美国大中亚安全战略规划评析

美国在形成一个中亚安全战略规划,在地理上以阿富汗为中心,涵盖中亚南亚,在主题上以区域一体为目标,这被称为"新丝绸之路愿景规划"。它以经济为重点,在贸易领域,推动实施美国—中亚《贸易投资框架协定》,重点发展大中亚区域贸易,帮助中亚国家相互降低贸易壁垒,推动中亚国家、阿富汗相邻区域整合;在能源领域,与中亚国家、拉脱维亚、俄罗斯等国建立北部运输网络,形成由公路、铁路、天然气管道以及电力传输线路构成的大中亚交通网络,繁荣区域贸易与经济;在反恐领域,加强与中亚国家安全领域的合作关系,确保驻阿富汗美军的交通线;同时,推动多边安全体制,在中亚实施巴尔干方案,加强对中亚国家的经济援助,促进中亚各国内部间的合作,实现该地区的持久和平。     

Citizenship,enclaves and earnings: comparing two cool countries

This paper uses the Canadian 2006 Census and the Swedish 2006 register data to analyse the citizenship effect on the relative earnings of immigrants, using instrumental variable regression to control for citizenship acquisition. We ask: ‘Is there a citizenship effect and if any, in which country is it that we find the largest effect and for which immigrant groups?’ We add one further dimension, asking if the size of the co-immigrant population in the municipality has an effect on earnings. We find that the impact of citizenship acquisition is substantial in both Canada and Sweden. However, the place of birth of immigrants is important. In most cases, immigrant women in Sweden enjoy a higher citizenship premium than is the case for immigrant women in Canada. Amongst men the picture is more mixed. Most European groups receive a larger citizenship premium in Canada as compared to Sweden. Being in a city with more immigrants of the same background is better for earnings in Sweden than in Canada. However, being in a city with a lot of immigrants (regardless of origin) is better in Canada as compared to Sweden.     

Analysis of the Spectre of Urban Density From the Perspective of Compactness of Forms A Response to a New Urban Vulnerability

The concepts of ＂density＂ and ＂urban morphology＂ are today at the centre of debates on architecture and urban planning. The concept of＂density＂ provides a solution to the issue of urban sprawl and, consequently, offers a way of rethinking sustainable urban and rural development. The densification of urban centres makes it possible to reduce a vulnerability related to the excessive use of suburban areas. However, densification is not a ＂turnkey＂ solution. Numerous criteria relating to its use are poorly understood. As numerous contemporary experiences have demonstrated, urban densification exposes space systems to new, unknown forms of vulnerability. First, the concept of ＂vulnerability＂ will be defined, specifically that of urban vulnerability, as well as related concepts, such as those of risk, hazard, and challenges. Secondly, forms of vulnerability inherent in the over-densification paradigm are pinpointed： This will involve determining the specific hazards, challenges, and risks of this space system. Thirdly, the authors will demonstrate how the concept of ＂compactness＂ makes it possible to review at the different urban levels the densification processes of territories and urban areas. Finally, a tool for the optimisation of compact urban morphologies for use in countering the related hazards and risks will be proposed.     

To enforce or not to enforce? Judicialization,venue shopping,and global regulatory harmonization

The regulation of intellectual property rights takes place in a range of international venues. This proliferation of international venues greatly enhances the potential for venue shopping. We argue that different levels of domestic regulation and differing degrees of judicialization account for actors' preferences over institutional venues. We take into consideration two scenarios. Conceiving of judicialization as the delegation of adjudication to an independent third party and the enforcement through multilaterally authorized sanctions, we show that: (i) upward regulatory harmonization leads actors preferring weak regulatory intellectual property rights standards to strive for venues with low degrees of judicialization, whereas those favoring stringent intellectual property rights protection prefer highly judicialized venues; and (ii) downward harmonization leads to the opposite constellation of institutional preferences. We show how these expectations hold by way of in‐depth case studies of two instances of global intellectual property rights regulation: the regulation of plant genetic resources and intellectual property rights for medicines.     

