The Transformation of Israel's Extreme Right

The extreme right in Israel was traditionally defined by its hawkish views on the occupied territories and the Arab-Israeli conflict. The decline of this political camp in the 1999 national elections brought many to the conclusion that the Israeli extreme right had died. The main argument of this article is that the king is dead - long live the king. Despite the popular belief that the extreme right in Israel is on the decline, the second wave of right-wing extremism is already here in a stronger and more prevalent form. By accepting a broader definition of the extreme right, it can be concluded that twenty percent of Israeli parliament members represent ideas similar to those of the European extreme right, especially antidemocracy and xenophobia.     

Recovery of human DNA profiles from poached deer remains: A feasibility study

Poaching is a crime that occurs worldwide and can be extremely difficult to investigate and prosecute due to the nature of the evidence available. If a species is protected by international legislation such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora then simply possessing any part of that species is illegal. Previous studies have focused on the identification of endangered species in cases of potential poaching. Difficulties arise if the poached animal is not endangered. Species such as deer have hunting seasons whereby they can legally be hunted however poaching is the illegal take of deer, irrespective of season. Therefore, identification of deer alone has little probative value as samples could have originated from legal hunting activities in season. After a deer is hunted it is usual to remove the innards, head and lower limbs. The limbs are removed through manual force and represent a potential source of human touch DNA.We investigate the potential to recover and profile human autosomal DNA from poached deer remains. Samples from the legs of ten culled deer were obtained (40 in total) using minitapes. DNA from samples was extracted, quantified and amplified to determine if it would be possible to recover human STR profiles.Low quantification data led to the use of an extended PCR cycling protocol of 34 cycles. Samples from seven deer amplified, however some samples were excluded from further analysis due to ‘drop in’ alleles or the low level of successfully amplified loci. Samples from five deer could be further analysed and gave match probabilities ranging from 6.37 × 10^{− 3} to 9.53 × 10^{− 11}.This study demonstrates the potential of recovering human touch DNA from poached animal remains. There is the potential for this test to be used in relation to other species of poached remains or other types of wildlife crimes. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that human STR profiling has been successfully applied to touch DNA in regards to simulated wildlife crime.     

经济高碳化形成机理与低碳经济政策选择

在分散决策下,只要能持续获得利润或效用且环境成本由全社会分担,无节制的碳排放行为就会继续进行,其结果就是区域性或全球性的气候变暖。为治理这一市场失灵问题,政府应出台政策进行适当干预和引导。从政策层次来看,需要系统制定低碳经济发展方向和碳减排目标等方面的宏观政策,发展低碳产业和低碳城市的中观政策,社区、企业、个人、环境类非正式组织共同参与的微观政策;从政策主体来看,需要整合政府引导、经济激励和微观经济个体自愿参与的政策工具这些政策又要相互配合、相互作用,形成低碳经济政策链。文章最后提出了我国发展低碳经济的政策建议。