Professor Patrice MANGIN President of the XVlth Congress of the International Academy of Legal Medicine and Social Medicine The International Academy of Legal Medicine and Social Medicine was founded in 1938 in Bonn. The motive for founding the Academy was to promote associating and confronting on an international background the scientific research work produced in the various domains dealing with the Legal and Social Medicine. As first presi dent of the International Academy of Legal Medicine and Social Medicine, Professor Knud Sand from Copenhagen, assisted by colleagues of the Praesidium appointed as national representatives, succeeded in gathering together nearly the whole aca demic people involved in Legal and Social Medicine. Thus one year later, in 1939, The Academy became a worldwide institution of 450 members from thirty nations. After the war, what had been before of considerable interest for the progress of the knowledge and techniques in Legal Medicine remained again a pressing necessity leading to the second meeting of the Academy in 1947 in Brussels under the presi dency of Professor De Laet. Since then the meetings of the Academy followed one another every three years. At this point, I would like to thank all the past presidents of the Academy and in particular Professor Roche and Professor Andre for their contribution without which the Academy would not be what it is presently.

The 6th volume of "Advances in Forensic Haemogenetics" comprises the scientific contributions to the 16th Congress of the International Society for Forensic Haemogenetics ISFH held on Sept., 12-16, 1995 at Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The numerous papers mainly deal with the applicability of DNA technology to forensic questions. The invited speakers approached important topics such as variation of mitochondrial DNA in ancient and modern humans, the "STR approach" to solve forensic questions, the statistical analysis of STR data, automation of DNA analysis, long PCR and its applications, national DNA databases and ethical and legal aspects of DNA analysis. It has become obvious that PCR based polymorphic systems clearly dominate the scene of forensic DNA analysis worldwide. It will however be necessary to make efforts to standardize the still increasing number of systems with regard to nomenclature to achieve a universal comparability of results. Legal systems differ from country to country which has to be taken into account when reporting DNA results. There is still controversy about the way DNA results are to be presented in court-rooms. We should make efforts to assess the value of DNA evidence by a common scientifc statistical approach that is comprehensive enough to treat all possible hypotheses such as involved relatives, different ethnics and/or the not so rare situations with mixed stains.

The third edition of the Encyclopedia of Analytical Science, Ten Volume Set is a definitive collection of articles covering the latest technologies in application areas such as medicine, environmental science, food science and geology. Meticulously organized, clearly written and fully interdisciplinary, the Encyclopedia of Analytical Science, Ten Volume Set provides foundational knowledge across the scope of modern analytical chemistry, linking fundamental topics with the latest methodologies. Articles will cover three broad areas: analytical techniques (e.g., mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography, atomic spectrometry); areas of application (e.g., forensic, environmental and clinical); and analytes (e.g., arsenic, nucleic acids and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), providing a one-stop resource for analytical scientists. Offers readers a one-stop resource with access to information across the entire scope of modern analytical science Presents articles split into three broad areas: analytical techniques, areas of application and and analytes, creating an ideal resource for students, researchers and professionals Provides concise and accessible information that is ideal for non-specialists and readers from undergraduate levels and higher

A union list of serials commencing publication after Dec. 31, 1949.