Extraction and amplification of authentic DNA from ancient human remains

A total of 36 ancient human remains from 12 individuals (three tooth/bone samples each) and one sample each of three individuals from the newest time was typed in a blind study using the amelogenin sex test. Prior to this molecular sex determination the sex of the individual was determined morphologically. The success rate of the amelogenin amplifications was >90%. For every individual an unambiguous molecular sex typing result was obtained. Furthermore, the morphological and molecular sex determinations were in accordance with each other, giving evidence for the authenticity and ancient origin of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplifications.     

Association between LDLR polymorphism and diseases in the Japanese population: aging and distribution of the polymorphism

A number of DNA polymorphisms have been found to be associated with the pathophysiology of some common disease. If the LDLR polymorphism is directly or indirectly related to some fatal disease, the distribution of the polymorphism may vary with age. We therefore investigated the aging-associated distribution of the LDLR polymorphism. Blood samples were collected from Japanese cadavers (aged 0-91) at autopsy. The LDLR polymorphism was detected using a AmpliType PM PCR Typing kit. When the LDLR genotype was examined in cadavers divided according to age into 0-29 year group, 30-59 year group, and 60-91 year group, there were significant differences in genotype among the three age groups and between the 0-29 year group and 60-91 year group. The LDLR-A genotype tended to be lower in the older cadavers. The present study revealed that there were aging-dependent differences in the distribution of the LDLR polymorphism in autopsy samples, suggesting that a common mutation involved in the occurrence of fatal diseases may be present near the LDLR-A polymorphism locus.     

Papillary fibroelastoma of the aortic valve: a sudden death case of coronary embolism with myocardial infarction

Papillary fibroelastoma is a rare benign tumor, occasionally causing angina or sudden death. We report an autopsy case of an aortic valve papillary fibroelastoma with coronary artery embolism. The patient was a 68-year-old Japanese man who had collapsed suddenly in his house. He was a heavy drinker and had a history of liver disease but no notable cardiac event. The autopsy revealed extensive transmural infarction of the inferior wall of the left and right cardiac ventricles. The distal portion of the right coronary artery (segment 4, NYHA) was completely occluded by tumor emboli of the fibroelastoma. At the site of closure of the aortic non-coronary cusp, there was a typical papillary fibroelastoma, which was considered to have originated the coronary embolization.     

On Correcting Biases in Self-Reports of Age at First Substance Use with Repeated Cross-Section Analysis

Household survey data on age at first use of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana,and hard drugs can be biased due to sample selection and inaccuraterecall. One potential concern is attrition, whereby individuals who getinvolved with substance use at an early age become increasingly less likelyto be surveyed in successive years. A comparison of data from the NationalHousehold Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) with data from a longitudinal studysuggested that attrition might have caused substantially less bias thandid forward telescoping, the inflating of age at first useover time. The evidence of forward telescoping was particularly pronouncedwith respect to age at first use of alcohol. This paper presents a procedurefor correcting the distribution of age at first use for forward telescoping(but not attrition) by viewing a portion of the NHSDA data collected insuccessive years as constituting a cohort study. Results are presented fromapplying this procedure with NHSDA data collected from 1982 to 1995 forrespondents born 1968–1973. The findings suggest that preventionprograms need to be introduced at an earlier age than would be indicatedby uncorrected retrospective data. Other implications are alsohighlighted.     

十三年来美国对泰国的“援助”

近几年来美国把对泰国援助中一部分“贈欵”改为貸欵,泰报认为是援助減少了。作者认为貸欵也是援助,但可能使泰国经济发展計划降低要求或中止,言外之音是希望增加“贈欵”。     

越南的少数民族問題

这是一篇替法帝国主义統治越南时期的少數民族政策辯护的文章。它把法帝国主义“分而治之”的反动政策說成是“善意好心”的,把法帝国主义所頒布的使越南泰族脫离越南,直接与法兰西联邦联系的法律,說成是符合民族特点和民族愿望的。它也透露了目前南越西原地区少數民族对吳庭艳集团的不滿,对越南民主共和国的民族政策的响往。但它却歪曲那些少數民族的意志,說他們热烈地怀念法国人。文章的观点是反动的,但可以看出帝国主义是如何欺騙当地少數民族的。     

十九世紀最后廿五年馬来亚人民反对英国殖民主义者的起义

不久以前,苏聯的研究工作者已經開始編篡一系列东南亚國家的近代史;其中對这些國家的民族解放運动史研究較少。本文則試图探討一下十九世纪70—90年代在馬來亚反對英国殖民主义者的起义。①內容广泛的英國歷史編篡学在關于英國佔领馬     

南越土地改革的进展

自从1954年7月日内瓦协定订立之后,南越吴庭艶政府把土地改革存在关键性的问题,下了绝大的决心,付诸实施,特别是在土地转移和定居这两个方面。在实施土改计划上,美国的经济和技术援助起了重要的作用。土改计划的初步阶段,现在将近完成,減租和稳定佃期的计划,现在正在继续施行,并普及到全国佃农的3/4,而土地转移计划预     

馬来亚橡膠問題

本文选譯自L.A.密尔斯著“馬来亚政治經济評述”一書第八章,標題为“天然橡胶和人造橡胶”。但全文主要內容是关于馬来亚天然橡胶的生产問題,因此改用現在標題。作者对于馬来亚战后以来天然橡胶的生产問題作了詳尽的論述,材料比較丰富,可供研究工作者参考。