Parenting Style and Bullying and Victimization: Comparing Foreign-Born Asian,U.S.-Born Asian,and White American Adolescents

Journal of Family Violence - The purpose of the study is to explore whether the association between types of parenting styles and bullying and victimization are similar across White American,...     

长寿关键靠自己--中科院院士钱伟长的养生之道

年逾九旬的钱伟长,是一个传奇式的老人.早在20世纪60年代,他就与钱学森、钱三强被周恩来总理称为我国科学家中成就卓越的"三钱".他也是我国目前在位的最年长的大学校长.     

Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Assay for Genetic Identification of Lophophora williamsii*

Lophophora is a member of the Cactaceae family, which contains two species: Lophophora williamsii and L. diffusa. Lophophora williamsii is an illegal plant containing mescaline, a hallucinogenic alkaloid. In this study, a novel method based on a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay was developed for identifying L. williamsii; this assay reliably detects SNPs within chloroplast DNA (rbcL, matK, and trnL-trnF IGS) and was validated for identifying Lophophora and L. williamsii simultaneously. The chloroplast DNA sequences from four L. williamsii and three L. diffusa plants were obtained and compared using DNA sequence data from approximately 300 other Cactaceae species available in GenBank. From this sequence data, a total of seven SNPs were determined to be suitable for identifying L. williamsii. A multiplex assay was constructed using the ABI PRISM^® SNaPshot™ Multiplex Kit (Applied Biosystems, Forster City, CA) to analyze species-specific SNPs. Using this multiplex assay, we clearly distinguished the Lophophora among 19 species in the Cactaceae family. Additionally, L. williamsii was distinguished from L. diffusa. These results suggest that the newly developed assay may help resolve crimes related to illegal distribution and use. This multiplex assay will be useful for the genetic identification of L. williamsii and can complement conventional methods of detecting mescaline.     

Simplified Direct PCR Method for Reference Buccal Samples Using a Non-FTA Card by Omitting the Pretreatment Step

When using non-FTA cards in commercial multiplex STR kits for direct PCR, pretreatment steps with specific buffers are recommended. Here, we designed a rapid direct PCR method utilizing a non-FTA card, Oral Cell Sampling Kit, by omitting the pretreatment step involving Prep-n-Go™ Buffer, and it showed compatibility with the GlobalFiler™ Express PCR Amplification Kit, GlobalFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit, and PowerPlex^® Fusion system. To optimize the PCR conditions, we tested the method with different final PCR volumes and cycles. Finally, we conducted a performance test using 50 Korean buccal samples and confirmed the high performance of the method, detecting more than 90% of the samples with full profiles when using GlobalFiler™ PCR Amplification Kit and PowerPlex^® Fusion system at 29 cycles in a 10 μL final PCR volume. Thus, we report a simple direct PCR set-up to analyze reference samples collected using a non-FTA card manufactured in Korea.     

Public Finance and Budgeting in Korea under Democracy: A Critical Appraisal

The Republic of Korea has been widely acknowledged as one of the few success stories of economic development in the second half of the twentieth century. The state has had a large role in guiding the economic development through policies and subsidization. However, with political democratization and economic liberalization, the politico-economic context of Korea's public finance policy began to change dramatically. The purpose of this article is to analyze how Korea's public finance policy has changed under the newly installed democracy. It specifically discusses the public finance and budgeting policies during the Roh Tae Woo administration (1988–1992) and the Kim Young Sam administration (1993 to the present).     

Fixed Investment and Economic Growth in China

This paper attempts to investigate empirically the investment-growth relationship in China. Using the exogeneity framework pioneered by Engle et al. (1983) and Engle and Hendry (1993), we find that fixed investment is a key determinant of China's economic growth, which, surprisingly, has not been rigorously examined in the literature. The super exogeneity test results suggest that there exists a robust (or structurally invariant) relationship between capital formation and income growth, thereby giving credence to policy evaluation.