DNA typing and forensic science

With new typing techniques forensic scientists can characterise individuals at the fundamental level of their DNA. Variation between individuals at this level can be used to discriminate between them. Why this is so and how it is achieved is described in relatively simple terms for legal and medical practitioners who have no formal training in genetics.     

A Participant Evaluation of the U.S. Navy Parent Support Program

This study reports on the results of a program evaluation of the U.S. Navy New Parent Support Program (NPSP). NPSP is composed of two components: center-based parenting classes and home-based visits. Data are presented on: (a) satisfaction with program quality, (b) how well the program met its primary objectives (e.g., helps reduce parenting stress), (c) how well the NPSP met its Reasons for Being (RFBs; e.g., Helps service members concentrate on their job), and (d) program impact on mission-related outcomes (i.e., quality of life (QOL), readiness, and program impact on their decision to remain in the military). Results indicate that parents who take part in both the parenting classes and home-based visits report that the program exceeded their expectations, the program improved their perceptions of their parenting and coping skills, they perceived that the program demonstrated the Navy's concern for Sailors and their families, and the program enhanced the family's quality of life. Implications of study findings are discussed.

The FIRRE Act and Housing for Low-Income Families

During the 1980s, federal government real, direct expendituresfor low-income housing increased modestly, budget authorityfor future housing spending fell dramatically, and subsidiesshifted from primarily construction to tenant aid. These changesreflect the delicate balance struck between Reagan's "decentralizedfederalism" as it applied to low-income housing and the muchmore pro-active, centralized positions often advocated by theCongress. Although Congress did not win the budget battle, itdid add new resources to low-income housing in less direct ways.One of those less direct initiatives is the low-income housingprograms contained in FIRREA, which add both money and institutionsto the delivery of housing services for the poor. This articleevaluates these new FIRREA programs in expanding the supplyof housing for the poor. The article concludes that their successwill largely depend on the ability of the low-income housingdelivery system to integrate these new institutions and joinwith them in an active partnership to make efficient use ofthese new housing resources.     

The Rise of Chinese Power and the Implications for the Regional Security Order

This article examines the reach of China's growing economic and military power in East Asia. It examines the economic and military sources of the rise of China and the implications of the development of Chinese strategic influence on the Korean Peninsula and across the Taiwan Strait. It also considers where in East Asia China has yet to develop greater coercive or deterrent military capabilities, so that the strategic status quo in this area persists, thus establishing the regional strategic boundaries of the rise of China and the emerging U.S.-China great power order in East Asia.     

Four Comprehensive Pillars of Xisms

At the end of 2014,Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the strategic layout of the Four Comprehensives—comprehensively building a moderately prosperous society,deepening reform,advancing the rule of law,and strictly governing the Communist Party of China.Later,the new guideline for development became the overall framework for the current leadership’s work and has aroused interest at home and abroad.From Issue No.17 published on April 23,Beijing Review has put forth a series of commentaries by foreign researchers commissioned by Renmin University of China’s Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies.This is the last commentary of the series,presented here in abridged form.