CALLING AFRICA

If you find yourself in Lagos,the economic capital of Nigeria,and you're a gadget freak,make your way to the Ikeja elec-tronic market,which is possibly the largest of its kind in West Africa.     

Smart Solutions

At the International Horticultural Exhibition 2019 in Beijing, the organizers and stalls have roped in a new breed of assistants to cope with the rush of 16 million visitors from home and abroad. One of them is iBEN, an adult-sized robot sporting a 27 -in chinteractive screen. The screen is meant for visitors to make their queries. iBEN then helps them to register, navigate the expo that is the size of nearly 500 football fields, and make business inquiries.     

Expanding the focus of correctional evaluations beyond recidivism: the impact of halfway houses on public safety

Objective

This article reports the findings of a quasi-experimental evaluation of the impact of residential halfway houses (HHs) on public safety in the immediate vicinity of the facilities.

Methods

Instead of focusing on recidivism reduction or cost effectiveness, as is common, outcome measures for this study are limited to the impact on community crime rates, here defined as offenses committed within 1/8 and 1/4 mi radii around a subject facility. A set of fixed effect Poisson regression models were employed to assess the changes in monthly crime counts associated with the opening or closing of an HH (N =?19). A second difference-in-differences analysis (DiD) compares HHs that ceased operation to HHs that remained consistently open for the duration of the study period. A series of robustness checks were conducted.

Results

We find the presence of an active HH is associated with an increase in crime within the immediate vicinity. We identify significant increases in monthly counts of overall crimes reported to law enforcement, as well as in counts for specific crimes of violence, including assaults and robberies with a firearm; property offenses, such as burglary; and in minor and misdemeanor offenses. A closing of an HH is associated with a decrease in reported crimes.

Conclusions

The location of a community-based correctional facility can have a significant and negative impact on public health, largely through decreased levels of local public safety. Evaluations of residential correctional programs should include indicators of community-level impact in addition to individual-level measures of recidivism, particularly when such programs are clustered in at-risk or vulnerable communities.

     

The Extraction and Recovery Efficiency of Pure DNA for Different Types of Swabs

The extraction and recovery efficiency of swabs used to collect evidence at crime scenes is relatively low (typically <50%) for bacterial spores and body fluids. Cell‐free deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is an interesting alternative compared to whole cells as a source for forensic analysis, but extraction and recovery from swabs has not been tested before using pure DNA. In this study cotton, foam, nylon flocked, polyester and rayon swabs are investigated in order to collect pure DNA isolated from saliva samples. The morphology and absorption capacity of swabs is studied. Extraction and recovery efficiencies are determined and compared to the maximum theoretical efficiency. The results indicate that a substantial part of DNA is not extracted from the swab and some types of swab seem to bind effectively with DNA. The efficiency of the different types of swab never exceeds 50%. The nylon flocked 4N6FLOQSwab used for buccal sampling performs the best.     

实时荧光定量PCR检测硅藻UPA基因在溺死诊断中的研究

目的建立硅藻UPA条形码基因的实时荧光定量PCR检测方法,探讨其在溺死诊断中的应用价值。方法对Gene Bank中登录的硅藻UPA基因序列进行比对获得同源序列,据其设计硅藻门通用引物。对2种人体常见共生菌(大肠杆菌、双歧杆菌)、3种浮游细菌、15种浮游藻类、32具尸体(其中生前溺水死亡28例,死后抛尸1例,陆地死亡3例)的组织样本(肺、肝、肾)及尸体发现地水样提取DNA,采用设计的引物进行特异性、灵敏度、重复性试验,分析检材中硅藻检出情况,统计硅藻阳性率,以上述组织样本的微波消解-真空抽滤-自动扫描电镜法检测结果对建立的q PCR检测方法进行比较评估,比较该方法与PCR-毛细管电泳检测法的灵敏度。结果引物UPA99仅对硅藻标准株(针杆藻、舟形藻、直链藻、小环藻、菱形藻)DNA具有扩增,扩增产物熔解曲线平稳,峰尖且窄,熔解温度为(87±1)℃。以p MD18-T重组质粒为标准品,检测区间为1.56×10~2-1.56×10^-5ng/μL,建立实时q PCR方法的灵敏度为1.56×10^-5ng/μL,而PCR-CE方法的灵敏度为1.56×10-3ng/μL。批间及批内变异系数均低于2%,具有较高的重复性和稳定性。对于生前溺水尸体肺、肝、肾的检出率依次为89.3%,71.4%,64.3%。结论基于硅藻UPA基因设计通用引物,建立的q PCR硅藻检验法特异性高、灵敏度高、重复性好,应用于溺死诊断具有较好的应用前景。     

国外科学基金立法及其对我国的启示

科学基金制是一种先进的现代科技管理制度,它在资助科学研究、发现和培养科学人才方面发挥着重要的作用。从国际上看,科学基金制均是建立在法律规范基础之上,发达国家的科学基金制经过上百年的探索与实践,已建立起一套较为完整的法律保障体系。本文就国外科学基金立法的主要特点及其对我国科学基金立法的启示谈点管蠡之见。     

教唆犯罪中止形态相关问题研究

理论上的复杂性与实践中的模糊性,使得教唆犯罪中止形态的研究成为刑法学领域的“绝望之章”。对于相关问题的深入研究表明,“教唆犯罪的中止形态”是关于教唆犯罪过程中因行为人自动中止其犯罪行为而导致的犯罪停止形态的最为科学、准确的表述;从狭义的共犯独立性说的立场出发,教唆犯罪中止形态的成立标准应当为教唆者在教唆过程中的主动中止行为,被教唆者的行为形态与此并无必然联系;对于目前尚未引起理论界重视的“中止的教唆”与“教唆的中止”,有必要进一步予以明晰。     

论党的干部工作从战争思维到执政思维的转变

在改革开放和社会主义现代化建设的新的历史时期,迫切需要党的干部工作完成从战争思维向执政思维的转变。完成这一转变,既是干部制度改革的基础性环节,也是进一步深化干部制度改革的必要前提。     

新时期农村警务探索

农村经济建设的发展对农村警务方式提出了新的要求,本文就开展“警民共建文明村”活动,试图对新时期的农村警务加以探讨。