PARENT-CHILD OBSERVATIONS IN CUSTODY EVALUATIONS

Child custody evalutors need to increase the scientific foundations of their work, both for the benefit of clients and to address criticisms of the field. Observations of parents with children potentially yield huge amounts of data, and it is important for evaluators to consistently apply scientific and professional principles to make sense of all that information. Recommendations for observation sessions are made that integrate theory, research, and practice. These recommendations include the most important interactional dimensions to focus on, which family members to have present, the optimal level of stress, the number of sessions needed, and considerations about home visits.     

Climate Change Policies, Energy Security and Carbon Dependency Trade-offs for the European Union in the Longer Term

Energy policy in the European Union (EU) faces two major challenges. The first challenge is posed by EUs commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere in the context of the international agreement on climate change. The second challenge is to keep ensuring European security of energy supply, while its dependency on external sources of energy is projected to increase. In this paper, two long-term alternative climate change policy scenarios for Europe are examined. In the first scenario, EU reduces carbon dioxide emissions by domestic measures; in the second scenario EU maximizes cooperation with the countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU). Impacts on carbon flows between the EU and FSU and on the external energy dependency of the EU are assessed with an applied general equilibrium model, GTAP-E, whose set of energy commodities is expanded with combustible biomass as a renewable and carbon-neutral energy commodity. The results show that there is a trade-off between economic efficiency, energy security and carbon dependency for the EU. The FSU would unambiguously prefer cooperation.     

GCC-US Alliance-Making Reconsidered: The Travails of Dependency

ABSTRACT

Donald Trump’s presidency may have altered less in relations between the United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council than recent accounts suggest. Instead, power relations between the US and its Gulf allies have long been, and continue to be, asymmetrical. Dependency theory and postcolonial analysis illustrate the ways in which the US global hegemon exhibits hierarchy, exerting control over Gulf economic resources (oil) and extending its ‘security umbrella’ (e.g. weapons sales and bases) – all in highly unequal dynamics. A critical discourse analysis of American and Saudi speeches during the 2017 Riyadh summit further confirms this assessment. This raises questions about alliance-making and alliance-maintenance norms of promise-keeping and reciprocity.     

Situational factors and police use of force across micro-time intervals: A video systematic social observation and panel regression analysis

The current study analyzes police use of force as a series of time-bound transactions between officers, civilians, and bystanders. The research begins with a systematic social observation of use-of-force events recorded on police body-worn cameras in Newark, New Jersey. Researchers measure the occurrence and time stamps for numerous participant physical and verbal behaviors. Data are converted into a longitudinal panel format measuring all observed behaviors in 5-second intervals. Panel logistic regression models estimate the effect of each behavior on use of force in immediate and subsequent temporal periods. Findings indicate certain variables influence use of force at a distinct point in time, whereas others exert influence on use of force across multiple time periods. The most influential variables relate to authority maintenance theoretical constructs. This finding supports prior perspectives arguing that police use of force largely results from officer attempts to maintain constant authority over civilians during face-to-face encounters. Nonetheless, a range of additional variables reflecting procedural justice, civilian resistance, and bystander presence significantly affect when police use force during civilian encounters. Results provide nuance to theoretical frameworks considering use of force as resulting from the interplay between officer and civilian actions and reactions.     

Legal Representation in the Juvenile Dependency System: Travis County,Texas’ Parent Representation Pilot Project

This study examines outcomes related to a parent representation pilot program in Travis County, Texas. Participation in the pilot program was related to earlier attorney appointment, a higher percentage of attorney presence across the life of the case, and a higher percentage of permanent outcomes for children. Parents’ percentage of presence at hearings across the life of the case was related to the child being returned home, dismissal of the juvenile dependency petition, and permanent management conservatorship. Early attorney appointment (i.e., less than 10 days from the initial hearing to full appointment) was related to permanent case outcomes.     

The effect of passive observation methods on Azerbaijan’s 2008 presidential election and 2009 referendum

Election observation is used by domestic and international groups to assess election quality and deter fraud. However, a limited amount of research has assessed its effectiveness. This article adds to the literature by analyzing how a passive monitoring tool affected the process and outcome of voting in two elections in Azerbaijan. The analysis shows that the placement of webcams in polling stations is consistently associated with lower reported turnout and inconsistently associated with lower regime support.     

猪三毛滴虫长春株的形态观察及其5.8 S rRNA基因分析

对从长春地区腹泻仔猪结肠中分离到的1株毛滴虫进行了形态观察,并采用PCR扩增该毛滴虫的5.8SrRNA基因,测序后与国外已报道的三毛滴虫进行核酸同源性分析,并应用DNAStar软件绘制系统发育进化树。形态观察表明分离的毛滴虫为猪三毛滴虫。猪三毛滴虫长春分离株5.8SrRNA序列与国外已报道的三毛滴虫高度同源。系统发育进化树表明该序列与已报道的猪三毛滴虫5.8SrRNA(序列号U85966.1),牛胎儿三毛滴虫5.8SrRNA(序列号U85967.1,AF339736.1,AF466749.1,AF466750.1,AF466751.1)和T.mobiliensis5.8SrRNA(序列号U86612.1)同属于一个亚群,但与另1株猪三毛滴虫5.8SrRNA(序列号AY349190.1)亲缘关系较远。形态观察和5.8SrRNA基因分析表明,从长春地区分离的猪毛滴虫为猪三毛滴虫。     

中国大鲵维氏气单胞菌病的组织病理学观察

运用病理切片和HE染色技术,对维氏气单胞菌自然感染大鲵的肌肉、肝、肾、肺、肠道等器官的组织病理学变化进行了观察。结果显示,肝可见大量淋巴细胞和少量中性粒细胞,肝细胞空泡状变性,肝血窦内见大量血细胞;肾集合管中可见少量蛋白样物,血管球扩张,有的溶解坏死;心肌纤维溶解,甚至坏死,可见充血和出血;胰细胞颗粒变性;肺偶见充血;脾索排列紊乱,脾窦中充满大量红细胞和巨噬细胞;肠道内肠绒毛溶解脱落,有充血现象;肌纤维蜡样坏死,肌细胞核浓缩凝固,深染,破碎。证实,维氏气单胞菌能使中国大鲵的多个组织器官出现严重的病理变化而导致死亡。     

The Time Path of Legislative Party Switching and the Dynamics of Political Competition: The Italian Case (1996–2011)

Political competition is more realistically described as a dynamic process rather than as a series of static stages in which parties compete over policy and government formation. This paper focuses on legislative party switching as the main manifestation of this endogenously evolving process, linking individual switching behaviour to policy and office incentives that are assumed to evolve throughout the life of the entire legislature. Using a new data set tracking the timing of MPs’ changes in party affiliations between 1996 and 2011 in Italy, it is found that switching is mainly motivated by policy reasons and that it is more likely during government formation periods and budget negotiations. These results are a consequence of the interplay between MPs’ ambition and the alternation of key phases in the legislative cycle.