Automated Classification of Epiphyses in the Distal Radius and Ulna using a Support Vector Machine

The aim of this study was to automatically classify epiphyses in the distal radius and ulna using a support vector machine (SVM) and to examine the accuracy of the epiphyseal growth grades generated by the support vector machine. X‐ray images of distal radii and ulnae were collected from 140 Chinese teenagers aged between 11.0 and 19.0 years. Epiphyseal growth of the two elements was classified into five grades. Features of each element were extracted using a histogram of oriented gradient (HOG), and models were established using support vector classification (SVC). The prediction results and the validity of the models were evaluated with a cross‐validation test and independent test for accuracy (P_A). Our findings suggest that this new technique for epiphyseal classification was successful and that an automated technique using an SVM is reliable and feasible, with a relative high accuracy for the models.     

植物新品种临时保护请求权性质与规范构造

植物新品种临时保护请求权旨在保护育种者自提出或公告品种权申请至授权期间的利益,其性质应属不当得利返还请求权。该请求权的主体为品种权人及利害关系人,其行使应满足时间、行为、实际通知等条件。临时保护请求权的效力范围为请求行为人支付适当使用费,该使用费应以许可费为基础,酌情考虑个案因素加以确定。我国植物新品种临时保护请求权存在权利性质含糊、主体范围狭窄、行使条件不具体及效力范围不明确等问题,应结合UPOV1991文本、其他国家和地区的相关规定及我国司法实践加以完善,以提高我国植物新品种保护水平。     

The Iranian Nuclear Negotiations as a Two-Level Game: The Importance of Domestic Politics

In July 2015, after more than a decade of negotiations, the international community and Iran finally reached agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme. All of the work that produced the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] was nearly undone, however, by the United States Congress, which came close to killing the agreement. This episode emphasises the fact that international negotiations are “two-level games” in which policy-makers must take into account not only their own objectives and those of their interlocutors but also the interests of domestic constituencies if they are to secure the “ratification” of an agreement. In many cases, securing the consent of those constituencies is unproblematic, whether because the matter at hand is uncontroversial, domestic interests are disengaged, or policy-makers have sufficient autonomy from them to ignore their objections. In other cases, however, the domestic game can play a huge part in determining the eventual outcome of the negotiating process. As the intensity of the debate within the United States in 2015 and the narrowness of the margin by which the JCPOA survived suggest, the American–Iranian dimension of the nuclear negotiations falls into the latter category.     

警务博客和QQ群：践行警察公共关系建设的新媒介

公安机关的群众路线要和时代特征结合起来,专门工作要适应当前社会人群特点及其需求,鼓励有利于警民互动和警务效率提高的新形式、新渠道、新工具的创设,而警务博客和QQ群无疑就是践行警察公共关系建设的新媒介。     

The intersubjective space–time of a Zulu choir/HIV support group in global perspective

This article draws from anthropology, conversation analysis, ethnomusicology, semiotics, and phenomenology, using the concept of intersubjectivity to model how the micro-organization of musical communication can be integral in social processes of support, identity maintenance, and activism amid structural inequality. This is based on ethnographic fieldwork in Durban, South Africa, with a Zulu gospel choir that functioned as a support group, activist organization, and performance troupe. Three distinct aspects (or levels) of intersubjectivity are discussed. The organization of these levels in music making is outlined through fine-grained discussion of how people with HIV coordinate bodies and voices in space as they make music together for each other and for international audiences. This article contributes to the further development of a musical semiotics, discussing how overlapping conceptualizations of intersubjectivity in multiple disciplines may be synthesized to analyze the performance of coordinated sonic action.     

政治稳定视阈下腐败官员和资产外逃的惩防追缴机制建设

腐败的本质是公权私用,是权力与权利关系的异化。腐败官员与腐败资产外逃严重影响民众对于廉洁政治建设的信心,对我国的政治稳定造成严重的负面影响,鉴于此,惩防腐败对国家的政治稳定至关重要。目前,腐败行为的结构性转型使得我国对腐败官员跨境外逃和资产转移的惩防难度增大,因此,要认真对待社会转型带来的制度风险和利益冲突,正视权力结构存在的问题,健全权力运行制约和监督体系,改革政治体制,依靠民主政治和公民有序政治参与的扩大,促成对政府官员责任的落实和监督。将惩防跨境腐败上升到法治的高度,进一步完善并落实我国政府官员家庭财产申报制度,完善户籍管理、护照管理和出入境管理等制度。要在国际法和国际条约框架内,加强国际司法合作。     

The Many Flavors of Environmental Insurance

The market for environmental impairment liability (EIL) and pollution legal liability (PLL) insurance is approaching its thirtieth anniversary. During those years, the market has developed from a one-size-fits-all approach that consisted of a couple insurers to one that can specifically tailor coverages to the needs of a specific transaction or risk. While increases in capacity and flexibility have created diverse choices for policyholders, failure to understand the nuances presented by the current policy forms presents both challenges and opportunities. This article discusses how the EIL/PLL market has developed and highlights some of the more substantive differences in policy forms that are currently available.     

Exploring the potential of stricter gun restrictions for people with serious mental illness to reduce homicide in the United States

This study explores the potential that current efforts to limit access to firearms for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) have for reducing overall rates of murder by firearm in the United States. Official arrest, court and health records provided data on personal and offense characteristics of 95 individuals with SMI and 423 without, all of whom had been convicted of murder in the State of Indiana between 1990 and 2002. Bivariate analyses examined differences between the two groups and logistic regression models examined the relationship between SMI and offense characteristics. Compared to those without, a relatively small proportion of convicted murderers had a diagnosis indicating SMI. The presence of SMI was associated with reduced likelihood of targeting a stranger and was not associated with having multiple-victims or firearm use. Focusing on access to firearms exclusively by individuals with SMI will have little impact on multiple-victim or firearm-related homicides.     

Stop,Question, and Assess: Comments on Rosenfeld and Fornango

We develop three points in this commentary on Rosenfeld and Fornango’s empirical assessment of the NYPD policy of stop, question, and frisk (SQF). First, we draw attention to some of the key patterns uncovered in the analysis, posing questions that we think warrant additional thought. Second, we highlight some potential ambiguities between the underlying logic model of SQF and the empirical models assumed in existing research evaluations that have important implications for the conclusions that one might draw from the available evidence. Finally, we suggest some ways in which the empirical basis for evaluating the efficacy of SQF might be strengthened.     

Coalition formation on the U.S. Supreme Court: 1969–2009

We apply a fallback model of coalition formation to decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, focusing on the seven natural courts, which had the same members for at least two terms, between 1969 and 2009. The predictions of majority coalitions on each of the courts are generally borne out by the 5–4 decisions, whereas the predictions of the Martin-Quinn (Political Analysis 10(2):134–153, 2002) model, which assumes a single underlying dimension along which the justices can be ordered, are not. The present model also provides insight into the dynamic process by which subcoalitions build up into majority coalitions and, in addition, identifies “kingmakers” and “leaders” on the natural courts. Furthermore, it provides evidence, from coalitional memberships, that a few justices shifted over time from one ideological camp to another.