Evaluating the forensic informativeness of mtDNA haplogroup H sub-typing on a Eurasian scale

The impact of phylogeographic information on mtDNA forensics has been limited to the quality control of published sequences and databases. In this work we use the information already available on Eurasian mtDNA phylogeography to guide the choice of coding-region SNPs for haplogroup H. This sub-typing is particularly important in forensics since, even when sequencing both HVRI and HVRII, the discriminating power is low in some Eurasian populations. We show that a small set (eight) of coding-region SNPs resolves a substantial proportion of the identical haplotypes, as defined by control-region variation alone. Moreover, this SNP set, while substantially increasing the discriminating efficiency in most Eurasian populations by roughly equal amounts, discloses population-specific profiles.     

The long march: the lessons of China's economic transition

It is widely known that Chinese transition to market economy was influenced by the newly industrialized Asian countries—Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong—but it is not as much evident that Chinese reform was also influenced by the economic reforms of Hungary. Hungary started market-oriented reforms in the late 1960s by introducing market-orientated measures in agriculture, in manufacturing, in retail trade, and in finances, which made Hungarian economy more flexible and efficient than other European socialist countries. It could be shown that the first market-oriented reform measures applied in China during the 1980s and 1990s have large similarities to the Hungarian reform introduced earlier. In that respect, we can say that Chinese economic reform has adapted lots of elements of the early Hungarian economic reform. At the same time, Hungarian reforms have died away, but after the “lost decade of the 1980s,” there was an extremely rapid transition to market economy, which—in spite of the seemingly successful beginning—could not contribute to a long-term and healthy economic development. Meanwhile in China, economic reform was rather successful, resulting in an unprecedented economic development at the end of the twentieth century. Authors of the present article analyse similarities of the Hungarian and Chinese reforms and try to explain the causes of the Hungarian failure and the Chinese success. “Let China Sleep, for when the Dragon awakes, she will shake the world.” The saying is attributed to Napoleon and he seems to have been right. Now that China has reversed the process of globalization and has become the winner, we should resignedly accept that China is wide awake. The country's economy has followed a rapid growth path thus China's economic dominance is felt in the entire Far East; moreover, the country with the highest population in the world the country is taking steps to emerge as a world power. The dragon is awake, and she is not going to take a great leap forward but instead it is now on the long march. In lieu of her specific tools, China is about to win: she is already one of the winners, if not the only winner of globalization.     

The Role of Legitimizing Ideologies as Predictors of Ambivalent Sexism in Young People: Evidence from Italy and the USA

The studies presented here focus on the relationship between legitimizing ideologies and ambivalent sexism. 544 Italian students (Study 1) and 297 US students (Study 2) completed several scales: social dominance orientation (SDO), system justification (SJ), political orientation, religiosity, and the Glick and Fiske (J Pers Soc Psychol 70(3):491–512, 1996) Ambivalent Sexism Inventory. Zero-order correlations revealed all facets of ideological attitudes to be positively related to each other and correlated with ambivalent sexism. In particular, the SDO was related to both ideology components of SJ and political orientation and to ambivalent sexism (hostile and benevolent). Moderated regressions revealed that SDO has a positive impact on hostile sexism for men only, while SJ has a positive impact on hostile sexism for women only. While the first result was stable across the two studies, the last moderated effect has been detected only in Study 1. We discuss the results with respect to different facets of social ideologies and cultural differences between the two countries.     

CEO qualities and codes of ethics

Ethical issues have received growing attention recently, after corporate scandals and during the current economic crisis. Several initiatives have been adopted to restore confidence and trust in businesses, such as ethics codes. In addition, as a result of those scandals and financial frauds, several rules have focused on the role played by Boards of Directors in the planning and monitoring of codes of ethics. However, the empirical evidence is still scarce and needs some degree of extension. The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of several corporate governance features—particularly, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)—on the decision of developing an ethics code, among Spanish companies. Our main findings point out the lack of influence of the CEO’s characteristics (except for CEO reputation) on the likelihood of having a corporate code, indicating that this decision has to do with a choice made by the company overall, perhaps because of regulatory reasons or stakeholders’ expectations. Also, we have checked how other variables, such as the extent of a firm’s participation in defence or other government contracts or multiple listings of the company in different financial markets, can influence the decision of developing an ethics code.     

Cyberstalking versus off-line stalking in a forensic sample

There is relatively little empirical research into cyberstalking and most published research reports data from samples of cyberstalking victims. The current study aimed to fill a gap in the literature by comparing 36 cyberstalking offenders with an age and gender matched sample of 36 off-line stalkers (average age 37 years, 94% male) to investigate differences in demographic, clinical and behavioural characteristics. Non-parametric analyses showed few between-group differences, although cyberstalkers were more likely to be ex-intimate partners (75% vs. 47%, χ² = 5.84, p = .02, φ = .28) and less likely to approach their victims (56% vs. 78%, χ² = 4.00, p = .05, φ = ?.24). The majority of cyberstalkers also used off-line stalking tactics. Examination of specific cyberstalking behaviours suggested that cyberstalkers with different motivations used the Internet in distinct ways. These results support broad conclusions from previous research indicating that there are relatively few differences between cyberstalkers and off-line stalkers. Once the motivation of the stalker is considered, treatment and management strategies for cyberstalking and off-line stalking are likely to be similar.     

Differential adoption of modern rice technology and regional wage differential in Nepal

In Nepal, which consists of ecologically distinct regions, the concentration of the adoption of modern rice varieties in the favourable rice growing areas of the country has raised fears that regional income disparities have widened. This study shows that greater demand for hired labour due to the adoption of modern rice varieties has induced permanent and seasonal migration from unfavourable to favourable areas. This appears to have largely equalised average wage rates across different production environments. Thus, as far as labour income is concerned, benefits from the modern varieties have been widely shared.