The strongly stable core in weighted voting games

The problems associated with the concept of the core in spatial voting games such as non-existence and instability are well documented. The structurally stable core, presented by Schofield, attempts to resolve these problems by looking at the subset of the core which is still nonempty after a small change in voter preferences. Although this concept, combined with the adoption of supramajoritarian voting rules and weighted voting games, may very well explain the observed stability in reality, it may not be suitable for certain coalition situations. This article proposes a new solution concept, the strongly stable core. The conditions for the existence and the potential location of the strongly stable core are then explored and compared with those of the structurally stable core.     

Sexual violence among men in the military in South Korea

This research is about sexual violence among men in the military in South Korea. The authors investigated the frequencies, causes, and circumstances surrounding sexual violence and looked for characteristic features of sexual violence among men in the military in South Korea. They found a high frequency of physical sexual violence and a high level of repetition of sexual violence. Of perpetrators, 81.7% had themselves been victimized. However, the soldiers tended to minimize sexual violence, preferred not to address the issue if possible, criticized or ignored the victims, and did not trust the reporting procedures in place. The authors found that sexual violence was mobilized as a tool in the military to control hierarchy and to create certain masculinities. Regarding the relevance of masculinity, as a salient feature of militaries in general, they believed it might emerge as a common feature across national and cultural differences.     

Which Types of Environmental Management Systems Are Related to Greater Environmental Improvements?

While there is little empirical evidence to demonstrate which types of environmental management systems (EMSs) are associated with greater environmental improvements, governments worldwide are encouraging facilities to adopt them. This research compares the environmental performance of facilities that adopt ISO 14001–certified EMSs, complete (noncertified) EMSs, and incomplete EMSs across multiple environmental media. The authors analyze these relationships for manufacturing facilities in seven countries using a two‐stage model to control for selection bias. Findings indicate that the adoption of all types of EMSs is related to improved environmental performance in an international setting. However, ISO 14001–certified EMSs are associated with environmental improvements to a broader array of environmental media. These findings offer important implications about which types of EMSs have greater promise as voluntary environmental governance tools.     

Reproducibility of facial soft tissue thicknesses for craniofacial reconstruction using cone-beam CT images

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reproducibility of the soft tissue (ST) thicknesses at 31 landmarks using the cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images obtained from 20 adult subjects. Four observers carried out ST thickness measurements using Skull Measure software, and the inter- and intra-observer error rates were evaluated. Only five of 31 landmarks showed significant differences in recorded ST thickness between the observers. When excluding inexperienced observers, only one landmark showed a significant difference between the observers. Regarding the intra-observer reproducibility, the ST thickness measurements at three landmarks showed low correlation coefficients. The results of this study indicate that CBCT images can be used to measure ST thickness with high reproducibility. However, some landmarks need to be redefined to reliably measure ST thickness on CBCT images.     

Sex determination from the talus of Koreans by discriminant function analysis

The aims of this study were to investigate the sex discriminating potential of the talus in Koreans and compare this with other analyses in different populations. Statistical analyses were performed using data from nine measurements acquired from 140 tali (70 men, 70 women). The talus of Koreans is dimorphic between sexes in all measurements (p < 0.01). Discriminant function equations were generated by univariate, multivariate, and stepwise methods with a range of accuracy from 67.1 to 87.1%. Stepwise equations of other populations did not discriminate the sex of the Korean sample as accurately as each equation's own accuracies. The variables with high accuracy in this study are useful for sex determination of Koreans on the basis of confirmation of population specificity.     

Determination and validation of tetrodotoxin in human whole blood using hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectroscopy and its application

A sensitive analytical method was developed for the quantitative determination of tetrodotoxin (TTX), a powerful sodium channel blocker, in human postmortem whole blood. The sample mixture was cleaned up using cation exchange SPE catridge after protein precipitation by methanol and then separated on a PC-HILIC (phosphorylcholine hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography) column (150 mm × 2.0mm i.d., 5 μm) using a isocratic elution of 1% acetic acid and acetonitrile. The identification of TTX was performed on tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization interface in positive ion mode. The retention time of voglibose (internal standard) and TTX was 5.1 and 6.0 min, respectively. TTX and internal standard (voglibose) were monitored and quantitated using the ion transitions: the respective precursor to product ion combinations, m/z 320/302 for TTX and m/z 268/92 for voglibose in the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode. The recovery of TTX and voglibose was 61.4% and 62.8%, respectively and the good accuracy (97.7-103.9%), linearity (2-1200 ng/mL) and reproducibility were shown in this method. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 0.32 ng/mL and 1.08 ng/mL, respectively. This method was applied in the case of three fishermen who were poisoned (including one death) by unknown fish on their boat in October 2010. In this case, the levels of TTX were 27.2, 30.0 and 29.7 ng/mL in heart blood, peripheral blood and serum of a victim, were 3.1 and 12.1 ng/mL in peripheral blood and 3.9 and 12.8 ng/mL in serum of two survivors, respectively.     

Genetic and chemical components analysis of Papaver setigerum naturalized in Korea

Of the 110 species of genus Papaver, only Papaver somniferum and P. setigerum are controlled poppies in Korea. All poppy samples share similar morphology therefore it is important to check if they contain controlled substances such as morphine and codeine for forensic purpose. Since the alkaloid content of Papaver plants varies according to their growing stage, chemical components analysis alone is not enough to identify exact species. In 2010, hundreds of poppy plants suspected to be P. somniferum were found in Jeju Island, South Korea. They had a slightly different but overall similar appearance to P. somniferum. Using GC-MS analysis, codeine, rhoeadine, papaverine, protopine, noscapine, setigeridine and trace amounts of morphine were detected in these samples. Although their chemical components were different from what has been described in literatures for P. setigerum, they could be assumed to be P. setigerum based on their morphological features and GC-MS results. Also, chromosome numbers using their seeds showed 2n=44 and the numbers were in accordance with those of P. setigerum. Nucleotide substitution or insertion/deletion of ITS (internal transcribed spacer), 18S rRNA (ribosomal RNA), rbcL (large subunit of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase), trnL-trnF IGS (intergenic spacer), trnL intron and psbA-trnH were assessed as universal genetic markers for P. setigerum. Also, genetic analysis using six target genes involved in the biosynthesis of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, including TYDC (tyrosine/dopa decarboxylase), SAT (salutaridinol-7-O-acetyltransferase), BBE (berberine bridge enzyme), COR (codeinone reductase), CYP80B1 ((S)-N-methylcoclaurine 3'-hydroxylase) and NCS (norcoclaurine synthase) were tested as Papaver-specific genetic markers by the existence of their PCR products. From the results, the sequences of the 6 universal genetic markers and 6 Papaver-specific genetic markers for P. setigerum were identified and then Genbank accession numbers of them were registered in NCBI. Also, the trnL intron and psbA-trnH nucleic acid sequences of the 7 Papaver species were identified and registered.