常染色体STR遗传标记在同胞鉴定中的应用

目的 探讨常染色体STR遗传标记用于鉴定两个体同胞关系的可行性。方法 用Power Plex~(TM)16体系15个STR基因座检测150对同胞个体和150对无关个体,ITO法计算同胞关系指数(PI_(FS))与同胞关系概率(W_(FS)),并比较两组W_(FS)值及两个体间等位基因匹配情况的差异,对前者进行组间差异的x~2检验。结果 100对(66.67％)同胞个体的W_(FS)大于0.9995;无关个体W_(FS)均小于0.8,其中100对(66.67％)W_(FS)小于0.27。同胞个体两个体间等位基因全相同的基因座个数为1～10个不等,平均5.49个,无关个体0～5个不等,平均1.33个;等位基因全不同的基因座个数,同胞个体0～6个不等,平均1.66个,无关个体2～11个不等,平均6.57个;等位基因半相同的基因座个数,同胞个体3～13个不等,平均7.85个,而无关个体1～13个不等,平均7.11个。经x~2检验,同胞个体和无关个体间全相同和全不同的基因座数差异均有极显著意义(P<0.001),半相同的基因座数差异无显著意义(P>0.05)。结论 PowerPlex~(TM)16体系可用于鉴定同胞关系。当两个体全不同基因座个数大于或等于6个,或全相同基因座数为0时,提示为无关个体;当两个体全不同基因座个数小于或等于1个,或全相同基因座数大于或等于6个时,提示为同胞。     

Fighting for the Soviet Union 2.0: Digital nostalgia and national belonging in the context of the Ukrainian crisis

This paper focuses on the use of Soviet-era symbols, myths, and narratives within groups on VKontakte social media site over the initial stage of the Ukraine crisis (2014–2015). The study is based on qualitative content analysis of online discussions, visual materials, and entries by group administrators and commentators. It also applies link-analysis in order to see how groups on social media are interrelated and positioned online. It reveals that these online groups are driven primarily by neo-Soviet myths and hopes for a new version of the USSR to emerge. Over time, the main memory work in these groups shifted from Soviet nostalgia and “pragmatic” discourse to the use of re-constructed World War II memories in order to justify Russian aggression and to undermine national belonging in Ukraine. Reliance on the wartime mythology allowed for the labelling of Euromaidan supporters as “fascists” that should be eliminated “once again.” This powerful swirl of re-created Soviet memories allowed effective mobilization on the ground and further escalation of the conflict from street protests to the armed struggle.     

International influence in democratic transitions: a case comparison of Spain and Greece

Examining the impact of the international system on the domestic system in countries in the process of democratisation, the article seeks to account for the relation between regime-initiated democratic transitions and the international factor, taking two case studies of the way the international factor interacted with the decisions and tactics of regime and opposition elites. The first is the Spanish exemplary reforma pactada of 1977; the second is the much less studied case of the short-lived and aborted “Markezinis experiment” in Greece in 1973, the failure of which has been blamed by its protagonist on external- mainly American- opposition.     

Institutions and Morality Policy in Western Democracies

This article investigates whether different political institutions such as executives, legislatures, parties, party systems, judiciaries, decentralization, constitutionalism, and referendums across 24 Western democracies are venues for debate across five individual morality policies. Using data since 1945, the article compares three theories of morality policy—(1) Policy Type leading to different institutional venues; (2) Two Worlds of religious/secular party systems; and (3) U.S./European exceptionalism. In order, the most frequently debated issues are abortion, same sex marriage, euthanasia, stem cells/assisted reproductive technology (ART), and capital punishment. There is considerable variation in the institutions and country groups that debate them although fewer differences in the Two Worlds model. Abortion, euthanasia, and same sex marriage are the most convergent issues across institutions, party systems, and country groupings while capital punishment and stem cells/ART show the most diverse patterns of deliberation. The general Policy Type model of morality policy is upheld, but varies institutionally by specific issues. The Two Worlds model is of some importance, but only on three issues. There also are regional differences between the United States, Europe, and non‐European democracies.     

Mutual and Self Perceptions of Opposing Advocacy Coalitions: Devil Shift and Angel Shift in a German Policy Subsystem

In political conflicts, actors tend to assume that opponents behave maliciously. This phenomena is part of the “devil shift,” which was introduced in advocacy coalition framework research. We present a multivariate analysis of the perceptions of motives and actions of opposing coalitions in a political conflict and thereby analyze a major dimension of the “devil shift” and of its antonym “angel shift.” The conflict concerning the German infrastructure project Stuttgart 21 serves as a case study. We show that the radicalness of policy‐specific beliefs is the most important predictor for the intensity of mutual misperception in the researched conflict. The results further point to a more systematic inclusion of an actor's deep normative core beliefs in future analyses of distorted perception. Another central finding relates to the importance of the personal environment: actors in the subsystem share the same policy core beliefs with the majority of people in their personal environment.     

Power Sector Reforms and Technical Performance: Good News from an Instrumental Variable Analysis

Over the past three decades, various power sector reforms have overhauled the governance of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution in almost a hundred countries. Have these reforms produced benefits? Using instrumental variables, we improve upon earlier studies and demonstrate that power sector reforms enacted between 1982 and 2008 have both had large positive effects on the availability of generation capacity and reduced transmission and distribution losses. We also show that the positive effects on generation capacity are pronounced in developing countries and that hybrid reforms falling short of privatization and free competition are effective in improving generation capacity in particular. Overall, the results show that these reforms are an effective tool to remove an important constraint on economic growth.     

“9/11 is alive and well” or how critical terrorism studies has sustained the 9/11 narrative

ABSTRACT

This article argues that despite engaging in a powerful critique of the construction of the attacks of 11 September 2001 (or “9/11”) as temporal break, critical terrorism scholars have sustained and reproduced this same construction of “9/11”. Through a systematic analysis of the research articles published in Critical Studies on Terrorism, this article illustrates how critical scholars have overall failed to extricate themselves from this dominant narrative, as they inhabit the same visual, emotional and professional landscape as those they critique. After examining how CTS has reproduced but also renegotiated this narrative, the article concludes with what Michel Foucault would describe as an “effective history” of the attacks – in this case, a personal narrative of how the attacks did not constitute a moment of personal rupture but nonetheless later became a backdrop to justify my scholarship and career. It ends with a renewal of Maya Zeyfuss’ call to forget “9/11”.