No visible difference: a women's empowerment process in a Cambodian NGO

The lives of female Cambodian NGO staff are characterised by the contradictions of apparent freedom and multiple invisible constraints on their behaviour and choices. An empowerment process facilitated by an expatriate did not produce the expected responses of sisterhood and group action. Through a series of workshops, learning emerged about the context-dependent nature of concepts of empowerment, and the irrelevance of many Western models for other cultures. Fear and mistrust, rooted in both traditional culture and the post-conflict context, are powerful and profound blocks to change in women's lives. No visible difference in workplace behaviours appeared after the empowerment process. However, the women responded to new insights about their lives, beliefs, and culture in ways that had meaning for them; and they reported significant benefits for family and social relationships.     

猪瘟病毒浙江分离株体外生长特性及其囊膜糖蛋白E2分子的变异分析

为了研究分离于浙江省衢州和杭州的2株猪瘟病毒基因2型流行毒株QZ-07、HZ1-08在猪肾细胞(PK-15)和猪睾丸细胞(ST)中的生长特性及其囊膜糖蛋白E2的分子进化特征,采用间接免疫荧光、效价测定和进化分析等分子生物学方法将基因2型流行毒株与基因1型石门株进行了比较。结果表明,石门株在PK-15细胞中的增殖效率明显高于ST细胞;感染PK-15细胞后第48小时,细胞内的效价可达107TCID50/mL,而在ST细胞中的效价只有105.25 TCID50/mL。基因2型毒株在PK-15细胞中的增殖水平明显低于ST细胞,尤其以HZ1-08株更为明显;感染ST细胞后第48小时,细胞内的效价为105 TCID50/mL,而PK-15细胞中的效价只有102.75 TCID50/mL。两基因型毒株E2的核苷酸同源性低于90%,氨基酸同源性约为90%。表明,基因2型毒株的体外生长特性及其E2的分子特性均与基因1型毒株存在差异。     

Analysis of global variability in 15 established and 5 new European Standard Set (ESS) STRs using the CEPH human genome diversity panel

The CEPH human genome diversity cell line panel (CEPH-HGDP) of 51 globally distributed populations was used to analyze patterns of variability in 20 core human identification STRs. The markers typed comprised the 15 STRs of Identifiler, one of the most widely used forensic STR multiplexes, plus five recently introduced European Standard Set (ESS) STRs: D1S1656, D2S441, D10S1248, D12S391 and D22S1045. From the genotypes obtained for the ESS STRs we identified rare, intermediate or off-ladder alleles that had not been previously reported for these loci. Examples of novel ESS STR alleles found were characterized by sequence analysis. This revealed extensive repeat structure variation in three ESS STRs, with D12S391 showing particularly high variability for tandem runs of AGAT and AGAC repeat units. The global geographic distribution of the CEPH panel samples gave an opportunity to study in detail the extent of substructure shown by the 20 STRs amongst populations and between their parent population groups. An assessment was made of the forensic informativeness of the new ESS STRs compared to the loci they will replace: CSF1PO, D5S818, D7S820, D13S317 and TPOX, with results showing a clear enhancement of discrimination power using multiplexes that genotype the new ESS loci. We also measured the ability of Identifiler and ESS STRs to infer the ancestry of the CEPH-HGDP samples and demonstrate that forensic STRs in large multiplexes have the potential to differentiate the major population groups but only with sufficient reliability when used with other ancestry-informative markers such as single nucleotide polymorphisms. Finally we checked for possible association by linkage between the two ESS multiplex STRs closely positioned on chromosome-12: vWA and D12S391 by examining paired genotypes from the complete CEPH data set.     

新农村建设视角下农村公共物品供给制度创新

在建设新农村的过程中,存在着诸多困难和问题。其中,影响新农村建设步伐的一个重要因素,就是农村公共物品的供给问题。因此,政府应尽快改革农村公共物品供给体制,创新农村公共物品的供给制度,保证农村公共物品的供给,从而切实满足农民对于公共物品的需求,更好地推进社会主义新农村建设。     

Exploiting expressed sequence tag databases for the development and characterization of gene-derived simple sequence repeat markers in the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) for forensic applications

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers in the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) were identified from an expressed sequence tag (EST) database comprised of 20,340 sequences. In total, 2780 SSR-containing sequences were identified. The most frequent microsatellite had an AT/TA motif (37%). Twenty-two opium poppy EST-SSR markers were presently developed and polymorphisms of six markers (psom 2, 4, 12, 13, 17, and 22) were utilized in 135 individuals under narcotic control investigation. An average of three alleles per locus (range: 2-5 alleles) with a mean heterozygosity of 0.167 was detected. Six loci identified 29 unique profiles in 135 individuals. The EST-SSR markers exhibited small degrees of genetic differentiation (fixation index = 0.727, p < 0.001). Other variable markers will be needed to facilitate the forensic identification of the opium poppy for future cases. To determine the potential for cross-species amplification, six markers were tested in five Papaver genera species and two Eschscholzia genera. The psom 4 and psom 17 primer pair was transferable. This is the first study to report SSR markers of the opium poppy.