Typing of eight short tandem repeat (STR) loci in a Saudi Arabian population

Allele frequency data for eight short tandem repeat (STR) loci, HUMF13A01, HUMFESFPS, HUMF13B, HUMLPL, HUMCSF1PO, HUMTPOX, HUMTHO1 and HUMvWA, were obtained for unrelated individuals in a Saudi Arabian population. All loci, except F13B (P = 0.037) and LPL (P = 0.035), meet Hardy-Weinberg expectations, based on the exact test. The most informative locus is HUMvWA (PD = 0.936) and the least discriminating is the HUMTPOX locus (PD = 0.820). There was only one observation of a departure from expectation from pairwise locus comparisons. These data can be used for estimating the frequency of STR profiles in a Saudi Arabian population.     

State Transformation and the Role of Lawyers: The WTO,India, and Transnational Legal Ordering

This article explains the impact of India's engagement with the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on both the Indian state and on the WTO itself. In each case, it explains the role of Indian lawyers within the larger transnational context. In engaging with globalization and the WTO, India has transformed itself. The Indian state has moved toward a new developmental state model involving a stronger emphasis on trade, greater government transparency, and the development of public‐private coordination mechanisms in which the government plays a steering role. The analysis shows that it has done so not as an autonomous policy choice, but rather in light of the global context in which the WTO and WTO law form an integral part. Reciprocally, the article displays the ways that India has built legal capacity to attempt to shape the construction, interpretation, and practice of the trade legal order. Indian private lawyers play increasing roles, although they remain on tap, not on top.     

On Chinese agriculture: A quantitative look—A reply

This paper reports data on terms and conditions of share‐cropping contracts collected in 1975–6 from 334 randomly chosen villages in four states in India. Among other things, it suggests some evidence of higher crop share for the tenant positively associated with higher‐yielding varieties of grains and negatively with cost‐sharing by the landlord. Unpaid and obligatory service by the tenant for the landlord is quite uncommon; even less common is the phenomenon of a tenant being tied to a particular landlord. The landlord quite often gives production loans to the tenant, shares in costs of seeds, fertilizers, etc., participates in decision‐making about the use of these inputs and in general takes a lot of interest in productive investments on the tenant farm, quite contrary to the traditional image of rentier or usurious landlords associated with “semi‐feudalism”     

Validation of the InnoXtract™ DNA extraction method for bone,teeth, and rootless hair

Forensic casework samples often include human hairs, teeth, and bones. Hairs with roots are routinely processed for DNA analysis, while rootless hairs are either not tested or processed using mitochondrial DNA. Bones and teeth are submitted for human remains identifications for missing persons and mass disaster cases. DNA extraction from these low templates and degraded samples is challenging. The new InnoXtract DNA extraction method utilizes magnetic beads that are optimized to bind small DNA fragments, as small as 100 base pairs, to purify high-yield DNA from compromised samples. This validation study evaluates InnoXtract's ability to obtain amplifiable DNA from samples such as rootless hairs and skeletal remains. Studies performed include sensitivity, stability, repeatability, reproducibility, non-probative samples, and comparison to standard organic extractions. Sensitivity studies demonstrate average yield recoveries ranging from 53% to 100% and 73% to 85% for the InnoXtract hair and bone methods, respectively. Studies demonstrate consistent results across a range of sample types, such as insulted and un-insulted bone and teeth, as well as hair shafts from donors of various ages, gender, race, and hair characteristics. The InnoXtract bone method outperformed organic extraction. The method was successfully automated on a MagMAX™ Express-96, with recoveries over 70% relative to the manual version. InnoXtract has the potential as an automated high-throughput, high-yield bone extraction method with 6 h of total extraction time for up to 96 samples. The validation study results demonstrate that the InnoXtract kits produce high-yield and high-quality DNA from compromised bone, teeth, and hair shaft samples.     

A device for false measurements of oil depths in an oil tanker

This paper describes a case in which a cleverly designed oil-depth measuring device in an oil tanker was used to give a false indication of the amount of oil present. The mode of operation was successfully solved by theoretical analysis.     

Time of firing of shot shells.

