DNA-based and taxonomic identification of forensically important Sarcophagidae (Diptera) in southeastern Spain

Studying dipterans at the scene of a death can provide essential information for interpreting the evidence and help to reconstruct the events happened to a corpse in the past. Molecular tools have been employed for identification at specific levels in the cases of cryptic species or poorly conserved specimens. Identification of specimens is essential in forensic entomology since each species has a specific growth rate, which determines the calculation of the minimum post mortem interval (minPMI). In addition, phylogeographic reconstruction within a species can help to differentiate the haplotypes from a geographic area, thereby helping to clarify the possible relocation of a corpse. The morphological identification of Sarcophagidae species is often difficult, especially for the females. This is an important Diptera family since some of its species are among the first to reach a corpse, especially in warm areas. In this study, we compared the sarcophagids found in human corpses in forensic cases in Alicante (southeast of Spain) with specimens collected from baited traps in the same area and surrounding provinces. In total, 189 specimens were collected, comprising 72 from forensic cases and 117 from baited traps. Molecular identification was conducted by sequencing the cox1 mitochondrial gene and analyzing the sequences using ABGD, GMYC, and BIN species delimitation methods. The median joining algorithm in the PopART program was used to construct phylogeographic networks. Eight species in the family Sarcophagidae were identified. The most widely collected species were Sarcophaga argyrostoma and Sarcophaga tibialis. The haplotype networks obtained for these species did not indicate a clear geographic distribution of haplotypes. The S. argyrostoma samples from Alcoy were clearly isolated. The results demonstrated that this method is useful for identifying Sarcophagidae samples in forensic investigations and it can be employed for minPMI estimation.     

The Italian budgetary process: Political and institutional constraints

The Italian budgetary process requires constant interaction between executive and legislature. As a result budgetary policy is a reflection of Italian legislative activity in general. Time‐consuming negotiations and compromises are required between a wide range of political interests. Coherent and consistent economic policy‐making is, in these circumstances, difficult to achieve.     

Politics without a centre

The Retreat of the State: The Diffusion of Power in the World Economy. By SUSAN STRANGE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pp.xvii + 218, biblio., index. £14.95 (paper). ISBN 0–521–56440–9.

Uncertain Boundaries: The Social and Political Construction of European Economies. By MARINO REGINI. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Pp.x + 164, biblio., index. £30 (cloth). ISBN 0–521–47371–3

Internationalization and Domestic Politics. Edited by ROBERT O. KEOHANE and HELEN V. MILNER. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Pp. x + 308, biblio., index. £14.95 (paper). ISBN 0–521–565587–1.

Balancing State Intervention: The Limits of Transatlantic Markets. Edited by ROGER BENJAMIN, C. RICHARD NEU and DENISE QUIGLEY. Pp. xiv + 274, index. Houndmills: Macmillan, 1995. £40 (cloth). ISBN 0–333–64162–0.

Cash, Crisis, and Corporate Governance: The Role of National Financial Systems in Industrial Restructuring. By VICTORIA MARKLEW. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1995. Pp.viii +260, biblio, index. $44.40 (cloth). ISBN 0–472–10504–3.     

Population genetic analysis of 15 autosomal STRs loci in the central region of Argentina

Allele frequencies, together with some parameters of forensic interest, for 15 STRs included in the Powerplex-16 System (CSF1PO, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, FGA, Penta D, Penta E, TH01, TPOX and VWA) were estimated from a sample set of 1368 unrelated individuals from three of the most densely populated provinces of Argentina. No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed using the Bonferroni correction for the number of loci analyzed. Comparative analyses between our population data and that of other Argentinean databases previously published are presented and discussed. The most informative loci in our data set is the Penta E Loci with discrimination power larger than 0.98 and typical paternity index larger than 4.3. Our results demonstrate that these loci are robust since different laboratories and sample sets provided highly consistent results. This observation underscores the usefulness of these markers systems for human identification and parentage testing.     

The Japanese consumer finance market and its institutional changes since the 1980s

Abstract

We assert, in this article, that the joint transformation of public perception about households’ over-indebtedness and financial deregulation had important implications on the government decision to reform overall consumer credit between 2005 and 2010. On the one hand, the development of collective actions by groups of lawyers to defend borrowers from moneylenders’ abusive practices represents a source of change in the public opinion about over-indebted individuals in the context of long economic stagnation. A systematic press article analysis from 1977 to 2006 shows that the rising number of these collective actions since the early 1990s may have gradually increased the political salience of social issues related to the unsecure loan market. On the other hand, financial deregulation has been a source of change by allowing banks to enter the consumer finance market since the early 2000s. Banks entry into this market transformed the logic of complementarity among traditional consumer credit actors (Shinpan, credit card companies and sarakin) in a general context of legal consumers’ protection reinforcement. Thus, evolution of Japanese consumer finance's regulation is particularly relevant to illustrate the forces of institutional change and its consequences.     

