Human height estimation from highly distorted surveillance image

Video surveillance camera (VSC) is an important source of information during investigations especially if used as a tool for the extraction of verified and reliable forensic measurements. In this study, some aspects of human height extraction from VSC video frames are analyzed with the aim of identifying and mitigating error sources that can strongly affect the measurement. More specifically, those introduced by lens distortion are present in wide-field-of-view lens such as VSCs. A weak model, which is not able to properly describe and correct the lens distortion, could introduce systematic errors. This study focuses on the aspect of camera calibration to verify human height extraction by Amped FIVE software, which is adopted by the Forensic science laboratories of Carabinieri Force (RaCIS), Italy. A stable and reliable approach of camera calibration is needed since investigators have to deal with different cameras while inspecting the crime scene. The performance of the software in correcting distorted images is compared with a technique of single view self-calibration. Both approaches were applied to several frames acquired by a fish-eye camera and then measuring the height of five different people. Moreover, two actual cases, both characterized by common low-resolution and distorted images, were also analyzed. The height of four known persons was measured and used as reference value for validation. Results show no significant difference between the two calibration approaches working with fish-eye camera in test field, while evidence of differences was found in the measurement on the actual cases.     

The new business environment of latin america and the caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean Region experienced dramatic changes in the 1990s. Politically, all but one country, are governed by a democratically elected government. Economically, import substitution industrialization policies (ISI) followed in the past, were replaced by liberalization programs aimed at reducing inflationary pressures and creating a competitive environment.

The significant increase in capital flows to Latin America in one single year, 1990, buried the 1980s as the “lost decade,” and the successful implementation of privatization programs region-wide prompted to affirm that the 1990s might constitute the “Latin America's decade.” Where does the euphoria come from? Is there any implicit promise to be derived from such international capital flows? Will the pattern be sustained? Has Latin America begun a new era? Are unfolding events on defiance of fundamentals?

These and many other questions can be raised regarding the spectacular transformation of Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly when analysts still debate about the Mexican crisis of 1994, investors eagerly pursue the agenda of a second privatization wave, experts around the world get fascinated with the high-tech push found in Latin America, bankers apply Latin American lessons to deal with the currency crisis in Asia, and casual observers recognize the value-creation process added by Latin American entrepreneurs who challenge the most adverse circumstances. Indeed, Latin America and the Caribbean is a land full of promises and contrasts, where there exists a head to head competition between globalization and nationalism, the haves and the have-nots, capitalism and communism, literature and high-technology, markets and governments, East and West, North and South, myth and reality, and … “despair and hope.”

There is no question, however, that Latin America and the Caribbean, being she a detached wide-land, is a region of great opportunity. Since the external debt crisis of 1982 and its aftermath, democracy, open markets, economic reform and privatization have blended to offer great expectations and opportunities for business and investment in the region. The new vision strongly questioned the status quo to render a new business environment to open the doors and light up the roads of the upcoming millennium.

It is the purpose of the International Journal of Public Administration to offer to its readers, for the very first time, a special issue devoted entirely to the discussion of the new business environment of Latin America and the Caribbean. We are, therefore, grateful to all the authors who generously are sharing with us the findings from their scholarly research. Given the far reaching consequences of their contributions, we, as guest editors of this special issue, had no other choice but to incorporate the fruits yielded by this symposium of thirty-seven papers in four issues in one single volume. The papers have been sorted according to the following four focal points: Privatization of State Owned Enterprises; Mexico; Economic, Financial and Foreign Investment Issues; and Economic Integration, Trade and Cultural Issues.

Part I of this special issue on “The New Latin American Business Environment” looks at one element of the broad economic strategy followed by most Latin American countries: Privatization of State Owned Enterprises. The role of governments is to provide the framework that will allow the private sector to create wealth. Notwithstanding, this partnership between the public and private sectors must ensure the inclusion of the poorer sections of the population. In many ways, the long-term sustainability of these economic programs will largely depend on this. The ten papers selected for this part, provide insight on how this phenomenon is affecting different Latin American countries.

