Post-injection hybridization of complementary DNA strands on capillary electrophoresis platforms: A novel solution for dsDNA artifacts

Several laboratories have reported the occurrence of a split or n − 1 peak at the vWA locus in PowerPlex^® 16 and PowerPlex^® ES amplification products separated on 4- and 16-capillary electrophoresis instruments. The root cause of this artifact is post-PCR reannealing of the unlabeled, unincorporated vWA primer to the 3′-end of the tetramethylrhodamine (TMR)-labeled strand of the vWA amplicon. This reannealing occurs in the capillary post-electrokinetic injection. The split peak is eliminated by incorporation into the loading cocktail of a sacrificial hybridization sequence (SHS) oligonucleotide that is complementary to the vWA primer. The SHS preferentially anneals to the primer instead of the TMR-labeled strand of the vWA amplicon. In addition, the n − 10/n − 18 artifact that may be seen at the vWA locus was determined to be due to double-stranded amplicon formed post-electrokinetic injection into the capillary. This was also eliminated by adding in two Complementary Oligo Targets (COT1 and COT2) in addition to the SHS oligonucleotide into the loading cocktail. These three oligonucleotides are complementary to the 33 bases at the 5′-end of the unlabeled vWA amplicon strand and the 60 bases at its 3′-end and therefore compete for hybridization to the TMR-labeled amplicon strand. Incorporation of these three oligonucleotides in the Internal Lane Standard 600 (ILS600) eliminate both the split peak and n − 10/n − 18 artifact in PowerPlex^® 16 and PowerPlex^® ES amplification products without affecting sizing of alleles at the vWA locus or any locus in the PowerPlex^® 16, PowerPlex^® Y, PowerPlex^® ES, AmpFlSTR^® Profiler Plus^® ID, AmpFlSTR^® Cofiler^®, and AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® kits.     

New Thinking in Financial Market Regulation: Dismantling the “Split Share Structure” of Chinese Listed Companies

China’s distinctive set of stock market institutions was introduced in 1990. Among the characteristics of China’s stock markets was a strict separation between different categories of investors. Listed companies issued different categories of shares to state shareholders, domestic corporate investors, domestic individual investors, and foreign investors. By 2005, the barriers segmenting China’s stock market had been significantly relaxed. Domestic investors were allowed to purchase shares previously reserved for foreign investors, and approved foreign investors were allowed to purchase shares previously earmarked for domestic individuals. Nevertheless, a crucial barrier remained. An ongoing debate among Chinese academics, investors, and policy makers focused on how to resolve the “split share structure” (guquan fen zhi) in which a minority of shares were tradable while the majority of shares (namely those reserved for domestic corporate and state shareholders) were excluded from the market. The split share structure was blamed for distorting prices and inhibiting development of the stock market. This paper analyzes the policy adopted to address the split share structure. To what extent does this policy change reflect new thinking on the part of China’s market regulators? This paper argues that analysis of policy making in China’s capital markets can help to distinguish between two competing assessments of China’s political economy. One account sees China pursuing a gradualist strategy, slowly but steadily expanding the role of markets. Another account sees China trapped in a semi-marketized and increasingly corrupt development pattern. The implementation of the split share structure reform program provides evidence to support the gradualist account of incremental, but persistent, reform. Mary Comerford Cooper is an assistant professor in political science at the Ohio State University. Her recent research focuses on the politics of financial markets in China and Taiwan. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Comparative Politics Research Workshop/ Globalization, Institutions and Economic Security Workshop at Ohio State University in May 2007, and at the annual meeting of the Association for Chinese Political Studies in July 2007. I benefited greatly from the constructive and insightful comments of Bj?rn Alpermann, Melanie Barr, Jean-Marc Blanchard, Sarah Brooks, Joseph Fewsmith, Sujian Guo, Dane Imerman, Ryan Kennedy, Marcus Kurtz, Xiaoyu Pu, James Reilly, Alex Thompson, Daniel Verdier, Jianwei Wang, Alan Wiseman, Bin Yu, and an anonymous reviewer. I am also grateful for Lan Hu’s exceptional research assistance. All remaining flaws are purely my own.     

