Rural development from the ground up: agro-food initiatives in Tasmania

Concerns about the decline of rural agricultural communities have recently refocused on new economic opportunities available in regional food production. This article analyses three on-the-ground case studies of rural development projects in Tasmania, Australia that aimed to develop new regional food opportunities. It analyses these projects to identify how local food producers can create viable economic alternatives in rural settings. The projects illustrate that the existence of regional food assets alone is not enough to guarantee economic development success: rural producers need connections into relevant knowledge networks if they are to identify and respond to new agro-food market opportunities.     

Collective action in small-scale mushroom production in Swaziland: does organisational form matter?

While substantial literature is available on the determinants of small-scale farmers’ participation in collective action, and the welfare impacts of producing and/or marketing collectively, studies on the likely implications of organisational form on producers’ collective behaviour remain scant. This article attempts to address this knowledge gap by using an example of different forms of small-scale mushroom-producing groups in Swaziland. Given the importance of collective action in sub-Saharan Africa, the overall results of this article provide valuable insights into alternative means of coordinating commercial small-scale agricultural activities, which can improve producers’ ultimate benefits while reducing the likelihood of internal free-riding.     

The forgotten success story: Japan and the methamphetamine problem

This paper examines Japan's policy towards methamphetamine (Japanese: hiropon). Opium has been used in Japan for medicinal purposes since 1722. However, it was strictly controlled. The result was that drug abuse was minuscule. This changed with the introduction of methamphetamine. During the Second World War hiropon was given by the military to fighter pilots and the signal corps in order to help them stay awake and alert. After 1945, the large military stockpiles of methamphetamine found their way onto the black market. With society in chaos, drug abuse spread rapidly and a hiropon epidemic emerged. The introduction of a comprehensive anti-drug package in the mid-1950s, including stricter laws, resulted in that abuse having been almost totally eradicated by 1957. Around 1970 a new wave of abuse (‘the second epidemic’) began. It peaked around 1985, after which abuse tampered off, albeit slowly. A temporary increase in the mid-1990s made Japanese authorities declare the emergence of ‘the third epidemic’ that is still said to be ongoing. Official statistics show, however, that Japan has not seen any such epidemic. In comparison with most other Western countries, methamphetamine abuse in Japan is modest.     

Erstwhile villages in urban India

In the process of urbanisation villages are becoming parts of cities or towns, and are becoming almost irreversibly transformed as a result. Erstwhile villages, now parts of cities and towns, are on the margins of an urbanising India. They are lagging behind other parts of the cities in terms of receiving basic urban services and infrastructures. Urban development processes should look at the specific issues and concerns of these villages independently from the need and scope of planning for the city at large. This would make the transition from rural to urban status fair and inclusive for erstwhile villagers.     

Farmers,peanuts, and aflatoxins in Uganda: A gendered approach

This article describes a collaborative research for development project that used participatory methods to engage smallholder farmers in Uganda in post-harvest aflatoxin management. It is based primarily on qualitative research with peanut growers tracing ‘the path of the peanut’ through their hand-drawn maps and journal writing. By focusing on everyday life and including recipes and drawings, this research encouraged women's participation and emphasised women's roles. A unique partnership among universities, women's organisations, and farmers created an environment of mutual learning and produced a book documenting food preparation and other post-harvest practices as part of a study and capacity-building effort on peanuts and aflatoxins.     

基于ITS2条形码序列对新型“香料”毒品植物成分的研究

目的应用DNA条形码片段ITS2对新型毒品样品中的植物成分进行分析。方法提取可疑毒品样本"spike99","K2","7号"中的植物基因组DNA,用ITS2通用引物进行扩增,对扩增产物进行测序,对序列校对拼接,应用BLAST方法在NCBI数据库中比对。结果 "spike 99"、"7号"各得到1条ITS2基因序列,"K2"得到2条ITS2基因序列,分别与紫花苜蓿、大麻、啤酒花、黄蜀葵的ITS2基因序列的同源性为100%。结论应用条形码技术可以成功分析新型毒品中的植物种属,为案件中植物样本的种属鉴定提供方法。     

Identification of Natural Images and Computer‐Generated Graphics Based on Statistical and Textural Features

To discriminate the acquisition pipelines of digital images, a novel scheme for the identification of natural images and computer‐generated graphics is proposed based on statistical and textural features. First, the differences between them are investigated from the view of statistics and texture, and 31 dimensions of feature are acquired for identification. Then, LIBSVM is used for the classification. Finally, the experimental results are presented. The results show that it can achieve an identification accuracy of 97.89% for computer‐generated graphics, and an identification accuracy of 97.75% for natural images. The analyses also demonstrate the proposed method has excellent performance, compared with some existing methods based only on statistical features or other features. The method has a great potential to be implemented for the identification of natural images and computer‐generated graphics.     

现代民法中自然人制度的反思与重塑

自然人作为现代民法中首要的民事主体制度 ,其本身的建构以及与其他制度的相互联系 ,无不体现文明的法治对人的终极关怀。笔者从自然人的本质入手 ,构造了理想状态的“自然人” ,然后从经济、法律文化的角度 ,借助历史的方法 ,指出在我国重塑民法上自然人制度的必要性。     

宪政的理论基础探源

宪政是基督文化的内生物。近代的自然权利说和契约论思想为宪政的价值取向与制度构建奠定了理论基础和进行了实证分析。而人性至善论和等级论却是中国宪政之路的思维障碍。当代中国宪政目标的真正实现 ,必须首先实行法观念的更新。     

人权概念探析

人权随着人类社会的发展而逐渐被人们认识和提出来。从本质上讲 ,人权是人的本能在社会中的需求和表现。人权的内容随着社会的发展而发展。自然性和社会性是人权的基本属性。因此 ,人权既具有普遍性也具有特殊性 ,人权问题既是国际问题也是国内问题。人权的实现要靠国际国内共同努力。