Impact of tropical conditions on thin layer chromatography in analytical toxicology: high temperatures and moderate humidities.

The impact of high temperatures (24 to 39 degrees C) and low to moderately high humidities (20 to 70%) on the applicability of TLC systems for drug identification was studied during a 6 month climatologic cycle in Burkina Faso (West Africa). In general, the Rf values as observed on the plates were found to be substantially affected as compared with values obtained at temperate climates. Some TLC systems were more affected than others and the largest deviations of up to 30 Rf units were at low humidities. Tropical conditions also had a negative effect on the reproducibility of Rf values. However, when an Rf-correction procedure was applied, using reference mixtures of known drugs on each plate, accuracy as well as reproducibility of the resulting Rfc values were drastically improved and data thus corrected were found to be compatible with existing TLC data bases developed under moderate climatological conditions. The impact of high to extremely high humidities (70 to 100%) remains to be investigated.     

Law enforcement information sharing: A Florida case study

Many attempts have been made over the last several decades to improve communication among law enforcement agencies. This article is a case study of a “low-level” data sharing project in Florida that could serve as a national model. The Florida Law Enforcement Data Sharing Consortium is a partnership between the University of Central Florida and more than one hundred law enforcement agencies. It offers an inexpensive, yet technically advanced alternative to the proprietary data sharing model. Its distributed architecture was endorsed by the Markle Foundation, the 9/11 Commission, and the 2004 National Security Act. Civil liberties concerns raised by this and other types of data sharing projects are discussed.     

行政问责制对地方政府经济行为的影响——制度堕距的视角

行政问责制是构建责任政府的具体制度安排。问责制度在制度设计与制度执行层面存在制度堕距。制度堕距对地方政府经济行为产生重要影响,因此,从制度设计与制度执行层面改进问责制制度文本,消弭制度堕距,有助于构建优良的问责制制度,推动地方政府经济行为合理化。     

Crime Victimization: Assessing Differences Between Violent and Nonviolent Experiences

Experiencing a criminal victimization is among one of the most stressful human experiences. A cross-sectional study of victims of violent crime and victims of nonviolent crime suggests that there are statistically significant differences in experiences in the initial aftermath of the crime event and a few common effects. This article describes the common effects that are associated with criminal victimization in the context of intense distress and discusses the theoretical implications of well-being in the coping process. One hundred seventy-five victims of violent or nonviolent crime were interviewed. Implications for social work practice and theory and future research are delineated.     

The future of Fair Trade coffee: dilemmas facing Latin America's small-scale producers

Fair Trade has become a dynamic and successful dimension of an emerging counter-tendency to the neo-liberal globalisation regime. This study explores some of the dilemmas facing the Fair Trade movement as it seeks to broaden and deepen its impact among the rural poor of Latin America's coffee sector. We argue that the efforts to broaden Fair Trade's economic impact among poor, small-scale producers are creating challenges for deepening the political impact of a movement that is based on social justice and environmental sustainability. The study is based on two years' research and seven case studies of Mexican and Central American small-scale farmer cooperatives producing coffee for the Fair Trade market.     

Race as a factor in university admissions

In two recent cases, Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306. (2003) and Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244. (2003), the Supreme Court held that the Equal Protection Clause permitted state schools to use race-sensitive admissions in order to obtain the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body. The diversity-based argument for race-sensitive admissions, scholarships, awards, and other opportunities at universities should have been rejected because it does not consider the full range of costs and benefits and because the more narrow educational effects probably weigh against such programs. However, this does not suggest that applicants’ race, ethnicity, and gender should be ignored. Rather the same consideration that led to the defeat of the diversity argument, i.e., reasoning capacity, supports the consideration of demographic factors. However, attention to such factors further undermines the consequentialist case for affirmative action.     

Long-term success in mediation

This article reports the results of a study of the antecedents of long-term success in community mediation. Seventy-three mediation sessions were recorded and content analyzed. The participants were interviewed at two points: immediately after mediation and 4 to 8 months later. No relationship was found between the quality of the agreements—i.e., the extent to which they solved immediate problems- and long-term success as measured by compliance, improved relations between the parties, and the absence of new problems. On the other hand, joint problem solving by the disputants was related to complainant perceptions of improved relations with the other party. Also respondent perceptions that the mediation had been fair and that all the problems had come out were related to all aspects of long-term success in the eyes of the complainant. The latter results support a procedural justice analysis of mediation and underline the importance of mediator attention to the respondent.     

Senator Opposition to Supreme Court Nominations: Reference Dependence on the Departing Justice

Research indicates that senators evaluate U.S. Supreme Court nominations on two ideological dimensions: the distance between themselves and the nominee, and the potential effect confirmation would have on the Court median. My analysis of nominations from 1968 to 2006 provides evidence that senators are also influenced by the ideological contrast between the nominee and the departing justice.