Agrarian structure,foreign investment in land,and land prices in Brazil

The recent global rush for farmland in Latin America has produced a dramatic increase in the level of foreign investment in land in Brazil. The current trend accentuates the ongoing process of foreignization of agriculture associated with the production of grains, sugar, ethanol and other commodities, increasing land prices. In response, the Brazilian government reestablished a legal mechanism for ‘controlling’ land-based foreign investment which has proven neither efficient nor effective in solving land concentration. This paper examines this issue by analyzing the causes of the increase in investment as well as the consequences of this process with respect to land prices, critically situating land-based investments and the government's policy response in a broader discussion of the demands of agrarian social movements.     

Assessing the Past and Promise of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey for Public Management Research: A Research Synthesis

Since 2002, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management has used the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) to monitor efforts by federal executive agencies to manage human capital. Public management researchers have used FEVS data to produce dozens of peer‐reviewed publications on a range of topics of interest to policy makers, practitioners, and academics. Despite the proliferation of these empirical studies, the field of public management until now has lacked a critical assessment of the FEVS and of how researchers have used the data. In this article, the authors discuss the strengths of the FEVS and the opportunities this survey has created for public management researchers. Despite important contributions made to the literature using the data, there are weaknesses in the content, design, and implementation of the FEVS. The authors offer a set of recommendations for refining the survey and its implementation with the aim of improving the quality and value of the data. In doing so, they hope to foster a dialogue between public management researchers and the Office of Personnel Management on the future of the FEVS and to forge a stronger link between these two communities.     

Oocyte donation for reproduction and research cloning--the perils of commodification and the need for European and international regulation.

The demand for women's egg cells is increasing and is leading to reproductive tourism and transnational oocyte trafficking. The article considers the regulatory landscape of oocyte donation in Europe and analyses different types, particularly whether oocytes are provided within or outside of the IVF context, and whether anonymity of the donor is legally possible or not. The bifurcation between different purposes of egg extraction, particularly the challenges raised by ova demands for cloning research (SCNT) are highlighted. In emphasizing the need for supranational regulation, nine rules for supranational minimum standards are proposed to protect both donor interests and the public good. A particular focus is directed to the commodification of oocytes with regard to the European principle of non-commercial, voluntary and altruistic donation.     

A special case of bolus fatality

The case of a 58-year-old man is reported, who had been hospitalized for almost 30 years for paranoid-hallucinatory schizophrenia. He was found unconscious in the clinic with a scarcely perceptible pulse and irregular breathing. Attempts at resuscitation were not successful. Looking at the corpse, no findings of particular value were noted. At the court-ordered autopsy, a mouse was found in the oral cavity; the head of the mouse was stuck in the laryngeal inlet. The cause of death was ascribed to asphyxia by alimentary bolus; the cause of death was apparently the effect of choking combined with a reflex action. In the large colon (megacolon) many metal objects were found. On the basis of the evidence, it was assumed that the mouse was already dead when the patient choked on it. A disturbance in the ability to swallow as a result of alcohol or medication was ruled out, as were neurological diseases.