Reliability Study on Quantitative Detection of Extensor Digitorum Brevis Strength with Needle Electromyography and Nerve Conduction

Objective To study the objectivity and reliability of needle electromyography and nerve con- duction for detection of musculus extensor digitorum brevis strength, which may provide a basis for es- tablishing a quantitative detection of muscle strength in forensic clinical study. Methods Forty-four healthy people were enrolled as the subjects, and during toe dorsiflexion, the following items including needle electromyography indexes, motor unit potential （MUP） amplitude, MUP count, recruitment reaction type, and nerve conduction detection indexes, compound muscle action potential （CMAP） amplitude, CMAP latent period and motor nerve conduction velocity （MNCV）, were simultaneously detected under the co- operation and disguise condition. Results Under the cooperation condition, regardless of the same opera- tor or different operators, there were good test-retest reliabilities in MUP amplitude, CMAP amplitude, CMAP latent period and MNCV, while there were normal test-retest reliabilities in MUP count and re- cruitment reaction type and the repeatability of the same operator was slightly better than the repeatabili- ty between different operators. Under the disguise condition, test-retest reliabilities of MUP amplitude, CMAP amplitude, CMAP latent period and M-NCV were relatively high, while test-retest reliabilities of MUP count and recruitment reaction type were relatively low. Conclusion There are good test-retest reli- abilities in MUP amplitude, CMAP amplitude, CMAP latent period and M-NCV, which can be conducive to comparison between different operators and results at various times; MUP count and recruitment reac- tion type, which can be easily affected by subjectivity of operators and examinees, can be used to dif- ferentiate whether an examinee disguises or not. The indexes used to objectively judge muscle strength remain to be further investigated.     

Editor’s note

ABSTRACT

Over the past decade, a small movement endorsing the use of animal abuse registries (AARs) has emerged in the United States. Today, one state, 16 counties, and the City of New York have adopted AAR legislation, and 28 other states have attempted to pass such legislation. Here, we discuss similarities between AARs and sexual offender registries in theoretical terms, discuss the nature of AAR legislation, and provide data on the use of AARs, and count the number of offenders listed in those registries at two points in time. We also provide a count of animal abuse, and potential ways that animal abuse might be counted that are not addressed in current AAR legislation. We discuss whether AARs are ‘a good idea,’ especially as a policy response that might be associated with green criminology.     

Corruption,Taxation and Natural Resource Management in Tanzania

Democratic decentralisation of natural resource management requires careful attention to the distribution of power, devolved accountability and institutional design. However, even if all these elements are well crafted, failures in efficiency, equity and service delivery are possible because of the way institutions of government are lived out in the practice of day-to-day life. This paper presents a detailed account of the performance of local government in Tanzania. It demonstrates remarkable deficiencies in the workings of local government taxation and service delivery, despite the well structured, downwardly accountable nature of local government. It considers the implications of these failures for calls for community-based conservation, and the importance of good institutional design in effective decentralisation.     

Thai interest rates∗

Using conventional assumptions of price control by buffer devices, several aspects of control of trade in cocoa by buffer funds, buffer stocks and export quotas are explored with the provisions of the Draft International Cocoa Agreement in mind. Analysis of revenue and price effects of these devices is facilitated by drawing on literature concerning cocoa market parameters.

Expanding the short‐run diagrammatic analysis of buffer funds by Snape and Yamey, possible revenue effects under optimum marketing‐board farmer prices are shown when (a) the farmer price is held constant for two years and shifts in demand and supply are experienced and (b) farmer price is allowed to fluctuate from one year to the next according to optimum considerations (under constraints regarding the maximum and minimum farmer price). Surpluses and export proceeds are shown to increase with a farmer price (net of transportation costs) equal to or lower than the world price. Control, however, may destabilize export proceeds and world price.

Use of proposed buffer stock and export quota devices in a market already controlled by buffer funds is shown, under conditions specified, to have uncertain effects on export proceeds. Buffer funds may reduce and destabilize producer country proceeds while export quotas have the opposite effect. A buffer stock in a market already controlled by a buffer fund interested in maximizing short‐run export proceeds may not, with cocoa market parameters hypothesized, be an improvement over the buffer fund during years for which the ceiling price is to be supported.     

