Organizational downsizing and age discrimination litigation: the influence of personnel practices and statistical evidence on litigation outcomes

The present study examined relationships between reduction-in-force (RIF) personnel practices, presentation of statistical evidence, and litigation outcomes. Policy capturing methods were utilized to analyze the components of 115 federal district court opinions involving age discrimination disparate treatment allegations and organizational downsizing. Univariate analyses revealed meaningful links between RIF personnel practices, use of statistical evidence, and judicial verdict. The defendant organization was awarded summary judgment in 73% of the claims included in the study. Judicial decisions in favor of the defendant organization were found to be significantly related to such variables as formal performance appraisal systems, termination decision review within the organization, methods of employee assessment and selection for termination, and the presence of a concrete layoff policy. The use of statistical evidence in ADEA disparate treatment litigation was investigated and found to be a potentially persuasive type of indirect evidence. Legal, personnel, and evidentiary ramifications are reviewed, and a framework of downsizing mechanics emphasizing legal defensibility is presented.     

巨噬细胞在损伤时间推断中的作用

综述了近年来巨噬细胞在损伤时间推断中的法医学作用的研究进展。论述了巨噬细胞源性细胞因子的表达、巨噬细胞表型的变化和巨噬细胞吞噬物的演化等变化与损伤时间的关系,认为巨噬细胞在损伤修复中的特征性变化可作为损伤时间推断的新指标,具有深入研究的必要。     

根据中国汉族女性甲状软骨推算年龄的研究

目的 根据中国汉族女性甲状软骨推算年龄。方法 对69例已知年龄的中国汉族女性甲状软骨进行软X线摄片和(或)普通X线摄片,从甲状软骨的摄片上选择5个与年龄变化关系较为密切的观察部位,每个部位又划分成3至6个等级,然后采用多元线性回归分析法,建立其推算年龄的数学模型。结果运用该方法推算女性甲状软骨年龄,其标准差为1.969,复相关系数为0.984。结论 本方法适用于中国汉族女性甲状软骨年龄推算,其有效年龄范围为18～60岁。     

人口老龄化的机遇与挑战

今年是国际老人年,人口老龄化已成为一个世界性问题。人口老龄化对社会经济发展既有不利的影响,同时也孕育了巨大的商业机会。本文主要分析中国的人口老龄化不同于其他国家的特点和人口老龄化对我国社会经济发展的挑战以及商业机会,指出通过发展老龄产业,将会创造出新的经济增长点。     

新时期青年面临的现代教育异化

新时期的现代教育由于受到时代的冲击,面临着实践操作中的四重异化:学识异化、功能异化、体质异化和心理的异化.新时期的青年在异化的现代教育中应学会正确选择的能力,在激流中站得住脚跟.     

党的思想路线的新发展

“解放思想、实事求是”是邓小平理论的精髓，是新时期党的思想路线。“解放思想、实事求是、与时俱时”是党的十六大报告的精髓，是新世纪新的发展阶段党的思想路线。科学地揭示这一思想路线的内涵，对于提高全党的认识能力，推进社会主义现代化建设事业的快速发展具有重要意义。     

再论相对负刑事责任年龄－－兼论增加概括性规定的必要性

97刑法第 17条第 2款有关相对负刑事责任能力人的规定 ,与 79刑法相关条款相比有进步 ,但仍有不少学者对其提出了质疑 ,司法实践中该条款也显现出局限性。本文试图从给该条款增加概括性规定的角度来解决这个问题 ,并阐述其必要性     

Locking up my generation: Cohort differences in prison spells over the life course

Crime rates have dropped substantially in the United States, but incarceration rates have remained high. The standard explanation for the lasting trend in incarceration is that the policy choices from the 1980s and 1990s were part of a secular increase in punitiveness that has kept rates of incarceration high. Our study highlights a heretofore overlooked perspective: that the crime–punishment wave in the 1980s and 1990s created cohort differences in incarceration over the life course that changed the level of incarceration even decades after the wave. With individual-level longitudinal sentencing data from 1972 to 2016 in North Carolina, we show that cohort effects—the lingering impacts of having reached young adulthood at particular times in the history of crime and punishment—are at least as large (and likely much larger) than annual variation in incarceration rates attributable to period-specific events and proclivities. The birth cohorts that reach prime age of crime during the 1980s and 1990s crime–punishment wave have elevated rates of incarceration throughout their observed life course. The key mechanism for their elevated incarceration rates decades after the crime–punishment wave is the accumulation of extended criminal history under a sentencing structure that systematically escalates punishment for those with priors.     

Urea,Uric Acid,and Creatinine in Postmortem Blood,Vitreous Humor,and Synovial Fluid: A Comparative and Correlation Study,

Urea, uric acid, and creatinine have been demonstrated to be relatively stable in postmortem blood (BL), thus being useful for diagnostic purposes. However, no studies have explored their levels in BL, vitreous humor (VH), and synovial fluid (SF) concurrently. Therefore, we measured and compared their levels in these fluids. We also determined the effects of various factors on their levels. The results indicated that BL urea, uric acid, and creatinine levels were significantly higher than VH and SF levels. VH and SF urea levels and SF creatinine levels had a strong correlation with BL urea and creatinine levels, respectively. BL creatinine levels were higher in men than in women. BL and SF creatinine levels were negatively correlated with age. SF uric acid and BL, VH, and SF creatinine levels exhibited a positive correlation with weight. Only VH creatinine levels were positively correlated with body mass index. None of urea, uric acid, and creatinine levels were correlated with postmortem interval.     

Mouth Width and Cupid’s Bow Estimation in a Southern African Population

Standards for estimating mouth width and Cupid’s bow width in craniofacial approximation and superimposition are limited. Currently, the only guideline for mouth width, using direct skeletal references, is a general rule indicating a 75% inter-canine to mouth width ratio. The philtrum, which closely corresponds to the Cupid’s bow, is said to be equal to the inter-superior prominences of the maxillary central incisors. This study tested these guidelines against newly generated regression models and mean values. Cone-beam CT scans of 120 black and 39 white southern African adults were used. Comparative hard and soft tissue measurements were taken using a 3D DICOM viewer. Regression equations accounting population, sex, and approximate age variables (20–39 and 40+ years), utilizing maxillary inter-canine width to estimate mouth width and maxillary central–lateral incisor junction width to estimate Cupid’s bow width, performed statistically best. The regression models were more reliable than existing standards in validation tests.