Contextualizing change in Turkish foreign policy: the promise of the ‘two-good’ theory

The level of activism in Turkey's foreign policy has reached unprecedented levels during the country's modern history. This increased activism contrasts starkly with Turkey's characteristically traditional status quo orientation evinced during the Cold War. This study aims to establish a theoretical foundation to explain this multifaceted change in Turkish foreign policy. In doing so, it contends that the ‘two-good’ theory of foreign policy renders considerable analytical leverage for contextualizing recent changes in Turkish foreign policy. The theory posits that change in a country's foreign policy is contingent upon its willingness and capability to actively promote its interests. Furthermore, the ‘two-good’ theory postulates the method a country might employ to implement its foreign policy is a function of these two factors as well. The theory leads to two testable hypotheses regarding Turkish foreign policy. This study supports these hypotheses with qualitative and quantitative evidence.     

好的开始——商务部反垄断分析市场界定标准概览及其对可口可乐收购汇源一案的应用

2008年8月,中国新出台的《反垄断法》生效。商务部根据《反垄断法》规定,设立了一个新的反垄断局,负责并购执行和审查。为此,商务部特向美国律师协会发出邀请．由3名美国资深律师和两名经济学家组成的专家小组。与反垄断局局长及其主管部门代表以及十几名主要工作人员进行了一场为期3天的内部研讨和交流会,就并购执行和分析等关键问题进行讨论并提出建议。     

The importance of appropriate allocation to offending behavior programs

This study examined the impact on reconviction of appropriate allocation to three general offending behavior programs involving adult male offenders in the English and Welsh Probation Service. Appropriate allocation was defined by level of risk for reconviction. There were three allocation groups: too low, appropriate, and too high. Using a quasi-experimental design, the reconviction rates of offenders who were allocated to and completed a program, offenders allocated to a program who failed to start, and a comparison group were compared. It was found that the appropriateness of allocation affected reconviction independently of treatment group. Furthermore, in line with the risk principle, there was an interaction between treatment group and the appropriateness of allocation.     

The Offset Rule: Some Multinational Evidence

The offset rule is a method to simplify the calculation of lump sum damage awards to compensate victims for an expected lost future flow of income. If the expected nominal rate of interest is roughly equal to the expected rate of growth in nominal wages (assuming the loss is due to lost labour income), then the present discounted value of the loss is shown to be easily computed as just the amount of the loss in the first year multiplied by the number of years over which the loss is expected to occur. We test the assumptions of the offset rule for eleven different countries. For each country, we cannot reject the hypothesis that the assumptions of the offset rule are satisfied. The relevant implication of this work is that the offset rule can provide a starting point for the assessment of damages. While there are undoubtedly good arguments for personalizing awards, there is no longer any good reason to debate the size of the real rate of interest, the expected rate of inflation, or average changes in labour productivity. These variables cancel each other out in the offset rule.     

the placental body in 4D: everyday practices of non-diagnostic sonography

Feminist scholars have long argued that the pregnant body is erased – both literally and discursively – from mainstream foetal representations. Janemaree Maher argues that the placenta, as point of distinction and connection between pregnant women and foetuses, has the radical potential to refigure understandings of pregnant embodiment and subjectivity, and offer ‘a way to begin thinking through the impasse of pregnant representation’. Drawing on Maher's notion of the ‘placental body’, this article will examine the place of the placenta in the practice of non-diagnostic 4D ultrasound scanning. The analysis seeks to connect Maher's theoretical perspective, and the rich feminist literature around foetal imaging, with observational data from my study of 4D scans. I will argue that the capacity of 3- and 4D sonography to image the placenta and umbilical cord in a way that is newly intelligible to lay viewers might present an opportunity for thinking differently about the interconnections – material and social – between pregnant women and foetuses and to relocate women as the subjects of their pregnancies.     

Fentanyl transdermal patches: Extraction and evaluation of a novel disposal method using NarcX®

Currently, there is no known commercially available product for disposing of used fentanyl transdermal patches. To eliminate the potential for harm and abuse, a proper disposal method is needed–one that neutralizes the dangerous amount of residual fentanyl that remains after therapeutic use of the fentanyl patch. The patent-pending liquid solution of activated carbon, known as NarcX^®, was investigated as a potential fentanyl adsorbing agent. In order to determine the amount of fentanyl remaining after a patch is treated with NarcX^®, here, we utilized hexanes to first dissolve the patch adhesive and then followed with liquid-liquid extraction with methanol to recover the fentanyl. Using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS), the extracts obtained with this method yielded between 85% and 117% recovery of fentanyl from new and unused patches. Further optimization of this method allowed for a quantitative evaluation of NarcX^®-treated fentanyl patches. 100 µg/h Apotex brand fentanyl patches were exposed to NarcX^® for 1, 24, 48, and 72 h. NarcX^® was shown to adsorb fentanyl from the patches with varying degrees of success, demonstrating an average of 66.98 ± 0.75% fentanyl adsorption after 72 h. These findings suggest that more work is needed to successfully neutralize the fentanyl patches in their entirety using NarcX^®; however, this work does demonstrate proof of concept.     

Methodological considerations in the evaluation of offender interventions: the problem of attrition

Attrition from offender interventions presents methodological problems when the effectiveness of the intervention is under evaluation. This article proposes a treatment-received (TR) design, which incorporates one-to-one matching on criminogenic variables. This design permits the comparison of completer, noncompleter, and nonstarter groups with their paired comparisons and, hence, allows a more accurate evaluation of program completion and noncompletion effects. A sample of 173 offenders, referred to one of two general offending behavior cognitive skills programs within community settings, was matched one-to-one by criminogenic variables to offenders from an appropriate comparison group. Reconviction analyses were undertaken using intention to treat (ITT) analysis, TR analysis using the full comparison group, and TR analysis using matched comparison groups. The ITT design found no impact of group membership on reconviction. The TR designs, however, provided evidence of moderate effects of completion: For every three completers, five of the matched comparison group members were reconvicted. The analysis also suggested a noncompletion effect: Noncompleters were twice as likely as their matched comparison group to be reconvicted.     

Sequential lineup presentation promotes less-biased criterion setting but does not improve discriminability

When compared with simultaneous lineup presentation, sequential presentation has been shown to reduce false identifications to a greater extent than it reduces correct identifications. However, there has been much debate about whether this difference in identification performance represents improved discriminability or more conservative responding. In this research, data from 22 experiments that compared sequential and simultaneous lineups were analyzed using a compound signal-detection model, which is specifically designed to describe decision-making performance on tasks such as eyewitness identification tests. Sequential (cf. simultaneous) presentation did not influence discriminability, but produced a conservative shift in response bias that resulted in less-biased choosing for sequential than simultaneous lineups. These results inform understanding of the effects of lineup presentation mode on eyewitness identification decisions.