Have Lower Real Wages Helped Industrial Restructuring in Romania?

A reduction in real wages arising from price liberalisation has been a standard feature of economies undergoing industrial restructuring. In this article, the impact of real wages on industrial performance is examined using a panel dataset of Romanian industries from 1990-96. Using both static and dynamic panel estimation, real wages are found not to be negatively associated with either output or employment. These results are consistent with a view that an institutionalist approach, aimed at improving productivity, may be more likely to achieve the long-term objective of successful industrial restructuring than standard adjustment programmes based on neo-classical theory.     

A Comparison of Solvent Extract Cleanup Procedures in the Analysis of Organic Explosives

The use of an organic solvent to extract explosive residues from hand swabs and postblast debris inevitably leads to the coextraction of unwanted materials, usually in far greater quantities than any explosive residue. In this study, the extraction efficiency of a number of solvent cleanup procedures including solid‐phase extraction (SPE), adsorbent resins such as Chromosorb‐104, and traditional materials such as silica and Florisil was calculated using a quantitative liquid chromatography–ultraviolet (LC‐UV) detection procedure. The Oasis^® HLB cartridge outperformed other cleanup procedures, with analyte recoveries approaching 95%, while the Amberlite XAD‐7 procedure returned the lowest overall recoveries. The matrix rejection ability of each method was then determined using a simulated highly contaminated matrix, with the adsorbent resins showing a higher degree of matrix rejection, which is seen as a reduction in background noise in the UV chromatogram using 210 nm detection.     

A Comparison of Common Swabbing Materials for the Recovery of Organic and Inorganic Explosive Residues

The efficiency of solvent based extraction methods used to remove explosive residues from four different swab types was investigated. Known amounts of organic and inorganic residues were spiked onto a swab surface with acetonitrile or ethanol:water combined with ultrasonication or physical manipulation used to extract the residues from each swab. The efficiency of each procedure was then calculated using liquid chromatography‐ultraviolet detection for organic residues and ion chromatography for inorganic residues. Results indicated that acetonitrile combined with physical agitation proved to be the most efficient method; returning analyte recoveries c. 95% for both alcohol based swabs and cotton balls. Inorganic residues were efficiently extracted using ethanol:water, while the use of acetonitrile followed by water significantly reduced the recovery of inorganic residues. Swab storage conditions were then investigated with results indicating decreased storage temperatures are required to retain the more volatile explosives.     

Ceylon Coffee,the Comtesse and the Consignee: A Historical Reappraisal of Rochefoucauld v Boustead

This paper examines the Court of Appeal judgment of Rochefoucauld v Boustead [1897] 1 Ch. 196 through use of archive records, rarely cited law reports and nineteenth-century academic opinion. A full and hitherto untold account of the facts of the case is presented. It is revealed that the land which was the subject matter of the dispute was sold under the direction of the Ceylon District Court, and that the plaintiff was an accomplished individual who utilized various means to frustrate her former husband's attempts to obtain the land. The Court of Appeal's rulings that the defendant was a trustee of the land for the prevention of fraud, and that the trust was to be treated as an express trust, are also analysed with the aim of establishing how these issues were understood at the time of the judgment. It is argued that both of these aspects of the judgment were regarded as uncontroversial because there was a settled concept of equitable fraud, and because trusts imposed for the prevention of such fraud were an established category of trust in their own right, separate from express, resulting or constructive trusts.     

The Effects of Dog-Training Programs: Experiences of Incarcerated Females

Dog-training programs (DTPs) in prisons have grown increasingly popular throughout the United States, but very little is known about their effects on both prisons and their participants. Furthermore, with increasing rates of female imprisonment, the demand for programs that address the needs of female offenders is high. Using interview data from female offenders, program coordinators, and prison staff (N = 27), this study examined the effect of DTPs on how female offenders experience prison. The present study found that DTP participation alleviated the pains of imprisonment that women offenders face, including problems in psychological and emotional health, motherhood, transferable skills, security, trust, and serving time. An assessment of which female offenders appear to benefit the most is outlined, and the broader implications of these findings are discussed.     

How do professionals experience working with offenders diagnosed with personality disorder within a prison environment?

