Power and Cognitive Accuracy in Local Emergency Management Networks

Using network power bases and cognitive accuracy concepts, this study examines two local emergency management network changes. The authors review five power bases—structural-based, resource-based, actor-based, cognitive-based, and political-based power—to explore the perceived power of network actors. Three research propositions are proposed with respect to the relationship between the network power bases and the cognitive accuracy of network participants. The authors find that political-based power is strongly correlated with perceived power. The article concludes with future research questions and directions for advancing current scholarship on emergency management networks.     

Correlates of Ideal Body Size Among Black and White Adolescents

Cultural differences have been found in body image perceptions among Black and White adolescents, however little is known about the factors associated with perceptions of an ideal body size (IBS). This study examined differences in correlates of IBS among 265 Black (116 girls and 62 boys) and White (63 girls and 24 boys) adolescents. IBS for White girls and boys was related to perceptions of how their parents wanted them to look, while IBS for Black girls was related to perception of how peers look and would like to look. IBS for Black boys was significantly related to perceptions of their current size, how peers would like to look, how parents think they look, and depressive symptoms. Findings suggest cultural differences in the factors related to body image perceptions and have implications for educational programs promoting healthy body image development among Black and White adolescents.Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Received PhD in Counseling Psychology from University of Missouri-Kansas City. Research interests include environmental and cultural correlates of obesity, obesity prevention, nicotine and tobacco addiction, and health promotion interventions.Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota. Received medical degree from Christian Medical College, Punjab, India, and Master of Public Health from University of Kansas School of Medicine. Research interests include diet and physical activity behaviors, role of the environment in obesity and obesity prevention, especially among children and adolescents.Research Associate, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Completing PhD in clinical psychology from University of Kansas and Master of Public Health from University of Kansas School of Medicine. Research interests include obesity prevention, smoking cessation, and positive psychology.Assistant Professor and Director, MPH Program, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Received MPH from Boston University and PhD in epidemiology from the University of California/San Diego State University. Research interests include behavioral epidemiology of tobacco use among adolescents and ethnic minorities.Professor of Medicine and School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Associate Director, Midwest Center for Health Services and Policy Research, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, Director, Section of Health Promotion Research, Department of Medicine, University of Medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago. Received PhD in clinical psychology from Long Island University. Research interests include obesity prevention, binge eating, and cultural differences in eating behavior.Medical Epidemiologist, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Received MD and MPH from Tongji Medical University, Wuhan, China and PhD from University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Research interests include the etiology, epidemiology, and prevention ofobesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes.Research Instructor, Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Kansas Medical Center. Received MBBS from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Punjab University, Lahore, Pakistan and MPH from University of Kansas Medical Center. Research interests include smoking cessation, database design, implementation, data management and analysis, and use of information technology in health care settings.Professor Department of Medicine and Office of Clinical Research, University of Minnesota School of Medicine. Received MD/MPH from Tulane University and MS from Harvard School of Public Health. Research interests include disparities in healthcare; smoking cessation among underserved populations, specifically African Americans; diet, nutrition, obesity, and physical activity.     

