A mixed DNA profile controversy revisited

Semaan et al. (J Forensic Res, 2020, 11, 453) discuss a mock case “where eight different individuals [P₁ through P₈] could not be excluded in a mixed DNA analysis. Even though … expert DNA mixture analysis software was used.” Two of these are the true donors. The LRs reported are incorrect due to the incorrect entry of propositions into LRmix Studio. This forced the software to account for most of the alleles as drop-in, resulting in LRs 60–70 orders of magnitude larger than expected. P₁, P₂, P₄, P₅, and P₈ can be manually excluded using peak heights. This has relevance when using LRmix which does not use peak heights. We extend the work using the same two reference genotypes who were the true contributors as Semaan et al. (J Forensic Res, 2020, 11, 453). We simulate three two-donor mixtures with peak heights using these two genotypes and analyze using STRmix?. For the simulated 1:1 mixture, one of the non-donors’ LRs supported him being a contributor when no conditioning was used. When considered in combination with any other potential donors (i.e., with conditioning), this non-donor was correctly eliminated. For the 3:1 mixture, all results correctly supported that the non-donors were not contributors. The low-template 4:1 mixture LRs with no conditioning showed support for all eight profiles as donors. However, the results from pair-wise conditioning showed that only the two ground truth donors had LRs supporting that they were contributors to the mixture. We recommend the use of peak heights and conditioning profiles, as this allows better sensitivity and specificity even when the persons share many alleles.     

On the Undecidability of Legal and Technological Regulation

Law and Critique - Generally, regulation is thought of as a constant that carries with it both a formative and conservative power, a power that standardises, demarcates and forms an order, through...     

War-Power Reform in Australia: (Re)considering the Options

The decision to go to war in Australia remains the prerogative of the Executive. The lack of parliamentary authorisation of perhaps the most significant decision a democracy can make has seen sustained, but unsuccessful, efforts to reform legislation. In the wake of the costly invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003, repeated calls for legislative reform of Australia's war powers have failed to find traction amongst Coalition and Australian Labor Party (ALP) leadership. Lamenting the lack of transparency and accountability in the current system, those favouring legislative reform would see authorisation of combat missions placed in the hands of Parliament. However, given the lack of support from either of the major parties, any legislative reform remains unlikely. Given this impasse, this article argues that a compromise option, in the form of a new war-powers convention, may be a small step towards democratising the decision of going to war. While not legally binding, this constitutional convention would represent an agreement by the major parties that overseas combat operations will be properly debated in Parliament.     

再评罗章龙与中共历史上三次"左"倾错误的关系

罗章龙在面对"左"倾盲动主义错误时,能够结合自身革命斗争的实践经验,分析"左"倾盲动主义错误的根源、本质与危害.但是在反对李立三"左"倾错误中,罗章龙采取否定一切的态度,要求完全改造中央,并且发展与王明的宗派斗争,走上了宗派主义的错误道路.两派最初是在思想领域内围绕如何解决李立三"左"倾错误、如何改组中央领导机关出现分歧,但随着矛盾的不断升级及共产国际代表米夫的介入,思想斗争演变成为政治路线上的斗争与权力斗争,并直接导致罗章龙走上了另组"中央"的道路.罗章龙对纠正"左"倾错误起到过一定的积极作用,但是,他不顾党的组织原则成立"中共中央非常委员会",给党的工作带来严重的损失.     

The End of Wilderness: Conflict and Defeat of Wilderness in the Grand Canyon

In the early 1970s, Grand Canyon National Park intended to designate its land to “Wilderness,” including the controversial Colorado River corridor. However, by the end of the 1970s the potential for Wilderness designation was off the table, and would never seriously return for genuine consideration. Using Schattschneider's model of conflict, we explain how the organization of this conflict privileges the “causal story” of Wilderness opponents, and therefore why the canyon is not designated. It is our contention that members of Congress will not stand forward to support Wilderness designations without simultaneously providing benefits for extractive land use because (1) congressional representatives are more penalized for supporting than opposing Wilderness designations, (2) Wilderness advocacy groups do not pressure congressional delegates as firmly as opposition groups, and (3) key local congressional members are not likely to see Wilderness as a salient issue worth the risk of negative exposure. If these findings hold, the implication is that we may have reached the end of significant Wilderness designations in highly visible areas, unless critical aspects in land use conflict change.     

我国大陆与台湾地区搜查要件之分析研究——比较法视野的考量

集侦查行为与强制处分于一身的性质决定了搜查制度的设计必定无法避免控制犯罪与保障人权之间的冲突,而矛盾冲突的解决之道在于谋求调和而非片面牺牲,要在尽可能的范围内谋求并存的方案,并且,在迫不得已时容许最小限度的牺牲。虽然我国宪法已明确昭示“国家尊重和保障人权”,然     

世界博览会的经济增长效应分析

回顾举办世界博览会的发展历程,从投资、消费、改革开放与市场化角度分析举办世界博览会对经济增长的积极影响,世界博览会能够促进投资、拉动消费,具有增长极效应、开放效应和市场化效应;从政府财政支持、基础设施建设、市场开拓与组织管理、场馆及其配套设施利用角度分析世界博览会亏损产生的原因及其对经济增长产生的消极影响。2010 年上海世界博览会的举办在向世界展示中国改革开放与经济转型的伟大成就的同时,也为中国经济发展带来各种风险和挑战。     

中国汉族与日本群体DYFl55S1基因座的遗传多态性

目的探讨Y染色体DYF155S1基因座的遗传多态性及群体间差异。方法 应用MVR-PCR、荧光显谱及DNA序列分析技术,对来自中国群体(北方汉族,64例)和日本群体(43例)男性个体的DYF155S1基因座进行初步分析。结果107例样本共检出了5种重复序列类型,包括新的命名为6型的重复序列,它是在1型的基础上T22A置换所形成,仅存在于日本群体,可作为民族特征性遗传标记。2群体重复序列的排列方式以3134顺序为主,在中国和日本群体中各占73.44％和67.44％,是黄种人的特点。134顺序在中国群体中占第二位,为17.19％,6134排列占日本群体的16.28％。3’端的4型重复序列的平均数目在日本群体为8.8条,明显低于中国群体的12.5条。结论DYF155S1基因座具有非常高的遗传多态性和明显的群体差异。