Geographic Representation in Party‐Dominated Legislatures: A Quantitative Text Analysis of Parliamentary Questions in the German Bundestag

Political representation in European democracies is widely considered partisan and collectivist. This article, however, stresses that there is more to the representative process in European democracies than just its textbook version. It emphasizes the role of geographic representation as a complementary strategy in party‐dominated legislatures that is characterized by two distinct features. First, legislators employ distinct opportunities to participate in legislative contexts to signal attention to geographic constituents without disrupting party unity. Second, these activities are motivated by individual‐ and district‐level characteristics that supplement electoral‐system‐level sources of geographic representation. We empirically test and corroborate this argument for the German case on the basis of a content analysis of parliamentary questions in the 17th German Bundestag (2009–13). In this analysis, we show that higher levels of localness among legislators and higher levels of electoral volatility in districts result in increased geographic representation.     

原发性脑干损伤神经元凋亡及caspase3的表达

目的观察原发性脑干损伤（PBSI）致死者脑干神经元凋亡及caspase3的表达情况,探讨其法医学意义。方法选择法医学检案中30例确定为原发性脑干损伤致死者脑干,按伤后不同存活时间（t≤5min、5min〈t≤15min、15min〈t≤1h、1h〈t≤24h）分为4组,以5例非脑干损伤死亡者脑干为对照组;分别运用常规HE、免疫组化和TUNEL染色检测中脑、桥脑及延脑重要核团内神经元凋亡及caspase3的表达情况。结果原发性脑干损伤后15min～24h出现明显神经元细胞凋亡（23.2%～35.9%）和caspase3阳性表达（28%～54%）,并呈现随损伤时间进行性增加的趋势,与对照组有显著性差异（P〈0.01）。结论原发性脑干损伤早期即出现神经元凋亡及caspase3表达增加,并随损伤时间的延长呈进行性增加,可据此辅助诊断原发性脑干损伤死亡。     

全球治理的法律渊源及其合法律性问题

全球治理的重要特征是多元规制,这一特点对全球化时代的法律的概念和法律渊源问题提出了挑战,针对这种挑战的三种解决途径即由约束力的区别来确定硬法和软法、按照法律制度化的程度来区分各种法律渊源、依据世界民主公法来界定各层次的法律渊源都要求对全球治理的法律渊源提出某种规范性要求。相对于这种规范性要求的实质性方面,通过合法律性这个概念来表述这种规范性要求是更适当的,并且在此意义上,合法律性也呈现了全球治理法治化这种规范性主张的必要条件和相应的局限性。     

高素质农村基层党组织带头人队伍建设的有效探索——以南平下派村支书做法为例

农村基层党组织带头人队伍是解决我国"三农"问题的骨干力量。福建省南平市通过下派村支书,以"制度创新"为载体、以"先进后退"为路径、以"建设学习型党组织"为主要手段、以创建"一套好机制"为目标,采取"合力推进"的方式,有效地改善当地农村基层党组织党员队伍结构,培养一支带不走的后备力量,增强基层党组织的创造力、战斗力和凝聚力,建设了一支高素质的农村基层党组织带头人队伍。     

论全国人大的对外交往

随着中国改革开放的深入发展和国外议会外交的兴起,全国人大的对外交往活动也日益活跃。本文通过对近些年来全国人大对外交往活动的介绍和研究,试图揭示全国人大对外交往在我国整体外交中的地位、独特作用以及其对外交往活动对全国人大自身建设的重要意义。     

The Differentiation of the Volatile Organic Signatures of Individuals Through SPME-GC/MS of Characteristic Human Scent Compounds

Abstract:  Human scent evidence is utilized as an investigative tool through canine scent discriminations based on the premise that human scent is an individualizing characteristic. This study describes the development of what is effectively a human scent barcode consisting of the relative ratios of an individual's "primary odor" compounds utilized to determine a reproducible and individualizing profile which can be stored in a searchable database for a proof of concept of human scent as a biometric measure. Triplicate hand odor samples were evaluated from 10 subjects utilizing solid phase micro-extraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (SPME-GC/MS) and compared via Spearman Rank Correlations. Narrowing the compounds considered for each subject to only those common in all three samples, or a subject's "primary odor constituents," produced a greater degree of both individualization and discrimination; at both correlation thresholds of 0.9 and 0.8, the individuals were correctly discriminated and identified in 99.54% of the cases.     

