Le Parlement en temps de crises politiques dans le royaume de Portugal (XIV-XVe siècles)

SUMMARY

This article focuses on the role of the Cortes in the course of two decisive moments of the Portuguese monarchy: the choice of a king on the one hand and the decision to accept a regency on the other. The Cortes of Coimbra (1385) are first analysed in the context of the political events that preceded them, in terms of the novelty of being summoned by the social forces of the kingdom, and in terms of their ideology and innovative measures. As a result, a king was chosen—King John I, the founder of the House of Avis—and reforms of a noticeable ‘constituent’ tendency were proposed. Attention is then focused on the Cortes of Lisbon (1439), which were equally unusual in their summoning and performance. There, it was decided that the infant Don Pedro, brother to the late king Don Duarte, would be in charge of the regency while the heir to the throne, Don Afonso V, was not yet of age. This prevented the queen from occupying the role the monarch had intended for her. In both cases these Cortes are very special given that they legitimated revolutionary acts which had previously taken place. This behaviour reinforces the idea that by comparison with other kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula, the Portuguese Cortes had a strong leadership role in moments of political crisis and in the assertion of the power and social formation of the monarchy.     

母鼠妊娠期铅镉联合暴露对仔鼠脑组织的氧化损伤及乙酰半胱氨酸的保护效应

45只怀孕SD母鼠被随机分为9组,即A组(对照组,饮用蒸馏水)、B组(铅组,300 mg/L)、C组[铅 N-乙酰半胱氨酸(N-NAC)组,300 mg/L 20 mmol/L]、D组(镉组,10 mg/L)、E组(镉 NAC组,10mg/L 20 mmol/L)、F组(低剂量铅镉联合组,150 mg/L 5 mg/L)、G组(低剂量铅镉联合 NAC组,150mg/L 5 mg/L 20 mmol/L)、H组(高剂量铅镉联合组,300 mg/L 10 mg/L)、Ⅰ组(高剂量铅镉联合 NAC组,300 mg/L 10 mg/L 20 mmol/L).采用饮水染毒,染毒时间为21 d,分娩后每窝随机选取6只乳鼠测定脑匀浆超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(GSH-Px)、乙酰胆碱酯酶(TChE)活性和丙二醛(MDA)的含量.结果表明,低剂量铅镉联合作用具有中间效应(介于铅、镉单独毒性作用之间),而高剂量铅镉联合作用表现协同或叠加效应.NAC拮抗组与染毒组比较,MDA含量显著降低,SOD、GSH-Px、TChE、CAT活性有升高趋势,说明NAC可以提高大鼠的抗氧化能力,对母鼠铅镉暴露所致新生鼠脑脂质过氧化损伤有一定的保护作用.     

A Fossilised Constitution?

Abstract.  The purpose of this paper is to analyse the limits of constitutional reform. Some constitutions, for example, the German (art. 79, sec. 3), the Italian (art. 139), the Portuguese (art. 288), the French (art. 89, sec. 5), and the Brazilian (art. 60, sec. 4), contain an "essential core" of rights, which is usually understood as being immune to change. The initial focus in the paper is on the discussion on whether and to what extent these "essential cores" are indeed immune to change. A second focus is on Ross's paradox. Here I analyse and reject Ross's own solution to the paradox and I show, too, that the paradox admits no solution that does not imply a discontinuity in the legal system.     

TRENDS IN FEMALE DELINQUENCY

National arrest statistics combined with juvenile court, self-report, and field observational data are used to evaluate current conceptions of the changing nature of female delinquency. Adolescent females made arrest gains in the categories of larceny (e.g., shoplifting). liquor law violations (e.g. underage drinking), and runaways. Studies of juvenile gangs show no increase in female violence or gang-related delinquencies while self-report data show that, with the exception of marijuana use and drinking, female delinquency has remained generally stable over the past decade. We conclude that patterns of female delinquency, especially as revealed in nonofficial sources of evidence, have changed very little in recent years and that female delinquency continues to reflect traditional sex roles. The evidence suggests that the Women's Movement has had little or no effect on female delinquency. At the end of the report. we suggest alternative views regarding female delinquency and the forces shaping it.     

Acidosis, lactate, electrolytes, muscle enzymes, and other factors in the blood of Sus scrofa following repeated TASER exposures

Repeated exposure to electro-muscular incapacitating devices could result in repetitive, sustained muscle contraction, with little or no muscle recovery period. Therefore, rhabdomyolysis and other physiological responses, including acidosis, hyperkalaemia, and altered levels of muscle enzymes in the blood, would be likely to occur. Experiments were performed to investigate effects of repeated exposures of TASER International's Advanced TASER X26 on muscle contraction and resultant changes in blood factors in an anaesthetized swine model. A total of 10 animals were used. Six swine were exposed for 5 s, followed by a 5-s period of no exposure, repeatedly for 3 min. (In five of the animals, after a 1-h delay, a second 3-min exposure period was added.) The remaining four animals were used for an additional pilot study. All four limbs of each animal exhibited contraction even though the electrodes were positioned in areas at some distances from the limbs. The degree of muscle contraction generated during the second exposure period was significantly lower than that in the first exposure series. This finding was consistent with previous studies showing that prolonged activity in skeletal muscle will eventually result in a decline of force production. There were some similarities in blood sample changes in the current experiments with previous studies of muscular exercise. Thus problems concerning biological effects of repeated TASER exposures may be related, not directly to the "electric output" per se, but rather to the resulting contraction of muscles (and related interruption of respiration) and subsequent sequelae. Transient increases in hematocrit, potassium, and sodium were consistent with previous reports in the literature dealing with studies of muscle stimulation or exercise. It is doubtful that these short-term elevations would have any serious health consequences in a healthy individual. Blood pH was significantly decreased for 1h following exposure, but subsequently returned toward a normal level. Leg muscle contractions and decreases in respiration each appeared to contribute to the acidosis. Lactate was highly elevated, with a slow return (time course greater than 1 h) to baseline. Other investigators have reported profound metabolic acidosis during restraint-associated cardiac arrest. Since restraint often occurs immediately after TASER exposure, this issue should be considered in further development of deployment concepts. On the basis of the results of the current studies, the repeated use of electro-muscular incapacitating devices in a short period of time is, at least, feasible, with the caveat that some medical monitoring of subjects may be required (to observe factors such as lactate and acidosis).     

