The Netherlands in the UNFCCC Process –Leadership between Ambition and Reality

The Netherlands is generally considered as a front running nation in international environmental politics. This article looks at the influence of The Netherlands in international climate change regime formation by analyzing the structural, entrepreneurial, intellectual and environmental leadership qualities exerted by. The Netherlands during the FCCC policy process. In addition, the EU as an enabling and constraining institution for the ambitions of Netherlands in climate change policies is analyzed.     

The Logic of Private and Collective Action

Since Mancur Olson's Logic of Collective Action (1965), it is impossible for political scientists to conceive of political participation without reference to his powerful argument linking numbers of participants, public goods, and participatory outcomes. What is puzzling is the poor empirical support for this argument in the domain where it should work best, namely explaining business political activity. Olson thought his arguments principally applicable to economic groups, and for the empirical development of his arguments Olson drew heavily on business interests, the most active segment of the interest group community. We explore these arguments with business political activities data by examining the statistical performance of various measures of market structure in determining business political activity, and find little empirical support. We do offer an alternative basis for business behavior lodged in both private and collective goods that preserves business rationality and also helps explain not only the amount of business political participation but the modes of business participation .     

Common sense prevails in trade mark transfer dispute

The High Court of Justice has interpreted Article 17(2) of theCommunity Trade Mark Regulation, which provides that ‘[a]transfer of the whole of the undertaking shall include the transferof the Community trade mark’, in a commonsense mannerthat provides that the Community trade mark shall follow thetransferred business. The Court gave great weight to facts andcircumstances of the relevant transactions in giving effectto the transfer of the trade mark rights.     

Age‐Related Vulnerability to Lethal Craniocerebral Crush Injuries from Electrical Beds/Tables

Vulnerability to accidents characterizes the extremes of life for reasons that may be similar in each age group. Two cases are reported to demonstrate increased risks of entrapment and crushing injury involving the use of electrically controlled beds/tables. Case 1: A frail 98‐year‐old woman with a history of dementia suffered a lethal crush injury to her head when she fell out of bed and accidentally activated its lowering mechanism. Case 2: An 18‐month‐old girl suffered a lethal crush injury to her head when she became trapped under a lowered electric massage table. Common devices may be dangerous if individuals do not have the mental or physical capabilities to deal with them. The forensic assessment of such deaths involves an evaluation of the neurocognitive level and physical strength of the decedent as documented in previous clinical assessments, in addition to a careful examination of the structure and function of the bed/table.     

Geoforensic search to crime scene: Remote sensing,geophysics, and dogs

In the absence of surface indications of burial sites, law enforcement or humanitarian organizations are faced with the difficult task of focusing large-scale ground searches to a manageable excavation area. A geoforensic-based survey may exclude parts of the landscape for reasons such as diggability or viewshed analysis but leave areas still too large for invasive exploration. This work examines how drone-based remote sensing, geophysics, and search dogs may be combined to narrow such searches. Here, we ask the reader to consider two examples where forensic geomorphology and land use provided a range of possible burial locations. Following this is a multi-proxy approach to similar dilemma, with a search-to-scene case study using remote sensing (drone photography), geophysics, ground probes, and search dogs. This approach is not presented as a definitive guide, but serves as an example of the conjunctive use of well-studied methods to approach a common problem in geoforensics.     

Cognitive Dissonance in Social Work

Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension occurring when a person holds two psychologically inconsistent cognitions. For this study, 21 social workers who facilitate transracial adoption plans for Aboriginal children in British Columbia were interviewed: 1) Do social workers who facilitate transracial adoption plans for Aboriginal children experience cognitive dissonance? If so, in what ways? 2) How does cognitive dissonance impact them? 3) In what ways do social workers reconcile a sense of dissonance? Findings suggest that social workers do experience cognitive dissonance, that they are adversely impacted, and that they find ways to reconcile the cognitive dissonance.