The effects of chemical and heat maceration techniques on the recovery of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from bone

Forensic anthropologists use a number of maceration techniques to facilitate skeletal analysis of personal identity and trauma, but they may unwittingly eliminate valuable DNA evidence in the process. This study evaluated the effect of 10 maceration methods on gross bone structure and the preservation of DNA in ribs of 12 pigs (Sus scrofa). A scoring system was applied to evaluate the ease of maceration and resulting bone quality while DNA purity was quantified by optical densitometry analysis, followed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of three mitochondrial and three nuclear loci. The results demonstrated that while mitochondrial DNA could be amplified for all experiments, cleaning treatments using bleach, hydrogen peroxide, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid/papain, room temperature water and detergent/sodium carbonate followed by degreasing had low DNA concentrations and failed to generate nuclear PCR products. In general, treatments performed at high temperatures (90 degrees C or above) for short durations performed best. This study shows that traditionally "conservative" maceration techniques are not necessarily the best methods to yield DNA from skeletal tissue.     

Identification of a novel polymorphism in the X-chromosome region homologous to the DYS456 locus

During an extensive multipopulation study with Y-short tandem repeat (STR) loci, amplified using the AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR amplification kit, amplification of a 71 bp fragment was observed in 2.32% of the male samples analyzed (N = 3141). By direct sequencing of this fragment, it was determined that the primer binding sequences were identical to those of the DYS456 locus. A T to G single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) enabled amplification of the 71 bp fragment. The SNP is located within an X-Y homologous region at Xq21.31 and was observed with the highest frequency within the African American and Sub-Saharan African populations in our study. Presence of SNP on the X chromosome did not interfere with the reliability of typing the DYS456 locus and the other Y-STR loci typeable using the AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR amplification kit. Full profiles in a mixture of male:female at 1:4000 were obtained using the current configuration of the AmpFlSTR Yfiler kit even in the presence of female DNA containing the G variant.     

Sudden death from tubercular myocarditis

Tuberculous myocarditis is a rare finding. We present the case of a 33-year-old woman who was in good health and who died suddenly at home. Autopsy and histopathologic examinations revealed granulamatous lesions in the myocardium, lungs, lymph nodes, liver, and spleen. No fast acid bacilli were demonstrated on histological examination. The presence of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA complex was identified using a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded histological samples. An HIV test carried out on the blood obtained during the autopsy was negative according to the DNA amplification technique (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay serological test. We hypothesize that the mechanism of death was severe ventricular arrhythmia due to granulomatous proliferation in the structures of the interventricular septum.     

Local Value Chain Development in Vietnam: Motorcycles,Technical Learning and Rents Management

This article analyses how foreign direct investment drives technological upgrading in the motorcycle industry in Vietnam. Using the analytical framework of rent management, the article evaluates the rent management mechanisms that provided the incentives and pressures for domestic firms to develop a local value chain by participating in the foreign supply network. This article offers a case study analysis of two periods: 1995–2000 and 2000–05. Two case studies examine the exchanges between lead firms and their suppliers; between multinational corporations and local firms; and among the state, private and foreign firms in the context of the value chain for motorcycle production. The analyses suggest that industrial upgrading has been predominantly driven by foreign direct investment starting in the early 2000s. In addition, market competition among Japanese and Chinese lead firms led to significant technical learning for domestic firms through collaboration with foreign firms despite the government’s failure to effectively monitor rents or implement industrial policies.     

His(Tory): why British History needs Conservatives

British academia today is overwhelmingly left-leaning in its political orientation and especially pro-Labour. This article examines what impact this is having on British political history. It begins by demonstrating just how recent this left-wing preponderance is and how, as late as the 1990s, there remained a strong grouping of right-leaning political historians. This, the article argues, helps in part explain the relative vibrancy of political history in that era compared to today. Turning to the advantages a larger number of conservative voices would bring to the sub-discipline, the article identifies how those on the right are more likely to subscribe to different methodological approaches, have different historical interests and be interested in different kinds of political questions from their left-leaning colleagues. Most of all, it stresses how political diversity would help historians of every persuasion better recognise the ideological frameworks that inform their own work.     

颜色的文化蕴含

人们辨别颜色的视觉器官可以根据颜色的色彩、亮度和浓度把不同的颜色区分开来。实际生活经验的积累决定了颜色词汇的命名。不同文化背景的人有不同的颜色基本词 ;对同一颜色的反应和联想也不尽相同。颜色因特定文化环境文化习俗而具有特定的文化象征意义     

当前调解热背景下调判关系的冷思考——以调判关系的历史变迁为视角

法院调解一直被视为我国司法工作的＂传家宝＂,在定纷止争方面发挥着独特的优势,在司法实践中也倍受青睐,＂重调解、轻判决＂倾向一直根深蒂固。2010年6月7日,最高人民法院颁发《关于进一步贯彻＂调解优先、调判结合＂工作原则的若干意见》（法发[2010]16号）后,调解进一步升温。但在当前这种高度的调解热背景下,应当如何看待调解与判决的关系值得反思。本文主要以调判关系的历史变迁为视角,在对调判关系进行历史梳理,探究我国偏重调解历史原因的基础上,进而深入探讨时下应当如何正确处理调判关系,以期在调解问题上对我国制定适当的司法政策有所裨益。     

The Piper Played to Us All: Orchestrating the Cultural Cold War in the USA, Europe, and Latin America

Review of a recent book on the Congress for Cultural Freedom by British author and documentary filmmaker Frances Stono Saunders, Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War (London: Granta, 1999), leads into an examination of the cold war ideological contest in the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Particular attention is given to the Americas and U.S. efforts to manipulate the social sciences as instruments of hemispheric control. Saunder's book is compared and contrasted to other works on the cultural cold war, while extensive references are provided for further reading and research.