The Balance of Power in Rural Marketing Networks: A Case Study of Snake Trading in Cambodia

Producers in small-scale rural markets often receive unfavourable prices for their goods as a result of more powerful market participants. This study uses a combination of price analysis and interview data to assess the position of snake hunters in the aquatic snake market from Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia. Despite the hunters' dependence on intermediary traders for market access and credit, the evidence implies that they are not powerless participants. Intermediary traders operate under high competition as a result of the increasing scarcity of snakes and therefore, despite interlocked credit and snake markets, offer relatively high prices to hunters.     

Raman Spectroscopy as a Simple,Rapid, Nondestructive Screening Test for Methamphetamine in Clandestine Laboratory Liquids

Raman spectroscopy has found increased use in the forensic controlled substances laboratory in recent years due to its rapid and nondestructive analysis capabilities. Here, Raman spectroscopy as a screening test for methamphetamine in clandestine laboratory liquid samples is discussed as a way to improve the efficiency of a laboratory by identifying the most probative samples for further workup among multiple samples submitted for analysis. Solutions of methamphetamine in ethanol, diethyl ether, and Coleman fuel were prepared in concentrations ranging from 0.5% to 10% w/v, and Raman spectra of each were collected. A concentration‐dependant Raman peak was observed at 1003 per cm in each solution in 4% w/v and greater solutions. Case samples were analyzed and also found to reliably contain this diagnostic peak when methamphetamine was present. The use of this diagnostic indicator can save the forensic controlled substances laboratory time and materials when analyzing clandestine laboratory liquid submissions.     

Kenya: succession,customary law

This article seeks to explore the idea that a health care professional who becomes aware that a patient has a genetic linked disorder should in some circumstances owe a duty to inform blood relatives of that fact, and that failure to so inform should be redressed through the law of negligence. This is a contention which has appeared in medical literature ¹ 1 Lucassen, A. (2007), Should families own genetic information? Yes, BMJ, 335(July), p. 22. and been the subject of litigation in American jurisprudence. ² 2 Pate v Threlkel (1995) 661 S0 2d (SC Florida); Safer v Puck (1996) 677 2d 1188 (SC, NJ). Given that medical researchers have identified the genetic causes of many human diseases through more sophisticated methods of DNA sequencing, and have confirmed the hereditary nature of many of these conditions, the disclosure of screening results is a serious and contentious issue. This is particularly so given the increasing importance of preventative medicine as a means of dealing with disease. ³ 3 See Seigler, M. (1982) Confidentiality in medicine – a decrepit concept, N‐Engl J Med, 307, p. 1518, where he refers to medicine expanding ‘from a narrow, disease‐based model to a model that encompasses psychological, social and economic problems’. Also note the increasing emphasis now given to the prevention of diabetes and obesity through lifestyle education. The article suggests, by reference to ethical discourse, and particularly Levinas' theory on responsibility, ⁴ 4 See Levinas, E. (1961) Totality and Infinity, trans. A. Lingus 1969 (Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press); Levinas, E. (1974) Otherwise Than Being, or Beyond Essence, trans. A. Lingus 1981 (The Hague: Martinus Mijhoff). that health professionals do owe a duty of care to a patient's relatives, but that this duty may be discharged in ways which do not necessarily involve the disclosure of the information to those parties, and that it is only in certain, specified circumstances that a duty to disclose the information exists.     

The Gender Paradox in Prison Suicide Rates

Few studies of prison suicide have focused on suicide among female inmates, and even fewer studies have provided comparisons of rates by gender. Using national data on U.S. prisons and suicide, this study examined the “gender paradox” in prison suicide rates by comparing suicide rates of female and male inmates and U.S. residents and then examined characteristics of prisons that reported suicides. Findings indicated that rates of suicide in prison were similar for female and male inmates, but rates were higher for female inmates and lower for male inmates compared to the respective rates for female and male U.S. residents. Prisons that reported female suicides evidenced significant differences in prison conditions, including higher assault rates and mental health service utilization, compared to prisons for males and female prisons without suicide. Implications of the findings for understanding the gender paradox and for prison suicide prevention are discussed.     

Does electoral fraud spread? The expansion of electoral manipulation in Russia

In this paper, we argue that the occurrence of electoral manipulation in Russia has been driven, in part, by diffusion across neighboring raions through emulation, incentives, and networks. Presumably, in Putin’s Russia all local authorities have some incentives to deliver a high number of votes to United Russia, the “party of power”. However, the perceived pressure to deliver ever higher levels of support for Putin’s party arguably increases considerably if one’s raion is located in a region marked by extraordinarily high turnout and high vote share for United Russia. Conversely, the absence of perceived competition to curry executive favor through delivering votes and networks of uncorrupted local authorities, as well as local opposition organizations working to combat electoral fraud, may help explain the absence of fraud among raions located in regions marked by clean elections. Our quantitative analyses suggest that a “neighborhood effect” – the existence of manipulated raions within a region – strongly influences the likelihood that raions are manipulated. Moreover, although results are more mixed, spatial autocorrelation analysis suggests that turnout levels in raions are influenced by the turnout in proximate raions.     

