Study of Genetics Essay -- Biology, Genomics Era, Kenaf

1 INTRODUCTION Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) is a type of fiber crop (Dempsey, 1975) and is commercially cultivated in more than 20 countries, particularly in India, China, Thailand and Vietnam (Fao, 2008). World production of kenaf and allied fibers reported as 3,251,125 tons in 2009 (Fao, 2011). Kenaf has a wide range of applications in making biocopmosite board, textile, industrial filters, and high-quality paper. Malaysia is one of the main exporters of timber and timber based products in the world. Renewable resource for biocomposite and timber based products in Malaysia is one of the essentials in agriculture sector. Kenaf has been considered as a potential renewable source for biocomposite making industry in Malaysia. Furthermore, kenaf has been considered as a valuable substitute for tobacco plantation in Malaysia. Kenaf production is increased from 1,163 tons in 2005 to 4,185 tons in 2007 as reported by Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister's Department, Malaysia (2008). Lack of suitable kenaf varieties for Malaysian climate is one the challenges that hinder kenaf integration. Kenaf varieties have not been extensively evaluated in Malaysia. The number of kenaf commercialized varieties is limited in the world. Besides, very few studies have been conducted on genetic control of fiber yield and fiber quality of kenaf. Understanding of the inheritance and genetic control of the fiber yield and quality will help in structuring breeding strategy to develop cultivars with improved fiber yield and quality. New tools and methods have been introduced to facilitate quantitative genetic studies, particularly in the study of complex traits. In genomics era, plant breeders benefited from new technologies and advances i... ...echnology to detect DNA melting behavior and developments in saturating DNA dyes, made possible to accurately plot and analyze melting behavior of targeted DNA (Vossen et al., 2009). High resolution melting (HRM) is a post PCR technique which can be used for high throughput mutation scanning and genotyping (Gundry, 2003). HRM curve analysis procedure can be used for SNP detection (Becsà ¡gh et al., 2010; De Koeyer et al., 2010; Lehmensiek et al., 2008; Miyamoto et al.; Rouleau et al., 2009; Studer et al., 2009a; Ujino-Ihara et al., 2010; Wittwer et al., 2003; Wittwer, 2009). Applicability of HRM curve analysis for genotyping of plants using SNP markers recently have been reported by many researcher (De Koeyer et al., 2010; Ganopoulos et al., 2010; Hofinger et al., 2009; Lehmensiek et al., 2008; Picard and Bosco, 2008; Studer et al., 2009b; Ujino-Ihara et al., 2010).

