Uncertainty and Turnout

This article develops a model that simultaneously considersindividual turnout and vote choice while also accounting foruncertainty about candidates. The theoretical development ofthis model implies that the effects of uncertainty on turnoutvary with the strength of individual preferences. Applicationof the model to individual choice in the 1996 American presidentialelection confirms that decreasing uncertainty about the charactertraits of the candidates decreases the probability of abstentionfor individuals with strong preferences but increases the probabilityof abstention for individuals with weak preferences.     

Multifactorial analysis of firearm wounds to the head with attention to anatomic location.

Firearm wounds to the head are often fatal and are routinely encountered in the practice of forensic pathology in the United States. Often, the anatomic site of the entrance wound is used to support or refute the manner of death indicated by the scene investigation and/or circumstances of the case. The present retrospective study of 120 fatalities resulting from 140 firearm wounds to the head correlates the anatomic region of the entrance wound and range of fire with the manner of death. Other demographic data analyzed include age, race, and gender of the decedents, as well as evidence of drug and/or ethanol use. It is hoped that this study will provide concrete data to support the largely anecdotal associations between the specific site of entry of firearm injuries to the head and the manner of death.     

Evaluating the Dimensionality and Invariance of ”Low Self-Control”

According to Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) A General Theory ofCrime, all illegal activity is the manifestation of a single underlyingcause. The authors argue that inadequate child-rearing causes individualsto develop a similar type of propensity for criminal and analogousbehavior. Gottfredson and Hirschi label this characteristiclow self-control. Six dimensions, which can be identified intheir theory, are suggested to comprise a final low self-controltrait. Further, low self-control is proposed to be an invariantcharacteristic (i.e., its form does not change with the age of theindividual or context in which the person resides). In this research, weevaluate these two propositions. First, the six dimensions are measured andused to determine if a multidimensional model can explain another commonfactor—low self-control—in two samples of individuals (fromdifferent locales) with dissimilar mean ages. Second, low self-control inboth samples is tested for invariance. We test the proposed invariance oflow self-control by examining if the parameter values in a model, which isreflective of Gottfredson and Hirschi's conceptualization of thecharacteristic, differ across the two samples of individuals. The resultssupport both of Gottfredson and Hirschi's propositions. Lowself-control does appear to be a multidimensional characteristic whosedimensions represent another common factor. Low self-control also appears tobe an invariant latent trait that members of these two samplespossess. These tests help to clarify Gottfredson and Hirschi'sconceptualization of low self-control.     

Narrating genetic disabilities: social constructs, medical treatment, and public policy

The article compares three memoirs of genetically based disability: Lisa Roney's sweet, invisible body, Georgina Kleege's Sight Unseen, and Alice Wexler's Mapping Fate. The essay explores the tension between the narrow and the broad construction of disability, as demonstrated by the 1999 Supreme Court rulings on the ADA and as experienced by these three memoirists. It concludes that the approach of narrative bioethics, as exemplified by such a study of disability and illness narratives, can offer the medical and public policy community a valuable alternative perspective on genetic disability not as an incapacity, but as a set of social relations and practices.     

福建省违法犯罪青少年的个性特征研究

为探讨青少年违法犯罪与个性的关系,采用艾森克个性问卷对621名13－19岁违法犯罪青少年和1371名相应年龄在校学生按不同年龄段和性别进行对照研究,发现16－19岁男性违法犯罪青少年外向性（E）、精神质（P）评分显著高于对照组（P＜0．01）,13－15岁男性违法犯罪少年精神质（P）、神经质（N）评分显著高于对照组（P＜0．01）,16－19岁女性违法犯罪青少年神经质（N）评分低于对照组（P＜0．05）,不同违法犯罪类型之间各个维度无统计学差异,表明外向性、精神质和神经质与男性青少年违法犯罪相关,倾稳性可能与女性青少年违法犯罪有关。     

Polymorphism and haplotype study of Y-chromosomal multi-STRs loci in Han population in Guangzhou

Using polymerase chain reaction and silver stain, polymorphism and haplotype study of Y-chromosomal multi-STRs loci: DYS19, DYS389I/II, DYS390 were studied. 111 samples of male were collected from Guangzhou area. 5 alleles were determined in DYS19 locus, 4 alleles in DYS389I locus, 5 alleles in DYS389II locus and 5 alleles in DYS390 locus. Compared with other racial populations, differences of distribution of allele frequencies existed significantly. 72 haplotype were present in this study.