肋软骨横切面大体形态学变化与年龄的相关性

目的：探讨肋软骨横切面的大体形态学变化与年龄的相关性及其法医学意义。方法通过对86例实际案例尸体（尸块）的解剖检验,对肋软骨进行横行切断,并对其横切面的形态学特征进行观察检验。结果肋软骨横切面的大体形态学特征在颜色、结构和质地等方面随年龄的增长出现规律性的改变,这种变化受性别的影响较小。结论肋软骨横切面的大体形态变化与年龄具有很好相关性,可用于现场快速分析推断死者的年龄。     

THE “TRUE” JUVENILE OFFENDER: AGE EFFECTS AND JUVENILE COURT SANCTIONING

Age is the only factor used to demarcate the boundary between juvenile and adult justice. However, little research has examined how age guides the juvenile court in determining which youth within the juvenile justice system merit particular dispositions, especially those that reflect the court's emphasis on rehabilitation. Drawing on scholarship on the court's origins, attribution theory, and cognitive heuristics, we hypothesize that the court focuses on youth in the middle of the range of the court's age of jurisdiction—characterized in this article as “true” juveniles—who may be viewed as meriting more specialized intervention. We use data from Florida for court referrals in 2008 (N = 71,388) to examine the decision to proceed formally or informally and, in turn, to examine formally processed youth dispositions (dismissal, diversion, probation, commitment, and transfer) and informally processed youth dispositions (dismissal, diversion, and probation). The analyses provide partial support for the hypothesis. The very young were more likely to be informally processed; however, among the informally processed youth, the youngest, not “true” juveniles, were most likely to be diverted or placed on probation. By contrast, among formally processed youth, “true” juveniles were most likely to receive traditional juvenile court responses, such as diversion or probation.     

Accuracy of Identifying Juvenile/Adult Status from Third Molar Development using Prediction Probabilities Derived from Logistic Regression Analysis

The use of third molars in predicting juvenile/adult status (</≥ 18 years) has important legal ramifications. Third molar development was assessed using Köhler's grading on 268 orthopantomograms of Indian subjects. Logistic regression analysis was applied to determine allocation accuracy of juvenile/adult status and the level of probability that is “reliable” in predicting juvenile/adult status. Allocation accuracies ranged between 75.8% and 78.2% for the sexes combined, with minimal male‐female differences. Adults were categorized more accurately than juveniles, suggesting that Köhler's grading puts Indian juveniles at greater risk of unwarranted punishment. In both sexes, juvenile/adult status was “reliably” predicted when the probability was >80% using individual third molars (excepting the lower right third molar in males); combining upper and lower third molars on the left/right sides, “reliable” predictions were possible when the probability was >80% and >90% for females and males, respectively. Overall, “reliable” juvenile/adult status prediction was achieved in c. 36% of subjects.     

培养公安院校学员依法使用警械武器能力研究

;通过对公安院校学员依法使用警械武器能力现状的研究,发现我国公安院校学员操作警械武器的能力提升较大,但是依法使用警械武器的能力明显落后于操作能力的训练。通过咨询专家、文献整理和与一线民警交流,发现提高公安院校学员依法准确、快速的认知反应能力显得十分重要。现实执法环境复杂多变,提高学员依法使用警械武器能力,可以有效避免出现各种因不规范操作而出现的失误。     

Comparison of Age Estimation in Japanese and Scandinavian Teeth Using Amino Acid Racemization*

Abstract: Racemization method is currently considered to be one of the most accurate methods for age estimation. There are many factors that affect racemization reaction velocities. We investigated ethnic differences in the racemization reaction velocities between Japanese and Scandinavian teeth. After a heating experiment, the Arrhenius equation was used to obtain a rate constant (k). Both groups presented almost identical velocities, indicating that there was no difference in the tooth racemization reaction between the two groups. However, because 14 of the 18 Scandinavian teeth had multiple roots, it is possible that accurate racemization rates of the teeth themselves were not reflected in the results. These findings reconfirm that the type of tooth selected is extremely important when evaluating age by racemization.     

