Forensic characterization of 15 autosomal STRs in four populations from Xinjiang, China, and genetic relationships with neighboring populations

© 2018 The Author(s). The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China (XUARC) harbors 47 ethnic groups including the Manchu (MCH: 0.11%), Mongols (MGL: 0.81%), Kyrgyz (KGZ: 0.86%) and Uzbek (UZK: 0.066%). To establish DNA databases for these populations, allele frequency distributions for 15 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci were determined using the AmpFlSTR Identifiler PCR amplification kit. There was no evidence of departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) in any of the four populations and minimal departure from linkage equilibrium (LE) for a very small number of pairwise combinations of loci. The probabilities of identity for the different populations ranged from 1 in 1.51 × 1017 (MCH) to 1 in 9.94 × 1018 (MGL), the combined powers of discrimination ranged from 0.99999999999999999824 (UZK) to 0.9999999999999999848 (MCH) and the combined probabilities of paternal exclusion ranged from 0.9999979323 (UZK) to 0.9999994839 (MCH). Genetic distances, a phylogenetic tree and principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the MCH, KGZ and UZK are genetically closer to the Han population of Liaoning and the Mongol population of Mongolia while the MGL are closer to Han, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Hong Kong Han and Russians living in China

A record of an unusually large tigershark, Caleocerdo articus (Fabr.), from off Veraval

An unusually big specimen of a Tiger shark, Galeocerdo articus (Fabr.), measuring 378 cm is recorded from Veraval, and a brief description of the specimen is given

A preliminary account of the gillnet fishery off Veraval during 1979-82

In spite of an increase in the fishing effort, the total catch was almost same. The important components of the fishery were Elasmobranchs (26% in the total catch), Clupeids (25.8%), Pomfrets (11.1%), Chirocentrus spp. (8.8%), seer fish (7.6%), catfish (5.6%), tuna (3.2%), ribbonfish (3%) and Carangids (%). However, increasing trend was observed in the abundance of Hilsa toll, Parastromateus niger, Chirocentrus dorab, Scomberomorus guttatus and Carangids. Generally, the fishery was good in the beginning and at the end of every fishing season, i.e., September-October and May-June, respectively

A linear programming based model to measure efficiency and effectiveness of undergraduate programs

Measuring performance of an educational program based on its academic achievement is not sufficient without considering the cost and the impact of the program.This paper aims to demonstrate the construction of a measurement model consisting of the input, output and outcome variables.The model can estimate both the efficiency and the effectiveness of undergraduate programs.After the aforementioned variables were identified for each individual efficiency and effectiveness model, a linear programming based tool, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used as the analysis method to integrate the models since it has the ability to consider all the variables simultaneously.The two models were integrated as a product, and was defined as the final model which was verified by applying it to measure the performance of 26 undergraduate programs in a university.The results show that seven programs are efficient, six programs are effective, and six programs are both efficient and effective.The model is flexible since it can be extended to include more variables or it can be modified by defining new variables in measuring efficiency and effectiveness of other programs or organizations

Mechanism in the clot formation of horseshoe crab blood during bacterial endotoxin invasion

Endotoxins from gram-negative microorganisms initiates clot formation in blood when it is accidentally encountered by horseshoe crab. This property was extensively studied by various researchers as a result Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) test was established. The LAL tests in general were 3 to 300 times more sensitive than the United States Pharmacopeial (USP) rabbit pyrogen test method. It should be noted that major differences among the LAL preparations lie in the area of sensitivity. Differences, up to 100-fold, exist in the sensitivity of the various LAL preparations to the same endotoxin. It is also considerate that the Information on the molecular level interaction between horseshoe crab blood and endotoxin would provide detailed information about the clotting process. Based on the above perspective review of literature was established to elucidate the compounds involved in the clot formation in horseshoe crab blood while encountering with bacterial endotoxin. Since LAL preparation is important for its application in clinical, pharmaceutical, public health and environmental areas, this paper will also discuss some molecular level details in Lysated Amebocyte interaction in clot formatio

Trends in world anchovy fisheries and India’s status

Anchovies belonging to the (family Engraulidae) are the small pelagic fishes and constitute one of the most important-pelagic resources in the world. This forms about 12.8 % of the world fish production during the years 1996-2000. This group includes some of the world famous fisheries like the peruvian anchovita, Californian, Chilean and Japanese anchovies. Peruvian anchovita, Engraulis ringens is one of the most dynamic fisheries of the world and a classical case of how ,the fishery independent factors influence the resource. The economy of the country legends on the success of the anchovita fishery and failure of it puts the nation in red. Other important anchovies of the world are Japanese anchovy 1.28 million tonnes

Molecular phylogeny of horseshoe crab

An effort to assess the utility of 650 bp Cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (DNA barcode) gene in delineating the members horseshoe crabs (Family: xiphosura) with closely related sister taxa was made. A total of 33 sequences were extracted from National Center for Biotechnological Information (NCBI) which include horseshoe crabs (Class: Merostomata), beetles (Class: Insecta), common crabs (Class: Melacostraca) and scorpion (Class: Arachnida) sequences. Constructed phylogram through comprehensive dry lab methodology using advanced software predictive tools showed that beetles are closely related with horseshoe crabs than common crabs (Class: Melacostraca). It was interesting to note that terrestrial Scorpion (Class: Arachnida) were distantly related to horseshoe crabs (Class: Merostomata). Phylogram and observed Genetic Distance (GD) data were also revealed that Limulus polyphemus was distantly related to all the other horseshoe crab species. Tachypleus gigas was closely related with Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda than with Tachypleus tridentatus. The observed mean Genetic Distance (GD) value was higher in 3rd codon position in all the selected group of organisms. Among the horseshoe crabs high GC content was observed in L. polyphemus (38.32%) and lowest was observed in T. tridentatus (32.35%). We conclude that COI sequencing (barcoding) could be used in identifying and delineating evolutionary relatedness with closely related specie