The first paper by Shamsul Haque argues that there is a need to analyze the social consequences of privatization programs. Further research is needed to identify the main advocates and beneficiaries of privatization programs. According to the author, “critical economic conditions have not improved significantly after privatization, and in many instances, the conditions have deteriorated.” About fifty percent of Latin America's population of 470 million people live under poverty.

The late Sister Martin Byrne (1) documents in her paper, “Cananea Consolidated Copper Company from Nationalization to Privatization: 1972-1991 ,” the problems of ownership and management faced by La Cananea, a Mexican copper mine. Sister Byrne argues that “The Cananea mines were profitable under entrepreneurial and MNC ownership, but proved to be a financial drain on the government during the paraestatal period.”

The third paper by Garcia and Dyner, examined the reform and regulation of electricity in Columbia. According to the authors, the regulatory framework adopted by the government is going to determine the success of these programs. Furthermore, “the challenge is the change of public intervention in the sector, so that it regulates, supports, and supervises the decentralized activities of the firms, and liberates resources to be invested in other areas.”

Walter and Gonzalez provide interesting philosophical arguments on technology and human resources management derived from the cases of privatized companies in Argentina. The authors consider two variants, “systemic modernization and revamping of existing teams” to invite a reopening of the old debate on technological blending. They argue, however, that “to compete you do not necessarily need to ‘ be on the frontier.’”

Joan B. Anderson examines, the “Privatization, Efficiency and Market Failure: Transforming Ecuador's Public Sector,” privatization in Ecuador through the shift experienced by development theory with respect to the role of the public sector. In this paper the author points out that “while careful privatization can be positive, privatizing monopolies like the electric utility and/or quasi-public goods like highways are likely to be detrimental to long run economic development.”

Doshi identifies the successes and failures of the privatization program in Mexico by analyzing the cases of Mexicana Airlines, Aeromexico and Telmex. The author argues that even though the government was able to sell a number of state owned enterprises, a “successful” privatization program required appropriate macroeconomic policies and defining the role of foreign investment in economic development. One can argue then, that even though the size of the state is shrinking, its role is becoming more important.

The article by Vetter and Zanetta analyze also the case of Argentina. The authors argue that in order to consolidate the economic reforms implemented by the national government, provincial reform has to take place. A number of important lessons were identified.

John M. Kirk and Julia Sagebien present, in “Cuba's Market Rapprochement: Private Sector Reform - Public Sector Style,” the highlights of Cuba's process of transition towards a market economy by analyzing the conditions that lead to a market opening as well as the ends, the means and the actors of the ensuing process of economic reform.

Walter T. Molano contributes a paper, “The Lessons of Privatization,” based on his book The Logic of Privatization: The Case of Telecommunications in the Southern Cone of Latin America by looking at privatization as a process that may end up in varied outcomes as seen from microeconomic-, macroeconomic-, and political perspectives of analysis.

The focal point of Part II is Mexico. It is very clear that since the beginning of the decade, Mexico has made major efforts to transform its economy in order to play a more significant role in the global economy. Different attempts have been undertaken leading to: first, address the aftermath of the debt crisis of 1982; second, modernize and open the economy through a structural change that have included, among other programs, privatization, deregulation, fiscal deficit reduction, and trade liberalization: and third, change the political landscape.

Ephraim Clark models, in his “Agency Conflict and the Signaling Snafu in the Mexican Peso Crisis of 1994,” the conflict as a government held option to default and introduce signaling by assuming that the Mexican government had monopolistic information on the economy's true situation. The author argues that “if steps had been taken in late 1993 and early 1994, the crisis element of the adjustment could probably have been avoided.”

Blaine's article examines the role of foreign capital in economic development. By studying the Mexican case, the author answers a number ofvery important questions: How are once protected markets going to react to a large inflow of foreign capital? How did Mexican authorities deal with these inflows? What are some of the lessons that could be derived from the Mexican experience?