Routine Y-STR typing in forensic casework

In the field of molecular diagnosis, forensic casework analysis is one of the most demanding investigations, due to its social impact. Optimization of DNA typing multiplex reactions with identical cycling conditions as those required by autosomal short tandem repeats (STR) multiplex reduces errors, and saves time and reagents. Previously, we validated a five Y-STRs set, all of them generating single band patterns. This work reports the optimization of combined multiplexes, a triplex (DYS19, DYS390 and DYS391) and a duplex (DYS392 and DYS393), that can be amplified in identical cycling conditions as those required by commercially available multiplex autosomal STR kits. In addition both Y chromosome multiplexes can be combined for co-injection on a capillary electrophoresis based automated sequencer. Statistical attributes of the haplotypes of the five Y-STR investigated were evaluated in unrelated males from different metropolitan areas of Argentina. This system was successfully used for investigating more than 350 forensic routine cases in our country.     

Analysis of body fluid mixtures by mtDNA sequencing: An inter-laboratory study of the GEP-ISFG working group

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) working group of the GEP-ISFG (Spanish and Portuguese Group of the International Society for Forensic Genetics) carried out an inter-laboratory exercise consisting of the analysis of mtDNA sequencing patterns in mixed stains (saliva/semen and blood/semen). Mixtures were prepared with saliva or blood from a female donor and three different semen dilutions (pure, 1:10 and 1:20) in order to simulate forensic casework. All labs extracted the DNA by preferential lysis and amplified and sequenced the first mtDNA hypervariable region (HVS-I). Autosomal and Y-STR markers were also analysed in order to compare nuclear and mitochondrial results from the same DNA extracts. A mixed stain prepared using semen from a vasectomized individual was also analysed. The results were reasonably consistent among labs for the first fractions but not for the second ones, for which some laboratories reported contamination problems. In the first fractions, both the female and male haplotypes were generally detected in those samples prepared with undiluted semen. In contrast, most of the mixtures prepared with diluted semen only yielded the female haplotype, suggesting that the mtDNA copy number per cell is smaller in semen than in saliva or blood. Although the detection level of the male component decreased in accordance with the degree of semen dilution, it was found that the loss of signal was not consistently uniform throughout each electropherogram. Moreover, differences between mixtures prepared from different donors and different body fluids were also observed. We conclude that the particular characteristics of each mixed stain can deeply influence the interpretation of the mtDNA evidence in forensic mixtures (leading in some cases to false exclusions). In this sense, the implementation of preliminary tests with the aim of identifying the fluids involved in the mixture is an essential tool. In addition, in order to prevent incorrect conclusions in the interpretation of electropherograms we strongly recommend: (i) the use of additional sequencing primers to confirm the sequencing results and (ii) interpreting the results to the light of the phylogenetic perspective.     

Genetic analysis of the populations from Northern and Mesopotamian provinces of Argentina by means of 15 autosomal STRs

The allele frequencies for the 15 short tandem repeats included in the Power Plex-16 kit (Promega Corp., Madison, WI, USA) were determined in a sample of 429 unrelated individuals from five provinces of the Northern and Northeastern regions of Argentina. Three Northern provinces including Salta, Formosa and Chaco and two within the region surrounded by the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers commonly known as the Argentine Mesopotamia, including Misiones and Corrientes. Since in this region Entre Ríos Province is also present, previously published results were used for comparison. The calculated parameters: polymorphism information content (PIC); discrimination power (DP); matching probability (MP); typical paternity index (TPI) and power of exclusion (PE) showed Penta E to be the most valuable marker from the studied sample set. All loci met Hardy-Weinberg expectations using the Bonferroni correction for the number of loci analyzed, except D3S1358 in Salta and THO1 in Formosa provinces. Population differentiation test revealed that the Salta population sample data denoted significant differences for various loci when compared with the other province information presented here in, as well as with other published data sets.     

The implications of public expenditures on a small economy in transition: a Bayesian DSGE approach

Economic Change and Restructuring - This paper explores the influence of government expenditures on the business cycle dynamics of a small transition country such as Vietnam. We develop a...     

The 2000-2001 GEP-ISFG Collaborative Exercise on mtDNA: assessing the cause of unsuccessful mtDNA PCR amplification of hair shaft samples

We report the results of Spanish and Portuguese working group (GEP) of International Society of Forensic Genetics (ISFG) Collaborative Exercise 2001-2002 on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. 64 laboratories from Spain, Portugal and several Latin-American countries participated in this quality control exercise. Five samples were sent to the participating laboratories, four blood stains (M1-M4) and a sample (M5) consisting of two hair shaft fragments. M4 was non-human (Felis catus) in origin; therefore, the capacity of the labs to identify the biological source of this sample was an integral part of the exercise. Some labs detected the non-human origin of M4 by carrying out immuno-diffussion techniques using antihuman serum, whereas others identified the specific animal origin by testing the sample against a set of animal antibodies or by means of the analysis of mtDNA regions (Cyt-b, 12S, and 16S genes). The results of the other three human blood stains (M1-M3) improved in relation to the last Collaborative Exercises but those related to hairs yielded a low rate of success which clearly contrasts with previous results. As a consequence of this, some labs performed additional analysis showing that the origin of this low efficiency was not the presence of inhibitors, but the low quantity of DNA present in these specific hair samples and the degradation.As a general conclusion the results emphasize the need of external proficiency testing as part of the accreditation procedure for the labs performing mtDNA analysis in forensic casework.