Contributors

Abstract

Socioeconomic data supplied by the FBI on the backgrounds of 280 known right‐ and left‐wing terrorists active in the United States during the late 1960s and early 1970s was tabulated. Isolating for right‐left affiliation, membership status, and gender, seven variables were examined and used to confirm prevailing assumptions regarding the socioeconomic status of right‐ versus left‐wing terrorists active during this period. Findings support clear socioeconomic differences between right‐wing and left‐wing terrorists and emphasize the dominant position of women within left‐wing organizations. Surprising evidence revealed that considerable class differences exist within right‐wing groups between rank‐and‐file members and the leadership core.     

Chinese influence,U.S. linkages,or neither? Comparing regime changes in Myanmar and Thailand

This study examines the potential influence of foreign linkages on regime outcomes by comparing Myanmar and Thailand. Linkages with the West are supposed to facilitate democratization, whereas those with autocracies usually promote regime survival. This study focuses on Myanmar and Thailand’s linkages with the U.S. and China, which at first sight seem to demonstrate the hypothesized effects. Myanmar gradually liberalized while strengthening its Western linkages, whereas Thailand experienced democratic breakdown amid a shift in alignment from the U.S. to China. However, in-depth analysis suggests that the influence of foreign linkages on domestic political change was minimal and that the relationship may very well be endogenous. The findings of this study call for a more careful theorization and handling of the external factors in studies of regime change and highlight the importance of simultaneously analyzing democratic and autocratic linkages.     

美国各州监听立法研究

美国有联邦监听法律法规,但各州也根据自己的立法权制定了一些本州的监听法。宪法虽然为美国人权、隐私权提供了有效的保护伞,但自9.11以后,《美国爱国者法案》赋予了美国总统特权,监听扩权问题甚嚣尘上。但联邦层面上对监听问题的监督相对完善,对此的介绍也频见报端,但对各州监听立法的研究却鲜有所见。文章比较详尽地介绍了美国各州的监听立法情况,披露了各州监听立法的内容、执法程序、监督机制等等都不尽如人意,权力监督不力、滥用情况比较普遍,以资我国监听立法借鉴。     

对一惩治贪污罪案例的解读与思考

贪污罪在西方和发达国家的刑法中不是必设罪名,有的国家把它写在财产罪里,作为侵占罪或者盗窃罪加以规定,有的国家把它作为侵占、贿赂等犯罪的概括性罪名。由于美国的法律渊源复杂,尤其判例法制度决定了法官拥有较大的审判自由裁量权,加之美国其他刑罚和刑事诉讼制度的特点,使该案法官得以作出非常规判决。该判决凸显代表当代刑罚改革潮流的诸多刑罚观念和司法理念,对完善我国惩治贪污罪的刑罚制度具有一定的启示与借鉴意义。     

科技在风险社会中的利益与风险分配——以转基因技术为视角

科技的发展促成了风险社会的形成。风险社会中的风险有着向下层聚集的特点。以转基因技术为例,在转基因商品化和产业化的过程中,利益被发达国家、跨国公司、生产企业和科学家等获得,而风险却集中在发展中国家的普通消费者尤其是农民身上。根据可持续发展原则,在科技发展中,利益集团有能力也有义务承担更多风险,并在保障普通大众的基本权益不受损害的前提下,优先考虑大众的利益。     

柔嫩艾美球虫pEtK2抗原基因的克隆表达及其表达产物的抗原性分析

应用RT-PCR技术从纯化的柔嫩艾美球虫孢子化卵囊子孢子中克隆了pEtK2抗原基因,并进行了原核表达和抗原性分析,同时用MTT法检测了重组蛋白对球虫耐过鸡淋巴细胞的刺激效果。结果显示,克隆的pEtK2基因全长1464 bp,具有一个完整的开放阅读框,编码487个氨基酸,具有多个T细胞表位。重组蛋白诱导5 h后表达量最多,分子质量约55 ku,占菌体总蛋白的32%。纯化的重组蛋白能够刺激球虫耐过鸡T淋巴细胞增殖,可作为球虫基因工程疫苗或DNA疫苗的候选基因。     

