The effectiveness of NGO self‐regulation: theory and evidence from Africa

Non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) play an increasingly important role in public service provision and policy making in sub‐Saharan Africa, stimulating demand for new forms of regulatory oversight. In response, a number of initiatives in NGO self‐regulation have emerged. Using cross‐national data on 20 African countries, the article shows that self‐regulation in Africa falls into three types: national‐level guilds, NGO‐led clubs and voluntary codes of conduct. Each displays significant weaknesses from a regulatory policy perspective. National guilds have a broad scope, but require high administrative oversight capacity on the part of NGOs. Voluntary clubs have stronger standards but typically have much weaker coverage. Voluntary codes are the most common form of self‐regulation, but have the weakest regulatory strength. This article argues that the weakness of current attempts to improve the accountability and regulatory environment of NGOs stems in part from a mismatch between the goals of regulation and the institutional incentives embedded in the structure of most self‐regulatory regimes. The article uses the logic of collective action to illustrate the nature of this mismatch and the tradeoffs between the potential breadth and strength of various forms of NGO self‐regulation using three detailed case studies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

趋势面拟合在机场噪声监测评价中的应用

机场周围飞机噪声的噪声级LWECPN数据来自网格布点监测,这些数据可视为连续曲面上的离散点。寻求利用有限的监测数据,拟合机场周围飞机噪声影响区域内噪声级的曲面分布,根据噪声级精确度允许误差的要求,采用统计检验的方法,确定拟合函数模型的精确度,从而得到机场周围飞机噪声的噪声级等值线分布图。     

死后不同时间大鼠心肌膈肌β肌动蛋白mRNA的检测

目的探讨死后不同时间心肌和膈肌β肌动蛋白mRNA(β-actin mRNA)的降解变化。方法大鼠断颈处死后置于21℃的温度控制系统,采用RT-PCR技术检测大鼠心肌和膈肌组织-βactin mRNA在死后即刻至12d的变化,并对电泳图像进行半定量分析。结果在死后即刻,以及保存2,4,6,8,10,12d的大鼠心肌组织样本中均可检测到β-actin mRNA,而膈肌组织仅在死后即刻和保存2,4,6d的样本中检测到-βactin mRNA;-βactin mRNA的扩增产物在死后12d内呈下降趋势。结论RT-PCR技术检测大鼠心肌和膈肌组织中的β-actin mRNA,其在死后12d内的降解呈现一定规律。     

液相色谱-质谱联用技术在毒物分析中的应用

本文简要综述了液-质(LC-MS)联用的基本结构以及该技术近年来在滥用药物、治疗药物和杀虫剂中的应用,为进一步扩大液-质联用技术在毒物分析领域中的应用提供参考.     

刍议我国刑事拘留制度改革与完善

我国现行刑事拘留制度在司法实践运行中存在着一系列的问题:刑事拘留强制措施适用的工具化、拘留期限过长的普遍化、羁押期限的极限化、拘留适用的随意性,这极大地损害了犯罪嫌疑人权利。这些问题归因于我国立法规定的冲突、拘留标准过低、拘押合一制度、司法审查缺失等。因此,应当对我国刑事拘留制度进行改革。     

大鼠DAI脑细胞凋亡与Phospho-Ser^727 Stat1表达的相关性

目的探讨Stat1是否参与弥漫性轴索损伤（diffuse axonal injury,DAI）后神经细胞凋亡的病理生理过程。方法应用自由落体撞击模型复制大鼠DAI模型,分为正常对照组、假手术组和打击后不同时间组（6、12、24、48、72h,5d和10d）。采用HE染色和镀银染色观察大鼠脑组织的病理改变,用流式细胞检测脑组织中脑细胞的凋亡率,RT-PCR法测定脑组织中bax和bcl-2的表达变化,免疫组织化学法测定脑组织中不同脑区727位丝氨酸磷酸化的信号转导与转录激活子1（Phospho-Ser727 Stat1）的表达情况。结果DAI后HE染色未见脑挫裂伤,镀银染色可见神经轴索扭曲肿胀,个别断端膨大形成轴缩球;损伤组脑细胞的凋亡率和脑组织中bax和bcl-2 cDNA扩增产物的比值24h达到最大值,随后下降;不同脑区Phospho-Ser727 Stat1表达升高,24h达峰后下降,至10d较对照组仍有显著差异;阳性细胞主要是神经元,在不同脑区也有一定量的神经胶质细胞阳性表达。脑组织中Phospho-Ser727 Stat1表达变化与bax和bcl-2的cDNA扩增产物比值的变化具有正相关性,相关系数r为0.921。结论大鼠DAI后Stat1的激活和损伤后脑细胞的凋亡有关,应与损伤后二次打击有关。     

