Does Country-Level Social Disorganization Increase Terrorist Attacks?

This study examines the effects of a measure of country-level social disorganization on levels of terrorist attacks and fatalities in 101 countries from 1981 to 2010. We measure social disorganization as the presence of state instability: revolutionary and ethnic war, adverse regime change, and genocide. The classic social disorganization perspective posits that individuals experiencing these types of rapid social change will be freed from the institutional and informal restraints that bind them to society, and keep them conforming to social norms and laws. We examine the extent to which this reasoning applies to the number of terrorist attacks and fatalities from terrorist attacks occurring in countries. To control for the possibility that better functioning states are better able to prevent terrorist attacks, we include two measures of state capacity. We find that controlling for state capacity and a wide variety of other variables, social disorganization is consistently associated with increases in terrorist attacks and fatalities. We consider implications of the results for future research and policy.     

Pharmacokinetics of ethanol in patients with renal failure before and after hemodialysis

We studied the pharmacokinetics of ethanol in seven patients suffering from terminal renal failure before and after they underwent hemodialysis. Ethanol (0.40 g/kg) was administered in the morning after an overnight fast by a constant rate intravenous (IV) infusion over 45 min. After removing a mean fluid volume of 2.46±0.48 liters (±SD), span 1.76–3.43 liters by hemodialysis, the same subjects received a second IV infusion of ethanol after they had eaten lunch. At exactly timed intervals of 0, 45, 90, 105, 120, 135, 150, 165, and 180 min from the start of the infusion, two blood-samples were drawn and the plasma portion of one of them was obtained by centrifugation. The concentration of ethanol in blood and plasma was determined by headspace gas chromatography and the water-content of whole blood was determined from the change in weight after desiccation. Plasma always contained a higher concentration of ethanol than whole blood and the mean plasma/whole blood ratio in patients with renal failure was 1.07:1 (span 1.05–1.10). The rate of ethanol disappearance from blood (β-slope) was faster (0.185±0.013 versus 0.157±0.022 g/l/h), the C₀ value was higher (0.79±0.08 versus 0.73±0.10 g/l) and the apparent volume of distribution (V_d) of ethanol was lower (0.507±0.049 versus 0.558±0.078 l/kg) after hemodialysis. The water content of whole blood was significantly higher (P<0.001) before dialysis (88.6±1.97 g/100 ml) compared with after dialysis (87.4±2.01 g/100 ml). The higher V_d for ethanol and lower C₀ as well as higher blood-water content are to be expected for a over hydrated condition before hemodialysis. The swifter rate of ethanol elimination from blood (β-slope) after hemodialysis should be interpreted with caution because eating a meal before the second infusion of ethanol is a confounding factor. Nevertheless, the rate of elimination of ethanol from blood in patients with renal failure agreed reasonably well with values expected for healthy subjects, namely mean 0.15 g/l/h spanning from 0.10 to 0.20 g/l/h.     

A measure of skewness in offense distributions

It has become a criminological fact of life that a small group of offenders is responsible for a far greater share of offending than its size would suggest. For example, it is well known that in the 1945 Philadelphia birth cohort, 6% of the cohort members committed 52% of the offenses. We argue, however, that the conventional percentaging approach to measuring skewness in offense distributions is inadequate. We propose and apply an alternative approach to measuring offense skewness which utilizes the offense distribution to its fullest and can easily and meaningfully be used for comparisons across or within study populations.     

The Secrets of Successful (and Unsuccessful) Mediators Continued: Studies Two and Three

In a survey of 216 advocates in mediation, the successful mediator's ability to gain the confidence of the parties was cited as important to his or her success more frequently than were any of the skills used by the mediator to bring about agreement. This article discusses the means by which mediators gain the confidence of disputing parties. The article also discusses the different skill and attribute profiles of different successful mediators and the advocates' views of the reasons for mediator failure. The article considers the implications of its findings for mediators, trainers, and advocates, and concludes with suggestions for future research.     

