津巴布韦严重的经济与政治危机剖析

当前,津巴布韦面临严重的经济与政治危机:工、农业生产持续衰退,通货膨胀率居高不下,债台高筑,国民经济总体状况恶化;国内各种政治势力不断制造事端;西方国家对穆加贝政权持续施压。这种危机状况既源于穆加贝政权抗衡西方式民主制而遭受西方国家的制裁,也与国内土地改革产生的负效应等因素不无关系。津巴布韦的经济与政治危机已引起国际社会密切关注。非洲国家,主要是南部非洲国家,寻求在穆加贝继续执政的框架内找到解决问题的办法。而以英、美为主导的西方国家执意继续施压,执意欲搞垮穆加贝政权。对此,津巴布韦政府通过平抑物价、实行企业股份本地化两项措施,以期缓解社会矛盾和改善民生。     

如何认识世界资本主义和社会主义的发展--对《九论社会主义和资本主义发展的历史进程》一书的几点意见

本文指出权威性著作<九论>对世界资本主义和社会主义发展的看法多有不实之处;作者认为世界资本主义与社会主义的发展各自以历了互相对应的四个阶段,社会主义先在俄、中等不发达国家实现确是早产,理应补生产力不足的课,社会主义苏联模式失败的深层原因在于它渗透了沙皇俄国军事封建帝国主义的糟粕,违背了科学社会主义原理.     

法律文化的语义、语境及其中国问题

法律文化的概念具有独特的含义,是指特定社会中植根于历史和文化的法律价值和观念。法律文化与文化和法律制度既有联系又有区别。法律文化可分为内行法律文化与外行法律文化、官方法律文化与民间法律文化、主流法律文化与非主流法律文化、本土法律文化与外来法律文化以及传统法律文化与现代法律文化。在当代中国法治的发展中,法律文化与法律制度之间以及不同法律文化之间存有冲突,我们应采取新的路径整合这些冲突。     

Has PPS increased Medicare expenditures on physicians?

We use data from 1983 and 1985 on the volume of Medicare physician services to analyze whether Medicare's Prospective Payment System (PPS), which resulted in a significant decline in hospital spending, led to a partially offsetting increase in real expenditures for physician services. We also analyze the effect of increases in assignment rates, increasing incomes of the elderly, and other factors on real expenditures during this period. Our main conclusion is that PPS has at most a small positive effect on real physician expenditures. Because people spent less time in the hospital, Medicare physician spending declined; but because of incentives to shift radiology and other services out of the hospital, some of this decline was offset. We also conclude that the sharp increase in Medicare assignment rates over this period, along with the rising incomes of the elderly during this period, contributed to the observed growth.     

R before D: the case of post conflict reintegration in Tajikistan1

Reintegration was prioritised over demobilisation and disarmament in Tajikistan's peace process. Inadequate disarmament rates were disregarded, but integration of opposition fighters into military and law enforcement units was relatively swift. This created high levels of trust among the former fighters and commanders. The quick provision of incentives, such as comprehensive amnesties and the offer of government positions and economic assets created stakes in the peace process for a number of actors. Transitional justice was largely overlooked. In this way, the case of Tajikistan runs counter to key elements of what has been termed the ‘post-conflict reconstruction orthodoxy’. At the same time, Tajikistan is a rare example of the emergence of post-war stability. This article provides a detailed account of the DDR process and outlines the incentives that it created for the warring parties. It also assesses the emergence of spoilers and the government's counter strategies. The article concludes by highlighting the consolidation of President Rakhmonov's power since 2001, but also raises some questions regarding the viability of Tajikistan's long-term political and economic development.     

Acidic and neutral drugs screen in blood with quantitation using microbore high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection and capillary gas chromatography–flame ionization detection

Blood previously acidified with aqueous saturated ammonium chloride solution was extracted with ethyl acetate. The dried extract was subjected to acetonitrile–hexane partition. The acetonitrile portion was analysed for the presence of acidic and neutral drugs by HPLC–DAD (200 mm×2.1 mm I.D. microbore ODS-Hypersil column) and GC–FID (25 m narrow-bore×0.25 mm I.D. HP-5 column with 0.33 μm film thickness). The protocol was found to be suitable for both clinical toxicology (including emergency toxicology) and postmortem toxicology. At least 66 drugs of interest were unequivocally identified by RRTs (HPLC) and UV spectra (DAD) match while another 12 were unequivocally identified by double RRTs match (HPLC and GC). Quantitation was facilitated by incorporating calibration blood standards in each assay batch. The five drugs most commonly encountered in clinical blood specimens (1150 cases) were: paracetamol (47.4% of the cases); chlormezanone (6.6%), theophylline (1.74%), naproxen (1.65%) and mefenamic acid (1.56%). The following drugs were detected in toxicologically significant quantities in postmortem blood specimens (245 cases): phenobarbitone (1.22% of the cases), naproxen (0.82%), chlormezanone (0.82%), theophylline (0.82%), carbamazepine (0.41%) and paracetamol (0.41%).     

Plasma versus bone marrow desipramine: a comparative study

Correlation between plasma and bone marrow tricyclic antidepressants has not been studied before. Two groups of rabbits were given 10 and 20 mg of desipramine/kg body weight, respectively. Desipramine was administered to the animals once daily by mouth for 5 days. On the fifth day the animals were sacrificed and blood and bone marrow samples were collected and analyzed using a high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method. Data showed that a correlation exists between bone marrow and blood desipramine. The bone marrow desipramine concentration increased as its blood levels increased. The average ratio of bone marrow to blood desipramine +/- S.D. (standard deviation) in both dosage groups was 37.2 +/- 4.46 with a range of 30.99-44.82. This investigation is promising and shows that bone marrow could be used as an alternative tissue in the absence of a suitable blood sample.     

WHEN TO USE AND WHEN TO AVOID MEDIATION

This article examines voluntary mediation and provides suggested criteria for attorneys in deciding whether or not to use mediation. The author discusses what mediation has to offer, what it takes to make it work, and important cautions for attorneys in deciding about the use of this process.     

Identification of the driver in two-rider motorcycle accidents. Inguinal contusion-laceration as an indication of the driver

In motorcycle accidents involving two riders, medicolegal identification of the driver is necessary when one or both riders die. It is particularly important in the latter case, because the survivor almost always insists that he or she was not driving. One characteristic injury that distinguishes the driver from the passenger is inguinal contusion-laceration (accompanied internally by pelvic fracture). This injury, caused by collision of the pelvis with the fuel tank, identifies the driver.