Whole Plastome Sequences of Two Drug-Type Cannabis: Insights Into the Use of Plastid in Forensic Analyses

DNA is one of the fastest growing tools in forensic sciences, increasing reliability in forensic reports and judgments. The use of DNA has increased in different areas of the forensic sciences, such as investigation of plant species, where plastid DNA has been used to elucidate and generate evidence in cases of traceability of genetically modified and controlled plants. Even with several advances and the practice of using DNA in forensic investigations, there are just few studies related to the identification of genetic tools for the characterization of drug and nondrug-types of Cannabis. Herein, the whole plastomes of two drug-type Cannabis are presented and have their structures compared with other Cannabis plastomes deposited in the GenBank, focusing in the forensic use of plastome sequences. The plastomes of Cannabis sativa “Brazuka” and of the hybrid Cannabis AK Royal Automatic presented general structure that does not differs from the reported for other C. sativa cultivars. A phylogenomic analyses grouped C. sativa “Brazuka” with the nondrug C. sativa cultivars, while the hybrid Cannabis AK Royal Automatic placed isolated, basal to this group. This suggests that the analysis of plastomes is useful toward genetic identification of hybrids in relation to C. sativa.     

Claiming Kapwa: Filipino Immigrants,Community-Based Organizations,and Community Citizenship in San Francisco

Filipino immigrants and Filipino-serving community-based organizations (CBOs) in San Francisco work to meet community members’ immediate needs. At the same time, it activates political participation for Filipinos to make claims on traditional citizenship from the city agencies under an albeit xenophobic climate. Although city-level legislation marks San Francisco as politically progressive, Filipino community members experience the national anti-immigrant climate in the United States through a lack of services for integration. We argue that immigrants and CBOs develop “community citizenship” that link Filipino immigrants to local state services while engaging in community building activities that affirm the transnational identities of Filipinos as part of their (in)ability to participate politically in San Francisco. Through qualitative interviews from Filipino organizers and CBO staff, we argue that CBOs use Filipino core cultural values to facilitate collective responsibility for community members’ needs that is not only local but also always transnational under contradicting currents of liberal progressivism and neoliberal conservatism in the city and nationally.     

Competition and switching in public service markets: Can they reduce inequalities?

Regulatory reforms to public infrastructure services across European Union (EU) countries were aimed at increasing consumer welfare by introducing competition and choice into service markets. However, empirical evaluations have questioned whether these reforms have benefitted all consumers, suggesting that vulnerable groups of service users (especially those with lower levels of formal education), might be locked into poorly performing services. We assess the relationship between the level of competition in electricity and fixed telephony markets in EU countries and evaluate the affordability of these services for different socio‐educational layers. Our findings show that – although in countries where there is a relatively high frequency of switching, inequalities between socio‐educational groups are smaller and eventually disappear – competition as such does not play a part. These results suggest that demand‐side regulation that successfully enables consumer switching has the potential to equalize social welfare, thereby reflecting a possible convergence of regulatory instruments and the central aims of the welfare state in this context.     

The Military Dimension of the War on Drugsin Mexico and Colombia

The Armed Forces of Colombia andMexico have characteristics thatdifferentiate them from the rest of theirLatin American counterparts. They areatypical armed forces that are shaped bythe realities of their contemporarypolitical history. The failure of lawenforcement institutions has forced bothmilitaries to take on the mission ofcombating drug trafficking andinternational criminal cartels. In orderfor these militaries to successfullyaccomplish this mission, they must besubordinated to civilian rule, cooperatewith other countries and internationalorganizations, and be accountable to therule of law.     

Speech Watermarking: An Approach for the Forensic Analysis of Digital Telephonic Recordings*

Abstract: In this article, the authors discuss the problem of forensic authentication of digital audio recordings. Although forensic audio has been addressed in several articles, the existing approaches are focused on analog magnetic recordings, which are less prevalent because of the large amount of digital recorders available on the market (optical, solid state, hard disks, etc.). An approach based on digital signal processing that consists of spread spectrum techniques for speech watermarking is presented. This approach presents the advantage that the authentication is based on the signal itself rather than the recording format. Thus, it is valid for usual recording devices in police‐controlled telephone intercepts. In addition, our proposal allows for the introduction of relevant information such as the recording date and time and all the relevant data (this is not always possible with classical systems). Our experimental results reveal that the speech watermarking procedure does not interfere in a significant way with the posterior forensic speaker identification.     

Analyzing Brazilian vehicle documents for authenticity by easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry

Using desorption/ionization techniques such as easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry (EASI-MS), it is possible to analyze documents of Brazilian vehicles for authenticity, providing a chemical profile directly from the surface of each document. A method for the detection of counterfeit documents is described, and the falsification procedure is elucidated. Forty authentic and counterfeit documents were analyzed by both positive and negative ion modes, EASI(±)-MS. EASI(+)-MS results identified the presence of (bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate plasticizer and of dihexadecyldimethylammonium biocide in both types of documents. For EASI(-)-MS results, the 4-octyloxybenzoic acid additive ([M + H](+): m/z 249) is present only in counterfeit documents. It was also found that counterfeit vehicle documents are produced via Laserjet printers. Desorption/ionization techniques, such as EASI-MS, offer therefore, an intelligent way to characterize the counterfeiting method.     

Sustainable development challenges in a war‐torn country: Perceived danger and psychological well‐being

The laborer's physical and mental health, well‐being, and happiness are among the major indicators for measuring each nation's sustainable development. A conflictive and hostile external environment (war zone) poses considerable difficulty and psychological distress to workers and nonworkers. Therefore, working in such a physically dangerous business environment may hurt worker's well‐being and happiness that in turn may reduce the workers' productivity at the workplace. A high level of laborers' productivity in public and private sectors is essential for achieving sustainable development in the long term. Therefore, this paper examines the effects of perceived danger on employees' psychological well‐being in war‐torn Afghanistan, an issue being addressed for the first time. We tested the moderating role of social support from coworkers on this effect in order to have a broader vision of which individuals are healthier and happier in a physically dangerous working environment. Two survey data sets were collected from 190 employees working in various small private and public businesses in Herat, Afghanistan. Our results reveal the negative impact of perceived danger on employees' psychological well‐being and that employees who receive little or no social support from their peers feel the negative effects of a physically dangerous working condition even more acutely.     

Electoral Rules,Political Competition and Fiscal Expenditures: Regression Discontinuity Evidence from Brazilian Municipalities

We exploit a discontinuity in the rules of Brazilian mayoral elections to investigate whether political competition has a causal impact on fiscal policy choices. In municipalities with fewer than 200,000 voters, mayors are elected under a plurality voting system. In all other municipalities, a runoff election takes place between the top two candidates if neither achieves the majority of votes. Our results suggest that political competition induces more investment and less current expenditures, particularly personnel expenditures. The impact is larger when incumbents can run for re-election, suggesting incentives matter insofar as incumbents can themselves remain in office.