Ballot position and election results: New evidence from a natural experiment

It is well-known that candidates listed first on the ballot paper tend to receive more votes than other candidates. However, experimental studies that confirm this truism mostly stem from first-past-the-post systems. Do we also find ballot position effects in PR systems where voters may vote for a party instead of a specific candidate? We investigate a natural experiment in Danish national elections involving more than 9,000 candidates on almost 100 different ballot papers. Our findings show that ballot positions, indeed, have a causal effect on election results in PR systems. Since Danish national elections constitute a least-likely case, our findings indicate that ballot position effects are much more empirically relevant than suggested by existing research.     

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.     

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms,Relationship Adjustment,and Relationship Aggression in a Sample of Female Flood Victims

This study tested a model examining the interrelationships among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, intimate relationship adjustment, and intimate relationship aggression in a sample of 205 adult female flood victims. At the bivariate level, higher PTSD symptoms were associated with higher physical and psychological aggression victimization, poorer relationship adjustment, and higher physical and psychological aggression perpetration. Results from structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses indicated that relationship aggression victimization influenced aggression perpetration directly, and in the case of physical aggression, indirectly through its relationship with PTSD symptoms and relationship adjustment. The influence of PTSD symptoms on physical aggression perpetration was fully explained by poorer relationship adjustment. These findings extend prior work from other traumatized populations documenting associations between variables reflecting PTSD symptomatology and indices of relationship functioning, and indicate a need for further investigation in this area of inquiry. This research was supported in part by a grant to Patricia A. Resick from the National Institute of Mental Health (1-R01-MH55542).     

欧洲统一市场的建立与对国家干预的规制

为了促进欧洲统一市场的建立,《欧共体条约》确定了竞争规则和自由流动规则,对成员国制定的不利于统一市场建立的政府干预措施,如授予公用企业独占权、给予国家援助、制定歧视性贸易措施、对私人破坏竞争的行为不作为等进行规制。在欧共体法院的有力保障下,这些规则在推动欧洲一体化进程中发挥了重要作用,特别是其中的竞争规则,因其具有中立、开放之品格而成为规范经济和政治关系、促进共同体市场建立的核心手段和"发动机"。     

北京地区汉族人群6个STR基因座的遗传多态性

目的对北京地区汉族人群遗传数据进行调查研究。方法利用PCR自动化检测技术检测中国北京地区汉族人群D1S1656,D10S2325,D11S2368,D12S391,D14S1434及GATA198B05共6个STR基因座的遗传多态性,获得6个STR基因座的群体遗传学数据,评价其法医学应用价值。结果6个STR基因座的个体鉴别力（Discrimination power,DP）在0．9777-0．8769之间,多态性信息含量（Polymorphism information content,PIC）在0．6867-0．8801之间,杂合度（Heterozygosity,H）在0．7219～O．8684之间,非父排除率（Probability of paternity exclusion,PE）在0．4456-0．6793之间,累积个体鉴别力为0．99999997,累积非父排除率为0．995765192。结论6个STR基因座等位基因频率分布均匀,多态性高,适用于法医学亲子鉴定及个人识别,可作为现有基因座的补充。     

Analysis of AmpFlSTR MiniFiler™ loci and its forensic application

The allele frequencies of eight MiniFiler™ loci have been analyzed in 101 Japanese individuals living in Kanagawa with informed consent by means of ABI 310 Genetic Analyzer. A total of 7 alleles for D13S317, 8 alleles for D7S820, 11 alleles for D2S1338, 11 alleles for D21S11, 5 alleles for D16S539, 14 alleles for D18S51, 8 alleles for CSF1PO, and 13 alleles for FGA were observed. The polymorphic profiles of these MiniFiler™ loci in the present study were essentially the same as those obtained by using the AmpFlSTR^® Identifiler^® PCR Amplification kit. The combined matching probability of eight MiniFiler™ loci and cumulative probability of paternity exclusion were estimated as 1.97 × 10⁻¹⁰ and 0.9996, respectively. The MiniFiler™ kit was useful for individual identification in forensic analysis.     

关于重点人口社会化管理的几点思考

随着社会发展环境的变化,公安机关重点人口管理呈现出社会性、流动性、信息化特点。当前公安机关做好重点人口管理工作,就是要克服思想观念、管控手段和管理职能不适应的问题,建立适应公安工作科学发展的重点人口社会化、信息化、职能化管理新机制。     

论流动人口管理服务工作的创新

新形势下,流动人口总量的增加,就业取向和区域分布上的变化,思想观念上的转变,都反映出流动人口的新特点。我们应当肯定流动人口在城市稳定与发展中具有积极作用,同时充分认识到流动人口给城市管理带来了不少问题,在流动人口管理服务工作上实行观念的转变。公安机关应当在党委和政府的领导下,推动资源整合,对流动人口实现有效的、创新的社会化管理。     

Identification and dating of the fountain pen ink entries on documents by ion-pairing high-performance liquid chromatography

A novel approach for the identification and dating of the fountain pen ink entries on paper has been established by ion-pairing high-performance liquid chromatography (IP-HPLC). Twelve black and six red fountain inks have been collected, and their ink entries have been prepared by drawing lines on paper. The chromatographic conditions for separation of their dye components after extraction with solvents were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the 18 fountain pen inks were differentiated individually by comparing the number of detectable main or minor dye components, and the relative peak intensities of each component. The ink entries were artificially and naturally aged, and the analysis results showed that the ink dye components were significantly decomposed when exposed to UV or fluorescent light compare to those of inks stored under natural condition. The changes of the relative peak height for the dye components were linearly related to the aging time, especially under natural aging conditions. The degradation characteristics of the dye components under different aging conditions provide scientific evidences for dating of the suspicious fountain pen ink entries on document.