Age Estimation in Indians Using Demirjian’s 8‐teeth Method

Abstract: Demirjian’s grading of tooth calcification is widely used to assess age of individuals with developing dentitions. However, its application on numerous populations has resulted in wide variations in age estimates and consequent suggestions for the method’s adaptation to the local sample. Conventionally, Demirjian’s method utilized seven mandibular teeth on the left side. A recent modification incorporated the third molar with a view to apply the method on a wider age‐group. Moreover, the revised method developed regression formulas for assessing age. This paper tested the 8‐teeth method using 547 Indians (348 females, 199 males) aged 7–25 years. Demirjian’s formulas resulted in inferior age prediction in Indians (9.2% misclassification at 99% confidence interval vs. 0% misclassification in the original study); therefore, India‐specific regression formulas were developed, which gave better age estimates (mean absolute error, MAE = 0.87 years) than the original formulas (MAE = 1.29 years). This suggests that Demirjian’s 8‐teeth method also needs adaptation prior to use in diverse populations.     

Estimation of Gestational Age from Tooth Germs: Biometric Study of DentaScan Images

Abstract: The few available studies on fetal age estimation concern very small samples, and statistical analysis is sometimes inadequate. In this survey, we used germs of deciduous teeth to estimate fetal age. Forty‐nine fetuses and 40 mandibles were scanned, and observations and measurements were made on DentaScan images. After checking their repeatability and reproducibility (analysis of variance), we defined thresholds using Fisher’s linear discriminant analysis to calculate the probability that a fetus was over or below a predefined age threshold. The forensic threshold which is of particular interest in France is 22 weeks amenorrhea. Relationships between fetal age and deciduous germ measurements were then sought by multiple linear regression. The thresholds gave very good results: 91.84% of good probability for the threshold of 22 weeks amenorrhea with no chance of error. The most precise age evaluation obtained nevertheless gave a range of ±4.6 weeks amenorrhea, so greater accuracy is still needed.     

鸡Toll样受体3基因全长的扩增及生物信息学分析

利用RT-PCR方法从广西三黄鸡外周血淋巴白细胞中扩增出鸡Toll样受体3基因(TLR3),进而对其进行序列分析和结构预测。结果显示,扩增出的TLR3基因全长为3 036bp,与GenBank中鸡TLR3序列同源性达96.5%～99.7%,突变主要集中在胞外区前173个氨基酸;与牛、鼠、绵羊、猪、马、家兔、黑猩猩、人、大猩猩的氨基酸同源性较低,为68.0%～74.8%;禽类TLR3与其他动物类及人类的TLR3分属于两大不同分支,处于不同进化位置;结构预测表明,GX-sh-chTLR3具有明显的跨膜蛋白结构,胞外区蛋白是由外侧多个α螺旋和内侧凹陷的多个β折叠构成螺线管状马鞍形结构,胞外区含有15个明显的富含亮氨酸的重复序列。结果表明,成功扩增出的鸡TLR3基因编码蛋白的空间结构特征明显,为进一步研究该基因的功能奠定了基础。     

法治信念的危机与法治论者的姿态——法治进入方法论时代的背景考察

中国的法治建设,在起步阶段就遇到一系列理论冲突与现实矛盾,这属于法治进程中正常现象。面对冲突的理论和复杂的社会现实,法律人对法治的信念不能丢失。信念的丢失而引发法治的危机说法多少有点危言耸听,但是,从面死而生的角度看,这会使人们更加理性和正确地看待法治的进程。也许只有在法治论者的苦苦挣扎中,我们才能够深入理解法治的真谛。坚守法治信念是法律人的基本意识形态,是法治理论和法治建设中不可缺少的精神支柱。     

Marriage and power: Age at first marriage and spousal age gap in lesser developed countries

This paper examines age at first marriage for women and spousal age gap as an indicator for female agency from 1950 to 2005. Using a dataset of 77 LDCs this paper seeks to explore which variables determine differences at a country level in marriage patterns. We look at the influence of urbanisation, education, percentage population of Muslim faith, and family type. We find that education is a key in determining at what age women marry, having as would be expected a positive effect on age at first marriage and depressing spousal age gap. Urbanisation is significant, with a positive effect on age and negative on spousal age gap, although the effect is not very large. The percentage Muslim variable depresses female age at first marriage and increases spousal age gap but only when family type is not controlled for. The initially strong negative effect of percentage population Muslim over the period under consideration on age of first marriage has decreased, which raises some interesting questions about the role of Islam in female empowerment.