Examining the good lives model and antisocial behaviour

This study examined the utility of the Good Lives Model (GLM) (Ward, T., &; Stewart, C. A. (2003). The treatment of sex offenders: Risk management and good lives. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 34(4), 353–360. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.34.4.353) in understanding offending behaviour in students. Two hypotheses were made, consistent with the assumptions of the GLM. First, that participants would endorse the importance of the primary goods set out in the GLM. Second, that reports of antisocial behaviour would relate to a lack of effective strategies, or use of maladaptive strategies, to achieve primary goods. Participants (n?=?340, M age?=?20 years) completed a questionnaire (Measure of Life Priorities) assessing their pursuit, valuation, and achievement of the primary human goods as set out in the GLM and a Self-Report of Offending questionnaire. Results supported our hypotheses, and subsequently the assumptions of the GLM. Our findings support the continued use of the GLM as a theoretical and treatment oriented framework in diverse groups engaged in offending behaviour. Future research should continue to ground the GLM in empirical support.     

Integrating Behavioral Health Care and Primary Care: Application of a Clinical and Economic Model in Culturally Diverse Communities

Although mental illness treatment protocols exist, the organization and financing of screening and treatment services inhibit access. These challenges are compounded for refugees, immigrants, and other groups vulnerable due to their ethnicity, race, or culture. By creating a system-wide, collaborative, integrated model that recognizes and addresses critical clinical and economic aspects in the delivery of services, high quality, evidence-based care can be made available to groups susceptible to the burdens of mental illness. Clinically and financially aligning primary and specialty care offers a viable alternative for improving access and quality of mental health services to vulnerable populations.     

Rethinking UK Parliamentary Adaptation in EU Affairs: Devolution and Europeanisation

How national parliaments adapt to the European Union is an important debate. However, scholars often overlook the regional aspect. This is particularly so for the UK where, despite devolution since 1999, scholarship remains largely devolution-blind. It is assumed that evaluating UK parliamentary adaptation only requires assessing the work of Westminster committees. This article takes a first step towards rectifying this oversight through reconceptualising UK–EU parliamentary engagement as multi-territory, not state-centric. This is demonstrated by comparing the social construction of practices in Scotland, Wales and at Westminster since 1999. Acknowledging devolution, however, does not just require comparing practices. Additionally, the paper asks how the ideas of devolution have been taken up by actors, potentially transforming the meaning of UK engagement for them. This necessitates new approaches drawn from interpretivist and constructivist institutionalist theories. Ultimately, therefore, the paper goes further than arguing for devolution-aware research to promoting change more generally in how parliamentary adaptation is theorised.     

From a Top-Down to a Bottom-Up Approach to Legislative Oversight

Over the years there have been several studies of oversight in the context of the US Congress; much less attention, however, has been paid to the study of oversight in parliamentary systems. Comparative studies spearheaded by several international organisations in recent years offer a different perspective of legislative oversight. They emphasise a new concept, oversight potential, and suggest that strengthening this potential would help promote good governance, fight corruption and improve democracy. This study examines the concept of oversight potential in a pure parliamentary system – the Israeli Knesset. It shows that low potential impairs actual oversight in a parliamentary system that uses mainly police-patrol techniques as defined by the 1987 work of McCubbins and Schwartz. It suggests that increasing oversight potential will help improve the oversight outputs of the legislature. Finally, it develops a bottom-up legislative approach for measuring oversight potential, and by doing so it enriches this neglected field of research.