Hazera's paper discusses the history and legal basis of Mexican financial groups. On the basis of various stock market and financial statement data, an examination is also made of the groups’ evolution from 1991 to 1994.

Eugene M. Salorio and Thomas L. Brewer consider, in “Expanding the Levels of Analysis of FDI for Improved Understanding of Policy issues: The Case of Mexico,” both macro-, and micro-level shifts of analysis which mutually complement one another, and yield, for example, a “components profile” of disaggregated national level FDI flows which depends on the type of the project. The authors identify far reaching implications for public policy that may be extrapolated from the case of Mexico to the new business environment faced by the Latin American countries.

Francis A. Lees suggests also, from another angle, that the crisis of December 1994 could have been avoided because the financial disequilibrium was clearly evident by mid-1994 just be looking at Mexico's GDP and balance of payments.

C. Bulent Aybar, Riad A. Ajami, and Marca M. Bear provide a comparative study of the recent experiences of Mexico and Turkey. The authors identify common elements in the development and eruption of the crises to conclude that “under capital mobility strong internal and external shocks may lead to explosive crises … even though overall macroeconomic balances are sound.”

James P. D’Mello shows in “An Analysis of Mergers and Acquisitions in Mexico: 1985-1996,” that the Mexican crisis has led to an escalation of corporate restructuring such as mergers, acquisitions and joint-ventures.

Jiawen Yang joins the current debate on the causes of the recent Mexican financial crisis by arguing that “capital inflows that are not well absorbed by the private sector will cause financial instability under a fixed exchange rate regime.”

Part III of the new business environment of Latin America and the Caribbean includes ten papers on Foreign Investment, Economic and Financial issues which add significantly to the understanding of the overall transformation carried out in recent years by this region of the world.

Christopher Korth and Ajay Samant, and Craig A. Peterson andK. C. O’Shaughnessy recognize, respectively in the following two papers, “American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) from Latin America: An Opportunity for American Investors.” and “Financial Investment Via ADRs in Mexico and South America,” the usefulness of ADRs for operationalizing international diversification.

Juan Espana surveys the literature on models and tools currently used to predict exchange rate movements, and aims to suggest market solutions, economic policy measures and institutional arrangements to currency crises. The author analyzes the origin and evolution of the 1994 Mexican Peso crisis, its contagion effects on other Latin American economies, and the measures taken by the affected countries to manage the crisis.

Prakash L. Dheeriya and Mahendra Raj provide, in “An Investigation in Exchange Rate Behavior of Emerging Countries,” insights on the role that exchange rate risk plays by identifying similarities and differences through international comparisons.

Kumar's paper examines the important role of foreign direct investment in promoting economic development. The emphasis here is on the transfer of technology through foreign direct investment.

Neupert and Montoya study the characteristics of’ Japanese foreign investment in Latin America, with a focus on Brazil and Mexico. The authors looked at the preferred modes of entry and the post-entry performance of these subsidiaries.

Thomas M. Fullerton, Jr. shows, in “Currency Movements and International Border Crossings,” through two ARIMAmodels that “northbound bridge traffic to El Paso is nonrandom and follows fairly well defined patterns each year.”

Trevor Campbell makes, in “A Note on the Current and Capital Accounts Compilation of Barbados under the Fourth and Fifth IMFEditions,” a comparison with respect to the composition and structure of the current and capital accounts of Barbados.

Janet Kelly and Alexeis Perera argue, in “Antitrust Policy in a Hostile Environment: Institutional Building in Venezuela's Procompetencia,” that the theories of bureaucracy in Latin America generally stress institutional weakness, political volatility and the politicized nature of government agencies which motivated, in Venezuela, the creation of the anti-monopoly agency called “Procompetencia.”

G. Scott Erickson and Andrea Nhuch recommend in ‘The Latin American Business Environment: Patent Protection Issues” a general hybrid system to deal with patent rights issues.

