Genetic profile of the Ecuadorian Mestizo population (Ecuador-South America) by using the Power Plex 16 System Kit

Allele frequency data for the 15 STR systems and Amelogenine were determined in a population sample of healthy Mestizo unrelated individuals. All loci met Hardy-Weinberg expectations and the high discrimination power of combined system showed the forensic efficiency of these genetic markers. There is a lack of information on Ecuadorian population from a genetic point of view and therefore no previous publications on the distribution of STRs on Mestizos is available. Mestizos are descendents of Spanish and Amerindian people, however, significant differences were found between the former and the populations from Spanish peninsula, that have been analyzed for these genetic markers.     

STRs data for the loci D3S1385, vWA,FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317 and D7S820 from Córdoba (Argentina)

Allele and genotype frequencies for nine STRs loci included in the AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus kit (D3S1385, vWA, FGA, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317 and D7S820), were determined from urban and countryside population of Córdoba (Argentina). All loci meet the Hardy-Weinberg expectation, and there is little evidence for alleles association between these nine loci. The results demonstrate that these loci can be useful for databasing purposes in human identification and parentage testing in the population of Córdoba (Argentina).     

A Windows-based software for common paternity and sibling analyses

A new Windows-based freeware for kinship analysis from DNA data is presented. This software can be used to calculate likelihood ratios and probabilities of paternity in trio and motherless cases, as well as in cases when a parent is lacking but there are data from the grandparents. It can also be used to compute the probability of two subjects being full-brothers or half-brothers.     

A market based evaluation of the election versus appointment of regulatory commissioners

This paper examines the elected versus appointed commissioner dichotomy from a market value perspective. Previous empirical analysis tends to concentrate on rates rather than examining the impact on shareholders' wealth. We examine life insurance industry data during the period surrounding the passage of California's Proposition 103. The primary impact of the referendum on life insurers is to change the method of commissioner selection from appointment to popular vote. We find that this change significantly reduced the value of life insurers doing business in California. This result is consistent with the recent findings of Boyes and McDowell (1989) and Smartt (1994) using alternative evaluation procedures for firms in other regulated industries. This implies that the change to a popular election of commissioners either increases the level of risk and/or decreases the expected cash flows of regulated firms.     

Anticipated Transition to Adulthood: The Effect of Educational Track,Gender, and Self-Evaluation on Finnish and Polish Adolescents' Future Orientation

In Finland and Poland, a total of 352 (192 boys and 160 girls) 17-year-old general secondary and vocational school students participated in a study investigating their anticipated transition to adulthood. In times of large sociohistorical change in both countries, Finland (economic depression) and Poland (change from socialism to market economy), we investigated to what extent those changes were reflected in the students' probability estimations (for potential goal attainment in three future life domains; education, occupation and family life), generational comparison (attaining a life different from the life of parents), future time extension (for anticipated events in those life domains), and self-evaluations (self-esteem and control over future). The results showed that girls in both countries expressed a higher level of probability for success in education than boys did. As expected, vocational school students in both countries expressed a lower probability of success in future occupation than general secondary school students did. General secondary school students from both countries expressed higher levels of self-esteem and control over future than vocational school students did. Unexpectedly, no differences between boys' and girls' probability estimations for family life were found, in either country. However, girls from both countries anticipated an earlier and more rapid transition to adulthood than boys did, thus reflecting social time tables. The results suggested that the educational track remains a significant stratifying factor in times of societal change in both countries.     

苓桂术甘汤对免疫功能低下模型小鼠淋巴细胞活性的影响

目的:观察苓桂术甘汤对免疫功能低下模型小鼠免疫功能的影响.方法:近交系昆明种小鼠以环磷酰胺(Cy,80 mg/kg,ip,qd×1)诱导免疫功能低下,用苓桂术甘汤(42.90,21.45,4.29 g/kg)连续灌胃(ig)给药7 d,分别采用免疫溶血法、四氮唑盐比色法(MTT)和小鼠胸腺细胞氚标胸腺嘧啶核苷(3H-TdR)掺入法测定血清溶血素、NK细胞及IL-2活性.结果:苓桂术甘汤能明显促进Cy所致免疫功能低下模型小鼠血清溶血素生成,增强NK细胞及IL-2活性,与模型组比较,差异有显著性(P＜0.05或P＜0.01).结论:苓桂术甘汤对Cy所致免疫功能低下模型小鼠三类淋巴细胞的免疫活性均具有明显的激活作用.     

Beauty and Politics

Stars on and behind the stage fuse an ancient Chinese legend with Western opera.