EMPLOYMENT AID FOR YOUTH AGING OUT OF FOSTER CARE: EXTENDING ONE-STOP CAREER CENTERS TO INCLUDE A DIVISION FOR FOSTER CARE YOUTH

Every year thousands of children are discharged from the foster care system and find themselves ill prepared for the responsibility of adulthood. Providing enhanced employment opportunities to both current and former foster care youth will allow them to become economically self-sufficient and therefore have an improved transition from foster care. This Note proposes that states incorporate a foster youth employment program in the one-stop career centers mandated by the Workforce Investment Act. Through this program, foster youth will be provided with the tools they need for success while maintaining control over their own future.     

Extraction of high quality DNA from biological materials and calcified tissues

Calcified tissues, such as bone and tooth, and some other sample types, such as those containing adhesive, present a challenge to standard extraction protocols. We have developed a lysis reagent, BTA™ lysis buffer, which is designed for use with PrepFiler™ Kit reagents. The BTA™ lysis buffer disrupts calcified tissue matrices and achieves effective extraction of DNA from pulverized bone and tooth samples. In addition, the BTA™ lysis buffer mildly but efficiently extracts DNA from challenging substrates like tape, chewing gum, and cigarette butts and, as with bone and tooth, DNA from these lysates is purified using established PrepFiler™ reagent extraction protocols.We successfully extracted DNA from powdered human bone samples, chewed gum and smoked cigarettes using BTA™ lysis buffer. Extraction yields for bone, gum and cigarette samples tested were consistent and reproducible. This extraction method efficiently removed potential PCR inhibitors from all samples tested, and C_T values for the internal PCR control of Quantifiler^® Human DNA Quantification Kit were consistent and within the normal range. The DNA extracted from these samples also provided conclusive profiles that were free of PCR artifacts when amplified using the AmpF?STR^® Identifiler^® PCR Amplification Kit. The protocol is easily adapted for automation.     

Identification of colorants in pigmented pen inks by laser desorption mass spectrometry

Pigments are rapidly replacing dyes as colorants in pen and printer inks, due to their superior colors and stability. Unfortunately, tools commonly used in questioned document examination for analyzing pen inks, such as TLC, cannot be used for the analysis of insoluble pigments on paper. Laser desorption mass spectrometry is demonstrated here as a tool for analyzing pigment-based pen inks. A pulsed nitrogen laser can be focused onto a pen stroke from a pigmented ink pen on paper, and positive and negative ions representative of the pigment can be generated for subsequent mass spectrometric analysis. Targeted pens for this work were a set of Uni-ball 207 pigmented ink pens containing blue, light blue, orange, green, violet, red, pink, and black inks. Copper phthalocyanine was identified as the pigment used to make both blue inks. A mixture of halogenated copper phthalocyanines were identified in the green ink. Unexpectedly, the pink ink was found to contain a red pigment, Pigment Red 12, treated with a mixture of water-soluble dyes. Each sample yielded ions representative of the pigments present.     

Changing Owners,Changing Content: Does Who Owns the News Matter for the News?

The press is essential for creating an informed citizenry, but its existence depends on attracting and maintaining an audience. It is unclear whether supply-side effects—including those dictated by the owners of the media—influence how the media cover politics, yet this question is essential given their abilities to set the agenda and frame issues that are covered. We examine how ownership influences media behavior by investigating the impact of Rupert Murdoch’s purchase of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in August 2007. We collect data on every front-page story and editorial for 27 months, and we compare the difference in political coverage between the New York Times (NYT) and WSJ using a difference-in-differences design. We show that the amount of political content in the opinion pages of the two papers were unchanged by the sale, but the WSJ’s front-page coverage of politics increased markedly relative to the NYT. Similar patterns emerge when comparing the WSJ’s content to USA Today and the Washington Post. Our finding highlights potential limits to journalists’ ability to fulfill their supposed watchdog role in democracies without interference from owners in the boardroom.     

Vote Oswego: Developing and Assessing the Campaign-as-Course Model

College campuses have taken on increased responsibility for mobilizing young voters. Despite the discipline’s commitment to civic engagement, political science departments play a minimal role in this programming. This article outlines a course structure—including learning objectives, course outline, and assessments—that treats a campus-wide voter mobilization drive as the basis of an applied political science course. Transforming a campus voter mobilization program into a political science practicum offers advanced skill-building for students seeking political careers and links learning objectives to real world activities. Participants report gains in both knowledge of campaigns and grassroots campaign skills. We argue this type of course particularly benefits students attending colleges and universities in geographic areas that receive little attention from political campaigns as well as those students for whom the traditional route of gaining political experience—an unpaid, off-campus internship—is impractical or even impossible.