Enhanced conditions for DNA fingerprinting with biotinylated M13 bacteriophage

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fingerprints are Southern blots which have a pattern resembling bar codes. The pattern is created by DNA probes that bind to variable-length repeated sequences of human genomic DNA digested with restriction endonucleases. To improve DNA fingerprints obtained with biotin-labeled M13mp8 replicative form (RF) bacteriophage as the gene probe, the conditions for hybridization and the subsequent washing steps of the filter were refined. Experiments were conducted varying the electrophoresis time, blotting membranes, hybridization solution, and posthybridization washes. The simplicity, sensitivity, and reliability of this nonistopic technique make possible its application for identification of individuals within a species, for parentage testing, and for monitoring bone marrow transplantation.     

Believing in Conspiracy Theories: Evidence from an Exploratory Analysis of Italian Survey Data

Beliefs in conspiracy theories have attracted significant international media attention in recent years. This phenomenon has been studied in the US but while anecdotal evidence suggests it is also widespread among the Italian public, little evidence has been collected to assess it empirically. Using data from a 2016 survey, this pioneering study of the Italian case investigates the extent of diffusion of conspiracy theories among Italians and tests several hypotheses concerning individual determinants. The paper finds that conspiracism is indeed widely diffused in Italy. It is negatively associated with education and positively with religiosity, while no correlation is found with political trust. Beliefs in conspiracies are also related to rightwing orientation and support for the populist Five Star Movement.     

The Contributions of the Ombudsman to Human Rights in Latin America, 1982–2011

Democratic institutions, ranging from constitutional provisions and electoral rules to judiciaries, have been important in improving the rights of citizens across the world. If institutions matter for human rights, then it stands to reason that institutions built specifically to protect human rights, like the human rights ombudsman, should matter too. Using a comparative case study approach, this article examines the effect of the human rights ombudsman at the regional level on several human rights measures in Latin America between 1982 and 2011. The results suggest that the presence of an ombudsman, and some of its design features, have had effects on some social and economic rights, in keeping with the broad mandate given to this office.     

Y chromosome STR haplotypes in the Caribbean city of Cartagena (Colombia)

Haplotype data were obtained from a sample of 173 unrelated male individuals from Cartagena (Colombia), for 16 Y-chromosome STRs (DYS19, DYS385, DYS389 I, DYS389 II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS460, DYS461, DYS635, GATA H4 and GATA A10). No shared haplotypes were observed, demonstrating the usefulness and informative power of these Y-STRs in male lineage identification in Cartagena. Genetic distances were calculated using previously published haplotype data and the lowest values were found for the comparisons with samples of Iberian origin.     

Expanding housing choices for the sector popular: Strategies for Mexico

Abstract

By the year 2000, some 40 million people in Mexico will live in settlements commonly called the informal sector. Most will live in houses that they have constructed themselves and that have some infrastructure deficit. To meet their needs, the authors propose a set of demand and supply strategies. Emphasis is placed on the increased use of small group savings programs, the provision of progressive infrastructure, and the creation of housing‐related employment. The supply of low‐cost land must be increased, which will necessitate reforms in the ejido land tenure system. Examples of locally derived, non‐government‐supported betterment programs are presented.

The article concludes by calling on the federal government to create stronger links with the informal sector and to reestablish its role as the supporter of social housing in Mexico.     

Mediated territoriality: rural workers and the efforts to scale out agroecology in Nicaragua

The Spanish word formación can be translated as ‘training’ or ‘education’, but Latin American social movements use it as inspired by Che Guevara’s notion of ‘molding’ the values of the new woman and new man for egalitarian, cooperative social relations in the construction of a ‘new society’. This contribution presents findings on the dialectical linkages between the formación processes led by the Rural Workers’ Association (ATC) and the gradual transformation of the Nicaraguan countryside by peasant families choosing to grow food using agroecological practices. We use Vygotsky’s sociocultural historical theory to explore the developmental processes of formación subjects and the pedagogical mediators of their transformation into movement cadre. The motivations of active learners to develop new senses and collective understandings about their material reality become a counterhegemonic process of internalization and socialization of agroecological knowledges and senses. In this paper, we further explore the formación process by identifying territorial mediators: culturally significant elements within and outside of individuals that facilitate the rooting of agroecological social processes in a given territory where the social movement is active. By placing the territory, rather than the individual, at the center of popular education processes, new synergies are emerging in the construction of socially mobilizing methods for producing and spreading agroecological knowledge.