Consensus to Contestation: Reconfiguring Democratic Representation in the European Union in the Light of 19th Century United States Democratization

This article explores how proposals for democratizing the European Union (EU) according to a supranational, contestational model are likely to disrupt its existing political system. The current EU is characterized by a dual system of representation that combines the representation of member states with that of individual citizens. Democratization typically entails enhancing the representation of individuals at the expense of state prerogatives. It is thus possible to make a pertinent analogy with the antebellum United States, which also featured dual representation, and where a great wave of democratization took place following Andrew Jackson's presidency (1829–1837). As the system of representation there became more majoritarian, John C. Calhoun led the calls for introducing new anti-majoritarian constitutional safeguards. A transatlantic comparison suggests the contestational system born of EU democratization will require institutional innovation in order to prove viable. In this context, Calhoun's theory of nullification, an ex post political mechanism wielded by the units to stymie federal legislation, appears more appropriate as an anti-majoritarian bulwark and better able to engender constitutional debate over competences than is the EU's stillborn judicial principle of subsidiarity. In similarly Calhounian fashion, a bottom-up procedure of constitutional amendment originating in the units is further proposed as a way of establishing unit acquiescence to greater supranationalism.     

Analysis of Ecstasy Tablets Using Capillary Electrophoresis with Capacitively Coupled Contactless Conductivity Detection

A method for the identification of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and meta‐chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP) was developed employing capillary electrophoresis (CE) with capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detection (C⁴D). Sample extraction, separation, and detection of “Ecstasy” tablets were performed in <10 min without sample derivatization. The separation electrolyte was 20 mm TAPS/Lithium, pH 8.7. Average minimal detectable amounts for MDMA and mCPP were 0.04 mg/tablet, several orders of magnitude lower than the minimum amount encountered in a tablet. Seven different Ecstasy tablets seized in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were analyzed by CE‐C⁴D and compared against routine gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). The CE method demonstrated sufficient selectivity to discriminate the two target drugs, MDMA and mCPP, from the other drugs present in seizures, namely amphepramone, fenproporex, caffeine, lidocaine, and cocaine. Separation was performed in <90 sec. The advantages of using C⁴D instead of traditional CE‐UV methods for in‐field analysis are also discussed.     

A unified model of settlement and trial expenditures: The Priest–Klein model extended

Settlement and trial expenditures are crucially interrelated. The literature on settlement, however, takes no account of models of trial. In this paper, we develop a unified model of settlement and trial expenditures. We do this by discarding the usual assumption of settlement models that trial costs are constant across cases. Instead, we follow the literature on trial by permitting trial costs to vary with the legal merit of the plaintiff's case. Our approach can be used to extend standard models of settlement such as the well-known Priest–Klein model as well as models based on asymmetric information. As a demonstration, we extend the Priest–Klein model and generally overturn that model's canonical results. In particular, we show that even in a fully symmetric model, predicted win rates at trial can deviate substantially from 50 percent. Furthermore, win rates will vary in response to legal reforms that shift the decision standard.     

糖肾康颗粒对糖尿病肾病气阴两虚、瘀血阻络证患者血清胱抑素C及尿纤维连接蛋白的干预作用

目的 观察Ⅲ～Ⅳ期糖尿病肾病（diabetic nephropathy,DN）气阴两虚、瘀血阻络证患者血清胱抑素C（cystatin C,CysC）、尿纤维连接蛋白（urinary fibronectin,UFn）水平及糖肾康颗粒的干预作用。方法 将60例Ⅲ～Ⅳ期糖尿病肾病气阴两虚、瘀血阻络证患者随机分为治疗组和对照组,各30例,并选取20名健康体检者作为正常组。治疗组与对照组均给予常规降糖、降压治疗,治疗组加用糖肾康颗粒,疗程2个月。治疗前后分别检测治疗组与对照组尿白蛋白/尿肌酐比值（microalbuminuria/urine creatinine,MAU/UCr）、肾小球滤过率估算值（estimated glomerular filtration rate,eGFR）以及CysC、UFn水平,并与正常组比较。结果 治疗组中医证候疗效显著优于对照组（P＜0.01）;在降低MAU/UCr比值和CysC、UFn水平,以及升高eGFR水平方面,治疗组显著优于对照组（P<0.01）。结论 糖肾康颗粒可降低Ⅲ～Ⅳ期DN气阴两虚、瘀血阻络证患者血清CysC、UFn水平,并可减少DN患者尿蛋白排泄,维持肾小球滤过率,在一定程度上具有保护肾功能、延缓疾病进展的作用。