English Question or Union Question? Neither has Easy Answers

While devolution has provided a stronger political voice for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since the late 1990s, it is only in the past few years that English public opinion appears to have become exercised by the lack of similar arrangements for England. The renewed debates over the character of the Union after the Scottish independence referendum reveal a desire for ‘fair treatment’ of England within a Union conceived as a partnership of equals. At the same time, numerous proposals have been made for devolution of power within England, reflecting long‐held concerns about the territorial hegemony of London. Solutions to the former issue include English votes for English laws and an English Parliament. Solutions to the latter include city‐regions, strengthened local government, the first of these appears to be the government's preferred route, in the light of the recent ‘Greater Manchester Agreement’. However, none of these ‘solutions’ can count on being implemented.     

Combination of Face Regions in Forensic Scenarios

This article presents an experimental analysis of the combination of different regions of the human face on various forensic scenarios to generate scientific knowledge useful for the forensic experts. Three scenarios of interest at different distances are considered comparing mugshot and CCTV face images using MORPH and SC face databases. One of the main findings is that inner facial regions combine better in mugshot and close CCTV scenarios and outer facial regions combine better in far CCTV scenarios. This means, that depending of the acquisition distance, the discriminative power of the facial regions change, having in some cases better performance than the full face. This effect can be exploited by considering the fusion of facial regions which results in a very significant improvement of the discriminative performance compared to just using the full face.     

Design and Test of an Index to Measure the Capability of Cities in Latin America to Create Knowledge-Based Enterprises

An index has been created, based on the experience of a prior version tested in 5 cities in Chile, and from an extensive literature search. Its purpose is to rank cities in Latin America on their capability to create knowledge-based enterprises, in a way that is understandable by stakeholders, motivates action and facilitates diagnosis. The index consists of 7 groups of 50 variables (knowledge, innovation, entrepreneurship, business foundation, cultural framework, creative magnetism and entrepreneurial management). All variables are measured by numerical data from secondary sources. The index is tested for feasibility and cost-effectiveness in one city, Santiago. It is concluded that data limitations will require the use of survey techniques, including survey of perceptions, for about 1/3 of the variables to increase accuracy and generate a more meaningful information for future analysis. Various directions for future research are suggested.     

西北地区封建金融的衰败和近代金融雏形的产生

近代以来，由于西北地处偏僻，资本主义和近代经济发展缓慢，直到20世纪20年代，封建金融依然占统治地位，在维系西北地区封建经济运转中发挥着重要作用。进入20世纪以后，与近代银行有某些相似之处的新式金融才开始萌生。     

松花江以北地区日侨俘遣返始末

松花江以北中共控制区日侨俘的遣返,是东北日侨俘遣返的重要组成部分。日本战败后,松花江以北地区滞留的日侨俘20余万人等待遣返。为顺利地完成遣侨,国共美三方多次会商,签订《遣送东北中共管制区日人之协定书》。东北民主联军以认真负责的态度,采取各种有效措施,做好遣侨工作,从1946年8月20日至10月初,共遣返日侨俘18万余人。这一善举体现了中华民族的博大胸怀和中国人民的人道主义精神。     

A database of mitochondrial DNA hypervariable regions I and II sequences of individuals from Slovakia

In order to identify polymorphic positions and to determine their frequencies and the frequency of haplotypes in the human mitochondrial control region, two hypervariable regions (HV1 and HV2) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 374 unrelated individuals from Slovakia were amplified and sequenced. Sequence comparison led to the identification of 284 mitochondrial lineages as defined by 163 variable sites. Genetic diversity (GD) was estimated at 0.997 and the probability of two randomly selected individuals from population having identical mtDNA types (random match probability, RMP) for the both regions is 0.60%.     

地方民族立法基本问题刍议

在《重庆市实施<中华人民共和国民族区域自治法>办法》起草和修订过程中,通过对我国地方民族立法的几个基本问题的思考和探索,各方面达成了比较一致的认识,进一步明确了地方民族立法的目的,其法律和政策参照依据,地方民族立法的基本形式,以及地方民族立法中权利与义务对等的问题。     

话语创新与思维创新--我国落后地区全面建设小康社会的"话语"分析

全面建设小康社会战略目标的提出为经济文化相对落后的地区提供了极为宝贵的发展机遇,除具有重大的政治、经济意义外,不可低估它所产生的"话语"价值及思维创新意蕴。创新内在地包含了话语创新,而只有实现了话语创新,才能使发展的理性认识融入人们现实的实践,发挥"话语""以言行事"的功能。     

我国西部地区新型城镇化发展路径探索

快速发展的新型城镇化,正在成为中国经济增长和社会发展的强大引擎。国内外不同的区域有不同的城镇化发展模式,加速我国西部地区新型城镇化进程,要根据西部地区独特的地理位置、自然环境和经济社会发展状况,从人口转移、产业发展、社区建设和生态文明等方面选择具有西部地区特色的城镇化发展路径,推动整个社会走上生产发展、生活富裕、生态良好的文明发展道路。     

Domestic European Union Coordination and Interest Group Mobilization in Three Member States: Looking Beyond the Formal Mechanisms

One conclusion in the literature on domestic European Union (EU) coordination is that the formal institutional properties of countries—devolved versus centralized or unitary—affect the nature of coordination practices. Basically, the view has emerged that domestic coordination is a largely bureaucratic process in which political control mechanisms remain relatively weak. Instead of only looking at public authorities and their formal networks, this article relies on a data set that allows us to analyse informal political-administrative networks and look at how societal interests mobilize and target policymakers in order to shape the position governments defend at the EU level. One of our conclusions is that despite devolution in Belgium, its intergovernmental coordination shows a considerable level of network centralization, even when compared to unitary countries such as France and the Netherlands, meaning that there are large differences between the three states with respect to the connectedness of the actors involved.