The possibility of ascertaining approximate time of firing by utilizing the phenomenon of rate of escape of gaseous products of combustion has been investigated with special reference to 12-bore, 2 1/2-in. (6.35-mm), fired cartridges made by the Indian Ordnance Factory. The relative rate of escape of gases has been determined indirectly by ascertaining the time needed to develop color in reagents by escaping gases by diazotization and coupling reaction. It has been observed that although the time to develop color tends to increase with the time lapse after firing, the observations are not interpretable for all possible time intervals due to overlapping and insignificant increase in certain intervals. A choice of suitable time intervals may be found to be useful in ascertaining the approximate time of firing, which may be determined experimentally in each case. Normal variation due to atmospheric conditions has been found not to have significant influence under certain limits. The method suggested has been found to be comparatively more useful than the already existing methods.     

Human genomic DNA quantitation system, H-Quant: development and validation for use in forensic casework

The human DNA quantification (H-Quant) system, developed for use in human identification, enables quantitation of human genomic DNA in biological samples. The assay is based on real-time amplification of AluYb8 insertions in hominoid primates. The relatively high copy number of subfamily-specific Alu repeats in the human genome enables quantification of very small amounts of human DNA. The oligonucleotide primers present in H-Quant are specific for human DNA and closely related great apes. During the real-time PCR, the SYBR Green I dye binds to the DNA that is synthesized by the human-specific AluYb8 oligonucleotide primers. The fluorescence of the bound SYBR Green I dye is measured at the end of each PCR cycle. The cycle at which the fluorescence crosses the chosen threshold correlates to the quantity of amplifiable DNA in that sample. The minimal sensitivity of the H-Quant system is 7.6 pg/microL of human DNA. The amplicon generated in the H-Quant assay is 216 bp, which is within the same range of the common amplifiable short tandem repeat (STR) amplicons. This size amplicon enables quantitation of amplifiable DNA as opposed to a quantitation of degraded or nonamplifiable DNA of smaller sizes. Development and validation studies were performed on the 7500 real-time PCR system following the Quality Assurance Standards for Forensic DNA Testing Laboratories.     

The ‘new traditionalist’ discourse of Indian environmentalism

In this article we identify ‘new traditionalism’ as the discourse that dominates the historiography of the Indian environment. We challenge the new traditionalist equation of ‘forests’ and ‘nature’, their assertion that ‘traditional’ agriculture was ecologically balanced, and was practised by self‐contained communities, and their claims that women, forest dwellers and peasants were primarily the keepers of a special conservationist ethic. We next examine the new traditionalist claim that colonialism, modernity and development were exclusively responsible for the degradation of nature in India. Finally, we examine the new traditionalist interpretations of popular politics around environmental issues, specifically the Chipko movement. We make explicit the assumptions and political implications of new traditionalism and provide an alternative reading of Indian environmental history and politics.     

Representing labour in India

Trade unions in India work mainly with workers in formal employment, particularly in the public sector. However, most people in India work in the informal economy, and their needs are attended mainly by voluntary agencies or NGOs. Economic globalisation and the policies associated with it are resulting in the increasing informalisation of work; as representatives of working people, unions and agencies alike are being further marginalised. Paradoxically, this situation is encouraging these organisations to overcome the mutual mistrust that has characterised relations between them in the past, and to join forces in order to pool their strengths. This article describes the background and current situation in general terms before presenting a case study of the National Centre for Labour (NCL), an apex body of labour organisations of all kinds working in the informal sector in India. Its members include unions and agencies active among workers in the construction industry, as well as in forestry, fishing, and domestic work. Such collaboration has not only enhanced the effectiveness of both the unions and the agencies, but has also increased the unions' representative character.     

Next generation of individual account pension reforms in Latin America

Latin America led the world in introducing individual retirement accounts intended to complement or replace defined benefit state-sponsored, pay-as-you-go systems. After Chile implemented the first system in 1981, a number of other Latin American countries incorporated privately managed individual accounts as part of their retirement income systems beginning in the 1990s. This article examines the subsequent "reform of the reform" of these pension systems, with a focus on the recent overhaul of the Chilean system and major reforms in Mexico, Peru, and Colombia. The authors analyze key elements of pension reform in the region relating to individual accounts: system coverage, fees, competition, investment, the impact of gender on benefits, financial education, voluntary savings, and payouts.