Use of combined frequencies for RFLP and PCR based loci in determining match probability

Statistical analysis was performed on a subset of the Pennsylvania State Police Caucasian, African American and Hispanic database for the purpose of determining Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and associations across the RFLP loci D1S7, D2S44, D4S139, D5S110, D10S28 and D17S79 and the PCR-based loci HLA-DQA1, LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8 and Gc. Overall, the statistical results are consistent with a population in equilibrium both within and between loci. The assumption for independence is valid.     

Mending the “Unhinged Alliance” in the 1970S: Transatlantic Relations, Public Diplomacy, and the Origins of the European Union Visitors Program

This article examines in depth the foundation of the EU's one explicit example of public diplomacy, the European Union Visitors Programme. The narrative covers the historical background to the EUVP, the main individuals involved, and its significance for the development of the EU as an international actor. Public diplomacy relies on personal contacts, and the intention here is to demonstrate the importance of this petit histoire. The contribution of the EUVP towards establishing a transatlantic “community of values,” as demonstrated by the support it received from the U.S. diplomatic representation in Brussels, is an important extra dimension. The article concludes that the EUVP, while offering a potential model for the EU to project its “soft power” and world-view internationally, remains limited in scope and unable to fulfill its potential.     

What is medical ethics consultation?

What happens when the field of ethics consultation meets the hermeneutics of suspicion.     

Gender convergence in crime: Evidence from Canadian adult offense charge data

This study provided some new empirical evidence relating to the hypothesis that there was convergence between certain male and female offenses over time. Using time-series data for adults charged with offenses in Canada over the period 1983 to 2000, several formal statistical tests of this convergence hypothesis were conducted. This study allowed for the particular characteristics of the data, such as various types of structural breaks and changes over time in the process that generated the data. A number of new tests that had not previously been applied to this problem were employed, and the results that were obtained provided the first strong evidence in favor of gender-convergence for a range of offenses in Canada.     

Automated Texture Recognition of Quartz Sand Grains for Forensic Applications*

Quartz sand surface texture analysis has been automated for the first time for forensic application. The derived Basic Image Features (BIFs) provide computer-generated texture recognition from preexisting data sets. The technique was applied to two distinct classification problems; first, the ability of the system to discriminate between (quartz) sand grains with upturned plate features (indicative of eolian, global sand sea environments) and grains that do not exhibit these features. A success rate of grain classification of 98.8% was achieved. Second, to test the ability of the computer recognition system to identify specific energy levels of formation of the upturned plate surface texture features. Such recognition ability has to date been beyond manual geological interpretation. The discrimination performance was enhanced to an exact classification success rate of 81%. The enhanced potential for routine forensic investigation of the provenance of common quartz sand is indicated.     

Treating alcohol-related violence: a feasibility study of a randomized controlled trial in prisons

Purpose: There is a lack of good-quality outcome evaluations of interventions for offenders whose crimes are alcohol-related. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered gold standard in treatment evaluations. Here, we report on a feasibility study for an RCT of an alcohol-related violence intervention, Control of Violence for Angry, Impulsive Drinkers (COVAID). Method: 115 adult male prisoners were randomly allocated to COVAID plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU only. Results: Most participants (84%) found COVAID useful. Reconviction data at six months were accessed for 109 (95%) participants. There were no differences between the two groups on violent reconvictions or all reconvictions at the six-month period, but at 17?months the COVAID group had 13% fewer people reconvicted for violence, and 20% fewer had reconvictions for any offence. Conclusion: The results indicate that an RCT is feasible and provides parameters for designing a full RCT. Differences in reconviction between groups favoured COVAID and were clinically important.     

Interdoc and West European Psychological Warfare: The American Connection

Interdoc, or the International Documentation and Information Center, was established in The Hague in early 1963 in order to coordinate a transnational network of institutes active in the field of analysing trends in communist ideology and societies. The product of deliberations between intelligence agencies and the private sector in Western Europe during the late 1950s, Interdoc reflected a need to develop and project a European stance on Cold War issues separate from an all-dominant US influence. Yet the Americans were present from the beginning, and their involvement gradually increased over time. This article covers the details of this involvement and uses it to comment on how Interdoc represents an interesting case of inter-service cooperation in anti-communist activities in the West.     

Participatory development and empowerment: The dangers of localism

Recent discussions in development have moved away from holistic theorisation towards more localised, empirical and inductive approaches. In development practice there has been a parallel move towards local ‘participation’ and ‘empowerment’, which has produced, albeit with very different agendas, a high level of agreement between actors and institutions of the ‘new’ Left and the ‘new’ Right. This paper examines the manifestations of this move in four key political arenas: decentralised service delivery, participatory development, social capital formation and local development, and collective actions for ‘radical democracy’. We argue that, by focusing so heavily on ‘the local’, the see manifestations tend to underplay both local inequalities and power relations as well as national and transnational economic and political forces. Following from this, we advocate a stronger emphasis on the politics of the local, ie on the political use of ‘the local’ by hegemonic and counter-hegemonic interests.