Analysis of off-farm work decisions among smallholder farm households in Burkina Faso

This article investigates off-farm work decisions by smallholder farm households. Using data on 1,101 households from Burkina Faso, it demonstrates that in addition to the usual household socio-demographic characteristics, remittances, access to information and beneficiary of specific training affect off-farm work decisions, as well as rainfall factors and idiosyncratic health shocks. Community characteristics such as accessibility and number of inhabitants are also key factors. While suggesting that off-farm work is less likely to be undertaken for accumulation purposes, these results have important policy implications. In particular, policy measures should consider each segment as a separate entity.     

Postmortem Computed Tomography in Firearm Homicides: A Retrospective Case Series,

Postmortem computed tomography (PMCT) is integrated into the evaluation of decedents in several American medical examiner offices and medicolegal death investigative centers in many other countries. We retrospectively investigated the value of PMCT in a series of firearm homicide cases from a statewide centralized medical examiner’s office that occurred during 2016. Autopsies were performed or supervised by board-certified forensic pathologists who reviewed the PMCT scans prior to autopsy. PMCT scans were re-evaluated by a forensic radiologist blinded to the autopsy findings and scored by body region (head–neck, thoracoabdominal, and extremities). Injury discrepancies were scored using a modified Goldman classification and analyzed with McNemar’s test. We included 60 males and 20 females (median age 31 years, range 3–73). Based on PMCT, 56 (79.1%) cases had injuries relevant to the cause of death in a single body region (24 head–neck region, 32 thoracoabdominal region). Out of these 56 cases, 9 had a missed major diagnosis by PMCT outside that region, including 6 extremity injuries visible during standard external examination. Yet all had evident lethal firearm injury. We showed that PMCT identifies major firearm injuries in homicide victims and excludes injuries related to the cause of death in other regions when a single body region is injured. Although PMCT has a known limited sensitivity for soft tissue and vascular pathology, it can be combined with external examination to potentially reduce or focus dissections in some of these cases depending on the circumstances and medicolegal needs.     

Socio-political tensions in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) development in low-income Asian cities

International development agencies, with the help of the central government, support building state of art Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in low-income Asian cities. However, BRT investment over indigenous modes of mobility is creating socio-political tensions at the local level. This article uses multi-level governance as a theoretical lens to examine the relationships among actors in BRT investment decisions in Bandung and Surabaya, Indonesia. The research finds that local stakeholders can distort national and supranational policy initiatives totally or in a way that while projects are delivered, they are of limited use to the local communities they intended to help.     

Facilitating industrial symbiosis programmes in developing countries: reflections from Gauteng,South Africa

This viewpoint reflects on how to improve the process of introducing facilitated industrial symbiosis programmes (FISPs) to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries. Although FISPs are a long-established industrial practice, their formal introduction to SMEs in developing countries has only recently begun, mostly through support from international development agencies. Based partly on anecdotal evidence from Gauteng, South Africa, we identify six key questions which need to be addressed to improve the process of facilitating FISPs.     

The 2019 General Election in Northern Ireland: the Rise of the Centre Ground?

The experience of the 2019 general election in Northern Ireland took a very different course to that of the rest of the UK and, indeed, to the pattern of electoral politics typical of the region. Coming after almost three years with no functioning devolved government, combined with intense disagreement and uncertainty about Brexit, voters were ready to give a message to the two largest parties. Both Sinn Féin and the DUP suffered losses in the election, with the headline outcome being that unionism no longer holds the majority of seats for Northern Ireland in Westminster. More generally, there was a swing from both sides towards centre ground voting, which brought significant gains for the Alliance Party and the SDLP. This article summarises the reasons for this broad trend, focussing on the conditions and electoral pacts which brought it about. It also considers what it might mean for the prospects for Irish unification, noting that a referendum on unification will only be passed by attracting votes from those who tend to see themselves as neither unionist or nationalist.     

A Dialectic Study of the Structure and Basic Concepts of Traditional Chinese Law and an Analysis of the Relationship Between li (ceremony) and fa (law)

In the course of history, the meaning of fa (a Chinese character with an approximate meaning of “law”) has not been invariable, and its connotation in modern times has been enriched constantly, so as to incorporate many elements of ancient li (ceremony). If the modern concept of law, already changed and still changing, is to be used to mechanically compare and interpret traditional Chinese law, misunderstandings might arise. Actually, li and fa are indispensable components of traditional Chinese law, and the lack of necessary study of the li will prevent us from understanding and explaining the spirit of traditional Chinese law. In traditional Chinese law, “fa” usually refers to an institutional dimension, especially after Qin and Han dynasties, whereas li, especially li yi (moral basis for rites and ceremonies), is where the value and spirit of traditional Chinese law can be found. Translated from China Social Science, 5^th Issue, 2003 in Chinese     

汉族人群五个STR基因座的多态性调查

应用PCR及PAG电泳技术研究了PLA2A、vWA、CYP19、TH和LPL五个基因座的多态性，调查武汉地区汉族无关个体，获得汉族人群的频率分布。五个基因座基因型频率分布与Hardy-Weinberg平衡吻合良好、分别计算基因座的杂合度（H）、个人识别能力（Dp）、非父排除率（PE）和多态性信息总量（PIC）。为法医学应用提供了基础数据。     

中国汉族与日本群体DYFl55S1基因座的遗传多态性

目的探讨Y染色体DYF155S1基因座的遗传多态性及群体间差异。方法 应用MVR-PCR、荧光显谱及DNA序列分析技术,对来自中国群体(北方汉族,64例)和日本群体(43例)男性个体的DYF155S1基因座进行初步分析。结果107例样本共检出了5种重复序列类型,包括新的命名为6型的重复序列,它是在1型的基础上T22A置换所形成,仅存在于日本群体,可作为民族特征性遗传标记。2群体重复序列的排列方式以3134顺序为主,在中国和日本群体中各占73.44％和67.44％,是黄种人的特点。134顺序在中国群体中占第二位,为17.19％,6134排列占日本群体的16.28％。3’端的4型重复序列的平均数目在日本群体为8.8条,明显低于中国群体的12.5条。结论DYF155S1基因座具有非常高的遗传多态性和明显的群体差异。     

Data Protection: An Opening Door?

Swedish public law has incorporated a general rule of public access to documents, and to information in the wider sense, since the Freedom of the Press Act of 1766. On the Community level, the relationship between Regulation (EC) 45/2001 on data protection and Regulation (EC) 1049/2001 on public access to documents exemplifies the tension between the public's interest in scrutinising the administration carried on in its name, and the integrity of the individual. However, a similar tension exists between Sweden's Personal Data Act of 1998, implementing Directive 95/46, and the Freedom of the Press Act. A misuse model of data protection law, by seeking to concentrate on serious rather than technical infringements of privacy, might serve to ease the tension. The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and are not attributable to any Community institution. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

气候变化的国际法发展:从温室效应理论到《联合国气候变化框架公约》

本文考察了温室效应理论对缔结《联合国气候变化框架公约》的决定性影响 ,并对《联合国气候变化框架公约》的基本法律原则 (规则 )及其对国际环境立法的贡献进行了述评。