MMP-2和MMP-9与脑损伤及其法医学意义

基质金属蛋白酶2和9（MMP-2、MMP-9）是基质金属蛋白酶（matrix metalloproteinases，MMPs）家族中的两个成员，可降解Ⅳ型胶原、层粘连蛋白等基质成分，从而使血脑屏障结构破坏，通透性增加，导致血管源性脑水肿，在脑血管疾病和脑损伤形成过程中起着重要的作用。在损伤后不同时段，MMP-2和MMPO含量及分布均呈现一定的波动性，探讨这些问题对脑损伤的治疗及在法医学中推断脑损伤时间有十分重要的意义。本文就这些问题的相关研究作一概述。     

Post-injection hybridization of complementary DNA strands on capillary electrophoresis platforms: A novel solution for dsDNA artifacts

Several laboratories have reported the occurrence of a split or n − 1 peak at the vWA locus in PowerPlex^® 16 and PowerPlex^® ES amplification products separated on 4- and 16-capillary electrophoresis instruments. The root cause of this artifact is post-PCR reannealing of the unlabeled, unincorporated vWA primer to the 3′-end of the tetramethylrhodamine (TMR)-labeled strand of the vWA amplicon. This reannealing occurs in the capillary post-electrokinetic injection. The split peak is eliminated by incorporation into the loading cocktail of a sacrificial hybridization sequence (SHS) oligonucleotide that is complementary to the vWA primer. The SHS preferentially anneals to the primer instead of the TMR-labeled strand of the vWA amplicon. In addition, the n − 10/n − 18 artifact that may be seen at the vWA locus was determined to be due to double-stranded amplicon formed post-electrokinetic injection into the capillary. This was also eliminated by adding in two Complementary Oligo Targets (COT1 and COT2) in addition to the SHS oligonucleotide into the loading cocktail. These three oligonucleotides are complementary to the 33 bases at the 5′-end of the unlabeled vWA amplicon strand and the 60 bases at its 3′-end and therefore compete for hybridization to the TMR-labeled amplicon strand. Incorporation of these three oligonucleotides in the Internal Lane Standard 600 (ILS600) eliminate both the split peak and n − 10/n − 18 artifact in PowerPlex^® 16 and PowerPlex^® ES amplification products without affecting sizing of alleles at the vWA locus or any locus in the PowerPlex^® 16, PowerPlex^® Y, PowerPlex^® ES, AmpFlSTR^® Profiler Plus^® ID, AmpFlSTR^® Cofiler^®, and AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® kits.     

From Merkel to Kramp‐Karrenbauer: Can German Christian Democracy Reinvent Itself?

Germany's Christian Democrats have started preparing for the time after Angela Merkel. After ten years as German chancellor facing a weak opposition, Merkel unexpectedly split the country in late 2015 and early 2016 because of her ‘open border’ policies that allowed more than 1 million refugees and migrants to rapidly enter Germany. Her management of the subsequent crisis was largely considered a failure and her party suffered a series of dramatic election defeats. Reacting to the negative electoral feedback, and in particular the breakthrough of the rightist and anti‐immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Christian Democratic Union organised an intra‐party contest to replace Merkel as party leader. Three candidates with different political profiles, Annegret Kramp‐Karrenbauer, Friedrich Merz and Jens Spahn, contested the election. By voting for Kramp‐Karrenbauer, the CDU membership voiced support for maintaining a large‐scale political coalition based on efforts to find compromises between different party wings and social and cultural interests.     

How interest groups influence public opinion: Arguments matter more than the sources

Through what mechanism do interest groups shape public opinion on concrete policies? In this article, three hypotheses are proposed that distinguish between the effect of the arguments conveyed by interest groups and the effect of interest groups as source cues. Two survey experiments on the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TIPP) and the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change allow the testing of these hypotheses. The resulting evidence from several countries shows that, with respect to interest groups’ attempts at shaping public opinion, arguments matter more than their sources. This is so even when accounting for people's trust in the interest groups that serve as source cues and for people's level of information about a policy. The finding that interest groups affect public opinion via arguments rather than as source cues has implications for the literature on elite influence on public opinion and the normative evaluation of interest group activities.