China’s “Radicalism at the Center”: Regime Legitimation through Climate Politics and Climate Governance

The article examines whether there is reciprocity between the legitimating effects of China’s regime at home and abroad and how global governance and legitimacy interact in the case of China. This is done through an analysis of Chinese climate politics and China’s engagement in international climate negotiations and governance, especially its behavior during and after the Copenhagen Climate Summit in December 2009 and the Chinese regime’s efforts to legitimate this behavior. While China’s role in international climate governance was disputed at the Copenhagen Summit, China contributed constructively to brokering a deal with significant implications for a new climate governance architecture suiting China’s preferences and being aligned with China’s core interests. China defended the procedural logic of the current global climate governance framework and managed to contain institutional change. Based on Anthony Giddens’ proposition about “radicalism at the centre”, it is argued that China’s national and international discourse on and actions associated with climate change and the international negotiations about the new climate governance architecture seem to be able to reinforce each other and may well have a mutual legitimacy augmenting effect for the ‘radicals at the centre’ of the Chinese regime, provided that they ensure consequential logic through targeted reduction of GHG emissions and a “green transformation” of the economy.     

Back to the forest: exploring forest transitions in Candelaria Loxicha, Mexico

Declining profitability of agriculture and/or higher prices of forest products and services typically drive an increase in forest cover. This article examines changes in forest cover in Candelaria Loxicha, Mexico. Forest cover increased in the area as a result of coffee cultivation in coffee forest-garden systems. Dependence on forest products and services, and not prices of forest products, drive the process in our study site. Low international coffee prices and high labor demand outside the community might pull farmers out of agriculture, but they do not completely abandon the lands. A diversification in income sources prevents land abandonment and contributes to maintaining rural populations and coffee forest gardens.     

Toward a concept of psychosocial maturity

Schools below the college level traditionally have been preoccupied with only one outcome of education: growth in measurable cognitive skills. While there is at present a growing recognition of the school's actual and potential role in promoting personal and social growth, a convincing model of nonacademic objectives is lacking, as is a tool for assessing children's progress toward nonacademic objectives. To this end, the authors construct a model of psychosocial maturity which specifies measurable attitudes and dispositions. The model of psychosocial maturity integrates sociological and psychological views of the person; that is, it takes into account the requirements of societies as well as the healthy development of individuals. The model outlines three general dimensions of maturity which are likely to be relevant in all societies. These are (1) the capacity to function adequately on one's own, (2) the capacity to interact adequately with others, and (3) the capacity to contribute to social cohesion. Nine attributes judged pertinent to these capacities in this society are then defined. The final sections of the paper discuss problems in the measurement of psychosocial maturity, describe the form of an instrument presently being devised, and suggest research uses of the instrument.Preparation of this paper was supported by funds from The National Institute of Education, Contract No. NE-C-00-3-0013.Received his Ph.D. trom Radeliffe College. She is interested in multidisciplinary approaches to the study of personality development and directs a program of research on school, family, and peer influences on attitudinal development over the childhood and adolescent years.Received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University. Major interests and current research are in educational sociology, mathematical sociology, and social stratification.     

Trust in a Time of Increasing Diversity: On the Relationship between Ethnic Heterogeneity and Social Trust in Denmark from 1979 until Today

This article examines the impact of ethnic diversity in Danish municipalities on citizens' social trust over the last three decades. During this period, Danish society has grown increasingly ethnically diverse, and this begs the question whether this has influenced trust in others negatively. Existing evidence from the Anglo‐Saxon countries would suggest that this is the case, whereas evidence from the European continent mainly suggests that no link exists between ethnic diversity and social trust. The empirical analysis uses individual‐level data on social trust from several surveys in Denmark in the period from 1979 to 2009 coupled with diversity at the municipality level. Individual‐level measures of trust over time enable estimation of the impact of changes in ethnic diversity within municipalities on social trust and, it is argued, thereby a more precise estimate of the effect of ethnic diversity on trust. The results suggest that social trust is negatively affected by ethnic diversity. The article concludes by discussing this result and suggest avenues for further research.     

Impairment based legislative limits for driving under the influence of non-alcohol drugs in Norway

Bloodstains at crime scenes are among the most important types of evidence for forensic investigators. They can be used for DNA-profiling for verifying the suspect's identity or for pattern analysis in order to reconstruct the crime. However, until now, using bloodstains to determine the time elapsed since the crime was committed is still not possible. From a criminalistic point of view, an accurate estimation of when the crime was committed enables to verify witnesses' statements, limits the number of suspects and assesses alibis. Despite several attempts and exploration of many technologies during a century, no method has been materialized into forensic practice. This review gives an overview of an extensive search in scientific literature of techniques that address the quest for age determination of bloodstains. We found that most techniques are complementary to each other, in short as well as long term age determination. Techniques are compared concerning their sensitivity for short and long term ageing of bloodstains and concerning their possible applicability to be used on a crime scene. In addition, experimental challenges like substrate variation, interdonor variation and environmental influences are addressed. Comparison of these techniques contributes to our knowledge of the physics and biochemistry in an ageing bloodstain. Further improvement and incorporation of environmental factors are necessary to enable age determination of bloodstains to be acceptable in court.     

