Abortion and Partisanship in the 104th U.S. Congress

The new Republican majorities in the 104th Congress conducted a coherent campaign to erode abortion rights. Avoiding a hopeless attempt to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, congressional Republicans pressed numerous anti-abortion initiatives. Analysis of the votes on those initiatives reveals a clear partisan pattern – a large majority of congressional Republicans are hostile to abortion rights while most congressional Democrats usually act to protect and even extend them. Therefore, the liberal versus conservative conflict which characterises the congressional parties on economic issues is also visible in the abortion issue.     

Do too many cooks always spoil the stew? An experimental analysis of rent-seeking and the role of a strategic buyer

Laboratory methods are used to evaluate the effects of institutional arrangements and rent-defending activity on rent-seeking auction outcomes. In part, Nash equilibrium predictions are a useful behavioral guide: As predicted, more rents are dissipated in perfectly-discriminating auctions, where the high-bidder wins, than in lotteries, where relative bids determine the chance of winning. Also as predicted, the introduction of a rent-defending buyer reduces social costs. Nevertheless, the social costs of rent-seeking consistently exceed predicted levels. Moreover, individual bidding, especially by buyers, deviates markedly from Nash predictions.     

Inhibition of bleach-induced luminol chemiluminescence

The luminol chemiluminescence presumptive test for blood is based on the mild peroxidase activity of hemoglobin in basic peroxide solution. However, this test is subject to interference by strong oxidants, certain transition metal ions, and true peroxidases. This paper reports methods for reducing the interference caused by hypochlorite-containing bleaches. Amines such as 1,2-diaminoethane react rapidly with hypochlorite without interfering significantly with the hemoglobin-catalyzed oxidation. Thus, addition of 0.1 mol/L 1,2-diaminoethane to a standard luminol-peroxide spray lead to almost complete inhibition of hypochlorite-induced chemiluminescence while satisfactory chemiluminescence was still observed from bloodstains. If time allows, an alternative method for reducing interference from hypochlorite bleach is to wait several days until the bloodstains have dried thoroughly, by which time the hypochlorite will have decomposed.     

PCR-RFLP identification of Diptera (Calliphoridae,Muscidae and Sarcophagidae)--a generally applicable method

A simple, rapid method using restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) within the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the ribosomal DNA gene repeat allows identification of insects and other organisms. We used the method to identify the morphologically similar Diptera larvae that are important in forensic entomology for estimating the time and location of death. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify a region from the 18S to the 28S rRNA genes. The ITS1 and ITS2 regions provided variation between species and homogeneity within species, with the exception of Cochliomya macellaria. Combinations of the restriction enzymes DdeI, HinfI and Sau3AI provided diagnostic bands for identification of the ten species from three families of Diptera (Calliphoridae, Muscidae and Sarcophagidae).     

Daubert,Cognitive Malingering,and Test Accuracy

Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993) held that trial judges should permit expert scientific testimony only when the reasoning or methodology underlying the testimony is scientifically valid, and ... properly can be applied to the facts in issue. Vallabhajosula and van Gorp (V&vG, 2001) have suggested that when the Daubert standard is applied to tests for malingered cognitive deficits, courts should deem admissible only results that meet this mathematical standard: assuming a pretest probability of .3, a positive score on the malingering test should yield a posttest probability of at least .8. This paper shows that V&vG's criterion may lead to misunderstandings about the kind of information malingering measures provide. After reviewing cases that have discussed both the Daubert decision and malingered cognitive deficits, this paper uses data from the Test of Memory Malingering (T. N. Tombaugh, 1996) to provide a general characterization of the mathematical properties of malingering measures. The paper then describes how pretest knowledge about malingering is combined with knowledge about a test's performance to generate a posttest probability of malingering. The results can help mental health experts respond to Daubert-inspired challenges to conclusions based on malingering measures.     

Russian Authoritarian Pluralism: a Local and Global Trend?

Russia is a country that has witnessed increasingly authoritarian governance over the last decade. Civil liberties have been curtailed; local and regional political power has been usurped by the Kremlin. Russia remains a democracy insomuch as elections are conducted, but increasingly those elections are so heavily influenced by state control over the media and fiscal elements of social power that substantive Western notions of democracy have greatly atrophied. However, the decline in substantive democracy has received solid support from the Russian electorate. As such, under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, Russia has become an ‘authoritarian pluralist’ state that now expresses long-standing cultural affinity for a strong authoritarian rule under an increasingly thin veneer of democratic principles. Furthermore, variations of this new Russian model seem to be spreading globally.

Democracy is the dictatorship of the law. The stronger the state is, the freer the individual.

Vladimir Putin