Genetic analysis of the populations from Northern and Mesopotamian provinces of Argentina by means of 15 autosomal STRs

The allele frequencies for the 15 short tandem repeats included in the Power Plex-16 kit (Promega Corp., Madison, WI, USA) were determined in a sample of 429 unrelated individuals from five provinces of the Northern and Northeastern regions of Argentina. Three Northern provinces including Salta, Formosa and Chaco and two within the region surrounded by the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers commonly known as the Argentine Mesopotamia, including Misiones and Corrientes. Since in this region Entre Ríos Province is also present, previously published results were used for comparison. The calculated parameters: polymorphism information content (PIC); discrimination power (DP); matching probability (MP); typical paternity index (TPI) and power of exclusion (PE) showed Penta E to be the most valuable marker from the studied sample set. All loci met Hardy-Weinberg expectations using the Bonferroni correction for the number of loci analyzed, except D3S1358 in Salta and THO1 in Formosa provinces. Population differentiation test revealed that the Salta population sample data denoted significant differences for various loci when compared with the other province information presented here in, as well as with other published data sets.     

The (in)tangible Euro challenge to the dollar: insights from the financial elites in Brazil and China

The main purpose of this article is to shift the dollar vs Euro debate away from US–EU centrism to perspectives from emerging markets. Drawing on 40 semistructured financial elite interviews in Brazil and China, the key research question studied here is whether the US dollar is malfunctioning as the leading international currency in these parts of the world, and, if so, whether the Euro can be an alternative to the greenback. The results show that the status of the dollar as the main anchor in the monetary system is seriously questioned among financial elites in China and Brazil. As yet, though, the Euro does not represent an alternative to the dollar because of its fiscal and political fragmentations. However, despite these institutional shortcomings, the European currency is seen as an ideational role model for super-sovereign monetary integration out of dollar unipolarity based on consensual negotiations not only on a regional, but also on a global scale.     

Illegal access to information systems and the Directive 2013/40/EU

Directive 2013/40/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 August 2013, on attacks against information systems, came into force on 3 September 2013, replacing Council Framework Decision 2005/222/JHA. It maintains existing offences and criminalizes new activities such as illegal interception and the usage of certain tools for committing offences. The offence that is the focus of this article – illegal access to information systems – is set out in Article 3. It represents a change from the wording of Art 2 (2) of the Framework Decision 2005/222/JHA in that under Art 3 of the Directive the incrimination of illegal access to information systems now depends upon whether such access infringes a security measure. This paper provides an overview of the impetus for the introduction of cybercrime laws and analysis of the key provisions of the Directive before exploring whether the wording of Art 3 is a sensible legislative approach.     

Las competencias urbanísticas y la planificación metropolitana en el estado autonómico español y en el federalismo brasileño

This article makes a comparative analysis between the Spanish and Brazilian Urban Law, from the perspective of territorial and urban planning. Taken the basis of the constitutional rules that distribute powers to public authorities of both countries, and also the main laws that regulate the matter, as the case of RD 2/2008 of 20 June, approving the revised Land Law (TR/08, in Spain) and the Statute of the Cities (Law No. 10.257, f June 21, 2001 in Brazil). Besides that, highlight some differences between countries, such as the structure of the States —Spanish Parliamentary Monarchy and Brazilian Federal Republic— that is not an impediment to enable countries to use the legal constructions of the other country to improve its own system, especially in the metropolitan issue.     

Adaptation and development of the Empathy Assessment Index (EAI)

The purpose of this study was to adapt and develop a multidimensional measure of interpersonal empathy, the Empathy Assessment Index (EAI). The EAI is a self-report measure developed in the US that is applicable in most contexts where empathy is considered a relevant construct. The focus of this work is on professions dealing with complex interpersonal situations, such as the police or other professions that can be categorized as street-level bureaucrats. The added value of the EAI relative to previous measures of interpersonal empathy stems from its incorporation of subconstructs such as self-other awareness (SOA) and emotion regulation (ER) to augment the cognitive dimension of empathy. The Swedish version of the EAI was administered to a sample of 330 participants, most of whom were police recruits. An exploratory factor analysis identified a four-factor structure, which was supported by a confirmatory factor analysis. The factors identified in the analysis were affective response, SOA, perspective taking (PT), and ER. Evidence for the scale’s concurrent validity was established in relation to the empathic concern and PT subscales from the Interpersonal Reactivity Index. The adapted version of the EAI will be used in further studies within the police context.     

War,reconstruction and dependence in Mozambique

It is often asserted that pressures for North African migration to Europe would be reduced if the European Union encouraged economic development on the southern shores of the Mediterranean. Such arguments prompt questions about the efficacy of past and present endeavours by Europe to support economic development in North Africa. This article argues that the European Union's efforts have ironically encouraged a form of economic development in its southern neighbours that abets, rather than discourages, migration. Deeper economic reform is necessary by the European Union itself-within the economic space that Europe dominates-if genuine progress is to be made on North African migration pressures.     

The euro for China: too important to fail and too difficult to rescue

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze China's strategy in relation to the euro. The first section summarizes China's active support to the single currency since its creation up to the first phase of the current Eurozone debt crisis. It shows how China has used a two-pronged approach. It has developed a public campaign in favor of the euro, especially when the market sentiment has been bearish on the single currency, and it has continued to be an active player in the European sovereign debt markets. The second part explains why China has been so supportive. Beijing wants to move away from dollar hegemony and thus it favors a tripolar monetary system based on the US dollar, the euro and the Chinese renminbi (RMB). With this aim, and despite the crisis, China has continued to diversify its foreign reserves into the euro making it by now ‘too important to fail’, not only because China holds roughly $1 trillion in euro-denominated assets, but also because for China the Eurozone is a crucial market and an important strategic counterweight to US dominance in world affairs. Finally, the third part focuses on how by the end of 2011 China switches to a more cautious approach due to the difficulty involved in rescuing the Eurozone. Domestic pressures, public outcry in Europe against being saved by China, the unwillingness of the European leaders to enter into strategic bargaining and Germany's strategy to use sovereign bond spreads as a market mechanism to create ‘more Europe’ have convinced policy-makers in Beijing to keep a lower profile while making sure the value of the euro remains stable.