1946年的政协宪政方案失败原因探析

1946年,参与政协会议的各方,包括国民党、共产党、民主同盟等,设计了一套旨在建立两院国会制、责任内阁制和地方自治制的宪政方案。方案得到了各方的认同,但最后却失败了。各方对于政协决议一些具体问题的争执以及对于这些争执的误读,在实施政协决议时的次序错误,当国共双方出现重大分歧时中间性力量的分裂等因素综合起来导致了宪政方案的失败。国共在东北问题上的分歧与战争也是重要原因,但不在本文的分析之列。     

试论税法对环境污染行为的调控

在环境保护领域 ,市场失灵使政府干预成为必要 ;而政府干预也会失灵又需要干预政府。税法作为经济法宏观调控的重要组成部分 ,集经济手段和法律手段于一身 ;税法其实又是一个综合的领域 ,具有不同法律部门的功能。故税法既能干预市场 ,又能干预政府 ;既能解决市场失灵 ,又能解决政府失败     

规范政府行为 提高政府管理效能——公共选择理论的启示

在经济全球化背景下,规范政府行为,借用市场力量改善政府作用,建立掌舵型的“企业型政府”,将是我们治理“政府失灵”,提高政府管理效能的有益尝试。     

Dysfunctional institutions? Toward a New Agenda in Governance Studies

There is a wide‐spread perception among academics and commentators that institutional dysfunction has become increasingly common in important social, political, and economics arenas. Opinion polls show a decline in trust and confidence in major actors and institutions, including inter‐governmental organizations, governments, firms, NGOs, and religious organizations. For some, the core of the problem is that the hitherto well‐functioning states have become less effective in aggregating and acting upon citizens' preferences. Many policy initiatives of the 1990s – deregulation, privatization, new public management, private regulation, regional integration, civil society, and so on – seemed to have failed to meet expectations. This symposium seeks to identify important theoretical and empirical questions about institutional failure, such as why do institutions fail, why are they not self‐correcting, what might be a clear evaluative yardstick and analytic approach by which to measure performance, and to what extent contemporary theories of institutional evolution and design are useful in examining institutional restructuring and institutional renewal? Symposium essays by leading social science scholars offer important insights to inform future work on institutional performance and outline an agenda for institutional renewal and change.     

慢性乙醇中毒小鼠脑神经细胞IP3R1表达的变化

目的研究慢性乙醇中毒引起小鼠脑神经细胞Ⅰ型1,4,5-三磷酸肌醇受体（IP3R1）表达的变化。方法 40只小鼠随机分为90d、180d组,各组再分为正常对照组、10%、20%、30%乙醇组,每组5只,乙醇组给予相应浓度乙醇饮用至相应时间;取各组小鼠脑组织,分别采用免疫组化和Western blot方法检测脑皮质神经细胞IP3R1表达的变化;SPSS 13.0软件对实验数据进行单因素方差分析。结果正常IP3R1免疫组化染色物分布于神经细胞胞浆内。90d组随乙醇浓度的增加,IP3R1免疫组化阳性细胞数和阳性细胞率逐步增加,组间比较,差异显著（P〈0.05）;180d组中10%、20%乙醇组阳性细胞数和阳性细胞率逐步增加,组间比较,差异显著（P〈0.05）,而30%乙醇组阳性细胞数和阳性细胞率反而减少,且低于90d组的相同浓度组（P〈0.05）。Western blot与免疫组化检测结果基本一致。结论慢性乙醇中毒可引起小鼠大脑皮质神经细胞IP3R1表达增加,而高浓度（30%）、长时间（180d）乙醇使IP3R1表达降低,可能与神经细胞变性、坏死、数目减少有关。     

Back to a Predominant Party System: The November 2015 Snap Election in Turkey

Abstract

Turkey’s snap parliamentary election in November 2015 took place in an environment of growing political violence and terrorism resulting from the renewal of the Kurdish conflict in the southeast and two major suicide bombings carried out by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Presenting the coalition arithmetic, the article first examines the failure to form a government after the previous election five months earlier. It then examines the campaign for the November election, including party strategies, key issues and the role of the media, before analysing the results and the election winners and losers. In restoring a parliamentary majority for the Adalet ve Kalk?nma Partisi (Justice and Development Party – AKP) that has governed Turkey continuously for the past 13 years, the November election marked the basic continuity of Turkey’s predominant party system.