Sex identification of ancient DNA samples using a microfluidic device

A microfluidic device has been developed for the sex identification of ancient DNA samples and works by manipulating liquids within an environment of micrometer dimensions. In this work a range of microfluidic DNA extraction methods were evaluated for their compatibility with ancient DNA samples, and the use of streptavidin-coated super paramagnetic particles to isolate biotin-labeled abasic sites within damaged DNA was shown to be the most reproducible. Polymerase chain reaction-based DNA amplification was possible on the microfluidic device when less than 50 pg of template DNA was added. As a proof-of-principle, powdered bone samples were analysed using the integrated methodology developed. Following conventional capillary gel electrophoresis, two out of the three samples produced positive amplification results and were successfully identified as female. These sex identifications were corroborated by independent Amelogenin, anthropological and Y chromosome analysis. The work reported here is the first step in the development of a complete miniaturized microfluidic system that would enable on-site ancient DNA analysis.     

THE SETTLEMENT OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA DURING THE ROMANOV PERIOD (1613-1917)

This paper compares and contrasts Russian frontier experiences on the northern and southern parts of the European plain during the Romanov era (1613-1917). Both were “open” frontiers, in Turner's sense of a frontier as the “hither edge of free land,” but their environments and the settlement processes which affected them were very different. It is suggested that the character of a frontier society is decisively influenced by the process whereby settlers must adapt to their new environment, the features which attract them to that environment, and the character of the pre-existing inhabitants. The northern frontier formed part of what Meinig has called a “boreal riverine empire” with a harsh environment, to which paradoxically the Russians found it relatively easy to adapt, the great attraction of fur-bearing animals and reasonably benign relations with native peoples. By contrast, the southern frontier was a “frontier of exclusion,” following Lattimore's phrase, with hostile indigenes, a natural environment demanding special methods of adaptation, but with many more attractions than the north. Such contrasts gave rise to considerable differences in the settlement process, in the character of land allocation and in the type of society evolving subsequently, with long-term consequences for emerging human landscapes.     

The Unbearable Humanness of Drone Warfare in FATA,Pakistan

Abstract: This paper provides a critical analysis of how and why US‐led drone warfare is conducted in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. First, we provide detailed statistics on the scale and funding of US drone operations, noting a rapid acceleration of its adoption by the military. This is then situated within an overarching narrative of the logic of “targeting”. Second, we study a legal document called the “Frontier Crimes Regulation” of 1901 that defines the relationship of FATA to the rest of Pakistan as an “exceptional” place. In the third section, we argue that the drone is a political actor with a fetishized existence, and this enables it to violate sovereign Pakistani territory. In this sense, the continued violence waged by robots in Pakistan's tribal areas is a result of the deadly interaction between law and technology. The paper concludes by noting the proliferation of drones in everyday life.     

Reviews

AUSTRALIA IN WORLD AFFAIRS 1956–1960. Gordon Greenwood and Norman Harper (eds.). For the Australian Institute of International Affairs. Melbourne, F. W. Cheshire, 1963. Pp. viii + 430. 63/‐.

AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE POLICY 1951–1963: MAJOR INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS. Sir Alan Watt. A.N.U. Department of International Relations: Working Paper no. 4. 1964. Pp. ii + 92. 10/‐.

THE DEBATABLE ALLIANCE: AN ESSAY IN ANGLO‐AMERICAN RELATIONS. Coral Bell. R.I.I.A., Chatham House Essays, no. 3, 1964. Pp. 130, Australian price 14/3.

SOUTH AFRICA AND THE UNITED NATIONS: MYTH AND REALITY. R. B. Ballinger. Johannesburg, The South African Institute of International Affairs, 1963. Pp. 32. 32 cents.

THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA AND THE HIGH COMMISSION TERRITORIES. Lord Hailey. London, Oxford University Press. Pp. viii + 136. Australian price 29/9d.

APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA. New York, United Nations, 1963. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES. New York, United Nations, 1963. Pp. 84. $1.00. STUDY OF DISCRIMINATION IN THE MATTER OF POLITICAL RIGHTS. New York, United Nations, 1962. Pp. viii + 105. $1.50.

STERLING IN THE SIXTIES. Christopher MoMahon. R.I.I.A., Chatham House Essays no. 4. London, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. vi + 118. Australian price 14/3.

INTERNATIONAL LIQUIDITY. Ian Shannon. Melbourne, P. W. Cheshire, 1964. Pp. 143. 21/‐.

IMPERIALISM. THE STORY AND SIGNIFICANCE OF A POLITICAL WORD, 1840–1860. R. Koebner and H. D. Schmidt. London, Cambridge University Press, 1964. Pp. xxvi + 432. £3/3/‐ stg.

SOCIALISM IN ONE COUNTRY 1924–1926. Volume Three, Parts I and II. E. H. Carr. London, Macmillan, 1964. Australian price 363/‐. THE RUSSIAN PEASANT MOVEMENT 1906–1917. Launcelot A. Owen. New York, Russell & Russell, 1963. $7.50.

THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOUR IN MODERN JAPANESE POLITICS. Mosao Maruyama. Edited by Ivan Morris. London, Oxford University Press, 1963. Pp. xx + 344. Australian price 68/‐.

THE CHINESE VIEW OF THEIR PLACE IN THE WORLD. C. P. Fitzgerald. R.I.I.A., Chatham House Essay No. 1. London, Oxford University Press, 1964. Pp. 72. Australian price 10/‐.

COMMUNISM IN NORTH VIETNAM. P. J. Honey. Cambridge, Mass., M.I.T. Press, 1963. Pp. xvi + 207. $4.95.

SOUTH‐EAST ASIA: A SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY. C. A. Fisher. London, Methuen, 1964. Pp. xix + 831. Maps. £4.4.0 sterling.

INDONESIA: PERSPECTIVES AND PROPOSALS FOR UNITED STATES ECONOMIC AID. Report to the President by the VS. Economic Survey Team to Indonesia. Yale University South East Asia Studies, 1963.

INDONESIA. Bruce Grant. Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1964. Pp. x + 190. 32/6d.