His master’s voice: H.L.A. Hart and Lacanian discourse theory

H.L.A. Hart’s jurisprudence seems antithetical to Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalysis. Professor Schroeder argues that, in fact, Hart’s concept of law has surprising similarities to Lacan’s ‘discourse of the Master’. Both reject a command theory of law: subjects do not obey law out of fear. Moreover, both insist that the authority of law is completely independent from its content. Anyone seeking to develop a psychoanalytically sophisticated critical legal theory should reconsider Hart. As insightful as his concept of the symbolic is, Lacan has no expertise in legal systems and does not discuss positive law per se. Although he posited a theory of ethics in his Seventh Seminar and the seeds of a jurisprudence are implicit within his theory, he offers no account of legal right, justice or what Hart misleadingly calls ‘morality’. A Lacanian jurisprudence must, therefore, be supplemented by other sources. Moreover, legal positivists should not dismiss psychoanalysis. As insightful as Hart’s jurisprudence is, his theories of legal subjectivity and linguistics are simplistic and his concept of law too narrow. He describes only one aspect of legal experience: obedience to law. He ignores what most legal actors do: Hart’s concept of law excludes the practice of law. Although Lacan’s ‘master’s discourse’ surprisingly parallels Hart’s jurisprudence, Lacan does not restrict the symbolic to the master’s discourse. It requires three other ‘discourses’. Lacan, therefore, supplements Hart. Specifically, Lacan’s fourth discourse describes the excluded practice of law and provides the mechanism by which ‘morality’ can critique law.

免疫程序与母源抗体对H5禽流感疫苗免疫鸭和鹅HI抗体水平的影响

对不同日龄与母源抗体水平的鸭和鹅,用H5亚型禽流感疫苗免疫后,其HI抗体消长情况进行了比较和观察,结果,初生水禽3日龄首免即可对禽流感疫苗(H5亚型)产生良好的免疫应答;雏鹅母源抗体几乎以每4d下降1个HI抗体效价单位的速度消退;母源抗体对H5禽流感疫苗免疫后的HI抗体水平存在一定的干扰作用;加强免疫鸭和鹅所产生的H5HI抗体水平及其维持时间与仅免疫一次的鸭和鹅所产生的抗体水平之间存在显著差异;鸭和鹅免疫H5禽流感疫苗后第25~30dH5HI抗体水平达到高峰。     

Development and validation of the AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR amplification kit: a male specific, single amplification 17 Y-STR multiplex system

In the past 5 years, there has been a substantial increase in the use of Y-short tandem repeat loci (Y-STRs) in forensic laboratories, especially in cases where typing autosomal STRs has met with limited success. The AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR amplification kit simultaneously amplifies 17 Y-STR loci including the loci in the "European minimal haplotype" (DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, and DYS393), the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) recommended Y-STR loci (DYS438 and DYS439), and the highly polymorphic loci DYS437, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, Y GATA H4, and DYS635 (formerly known as Y GATA C4). The Yfiler kit was validated according to the FBI/National Standards and SWGDAM guidelines. Our results showed that full profiles are attainable with low levels of male DNA (below 125 pg) and that under optimized conditions, no detectable cross-reactive products were obtained on human female DNA, bacteria, and commonly encountered animal species. Additionally, we demonstrated the ability to detect male specific profiles in admixed male and female blood samples at a ratio of 1:1000.     

Liberals and nationalism: E. H. Carr,Walter Lippmann and the Baltic States from 1918 to 1944

The Baltic states were among the ‘new’ states that were created after the First World War; they were the only states to lose their sovereignty during the Second World War. Most historians explain the birth and demise of the Baltic states in terms of their relative strength vis-à-vis the great powers. This article places the short-lived independence of the Baltic states into the perspective of intellectual history by focusing on two Western thinkers: E. H. Carr and Walter Lippmann. The analysis assumes that ideas matter in international politics. It adds to our understanding of the forces that led to the creation and later to the extinction of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the period of the two world wars.     

A note on the optimality of (even more) incomplete strict liability

This paper starts from the premise that liability is incomplete and establishes that firms may nevertheless invest excessively in care. This may justify a (further) reduction in the level of liability from a social standpoint, thereby arguing against seeking to approach full compensation as close as possible. In our framework, firms are liable under product liability, but also invest in care to prevent consumers’ switching to competitors. Affecting the partition of consumers by means of care-taking is not desirable from a social standpoint. Consequently, it may be optimal to reduce liability below a given level of incomplete compensation in order to adjust firms’ care incentives.     

H9N2禽流感病毒HA2基因重组杆状病毒的表达

从pMD18-T-HA阳性质粒扩增了H9N2亚型禽流感病毒的HA2基因,将扩增到的 HA2基因克隆至昆虫杆状病毒转移载体pBlueBacHis2A中。将其与杆状病毒共转染于Sf9昆虫细胞,经蚀斑筛选纯化重组杆状病毒,用其感染Sf9昆虫细胞,并优化表达条件。SDS-PAGE和 Western-blotting分析表明,表达产物的分子质量约为27 ku。Dot-ELISA分析表明,表达的HA2 融合蛋白可与鸡抗H9N2亚型血清发生特异性反应,而与H5和H7亚型抗血清间无交叉反应。     

Idleness,Usefulness and Self-Constitution

Abstract

The core argument of the paper is that the modern philosophical notion of self-constitution is directed against the prospect of human beings dissolving into idleness. Arguments for self-constitution are marked by non-philosophical presuppositions about the value of usefulness. Those arguments also assume a particular conception of superior experience as conscious integration of a person’s actions within an identifiable set of chosen commitments. Exploring particular arguments by Hegel, Kant, Korsgaard and Frankfurt the paper claims that those arguments are problematic in the various ways in which they suppose usefulness and explicitly or implicitly take extra-philosophical views of idleness.     

EARNEST A. HOOTON AND THE BIOLOGICAL TRADITION IN AMERICAN CRIMINOLOGY*

Biological explanations shaped criminology at its inception, and today they are reemerging with fresh vigor and increased potential. But many criminologists do not understand how biological theories developed, what they contributed to criminology generally and where they went astray. This paper focuses on the work of Earnest A. Hooton, whose criminological studies, published in 1939, met with decidedly mixed reviews but were nonetheless discussed for decades in criminological textbooks. Information about a now half‐forgotten and misunderstood figure like Hooton, in addition to being useful in and of itself, contributes to the history of criminology as a discipline—a project essential to the field's ultimate maturity. It helps build a history of criminological knowledge.