数字化转型期学术期刊的功能与定位

本文认为学术期刊内生于学术生态系统,重点论述在数字化、网络化发展如火如荼的大背景下,学术期刊在学术领域中的功能与定位,从传播功能、社会功能和学术评价功能三个方面考察学术期刊传统功能的新变化,为进一步开展学术期刊改革提供相关政策建议.     

日本国立大学改制评介

日本高等教育领域内的国立大学独立行政法人化改革以国会立法的方式推行,有关法规自2003年10月1日开始生效,从2004年4月起,日本所有国立大学的身份将“独立行政法人化”。这是一项制度性变革,影响到日本国立大学的各个方面,对我国高等教育的改革和科学规划具有借鉴意义。     

Hospital rate regulation: American and foreign comparisons

Rate regulation in the United States usually is inspired by widespread indignant pressures to protect the public against venal exploitation. Rate regulation of American hospitals does not ride such a wave of outrage but is motivated by the need to restrain Medicaid spending and insurance premium increases in some states. Hospital rate regulation in America lacks strong political support, makes many politically prudent concessions to hospitals, and is often threatened by repeal. Since Americans distrust regulators and since individual scrutiny of so many hospitals is burdensome and contentious, they often seek automatic formulae that will produce equitable results by rational calculation. In contrast, rate regulation in Europe is a method of refereeing between hospitals and alert third parties. Hospitals' prospective budgets are always scrutinized by regulators. Guidelines are transmitted by government to link public policy to hospital payment, and the regulators apply the guidelines to each hospital's individual situation. The system results in less contention and more stability in European than in American regulation. Certain features of European hospital practice have kept hospital costs high, but the regulators are now reducing annual increases in costs below America's. In order to reduce cost increases further, Europe is moving toward global budgeting and public grants of hospitals' operating costs, instead of regulation of unit rates. However, regulators may still be essential to scrutinize hospital prospective budgets and to investigate the merits of the claims by individual establishments.     

A meta-analytic review of the frequency and patterning of laryngohyoid and cervical fractures in cases of suicide by hanging

The frequency and distribution of fractures are commonly utilized to assist in interpreting the manner of death. In cases of alleged suicide by hanging, however, the evidence base for the frequency and patterning of laryngohyoid and cervical vertebrae fractures resulting from such blunt force traumatic events is limited and so fractures cannot be reliably used to assist in interpreting the manner. Using meta-analytic techniques, this study aimed to estimate frequency and distribution of fractures in the context of relevant intrinsic and extrinsic variables. A systematic review of the literature identified 20 studies with relevant data (8523 cases of suicide by hanging). Meta-analyses identified the frequency and distribution of fractures present and how fracture frequency was affected by the subgroups of age, sex, completeness of suspension, ligature knot position and study design. Results indicated that fracture frequency was variable, there was no unique patterning, and high levels of heterogeneity were present in all variable sub-groups. Age was the only subgroup to show differences. Findings suggest that neck fracture frequency is inconsistent and cannot be predicted by the chosen variables. Subsequently, neck fractures in isolation should not be given weight in medico-legal interpretations of a hanging death as suicidal.     

Validation of the InnoXtract™ DNA extraction method for bone,teeth, and rootless hair

Forensic casework samples often include human hairs, teeth, and bones. Hairs with roots are routinely processed for DNA analysis, while rootless hairs are either not tested or processed using mitochondrial DNA. Bones and teeth are submitted for human remains identifications for missing persons and mass disaster cases. DNA extraction from these low templates and degraded samples is challenging. The new InnoXtract DNA extraction method utilizes magnetic beads that are optimized to bind small DNA fragments, as small as 100 base pairs, to purify high-yield DNA from compromised samples. This validation study evaluates InnoXtract's ability to obtain amplifiable DNA from samples such as rootless hairs and skeletal remains. Studies performed include sensitivity, stability, repeatability, reproducibility, non-probative samples, and comparison to standard organic extractions. Sensitivity studies demonstrate average yield recoveries ranging from 53% to 100% and 73% to 85% for the InnoXtract hair and bone methods, respectively. Studies demonstrate consistent results across a range of sample types, such as insulted and un-insulted bone and teeth, as well as hair shafts from donors of various ages, gender, race, and hair characteristics. The InnoXtract bone method outperformed organic extraction. The method was successfully automated on a MagMAX™ Express-96, with recoveries over 70% relative to the manual version. InnoXtract has the potential as an automated high-throughput, high-yield bone extraction method with 6 h of total extraction time for up to 96 samples. The validation study results demonstrate that the InnoXtract kits produce high-yield and high-quality DNA from compromised bone, teeth, and hair shaft samples.     

Constitutional law

Recent decisions of New Zealand courts illustrate that domestic proceedings may not be effective to recognise indigenous property rights, nor to address grievances that stem from breaches of customary indigenous rights. One possibility for Māori to have their rights enforced is to consider using international law. Gains have been made in international law with regard to indigenous rights; one noteworthy decision is Mayagna (sumo) Awas-Tingni Community v The Republic of Nicaragua. In this case, a universal and generic property right was extended consistently with emerging indigenous rights to include an indigenous right to customary land tenure. This paper considers whether the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights can carry a property right for indigenous peoples in New Zealand.     

人类指甲在法医学中的应用

人类指甲是法医学中一类非常重要的生物检材。本文结合文献,介绍了指甲的DNA检验;指甲内异体组织的检验。同时介绍了指甲在法医学性别判定,年龄判断,个人识别以及药物、毒品分析中的一些新的应用。