HOW COLLECTIVE IS COLLECTIVE EFFICACY? THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSENSUS IN JUDGMENTS ABOUT COMMUNITY COHESION AND WILLINGNESS TO INTERVENE

Existing studies have generally measured collective efficacy by combining survey respondents’ ratings of their local area into an overall summary for each neighborhood. Naturally, this approach results in a substantive focus on the variation in average levels of collective efficacy between neighborhoods. In this article, we focus on the variation in consensus of collective efficacy judgments. To account for differential consensus among neighborhoods, we use a mixed‐effects location‐scale model, with variability in the consensus of judgments treated as an additional neighborhood‐level random effect. Our results show that neighborhoods in London differ, not just in their average levels of collective efficacy but also in the extent to which residents agree with one another in their assessments. In accord with findings for U.S. cities, our results show that consensus in collective efficacy assessments is affected by the ethnic composition of neighborhoods. Additionally, we show that heterogeneity in collective efficacy assessments is consequential, with higher levels of criminal victimization, worry about crime, and risk avoidance behavior in areas where collective efficacy consensus is low.     

混合斑的DNA分型解析

综述了常染色体STR、Amelogenin、Y染色体STR、线粒体DNA和单核苷酸多态性等DNA检测方法在解释混合斑检验结果应用中的进展。对混合斑的统计学方法也作了总结。     

陪审团制度在德国的移植与消亡

陪审团制度正式演变成参审制是从德国开始的,通过对这个过程的更广阔视角的分析,可以发现除了包含德国当时诉讼制度特点和陪审团自身缺陷的原因外,陪审团制度在德国的消亡还具有复杂的政治、经济、社会背景和环境因素。     

应用等电聚焦电泳对人精液黄递酶Ⅲ表型分布的研究

应用超薄层聚丙烯酰胺凝胶等电聚焦电泳对武汉地区198例成人精液黄递酶Ⅲ(DIA_3)作了分型。观察到4种表现型,基因频率分别为DIA_3~1=0.7727;DIA_3~2=0.2172;DIA_3~3=0.0101。对保存精斑进行检测证实,室温下保存9周的精斑仍能作DIA_3分型。在聚丙烯酰胺凝胶中引入分离剂HEPES,提高了分辨率。改进后的等电聚焦技术尤适于DIA_3基因产物的分离。文中还调查了我国汉族人群DIA_3频率分布,并与其它群体资料作了比较。     

Is Liberal Democracy Sliding into ‘Democratic Despotism’?

Post‐democracy and cognate concepts suggest that the postwar period of democratisation has given way to a concentration of power in the hands of small groups that are unrepresentative and unaccountable, as exemplified by the rise of multinational corporations and their influence on democratic politics. This article goes further to argue that this does not fully capture the triple threat facing liberal democracy: first, the rise of a new oligarchy that strengthens executive power at the expense of parliament and people; second, the resurgence of populism and demagogy linked to a backlash against technocratic rule and procedural politics; third, the emergence of anarchy associated with the atomisation of society and a weakening of social ties and civic bonds. In consequence, liberal democracy risks sliding into a form of ‘democratic despotism’ that maintains the illusion of free choice while instilling a sense of ‘voluntary servitude’ as conceptualised by Tocqueville.     

Separatism,coexistence and the landscape: Jews and Palestinian-Arabs in mandatory Haifa

Haifa was named a ‘mixed city’ by the British, who ruled Palestine from 1917 to 1948, in reference to the two national communities that inhabited the town. This definition was not neutral, and reflected the Brits aspirations to create national coexistence in Palestine among the diverse urban societies.