Standardization of method for the analysis of dextromethorphan in urine

Dextromethorphan (DMP), an antitussive, is one of the most popular drugs among the younger generation in Korea. It usually is taken for its hallucinogenic properties and overdoses have been responsible for the fatalities that have been reported frequently. To control the abuse of DMP, the authorities restricted its use through classifying it as a controlled drug on October 2003. The purpose of this study is to provide a standard method for the analysis of DMP and its main metabolite, dextrorphan (DTP) in biological specimens. At first we established a standard operating procedure (SOP) for DMP/DTP in urine, and a method validation was performed. We also quantified DMP from 16 drug abuser's urine samples all of which were positive in the screening test for DMP. For the detection of DMP/DTP, urine samples were adjusted with 6N NaOH (pH 11) and extracted with ethylacetate. Thin layer chromatography was used as the screening test, and the final identification for DMP/DTP was used by GC/MS. The ions (m/z 271 for DMP, m/z 257 for DTP and m/z 86 for lidocaine as internal standard) were extracted from the full scan mass spectrum and were used for quantification. The selectivity, linearity of calibration, accuracy, within- and between day precision, limit of detection and quantification, recovery and stability were examined as parts of the method validation. Extracted calibration curves were linear from 100 to 2000 ng/mL for DMP and DTP with correlation coefficients better than 0.999. Limit detection was 50 ng/mL for DMP and DTP. Within-run precision (%CV) for DMP and DTP at three different concentrations (100, 500 and 1000 ng/mL) was 6.10-18.85%, and between-run precision was 1.70-7.86% for DMP and DTP. Absolute recovery for DMP and DTP was 57-74%, and relative recovery (extraction efficiency) was 80-89%. For 16 drug abuser's urine samples, the concentrations of DMP and DTP were 0.16-52.63 and 0.41-23.75 microg/mL, respectively. Method validation is an important requirement in the practice of chemical analysis, and it will be particularly useful in verifying the reliability of analytical results in the field of forensic science.     

Linking technological and educational level diversities to innovation performance

In this study, we explore the extent to which diversity of educational levels among research scientists and engineers (RSEs) in the context of a firm’s level of technological diversity influences innovation performance. We used data from the 2004–2008 National R&D Survey in Singapore. The results from 366 firms across different industries indicate that when a firm’s technological domains are heterogeneous, those firms with an RSE workforce comprising similar educational levels have positive innovation performance, measured as the number of patent applications, while those comprising diverse educational levels have negative innovation performance. Our further exploration of the positive interaction between technological domain heterogeneity and similarity of educational levels suggests that firms that had a high ratio of RSEs with lower educational levels had more positive patent outcomes compared to those that had a high ratio of RSEs with higher educational levels. The results show that there are limits to the strength of technological diversity in a firm’s absorptive capacity as explained by organizational demography.     

Safety,Satisfaction, and Settlement in Domestic Relations Mediations: New Findings

Researchers and mediators have long been concerned about coercion, intimidation, and safety threats that could occur in mediation for cases where previous violence between the parties has occurred. Most of the research focuses on screening tools to identify parties at risk. When parties screen positive for intimate partner violence (IPV), some proceed to mediation and some do not, depending on the policies of individual mediation programs. But this misses a step: Some cases may benefit from mediation while others won't, but how can we predict whether mediation will be useful and safe in specific instances? This study uses survey data obtained from parties in domestic relations mediations to examine issues of safety, satisfaction, and settlement in the presence of various IPV behaviors.     

Analysis of ketamine and norketamine in urine by automatic solid-phase extraction (SPE) and positive ion chemical ionization-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PCI-GC-MS)

Ketamine (KT) is widely abused for hallucination and also misused as a "date-rape" drug in recent years. An analytical method using positive ion chemical ionization-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (PCI-GC-MS) with an automatic solid-phase extraction (SPE) apparatus was studied for the determination of KT and its major metabolite, norketamine (NK), in urine. Six ketamine suspected urine samples were provided by the police. For the research of KT metabolism, KT was administered to SD rats by i.p. at a single dose of 5, 10 and 20mg/kg, respectively, and urine samples were collected 24, 48 and 72 h after administration. For the detection of KT and NK, urine samples were extracted on an automatic SPE apparatus (RapidTrace, Zymark) with mixed mode type cartridge, Drug-Clean (200 mg, Alltech). The identification of KT and NK was by PCI-GC-MS. m/z238 (M+1), 220 for KT, m/z 224 (M+1), 207 for NK and m/z307 (M+1) for Cocaine-D(3) as internal standard were extracted from the full-scan mass spectrum and the underlined ions were used for quantitation. Extracted calibration curves were linear from 50 to 1000 ng/mL for KT and NK with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.99. The limit of detection (LOD) was 25 ng/mL for KT and NK. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 50 ng/mL for KT and NK. The recoveries of KT and NK at three different concentrations (86, 430 and 860 ng/mL) were 53.1 to 79.7% and 45.7 to 83.0%, respectively. The intra- and inter-day run precisions (CV) for KT and NK were less than 15.0%, and the accuracies (bias) for KT and NK were also less than 15% at the three different concentration levels (86, 430 and 860 ng/mL). The analytical method was also applied to real six KT suspected urine specimens and KT administered rat urines, and the concentrations of KT and NK were determined. Dehydronorketamine (DHNK) was also confirmed in these urine samples, however the concentration of DHNK was not calculated. SPE is simple, and needs less organic solvent than liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), and PCI-GC-MS can offer both qualitative and quantitative information for urinalysis of KT in forensic analysis.     

