Candidates' Ideological Locations,Abstention, and Turnout in U.S. Midterm Senate Elections

Many spatial models of voting suggest that citizens are more likely to abstain when they feel indifferent toward the candidates or alienated from them. In presidential elections, previous research offers evidence that alienation and indifference affect individuals' probabilities of voting. We find evidence that indifference and alienation also affect the decision to vote in midterm Senate elections, a context not previously explored. These individual-level effects imply that candidates' ideological locations should influence aggregate turnout by affecting the proportions of citizens who feel indifferent toward or alienated from the candidates. Our aggregate-level analysis supports this (at least in contests featuring two previous and/or future members of Congress). Our findings underscore the importance of the electoral context for understanding citizen behavior and suggest that elections featuring at least one centrist candidate may be normatively appealing since they stimulate participation.     

Interstate Cooperation: The Roles of the State Attorneys General

State attorneys general are major participants in intergovernmentalrelations in the United States. This article presents six modelsthat may explain their interactions with each other and teststhree hypotheses associated with two models. Their interactionscomport with the cooperative and the innovation-diffusion models.Only limited evidence supports the hostility model and its associatedhypothesis. No evidence supports the mercantilist and competitivemodels. The response from only one attorney general suggestedhis actions are based on the benign neglect model. The conclusionis drawn that the cooperative activities of the attorneys generalhave produced a more harmonious federal system in terms of enforcementpolicies.     

中西方新闻写作模式的几个不同特点

在不同的文化背景中,新闻的写作模式往往体现出某些不同的特点。中西方新闻写作模式的差异一是表现在不同的思维方式上,中国记者比较偏重于抽象思维,而西方记者更善于形象思维。二是西方新闻记者较少采用陈述的表达方式,而注重对新闻事实的表现。他们在写作中多采用细节描写来增强新闻的可读性,善于通过形象化的比喻使新闻富有情趣,善于通过一系列动词的运用,把新闻人物、新闻事件写活,从而塑造鲜明生动的形象。通过借鉴、吸收西方新闻写作技巧,有利于我们突破固有的写作模式,进一步提高新闻的传播效果,充分实现新闻的价值和功能。     

人肺癌中TNF-α基因多态性分布的意义及其对细胞凋亡的影响

目的:观察TNF-α基因启动子区-308位核苷酸多态性基因型在肺癌和对照人群中的分布,以及这种多态性对该基因表达和细胞凋亡的影响。方法:PER-RFLP分析112例肺癌和99例正常人的TNF-α基因启动子区-308位核苷酸多态性,TNF-α-308*G等位基因记做TNF-α1,TNF-α-308*A等位基因记做TNF- α2。免疫组织化学方法检测肺癌组织中TNF-α的表达,比较不同基因型肺癌病例的标本之间TNF-α基因表达的差异性。TUNEL法检测肺癌组织中细胞凋亡,并对比分析TNF-α-308位核苷酸多态性及其对肺癌组织中TNF -α表达和不同类型细胞凋亡的影响。结果:肺癌组与对照组的基因型分布为TNF-α1/1(52．7％、46．5％)。 TNF-α1/2(35．7％、48．5％),TNF-α2／2(11．6％、5．1％);等位基因频率为TNF-α1(70．5％、70．7％),TNF- α2(29．5％、29．3％),组间没有显著性差异,P>0．05。两种基因型个体在TNF-α基因表达上,TNF-α2/2基因型个体高于TNF-α1／1基因型的个体,两者差异显著,P<0．01。TNF-α表达的高低与癌细胞凋亡有比较明确的关系,TNF-α表达高的病例,肺癌细胞凋亡也多,与表达低的病例之间有明显差异,P<0．01。TNF-α表达的高低与间质细胞凋亡之间没有明确的关系。间质细胞平均凋亡指数在高、低分化的肺癌中分别为3．4±0．4和 3．1±0．5,组间没有显著性差异,P>0．015;癌细胞的平均凋亡指数在高、低分化的肺癌中分别为2．4±0．3和 1．7±0．4,两组间有显著性差异,P<0．05,,结论:TNF-α-308位核苷酸的多态性基因型在肺癌和正常人中的分布之间没有明显差别,这种多态性可能不是肺癌易感的遗传因素。但这种多态性与该基因的表达有关。TNF-α高表达肺癌细胞凋亡较多,间质细胞凋亡与TNF-α表达的高低变化之间没有明确的关系。在高分化的肺癌中, TNF-α表达较高,癌细胞凋亡也多,TNF-α-308位核苷酸的多态性可能与了肺癌的分化有关。     

Information Asymmetry and the Financial Consumer Protection Policy

As complex structure of financial products severely limits consumers' understanding and causes an information asymmetry, the need to protect financial consumers has been a target of heated debates. This study designs a game theory-based model and presents that the reason behind an inadequate advisory service by financial institutions is a combination of consumers' poor financial literacy and sellers' abuse of such weakness to pursue their own profits. Our model shows that when there is information asymmetry on both product characteristics and investment preference of financial consumers, having competing companies that offer substitute products is not enough to ensure a proper advisory service. Two measures may be considered to address this issue. The first measure would be voluntary market efforts to strengthen financial consumer's literacy and self-regulatory mechanism. The second measure would be to step up administrative regulations on financial product sellers in both ex-ante and ex-post mechanisms.     

黑社会性质组织犯罪的立法完善

《刑法修正案(八)》对黑社会性质组织犯罪做了重大修改,对黑社会性质组织犯罪(即"反黑三罪")以及与黑社会性质组织相关的强迫交易罪、寻衅滋事罪、敲诈勒索罪等罪名进行了立法完善,这对于加大打击黑社会组织犯罪力度,完善刑罚措施起了重要作用。     

Fame and Fortress

正Fujian architectural sites see resurgence In the mountainous regions of southeast China lie collections of immense circular compounds, once mistakenly identified in aerial reconnaissance photographs as UFO's or missile silos. Their novel design first attracted architects, and has now found an audience among China's many tourists. Known as "earthen buildings," or tulou in Mandarin, the fortresses are made of packed mud, sand, and clay, fortified on the inside