From neoliberalism to neocommunitarianism: opposing justifications in a dispute over privatized electricity infrastructure

It is becoming increasingly clear that neoliberal ideological efforts to depoliticize politics have come to incorporate arguments once associated with radical communitarian, localist and existential critiques of capitalism. This article contributes to cross-disciplinary discussion of how and on what terms this process of assimilation has taken place. It first describes the rise of neocommunitarian politics and policy-making in the privatized electricity system of a “first-mover” neoliberal state, Australia. It then examines in detail a dispute over a proposed upgrade to a piece of electricity system infrastructure in a formerly industrial, working-class and immigrant, now post-industrial, bourgeois-bohemian and gentrified suburb of inner-Melbourne, Victoria. The study reveals a shift over time in the strategy of the protest group convened to resist the proposed upgrade. Originally using NIMBY-like arguments to oppose the upgrade, the group gradually transformed its strategy into a more general critique of privatization and marketization, and of the use of neocommunitarianism by state and market interests to promote economic growth. Generalizing from this case study, we suggest that such a transformation in protest strategy signals the possibility of a new culture of awareness that neocommunitarianism is little more than a response by states and markets to public rejection of free-market reforms. Moreover, the transformation of the protesters' strategy heralds the possibility of a renewal in critical thought and practice, one that is repoliticizing politics by challenging the marketizing and privatizing of public goods.     

Migration and Care Institutions in Market Socialist Vietnam: Conditionality,Commodification and Moral Authority

Since socialist Vietnam embraced a market economy in the mid-1980s, high population mobility has engendered shifting forms of insecurity in rural livelihoods and family lives. This article discusses how migrant households in a Red River Delta rural district draw on institutions of care beyond family and kinship to deal with such insecurity. These institutions simultaneously respond to local people’s changing needs and aspirations, and attempt to exert social and moral control. I show the increasing conditionality and commodification in the entitlements they provide and the differential ability of migrant households in accessing them. These rationalities are constitutive of the changing ways in which the institutions exert moral authority.     

Forced confabulation more strongly influences event memory if suggestions are other‐generated than self‐generated

Purpose. Virtually all eyewitnesses to a crime, who eventually testify in court, are interviewed by police officers at least once. How do these interviews affect what the eyewitnesses are subsequently likely to report? The purpose of this study is to compare the relative impact of self‐ versus other‐generated misinformation on confabulated memory about an event. Self‐generated misinformation can occur by encouraging eyewitnesses to guess or speculate about possible answers to questions about which they report having no memory. Other‐generated misinformation can occur by having an investigator suggest an answer to an eyewitness. Methods. After viewing a 5 minutes crime video, participants answered written questions. One week later these same questions were answered again. We specifically focused on individuals' answers to unanswerable questions that probed information not actually presented in the video. If a participant answered an unanswerable question, we know that their answer was confabulated because the information was not presented in the video. Results. If an answer to an unanswerable question was forced confabulated at time 1, that answer was more likely to be repeated at time 2 if it had been other‐generated (suggested in the question) rather than self‐generated (fabricated by the participant). Conclusions. Pressuring eyewitnesses to answer questions about an event, when they indicate that they do not know the answer, can result in false confabulations. Answers suggested by the investigator are more likely to be repeated later than are answers that are simply self‐generated or speculated by the eyewitness. These results are consistent with the reality monitoring framework and ‘recollect‐to‐reject’ metacognitive reasoning strategies.     

A dedicated automated system for extraction, quantification and STR amplification of forensic evidence samples

Forensic DNA analysis is a multi-step process involving extraction of DNA, quantification of human DNA in the extract, amplification using multiplex STR systems, separation of products, and data analysis. The backlog of forensic casework is increasing worldwide. Automation is one significant way to alleviate the bottleneck of sample processing in forensic labs. The HID EVOlution™ Combination System described here is a robust, reliable sample processing platform, easily adapted to forensic laboratory workflows. Using a variety of forensic sample types including: blood stained FTA paper, cotton fabric and denim, dried blood spiked with known PCR inhibitors, saliva on cotton swabs, and semen stains, we found that yields of human DNA and STR profiles obtained with AmpFlSTR^® Idenitfiler^® kits were complete, highly reproducible, and equivalent to results obtained using the manual PrepFiler™ reagent extraction method. Automated operation was clean, and no cross-contamination was detected between extraction blanks and interspersed high DNA content samples.     

