Cultural dynamics of German business co-operation with Indonesia and Singapore

German-Indonesian and German-Singaporean business co-operations face difficulties on both sides, which are linked to cultural differences. Based on field research carried out in the years 2000–2002, this article shows that the nature of the problems occurring in Indonesia and Singapore is different, but that there is also a disjunction in the perception of which problems matter most. Not only contrasting business environments play a role, but also cultural and educational backgrounds of the co-operation partners. With a culturally sensitive approach (like personal relationships based on trust and soft forms of control), however, potential differences can be prevented.     

Fast gas chromatography of explosive compounds using a pulsed-discharge electron capture detector

The detection of a mixture of nine explosive compounds, including nitrate esters, nitroaromatics, and a nitramine in less than 140 sec is described. The new method employs a commercially available pulsed-discharge electron capture detector (PDECD) coupled with a microbore capillary gas chromatography (GC) column in a standard GC oven to achieve on-column detection limits between 5 and 72 fg for the nine explosives studied. The PDECD has the benefit that it uses a pulsed plasma to generate the standing electron current instead of a radioactive source. The fast separation time limits on-column degradation of the thermally labile compounds and decreases the peak widths, which results in larger peak intensities and a concomitant improvement in detection limits. The combination of short analysis time and low detection limits make this method a potential candidate for screening large numbers of samples that have been prepared using techniques such as liquid-liquid extraction or solid-phase microextraction.     

Y-chromosome STR haplotype diversity in Brazilian populations

A sample of 198 unrelated males distributed among the five geopolitical regions in Brazil were typed for the minimal Y-STR haplotype composed of microsatellite loci DYS19, DYS385I/II, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392 and DYS393. Gene frequency data, gene diversity, haplotype diversity and power of discrimination were estimated. An AMOVA indicated that 99.97% of the haplotypic variation is found within regions and only a small 0.03% and non significant variation is found among the five regions (Fst=0.00031, P-value=0.43). This result suggests that a single national database of Y-STR haplotypes can be used in the quantitative assessment of matches in forensic casework in the Brazilian population. A significant haplotype diversity of 99.8% was found and 172 different haplotypes were observed in 198 chromosomes. Haplotype (14-11, 14-13-29-24-11-13-13) with five occurrences in 198 chromosomes was the most frequent in Brazil.