A new method of age estimation based on the changes in human non-collagenous proteins from dentin

The new method exploits the characteristic of staphylococcal protease V8, which specifically splits peptide bonds where l-glutamic or l-aspartic acid participate. Those peptide bonds where d-aspartic acid is present remain unsplit because of the stereospecifity of enzymes. In accordance with expectations, fewer peptide bonds are split by this protease at more advanced ages and larger peptide fragments are thus formed due to the higher content of d-amino acid residues in the proteins of older people. The samples of acid-extracted non-collagenous proteins from dentin were separated using high performance liquid chromatography after enzymatic hydrolysis. A peak with a retention time of 45.3 min was chosen and his enlarging area showed a linear correlation with increasing age. Although the linear correlation with age was proved, the scattering of values decreases the usefulness of the proposed method for age estimation.     

Should Singapore rejoin the UNESCO?

The Republic of Singapore withdrew from the UNESCO soon after the United States of America and the United Kingdom in late 1985. During that time, the idea of the New World Information Order was a major topic in the UNESCO. In this article the author analysis Singapores stake in this discussion, the reasons for the withdrawal and asks, why Singapore has still not rejoined the UNESCO, although the international flow of news is no longer an issue and the USA as well as the UK already came back.     

How Leadership and Public Service Motivation Enhance Innovative Behavior

Prior research has linked the innovative behavior of public sector employees to desirable outcomes such as improved efficiency and higher public service quality. However, questions regarding the drivers of innovative behavior among employees have received limited attention. This article employs psychological empowerment theory to examine the underlying processes by which entrepreneurial leadership and public service motivation (PSM) shape innovative behavior among civil servants. Based on three‐wave data from 281 Chinese civil servants and their 59 department heads, entrepreneurial leadership is found to positively influence subordinates' innovative behavior by enhancing two dimensions of psychological empowerment: meaning and impact. Additionally, PSM was found to influence subordinates' innovative behavior by enhancing the dimensions of meaning and competence. These findings suggest that to facilitate innovative behavior among employees, public organizations should consider introducing training that encourages leaders to serve as entrepreneurial role models and recruit employees with high levels of PSM.     

Candidate Choice Without Party Labels:

In the absence of party labels, voters must use other information to determine whom to support. The institution of nonpartisan elections, therefore, may impact voter choice by increasing the weight that voters place on candidate dimensions other than partisanship. We hypothesize that in nonpartisan elections, voters will exhibit a stronger preference for candidates with greater career and political experience, as well as candidates who can successfully signal partisan or ideological affiliation without directly using labels. To test these hypotheses, we conducted conjoint survey experiments on both nationally representative and convenience samples that vary the presence or absence of partisan information. The primary result of these experiments indicates that when voters cannot rely on party labels, they give greater weight to candidate experience. We find that this process unfolds differently for respondents of different partisan affiliations: Republicans respond to the removal of partisan information by giving greater weight to job experience while Democrats respond by giving greater weight to political experience. Our results lend microfoundational support to the notion that partisan information can crowd out other kinds of candidate information.     

Disputed Ownership: Parties,Issues, and Traits in the Minds of Voters

Is party “ownership” of issues and traits manifest in the minds of voters in ways that could generate the oft-hypothesized implications for mass and elite electoral behavior? We specify two ways in which it may be: party reputations refer to the association of a trait or issue with a party; candidate stereotyping requires that party labels prompt differential assignment of attributes or competencies to candidates. We develop a quantitative measure of both ownership types, and apply it to issues and traits. New national survey data provide the first evidence that party reputation ownership exists for issues and traits. New experimental tests reveal evidence of candidate stereotyping for issues, but not traits. Voters associate some traits more with one party, but may not assign them to candidates based upon party label, demonstrating a key difference in the nature and likely implications of issue and trait ownership.