The heart of Asia and the roof of the world

This article concentrates almost entirely on the events of 1971 and the author's involvement in the “sometimes complicated and frustrating negotiations and consultations” which led up to the signing at the end of 1971 of the various Treaties of Friendship as Britain withdrew from the Gulf, leaving behind a number of independent states, including the United Arab Emirates.     

The role of people in information-sharing: perceptions from an analytic unit of a regional fusion center

Information sharing research has largely focused on capturing operational practices related to the exchange of information. A noticeable shortcoming of this developing literature is the lack of scholarly attention focused specifically on analytic personnel. The present study employs semi-structured interviews with 23 personnel that comprise the analytic unit within a regional fusion center located in a large metropolitan area in the United States. Findings indicate that there is significant ambiguity surrounding the organizational and geographic audiences to which intelligence products should be tailored. Moreover, it appears information sharing is sparse and reliant upon personal relationships between analysts and external organizations. Lastly, analysts do not receive feedback pertaining to the content and effectiveness of intelligence products created. These findings may be generalized to other analytical organizations whose primary goal is to gather, analyze and disseminate intelligence. Action steps for policymakers are provided.     

基于3G技术移动电子商务的法律问题研究

我国已步入3G技术时代,基于3G技术的移动电子商务将引领传统电子商务的发展。然而与传统电子商务相比,移动电子商务会产生一些新的法律问题。本文从移动电子商务的交易成立,无线传输数据的法律效力和安全以及移动电子商务的程序法问题三个方面进行法律分析,并提出相关法律建议。     

信赖原则指导下的规则体系在民法中的定位

信赖法则是以保护信赖为正当性理由、以与常态法的悖向性规定为特征而在两大法系现代私法领域中得以聚合的规则群。它是信赖原则指导下所涉领域最宽、波及内容最广的规则体系。信赖法则之称谓可以在不破坏法律要素的既有理论、充分尊重信赖原则在法律体系中的基石与准则作用的前提下准确揭示与概括该规则体系的内涵和本质。两大法系信赖法则均为开放性的规则体系,代表着现代法的方向,是现代法安全价值实现的主要途径。在法律全球化的今天,我国民法无需对大陆法或英美法的信赖法则在取向上做严格限制,应赋予其一般条款的法律地位。     

外国法院判决承认与执行视角下的正当程序探析

作为外国法院判决能获承认与执行的条件之一，正当程序意味着尊重当事人的程序主体地位，当事人应实质性、充分而积极地参与诉讼程序，与裁判者展开理性的对话从而积极影响裁判结论的形成，使裁判者的裁判权受到来自被裁判者一方的合理约束，这些方面正契合了民事诉讼辩论主义机理，法院裁判范围应受当事人主张的约束，同时强化法官的阐明职责。我国民事诉讼程序应确立辩论主义，完善法官阐明制度，保障当事人实质性参与国际民事诉讼程序，使国际司法协助中外国法院判决的承认与执行制度得以更好地开展。     

基于生态文明构建社会主义和谐社会的途径

党的十七大首次把“生态文明”这一理念写进了党的行动纲领，是我们党对因注重发展而对生态环境和资源造成破坏进行反思的结果，标志着我们党对中国特色社会主义发展规律的新认识。构建社会主义和谐社会，强调要走“可持续能力不断增强，生态环境得到改善，资源利用效率显著提高，促进人和自然的和谐发展，推动整个社会走上生产发展、生活富裕、生态良好的文明发展之路”。这显然将“生态文明”纳入到了社会主义和谐社会的指标体系中。在生态文明的背景下实现构建和谐社会的建设目标，应主要从产业结构、科技、制度和教育四个层面着手。     

工会在巩固党执政基础中的作用

巩固党的执政基础，一方面要全心全意依靠工人阶级，另一方面还要妥善协调好方方面面的利益关系，处理好人民内部矛盾。工会由于自身独特的性质，在依靠工人阶级、协调利益关系上发挥积极作用。本文试从现阶段执政基础面临的新形势出发，理顺工会与共产党执政基础之间的关系，力求使工会在巩固共产党执政基础的过程中发挥应有的作用。     

A novel histological technique for distinguishing between epithelial cells in forensic casework

There are a number of forensic cases in which the identification of the epithelial cell type from which DNA originated would provide important probative evidence. This study aimed to develop a technique using histological staining of fixed cells to distinguish between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelium. First, 11 different stains were screened on formalin-fixed, wax-embedded cells from five women. Samples were analysed qualitatively by examining staining patterns (colour) and morphology (absence or presence of nuclei). Three of the staining methods – Dane's, Csaba's and Ayoub-Shklar – were successful in distinguishing skin epithelial cells from buccal and vaginal. Second, cells were smeared directly onto slides, fixed with one of five fixatives and stained with one of the three stains mentioned above. Methanol fixation, coupled with the Dane's staining method, specific to keratin, was the only technique that distinguished between all three cell types. Skin cells stained magenta, red and orange and lacked nuclei; buccal cells stained predominantly orange–pink with red nuclei; while vaginal cells stained bright orange with orange nuclei and a blue extracellular hue. This staining pattern in vaginal cells was consistent in samples collected from 50 women aged between 18 and 67. Identification of cell type from unlabelled micrographs by 10 trained observers showed a mean success rate of 95%. The results of this study demonstrate that histological staining may provide forensic scientists with a technique for distinguishing between skin, buccal and vaginal epithelial cells and thus would enable more conclusive analyses when investigating sexual assault cases.