The influence of the Regional Coordinating Unit of the Abidjan Convention: implementing multilateral environmental agreements to prevent shipping pollution in West and Central Africa

The Regional Coordinating Unit of the Convention for Co-operation in the Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment for West and Central Africa (the Abidjan Convention) has under its wings several multilateral environmental agreements including those addressing shipping pollution. Shipping, potentially, has negative impacts on marine fauna and flora and air quality, with implications for public health. The Regional Coordinating Unit seeks to strengthen implementation of the Abidjan Convention by party-states through co-operation with state actors using various pathways based on its internal resources and competencies but the Unit is also starting to explore engagement with potential non-state actors. The ability of the Unit to exert influence on implementation is constrained by domestic politico-administrative institutions. This paper seeks to understand the influence of the Regional Coordinating Unit on the implementation of the Abidjan Convention in the field of shipping pollution. It uses three theoretical perspectives for the analysis: the influence of international environmental bureaucracies, domestic regulatory-politics and transnational governance. The paper shows how these theories are complementary because the influence of international bureaucracies such as the Regional Coordinating Unit cannot be adequately understood through factors internal to their organisation alone but needs to be analysed in relation also to external factors, both domestic politico-institutional ones in states that international bureaucracies work with, and the role of relevant non-state actors in the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements. It is concluded that, although influence cannot be measured directly, it is likely that Regional Coordinating Unit’s influence through its autonomy-centred efforts are quiet strong but negatively constrained by the traditional state-centric responsibility for implementation of international legal instruments where domestic regulatory-politics lack sufficient political will and support from and engagement with non-state actors.     

Fear is a Disease: The Impact of Fear and Exposure to Infectious Disease on Correctional Officer Job Stress and Satisfaction

This study examined individual and work-level factors that impact job stress and satisfaction for correctional officers. Existing research has explored officer job stress and satisfaction, but very few studies have focused specifically on fear of contracting an infectious disease while at work (HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and tuberculosis), and the impact fear of and exposure to infectious disease have on correctional officer job stress and satisfaction. Random sample data were collected from 2,999 male and female officers from across the state of Texas to assess job stress, satisfaction, personal safety, and exposure to infectious disease. Ordinary Least Squares analyses indicated that fear of disease was positively correlated with job stress, and inversely correlated with job satisfaction. Exposure to disease however, failed to yield any significant effects on job stress or satisfaction. Officers who felt that their supervisors were supportive of them on the job reported less stress and higher satisfaction levels, while perceived dangerousness of the job was positively correlated with job stress. These findings highlight the importance of supervisory support as well as continuous, in-depth education and training on infectious diseases for officers.     

Mighty Morphin’ age progression: how artist,age range,and morphing influences the similarity of forensic age progressions to target individuals

When children go missing, authorities sometimes release age progressed images that are intended to approximate the person's current appearance. The current studies measured the influence of the range between the time when the child went missing and the age portrayed in the age progression on the similarity between the progressions and current images of the targets. Experiment 1 examined whole face images and Experiment 2 examined internal features only. Eight artists were recruited to produce progressions at three age ranges. Also included were averaged (morphed) images made of progressions of the same individual at a given range by different artists. Progressions across shorter ranges produced images more similar than those across longer ranges, and target comparisons yielded higher similarity ratings than foil comparisons. Although there was much variability among artists, the morphed images performed better than the average rating given to all age progressions.     

Danger to public health: Medical devices,toxicity, virus and fraud

The recent scandals involving the sale and manufacture of defective medical devices such as the PIP breast implants and the De Puy Implants have resulted in the long-awaited modernisation of the Medical Device Directive. Taking cognizance of the increasing integration of medical devices and technology, as well as the importance of electronic information, the proposed EU Regulation on Medical Devices promises greater European control on Notifying Bodies and more transparency to ensure patient's safety. This paper discusses the current directives and proposed legislation as well as the liabilities of manufacturers and software vendors for product failure.     

GSR2005--continuity of the ENFSI proficiency test on identification of GSR by SEM/EDX.

Within the framework of the ENFSI Expert Working Group "Firearms" a proficiency test on the detection and identification of GSR by energy-dispersive scanning electron microanalysis (SEM/EDX) is carried out in a 2 years term. The latest test was performed in 2005/2006 and was denoted as GSR2005. Seventy-five laboratories from 28 countries participated in this proficiency test and submitted in total 83 independent data-sets. The participating laboratories were requested to determine the total number of PbSbBa containing particles on a synthetic test sample following their own laboratory specific methods of automated GSR particle search and detection by SEM/EDX. Furthermore size and position of the detected particles had to be reported by the laboratories and were evaluated statistically. The results were compiled by means of z-scores according to the IUPAC and EURACHEM guidelines-assessing individual laboratory achievements (inter-laboratory) as well as intra-laboratory performance-and were compared to the results of the previous proficiency test run GSR2003 (1). The comparison shows that there is a noticeable improvement in the method's detection capability.     

Stress and Somatic Complaints in Low-Income Urban Adolescents

The present study examined (1) rates of somatic complaints and (2) the association between stress and somatic complaints in low-income urban youth. Participants were 1030 low-income urban 6th–8th grade adolescents. Results indicate that, for both boys and girls, somatization was the most commonly reported internalizing symptom in this sample, and that heightened rates of urban stress predicted heightened rates of somatic complaints. In addition, a significantly higher percentage of youth in this sample reported clinically elevated levels of somatic complaints (17%) relative to that reported by normative samples (5%). The 2 most common somatic complaints were stomachaches and headaches, and females reported higher rates of somatic complaints than males. These findings suggest that somatic complaints are the most common expression of internalizing symptoms among low-income urban youth, and that exposure to heightened rates of stress places low-income urban adolescents at heightened risk for somatization. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.     

Development agencies: Global or solo players?

This paper questions whether development agencies and their staff, at whatever level (community-based organisations, national or international NGOs) are sufficiently clear about their own values and roles, and seeks to analyse tensions and dilemmas that arise when roles are confused. Clarity about the roles of the people and agencies involved is essential for the development of a valid global citizens' movement that can interconnect local and global problems and actors, and work towards sustainable solutions.     

Institutionalized Knowledge Challenges in Pesticide Governance: The End of Knowledge and Beginning of Values in Governing Globalized Environmental Issues

This paper looks at the particular challenges that cross-level interdependence has for the use of knowledge in decision-making for environmental governance. Analytical questions surrounding knowledge generation, use, and flow and the role of institutions in shaping these arise in a multi-level context. By using results from a study on pesticide use in developing countries, some of the particular challenges in relying on scientific knowledge for governance of globalized environmental issues are illustrated. The case involves a situation with significant mismatches between access to and need for knowledge by decision-makers at the different governance levels. The exploration of various strategies to address such mismatches allow discussions not only on the role of knowledge and institutional design but also their limitations and how more inclusive values would serve a system of multilayered governance.