A noninvasive molecular approach: exploiting species-locus-specific PCR primers in defeating numts and DNA cross-contamination of cercopithecidae

The lack of a standardized, noninvasive molecular approach to studying genetic aspects of primates has made it hard for primatologists to decode the evolutionary history of these species. Researchers must optimize their own techniques to fully exploit the available samples. Lack of species-locus-specific primers also contributes to difficulties in using noninvasive genetic samples. Thus, the objectives of this study were to develop a standardized technique to collecting samples noninvasively, propose newly designed species-locus-specific primers, and optimize conditions for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for Macaca fascicularis, M. nemestrina, Trachypithecus cristatus, and T. obscurus. Nine new species-locus-specific primers for three different loci of mitochondrial DNA, namely D-loop, cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), and cytochrome b, were successfully designed. These primers proved to be efficient in amplifying larger datasets (up to ~1,000 bp) of the targeted species in the optimized PCR conditions. The species-locus-specific primers are able to anneal to host DNA alone in highly contaminated feces of highlighted species. They can also offer alternatives measures in avoiding contamination related to nuclear insertion of mitochondrial pseudogenes (numts)

The multiple geographies of Peterloo and its impact in Britain

The Peterloo Massacre was more than just a Manchester event. The attendees, on whom Manchester industry depended, came from a large spread of the wider textile regions. The large demonstrations that followed in the autumn of 1819, protesting against the actions of the authorities, were pan-regional and national. The reaction to Peterloo established the massacre as firmly part of the radical canon of martyrdom in the story of popular protest for democracy. This article argues for the significance of Peterloo in fostering a sense of regional and northern identities in England. Demonstrators expressed an alternative patriotism to the anti-radical loyalism as defined by the authorities and other opponents of mass collective action.Peer reviewe

The Daily Texan

Texas Student Medi

The theatre of cruelty: dehumanization, objectification & Abu Ghraib

A clumsy pyramid of kneeling men, naked apart from the hoods over their heads, with a smiling, fair-headed woman and a grinning man with a moustache, wearing green cleaning gloves; a slight woman with a blank expression and a man on the floor, on a limp leash; a hooded, robed figure, standing on a box with his arms outstretched and a pose similar to the crucifixion, with sinister wires behind him, and otherwise blank surroundings. A row of more hooded, naked men, forced to do sexual acts as a female prison guard (Lynndie England), tanned and wearing various shades of khaki, grins and does a thumbs up sign, pointing at him, her cigarette tilted and her expression not altogether different from Bonnie in Bonnie and Clyde. A man in uniform and a black beanie hat, sitting on an Iraqi prisoner. Another pyramid of naked detainees, with a man and women behind them, smiling arm in arm, as if they are standing by a caught wild boar or large fish, or a well-organised barbeque. The moustached man (Charles Graner), again smiling and giving a thumbs up sign, this time over a corpse, whose bloody eyes have been bandaged. A naked prisoner covering his ears, as several dogs bark at him, and soldiers watch on. Another prisoner chained to a bed-frame, with some underpants covering his face. These infamous scenes, shown in the Abu Ghraib photographs, shocked many people, and the perpetrators of the torture depicted were condemned by the relevant authorities. They transformed from clandestine mementos of hidden violence to records of an international scandal and evidence of serious crime. Their meaning changed depending on who saw them, how they were interpreted, what reactions they provoked, and the rulings of the courts regarding the people involved. They went from being private victory shots, to an international public relations disaster, to evidence of breaking of the Geneva Convention.Publisher PD