美国国家安全战略视阈下的中美关系50年

自1972年中美关系“破冰”以来,美国国家安全战略视阈之内的中美关系经历了1972—1989年、1989—2017年以及2017年之后三个阶段。在这三个阶段中,制衡、塑造与争胜先后成为美国对华战略的逻辑核心。在第一阶段,美国对华的国家安全战略逻辑是“借重以制衡”,即借助中国来平衡苏联,中国在20世纪80年代一度被美国视为“友好的非盟国”。在持续时间最长的第二阶段,美国的国家安全战略逻辑是通过“接触以塑造”,希望塑造中国的政治经济模式以及对外行为方式。在20世纪90年代末期中国一度被美国视为潜在的战略伙伴。在2017年以来的第三阶段,美国试图通过“竞争以制胜”,防止中国的发展超越美国,美国国家安全战略视阈内的中国以及中美关系全面转向消极。50年来,中美关系经历过两次转向和重构,目前第二次转向和重构仍在进行中。过去50年,中美关系总是关系到美国全局性国家安全利益的重大问题;美国国家安全战略中的涉华部分超越党派之争,有着较强的一致性和连贯性,很多议题和提法都长期存在,或者早有伏笔。在美国国家安全战略中,涉华议题的内容越来越多,也越来越丰富;中美关系的合作面和竞争面都有明显增长,但竞争面的比重大幅上升。     

国家治理逻辑与农民生存选择——基于农民矿工的行为分析

农民矿工的职业选择是由其生存境况决定的。在推行赶超战略过程中,国家为能从农村提取经济资源并保持政治稳定,在给予农民生存保障的同时,也对其行动自由进行限制;由于无法掌控命运,只要还能维持生存,农民一般会对国家表示忠诚和顺从。由于近乎于零的机会成本和濒临生存线的高边际效用,部分贫困农民不得不从事诸如煤矿采掘这样一些充满危险的工作。法律保障的缺失、行动能力的弱小,使得农民矿工无力有效维护其基本权利。     

Le Parlement et le pouvoir religieux dans le Portugal du Moyen Âge

SUMMARY

The medieval Portuguese clergy and nobility, particularly those of higher status, were the political and ideological support of the sovereign. As vassals of the king they had been members of the curia regia from its beginnings. They naturally became part of the parliament when it was created in the thirteenth century. In these early assemblies the monarch consulted them about political issues of general interest, but the clergy and nobility were free to bring forward their own concerns. Maria Helena da Cruz Coelho examines how the clergy complained to the kings D. Afonso IV (1325–57), D. Pedro (1357–67) and D. Fernando (1367–83). They insisted on defending their privileges, ecclesiastical rights and temporal power, presenting long lists of accusations mostly against the nobles and royal officials. But to give a wider perspective the author also studies the dissatisfaction that the people expressed in these assemblies about the clergy, charging them with oppression while both collecting taxes and rents and applying justice. The parliamentary discussions demonstrated clearly the social tensions of the times and allowed the king to judge and to rule in a more balanced way between the estates in order to exert his sovereign power in a pacified kingdom.     

Survival of anesthetized Sus scrofa after cycling (7-second on/3-second off) exposures to an electronic control device for 3 minutes

Electronic control devices (ECDs) may eventually be deployed by the military in a manner resulting in longer exposures than those encountered during law-enforcement operations. In a previous study, 18 repeated cycling (5-second on/5-second off) exposures (within a 3-minute period) of anesthetized swine to an ECD (TASER International's Advanced TASER X26 device) resulted in leg muscle contraction, acidosis, and increases in blood electrolytes. In the current study, experiments were performed to examine effects of exposures to a different cycling rate (7-second on/3-second off), from a modified X26 ECD, on 10 swine (Sus scrofa), maintained on propofol anesthesia. In contrast with the previous study, a large number of animals (6/10) died immediately after the exposures. There were no major differences in pre-exposure blood factors from survivors versus nonsurvivors, with the exception of hematocrit and 2 isoenzymes of lactate dehydrogenase. It is doubtful that these factors would be useful in predicting survival after ECD exposure. Blood pH was significantly decreased after exposure, but (in animals that survived) subsequently returned to baseline levels. On the basis of the overall survival rate, further development of useful ECDs (for long-term incapacitation during military operations) may require consideration of longer pauses between repeated exposures over a 3-minute period.     

Expo Highlights

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