Stefan’s Diaries: Origins Chapter 16

It was the lone hoot of an owl–a long, plaintive sound–that caused my eyes to snap open. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I felt a pulsing pain on the side of my neck that seemed to keep time with the owl's cries. And suddenly I remembered everything–Katherine, her lips drawn back, her teeth sparkling. My heart pounding as though I were dying and being born all at the same time. The awful pain, the red eyes, the dark black of a dead sleep. I glanced around wildly. Katherine, clad only in a necklace and a simple muslin slip, sat just steps away from me at the basin, washing her upper arms with a hand towel. â€Å"Hello, sleepy Stefan,† she said coquettishly. I swung my legs out of bed and tried to step out, only to find myself tangled in the sheets. â€Å"Your face,† I babbled, knowing I sounded insane and possessed, like a town drunk stumbling out of the tavern. Katherine continued to run the cotton cloth along her arms. The face I'd seen last night was not human. It had been a face filled with thirst and desire and emotions I couldn't even think to name. But in this light Katherine looked lovelier than ever, blinking her eyes sleepily like a kitten after a long nap. â€Å"Katherine?† I asked, forcing myself to look into her eyes. â€Å"What are you?† Katherine slowly picked up the hairbrush on her nightstand, as if she had all the time in the world. She turned to me and began to run it through her luxurious locks. â€Å"You're not afraid, are you?† she asked. So she was a vampire. My blood turned to ice. I took the sheet and wrapped it against my body, then grabbed my breeches from the side of the bed and pulled them on. I quickly shoved my feet into my boots and yanked on my shirt, not caring about my undershirt, still on the floor. Fast as lightning, Katherine was at my side, her hand gripping my shoulder. She was surprisingly strong, and I had to jerk sharply to wrench myself away from her grasp. Once free, Katherine stepped back. â€Å"Shhh. Shhh,† she murmured, as if she were a mother soothing a child. â€Å"No!† I yelled, holding my hand up. I would not have her try to charm me. â€Å"Y ou're a vampire. You killed Rosalyn. Y ou're killing the town. Y are evil, ou and you need to be stopped.† But then I caught sight of her eyes, her large, luminous, seemingly depthless eyes, and I stopped short. â€Å"You're not afraid,† Katherine repeated. The words echoed in my mind, bouncing around and finally taking residence there. I did not know how or why it was so, but in my heart of hearts, I suddenly wasn't afraid. But still †¦ â€Å"Y are a vampire, though. How can I abide ou that?† â€Å"Stefan. Sweet, scared Stefan. It will all work out. Y ou'll see.† She cupped her chin in my hands, then raised up on her tiptoes for a kiss. In the near sunlight, Katherine's teeth looked pearly white and tiny, and nothing like the miniature daggers I'd seen the night before. â€Å"It's me. I'm still Katherine,† she said, smiling. I forced myself to pull away. I wanted to believe that everything was the same, but †¦ â€Å"Y ou're thinking of Rosalyn, aren't you?† Katherine asked. She noticed my startled expression and shook her head. â€Å"It's natural that you'd think I could do that, based on what I am, but I promise you, I did not kill her. And I never would have.† â€Å"But †¦ but †¦, † I began. Katherine brought her finger to my lips. â€Å"Shhh. I was with you that night. Remember? I care about you, and I care about those you care about. And I don't know how Rosalyn died, but whoever did that†Ã¢â‚¬â€œa flash of anger flickered in her eyes, which, I realized for the first time, were flecked with gold–â€Å"they give us a bad name. They are the ones who scare me. Y may be scared to walk ou during the night, but I am afraid to walk during the day, lest I be mistaken for one of those monsters. I may be a vampire, but I do have a heart. Please believe me, sweet Stefan.† I took a step back and cradled my head in my hands. My mind whirled. The sun was just beginning to rise, and it was impossible to tell whether the mist hid a brilliant sun or a day of clouds. It was the same with Katherine. Her beautiful exterior cloaked her true spirit, making it impossible to ascertain whether she was good or evil. I sunk heavily to the bed, not wanting to leave and not wanting to stay. â€Å"Y need to trust me,† Katherine said, sitting ou down beside me and placing her hand on my chest so she could feel my heart beat. â€Å"I am Katherine Pierce. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm the girl you watched for hours on end after I arrived two weeks ago. What I confessed to you is nothing. It doesn't change how you feel, how I feel, what we can be,† she said, moving her hand from my chest to my chin. â€Å"Right?† she asked, her voice filled with urgency. I glanced at Katherine's wide brown eyes and knew she was right. She had to be. My heart still desired her so much, and I wanted to do anything to protect her. Because she wasn't a vampire; she was Katherine. I grabbed both of her hands, cupping them in my own. They looked so small and vulnerable. I brought her cold, delicate fingers to my mouth and kissed them, one by one. Katherine looked so scared and unsure. â€Å"Y didn't kill Rosalyn?† I said slowly. Even as ou the sentence left my lips, I knew it to be true, because my heart would break if it weren't. Katherine shook her head and gazed at the window. â€Å"I would never kill anyone unless I had to. Unless I needed to protect myself or someone I loved. And anyone would kill in that situation, wouldn't they?† she asked indignantly, jutting out her chin and looking so proud and vulnerable that it was all I could do not to take her in my arms right then. â€Å"Promise you'll keep my secret, Stefan? Promise me?† she asked, her dark eyes searching mine. â€Å"Of course I will,† I said, making the promise as much to myself as to her. I loved Katherine. And yes, she was a vampire. And yet †¦ the way the word came out of her mouth was so different from the way it sounded when Father said it. There was no dread. If anything, it sounded romantic and mysterious. Maybe Father was wrong. Maybe Katherine was simply misunderstood. â€Å"Y have my secret, Stefan. And you know ou what that means?† Katherine said, throwing her arms around my shoulders and nuzzling her cheek against mine. â€Å"Vous avez mon coeur. Y have ou my heart.† â€Å"And you have mine,† I murmured back, meaning every word.

Death Penalty Free Essay Example, 1250 words

Since Furman attested to the shooting while committing a crime, he would have been culpable of murder and death sentence under the then existing State law based on the felony-murder rule. However, Furman was tried and found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, based on his statement, but the execution was not carried out. The ruling was made by U. S. Supreme court decision which requires consistency in the way the death sentence. This case resulted to the de facto moratorium on death sentence throughout the US. In Coker v. Georgia, the U. S. Supreme Court further consolidated the Furman’s decision together with the court decision on Jackson v. Georgia case and the Branch v. Texas, to nullify the death sentence for rape (Schabas, 55). Additionally, in the case of California v. Anderson, the Supreme Court of California decided that death sentence had violated the constitution. This dismissed Aikens v. California case since all death sentences had been overturned in California. In the case of Jackson v. Georgia, Jackson unlike Furman had tried to commit armed robbery and additionally ended up committing rape. We will write a custom essay sample on Death Penalty or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now In the ruling, the supreme court of Georgia found Jackson guilty and convicted him to death sentence. Though the Furman v. Georgia case declared death sentence unconstitutional, in 1976, the case of Gregg v. Georgia reverted this and permitted the death sentence on certain special circumstances. In the case of Atkins v. Virginia, the limitation placed on death sentence was that it was unconstitutional for people with intellectual disability (Schabas, 55). Additionally, the Roper v. Simmons case the death sentence was unconstitutional if carried out on minors (individual under the age of 18 at the time of committing the crime) Prominent judges and chief justices have had differing opinions on the justification of death sentence as a method of punishment (Hull, 15). In this regard, Chief Justice Burger, Justice Harry Blackmun, Justice Lewis F Powell and Justice William H Rehnquist have argued the importance of maintaining death sentence as an appropriate method of punishing capital crimes based on Anglo-American Legal Traditions and The Constitutional Provisions that implicitly authorizes death sentence due to the reference of the 14th Amendment that explains more on â€Å"taking life† Many advocates of the death sentence base their arguments in its favor since the sentence enables to deter capital crimes and is therefore a good tool to be used by police and court prosecutors in making their bargain plea to ensure that the individuals convicted of such crimes do not repeat their crimes again (Smith, 25).