‘De-pastoralisation’ in Uganda's Northeast: from livelihoods diversification to social differentiation

ABSTRACT

Over the past two generations, livestock loss and hunger, caused by violent conflict and drought, have driven many transhumant agro-pastoralists living in central Karamoja to resettle in unpopulated areas more suitable for agricultural production. These areas, mostly located in the southern and western parts of the region, were historically used by herders as dry season grazing rangelands, while they presently house permanent settlements populated by now sedentarised ‘marginal farmers’, town-based workers and patriarchal elites. In this article, I advance the concept of ‘de-pastoralisation’ to explain the process of dispossession of the major means of social reproduction, which causes an increase in livelihoods diversification and in social differentiation. Through the concept of de-pastoralisation, this article aims to investigate the historical dissolution of pastoralism and its socio-economic consequences, characterised by exploitative inter and intra household relations of production, leading to processes of general proletarianisation and male elite accumulation that reproduce inequality over time.     

Investors’ Rights in (Crypto) Custodial Holdings: Ruscoe v Cryptopia Ltd (in Liquidation)

Ruscoe v Cryptopia Ltd (in Liquidation) is a landmark decision of the New Zealand High Court that considers for the first time in a comprehensive way whether cryptocurrencies are property at common law and to what extent account holders’ (interests in) cryptocurrencies are protected from the claims of the insolvent crypto‐exchange's creditors. The ruling relies on a body of case law from various common law jurisdictions and, to a significant extent, on the findings of the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce Legal Statement on Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts. In tackling complex areas of legal uncertainty, it provides an authoritative conceptual benchmark for future court decisions and normative initiatives.     

Detecting Gunshot Residue from Sellier & Bellot Nontox Heavy Metal‐free Primer by in situ Cathodoluminescence

Gunshot residue (GSR) from the discharge of ammunition can provide crucial information in reconstructing criminal cases. Traditional primers create particles of heavy metals such as lead, barium, and antimony. In forensic laboratories, automatic inorganic particle detection is performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), using the backscattered electron signal to search for bright residues among the many darker environmental particles, due to higher electron density of the former. Some innovative primers, indicated as heavy metal‐free (HMF), produce a residue of elements with atomic numbers below 21, urgently demanding new detecting solutions. For the first time, residues from Sellier & Bellot Nontox HMF primer are demonstrated to emit visible light under electron beam stimulation in a SEM. Cathodoluminescence is then proposed as a promising tool to both detect and characterize residues in forensic cases involving HMF primers, with minor changes to traditional analytical apparatus used for inorganic GSR analysis.     

Geographical Connections: Law,Islands, and Remoteness

Liverpool Law Review - The paper introduces a special issue dedicated to cross-disciplinary research on insular condition and insularity. Situated at the crossroads of legal and geographical...     

Estimating the time since discharge of spent cartridges: A logical approach for interpreting the evidence

Estimating the time since discharge of a spent cartridge or a firearm can be useful in criminal situations involving firearms. The analysis of volatile gunshot residue remaining after shooting using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) followed by gas chromatography (GC) was proposed to meet this objective. However, current interpretative models suffer from several conceptual drawbacks which render them inadequate to assess the evidential value of a given measurement. This paper aims to fill this gap by proposing a logical approach based on the assessment of likelihood ratios. A probabilistic model was thus developed and applied to a hypothetical scenario where alternative hypotheses about the discharge time of a spent cartridge found on a crime scene were forwarded. In order to estimate the parameters required to implement this solution, a non-linear regression model was proposed and applied to real published data. The proposed approach proved to be a valuable method for interpreting aging-related data.     

A Qualitative Study of Undergraduates’ Conceptualizations of Mental Illness

This qualitative study examined three stigma reduction interventions against mental illness stigma: education, video, and contact. Undergraduates (N = 69) in three introductory psychology classes from a small, Catholic, liberal arts university in the northeast United States participated. Responses to two open-ended questions revealed common negative and stereotypical themes associated with mental illness. The benefits of supplementing traditional social distance measures with a qualitative approach, as well as the importance of considering a social developmental approach to stigma education are discussed.     

The Digital Yuan on The Daily Commute

正The People's Bank of China has been stepping up promotion of the digital yuan,a so-called Central Bank Digital Currency that aims to replace some of the cash in circulation. It represents an argument that places the country at the feverish center of a hot debate engaging international government officials,economists,bankers and business executives alike. One crucial question remains: How will this digital currency fare in daily life?     

Microcrystal analysis of cocaine hydrochloride and added adulterants

The objective of this project was to investigate the trends of changes in the crystal morphology of cocaine in the presence of the common adulterants, caffeine and lidocaine HCl. By performing gold chloride microcrystal tests on samples of cocaine with adulterants at 10, 20, and 50% concentrations, trends in the changes of the crystal morphology can be linked to specific adulterants and concentrations. For cocaine/caffeine mixtures, the trend is elongation of one axis, additional branching, and brown discoloration of the crystals. At 50:50 cocaine/caffeine mixtures, branched spherical crystals and long needles appear. The trends for cocaine/lidocaine mixtures include elongation of one axis with an X-shaped middle axis. The axes continue to grow and branching decreases until at 50%, spherical clusters of needles appear. These results indicate microcrystal analysis can be used as a novel method for presumptively identifying not only cocaine but also the identity and concentration of the adulterant.     

The Stalking of Lawyers: A Survey Amongst Professionals in Milan

This is the first study focused on the stalking of lawyers. The authors hypothesized that these professionals are at risk of being stalked by their clients and that this stalking is ascribable to RECON type I.B. A random sample of lawyers was survived. 37.3% of 166 respondents revealed to have been stalked: not only by clients, but also by adversaries and colleagues. Data seem to confirm that the stalking of lawyers mainly belongs to RECON type I.B. Female lawyers were at greater risk than male lawyers. In family law cases, the professionals tended to be stalked by the former husbands of the lawyers' clients (p < 0.01). Several female lawyers—but no male lawyers—were threatened with harm to their family members (p < 0.05). Most of the stalking victims described psychological effects of being stalked. Who suffered physical aggression or repercussions on work was more likely to lodge a complaint (p < 0.01).