Use of bleach to eliminate contaminating DNA from the surface of bones and teeth

The extraction of DNA from archaeological or forensic skeletal remains can provide quite powerful data for analysis, but is plagued by a unique set of methodological problems. One of the most important methodological problems to overcome in such analyses is the presence of modern contamination on the surfaces of bones and teeth, which can lead to false positives and erroneous results unless it is removed before DNA extraction is initiated. Ancient DNA (aDNA) researchers and forensic scientists have employed a number of techniques to minimize such contamination. One such technique is the use of bleach (sodium hypochlorite--NaOCl) to "destroy" contaminating DNA. However, a consensus on the optimum concentration of sodium hypochlorite to be used and the amount of time the bone or tooth should be exposed to it has not emerged. The present study systematically approaches the issue by introducing contamination to ancient bones (from approximately 500 BP) and determining which of several sodium hypochlorite treatments best eliminates surface contamination. The elimination of surface contamination from bone requires immersion in at least 3.0% (w/v) sodium hypochlorite (approximately equal parts of commercial bleach and water) for at least 15 min. Endogenous DNA proved to be quite stable to even extreme sodium hypochlorite treatments (6% for 21 h), suggesting that DNA adsorbs to hydroxyapatite in the bone and that this process facilitates the preservation of DNA in ancient skeletal remains.     

Community Influence on Adolescent Obesity: Race/Ethnic Differences

Using a sample of 20,000 adolescents (Add Health data), this study examined the influences of community poverty and race/ethnicity on adolescent obesity. Multilevel analyses revealed strong evidence for the unique influences of community poverty and race/ethnicity on adolescent obesity net of family characteristics. The prevalence of obesity is significantly higher in poor communities than in affluent communities; and it is higher among African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans than among Whites. The interaction between race/ethnicity and community poverty indicates that race/ethnicity moderates the influence of community poverty on the prevalence of obesity. Although the prevalence of obesity is higher among minorities than among Whites, the influence of community poverty is stronger for Whites than for minorities, suggesting that unlike Whites, most minority groups may not accrue benefits of structural community advantages. The state of being overweight as the outcome variable provided essentially the same findings. The practical implications are discussed.     

A Prospective Study of Extreme Weight Change Behaviors Among Adolescent Boys and Girls

This study examined changes in extreme weight change attitudes and behaviors (exercise dependence, food supplements, drive for thinness, bulimia) among adolescent boys and girls over a 16 month period. It also investigated the impact of body mass index, puberty, body image, depression and positive affect on these attitudes and behaviors 16 months later. The participants were 847 young adolescents (411 boys, 436 girls). Participants completed questionnaires evaluating the above variables on three occasions, eight months apart. Girls obtained higher scores on exercise dependence, drive for thinness and bulimia. Changes in depression and body image importance were the strongest predictors of changes in these extreme attitudes and behaviors among boys; changes in depression, body dissatisfaction and body image importance were the strongest predictors for girls. The need for gender specific educational and intervention programs for adolescents are discussed.Marita McCabe PhD, Professor in Psychology in the School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. She has completed her PhD in 1981 on adolescent development, and has been completing research on various aspects of adolescent adjustment for 30 years. To whom correspondence should be addressed at 221 Burwood Highway, Burwood, Victoria 3125, Australia;Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology, Deakin University, Melbourne Australia. She completed her PhD in 1990 on Childrens Language Development. In the last 10 years she has been researching body image concerns in adolescents and children     

Intra-country regulation of share markets: does one size fit all?

A large body of evidence suggests that financial development is greater in countries that impose stricter regulatory requirements on their major stock exchanges, but this leaves open the question of whether or not such regulation should be uniformly applied to all equity trading platforms within a country. On the one hand, regulatory variation permits a wider choice of investment opportunities for investors, lowers the cost of capital for some firms, and enhances price discovery and efficiency. On the other hand, the presence of lightly regulated exchanges can potentially have adverse spillover implications for a country’s other financial markets.

Attachment and social bonding in maximum and minimum security prison inmates

Attitudes towards social attachment and bonding were evaluated in groups of maximum (N=48) and bonding were evaluated in groups of maximum (N=46) security prison inmates and compared with the attitudes of a group of 49 noncriminal college students. Three primary styles of attachment were considered: avoidant, ambivalent/anxious, and secure. It was predicted that the maximum security condition, a group hypothesized to contain a large number of lifestyle criminals, would evidence more of an avoidant style of attachment compared to minimum security inmates or a group of college student controls. Consistent with this hypothesis, the maximum security inmates exhibited greater avoidance in their attitudes towards relationships than subjects in the other two conditions. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Lifestyle criminality from a developmental standpoint

A theory which details the development of lifestyle criminality is discussed. The necessary (but not sufficient) early conditions for the development of later criminality involve improper resolution of three early developmental tasks which confront all children (social attachment, stimulus modulation, self-image). A child predisposed to later criminality by weak social bonding, a high need for excitement, and a negative self-image is made even more vulnerable when exposed to such additional influences as low verbal intelligence, a chaotic home environment, or antisocial peers. Despite the importance of these variables, however, it is the lifestyle choices one makes which determine later criminality.     

Contentious Politics and Democratization: Comparing the Impact of Social Movements on the Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe

In this paper, I identify and analyze the interaction between two processes - mobilization and bargaining - by which democratic challengers can transform political institutions, bringing together insights from the literatures on social movements, which tends to analyze movement emergence, and democratization, which tends to analyze the design of democratic institutions. I compare the impact of social movements in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, cases that offer a valuable opportunity to extend the literature on contentious politics beyond its origins in the study of Western parliamentary democracies. The analysis directs attention to an under examined arena of political contestation, agenda setting, or the process by which the demands of social movements are translated into issues for governments. The paper argues that the traditional dichotomy between institutional and non-institutionalized contention has obscured the ways that democratic challengers not only pressure states from the outside but transform them through new forms of political participation. Finally, it considers alternative explanations and suggests new directions for comparative research across different settings and times.