Testing the performance of mtSNP minisequencing in forensic samples

There is a growing interest among forensic geneticists in developing efficient protocols for genotyping coding region mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) SNPs (mtSNPs). Minisequencing is becoming a popular method for SNP genotyping, but it is still used by few forensic laboratories. In part, this is due to the lack of studies testing its efficiency and reproducibility when applied to real and complex forensic samples. Here we tested a minisequencing design that consists of 71 mtSNPs (in three multiplexes) that are diagnostic of known branches of the R0 phylogeny, in real forensic samples, including degraded bones and teeth, hair shafts, and serial dilutions. The fact that amplicons are short coupled with the natural efficiency of the minisequencing technique allow these assays to perform well with all the samples tested either degraded and/or those containing low DNA amount. We did not observe phylogenetic inconsistencies in the 71 mtSNP haplotypes generated, indicating that the technique is robust against potential artefacts that could arise from unintended contamination and/or spurious amplification of nuclear mtDNA pseudogenes (NUMTs).     

Political Ideology,Political Party,and Support for Greater Federal Spending on Environmental Protection in the United States: Evidence from the General Social Surveys, 1993–2018

This paper focuses on the effects of political ideology and party affiliation on support for more government spending on environmental protection. Pooled‐sample results show that Liberals (Democrats) are more likely to support higher government spending on environmental protection than Moderates (Independents), who, in turn, are more likely to support higher spending levels than Conservatives (Republicans). The results persist even when we control for respondents' opinions concerning whether the federal government, in general, does too little or too much. When stratifying by party, ideological divisions generally narrow, while stratifying by ideology leads to slightly wider divisions between Democrats and Republicans. Together, these results suggest that when Liberals and Conservatives form opinions about government spending on the environment, party affiliation, to some degree, dampens the effects of ideology. Between 2014 and 2018 the probability of supporting more environmental spending increased, albeit slightly, for all ideologies and parties, but more so for Liberals and Democrats.     

Do elections bring optimism?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of elections on economic sentiment. Using monthly data from 14 EU countries over the 1985–2011 period, we show that there is a significant improvement, statistically and economically, of sentiment of the month that elections take place, but this effect is rather short lived, lasting on average less than two months.     

What would John Griffith have made of Jonathan Sumption's Reith Lectures?

In his 2019 Reith Lectures on the rise of law and decline of politics, Jonathan Sumption presents a thesis that, on its face, seems identical to that of J.A.G. Griffith's defence of the political constitution. Given the radical differences in their views on equality, democracy, and redistribution—with Griffith working in the tradition of democratic socialism espoused by the Webbs, Tawney and Laski, and Sumption expressing the libertarian philosophy underpinning Thatcherite policies—this is puzzling. This article sets their views in historical and political context and argues that the similarities are superficial, whereas the differences are profound. It then proceeds to show the weaknesses in Sumption's defence of his thesis.     

The Limits of Political Citizenship

Policy makers tend to focus on the extension of citizenship as the primary means by which new populations become incorporated into a society. Although acquiring formal citizenship is necessary in order to participate in many aspects of a state's civic, social, and political life, the extension of legal citizenship is far from a guarantee for full membership. Instead of focusing exclusively on naturalizing immigrants, we need to consider T.H. Marshall's three spheres of citizenship—the civil, political, and social. By extending social elements of citizenship prior to or at the same time as we extend other benefits, we will move towards more complete citizenship for and greater civil and political engagement among all residents in our society—non-citizens, naturalized, and native-born, alike.

Governance Arrangements for Transboundary Issues: Lessons from the Food Waste Programs of Italian Regions

Focusing on transboundary issues contributes to highlighting how new governance modes can emerge from increasing interdependence and complexity in public policies. This article analyzes food waste as a transboundary issue that cuts across different policy subsystems (PSs), intersects multiple levels of government, and calls into question consolidated policy making for new modes of governance. The analytical framework provides a multidimensional approach and a new typology of governance arrangements to be used in empirical research. Evidence from an Italian case study and an empirical investigation of 20 regional food waste programs shows that regions can adopt different driving ideas and can activate a variety of governance arrangements and differentiated, as well as viable, modes of integration between consolidated PSs. The article argues that different tool mixes combined with different levels of governance complexity may lead to a variety of governance arrangements and a differentiated likelihood of policy integration.     

‘Good-bye Pompey,komm bald zurück’: Stevie Smith's Vision of Germany in Novel on Yellow Paper

Abstract

In Stevie Smith's debut novel Novel on Yellow Paper, set in 1936, the narrator Pompey Casmilus recalls several trips to Germany she made in the years shortly before the rise of the Hitler regime. The memories of these German travels are linked to Pompey's love affair with a Swiss-German student named Karl with whom she has spent time in both England and Germany. The essay explores the significance of the German theme in the novel. This theme emerges in Pompey's memories of Germany and Karl, which at first glance appear to be random moments of recollection. However, the German theme also asserts itself in what I call Pompey's German voice, a distinct narrative voice that uses a specific German vocabulary and mimics German speech patterns, which appears at different points throughout the novel and is not exclusively linked to Pompey's memories of Germany. The essay argues that this narrative voice, the Karl-Pompey romance plot and the narrator's obsessive concern with Jewishness combine into an exploration of the Anglo-German relationship in the inter-war years and the attraction which Germany held for some British visitors during the 1920s and early 1930s, an attraction which is linked to previous literary explorations of the country by British writers such as D. H. Lawrence and which by 1936 has taken on an ominous significance as Pompey observes from afar the atrocities being committed within Germany in the name of the Hitler regime.     

禽多杀性巴氏杆菌C_(48-1)成熟外膜蛋白H重组亚单位疫苗免疫效果的研究

将融合表达禽多杀性巴氏杆菌成熟外膜蛋白H(OmpmH)的重组菌pGEX-ompmH／ BL21大量培养,在最佳诱导条件下诱导表达,表达产物经蛋白酶剪切及亲和层析纯化,得到Ompm H基因的原核表达产物,将其与弗氏完全佐剂混合制成油乳剂亚单位疫苗,用该疫苗肌肉注射接种5周龄鸡,首免后每周采血检测抗体,二免后第2周用10 LD50禽多杀性巴氏杆菌强毒菌株C48-1 进行攻击。结果显示,OmpmH具有良好的免疫原性,能诱导鸡体产生特异性抗体,可抵抗强毒菌株C48-1的致死性攻击,免疫效果优于禽多杀性巴氏杆菌弱毒疫苗。     

动物性食品中大肠埃希氏菌O157∶H7特异性二重PCR检测方法的建立

根据大肠埃希氏菌O157∶H7wzx和fliC基因的保守序列设计了2对引物,建立并优化了特异性检测大肠埃希氏菌O157∶H7的二重PCR体系,扩增产物为395bp(wzx)和1057bp(fliC)。人工培养基中大肠埃希氏菌O157∶H7的检测下限为2.3×102CFU/mL,人工污染的牛乳、猪肉及牛肉中大肠埃希氏菌O157∶H7的检测下限分别为5.8×102CFU/mL、4.3×102CFU/g和3.1×103CFU/g。样品经3h预增菌后检测下限可达3.1×100~5.8×100CFU/mL(或CFU/g)。试验结果提示,针对wzx及fliC基因的二重PCR方法可以快速特异地检测出牛乳、猪肉及牛肉中大肠埃希氏菌O157∶H7的污染。