Introducing the Intergovernmental Policy Output Dataset (IPOD).

There is a growing recognition that international organizations (IOs) formulate and adopt policy in a wide range of areas. IOs have emerged as key venues for states seeking joint solutions to contemporary challenges such as climate change or COVID-19, and to establish frameworks to bolster trade, development, security, and more. In this capacity, IOs produce both extraordinary and routine policy output with a multitude of purposes, ranging from policies of historic significance like admitting new members to the more mundane tasks of administering IO staff. This article introduces the Intergovernmental Policy Output Dataset (IPOD), which covers close to 37,000 individual policy acts of 13 multi-issue IOs in the 1980-2015 period. The dataset fills a gap in the growing body of literature on the comparative study of IOs, providing researchers with a fine-grained perspective on the structure of IO policy output and data for comparisons across time, policy areas, and organizations. This article describes the construction and coverage of the dataset and identifies key temporal and cross-sectional patterns revealed by the data. In a concise illustration of the dataset's utility, we apply models of punctuated equilibria in a comparative study of the relationship between institutional features and broad policy agenda dynamics. Overall, the Intergovernmental Policy Output Dataset offers a unique resource for researchers to analyze IO policy output in a granular manner and to explore questions of responsiveness, performance, and legitimacy of IOs. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11558-023-09492-6.

Hot flakes in cold cases.

In the past, it was almost impossible for forensic scientists to separate DNA from an undefined number of different individuals in mixed stains where, for example, two or more suspects had handled the same weapon. Such samples often contain complex mixtures with the consequence of ambiguous or inconclusive mixed DNA profiles. Using the method described of comprehensive and/or targeted screening of shed cells adhering to tapings of garments or objects enables such stains to be individualized. To evaluate the method, 500 microscopically selected single skin flakes were analyzed using two different commercial STR kits to compare the success rates for each PCR typing system. The method has been validated for use in routine casework and has been shown to be rapid, sensitive, and reproducible. It can be predicted that many cases in the archives with body tapings, which have not yet been examined will benefit from this new or perhaps more appropriate, reanimated, technical development, and of particular importance are serious crimes, the so-called cold cases. The remarkable forensic value of this simple but time-consuming technique is exemplified by 2 out of approximately 100 cases already successfully solved using this approach.

Casework testing of the multiplex kits AmpFlSTR SEfiler Plus PCR amplification kit (AB), PowerPlex S5 System (Promega) and AmpFlSTR MiniFiler PCR amplification kit (AB).

The short tandem repeat (STR) kits SEfiler Plus (D3S1358, FGA, D8S1179, D18S51, D21S11, TH01, VWA, SE33, D2S1338, D16S539, D19S433 and Amelogenin), PowerPlex S5 System (D18S51, D8S1179, TH01, FGA and Amelogenin) and MiniFiler (D13S317, D7S820, Amelogenin, D2S1338, D21S11, D16S539, D18S51, CSF1PO and FGA) were comparatively tested for their robustness and sensitivity. About 50 stains with highly degraded DNA and little DNA quantity served as examination material (e.g., hair with a telogen root, bones, degraded saliva stains on drinking vessels and skin cell mixtures). The PowerPlex S5 with five German DNA database (DAD) systems and the MiniFiler kit with four topical DAD systems and further STR markers show reduced amplicon lengths. The SEfiler Plus kit represents no MiniSTR multiplex, but contains the nine current DAD systems and further three systems D2S1338, D16S539 and D19S433, which are the potential expansion markers for the German DNA database. We have found on the basis of our comparative stain investigations, that the SEfiler Plus kit was less sensitive than the PowerPlex S5 and the MiniFiler kits. The MiniFiler and the PowerPlex S5 kit showed comparatively high sensitivity. Especially in analysing skin cell mixtures, the MiniFiler kit showed larger differences with regard to the performance of the fluorescent dyes/primer concentration co-ordination than the PowerPlex S5. The SEfiler Plus kit generated - just as both MiniSTR kits - relative robust typing results, but there appeared an increased sensitivity for 'allelic drop-outs' and 'imbalances'. Since the SEfiler Plus kit was not planned as MiniSTR concept, 'allelic drop-outs' were observed, as expected, more frequent in typing stains with degraded DNA and little DNA quantity, especially in the long polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products (e.g., D18S51).