Capitalizing on Criminal Accomplices: Considering the Relationship between Co-offending and Illegal Earnings

This study investigates whether co-offending offers an avenue towards criminal success. Specifically, it considers if current and prior co-offending experience is related to the probability of reporting illegal earnings as well as the amount of these earnings. Using data from the Pathways to Desistance Study, we estimated fixed-and random-effects models to test whether co-offending experience is related to self-reported illegal earnings. The models also estimated whether “historical” co-offending experience predicted current illegal earnings. Across both modeling strategies, current and historical co-offending predicted the probability of reporting non-zero illegal earnings, net of offending frequency and controls. There is minimal evidence of a relationship between co-offending experience and the amount of illegal earnings, however. These findings lead us to conclude that access to a relatively common criminal connection—the co-offender—offers tangible benefits to adolescent offenders, primarily by affecting their ability to translate criminal opportunities into monetary gain.     

Fast Multiplexed Polymerase Chain Reaction for Conventional and Microfluidic Short Tandem Repeat Analysis

Abstract:  The time required for short tandem repeat (STR) amplification is determined by the temperature ramp rates of the thermal cycler, the components of the reaction mix, and the properties of the reaction vessel. Multiplex amplifications in microfluidic biochip-based and conventional tube-based thermal cyclers have been demonstrated in 17.3 and 19 min, respectively. Optimized 28-cycle amplification protocols generated alleles with signal strengths above calling thresholds, heterozygous peak height ratios of greater than 0.65, and incomplete nontemplate nucleotide addition and stutter of less than 15%. Full CODIS-compatible profiles were generated using the Profiler Plus ID, COfiler and Identifiler primer sets. PCR performance over a wide range of DNA template levels from 0.006 to 4 ng was characterized by separation and detection on a microfluidic electrophoresis system, Genebench-FX^™. The fast multiplex PCR approach has the potential to reduce process time and cost for STR analysis and enables development of a fully integrated microfluidic forensic DNA analysis system.     

Aktuarielle und beihilfenrechtliche Analyse staatlicher Mithaftung in der Katastrophenversicherung

Die in den letzten Jahren sich häufenden Katastrophenereignisse durch Terroranschläge oder Naturgewalt haben ein bislang in der Versicherungswirtschaft nicht kalkuliertes Ausmaß an Schäden verursacht. Alle bisherigen aktuariellen Modelle zur Schadenberechnung stoßen an ihre Grenzen. Aufgrund der nahezu unmöglichen Einschätzung der Schadeneintrittswahrscheinlichkeit und des nicht fassbaren Kumulrisikos ist in naher Zukunft eine reine privatwirtschaftliche Lösung in der Katastrophenversicherung nicht zu erwarten. Angesichts der besonderen Bedeutung des Versicherungsschutzes als Produktionsfaktor in der Volkswirtschaft ist ein staatliches Eingreifen erforderlich und wünschenswert. Im vorliegenden Aufsatz wird zunächst überprüft, wie die Versicherbarkeit von Katastrophenrisiken aus aktuarieller Sicht zu beurteilen ist. Anschließend wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwiefern eine staatliche Beteiligung an der Katastrophenversicherung im Einklang mit den europäischen Beihilfenvorschriften im Einklang steht.     

Support for the environment post-transition? Material concerns and policy tradeoffs

Though many individuals are aware of the need to address environmental concerns, fewer are willing to pay for climate action or think the environment should be a priority for government spending. One compelling reason is that they prioritize using scarce resources to address immediate material concerns. This is particularly likely for individuals facing absolute material scarcity or for those who think they are relatively economically worse off, especially in contexts characterized by rapid transformation and volatility in the levels and quality of social welfare provision. To test these expectations, we analyze survey data from formerly Communist economies, which today find themselves with vastly different fortunes. Empirical findings suggest that absolute and relative material scarcity affect opinions regarding government spending on, and the willingness to pay more for, environmental action. However, willingness to pay more for government public services, inclusive of anti-poverty initiatives, has an impact on willingness to pay more for climate action, but in counter-intuitive ways. Overall, the results appear to suggest that explicitly addressing and relating individual living standards and inequality with environmental concerns may expand support for climate action.     

借助汉越音、汉越词对越汉语词汇教学

一、越语与汉语的关系(一)越语与汉语的关系首先要说明越语和汉语是不同语系的两种语言,所以,我们在对越南学生进行汉语教学时不能采用同源教学法。关于越语的语源,最近越南境外的学者都普遍认为越语属于南亚语系(王力先生也接受这种观点),即与芒语(M uong)是同一个语言系统,是