Vaccine alliance building blocks: a conjoint experiment on popular support for international COVID-19 cooperation formats

The design principles of institutions that visibly and significantly affect citizens’ lives are likely to be politically salient. Popular support for these principles is in turn crucial for institutional viability and effectiveness. Transboundary pandemics are a case in point. Understanding citizens’ preferences regarding the design of international alliances set up to mass-produce and distribute vaccines is likely to determine citizens’ subsequent cooperation with vaccination campaigns. This study explores Germans’ preferences for international COVID-19 vaccine alliance design principles. We conducted a conjoint experiment at a recurring cognitive moment in many pandemics’ cycles, between the initial outbreak and a more devastating but still-unknown second wave, when infection rates were very low, yet no policy solutions had been developed. We analyzed preferences regarding four building blocks: (1) alliance composition (size; EU-centrism), (2) alliance distribution rules (joining cost; vaccine allocation), (3) vaccine nationalism (cost per German household; coverage in Germany) and (4) vaccine producer confidence (origin; type). Distribution rules, political ideology and personal perceptions of pandemic threat matter little. But a larger alliance size and dominant EU-country composition increase alliance support. And vaccine nationalism is key: support increases with both lower costs and larger coverage for own-nation citizens. Moreover, support goes down for Chinese and American producers and increases for Swiss and especially own-nation producers. In sum, a realist and technocratic outlook is warranted at the cognitive stage in pandemic cycles when no solutions have been found, yet the worst already seems to be over, as national self-interest reigns supreme in popular attitudes.

     

Alternative sanctions for drug users: fruitless efforts or miracle solution?

In most Western European countries, including Belgium, judicial alternative sanctions are increasingly being used for drug users. Because no study into the effectiveness of Belgian judicial alternatives for drug users has yet been carried out, this became the objective of the current research. The design of this study comprises a pre and post measurement of the criminal activity, drug use and situation in different spheres of life of 565 drug-dependent offenders. Two conclusions can be drawn. First, after an alternative sanction or measure is imposed, there is a reduction in the criminal activity of the offender. Second, this crime reduction goes hand in hand with a progress in several relevant life spheres.     

Observation of tri-allelic patterns in autosomal STRs during routine casework

We report three cases of tri-allelic patterns observed during routine forensic casework on 5964 Belgian residents. These individuals had been typed for the following 15 autosomal STRs: CSF1PO, D3S1358, D5S818, D7S820, D8S1179, D13S317, D16S539, D18S51, D21S11, vWA, FGA, TH01, TPOX, D2S1338 and D19S433.The first example of a tri-allelic pattern had the genotype 13;15;16 for the D8S1179 locus. In the second observation there was 16;21;22 pattern for the D18S51 locus. The third case had the alleles 10;11;13 also for D18S51.All cases belonged to the Type I tri-allelic pattern, with three uneven peaks, the sum of the heights of both smaller peaks equalling the height of the tallest peak.Three cases in 5964 typed individuals is a frequency for tri-allelic patterns in autosomal STRs of 0.05%.     

Unusual suicide with a chainsaw

Described here is a case of suicide with the use of a chainsaw. A female suffering from schizophrenia committed suicide by an ingenious use of a chainsaw that resulted in the transection of her cervical spine and spinal cord. The findings of the resulting investigation are described and the mechanism of suicides with the use of a chainsaw is reviewed. A dry bone study was realized to determine the bone sections, the correlation between anatomic lesions and characteristics of chainsaw. The damage of organs and soft tissues is compared according to the kinds of chainsaw used.     

Fatal intoxication due to tramadol alone: case report and review of the literature

Poisoning may also lead to both coma and multiple organ failure, also in youngsters without a known major medical history. As not all toxic agents are routinely screened when a poisoning is suspected, it is useful to consider less frequently encountered poisons in certain cases. We describe the occurrence of asystole and multiple organ failure which occurred in a young man after a suspected tramadol overdose. The tramadol concentration on admission in the ICU was indeed 8 microg/ml (mg/l), far above the therapeutic range. Subsequently, the patient developed severe acute liver failure, finally leading to death. Post-mortem toxicology did not reveal any other poison responsible for this unfavourable course as only very high serum and tissue tramadol and desmethyltramadol concentrations were found. Only a few fatal poisonings attributable to tramadol alone, as observed in our case, have been reported. An overview of these cases is presented.