The PMMA epidemic in Norway: comparison of fatal and non-fatal intoxications

During a 6 month period (July 2010-January 2011) we observed 12 fatal intoxications and 22 non-fatal cases related to the drug paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) in Norway (4.8 mill inhabitants). This toxic designer drug, also known as "Death", is occasionally found in street drugs offered as "ecstasy" or "amphetamine". The present study aimed to evaluate the cause of death, and to compare the PMMA blood concentrations in fatal and non-fatal cases. Methods for identification and quantification of PMMA are presented. The median age of fatalities was 30 years (range 15-50) with 67% males; in non-fatal cases 27 years (20-47) with 86% males. In the 12 fatalities, the median PMMA blood concentration was 1.92 mg/L (range 0.17-3.30), which is in the reported lethal range of 0.6-3.1 mg/L in peripheral blood and 1.2-15.8 mg/L in heart blood. In the 22 non-fatal cases, the median PMMA concentration was 0.07 mg/L (range 0.01-0.65). Poly-drug use was frequent both in fatal and non-fatal cases. The PMA concentrations ranging from 0.00 to 0.26 mg/L in both groups likely represented a PMMA metabolite. Three fatalities were attributed to PMMA only, six to PMMA and other psychostimulant drugs, and three to PMMA and CNS depressant drugs, with median PMMA concentrations of 3.05 mg/L (range 1.58-3.30), 2.56 (1.52-3.23) and 0.52 mg/L (0.17-1.24), respectively. Eight victims were found dead, while death was witnessed in four cases, with symptoms of acute respiratory distress, hyperthermia, cardiac arrest, convulsions, sudden collapse and/or multiple organ failure. In summary, all fatalities attributed to PMMA had high PMMA blood concentrations compared to non-fatal cases. Our sample size was too small to evaluate a possible impact of poly-drug use. A public warning is warranted against use and overdose with illegal "ecstasy" or "speed" drugs.     

Law and ethics of deep brain stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a non-destructive, adjustable, and mainly reversible method of continuously giving electrical impulses into a small area of the brain via implanted electrodes. It has been established as a standard form of treatment for specific cases of Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia. It is currently being evaluated for several mental disorders, dementia and even alcoholism. In spite of its growing practical importance, the legal issues have so far undergone almost no analysis. The article outlines both the essential legal questions of DBS from the perspective of German Law as well as major issues of the current ethical debate, and the correlation of both fields.     

Post-release Employment and Recidivism in Norway

Objectives

Investigate the transition from prison to employment and the relationship between post-release employment and recidivism.

Methods

We use a sample of every person released from Norwegian prisons in 2003 (N?=?7,476), and they are followed through 2006 with monthly measures. We estimate the time to recidivism using discrete time survival models, conditioning upon both pre-release characteristics and post-release time-varying covariates (employment, educational enrollment and participation in labor market programs).

Results

The majority of former inmates were employed at some point in our data window, but it took approximately 30?months for 30% of them to become employed. The hazard of recidivism is substantially lower (0.12, p?<?.001) when former inmates are employed compared with unemployed, although observable individual characteristics can account for a large share of this association (0.50, p?<?.001, after adjustment). The negative association between employment and recidivism remains when controlling for other post-release statuses. Although post-release employment periods are associated with a lower risk of recidivism for all categories of principal offence, the magnitude of the association varies. The association is smaller for those receiving social benefits.

Conclusion

The findings are consistent with theories suggesting that employment reduces the risk of recidivism.     

Morphine to codeine concentration ratio in blood and urine as a marker of illicit heroin use in forensic autopsy samples

A morphine to codeine ratio greater than unity (M/C>1) has been suggested as an indicator of heroin use in living individuals. The aim of this study was to examine the morphine to codeine ratio in a large population (N=2438) of forensically examined autopsy cases positive for 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM) and/or morphine in blood and/or urine. Blood and urine concentrations of 6-MAM, morphine and codeine were examined using GC-MS and LC-MS/MS methods. In 6-MAM positive samples, the M/C ratio was greater than unity in 98% (N=917) of the blood samples and 96% (N=665) of the urine samples. Stratification of 6-MAM negative cases by M/C above or below unity revealed similarities in morphine and codeine concentrations in cases where M/C>1 and 6-MAM positive cases. Median blood and urine morphine concentrations were 8-10 times greater than codeine for both groups. Similarly to 6-MAM positive cases, 25-44 year-old men prevailed in the M/C>1 group. In comparison to cases where M/C ≤ 1, the M/C ratio was a hundred times higher in both 6-MAM positive and M/C>1 cases. The range of morphine concentration between the lowest and the highest quintile of codeine in M/C>1 cases was similar to that in 6-MAM positive cases. This range was much higher than for M/C ≤ 1 cases. Moreover, linear regression analyses, adjusted for age and gender, revealed a strong positive association between morphine and codeine in 6-MAM positive and M/C>1 cases. The M/C ratio appeared to be a good marker of heroin use in post-mortem cases. Both blood and urine M/C>1 can be used to separate heroin users from other cases positive for morphine and codeine.     

The demand for transparency: An empirical note

By encouraging socially wasteful rent seeking and corruption, natural resources abundance might not be a blessing but a country’s curse. A recent attempt to impede these practices of corruption with theft is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). The purpose of this organization is to verify and fully publish company payments and government revenues from oil, gas, and mining. Using a probit estimation technique the paper analyses empirically the political and socio-economic factors which determine a country’s participation in EITI, which can be interpreted as revealed willingness to reform.