Finally, Part IV deals with a blend of Trade, Economic Integration and Cultural issues. Since much of the world still tends to view Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of stereotypes, it seems appropriate to end this special issue on the new business environment of the region with a group of papers that revisits the rich mosaic of Latin America, and permits appreciate her new reality.

Isaac Cohen argues, in “Hispanics and Foreign Policy.” that though the primacy of economics in Hemispheric relations provides an opportunity for Hispanic businesses, yet this community will have to act deliberately to benefit from the opportunities that are emerging.

Eva Kras contributes, in “The Viable Future of Mexico and Latin America: A New Business Paradigm,” with a South looking North approach for doing business that challenges the traditional view of business relations.

Guillermo Duenas argues, in “Cultural Aspects in the Integration of the Americas,” that managing cultural integration successfully requires a process of “intercultural learning.”

Andres A. Thompson, Francisco B. Tancredi and Marcos Kisil introduce, in “New Partnerships for Social Development: Business and the Third Sector,” the novel argument that corporate philanthropy can make the difference in social development because grantmaking is still the least frequent used strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Chris Robertson, Pol Herrmann and Kevin Duffy measure, in “Exploring Perceptions of Technology Between the United States and Ecuador,” perceptions of technology on the basis of the typology of motivators and inhibitors of technological growth.

Melissa H. Birch argues, in “Mercosur: The Road to Economic Integration in the Southern Cone,” that Mercosur represents, in contrast to the historical record of economic integration in the region, an adaptation to the contemporary political climate.

Wu and Longley discuss the rationale for extending NAFTA to Chile. Their study examines also how NAFTA negotiators may address issues such as trade and investment rules, intellectual property rights, and labor and environmental standards among other things.

Roger Kashlak and Srinath Beldona identify, in “Partner Reciprocity, Telecommunications Flows and Balance of Trade Patterns Between the United States and Latin America,” partner reciprocity as the issue at the core of the international long-distance industry.

Ines Bustillo extends, in “Overview of Economic-wide NAFTA Models” computable general equilibrium models to the case of NAFTA.

We hope that this special issue is informative and interesting to business-decision makers, regulatory policy makers, and students concerned with gaining an understanding of the ongoing transformation of Latin American and the Caribbean.

Finally, we are again most grateful to the contributors of articles for making this special issue possible. We would also like to thank Jack Rabin, editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Public Administration, for trusting us the delicate mission of providing to the readers a fresh view of the new business environment of Latin America and the Caribbean.     

‘The biggest gang in Oakland’: re-thinking police legitimacy

Literature defining ‘police legitimacy’ lacks qualitative research on those populations most often targeted by law enforcement agencies, including people of color in urban areas. This same literature defines police legitimacy as something unquestionable and automatic. Exploration of this concept is limited to strategies to increase public ‘trust’ in police, and public compliance to their authority. We address these limitations in the available scholarship through an analysis of interviews with a diverse sample of Oakland (CA) residents on their experiences with the Oakland Police Department (OPD). Their narratives are presented in the historical context of controversy, budget problems, federal investigations, and racialized violence that help to define the relationship between OPD and Oakland communities. Those interviewed, universally observed OPD’s failure to address the most common crime problems in the city, while others, particularly people of color, found them to be a personal or public threat to safety. Their narratives fly in the face of the manifest functions of municipal police forces, are fully supported by the contemporary empirical history of the OPD, and suggest the illegitimate authority – including the monopoly on the use of force – of organizations like OPD in a democratic society.     

Basic Personal Values Underlie and Give Coherence to Political Values: A Cross National Study in 15 Countries

Do the political values of the general public form a coherent system? What might be the source of coherence? We view political values as expressions, in the political domain, of more basic personal values. Basic personal values (e.g., security, achievement, benevolence, hedonism) are organized on a circular continuum that reflects their conflicting and compatible motivations. We theorize that this circular motivational structure also gives coherence to political values. We assess this theorizing with data from 15 countries, using eight core political values (e.g., free enterprise, law and order) and ten basic personal values. We specify the underlying basic values expected to promote or oppose each political value. We offer different hypotheses for the 12 non-communist and three post-communist countries studied, where the political context suggests different meanings of a basic or political value. Correlation and regression analyses support almost all hypotheses. Moreover, basic values account for substantially more variance in political values than age, gender, education, and income. Multidimensional scaling analyses demonstrate graphically how the circular motivational continuum of basic personal values structures relations among core political values. This study strengthens the assumption that individual differences in basic personal values play a critical role in political thought.     

