Legislator Success in Committee: Gatekeeping Authority and the Loss of Majority Control

In multiparty legislatures, the largest party or coalition may fall short of controlling a majority of plenary seats. However, plurality‐led congresses generally endow the largest parties with extensive agenda‐setting prerogatives, even when plenary majorities are lacking. In this article, we present a model and compelling evidence describing changes in the strategic behavior of committee chairs when majority control is lost. Using a dataset that includes all the bills proposed to the Argentine House in the last 25 years, we estimate success in committee in majority‐ and plurality‐led congresses. We provide extensive evidence that the loss of majority control reduces the importance of the median voter of the plurality party while improving the success of the median committee voter.     

Criminal epidemiology and the immigrant paradox: Intergenerational discontinuity in violence and antisocial behavior among immigrants

Purpose

A growing number of studies have examined the immigrant paradox with respect to antisocial behavior and crime in the United States. However, there remains a need for a comprehensive examination of the intergenerational nature of violence and antisocial behavior among immigrants using population-based samples.

Methods

The present study, employing data from Wave I and II data of the National Epidemiologic Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), sought to address these gaps by examining the prevalence of nonviolent criminal and violent antisocial behavior among first, second, and third-generation immigrants and compare these to the prevalence found among non-immigrants and each other in the United States.

Results

There is clear evidence of an intergenerational severity-based gradient in the relationship between immigrant status and antisocial behavior and crime. The protective effect of nativity is far-and-away strongest among first-generation immigrants, attenuates substantially among second-generation immigrants, and essentially disappears among third-generation immigrants. These patterns were also stable across gender.

Conclusion

The present study is among the first to examine the intergenerational nature of antisocial behavior and crime among immigrants using population-based samples. Results provide robust evidence that nativity as a protective factor for immigrants wanes with each successive generation.     

Haplotypic blocks of X-linked STRs for forensic cases: study of recombination and mutation rates

In complex kinship cases, markers situated in haplotypic blocks may provide additional clues to other unlinked markers. We have established a protocol to amplify six X-chromosome microsatellites, located in two haplotype blocks, using PCR with fluorochrome-labeled primers and capillary electrophoresis. The segregation stability was explored in 92 unrelated families with individuals from three generations. Sixty-one different haplotypes were found in the DXS10079-DXS10074-DXS10075 block in the grandfathers and 96 in the mothers, with estimated haplotype diversities of 0.9828 and 0.9842, respectively. Fifty and 73 different haplotypes were found in the DXS6801-DXS6809-DXS6789 block in the grandfathers and the mothers, with estimated haplotype diversities of 0.9711 and 0.9742, respectively. We observed 10 between-cluster and one within-cluster recombinations in 99 female meioses. The overall per-locus mutation rate was 0.0034. This protocol allows for the characterization of the alleles of two sets of linked markers of the X-chromosome that can be useful in complex forensic cases.     

平等的宪法解读

平等不是一项独立的公民基本权利,它主要是公民基本权利享有和行使的一项原则,但这并不否定平等的权利性质,平等权存在于各项权利之中,是各项权利之下的一项具体的权利内容。现代宪法的平等是形式平等与实质平等的统一,强调相同情况相同对待,不同情况不同对待,禁止不合理的差别待遇,但允许合理的差别。公民在法律面前一律平等,理应包括立法上的平等。宪法上的“平等”不同于一般法律上的“平等”,它至少具有立法依据、审查依据和解释依据三种特别价值。     

Parentage testing on blood crusts from firearms projectiles by DNA typing settles and insurance fraud case

We describe a case of a fraudulent insurance claim. The family of an adult white male (DLF) notified the police of their son's disappearance. After a few weeks, a corpse that presented characteristics similar to those of the DLF was found in advanced stages of decay and was identified by the family as being DLF. The family then filed a claim for the life insurance that DLF had taken out just before he disappeared. Suspicions were raised about the identification of the corpse, because it had been done only visually, and because the insurance policy had been taken out just prior to DLF's disappearance. The insurance company requested a postmortem examination for identification. As the corpse had been cremated immediately after identification by the family, the biological material that was encrusted on the two projectiles removed from the body was used for analysis. The blood crusts provided enough genomic DNA for us to carry out PCR base typing of HLA-DQA1, D1S80, HUMCSF1PO, HUMTPOX, HUMTH01, D3S1744, D12S1090, D18S849, and amelogenin. Results from all loci typing from the corpse presumed to be that of DLF were then compared with that of his alleged biological parents, revealing genetic incompatibility.     

Unexpected sudden death from coronary sinus thrombosis. An unusual complication of central venous catheterization

Coronary sinus thrombosis is an unusual but potentially serious complication of the use of central venous devices. We report a fatal case of coronary sinus thrombosis in relation to a malpositioned central venous catheter. The death occurred very soon following the beginning of symptoms and the cause could not be suspected. Direct trauma of the catheter on the coronary sinus endothelium seems the most probable cause of the thrombosis.     

董必武司法思想述要

董必武的司法思想内容丰富,博大精深,在中国社会主义司法思想发展进程中占有十分重要的地位。本文考察了董必武关于司法的政治性、司法的人民性、司法的公正性和司法的程序性等问题的基本论述,揭示了董必武司法思想的科学内涵与理论品格,确证了董必武司法思想的革命性意义和现时代价值,进而强调董必武的司法思想是对马克思主义法律与司法观的创造性运用与发展,构成了当代中国社会主义司法制度的重要理论渊源。     

张闻天思想中的“和”

“和”意指温和、和谐，当今中国小到建设和谐社区，大到建设和谐社会，除了要有规范全面的规章制度保障外，重要的是还要实现社会中人的内心的和谐。人是构成和谐社会的分子，要实现和谐社会要求人们有正确的价值观，坚定的社会主义理想，宽容的人格精神，科学理性的判断问题的能力。重读《张闻天选集》的时候，我们从张闻天身上读到了这些优秀的品质，对于这些品质统归于一个“和”字。