Evaluating population structure of Ecuador for forensic STR markers

The continuous admixture events among Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans occurred differently throughout the Ecuadorian territory, creating a diversified genetic composition. Therefore, to evaluate how the genetic diversity is partitioned along the country for 15 STRs, 842 admixed-population samples were analyzed. We also evaluated the effect of applying an adjustment for population structure when estimating LRs using a national database. The results showed that to accurately assess forensic evidence, the use of a national database may be justified with the application of an appropriate adjustment for population structure.     

英国的不法交易规则研究

公司濒临破产时，股东的利益与债权人利益出现分野，董事如何行事即成为焦点之所在。英国的不法交易规则模式的适用要件、法律构造等均堪完备，为处理该问题的典型立法例，对于我国填补这方面的法律空白有重要的示范意义和可移植价值。并且，我国当前的制度架构具备引进该制度的现实条件，可考虑进行法律移植。     

民族地区经济社会的梯度结构与人力资源的梯次开发

采取以人力资源开发为先导的发展战略 ,是实现民族地区经济社会超常规发展的必然选择。遵循人力资源开发的基本规律 ,从民族地区经济发展不平衡的梯度结构出发 ,对民族地区人力资源实施梯次开发 ,则是民族地区实施人力资源开发的基本战略选择     

中国如何应对经济全球化的冲击

21世纪是经济全球化的世纪,每一个国家都以积极的姿态迎接经济全球化的挑战.中国应保持清醒的头脑,融入经济全球化进程,勇敢迎接挑战,借经济全球化的契机,大力推进经济结构调整,发展开放型的经济,壮大自身实力,才能扭转自己在经济全球化中的劣势地位,才能应对经济全球化带来的挑战和冲击.     

关于党政领导班子结构的实证研究

在党政领导班子结构的相关研究中,班子结构维度的确定和重要性划分是研究的重点部分。然而,目前全面、系统的实证研究较少,经验式的结论较多;对领导班子的年龄、性别结构研究得比较多,而对能力、知识结构等研究得较少。根据对263份领导班子样本的探索性分析,我国党政领导班子有五个关键结构维度,按权重由高至低为:领导班子能力和价值观结构、性别结构、工作经历结构、知识结构以及年龄结构。     

从教师结构看女性教师职业发展中的“玻璃天花板”

在社会中,存在着一些影响女性职业发展的因素,即女性职业发展的"玻璃天花板"。研究表明,在大学女性教师的职业发展过程中,也面临着一种"玻璃天花板"。本文通过对教师结构的数据分析,探讨了在高等教育领域特别是高等学校中女性教师职业发展中的"玻璃天花板"问题,并从性别视角进行分析。     

俄罗斯的外国投资及其调节

吸引外资是俄联邦对外经济政策的主要方针。像世界上其他国家一样，俄罗斯把外资看作是提高技术水平、促进经济发展和改造生产结构并使其现代化、掌握和使用先进的生产方法、加速与世界经济一体化的重要因素。向市场经济转轨以来，俄罗斯一直对外国投资寄予很大的希望。然而，从目前的外国投资现状看，俄罗斯的比较优势并没有得到充分发挥。为了能为外资的投入创造更为有利的气候和务件，俄罗斯还需要花大力气减少外国投资风险、提高投资效率、优化投资环境、保障投资者利益。     

高职生能力结构浅探

高等职业教育的培养目标和高职生所属人才类型，是构筑高职生能力结构的依据。高职生的能力结构可以用能力结构模型来表示，主要包括基本能力、综合职业能力、职业岗位能力三个方面。高职生的能力结构具有突出的职业实践能力和较强的职业适应能力特点。