Limits to deep integration: Canada between the EU and the US1

Abstract

Twenty-five years ago, as preferential trade agreements started to proliferate, Jagdish Bhagwati sounded the ‘spaghetti bowl’ alarm, arguing that the ensuing complexity would create inefficiencies in the international system and challenges for firms navigating overlapping rules. This article seeks to update and complement Bhagwati’s thesis by asking if proliferating ‘deep’ trade agreements add a new dimension of complexity to this picture. This article shows that the early answer to this question is ‘not yet’, as governments have discovered that prospective conflicts with existing or simultaneous commitments limit just how deep the provisions of an agreement can be. Governments managing multiple deep agreements play a variation on Putnam’s two-level game. As Putnam theorized, these governments reconcile domestic interests with international opportunities in formulating their strategies. However, ensuring compatibility across various, sometimes competing international opportunities is also a key consideration. Canada’s concurrent participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) provides a crucial exploratory case study.     

Unpacking a Wicked Problem: Enablers/Impediments to Regional Engagement

A case study approach is applied to review Local Government Authorities (LGA) regional engagement in the Australian context. We address the question ‘What are the key LGA enablers/impediments to regional engagement?’ by applying Leydesdorff's (2000) proposition that triple helix type network systems exhibit patterns of complex behaviour if the interaction factors that trigger enablers are reflexively declared. The three strands of the LGA triple helix network system are institutions, industry and government. In this case study the LGA's overall management of its regional stakeholder relationships resulted in impediments that limit strong regional engagement. Importantly, the findings inform practitioners, policy‐makers and research audiences of the nature of impediments and, by inference, the nature of enablers in LGA triple helix network systems.     

Community involvement: a function of local government innovation

This paper discusses the implications of community involvement for the delivery of public services. It discusses exemplary case studies of community involvement in government, and provides an in-depth discussion of community participation in the affairs of the Engineering Traffic Division in San Diego, California. It finds a positive relationship between community involvement, and responsiveness, customer satisfaction, efficiency and effectiveness.     

Development of microwave-assisted extraction procedure for organic impurity profiling of seized 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)

Abstract: Organic impurity profiling of seized 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) tablets aims to link tablets to common production sources. Conventionally, organic impurities are extracted from tablets using a liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) procedure prior to analysis by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). In this research, the development of an alternative microwave‐assisted extraction/headspace solid‐phase microextraction (MAE/HS‐SPME) procedure is described. The optimal procedure used phosphate buffer (1 M, pH 8), with an HS‐SPME extraction temperature of 70°C for 40 min, using a divinylbenzene/Carboxen?/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS) fiber. Impurities were extracted from seized MDMA exhibits using the MAE/HS‐SPME procedure, as well as HS‐SPME alone, and a conventional LLE procedure. The HS‐SPME procedure was deemed to be the most practical because of the affordability and need for less analyst involvement. Although the LLE was limited in the number of impurities extracted, the procedure is still useful for the extraction of less volatile impurities that are not extracted by HS‐SPME.     

Blood aspiration as a vital sign detected by postmortem computed tomography imaging

Blood aspiration is a significant forensic finding. In this study, we examined the value of postmortem computed tomography (CT) imaging in evaluating findings of blood aspiration. We selected 37 cases with autopsy evidence of blood in the lungs and/or in the airways previously submitted to total-body CT scanning. The CT-images were retrospectively analyzed. In one case with pulmonary blood aspiration, biopsy specimens were obtained under CT guide for histological examination. In six cases, CT detected pulmonary abnormalities suggestive of blood aspiration, not mentioned in the autopsy reports. CT reconstructions provided additional data about the distribution and extent of aspiration. In one needle-biopsied case, the pulmonary specimens showed blood in the alveoli. We suggest the use of CT imaging as a tool complementary to traditional techniques in cases of blood aspiration to avoid misdiagnosis, to guide the investigation of lung tissue, and to allow for more evidence-based inferences on the cause of death.