ECO-SECTARIANISM: FROM ECOLOGICAL DISASTERS TO SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN SYRIA

This study introduces ‘eco-sectarianism’, which is a new concept that explains the relationship between sectarian violence and environmental pressures in divided societies in the Middle East. Against the backdrop of climate change, ‘eco-sectarianism’ poses a challenge to many fragmented and unequal societies where the sense of national consciousness is weak and nation-building projects are incomplete. This paper draws attention to the links between politicisation of sub-national identities and emerging ecological challenges in Syria.     

20世纪前期中国抵制日货运动经济效力的实像——以日本对华贸易为例

抵制日货运动是萦绕于20世纪前期中日两国间长达三十余年的重要现象,但相应的研究尚存很大空缺,尤其是针对其经济效力的研究更为数寥寥。在中日两国学界针对抵制日货运动经济效力的研究中常见"一高一低"现象,即"高度评价"与"贬低评价"。"一高一低"两种声音均是基于短期或单次运动之经济效果而做出的评价,未能反映前后延续长达三十余年的抵制日货运动经济效力的整体面貌。以20世纪初至30年代中期日本对华贸易的整体进程为参照,旨在以日本对华贸易特别是对华输出为例探讨抵制日货运动经济效力的实像。研究表明,抵制日货运动的经济效力在短期与长期上呈现"一大一小"的现象,以及在不同商品上存在"或有或无"的特点。     

论刑法价值及其结构

保障自由(包括行为自由与思想自由)是刑法的根本价值,而作为刑法根本价值的保障自由包含着保障其行为没有严重法益侵害性的"少数人的权利或自由"。维护秩序是必然性的刑法附属价值,且不可脱离权利或自由予以把握。保障自由和维护秩序都在刑法正义价值的统摄之下,但刑法的正义价值以保障自由为主、以维护秩序为辅作为自己的应有结构,而此价值结构符合和谐发展与可持续发展理念,进而符合科学发展理念。     

The Influence of Personal Values on Legal Judgments

The non‐legal factors that influence judicial decisions have been the subject of extensive debate. Theoretical and empirical work has focused on factors including political ideology, activism, attitudes, and demographics. Personal values are related to these factors and are central to decision making. The study described in this article translated theories and techniques from psychological research to examine the role of personal values in judicial decision making. A novel method of assessment of value expression in legal opinions revealed a different pattern of values expressed in the majority and minority opinions of a case that divided the Supreme Court. An empirical study of legal academics extended this analysis and highlighted the significant influence of personal values on legal decisions. The value:decision paradigm provides a new framework to analyse judicial decision making, judicial division, and judicial discretion and has significant implications for judicial diversity.     

Portable high‐resolution automated 3D imaging for footwear and tire impression capture

The forensic science community raised the need for improved evidence recognition, collection, and visualization analytical instrumentation for field and laboratory use. While the 3D optical techniques for imaging static objects have been extensively studied, there is still a major gap between current knowledge and collecting high‐quality footwear and tire impression evidence. Among optical means for 3D imaging, digital fringe projection (DFP) techniques reconstruct 3D shape from phase information, achieving camera‐pixel spatial resolution. This paper presents a high‐resolution 3D imaging technology using DFP techniques dedicated to footwear and tire impression capture. We developed fully automated software algorithms and a graphical user interface (GUI) that allow anyone without training to operate for high‐quality 3D data capture. We performed accuracy evaluations and comparisons comparing with the commercial high‐end 3D scanner and carried out qualitative tests for various impressions comparing with the current practices. Overall, our technology achieves similar levels of accuracy and resolution with a high‐end commercially available 3D scanner, while having the merits of being (1) more affordable; (2) much easier to operate; and (3) more robust. Compared with the current practice of casting, our technology demonstrates its superiority because it (1) is non‐destructive; (2) collects more evidence detail than casts, especially when an impression is fragile; (3) requires less time and money to collect each piece of evidence; and (4) results in a digital file that can easily be shared with other examiners.     

Estimating Individual Contributions to Complex DNA SNP Mixtures.,

High‐throughput sequencing (HTS) of large panels of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) provides an alternative or complimentary approach to short tandem repeats (STRs) panels for the analysis of complex DNA mixture forensic samples. For STRs, methods to estimate individual contribution concentrations compare capillary electrophoresis peak heights, peak areas, or HTS allele read counts within a mixture. This article introduces three approaches (mean, median, and slope methods) for estimating individual DNA contributions to forensic mixtures for HTS/massively parallel sequencing (MPS) SNP panels. For SNPs, the major:minor allele ratios or counts, unique to each contributor, were compared to estimate contributor proportion within the mixture using the mean, median, and slope intercept for these alleles. The estimates for these three methods were typically within 5% of planned experimental contributions for defined mixtures.