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.     

Commentators on the Cārvākasūtra: A Critical Survey

In spite of the fact that the mūla-text of the Cārvākasūtra is lost, we have some 30 fragments of the commentaries written by no fewer than four commentators, namely, Kambalāśvatara, Purandara, Aviddhakarṇa, and Udbhaṭa. The existence of other commentators too has been suggested, of whom only one name is mentioned: Bhāvivikta. Unfortunately no extract from his work is quoted anywhere. The position of the Cārvākas was nearer the Buddhists (who admitted both perception and inference) than any other philosophical system. But in order to brand the Cārvākas as pramāṇaikavādins they were made to appear as one with Bhartṛhari. Even though the commentators of the Cārvākasūtra had some differences among themselves concerning the interpretation of some aphorisms, they seem to have been unanimous in regard to the number of pramāṇas to be admitted. It was perception and inference based on perception. Only in this sense they were pramāṇaikavādins. Unlike other systems of philosophy, the Cārvāka/Lokāyata did not accord equal value to perception and inference. Inference, they said, must be grounded on perception first, so it was of secondary kind (gauṇa). From the available evidence it is clear that the commentators were unanimous in one point, namely, primacy of perception which includes admittance of such laukika inference as is preceded and hence can be tested by repeated observations. In this respect both Aviddkarṇa and Udbhaṭa were in agreement with Purandara. Bhaṭṭodbhaṭa or Udbhaṭabhaṭṭa was known as a commentator who differed from the traditional Cārvākas and broke new grounds in explaining some of the aphorisms. His commentary is creative in its own way but at the same time unreliable in reconstructing the original Cārvāka position. Udbhaṭa seems to have digressed from the original, monist materialist position by taking a dualist position concerning the body-consciousness relation. Moreover, he seems to verge on the idealist side in his explication of an aphorism. In this sense he was a reformist or revisionist. Aviddhakarṇa, like Udbhaṭa, attempted to interpret the Cārvāka aphorisms from the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika point of view, perhaps without being converted to the Cārvāka. Since it is not possible at the present state of our knowledge to determine whether they were Cārvākas converted to Nyāya or Naiyāyikas converted to Lokāyata, the suggestion that they simply adopted the Cārvāka position while writing their commentaries without being converted to the Cārvāka, may be taken as a third alternative. In spite of the meagre material available, it is evident that (1) not unlike the other systems, there is a lack of uniformity in the commentary tradition of the Cārvākasūtra, (2) not all commentators were committed monistic materialists; at least one, namely, Udbhaṭa, was a dualist, and (3) in course of time Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika terminology, such as gamya, gamaka, etc., quite foreign to the traditional Cārvāka, has been introduced into the Cārvāka system.     

Underwriters' counsel as gatekeeper or turnstile: an empirical analysis of law firm prestige and performance in IPOs

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. Key points

• The article investigates the relationship betweenpricing in an initial public offering (IPO) and the prestigeof the participating underwriters’ law firm.
• The hypothesisof the article is that law firm quality affects how law firmsperform their obligations in IPOs—more prestigious lawfirms acting more independently. Consistent with this hypothesis,the authors find a negative relationship between pre-IPO priceadjustment and the participation of prestigious underwriters’counsel, and a negative relationship between the participationof prestigious underwriters’ counsel and initial return,which is consistent with market trading reflecting the decreasedrisk associated with offerings involving prestigious underwriters’counsel.
• Finally, it is found that certain observable characteristicsindicating diminished likelihood of undisclosed negative information(venture backing and quality of the issuer's counsel) are associatedwith an increased likelihood that prestigious underwriters’counsel is used.

 

Test–Retest Reliability of the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2)

The Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) are widely used to measure intimate partner aggression. Various aspects of the CTS2 and its subscales have been examined, e.g. factor structure, internal consistency, and validity, but little or no evidence exists regarding the stability of the self-report of aggression on the CTS2 This study examines the stability of reports of aggression against a partner on the CTS2 among 82 men court-mandated to a batterer intervention program. At both testing times men reported on aggression occurring in the year prior to beginning treatment. Using variety scores, stability of report was strong for psychological aggression (r = 0.69), physical assault (r = 0.76), injury (r = 0.70), and negotiation (r = 0.60), but weaker for sexual coercion (r = 0.30). Implications for the use of the CTS2 in court-mandated populations are discussed.

