Intramedia Mediation: The Cumulative and Complementary Effects of News Media Use

This study focuses on one often overlooked political communication-based media effect, intramedia mediation, and the indirect effects that stem from relationships that exist among various forms of media use. Data from a 2000 national Annenberg election panel survey are used to assess a series of relationships between television and newspaper public affairs use and how these forms of media consumption affect citizens' knowledge of presidential campaign endorsements. The indirect effects that stem from the relationships that exist among these two forms of media use reflect the cumulative and complementary functions of mass communication consumption across time. An analysis of intramedia mediation in coordination with the study of the direct effects of public affairs media use on this study's outcome variable produces substantially larger overall effects for both forms of news use. Thus, the study of intramedia mediation contributes to a better understanding of the full range of media influences on a given outcome variable over the course of a political campaign. Ramifications of these findings are outlined and future lines of research summarized.     

Dental Age Assessment in Children: A Comparison of Four Methods in a Recent French Population

The aim of this study was to analyze the accuracy and the reliability of four methods of dental age estimation (Demirjian, Willems I, Willems II, and Chaillet standards) in a French population. Orthopantomograms of 743 children aged between 4 and 15 years were used. The Demirjian standards gave a consistent overestimation of dental age compared with chronological age (+0.45 and +0.46 years for girls and boys, respectively). We found that three modified methods were more accurate for both sexes than Demirjian's method: the Willems I method appeared to be more suitable when the sex and ethnicity are both known (?0.09 and +0.14 years for girls and boys, respectively); the Willems II method was more accurate for children of unknown sex (mean difference = 0.00 years), and the Chaillet method was found to be more accurate than the Demirjian method, but less accurate than the Willems I method (?0.59 and ?0.18 years for girls and boys, respectively).     

Are Peripapillary Intrascleral Hemorrhages Pathognomonic for Abusive Head Trauma?*

Abstract: The American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, Section on Ophthalmology, acknowledges that searching for retinal hemorrhages (RHs) in infants only in cases of suspected of abuse creates selection bias. However, they also recommend that postmortem eye removal might not be indicated “in children who have clearly died from witnessed severe accidental head trauma or otherwise readily diagnosed systemic medical conditions.” Although infrequently described in the child abuse literature, peripapillary intrascleral hemorrhages (bleeding in the sclera at the optic nerve insertion)—putatively from severe repetitive acceleration/deceleration forces with or without blunt head trauma—have been considered essentially pathognomonic for abusive head trauma (shaken baby syndrome). We present two neonates who sustained accidental, severe in utero head injuries and had associated extensive RHs and optic nerve sheath hemorrhages with peripapillary intrascleral hemorrhages detected at autopsy. Neither neonate had a documented clinical fundal examination in the intensive care unit.     

Analyzing Forensic Evidence Based on Density with Magnetic Levitation

This paper describes a method for determining the density of contact trace objects with magnetic levitation (MagLev). MagLev measurements accurately determine the density (±0.0002 g/cm³) of a diamagnetic object and are compatible with objects that are nonuniform in shape and size. The MagLev device (composed of two permanent magnets with like poles facing) and the method described provide a means of accurately determining the density of trace objects. This method is inexpensive, rapid, and verifiable and provides numerical values—independent of the specific apparatus or analyst—that correspond to the absolute density of the sample that may be entered into a searchable database. We discuss the feasibility of MagLev as a possible means of characterizing forensic‐related evidence and demonstrate the ability of MagLev to (i) determine the density of samples of glitter and gunpowder, (ii) separate glitter particles of different densities, and (iii) determine the density of a glitter sample that was removed from a complex sample matrix.     

高校思想政治理论课教学方法改革初探

十八大报告指出：＂全面实施素质教育,深化教育领域综合改革,着力提高教育质量,培养学生社会责任感、创新精神、实践能力。＂这是对我国教育部门提出的新要求。理论与实践表明,在教学活动中,教学方式方法是影响人才培养质量和创新人才培养至关重要的因素之一。因此,结合我国高校思想政治理论课教学方法改革的历史实践,对我国思想政治理论课教学方法改革的趋势进行探讨,这在十八大大力倡导培养学生＂创新精神＂的大背景下显得十分必要。     

The British general election of 2010 under different voting rules

The 2010 British election resulted in what the British refer to as a “hung Parliament” for the first time in over a generation. This result further heightened the debate over the fairness and utility of the nation’s centuries-old first-past-the-post (FPTP) system. Survey data are used to simulate the election outcome under four different electoral systems beyond FPTP: round-robin pair-wise comparisons, the Borda count, the alternative vote, and Coombs' method. Results suggest that in 2010, the Liberal-Democrats were Condorcet preferred to all other parties and would have won a national election under every tested method except the alternative vote, the method supported by the Liberal-Democrats during the referendum in May 2011 and, of course, FPTP as actually used.     

The Short‐Term Effects of Mediation on Low‐Intensity Civil Wars

International diplomacy, to the extent it is effective, should not only prevent escalation of low‐intensity conflict, but should also facilitate de‐escalation. This article focuses on the short‐term effects of managing low‐intensity civil wars through third‐party mediation. Specifically, we compare the efficacy of third party‐mediated direct (face‐to‐face) and indirect talks in low‐intensity civil wars from 1993 to 2004 using the Managing Intrastate Low‐Intensity Conflict data set. We argue that a focus on short‐term success is valid because of the relationship among mediation, short‐term success, humanitarian aid access, and peacebuilding. We also assess the roles of mediator identity, mediation strategy (behavior focus versus incompatibility focus), peace agreements, war type, per capita gross domestic product, level of democracy, and conflict duration. Our overarching finding is that direct forms of mediation in which all parties meet face to face were the most likely to yield short‐term success in the sample of civil wars that we analyzed.     

一种面向利益分析的政策研究方法

构建社会主义和谐社会,对政策制定的科学化和民主化提出了新的更高的要求,即必须更加重视各方利益的表达和协调,以实现共赢。本文在综合分析软科学和政策科学两个相对独立的学科现状的基础上,讨论当前政策研究在利益分析上存在的不足及其根源,指出政策研究需要超越先前主流的实证主义范式,发展面向利益分析的理论和方法。针对我国政策制定中利益分析和协调的现实需求,本文介绍了一种基于讨论式博弈和综合集成支持的公共政策实验方法(EPRM),论述了该方法的基本思路、运用过程和若干焦点问题。     

“三阶段”动态教学法在《Java程序设计》课程的探索与实践

Java是一门面向对象的编程语言,需要在课程中逐渐提高学生的动手实践能力,根据此课程的特点,在课程中引入"三阶段"动态教学法,革新课程考核方式,通过之后的问卷调查和考试效果显示达到了较好的教学效果。     

情境教学法在原始凭证实训阶段中的运用

原始凭证作为整个账务处理的初始环节起着极其重要的作用和地位。无论手工处理,还是电算化处理,对待原始凭证的处理都是一样的,即自行整理、分析、提炼经济业务。实训阶段所要解决的核心问题就是＂见票就知业务＂,这势必要求引入情境教学法才能有效的完成实训任务。本课题组从原始凭证的分类入手,将情境教学法分别运用于外来原始凭证和自制原始凭证两类常见实训业务中,总结和归纳出指导教师的经验和方法。