The Impact of Court Delays on the Prosecutor and the Defendant: An Economic Analysis

One important aspect of the economic theory of criminal court delay is to understand how the prosecutor and the defendant make their decisions, and how these respond to changes in trial delay. If both parties jointly maximise expected utility, trial delay may increase or decrease the number of trials, depending upon the decision makers' attitudes towards risk. The main policy implication is that providing the criminal courts with more resources in the form of additional judges and court capacity may lengthen the trial queue rather than shorten it. This is a counterintuitive result contrary to popular belief.     

猪血管内皮细胞体外生长特性的研究

试验以体外分离培养的猪血管内皮细胞为材料 ,研究了细胞的生长曲线、不同基础培养基对细胞生长的影响及胰岛素在生长液中的适宜含量。结果表明 ,传代猪血管内皮细胞接种后有1d左右的滞留期 ,然后细胞进入对数生长期 ,可持续 2d ,第 5d进入平台期 ,第 8d细胞开始脱落死亡 ;与MEM相比 ,M 199更适合于用作培养猪血管内皮细胞的基础培养基 ;在不用贴附基质和内皮细胞生长因子 (ECGF)的条件下 ,生长液中加入胰岛素 ,可明显促进细胞的生长和增殖 ,胰岛素的最适用量为 8μg/mL。     

Evaluating the shared and unique predictors of legal cynicism and police legitimacy from adolescence into early adulthood

In different theoretical traditions, negative social conditions, attachments, and interactions shape the way individuals view the law and its agents. Although most researchers acknowledge the conceptual distinction between different legal attitudes such as legal cynicism and police legitimacy, it remains unclear to what extent these attitudes stem from the same social sources. In the current study, therefore, we evaluate the social and individual factors that influence trajectories of legal cynicism and police legitimacy using a diverse community sample of youths in Zurich, Switzerland. Latent growth curve models were employed to examine patterns of change in legal cynicism and police legitimacy between 13 and 20 years of age. The findings show that legal cynicism and police legitimacy both decline into early adulthood and exhibit high rank-stability over time. Furthermore, we find that legal cynicism is closely related to individual characteristics that reflect one's inability to recognize or abide by their internal rules. By contrast, police legitimacy is shaped by socialization influences, particularly teacher bonds and police contacts. These results indicate a need to assess the measurement and interpretation of legal cynicism critically in relation to broader legitimacy beliefs and to investigate the shared and distinct sources of these different constructs.     

Validation studies of the ParaDNA® Intelligence System with artificial evidence items

Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling is one of the mostly used systems for forensic applications. In certain circumstances, STR profiling is time-consuming and costly, which potentially leads to delays in criminal investigations. LGC (Laboratory of the Government Chemist, UK) Forensics has developed a robust STR profiling platform called the ParaDNA^® Intelligence Test System which can provide early tactical intelligence and aid investigators in making informed decisions on sample prioritization for detection. Here, we validated the ParaDNA intelligence test for its application in forensic cases using a range of mock evidence items following guidelines set by the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM). Specifically, we tested the sensitivity and accuracy of the ParaDNA intelligence test, as well as the success rates for detecting mock samples and for use in case scenarios. Our findings demonstrate that the ParaDNA intelligence test generates useful DNA profiles, especially for samples such as blood, saliva, and semen that contain ample DNA, indicating the benefits of including ParaDNA as a prior step in forensic STR profiling pipelines.     

