Time-consistent monetary policy under output persistence

This note merges the fact that real activity is persistent with a Barro-Gordon type model of endogenous monetary policy. It shows that persistence crucially affects policy choices. This applies in non-cooperative games with a finite horizon, and in games with an infinite horizon. Always, enforceable inflation announcements move higher when output persistence increases. Policymakers who discount future utility by 10% annually produce about ten times as much inflation under near-hysteresis as in a natural-rate scenario. A change in the policymaker's time preference may affect inflation both ways, depending on present time preference and persistence.     

Stability and Internal Consistency of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire: A Study of Finnish Adolescents

Reliability of the Offer Self-Image Questionnaire (OSIQ) was assessed with two measures—internal consistency and stability—in Finnish children aged 13. The OSIQ was administered to 268 normal 13-year-old pupils (129 girls and 139 boys). Three weeks later, a third of the pupils (N = 88) were randomly selected for retesting. Eighty-three teenagers completed the questionnaire in an acceptable manner. The internal consistency of the test was verified for each scale using Cronbach . To estimate the stability of the test, Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated, and the mean raw scores for each scale were compared with those in the retest. The internal consistency of the test was fairly good ( = 0.54–0.84) for the majority of scales, except for scales S5 and S12 ( = 0.30–0.41). The stability of scales S1, S4, S5, S7, and S10 was good. On the basis of these two measures, we conclude that for Finnish adolescents, the OSIQ is sufficiently reliable only with respect to scales S1, S4, S7, and S10.     

A systematic and quantitative analysis of PCR template contamination

A quantitative and systematic analysis is provided for ubiquitously present template DNA interfering with the quantification of human DNA by PCR. Two sources contributing to DNA background were identified. The first one is interpreted as DNA present in chemicals and on equipment and the second as caused by operator handling. The amounts were equivalent to 2.5 and 8.9 pg per mL of sample, and the estimated frequencies of contamination were 65 and 35%, respectively, resulting in an effective limit of detection of 17.4 pg/mL. Below this level--named effective laboratory background--a result could not be considered as authentic. Knowledge of these parameters is important for laboratories that analyze minute amounts of human DNA by PCR for purposes such as quantification, typing, and sequencing.     

Globalisation and Conceptualisation in the Sphere of International Criminal Law

Professor Wiener mentions that [w]hile an agreement has evolvedin the juris-prudence concerning the meaning of criminal law' and publicinternational law', the opinions regarding what international criminallaw is still diverge to a great extent.1 The task of this report isto clear up what we mean by international criminal law, because itis not an exact expression.     

Forensic medicine experiences in Kosovo

In summer 1999, a German forensic team of CID officers and forensic pathologists was sent to Kosovo on request of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to investigate possible war crimes. For this purpose, witnesses had to be found and interrogated and graves of victims had to be located and the bodies exhumed and examined forensically. Roughly 200 bodies have been found and examined during the campaign that were predominantly of male sex and showed mainly gunshot wounds. A high percentage of all bodies could be identified. The article deals with different forensic-pathologic aspects of such an investigation.     

Prospects of peace negotiation in Papua

The Papuan conflict resembles the conflict in Aceh. Also some of the models of conflict resolution can undoubtedly be imported for Papua from Aceh. However, the existence of large migrant groups, the lack of a coherent organization of the rebel side, and the more extreme nature of economic grievances in Papua than in Aceh, give the conflict problem in Papua its own characteristics. This article speculates about how much Papua could learn from its own past and how much lessons it could emulate from other areas to establish its own mechanisms of peace negotiation.     

眼科法医学鉴定中须重视的几个方面

正确分析眼外伤后出现视力障碍的原因 ,以保证法医学鉴定的准确性。在大量眼科法医学鉴定中 ,就法医学鉴定中易忽略的屈光不正、弱视与视力障碍和原发性疾病在外伤转归中的影响以及全身性疾病在眼外伤中的影响等方面进行了法医临床学讨论。列举了针对性较强典型案例 ,并作了较详细的分析。对眼外伤后出现视力障碍的原因分析 ,必须作全面综合分析和进行必要的临床检查 ,才能做出正确判断。