To explore the different experiences of a Multidisciplinary Team working with offenders diagnosed with personality disorder (PD) and produce a substantive model of the Offender PD Pathway strategy from a staff perspective. Fourteen participants were recruited from ‘Unit A’ located within a high security prison. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with participants and the data collected were analysed using constructivist grounded theory. A model was constructed depicting the experiences of those working with offenders with PD. Main themes identified were: prison environment; synergy of the workforce; understanding of the client; individual perceptions; support; and personal change. Although there was enough similarity within the participants’ responses to consider them to be a homogenous population, there were some noticeable differences in trends of responses evident between the two sub-groups of health service-based clinical staff and prison staff as expressed in the model. There is interplay between factors which influence an individual’s experience of working with offenders with PD. How a member of staff experiences working with offenders with PD depends on more than just the nature of the client and the challenges they pose. These factors external to the client group appear to have a significant impact on the professional and their emotional experiences of their work.     

Use of a solid absorbent and an accelerant detection canine for the detection of ignitable liquids burned in a structure fire

ABSTRACT: Ignitable Liquid Absorbent^™ (ILA), a commercial solid absorbent intended to assist fire scene investigators in sample location and collection, has been field tested in three separate room fires. The ability of the ILA to detect and absorb different amounts of gasoline, odorless paint thinner, and camp fuel on two different substrates after a full-scale burn was assessed against results from an accelerant detection canine and laboratory analysis using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The canine correctly alerted on most of the panels that contained an ignitable liquid after the fire, while the ILA indicator dye failed to indicate in the presence of gasoline and camp fuel. GC-MS results for ignitable liquid residue from each panel and from the ILA showed that ILA absorbed odorless paint thinner and camp fuel from most of the test panels, but failed to absorb gasoline from the panels on which gasoline was confirmed to be present.     

Langauge and Violence: Analysis of Four Discursive Operations

The Interactional and Discursive View of Violence and Resistance is a framework for critical analysis and research, prevention and intervention that takes into account the conditions that enable personalized violence, the actions of perpetrators and victims, and the language used in representing those actions. Using this analytic framework, we analyzed five accounts of personalized violence, one each from a perpetrator, a psychiatrist, a judge, a government minister, and a therapist. Our results demonstrate the scope and the ubiquity with which diverse accounts locally accomplish four-discursive-operations; namely, the concealing of violence, obfuscating of perpetrators’ responsibility, concealing of victims’ resistance, and blaming and pathologizing of victims. We examine the specific linguistic devices that combine to accomplish the four-discursive-operations in each case. These data suggest that the problem of violence is inextricably linked to the problem of representation.

Limitations of Diagnostic Precision and Predictive Utility in the Individual Case: A Challenge for Forensic Practice

Knowledge of group tendencies may not assist accurate predictions in the individual case. This has importance for forensic decision making and for the assessment tools routinely applied in forensic evaluations. In this article, we applied Monte Carlo methods to examine diagnostic agreement with different levels of inter-rater agreement given the distributional characteristics of PCL-R scores. Diagnostic agreement and score agreement were substantially less than expected. In addition, we examined the confidence intervals associated with individual predictions of violent recidivism. On the basis of empirical findings, statistical theory, and logic, we conclude that predictions of future offending cannot be achieved in the individual case with any degree of confidence. We discuss the problems identified in relation to the PCL-R in terms of the broader relevance to all instruments used in forensic decision making.     

Controlling Corruption and Misconduct: A Comparative Examination of Police Practices in Hong Kong and New York

Police corruption and misconduct are of perpetual concern to both the police and the public. Various measures have been used and programs created to reduce these problems. But existing research indicates that the effects of such measures are either transient or uncertain. Few studies have been conducted to understand the mechanisms for controlling police corruption and misconduct from an international, comparative perspective. This study intends to fill this gap by exploring the experiences of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) as well as those of the New York Police Department (NYPD). Although Hong Kong is today a part of China, it remains in the Common Law system and its police practices have been highly influenced by Western policing principles, making such a comparison relevant and perhaps useful. The findings of this study suggest that Hong Kong and New York have both adopted various measures for controlling police corruption and misconduct, but have diverged significantly from each other in the structure and content of their control efforts.