Loan only credit default swaps the new European standard form

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. Key points

• European Loan Only Credit Default Swap (‘LCDS’)documentation was published by the International Swaps &Derivatives Association, Inc. in the form of a Standard TermsSupplement and Form of Confirmation for use with Credit DerivativeTransactions on Leveraged Loans on 30 July 2007 (the ‘EuropeanLCDS’).
• This article reviews some of the changes thathave been made since the first circulation of the draft EuropeanLCDS documentation on 2 May 2006 (the ‘Draft LCDS’).
• Acomparison between the Draft LCDS, the current form of the EuropeanLCDS and the US LCDS (defined in the article below) providesan insight into how the development of the European LCDS hasrequired a compromise to be made between the needs and demandsof various market participants and the specifics of the Europeanleveraged loan market (as more fully described in our recentarticle¹) and indicates points of convergence between the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

 

Private equity: the UK regulatory response

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. Key points

• Rapid growth in private equity in recent years hasgenerated a public debate over the possibility of regulation.The Financial Services Authority (FSA), British Venture CapitalAssociation (BVCA), Treasury and the Treasury Select Committeehave all been active on this front in recent months.
• This briefingnote provides an overview of the current state of play in theUK, taking account of the final guidelines published by SirDavid Walker and the changes to capital gains tax that havebeen announced by the Treasury.
• The BVCA guidelines will bringwithin its enhanced disclosure regime around 65 portfolio companiesand will operate on a ‘comply or explain’ basis.
• TheFSA has indicated that it will focus on the risks of marketabuse and conflicts of interest arising from private equitytransactions, but it does not envisage a discrete regulatoryregime for the sector.

     1. Introduction   The rapid growth in private equity . . . [Full Text of this Article]    2. The regulatory debate      3. The FSA response––risk      4. The FSA response—regulation?      5. The industry response      6. The Treasury Select Committee Report      7. Conclusion       

Padmaśrī’s Nāgarasarvasva and the World of Medieval Kāmaśāstra

This essay introduces a special issue on the history of kāmaśāstra in medieval India. It briefly reviews the secondary scholarship on the subject from the publication of the first translations of the genre at the end of the nineteenth century. It highlights the relatively unexplored history of later kāmaśāstra, and stresses the need for contexualized and detailed studies of the many kāmaśāstra treatises produced in the second millennium CE. The introduction, and the essays that follow, also argue for an expanded interpretive framework for the genre, moving beyond ‘sex’ and ‘sexuality,’ to a more widely defined notion of a ‘kāma world’, in which sensual pleasure is understood as being deeply enmeshed with aesthetic, ethical and cosmopolitan cultures.     

Legal Certainty and the Role of the Financial Markets Law Committee

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. Key points

• The role of the Financial Markets Law Committee (‘FMLC’)is to provide specialist assistance to those who must meet thechallenges of reforming, modernizing and applying financiallaw by identifying issues of legal uncertainty that may facethe wholesale financial markets and by working to resolve them,if possible, before they give rise to any material risk.
• Itis the author's view that the FMLC is uniquely positioned toserve rule of law values such as legal certainty and legal stability.
• Thisarticle suggests that, in the light of the challenges facingthe financial markets today, the rapid emergence of new markets,the accelerating rate of financial products ‘innovation’,the impact of recent international and European initiativesto harmonize financial markets law and the prospect of law reforminitiatives not yet even underway, the FMLC has an importantrole to play for the future.

  Much is said and . . . [Full Text of this Article]    1. What is the FMLC?   The Financial Law Panel The FMLC's structure and processes    2. Why is the FMLC exceptional?      3. The Way Ahead