Institutional constraints on cabinet formation: Veto points and party system dynamics

Research on government formation in parliamentary democracies has presented contradicting evidence on the role of political veto institutions and parliamentary polarization on the formation of cabinet types. Institutional rules may either provide significant leeway for political parties or seriously constrain them when forming sustainable coalitions. In contrast to previous studies we argue that the effect of political institutions is conditional on the degree of polarization in parliament. We test our hypotheses using original data on 842 cabinet formations in 33 advanced democracies between 1945–2018. In line with previous research, we find that the institutional rules have a pronounced effect on the type of cabinet formed, but that institutional rules moderate the effect of party system polarization. Thus, our findings provide important new insights on cabinet formation which are particularly relevant for today's increasingly polarized parliaments.     

Austerity is Strangling Europe

Because they have failed to address the fundamental economic imbalances within Europe obscured by the single currency, each effort by European leaders so far to resolve the euro crisis has only deepened it. Without a decisive move toward fiscal and political union, accompanied by policies that push productivity and competitiveness toward convergence while closing the democratic deficit, the Eurozone will disintegrate. To discuss the way forward, the Nicolas Berggruen Institute's Council on the Future of Europe met in Rome on May 28 with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. In this section we publish the contributions from that meeting by the former European leaders, scholars and Nobel laureates who are members of the Council.     

Nitrate and Nitrite Determination in Gunshot Residue Samples by Capillary Electrophoresis in Acidic Run Buffer,

Simultaneous determination of nitrate and nitrite in gunshot residue has been conducted by capillary electrophoresis using an acidic run buffer (pH 3.5). In previously developed capillary electrophoretic methods, alkaline pH separation buffers were used where nitrite and nitrate possess similar electrophoretic mobility. In this study, the electroosmotic flow has been reversed by using low pH running buffer without any additives. As a result of reversing the electroosmotic flow, very fast analysis has been actualized, well‐defined and separated ion peaks emerge in less than 4 min. Besides, the limit of detection was improved by employing large volume sample stacking. Limit of detection values were 6.7 and 4.3 μM for nitrate and nitrite, respectively. In traditional procedure, mechanical agitation is employed for extraction, while in this work the extraction efficiency of ultrasound mixing for 30 min was found sufficient. The proposed method was successfully applied to authentic gunshot residue samples.     

Trichobezoar in Vagina: Assessment for Child Sexual Abuse and Diagnostic Result of Forensic Science

Vaginal discharge and bleeding in children require a through and thoughtful evaluation to diagnose the underlying problem including infections, sexual abuse, and vaginal foreign bodies. We report a 6‐year‐old girl presenting with bloody vaginal discharge, carefully evaluated for sexual abuse, and finally diagnosed as a vaginal foreign body after vaginoscopy. A rolling hair ball was extracted from the vagina and was diagnosed as trichobezoar pathologically without any endo–ecto‐mesodermal residual tissue. The hair ball was genetically detected and diagnosed to belong herself by containing no foreign structure. Child sexual abuse was ruled out by forensic interview at CAC and report of forensic science that reported genetic structure belonging to the child. Medicolegal assessment helped in final diagnosis to exclude child sexual abuse.     

Han nation population in Shangdong province of china data for nine STR loci

Allele frequencies for nine STR loci (D3S1358, TH01, TPOX, CSF1PO, D16S539, D7S820, D2S1338, D8S1179, D18S535) were obtained from a sample of 100/86 unrelated healthy individual born in Shangdong province of China. chi(2)-Test indicated that the distribution of genotypes agreed with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.     

中国5个汉族群体PentaD和PentaE基因座的遗传多态性

目的研究PentaD、PentaE基因座在中国广西、湖南、河南、四川、台湾汉族5个群体遗传多态性,比较它们之间的遗传学差异。方法用ProwerPlex(?)16 System荧光标记试剂盒(Promega公司)检测其多态性。结果PentaD、PentaE基因座在5个群体共646名无关个体中分别检出10、19个等位基因,PentaD在湖南汉族首次检出等位基因19。PentaE在河南汉族首次检出等位基因7。PentaD和PentaE在各群体的期望杂合度分别为0.7746～0.8047和0.9005-0.9219,多态信息含量(PIC)为0.7710～0.8025和0.8969-0.9176,个体识别率为0.9223-0.9341和0.9471-0.9782,非父排除率(PE)为0.5435-0.6325和0.6785-0.8465。结论PentaD、PentaE是高度多态性STR基因座,在法医学中有重要应用价值。     

加快农业科技创新推进现代农业发展

技术进步是发展现代农业的决定力量,推进现代农业发展就必须下大力气加快农业科技创新步伐。本文根据现代农业发展的需求提出了农业科技创新的重点领域和加快农业科技创新的对策建议。     

新时代曙光下刑法理论的反思与展望——2006刑法理论国际研讨会综述

我们正处在一个以全球化为基本特征,以“以人为本,和谐社会”为内在要求和历史使命的新时代,这一时代背景要求我们对我国现有的刑法理论进行反思和批判,以进一步推动刑法改革,重构各国的刑法制度和刑法理论。     

Introduction: market adaptations,interventions and daily experience

This special issue illuminates diverse realities of post-Soviet development in Central Asia through a multidisciplinary prism. The contributing articles are grounded in a range of social science disciplines including architecture, anthropology and geography, as well as drawing from mainstream social sciences. The analyses demonstrate how a synthesis of specialist knowledge from area studies and individual disciplinary methodologies can provide well-grounded critical positions on development.