Winning at the polls and in the polls: the incumbency advantage in surveys of U.S. house voters

The success of House incumbents at the polls is well known and has been studied extensively. This paper focuses on the incumbents' success in the polls: the support bestowed upon incumbents by survey respondents is substantially higher than that received from the voters. The incumbency advantage at the polls, estimated at about 10% in the most recent elections, is almost doubled when measured in the polls. The data, drawn from the 1982–1996 National Election Studies, show that respondents do not reward all winners; candidates elected to open seats have not benefitted from the kind of bounce consistently enjoyed by winning incumbents. In addition, the pattern of respondents' misreports appears to be inconsistent with earlier explanations based on instrument effects. Respondent bias should be accounted for in order to reach correct estimates of the incumbency advantage in individual-level data.     

论医疗事故罪中“严重损害就诊人身体健康”之认定

认定医疗事故罪"严重损害就诊人身体健康"的具体内涵应遵循医学依据而非刑法学依据,同时应把握"二维"标准首先,是<条例>和新<标准>中的一级乙等和二、三级医疗事故;其次,事故参与度必须在50%以上(不含50%).     

A validation study for duct tape end matches

Fracture matches are considered to be the strongest association achievable in forensic examinations of glass, metal, wood, plastic, paint, tape, and other trace evidence. Despite being fairly routine examinations, few publications exist to support their admissibility in court. This study was designed, using duct tape as the fractured medium, to determine the validity and error rate associated with conducting end match (fracture match) examinations on this material. Five test designs, which varied either the source roll of tape or manner of separation (torn or cut) from the roll, were administered to four analysts with instructions to examine the assigned test sets for end matches. If an end match was not identified by the initial analyst, the entire test set was independently evaluated by the remaining three analysts. Results indicated that while tape grade did not hinder end match identification, the manner of separation could affect results.     

静脉给药致过敏性休克死亡27例法医学分析

分析了1996￣2005年间某地区因静脉给药引起过敏性休克死亡并经尸体检验的27例案件,结果显示静脉给药引起过敏性休克以速发型为主,个体诊所和非法行医者处多见,抗生素类和非抗生素类药物均可引起,部分尸体检验可不检见明确病变,说明过敏性休克的法医学鉴定应综合临床用药、临床表现以及尸体检验结果等各种因素全面综合分析判断。     

骨盆损伤鉴定的影像学检查方法选择探讨

目的通过研究骨盆结构和常用影像学检查方法,对骨盆损伤的影像学检查方法的选择提出建议。方法研究数例法医学鉴定中骨盆损伤的案例,结合骨盆环的生物力学和骨盆损伤分型,并对X线透视、X线摄片检查、CT等检查方法进行比较。结果四个骨盆损伤案例都是多发损伤,通过X线和CT检查均能满意地确认。结论结合骨盆致伤方式和生物力学,注意被鉴定人是否存在多发伤,来选择适合的影像学检查方法以正确评价骨盆损伤。     

Revisiting Respondent “Fatigue Bias” in the National Crime Victimization Survey

For more than three decades the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS)—and its predecessor the National Crime Survey (NCS)—have been used to calculate estimates of nonfatal crime in the United States. Though the survey has contributed much to our understanding of criminal victimization, some aspects of the survey’s methodology continue to be analyzed (e.g., repeat victimizations, proxy interviews, and bounding). Surprisingly, one important aspect of NCVS methodology has escaped this scrutiny: respondent fatigue. A potential source of nonsampling error, fatigue bias is thought to manifest as respondents become “test wise” after repeated exposure to NCVS survey instruments. Using a special longitudinal NCVS data file, we revisit the presence and influence of respondent fatigue in the NCVS. Specifically, we test the theory that respondents exposed to longer interviews during their first interview are more likely to refuse to participate in the survey 6 months later. Contrary to expectations based on the literature, results show that prior reporting of victimization and exposure to a longer interview is not a significant predictor of a noninterview during the following time-in-sample once relevant individual characteristics are accounted for. Findings do demonstrate significant effects of survey mode and several respondent characteristics on subsequent survey non-participation.     

Dancing on the head of a pin? Foetal life and the european convention

The case of Vo v. France represents the latest phase of the European Court of Human Rights’ thinking on the scope of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to life) in relation to foetal life where a foetus had been lost owing to a medical accident. The Court by a majority decided that, “even assuming” Article 2 applied to the instant case (albeit to the life of the pregnant woman rather than that of the foetus), it had not been violated. While the facts in Vo were extreme and exceptional, the Court will shortly hear the case of D v. Ireland concerning access to abortion for foetal anomaly, an application made under Articles 3, 8, 10 and 14 of the European Convention. If the case of D were declared admissible, the Court would then have to consider whether a denial of access to abortion for foetal anomaly constitutes inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3, or an interference with a pregnant woman’s right to respect for private life under Article 8 (and if so, how the doctrine of the margin of appreciation applies). The Grand Chamber precedent of Vo displays ambivalence about whether Article 2 should apply to foetal life, and its resort to the “even assuming” formula spared Member States the difficulty of having to justify their various abortion regimes, by reference to this Article. It remains to be seen whether in a case like D that is directly concerned with abortion, the Court will take a more definite stance on the correct balance to be struck between the State’s interest in protecting foetal life and the Convention rights of pregnant women. Vo v. France [G.C.], judgment of 8th -July 2004, no. 53924/00; D v. Ireland [4th section], no. 26499/02, oral hearing on admissibility and merits, 6 September 2005     

全国农村医疗救助现状、问题与对策

医疗救助属于社会救助的范畴,医疗救助对象是符合条件的五保户、特困户和其他贫困群众。各地民政部门通过农村医疗救助基线调查发现,在农村2542万（其中,五保户570万,特困户1972万）“不救不活”的特殊困难人口中,因病致贫、因残致贫的比例平均为49．8％。在因病、因残致贫人员中,得大病人数,其比例为3％至15％左右。目前,全国有1501个县开展了农村医疗救助工作,初步形成了比较系统的农村医疗救助制度框架,形成了不同的农村医疗救助模式。针对目前农村医疗救助工作中存在的主要问题,今后农村医疗救助应逐步形成在推进中规范,在规范中推进的良性机制。     

220例鼓膜穿孔性质分析

通过对 220例鼓膜穿孔鉴定的回顾,得出外伤鼓膜穿孔与炎性鼓膜穿孔在性别、年龄、耳别、穿孔形状、部位、大小、听力丧失程度、愈合时间、穿孔原因以及附着物上均具有显著性或极显著性差异 ,且这种差异与其穿孔机制有很大相关性;在比较分析基础上还提出了两种穿孔的鉴别要点,这对于临床法医检案具有较好的参考价值。     

非法行医罪的刑事政策分析

非法行医罪属于典型的法定犯罪,应在罪刑法定的前提下,合理划分刑法和行政法不同的规制范围,并坚持处罚上的轻刑化原则;在对非法行医犯罪化的过程中,应以法益侵害为基准,从非法行医行为是否严重侵害了国家医疗卫生管理秩序和公众生命健康权益这一实质标准去把握;对非法行医行为的刑法规制应坚持谦抑原则,尽管目前本罪非犯罪化的条件尚不具备,但非刑罚化措施应广泛适用.