Quantitation of human genomic DNA through amplification of the amelogenin locus

An alternate method for quantitation of human genomic DNA is presented. Quantitative template amplification technology (abbreviated "Q-TAT") estimates the quantity of human DNA present in an extract by comparing fluorescence in X and Y amplicons produced from unknowns with fluorescence in a standard curve amplified from known quantities of reference DNA. Q-TAT utilizes PCR and electrophoresis with fluorescent detection/quantitation, precluding the need for new instrumentation, methodology, or quality assurance associated with slot-blot or real-time PCR. In a comparison study incorporating shared samples, Q-TAT was found to be more sensitive than widely used slot-blot methods but somewhat less sensitive than real-time PCR. Among samples containing DNA concentrations ranging from 100 pg/microL to 2-4 ng/microL, Q-TAT produced DNA concentration estimates that agreed reasonably well with either Quantiblot or real-time PCR. Q-TAT was reproducible with a typical coincidence of variation of about 35%. Quantitation of human DNA in this study involved summing fluorescence in X and Y amplicons in unknowns and quantitation standards. However, analyzing fluorescence in X and Y amplicons individually could allow estimates of male and female DNA present in mixtures to be made. Moreover, since X and Y amplicons exhibit sizes of 210 and 216 bp, respectively, the integrity as well as the concentration of the genomic DNA template can be assessed. Q-TAT represents an alternate method useful for the quantitation of human genomic DNA prior to amplification of STR loci used for identity testing purposes. The method uses existing equipment and procedures in conjunction with a well-characterized DNA standard to produce concentration estimates for unknowns that reliably produce STR profiles suitable for analysis.     

The Changing Limits and the Limits of Change: the state,private firms,international industry and China in the evolution of Taiwan's electronics industry

This paper examines the changing role of the state and private enterprise in Taiwan's electronics industry as the industry responds to growth of intra-firm capabilities and the rise of China as a manufacturing base. The industry has a sharp dichotomous outcome between the technologically strong IC sector, which has been able to create interdependence with global lead firms, and the systems manufacturing firms, which find themselves trapped in a dependent position vis-à-vis the global lead firms. Due to different positions in global value chains, the IC industry firms have been better able to create advantages out of the opportunities of new firm capabilities and China than the systems firms even as the balance of policy has shifted somewhat away from the state and towards private enterprise.     

Navigating the minefield: legal ethics and healthcare law

Practicing law in the healthcare field is a daunting task due to the highly-regulated nature of the field and the increasing scrutiny of the conduct of industry providers, payors, and vendors. Attorneys must provide difficult opinions regarding matters with civil, criminal, and reimbursement implications and often are asked to represent multiple parties in healthcare-related settings. This article discusses some legal ethics issues for the healthcare practitioner and touches on some of the recent changes to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which were adopted by the American Bar Association's House of Delegates at its mid-February 2002 meeting. The authors conduct their analysis by applying the model rules to a number of hypothetical fact situations typical of those encountered in the day-to-day practice of healthcare law.     

The Definition and Measurement of ‘Gang Status’: Policy Implications for Juvenile Justice

In this article, we examine gang membership and gang activity in Dona Ana County, New Mexico. We collected the data through a self-administered questionnaire completed by 373 randomly selected 9th and 11th grade students attending two high schools and two junior high schools. By the self-report method, 56 indicated they were currently active in a gang; another 45 had been members of gangs but were no longer involved; and, “wannabes,” or students who at some time had considered joining a gang but did not or could not, totaled 68. The 169 students who indicated some interest in or involvement with gangs represented 45% of the total sample. A more restrictive definition of actual gang membership (i.e., the group must have initiation rites and employ some external symbols of membership, such as “colors,” tattoos, or handsigns) results in a different trichotomization. We employ both the self-definition and restrictive definition of gang membership in our analysis of their personal biographical characteristics and criminal behavior. Our findings suggest that self-definition demonstrates clearer ties to self-reported gang-related activities than does the more restrictive one. We discuss the policy implications of this finding in the article.     

The Angry Pamphleteer: True Threats,Political Speech,and Applying Watts v. United States in the Age of Twitter

Since the 1969 case Watts v. United States, courts have consistently held that politically motivated speech about or directed to public figures may be punished if it qualifies as a “true threat” rather than protected political hyperbole. Criticism of public officials lies at the core of First Amendment protection, even when that criticism is caustic or crude. Such caustic speech appears on Twitter with increasing frequency, often pushing the boundaries of the constitutional guarantees of free speech. Through an analysis of the political speech-true threat cases that apply Watts, this study identifies and assesses three distinct modes of analysis that lower courts use to distinguish political speech from true threats. They are: (1) criteria-based analysis; (2) ad hoc balancing; and (3) a form of balancing referred to herein as “line-crossing analysis.” This study concludes that criteria-based analysis is the most prominent mode used by lower courts. As applied to new media and political participation, criteria-based analysis risks unduly restricting valuable political speech.     

Tiananmen as treated by the Christian Science Monitor

Focusing on one medium's specific responses to a specific news crisis, print coverage by the Christian Science Publishing Company on the Tiananmen Square incident is compared to that of the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, New York Times (Springfield, MA), Sunday Republican, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. The Christian Science Monitor, a newspaper internationally known for its objective, balanced reportage, is described and discussed, particularly regarding its pre‐ and post‐Tiananmen coverage. Its 185 articles beginning June 4, 1989, until a year later are delineated, along with the eight that appeared in the Christian Science Publishing Company's new monthly magazine, World Monitor. The argument is advanced that, despite major changes, the Monitor remains an invaluable media resource to both scholars and the lay public for unbiased reportage.     

Correspondence

This article surveys the problems facing the existence of intellectuals in the twenty-first century by reflecting on the historical and conceptual conditions that have enabled them to flourish in the past but less so in recent times. The first part considers several strands of contemporary philosophical and social thought that, despite their progressive veneer, have served to undermine the legitimacy of the intellectual's role. This delegitimation is largely traceable to a scepticism about the existence of ideas that are simultaneously normative and manipulable. The second part deals with the rise of anti-intellectualism in philosophy and psychology in the twentieth century, focusing especially on the debates surrounding ‘psychologism’. The third part examines what remains the most attractive expression of anti-intellectualism, namely, invisible-hand thinking and its late nineteenth-century transformation through the influence of statistics, evolution and epidemiology. In the conclusion, the main strands of the argument are drawn together in a sketch of an overall account of the rise and fall of the intellectual in the modern era. Finally, I provide one strategy for stemming the current tide of anti-intellectualism by reinterpreting the currently popular concept of ‘heuristics’.