A ‘pivot’ that never existed: America’s Asian strategy under Obama and Trump

This article argues that Donald Trump’s Asian strategy hardly marks a radical transformation from Barack Obama’s ‘pivot to Asia’. This is because the ‘pivot to Asia’ never really existed. Although Obama was successful in building legitimacy for the strategy through international norms, he failed to translate his lofty rhetoric into practice. Much of his original pivot components (building a constructive relationship with China, coordinating with Asian allies and multilateralism in the Association of South East Asian Nations and the Trans-Pacific Partnership) has either failed or did not live up to expectations. Donald Trump was adamant that the Asian pivot was a bad strategy and that he would not follow it. But although he completely discarded Obama’s legitimization of the rebalance (as Trump speaks pragmatically and does not care about international norms), in actuality he has followed many of Obama’s policies, and even improved on some of them. That being said, Trump’s ‘pivot actions’ appear to be erratic, pragmatic short-term actions rather than a meticulously planned long-term strategy similar to Obama’s rebalance (which did not materialize). Thus, while Obama failed to transform the pivot into an effective strategy, neither is Trump’s effectiveness backed by a coherent Asian strategy.     

“The Lions of Tomorrow”: A News Value Analysis of Child Images in Jihadi Magazines

Abstract

This article reports and discusses the results of a study that investigated photographic images of children in five online terrorist magazines to understand the roles of children in these groups. The analysis encompasses issues of Inspire, Dabiq, Jihad Recollections (JR), Azan, and Gaidi Mtanni (GM) from 2009 to 2016. The total number of images was ninety-four. A news value framework was applied that systematically investigated what values the images held that resulted in them being “newsworthy” enough to be published. This article discusses the key findings, which were that Dabiq distinguished different roles for boys and girls, portrayed fierce and prestigious boy child perpetrators, and children flourishing under the caliphate; Inspire and Azan focused on portraying children as victims of Western-backed warfare; GM portrayed children supporting the cause peacefully; and JR contained no re-occurring findings.     

Distribution of the Minutiae in Hypothenar Palm Prints in Slovak Adults: Indications for Personal Identification

Minutiae are small distinguishing features found along every ridge flow, which make each friction ridge print unique. The most common friction ridge prints found at the crime scene are fingerprints; therefore, the most of the minutiae studies are focused exactly on this kind of prints. The authors believe that further examination and enlargement of the palm print database could result in better use of the palm prints for personal identification. We analyzed a total of 160 palm prints from 40 females and 40 males aged between 18 and 70 years from Slovakia. For the evaluation of the minutiae, the area of the hypothenar had to be marked out. The classification of the minutiae used for this study was based on a modified version of the classification system using the total of 13 types of minutiae. The frequency of every minutiae type was calculated and, using the chi-square test with Yates's correction, bilateral and sex differences were assessed. The relationship between the different types of minutiae was examined with Pearson's correlation test. During the initial phases of the identification process, the focus should be on the least common types of minutiae (Y or M and return), which were found not to correlate; thus, their mutual occurrence is random (e.g., overlap—Y or M, crossbar—return, or Y or M—dock). The results of the present study show which specific minutiae types are the most suitable for personal identification. These findings may be beneficial in more effective outcome of the identification process.     

Sleep Quantity and Problems as Mediators of the Eveningness-Adjustment Link during Childhood and Adolescence

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Chronotype, or morningness/eveningness, has been associated with adjustment in both children and adolescents. Specifically, eveningness has been linked to...     

Competing Norms and Strategic Visions: A Critical Appraisal of V4 Security Potential

Abstract

Despite shared historical experience and cultural proximity, the Visegrad group (V4) struggles to institutionalise its cooperation through stable mechanisms ensuring internal cohesion and external credibility. This is especially evident in the field of security and defence, which requires a shared strategic vision, in particular, common norms regarding the legitimate use of military force. While in the 1990s the four countries exhibited solidarity and unity in their collective ambition under the narrative of the ‘Return to Europe’, their general perception of security threats and strategic culture prevents deeper integration into a security community.     

Class dynamics and ideological construction in the struggle over fairness: a neo-Gramscian examination of the Fairtrade initiative

This paper develops a neo-Gramscian conceptual framework in order to examine the ideological constructs and political dynamics that frame the day-to-day workings of the certification-based Fairtrade initiative. To accomplish this goal, the paper resorts to the notion of a ‘comprehensive concept of control’, which accounts for the main ideological elements that constitute the Fairtrade vision of the world. The analysis of these imaginaries is complemented with an examination of the concrete ways in which they have been institutionalized in the Fairtrade system and the specific power relations between class fractions they promote. This is followed by an exploration of the way in which Fairtrade articulates the contradictory interests of a variety of class fractions, bringing them together under the shared objective of advancing the situation of small producers and workers in the global South. The paper finishes with a reflection on the main limitations inherent to Fairtrade’s concept of control and the political dynamics it entails.     

1株抗须癣毛癣菌枯草芽孢菌的鉴定

为了探讨抗须癣毛癣菌感染新的治疗途径,从患须癣毛癣菌病兔自然恢复皮肤分离了1株细菌,经16S rDNA基因比对,并结合菌落形态进行了鉴定,通过体内外试验测定其对须癣毛癣菌的拮抗作用。结果显示,分离株能在营养琼脂培养基生长,菌落为皱褶圆形,菌体呈杆状,革兰染色阳性,基因序列分析与GenBank中的枯草芽孢杆菌相似率为99.8%,该分离株被鉴定为枯草芽孢杆菌。抗菌谱分析显示,分离株对须癣毛癣菌能形成抑菌圈,对白色念珠菌、平滑念珠菌、热带念珠菌、烟曲霉菌、黄曲霉菌没有抑制作用。该分离株与须癣毛癣菌混合培养,能明显抑制须癣毛癣菌生长。在皮肤涂抹试验中,该分离株能逆转由须癣毛癣菌引起的皮肤病变。本试验证实了分离的枯草芽孢杆菌对须癣毛癣菌有明显的拮抗作用。     

改善中小企业融资环境探讨

中小企业是社会生活中不可或缺的重要组成部分 ,但在其发展过程中遇到很多困难 ,其中融资困难是影响中小企业发展的主要问题。要解决融资难的问题 ,必须改革金融制度 ,拓宽融资渠道 ,完善融资体系 ,进而为中小企业创造良好的融资环境。     

猪生殖与呼吸综合征病毒GP5蛋白抗原表位基因的表达及其表达产物的抗原性

为了确定猪生殖与呼吸综合征病毒GP5蛋白A、B抗原表位之间的相互关系和对免疫的影响,应用PCR方法扩增出A、B抗原表位基因并分别克隆于原核和真核表达载体中。原核重组质粒表达的重组蛋白经Western-blotting检测证明,该重组蛋白具有良好的抗原性。将重组蛋白和真核表达质粒免疫小鼠,前者可诱导产生针对PRRSV的特异性ELISA抗体,但是此抗体没有中和活性;后者不能诱导免疫小鼠产生PRRSV特异性抗体。结果表明,中和抗体的产生不但与A、B表位的空间构象有很大的关系,如果蛋白质分子质量过小也不能诱导机体产生有效的免疫反应。