Support Signature Research Articles

Przestępczość przeciwko wyborom i referendum w Polsce w latach 1999–2019

The article deals with legal aspects of crime against elections and referendum and its selected criminal symptoms. The legislator has defined crimes of this kind in two legal acts: the Criminal Code of 1997 (Articles 248–251) and the Electoral Code of 2011 (Articles 497–497a, 500–510 and 513c). Crimes against elections and referendum include, among others, violation of the freedom to vote, electoral bribery, violation of the secrecy of the ballot, collection of signatures of support in the form of pressure, in unauthorised places and for advantage, possession of the ballot outside the polling station or lack of openness and transparency of the financial management of the electoral committee. Although the Penal Code contains fewer offenses against elections than the Election Code, the behaviours included therein were committed more often (they constituted 3/4 of election crimes in Poland). The stated election crimes have intensified in recent years and are characterised by an upward trend. Elections are therefore for some a realisation of fundamental civic rights, and for others, unfortunately, a field for abuse to achieve electoral success (one’s own or that of a political favorite). The research results presented in this article justify the need to deepen scientific research, especially on criminogenic factors of electoral crime.

Citizen Engagement and Social Media

Social media has transformed election campaigns around the world. While it is difficult to determine to what extent social media influence voters' decisions, there is no doubt that social media platforms impact on candidate advertising and public debate during elections. This research, the methodological formulation of which is based on a case study, seeks to investigate the use of social media during political campaigns to collect signatures of support. In the elections of 2018, aspiring candidates for presidential election required a certain number of signatures of support in order to register as official candidates. We collected social media data on a weekly basis from the Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube accounts of seven candidates and contrasted this data with the number of signatures validated by the electoral authority. We found no relationship between the level of support received and the use of social media in the case of any of the candidates. However, we observed candidates who did achieve the required number of signatures and who did receive official presidential candidate status as a result of their high level of visibility. This research contributes methodologically to the current literature and provides empirical evidence regarding independent candidates in Mexico.

Liquid-Liquid Phase Transition in Supercooled Yttria-Alumina

The structure and thermal characteristics of aerodynamically levitated samples of yttria-alumina in the liquid, supercooled liquid and solid phases were explored in an extensive series of high energy x-ray diffraction, small angle neutron scattering, and pyrometric cooling measurements. Particular focus was placed on the compound (Y2O3)(x)(Al2O3)(1-x) with x = 0.2 for which a liquid-liquid phase transition at a temperature of 1788 K has recently been reported. No structural or thermal signature in support of this metastable phase transition could be found.

Genome Size: A Novel Genomic Signature in Support of Afrotheria

Molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest an emerging phylogeny for the extant Placentalia (eutherian) that radically departs from morphologically based constructions of the past. Placental mammals are partitioned into four supraordinal clades: Afrotheria, Xenarthra, Laurasiatheria, and Euarchontoglires. Afrotheria form an endemic African clade that includes elephant shrews, golden moles, tenrecs, aardvarks, hyraxes, elephants, dugongs, and manatees. Datamining databases of genome size (GS) shows that till today just one afrotherian GS has been evaluated, that of the aardvark Orycteropus afer. We show that the GSs of six selected representatives across the Afrotheria supraordinal group are among the highest for the extant Placentalia, providing a novel genomic signature of this enigmatic group. The mean GS value of Afrotheria, 5.3 +/- 0.7 pg, is the highest reported for the extant Placentalia. This should assist in planning new genome sequencing initiatives.