RETRACTED ARTICLE: Economic and legal regulation of the use and development of renewable energy sources

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - The study, through the prism of comparing various government practices, critically examines the problems of Russian legislation...     

the sense of memory

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the role of collective memory in ethno-national projects. In addition, there has been an expansion of research utilising memory work and auto/biographical methods, which have been particularly effective in the writing of feminists of colour. The paper is prompted by a return to Avtar Brah's ‘The Scent of Memory’ that it uses as a starting point to explore the relationships between competing accounts of ‘private’ memories of racialisation that come from mixed-race siblings growing up in a mainly white town. Drawing on interviews, the paper uses familial narratives and their individual telling, to show how sense is made of divergent experiences and memories of childhood and teenage in 1960s and 1970s Britain. The paper shows how narrative accounts are often negotiated through multiple senses, revealing them as both imagined and recalled, contested and negotiated. The paper considers the strengths and limitations of narrative analysis in understanding the relationship between individual and collective memories at both national and familial levels. It argues that the ways in which the social and personal memories are connected in the processes of subjectivation are unstable and opaque, and can only ever be partially known through the process of narrativisation.     

Political transitions and commissions of inquiry: the politicisation of accountability in Ghana

Abstract

What role does a commission of inquiry (COI) play in delivering accountability? In theory, when the public delegates power to political leaders to formulate and implement policies, they seek political accountability in return. Using Ghana as a case study, this study examines how the operations of COIs may deliver accountability. Principal–agent theories of accountability and African conceptions of legitimacy are incomplete on their own and need to be integrated into an explanation of political accountability that takes into consideration political transitions and the role of COIs in delivering a minimalist form of accountability. This study argues that a COI is an instrument of regime legitimatisation. The demands by citizens for political accountability in Ghana correlate with political transitions. Accompanying each power alternation was a different model of political accountability. To understand the predominant applications of accountability, we emphasise the politicisation of accountability.     

The Mediating Role of Ethical Climate in the Relationship Between Performance Appraisal and Organizational Performance

Although prior research has consistently established a positive relationship between performance appraisal and organizational performance across different research contexts, the mechanisms that underlie this link remain unclear. The present study attempts to fill this void by testing the mediating role of ethical climate in the relationship between performance appraisal and organizational performance across 181 Nigerian public sector agencies. Cross-sectional mediation analyses were performed using partial least squares path modeling approach. Results indicated that performance appraisal was positively and significantly related to organizational performance. Regarding the mediating effect, ethical climate significantly mediated the relationship between performance appraisal and organizational performance. The study made recommendations and drew suggestions for future research to enhance the performance of public sector agencies.     

Determination of impurities in illicit methamphetamine samples seized in Iran

In this study fifty samples of crystalline methamphetamine obtained from antinarcotics police of Iran seized during the year 2010 were analyzed. In order to determine the chemical characteristics of these samples, anion test, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) were carried out on the samples. All of the samples containing methamphetamine tested positive for chloride anion. The range of methamphetamine hydrochloride content in these samples was 33-95%. One sample out of 50 contained no methamphetamine. The fact that 1,2-dimethyl-3-phenylaziridine was the most frequently found impurity in the analyzed samples, indicates that most of the methamphetamine samples seized in Iran have been synthesized from pseudoephedrine as starting material.     

Origin and development of forensic medicine in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The medicolegal death investigation system in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is unique in the world. It is exclusively derived from Islamic judiciary based on Shari'ah law, which is the definitive Islamic law or doctrine. This law is applied on Saudi citizens as well as foreigners. This is different from other Islamic countries, which have a combination of Islamic and other judiciary systems.The forensic medicine centers in KSA are related administratively to the Ministry of Health (MOH) and its subdivisions in the different governorates. They are concerned with forensic medical examination and autopsy, as well as the clinical forensic medical examination of sexual assault cases, and those injured in civil and criminal cases. The assisting laboratories (forensic histopathology, microbiology, serology, forensic chemistry) are working independently under the funding of MOH, whereas the DNA laboratory and other departments of forensic sciences, for example, counterfeiting and forgery unit are related administratively to the Ministry of Interior represented by the Administration of Criminal Evidences. Efforts concerning crime scene investigations are shared with Administration of Criminal Evidences' crime scene investigators.Forensic medicine education in KSA developed in the past few years after the foundation of Saudi specialty certificate in forensic medicine. The certificate is a postgraduation qualification equivalent to a doctorate degree in forensic medicine and requires completion of a 4-year training program in both MOH- and Ministry of Interior-related departments, as well as passing annual evaluation and examination.This review is aimed at providing in the next decade the medicolegal centers with national forensic specialists throughout the kingdom and granting skillful headships for the next generations. Moreover, this review suggests more scientific associations with the academic universities in the various fields of forensic sciences through academic cooperation.     

Does hypernatremia cause subdural hematoma in children?: two case reports and a meta-analysis of the literature

Hypernatremia has been causally linked with subdural hematoma (SDH), but more recently this has been called into question. Conversely, there is a well-established link between SDH and injury. We wish to examine the evidence base that hypernatremia in infants and young children causes SDH.We present 2 cases of children with severe hypernatremia whose intracranial contents were assessed by imaging in the first case and postmortem examination in the second. Neither demonstrated SDH. The first case was important as the hypernatremia was iatrogenic occurring in a controlled hospital environment.We also searched the literature from 1950 to 2007, collecting data on all reported cases of hypernatremia in children younger than 7 years whose intracranial contents were examined by imaging, surgery, and/or postmortem examination. Of 124 cases reported in 31 articles, 112 cases developed hypernatremia in the community, and 12 in the hospital. Subdural hematoma was demonstrated in 7 cases, all of which had developed hypernatremia in the community under circumstances that would make it difficult to exclude nonaccidental injury. None of the 12 cases that developed hypernatremia in a controlled hospital environment had SDH.The evidence base supporting the hypothesis that hypernatremia causes SDH is poor, depending on isolated reports with uncertain histories.