Lethal poisoning with ethyl alcohol and its surrogates in various regions of the Russian Federation

The index of lethal poisoning with ethyl alcohol and its surrogates in Russia remains one of the highest in the world. It is explained by high alcohol consumption in Russia (about 15 liters of pure alcohol per capita annually), consumption of mainly strong beverages (about 80%), extensive sales of adulterated strong alcoholic beverages (more than 25%), virtually no preventive work in the population, and other causes. The index of lethal poisoning with alcohol and its surrogates in the country and its regions is one of the most important parameters in evaluation of the socioeconomic well-being of the population.     

Sex differences in sex-role conceptions and family orientation of high school students

Studies of college freshmen find that men are more sexist in their attitudes than women. Does this hold also for high school students? This paper reports the relationship of (1) sex-role attitudes to selected school and family characteristics and (2) attitudes toward family life to sex-role conceptions for women and men. The study is based on 529 students in grades 9 to 12 attending four high schools. The findings show that males are more sexist than females and Blacks more so than Whites. Women who are bright, from upper class backgrounds, and whose mothers work are more equalitarian in sex-role conceptions. For men, family background is unimportant, but attending an elite public school seems to foster equalitarian sex-role conceptions. Men's sex-role attitudes are harder to explain than women's, and, unlike women, their role attitudes have little connection to their family orientation.     

Correlation of surnames and Y-chromosome in Central-Brazil

In patrilineal societies, surnames and Y-specific haplotypes and haplogroups are expected to be correlated. This characteristic could help defining an initial pool of suspects in forensic genetics analysis. Here we evaluated this correlation in a sample of Central-Brazilian men. Surnames and Y-SNP haplogroup and Y-STR haplotype were analyzed in 55 pairs of Central-Brazilian men sharing surnames (n = 110). Seven haplogroups and thirty-two haplotypes have been observed, none correlated solely to any of the twenty-eight surnames represented here. In this sample, two men with the same surname showed a chance of 0.41 of sharing a Y-specific haplogroup. This chance is higher for surnames of intermediate frequencies, whereas rare surnames show distinct chances as zero and one. Observed results may be over-estimated due to a predominance of a specific haplogroup (P92R7 = 49%) in the sample, what makes it possible for two men with no coancestry to share this haplogroup. Considering STR, only three pairs of men shared haplotypes. The average difference between the haplotypes in each pair was 2.45 mutational steps. This relatively low correlation is due to some historical and cultural peculiarities of the country, what makes it improper for forensic purposes in Brazil.     

Urban policy-making: shortcomings in political technology

Abstract. The urban crisis has typically been explained as a conjuncture of severe problems in large urban areas. As such, these problems ought to be amenable to solutions by public authorities, yet the record has been unimpressive. If part of the reason is the intrinsic complexity of the issues, another factor appears to be the available political technology. This paper suggests that there are two types of shortcoming in that technology which play key roles. The first is the direction-setting mechanisms of government, which are essentially partial, static, and reactive, whereas the policy requirements of an urban society are holistic, dynamic and innovative. The former views efficiency as the objective of policy, yet the pursuit of efficiency within such a framework can lead to growing ineffectiveness or irrelevance. The second type of shortcoming is found in the evolving structure of the public sector. The growing importance of senior level governments, in part a logical consequence of the efficiency bias, has led to yet greater irrelevance. This is due to the growing distance from local preferences, and to the introverted process of goal setting within senior levels of government. Institutional reform is thus an essential precondition for the development of relevant urban policy. Sommaire. De façon typique, la crise urbaine a été expliquée comme étant la convergence de problèmes graves, dans les grandes régions urbaines. Si tel est le cas, les autorités publiques devraient pouvoir leur apporter des solutions et pourtant les résultats obtenus n'ont rien de spectaculaires. Cela est dû en partie à la complexité intrinsèque des problèmes, mais il semble que l'autre raison responsable de cet échec soit la technologie politique actuelle. L'auteur de cette communication pense qu'il y a deux types de faiblesses dus à cette technologie. Le premier concerne les mécanismes d'orientation gouvernementaux, qui sont essentiellement limités, statiques et réactifs alors que les impératifs des politiques gouvernant les sociétés urbaines sont globaux, dynamitiques et innovateurs. Avec le premier système, l'efficacité est l'objectif des politiques, mais la poursuite de l'efficacité dans un tel contexte peut entraîner une inefficacité croissante ou un manque de pertinence. Le second type de faiblesse se trouve dans l'évolution de la structure du secteur public. L'importance croissante des niveaux supérieurs du gouverne-ment, en partie conséquence logique de l'importance accordée à l'efficacité, a fait perdre encore de la pertinence. Cela vient de la manifestation de plus en plus lointaine des préférences locales et du processus inversé pour fixation des objectifs am niveaux supérieurs du gouvemement.     

A View through the Bubble: Some Insights from Teaching Negotiation Online

The teaching of negotiation in an online context is not only possible, but surprisingly provides a number of opportunities that the traditional face-to-face classroom setting lacks. The author, drawing on his practical experience over the past few years, puts forth suggestions for preparing and teaching negotiation online. After explaining the preparation and structure of the course, the author offers six core insights to consider when teaching negotiation in this context.