 female skeletons of Caucasian origin, aged between 20 and 79 years. They belong to the Frassetto osteological collection of Sassari (Sardinia) and are housed in the Museum of Anthropology, Department of Experimental and Evolutionistic Biology, University of Bologna. For each skeleton, dental maturity was evaluated by measuring the pulp/tooth area ratio on upper (x(1)) and lower (x(2)) canines. Very good agreement was found between intraobserver measurements. Statistical analysis was performed in order to obtain multiple regression formulae for dental age calculation, with chronological age as dependent variable, and gender, and upper and lower canines as independent variables. Stepwise regression analysis showed that gender did not contribute significantly to the fit (p=0.881) whereas variables x(1) and x(2) and the first-order interaction between them did. These two variables explained 92.5% of variations in estimated chronological age and the residual standard error was 4.06 years. Lastly, two simple linear regression equations were obtained for age estimation using canines from the maxilla and mandible separately. Both models explained 86% of variations in estimated chronological age and allowed an age-at-death estimate with a residual standard error of about 5.4 years.     

Age estimation by pulp/tooth ratio in canines by mesial and vestibular peri-apical X-rays

Changes in the size of the pulp canal, caused by apposition of secondary dentine, are the best morphometric parameters for estimating age by X-rays. The apposition of secondary dentine is the most frequently used method for age estimation in adult subjects. In two previous papers, we studied the application of the pulp/tooth area ratio by peri-apical X-rays as an indicator of age at death. The aim of the present study was to test the accuracy of age evaluation by combined analysis of labio-lingual and mesial peri-apical X-rays of lower and upper canines. A total of 200 such X-rays were assembled from 57 male and 43 female skeletons of Caucasian origin, aged between 20 and 79 years. For each skeleton, dental maturity was evaluated by measuring the pulp/tooth area ratio according to labio-lingual and mesial X-rays on upper (x(1), x(2)) and lower (x(3), x(4)) canines. Very good agreement was found between intra-observer measurements. Statistical analysis showed that all variables x(1), x(2), x(3), and x(4) and the first-order interaction between x(1) and x(3) contributed significantly to the fit, so that they were included in the regression model, yielding the following regression formula: Age = 120.737 - 337.112x(1) - 79.709x(2) - 364.534x(3) - 65.655x(4) + 1531.918x(1)x(3) . The residual standard error of estimated ages was 3.62 years, with 94 degrees of freedom, and the median of the residuals was -0.155 years, with an interquartile range of 4.96 years. The accuracy of the method was ME = 2.8 years, where ME is the mean prediction error. The model also explained 94% of total variance (R(2) = 0.94).     

Armed Groups as Political Parties and Their Role in Electoral Politics: The Case of Hizballah

In recent decades, armed groups have shown an increased interest in creating political parties to take part in institutional politics. By using these political wings to participate in elections and win public office, some of them have gained enormous political power. However, despite the important real-world implications of this trend, the existing literature on the topic is still underdeveloped. This article contributes to a better understanding of this subject by examining the factors that motivate armed groups to set up a political wing and compete in elections and by assessing how political participation affects an armed group's strategic outlook. The hypotheses on political wing formation and development are tested by analyzing the decision-making patterns of Hizballah. The findings suggest that the political involvement of armed groups does not follow a linear development process from armed to political organization, but instead assumes cyclical patterns: political accommodation and armed struggle are chosen in turn in response to shifts in the relation and the internal balance of power between a given group's political and armed wings.     

Rebel-to-political and back? Hamas as a security provider in Gaza between rebellion,politics and governance

ABSTRACT

After winning the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections and subsequently taking control of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007, the Palestinian Hamas – a hybrid political, social and military actor – undertook a complex process to ascertain authority and control over Gaza. The article focuses on understanding Hamas’s performance as a political party and a “rebel government” as well as the impact of this newly acquired role on the group’s strategy. Relying on primary sources, field-work and interviews with members of the Hamas government and its security sector, the study looks at Hamas’s role as a security provider and analyses the complex relationship between the institutionalized security sector and the group’s insurgent armed wing. Examining Hamas’s logic as a security provider and exploring the inherent tensions between political and insurgent logics allows for a better understanding of both the rebel group’s role as a political actor and the broader challenges behind the successful rebel-to-political transformations of non-state armed organizations. In doing so it contributes to the emerging literature on non-state actors’ shifts between ballots and bullets and on their potential role as alternative governance providers.     

Expression of seminal vesicle-specific antigen in serum of lung tumor patients

Protein markers are commonly used in forensic medicine to establish the origin of human fluids detected in crime scenes. Semenogelins, the major protein constituents of semen coagulum, are the most effective markers for semen detection. Recently, it has been demonstrated that semenogelins are also ectopically expressed in small cell lung carcinomas (SCLC) and in a minority of non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC). This finding prompted us to look for semenogelin expression in the serum of lung cancer patients. A set of 13 serum samples (3 from SCLC and 10 from NSCLC patients) was screened by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using a commercially available kit. Four of the NSCLC cases showed positive results. Ectopic expression of marker proteins in individuals affected by cancer could represent a potential source of forensic pitfalls.