The European Union and Latin America: ‘Transformative power Europe’ versus the realities of economic interests

Relations between the European Union (EU) and regional subgroups in Latin America (Mercosur, the Andean Community and Central America) are clear examples of ‘pure interregionalism’ and provide evidence of the EU's active promotion of regional integration. Within the context of these cases, this article explores what type of international power the EU wields, how interregionalism is embedded in that power, and how it is deployed. Combining strands of literature on EU–Latin American relations, interregionalism, EU external policy and power provides a framework within which interregionalism can be understood as an important normative and practical tool for the EU's external power projection. Drawing on official documentation and interviews with key individuals, the paper highlights the EU's articulation of power in interregional relations and reflects upon its mixed success. It concludes that, while imperial qualities and aspirations can be observed in the EU's penchant for interregionalism, the transformative power of the EU remains limited.     

Nondestructive Methods for Recovery of Biological Material from Human Teeth for DNA Extraction

The extraction of DNA from human skeletal remains applied to forensic, and evolutionary studies do not exclude risks, which are to be evaluated when working with unique specimens that could be damaged or even destroyed. In the present study were evaluated several nondestructive methods for recovering DNA instead of the most currently used pulverization method. Three different procedures to access inside the dental pieces (occlusal perforation, cervical perforation, and cervical cut) have been compared with the aim of recovering as many cell remains as possible to carry out a DNA extraction. Given the DNA quantitation results, a method was proposed that consists of a cervical cut to facilitate the access to the pulp cavity and a subsequent filing of the root canals down to the apex of the dental root. This methodology allows the recovery of both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, with the minimum deterioration for the dental pieces.     

The Application of Flow Cytometry as a Rapid and Sensitive Screening Method to Detect Contamination of Vitreous Humor Samples and Avoid Miscalculation of the Postmortem Interval

Research into maximizing the speed, precision, and reliability of estimating the postmortem interval (PMI) has been a recurring object of investigation and methodologies based on the vitreous humor (VH) have provided good results. However, contamination from causes not readily apparent, such as blood, can occur, and thus lead not only to an erroneous estimation of PMI, but also interfere with the correct identification of other substances in the VH. We have developed a flow cytometry method which quantifies blood contamination and is able to detect erythrocytes in 1:750,000 dilution of contaminated VH which affects the results of hypoxanthine. It is an improvement on the previous more complex mass spectrometry method, being faster, more sensitive, and readily available. As such, it could be proposed for the rapid screening of appropriate samples by detecting and eliminating blood contaminated samples from PMI estimation.     

快速PCR扩增检验体系的建立及技术指标验证

目的建立PCR快速扩增程序和体系,并对其技术指标进行验证。方法运用快速扩增酶Fast Start与DNA TyperTM15 plus primer mix组合并优化建立快速扩增体系,对50份静脉血卡和35份案例检材提取的DNA进行扩增,并对体系检测结果的准确性、稳定性和检材适应性进行验证;采用不同稀释浓度的标准品9947,采用快速扩增方法进行检测,验证体系的灵敏度。结果模板DNA浓度达到0.50ng/μL,采用快速扩增体系可能获得准确分型;扩增耗时仅为69min,比常规扩增方法明显缩短;不同种类检材,经检测均获得良好分型图谱,同一份样本重复实验结果一致、稳定。结论本文建立的快速扩增体系可显著提升检测速率,其灵敏度、准确性、稳定性、检材适用性等技术性能,可满足实际检验的需求。     

澳大利亚新警招募和培训新情况

近年来,随着澳大利亚城市罪案发生率呈不断上升趋势,为了更好地保护民众、打击犯罪,澳大亚警方对新警招募工作做出了相应的重大调整。澳大利亚新警招募和培训的新做法,对我国新警招募及培训工作具有借鉴意义。     

Covenant of Mayors: Reasons for Being an Environmentally and Energy Friendly Municipality

The Covenant of Mayors (CM) is the mainstream European movement involving local authorities who voluntarily commit to increase energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources within their territories with the aim of reducing CO₂ emissions and meet the European Union objectives by 2020. One country that has a greater number of signatories of this agreement is Spain. This article analyzes which factors influence the decision of Spanish local authorities to join the ever‐growing movement. An empirical model is formulated to describe the behavior of Spanish local governments, this being a binary choice model which is a function of various political, economic, and technical factors. Among the prominent factors that influence this decision are population, availability of renewable energy, fiscal and environmental stress, citizens’ political preference, the contagion effect of neighboring municipalities, the existence of covenant coordinators, and finally, economic motivations.     

构建和谐社会要重视社团作用的发挥

构建社会主义和谐社会是一项伟大的社会主义事业,需要各个领域各种社会力量的共同努力。在和谐社会构建中,我们应改变传统对社团作用的认识,重视并最大限度地发挥社团在构建和谐社会中的作用,把和谐社会建设好。     

关于深化工会维权职能的思考

新形势下工会组织能否切实履行和深化维权职能,关键在于是否具有全方位的维权机制,工会干部是否具有较高的认知度和较强的维权能力。