A holistic approach for the selection of forensic DNA swabs.

In the present study, we compared the performance of five different ISO 18385 certified forensic swabs for DNA sampling in practice over a time period of five months. Comparisons were made for DNA profiling success rates, measured as the percentage of CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) suitable profiles as well as for practical suitability during sampling at the scene, measured through a survey among collaborators. More than forty members of our crime scene investigation (CSI) unit took part in the test series and provided structured feedback concerning different aspects of swab handling. A total number of 1094 "touch" DNA samples have been subjected to DNA analysis. Swabs performed significantly different in terms of DNA profiling success rates. We also observed significant differences in DNA extraction efficiency between swabs. The evaluation by the collaborators of various aspects of handling differed significantly between swabs. We can assume that a more convenient handling decreases the risk of contamination or sample mislabelling and increases sampling efficiency and staff satisfaction. Our results demonstrate that the selection of disposable sampling devices such as forensic swabs for DNA sampling should be made based on a holistic approach. To be able to select the best performing swab for a given combination of CSI and DNA laboratory procedures, it might not be sufficient to only perform DNA extraction comparisons and trace sampling under controlled laboratory conditions

Romantismo e objetividade: notas sobre um panorama do Rio de Janeiro

The article deals with the great Panorama of Rio de Janeiro exhibited in Paris, 1824, and its sources - a series of watercolours which have also generated succeeding engravings produced dur-ing the 1830s. Panoramas, in their early formal conventions are shown to interplay with Romanticism's and Naturphilosophie's theses and to put in motion the legacy of 11th-century paint-ing . As this geme of visual device develops, Rio's watercoulours display symptoms of a gradual dismissal of its initial ambilions, through lhe treatment of the natural site and the city. At last the invention of the daguerreotype and vai d'oiseau urban images, among other traits, signale the changes in sensibility related to the production and consumption of those circular canvasses. From 1840/50 on panoramas conceived by the will to fuse art and science and bya reflection on nature and liberty turn essentially into a mass entertainment.Romantismo e objetividade: notas sobre um panorama do Rio de Janeiro Margarelh da Silva Pereira Enfoca O grande Panorama do Rio de Janeiro, exibido em Paris em 1824, do qual se conhece a série de aquarelas que serviram de base tanto àquela ampliação quanto às sucessivas gravuras da cena que foram produzidas na década de 1830. Busca-se mostrar como os panoramas em sua formalização inicial dialogam com as teses do romantismo e da Naturphilosophie, mobilizan-do heranças da pintura seiscentista. No desenvolvimento desta forma de exibição as aquarelas do Rio apresentam sintomas do gradual afastamento das ambições iniciais através do tratamento dispensado ao sítio natural e à cidade. Por fim, a invenção do daguerreótipo, e as vistas urbanas em võo de pássaro, enlre outros, balizariam a mudança de sensibilidade na produção e na fruição dessas telas circulares. A partir de 1840/50 os panoramas engendrados pelo desejo de fusão entre arte e ciência e pela reflexão sobre a natureza e a liberdade, tornar-se-iam, sobretudo, um divertimento de massas

OPEN MARKET REPURCHASES: THE VALUE FROM BUYING SHARES AT A DISCOUNT

This article shows that share repurchase announcements create value for shareholders when the shares of the industrial firm sell at a discount from the value of the underlying assets, even when shareholders and managers share full information about the firm's prospects and the firm's operating performance is not expected to improve. The value created by capturing the discount on the repurchased shares is a function of only two variables: the percentage discount prior to the announcement and the proportion of shares to be repurchased. 2000 Morgan Stanley.

Active Networking and End-To-End Arguments

on and consonance aside, because programmability enables such a wide range of possibilities, applying end-to-end arguments in a general, yet definitive, way may be impossible. Instead, the specifics of each particular active networking idea would benefit from evaluation in light of the end-to-end principle. Programmability's Effect on Design-time Function Placement End-to-end arguments address design more than implementation and implementation more than execution ---that is, they suggest who should provide the code, not which box it should run on. Moving functions and services upward in a layered design, closer to the application(s) that use them, increases the flexibility and autonomy of the application designer to apply those functions and services to the specific needs of the application. With that view, programmability in a lower layer can be seen as a means to defer design choices upwards in the layering, closer to the application, and later in time, even thoug