Reality was more complicated. The basic assumption of this paper follows the idea that the bi-national urban society of Mandatory Haifa developed into dual society, albeit with much overlapping in economic and civil matters, but takes it one step further: through highlighting changes in the urban landscape, I wish to argue dominance of the national European modern Hebrew society over the Palestinian-Arabs and the traditional and oriental Jewish societies and ideas alike. The changes in the urban landscape tell us the story of Zionism's growing influence and dominance, and the way the urban landscape was used to embody Zionism's modern European ethos. The neighbourhood's segregation, therefore, represents not only the effort to separate but to create a modern national ‘sense of place’ that influenced the city development.     

Dual examinations for identification of urine as being of human origin and for DNA-typing from small stains of human urine

Concurrent methods for identification of urine as being of human origin, and for DNA-typing from small stains of human urine were examined. A urine stain was extracted with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and the extract was filtered using a Centricon-100 device. The filtrate was subjected to electrospray ionization liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (ESI-LC-MS) for identification of human urine and a DNA-typing sample was obtained by dialfiltration of the residue using a DNA purification kit. After the purified residue was treated with an AmpflSTR Profiler PCR amplification kit, the DNA-types were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis using a Genetic Analyzer. It was possible to identify a urine stain as being of human origin, and complete DNA profiles could be successfully obtained from a urine stain which had been created by 50 microL of female urine. Serial analyses of urine stains found at a crime scene provide effective information for forensic investigation. This method is recommended for stain identification and for DNA-typing from a urine stain.     

Methylation-Based Age Prediction Using Pyrosequencing Platform from Seminal Stains in Han Chinese Males

Various methods have been performed to predict an unknown individual's age from biological traces in forensic investigations. A considerably accurate age prediction for the semen donor can help narrow down the search in a sexual assault case. The aim of this study was to develop an assay for age prediction from seminal stains in Han Chinese males. We built a sperm-specific linear regression model using bisulfite pyrosequencing. Validations were conducted with a Mean Absolute Deviation from the chronological age (MAD) of 4.219 years in liquid semen, 4.158 years in fresh seminal stains, 4.393 years in aged seminal stains, and 3.880 years in mixed stains, respectively. Furthermore, our strategy enables accurate age prediction using a forensic casework sample. The strategy indicated that we produced an accurate and reliable age prediction tool for the semen donors in Han Chinese males for forensic purposes.     

马克思主义公有制理论与新时代中国社会主义公有制的新形式

马克思、恩格斯后来大大拓展了《共产党宣言》中的公有制理论,他们不仅寄希望于工人在必要时用暴力夺取国家政权,也寄希望于发达国家的工人用和平手段达到自己的目的,并认为在发达国家"旧社会可能和平地长入新社会"。他们注重经过社会所有制达到共产主义。在《资本论》中,马克思提出"重新建立个人所有制"的设想,认为资本主义将被自己内部的社会主义因素自我否定,社会主义公有制由此而产生。当前中国的一种新的公有制形式正在蓬勃发展,民营企业中许多股份制企业表现出新公有制特征,它们不仅率先实行现代企业制度,且职工人人持股。它们对生产资料占有方式和对企业利润的分配基本公正,职工的劳动价值得到体现。随着改革的深化、市场经济的健全,更多的新公有制企业将会成长起来。同时,广大农民随着产权的改革与落实,会在新的合作过程中建立新的公有制。新时代,新公有制与社会主义有着广阔前景。     

The efficiency and effectiveness of municipally owned corporations: a systematic review

Municipally owned corporations (MOCs) are increasingly utilised to provide local public services, but little remains known about their efficiency and effectiveness. In this article, we offer a typology of MOCs, explore the variables that affect their behaviour, and perform a systematic review of public administration articles published between 2001 and 2015 on their efficiency and effectiveness. We find that MOCs are often more efficient than local bureaucracies in the provision of services such as refuse collection, water distribution, and transit services, although they also have high initial failure rates. We conclude that municipally owned corporations are a viable means for delivering some local public services for localities capable of initiating and managing complex contracts. In light of the scarcity of literature on this topic, our conclusions remain tentative, and we encourage additional research into this growing phenomenon.