Between collective action and a fragmented political economy: the G20 and the return of protectionist impulses

Not unlike the 1930s, the current state of global economic governance is marked by a vacuum of leadership as neither traditional leading states nor emerging economic actors have proven able or willing to coordinate collective action. This interregnum has allowed space for the G20 to emerge as a calibrating force for the maintenance of a liberal economic order. Protectionist impulses, however, are increasingly emerging victorious as unemployment and domestic interests drive political action. The stabilizing presence of the G20 is thus tested in an environment privileging divisive domestic-oriented forces allowed greater space under conditions in a fragmented post-hegemonic global economy. These spaces for domestic concern, and the receptiveness of policy leaders to them, represent a return to the promise of embedded liberalism and away from the era of hyper-liberalization that has marked the past several decades of broadly measured economic growth.     

The external costs of foreclosure: The impact of single‐family mortgage foreclosures on property values

Abstract

To measure the impact of foreclosures on nearby property values, we use a database that combines data on 1997 and 1998 foreclosures with data on neighborhood characteristics and more than 9,600 single‐family property transactions in Chicago in 1999. After controlling for some 40 characteristics of properties and their respective neighborhoods, we find that foreclosures of conventional single‐family (one‐ to four‐unit) loans have a significant impact on nearby property values. Our most conservative estimates indicate that each conventional foreclosure within an eighth of a mile of a single‐family home results in a decline of 0.9 percent in value.

Cumulatively, this means that, for the entire city of Chicago, the 3,750 foreclosures that occurred in 1997 and 1998 are estimated to have reduced nearby property values by more than $598 million, for an average of $159,000 per foreclosure. This does not include effects on the value of condominiums, multifamily rental properties, and commercial buildings.     

Quantity,quality, or both? Explaining investment test scores in federal community reinvestment act examinations

Abstract

Banks and thrifts are major actors in the affordable housing and community development arenas. They are often relied on to invest in low‐income housing tax credits and other projects as well as provide operating support. Banks and thrifts are explicitly encouraged to invest in such activities by the Community Reinvestment Act's (CRA's) Investment Test. Regulations require examiners to consider both quantitative and qualitative criteria in determining a large bank's Investment Test rating. The qualitative criteria are particularly important for organizations seeking investments for projects that are more innovative or complex or that offer less than stellar financial returns.

An analysis of CRA performance evaluations reveals that, of the two qualitative criteria, only responsiveness to needs has a significant impact on Investment Test scores. Moreover, controlling for investment activity leads to higher Investment Test scores for larger banks. Implications for CRA policy and implementation are discussed.     

构建社会主义和谐社会思想探源和现实依据

社会主义和谐社会是根据当代中国现实而产生的一种社会理想诉求,它不是子虚乌有的乌托邦梦想。文章具体考察了和谐社会的思想渊源,着重阐明了中国古代儒家的社会和谐思想及对构建社会主义和谐社会的意义;深刻阐释了马克思、恩格斯关于"人类同自然的和解以及人类本身的和解"的社会和谐思想的理论基础;全面分析了我们党针对我国现阶段各种不和谐现象、各种社会失衡甚至社会冲突而提出的构建社会主义和谐社会的现实依据。     

试论新型工业化是生产力发展的内在规律

走新型工业化道路,是我党在总结了传统工业化道路的历史教训,借鉴发达国家现代化工业的成功经验,对世界信息科技发展趋势进行前瞻性分析的基础上,为早日实现全面小康社会而选择的一条特殊发展之路。它的特殊之处体现在:中国的现实国情与生产力发展的内在规律的统一,实现工业化与信息化的双重任务的统一,知识经济与工业经济两种生产力形态的相互嫁接与融合。无论在内涵上还是外延上,都是对传统工业化道路的突破、创新与发展。一、生产力发展的内在规律人类社会的经济发展史就是生产力自身不断解放与发展的历史。生产力的发展始终沿着科技进步…     

略论法律漏洞及其补充

法律漏洞有多种类型,其存在有多方面的原因,具有客观性和必然性。作为正义和公理化身的法律,对其漏洞补充也是必然和必需的。对法律漏洞的补充可以从三个层级上溯:法律规范、法律原则直到法的价值目标。