English Question or Union Question? Neither has Easy Answers

While devolution has provided a stronger political voice for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since the late 1990s, it is only in the past few years that English public opinion appears to have become exercised by the lack of similar arrangements for England. The renewed debates over the character of the Union after the Scottish independence referendum reveal a desire for ‘fair treatment’ of England within a Union conceived as a partnership of equals. At the same time, numerous proposals have been made for devolution of power within England, reflecting long‐held concerns about the territorial hegemony of London. Solutions to the former issue include English votes for English laws and an English Parliament. Solutions to the latter include city‐regions, strengthened local government, the first of these appears to be the government's preferred route, in the light of the recent ‘Greater Manchester Agreement’. However, none of these ‘solutions’ can count on being implemented.     

Combination of Face Regions in Forensic Scenarios

This article presents an experimental analysis of the combination of different regions of the human face on various forensic scenarios to generate scientific knowledge useful for the forensic experts. Three scenarios of interest at different distances are considered comparing mugshot and CCTV face images using MORPH and SC face databases. One of the main findings is that inner facial regions combine better in mugshot and close CCTV scenarios and outer facial regions combine better in far CCTV scenarios. This means, that depending of the acquisition distance, the discriminative power of the facial regions change, having in some cases better performance than the full face. This effect can be exploited by considering the fusion of facial regions which results in a very significant improvement of the discriminative performance compared to just using the full face.     

现代区域文化建设探析

现代区域文化具有丰富的内涵及鲜明的时代特征。要通过构建现代区域文化识别系统、建立特色文化区域、发展现代区域文化产业、充分利用现代高新技术手段构建区域文化信息资源网络传输系统和促进优秀文化信息的共建共享等途径建设现代区域文化。     

广东省次发达地区人才资源开发的问题与对策

广东要想率先基本实现社会主义现代化的战略目标,次发达地区必须加快发展步伐。然而,人才资源开发的滞后已成为广东省次发达地区发展的主要制约因素。因此,实施区域性的整体性人才资源开发,调整人才结构,乃是次发达地区冲破发展瓶颈的制胜之策。     

西方国家对欠发达地区进行政府援助的经验和对我国西部大开发的启示

西方各国对欠发达地区进行政府援助具有诸多成功经验,这些经验表明政府决策是缩小 地区差距的一个关键因素。在我国西部大开发战略的实施初期,必须充分发挥政府的主导作用,通过政府提 供有效的政策支持。     

论我国民族自治地方的政府发展

民族自治地方政府发展是指以自治权为核心的民族自治地方政府体系不断优化,行政管理水平不断提高,政府活力和政府能力不断提升的持续改善的过程。民族自治地方政府发展既是民族自治地方实现跨越式发展的必然要求,也是有效执行民族区域自治制度,保障少数民族平等权利的要求。为保证民族自治地方政府发展的正确方向,民族自治地方政府发展必须坚持科学的发展原则。     

黑社会性质组织犯罪认定若干问题浅析

“打黑除恶”专项斗争开展以来,各级执法部门惩治了一批涉黑案件,也有部分案件因取证、举证、认证各环节的认识差异导致久拖不决,或者轻罪重判、重罪轻罚,笔者对甘肃省境内的涉黑案件进行了跟踪调研,本文试从实践执法的角度对侦查机关如何合理取证、检法两家如何认证的问题作以粗浅探讨。     

Design and Test of an Index to Measure the Capability of Cities in Latin America to Create Knowledge-Based Enterprises

An index has been created, based on the experience of a prior version tested in 5 cities in Chile, and from an extensive literature search. Its purpose is to rank cities in Latin America on their capability to create knowledge-based enterprises, in a way that is understandable by stakeholders, motivates action and facilitates diagnosis. The index consists of 7 groups of 50 variables (knowledge, innovation, entrepreneurship, business foundation, cultural framework, creative magnetism and entrepreneurial management). All variables are measured by numerical data from secondary sources. The index is tested for feasibility and cost-effectiveness in one city, Santiago. It is concluded that data limitations will require the use of survey techniques, including survey of perceptions, for about 1/3 of the variables to increase accuracy and generate a more meaningful information for future analysis. Various directions for future research are suggested.     

西北地区封建金融的衰败和近代金融雏形的产生

近代以来，由于西北地处偏僻，资本主义和近代经济发展缓慢，直到20世纪20年代，封建金融依然占统治地位，在维系西北地区封建经济运转中发挥着重要作用。进入20世纪以后，与近代银行有某些相似之处的新式金融才开始萌生。     

A database of mitochondrial DNA hypervariable regions I and II sequences of individuals from Slovakia

In order to identify polymorphic positions and to determine their frequencies and the frequency of haplotypes in the human mitochondrial control region, two hypervariable regions (HV1 and HV2) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 374 unrelated individuals from Slovakia were amplified and sequenced. Sequence comparison led to the identification of 284 mitochondrial lineages as defined by 163 variable sites. Genetic diversity (GD) was estimated at 0.997 and the probability of two randomly selected individuals from population having identical mtDNA types (random match probability, RMP) for the both regions is 0.60%.