Boundary spanning between industry and university: the role of Technology Transfer Centres

Technology Transfer Centres (TTCs) have been analyzed in the last few years by focusing on the relationship between a TTC, provider of knowledge-intensive services, and a firm client-receiver. Less attention has been devoted to a more complex relationship which involves in the dyadic provider-receiver tie a third relevant body, University. We provide both a theoretical and an empirical contribution by studying whether TTCs can bond the academic and industrial system and we define the activities that make-up this role such as: scanning and selection of R&D opportunities, bridge building, semantic translation of domain specific knowledge, co-production of new knowledge. The boundary spanning role of TTCs is discussed drawing on different and complementary theoretical perspectives. Moreover, we test research hypotheses on the antecedents of boundary spanning activity from a knowledge-based perspective. We argue that TTC boundary spanners need to leverage on both technical skills and networking competences. Empirical investigation has been carried out with a survey of the TTC population of North East Italy. The research findings highlight the task coordination activities implied by a boundary spanning role in joint R&D projects and show that the endowment of human capital at individual level and a qualified social capital at individual and organizational level are the main determinants.     

Lessons from institution building in Kenya

Participant observation of institution building in a public sector organization in Kenya provides a basis for a critical discussion of key facets of the institution-building process. Problems identified include: flawed needs assessments; overambitious project designs; poor selection and briefing of consultants; and countervailing vested interests on the parts of external agents. Recommendations include narrowing the gap between development rhetoric and reality; more careful project formulation; greater emphasis on in-house training; more careful selection of project team leaders; and the provision of funding for post-project sustainability evaluations.     

Bile analysis in heroin overdose

Abstract:  Following its metabolism in the liver, morphine and its metabolites can be directly eliminated in bile. Then, they undergo the enterohepatic cycle (EHC) and mostly reappear in the circulation. We report a case showing the presence of morphine in bile (21.3 μg/mL) and hair (4.8 ng/mg) but not in blood, urine or the liver of an addict who survived in hospital for about 144 h (6 days). These data would indicate that the EHC does not play any role about 144 h after the last injection, and directly confirms that gall bladder is a storage depot for morphine. They constitute the first report of a demonstration of the effect of the EHC on morphine bioavailability in an addict, and could be considered as indication, without supporting circumstantial evidence, that the morphine level in bile is related to chronic opiate use.     

Cycles in Crime and Economy: Leading, Lagging and Coincident Behaviors

In the last decades, the interest in the relationship between crime and business cycle has widely increased. It is a diffused opinion that a causal relationship goes from economic variables to criminal activities, but this causal effect is observed only for some typology of crimes, such as property crimes. In this work we examine the possibility of the existence of some common factors (interpreted as cyclical components) driving the dynamics of Gross Domestic Product and a large set of criminal types by using the nonparametric version of the dynamic factor model. A first aim of this exercise is to detect some comovements between the business cycle and the cyclical component of some typologies of crime, which could evidence some relationships between these variables; a second purpose is to select which crime types are related to the business cycle and if they are leading, coincident or lagging. Italy is the case study for the time span 1991:1–2004:12; the crime typologies are constituted by the 22 official categories classified by the Italian National Statistical Institute. The study finds that most of the crime types show a counter-cyclical behavior with respect to the overall economic performance, and only a few of them have an evident relationship with the business cycle. Furthermore, some crime offenses, such as bankruptcy, embezzlement and fraudulent insolvency, seem to anticipate the business cycle, in line with recent global events.