公众参与与行政法治

The public participation and the system of the People’s Congress constitute a basic mode of China’s modern democracy. This article first analyzes the lessons from the development of public participatory democracy since the founding of People’s Republic of China, especially those related to the promotion of public participation and the establishment of rule of law in administration and constitutionalism, then, and study the strategic value and potential risks of public participation to the development of human society, the necessity and channels of law protection on public participation. At last, it discusses the trend of public participatory democracy in the environment of globalization and informationization, and its impact on the reconstruction in respect of administrative rule of law and constitutionalism.     

Are Shelter Workers Burned Out?: An Examination of Stress,Social Support,and Coping

Job stress, perceived social support, coping self-efficacy, and coping strategies were studied as predictors of emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment among a sample of 123 female shelter workers. Overall, these workers did not meet the collective criteria for burnout as defined by Maslach and Jackson (1986) and perceived social support and coping strategies did not account for unique variance in the prediction of emotional exhaustion and reduced personal accomplishment. Rather, high levels of time pressure and low levels of self-efficacy for being productive at work were identified as predictors of emotional exhaustion. Personal accomplishment was predicted by time pressure and robust levels of self-efficacy for dealing with stressors at work. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 109th annual convention of the American Psychological Association. This paper is based on the Masters thesis of Lisa M. Baker and the undergraduate honors thesis of Nazish Salahuddin, both completed under the direction of Karen M. O’Brien. Gratitude is extended to Christel Nichols and to the crisis workers who participated in this study.     

The expanding galaxy of performing arts: extending theories and questioning practices

This paper introduces the Special Issue on the languages of performing arts and is therefore aimed at designing how the context of the latter can be illuminated by socio-semiotic and multimodal approaches to communication. In this Special Issue, performances and performing arts are described as multimodal semiotic acts that co-deploy a range of semiotic resources to produce and construct meanings across different cultures and ages. Seen as dynamic and interactive processes of meaning-making, their analysis calls for new and multidisciplinary frameworks which are collected in this Special Issue. The introduction gives an overview of these papers and discusses their range of diverse phenomena, both live and recorded, including theatre performances and films, art installations, opera, as well as reading out aloud. By outlining the significance and contribution of different disciplines and fields of studies to the broad area of performance studies, the chapter argues the case for innovative approaches that can extend theories and analyse aesthetic and performative practices in context. With the help of some case studies, it provides guidelines for the reading and interpretation of the several theoretical discussions and practical case studies presented to encourage further multidisciplinary research on these domains.     

Cutaneous (tPA) and Skeletal (TnI) mRNA as Markers of Aging in Contused Wound

Wound age estimation is one of the most important forensic aspects. Troponin I (TnI) and many cytokines, for example, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), are involved in wound inflammation and healing. Skeletal (TnI) and cutaneous (tPA) mRNA was detected using real‐time PCR in 25 female albino rats. They were divided into 5 groups: control and 4 injured groups. Injured groups were sacrificed 1, 6, 24, and 30 h after inflicting contused wound. The expression levels of cutaneous (tPA) were decreased significantly at 1, 6, and 30 h after contusion (71.7%, 30.7 and 16.9%), while the expression levels of skeletal (TnI) were increased significantly at 1 and 6 h post‐traumatic, then they gradually decreased until reaching normal levels at 24 h and assumed significantly lower levels at 30 h postcontusion. These results suggested that the determination of cutaneous (tPA) and skeletal (TnI) mRNA levels was useful for wound age estimation.     

The South African Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992 Read with the South African Criminal Law Amendment Act 105 of 1997: An Example of a <Emphasis Type="Italic">One Size Fits All</Emphasis> Punishment?

Trafficking in drugs is a global problem. The legal response to the challenge of trafficking in drugs is found in harsh penalties usually founded in direct imprisonment for extended periods of time. The worldwide trend towards imprisoning drug traffickers, and indeed drug users, is mimicked in South Africa. This submission examines the sentencing or penal effects of the drug Nyaope, which was included in Schedule I and II of the South African Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act 140 of 1992 (Hereinafter the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act.), in 2014. The effect of the inclusion is that Nyaope users and traffickers are now punished in the same manner as any other traffickers namely, through direct imprisonment. This submission argues that the inclusion of Nyaope and the resultant effect on sentencing is an example of net widening and results all too often in a one size fits all (The phrase ‘One size fits all’ literally describes commercial products tailored for suitability in all instances. It has since extended to describing effects of methods and measures upon applications, hence its adoption in several fields interpretations including law. As a legal term it differentiates general understanding of the application of particular principles to specific practical application. For example, in multilateral trade, it is used to analyse a perspective inscribing commonness in an uncommon or uncompetitive circumstance such as in the rationale behind the imposition of limitations on special and differential treatment principles for developing and least developed countries against developed countries. This article uses this phrase to argue that although the traditionally harsh sentences fit drug traffickers this is not always the case, especially where perpetrators are victims of drug abuse. For literal interpretation, see http://dictionary.cambridge.org/CambridgeDictionaries and http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/one-size-fits-all. For multilateral trade legal perspective, refer to M.M.M. Monyakane, Special and Differential Treatment under the World Trade Organisation (WTO) with Specific Reference to the Application of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, Dissertation in partial fulfillment of the LLM degree in Mercantile Law, University of the Free State South Africa http://etd.uovs. ac.za/ETD-db/theses/available/etd-09132006-92208/unrestricted/MonyakaneMMME. pdf 2005,75; as well as S. Michael, ‘One Size Fits All’ An Idea Whose Time Has Come and Gone Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE 2005) 1084-4627, who explains this concept from a different professional perspective.) approach to the sentencing of drug users and traffickers. This submission uses the previous American practice of using a grid system of sentencing to demonstrate that the inclusion of Nyaope in the Schedules of the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act has reduced sentencing discretion in a manner not conducive with the limitation clause. The paper argues that the South African approach at present faces the same challenges faced by American courts under the previous grid system of sentencing. The submission argues that the South African approach to sentencing Nyaope users should reflect the principle of fairness and not use an approach which treats all drug traffickers as one and the same for purposes of sentencing.     

An integrated exploration of factors associated with psychological distress among older prisoners

This paper compares the contributions of socio-demographic, health, mental health, social and environmental factors in explaining variations in psychological distress among older prisoners in two Australian states. One hundred and seventy-three prisoners (aged 50+ ) from 8 Australian prisons were interviewed using the Kessler Psychological Distress (K10) Scale. Three regression analyses were conducted to compare different models of 14 variables significantly associated with psychological distress. Independent variables most prominently associated with variations in psychological distress among older inmates were self-reported levels of social support, self-reported safety and ease of health care access. Difficulties in the built environment and mental health history were significantly explanatory of variations in older prisoner distress in two of the three models. The findings suggest that modifiable situational factors evident in current prison contexts are reasonably explanatory of variations in prisoner distress among older inmates.