The Effect of Temperature and Laboratory Rearing Conditions on the Development of Dermestes maculatus (Coleoptera: Dermestidae)

Experiments were conducted to study the life cycle of Dermestes maculatus and to establish the total developmental time and the developmental time of immature stages, in relation with six different temperatures. We also analyzed the variations in size, morphology, and other indicators of temporal variation during life cycle of D. maculatus, in relation with temperature. One hundred larvae were selected per experiment, reared individually. The remaining larvae were reared to evaluate and establish temporal variations among the instars (length, cephalic width, and dry weight). In all trials, survivorship was greater than 50% and seven larval instars were found. Data of the average developmental time of immature stages and of the total cycle, at different temperatures, are provided. This is of relevance when estimating particularly, a minimum PMI. No relation between morphometric parameters and temperature was found, suggesting that other random factors may have been involved. Thus, this indicates that the method of isomegalen diagrams could not be used for calculating PMI.     

Architecture of Sovereignty: Bosnian Constitutional Crisis,the Sarajevo Town Hall,and the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mêlée</Emphasis>

This paper addresses the processes by which the international community intervened and participated in the defining of Bosnian identity and the corresponding constitutional framework, as well as the continuous paradoxical tension between the ethnic local and claims to universalism of supranational legal norms. In particular, the 1995 Constitution and the architecture of its sovereignty have been contested through provisions of the European Convention of Human Rights. The analysis is further supported by the discussion of the architectonic structure of the Town Hall/National Library in Sarajevo that has had an important constitutional role since the collapse of the Ottoman period. The paper thus focuses on two sites for construction/deconstruction of Bosnian sovereignty: the constitutional framework and the more concretely visible architectural symbol of the Town Hall/National Library. This importance of a visual and spatial approach to Bosnian realities is carried further by the 1993 ‘Eulogy’ that Jean-Luc Nancy wrote for Sarajevo, as a site of the Mêlée.     

Beyond the Visible Pattern: Historical Particularities,Development, and Age at First Marriage in Transylvania, 1850–1914

The present study focused on age at first marriage in Transylvania between 1850 and 1914, a time of both social-economic change and resilient historically entrenched particularities. Based on data extracted from the Historical Population Database of Transylvania we constructed an extensive sample from settlements with a broad range of social-economic characteristics, which allowed for a comparative view into the influence of various factors on marriage timing. We examined in this sense both individual-level co-variates, such as denominational affiliation, migration background, and social-occupational status, as well as broader factors, such as the development level attained by certain settlements and the time frame. We found that the area level of development measured according to a heuristic index was in many cases more decisive than individual characteristics in shaping individuals’ constraints and opportunities on the marriage market. More significantly, the analysis showed that the ways in which the development level worked to transform marriage timing for both men and women could be explained by historically entrenched differences and specificities. At the same time, these patterns in age at first marriage, given by factors such as denomination, might be the result of other largely still invisible factors, for which the variables used are merely imperfect proxies.     

Part-time employment: a comparative analysis of Spain and the Netherlands

Most industrialized countries have seen part-time employment as a percentage of total employment increasing in the last decade. This paper presents the results of a comparative study of part-time employment in Spain and the Netherlands. The project comprises a legal comparative study of the effectiveness of the normative solutions provided by the Dutch and Spanish legal orders regarding the protection of part-time workers and the promotion of part-time employment, with special attention paid to the gender dimension of part-time work in both countries; and an analysis, based on data extracted from the European Community Household Panel (1995–2001), of the determinants of part-time employment in both countries and an examination of the extent to which part-time jobs are used as stepping-stones to full-time positions. We have found significant country differences regarding females’ decisions to take part-time jobs. We also have found that, in general, Dutch females are not less likely than their male counterparts to increase the number of hours they work. However, this applies only to those females who are part of a couple or have children younger than 12 years. In Spain, females are 2.6 times less likely than their male counterparts to switch from a part-time to a full-time job.     

Urban renewal as policy innovation in China: From growth stimulation to sustainable development

A major policy innovation in China, urban renewal creates an opportunity to promote sustainable inner‐city development and to foster economic growth in an environmentally and culturally sound way, which demands a close investigation of its context, internal and external dynamics, and policy features. Property‐led redevelopment dominated China's urban renewal since the early 1990s, as a result of the market reform and political decentralization. Recently, it has become important to meet the interests of local communities and the diverse stakeholders in the effort to preserve the urban history and cultural fabric of cities. Contextual factors in urban renewal policy and its innovation are investigated by analyzing a pioneering case in Guangzhou from a longitudinal study approach. The impact of the structural‐instrumental, cultural‐institutional, and environmental perspective on policy innovation with the change of contextual factors that transformed the development ideology and the managerial practice are identified to provide a new angle of studying policy innovation in the urban field.     