RNA干扰技术及其在寄生线虫基因功能研究中的应用

介绍了RNA干扰(RNAi)的概念、线虫中RNAi的作用机理、RNAi的三个分子特性,即可遗传性、转移性RNAi的放大效应和RNAi信号的传播特性。从模板dsRNA的获取、dsRNA的导入和线虫中RNAi效应的检测方法三个方面概述了应用RNAi技术研究线虫基因功能的试验方法和最新进展。     

Finding the missing and unknown: Novel educational approaches to warming up cold cases

In recent years, students in police academies and higher education institutions around the world have worked together to analyse cold cases including long-term missing persons cases in collaboration with investigators and prosecutors. In 2020, three European organisations, the Police Expert Network on Missing Persons (PEN-MP), AMBER Alert Europe and Locate International, succeeded in connecting these educational organisations enabling them to work collectively on cases and conduct cold case analyses (CCA) across international borders. The International Cold Case Analysis Project (ICCAP) learning objectives were to 1) collect the necessary information about the victim, 2) reconstruct the crime, and 3) investigate trace control.In a learning objective-based evaluation using Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing, 76 participating students from the German and International ICCAP teams were asked to complete a pre- and post-review questionnaire to self-assess their personal competence development. Participants reported significant increases in competence in all evaluated areas, thus demonstrating that authentic and relevant collaborations can enrich the learning environment, promote the use of professional skills, and provide significant knowledge exchange opportunities between academia and industry.Drawing on case studies of cold case missing persons' investigations and unidentified found remains, this article shares how university academics, students and community volunteers can work together nationally and internationally to find out what has happened to missing people and how we can more effectively identify the previously unidentified. In so doing, we share the expertise required to progress these cold cases and provide recommendations to support other institutions and organisations in adopting this innovative approach.     

First Steps Towards Hearts and Minds? USAID's Countering Violent Extremism Policies in Africa

The United States government has adopted new approaches to counter violent extremist organizations around the world. “Soft security” and development programs include focused educational training for groups vulnerable to terrorist recruitment, norm messaging through local radio programming, and job creation in rural communities. This article evaluates the effectiveness of one set of these multi-vectored, community-level programs through data from 200 respondents in two similar, neighboring towns in northern Mali, Africa. The data show that residents in Timbuktu who were exposed to the programming for up to five years displayed measurably altered civic behavior and listening patterns in comparison with their counterparts in the control town of Diré, which had no programming (controlling for potential covariates including age, ethnicity, and political and socioeconomic conditions). However, there was little measurable difference between the groups in terms of their cultural identities and attitudes towards the West. While this study is unable to definitively prove a causal connection between programming and behavioral outcomes, it nonetheless strongly suggests that the process of “winning hearts and minds” can be effective at certain levels but may require extended time and dedicated resources to generate higher-level results.     

Concordance Between the AmpFℓSTR® MiniFiler™ and AmpFℓSTR® Identifiler® PCR Amplification Kits in the Kuwaiti Population

Abstract:  The AmpFℓSTR^® MiniFiler™ polymerase chain reaction amplification kit, developed and supplied by Applied Biosystems, complements the AmpFℓSTR^® Identifiler^® polymerase chain reaction amplification kit (Applied Biosystems, Warrington, U.K.) by improving the success rate when profiling DNA that is degraded or contains inhibitors. Before applying the MiniFiler™ kit to casework, the profiles from 200 unrelated Kuwaitis were compared to Identifiler^® profiles. Concordance was observed for 99.875% (1598 of 1600) of the compared STR loci. The two discordant profiles displayed allelic dropout: one at the D13S317 locus due to nonamplification of allele 10 in the MiniFiler™ profile, and one at the D18S51 locus due to nonamplification of allele 18 in the Identifiler^® profile.