Wife beating in South Africa: an imbalance theory of resources and power

This article develops an imbalance theory to explain physical violence against women in intimate relationships in South Africa. The theory proposes four typologies: dependence, compensation, submission, and transgression, through which imbalances in resource contribution and power distribution between spouses are hypothesized to contribute to violence. The dependence hypothesis suggests that economic dependence of the wife will lead to more violence. The compensation hypothesis argues that the husband will use force to compensate for his inability to live up to the male-provider norm. The submission hypothesis suggests that violence will increase due to the submission of women in male-dominated families. Finally, the transgression hypothesis argues that men in female-dominated families will use force to punish their wives for supposedly transgressing the gender norm of male dominance. Empirical evidence provided some support for the dependence, submission, and transgression hypotheses.     

韩国的法学教育及律师资格考试改革

韩国最近开设的法科大学院和即将实施的新的律师选拔、培养制度是韩国法律界的一大革新。在大陆法系色彩强烈的韩国法律体系里,能否成功地建立起美国式的法学院制度和律师选拔制度备受关注。尤其是韩国的法学教育以及司法改革制度,是在没有充分的协商和准备的基础上出台的,从一开始就存在很多争议,因此需要设计相应的补充方案。     

Microbiota Composition and Pulmonary Surfactant Protein Expression as Markers of Death by Drowning

Pathological diagnosis of drowning remains a challenge for forensic science, because of a lack of pathognomonic findings. We analyzed microbiota and surfactant protein in the lungs for a novel diagnosis of drowning. All rats were divided into drowning, postmortem submersion, and control groups. The water, lungs, closed organs (kidney and liver), and cardiac blood in rats were assayed by targeting 16S ribosomal RNA of Miseq sequencing. Lung samples were analyzed by immunohistochemical staining for surfactant protein A. The closed organs and cardiac blood of drowned group have a lot of aquatic microbes, which have not been detected in postmortem submersion group. Furthermore, intra‐alveolar granular staining of surfactant protein A (SP‐A) was severely observed in the drowned group than the postmortem submersion and control groups. The findings suggested that the presence of aquatic microbiota in the closed organs and increased expression of SP‐A could be markers for a diagnosis of drowning.     

The North Korean factor in the improvement of Japanese intelligence capability

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, human rights have been a contentious issue for relations between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU), especially in the Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM). It is an issue that has constantly led to tensions in interregional cooperation. However, the ASEAN–EU dialogue on human rights has, in fact, had a significant impact on regional dynamics by stimulating the process of regional identity formation, especially in Southeast Asia. The core mechanism through which this development takes place is that of interaction, the process in which the two regional groupings engage while negotiating human rights policy. It can be argued, therefore, that interregional and intraregional human rights interactions are mutually dependent. ASEAN's rather confrontational mode of interaction with the European Union in relation to human rights has served as a catalyst for the dynamic growth of a collective definition of self in ASEAN. It has led to an ‘essentialization’ of ASEAN's idea of self as opposed to a common other, something which has undermined the possibility of maintaining an interregional dialogue that is not confrontational. However, it has also contributed to the development of a regional space for communicating about human rights and has thus played a central role in the gradual transformation of ASEAN's collective identity formation.