运用项目反应理论分析不同认知特点的题目

项目反应理论和认知心理学是两个不同的研究领域 ,把它们结合起来可以得到更多的题目信息。通常人们只是利用了项目反应理论提供的项目难度、区分度等统计指标 ,本研究发现对于具有不同认知特点的题目 ,它们的项目特征曲线和差异性系数是有显著差异的。高分组和低分组在认知结构上的差异 ,也可以通过项目特征曲线反映出来     

Interrogation of short tandem repeats using fluorescent probes and melting curve analysis: A step towards rapid DNA identity screening

Current forensic DNA profiling methods rely on the analysis of samples at specialised laboratories with an average turnaround time of several days. The ability to rapidly determine a partial profile of short tandem repeats at the point-of-arrest would be of great benefit to police forces around the world, for example enabling a suspect to be rapidly included or excluded from an investigation. We have developed a homogeneous PCR method for the interrogation of STR loci utilising fluorescent oligonucleotide probes and melting curve analysis. Alleles of the D18S51, TH01 and D8S1179 loci were differentiated and identified on the basis of target length and probe melting temperature. Assay performance was evaluated by comparing melting peak data with the AmpFlSTR^® SGM Plus^® system. The method is compatible with direct analysis of unpurified buccal swab samples, enabling a partial STR profile to be generated within 1 h.     

赤足跖后缘自动提取与自适应变模型特征识别

将经典Snake模型与自适应变模型相结合的算法，快速提取图像中的开边缘并识别边缘形状，实现赤足足迹跖后缘的自动提取与形状识别。首先，对原图像校正、平滑去噪，由数学形态学方法得到Snake模型的初始轮廓，迭代求解实现跖后缘的快速、精确提取。然后，由高次多项式进行数字滤波，再对滤波后的边缘曲线，利用先验知识，依据平均曲率的变化，自适应地选取不同的函数模型，提取出相应特征，自动识别边缘形状。该方法边缘提取准确，特征提取合理，使计算机总体识别率达到90％。     

尿液、血液中γ-羟丁酸的气质联用法分析

目的为尿液、血液中γ-羟丁酸(gamma-hydroxybutyricacid,GHB),γ-羟丁酸内酯(gamma-butyrolactone,GBL)和1,4-丁二醇(1,4-butanediol,1,4-BD)的鉴定提供方法和依据。方法100μl尿液或血液以GHBd6为内标,经乙酸乙酯提取、BSTFA衍生化后,用GC／MS法分析。结果测尿液中内源性GHB的线性范围是20-800ng／ml,R2=0.9995,最低检出限为10ng／ml(S／N≥3);测尿液、血液中外源性GHB的线性范围为5-60μg／ml,R2分别为0.9999和0.9928。相对回收率为99％-104％。以所建方法测定了健康志愿者尿液中内源性GHB含量,并考察了健康受试者外源性GHB的代谢情况。结论所建方法准确、便捷、省时、选择性好,适用于法医毒物学鉴定。     

媒体诽谤与权力造罪

从编发短信"诽谤"县领导被判有罪,发展到报道诽谤案的记者也被以诽谤罪立案侦查,这不仅仅是一个罪与非罪的判断问题。坚持罪刑法定原则同样要遵守程序法,司法机关不能轻易将涉嫌诽谤的自诉案件转换为公诉程序启动。对进行负面报道的记者,以诽谤罪立案值得高度警惕。开这样的先例,已经危害到正当的舆论监督权,乃至国民普遍的民主权利。避免权力造罪必须重新反思官员的"官"意识,归根到底是要进一步强化官员的公仆观,尤其是对滥用公权力者,如果尚未构成犯罪,也应令其承担相应的其他不利后果。     

Sex estimation from the mastoid process among North Indians

Determination of sex from fragmentary crania is a critical problem in forensic anthropology. Osteometric analysis of mastoid can serve forensic anthropologists better in sex identification by virtue of the noticeable dimorphic characteristics. The present study aims to develop population-specific, sex-differentiating anthropometric standards for the mastoid process of North Indian skulls. Eight parameters of the mastoid region were measured on 138 adult crania (M/F 104:34, 22-65 years) and analyzed using SPSS 16.0. All parameters showed significant sexual dimorphism (p < 0.000). In stepwise analysis, asterion-mastoidale and mastoid breadth have provided an accuracy of 87%. Receiver operating characteristic curves were obtained for each variable to observe their overall performance in sex determination. Posterior end of incisura mastoidea-depression of suprameatal triangle was found to be the best variable with maximum area under curve and highest predictive accuracy (82.6%).