Moldova's European Choice: ‘Between Two Stools’?

The article examines EU–Moldovan relations from the perspective of the external governance framework. It reveals some considerable progress in the procedural engagement of both parties. However, the internal instability experienced by Moldova in 2009 is seen to have disrupted these relations, stalling further negotiations and even questioning Moldova's true commitment to Europe. To understand this ostensibly sudden change in Moldova's allegiance to Europe, it is argued that analysis needs to go beyond conventional governance framework(s). Premised on the notion of ‘constitutive boundaries’ a ‘partnership’ perspective offers a more nuanced understanding of the boundaries of ‘the other’, thus revealing the salience of geopolitics and culture in Moldova's relations with the outside world.     

Do two-year colleges increase overall educational attainment? Evidence from the states

Are two- or four-year colleges more efficient at increasing the educational attainment of young adults? I use state variation in two- and four-year college systems to address this question at the state level. I find that the composition and cost of higher education in a state affect the enrollment decisions of individuals in that state. Further, attending a two-year rather than a four-year college may lower the educational attainment of some students, but more students will benefit from the community college alternative. It also most likely costs the state more to educate a student in a four-year rather than a two-year college. As a result, community colleges provide a potentially efficient way to increase access to higher education as well as increase the overall educational attainment of a state's residents.     

Macroscopic,Microscopic, and Chemical Assessment of Gunshot Lesions on Decomposed Pig Skin

Abstract: Very little literature exists on gunshot wounds on decomposed material. In this study, seven pig heads underwent a shooting test. Entrance wounds from the first head underwent neutron activation analysis (NAA) and histological testing immediately after the firing test; the other six heads were exposed to two different environments (open air and soil) and analyzed by radiochemical and histological tests every 15 days. Gunshot wounds in air maintained their morphological characteristics, and those in soil showed severe alteration after 5 weeks. Microscopic testing verified positive results for lead in all gunshot wounds in open air, whereas in most of those in soil lead could not be detected. Radiochemical analysis performed by NAA yielded for all gunshot wounds but one antimony quantities in the range of 0.07–13.89 μg. In conclusion, it may be possible to detect residues of antimony even in degraded tissues.     

Migrant melodrama and the political economy of suffering

This article deploys the term “migrant melodrama” to describe contemporary cultural production that trains a melodramatic imagination on migrants. It argues that migrant melodrama often reconfigures suffering as a necessary step in the progress toward inclusion and belonging. To interrogate this assumption, the article analyzes three prominent examples of migrant melodramas that feature children traveling north across national borders without adult caretakers: the 2006 journalistic narrative Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother, by Sonia Nazario; a 2009 HBO documentary film inspired by Nazario’s book, Which Way Home, directed by Rebecca Cammisa; and the 2007 fictional film Under the Same Moon, directed by Patricia Riggen. The article proposes that migrant melodrama plays a role in the commodification and circulation of undocumented migrant suffering in a global market, a phenomenon that the author terms “the political economy of suffering.” Performances of suffering can be exchanged in the political economy of suffering for any number of privileges, from a handout to a visa, and are linked to major international economic and political decisions, such as migration policies that regulate human mobility across nation-state borders. The political economy of suffering is a web of transactions in which performances of undocumented migrant suffering are exchanged in attempts to promote empathy, tolerance of mobility, and respect for migrant human rights. In different ways, all three of the works analyzed accept the underlying logic of the political economy of suffering.     

‘Multi-Vector’ Foreign Policies in Europe: Balancing,Bandwagoning or Bargaining?

The article examines the phenomenon of ‘multi-vector’ foreign policies that have been adopted by a variety of states in Russia and the EU common neighbourhood. It traces the origins of ‘multi-vector’ foreign policy to a series of asymmetric bargaining ‘games’ between smaller states and two competing regional powers over the terms of cooperation. During these bargaining games, they either accommodate the demands of more powerful actors to relieve external pressure, or manoeuvre between two external actors to extract concessions from and negotiate more favourable agreements with one or both. The model illustrating how ‘multi-vector’ states behave is tested in the case of Ukraine's energy policy in the period from 1999 to 2009.