The tying of aid and the problem of “local costs”

Son preference has persisted in the face of sweeping economic and social changes in the countries studied here. We attribute this persistence to their similar family systems, which generate strong disincentives to raise daughters – whether or not their marriages require dowries – while valuing adult women's contributions to the household. Urbanisation, female education and employment can only slowly change these incentives without more direct efforts by the state and civil society to increase the flexibility of the kinship system such that daughters and sons can be perceived as being more equally valuable. Much can be done to accelerate this process through social movements, legislation and the mass media.     

A Ferris Wheel Accident at a Movable Amusement Park

This study presented a Ferris wheel accident case. A Ferris wheel is composed of many parts, and the outmost ring of it is assembled using a lock pin. This accident occurred because the lock pin caught the door of a gondola and the gondola overturned. Five of the seven passengers in the gondola fell to the ground, along with the gondola's viewing window. The investigation revealed that the gondola became stuck when its door was caught by a lock pin at the Ferris wheel's three o'clock position. The contact between the door and the lock pin was due to a structural problem: There was not enough space allotted between the door and the lock pin. Therefore, if a passenger pushed on the gondola's door, the potential existed for contact between the door and the lock pin.     

Age estimation of Korean adults by occlusal tooth wear

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity of the modified Kim's scoring system as a practical method of recording occlusal tooth wear and estimating age. For this purpose, 1092 pairs of maxillary and mandibular full-arch casts were randomly selected, scored, and analyzed. The results showed that the modified Kim's scoring system had excellent reliability, and that occlusal tooth wear had a positive correlation with age. Tooth wear scores of all teeth except the two lower central incisors were higher in males than in females. Calculating tables for age estimation were designed by multiple linear regression analysis. Estimated ages were within +/-5 years of actual ages in 63.5% of male subjects, and 64.0% of female subjects. The accuracy of age estimation was increased when the subjects were divided into two age groups and data were re-analyzed. Collectively, it was shown that the modified Kim's scoring system is a reliable and accurate method for age estimation, and that the data from these 1092 individuals can be used as a standard for age estimation of Korean adults.     

Population data of nine miniSTR loci in Koreans

For highly degraded DNA samples of forensic casework, new miniSTR systems have been developed to supplement the current STR systems. In the present study, nine miniSTR loci were analyzed in 300 unrelated Koreans using three multiplex PCR systems (multiplex I: D10S1248, D14S1434 and D22S1045; multiplex II: D1S1677, D2S441 and D4S2364; and multiplex III: D3S3053, D6S474 and D20S482), and allele frequencies and forensic parameters were calculated. These data demonstrated that D10S1248, D2S441, D22S1045, D14S1434, and D6S474 are as highly informative as the CODIS STRs suggesting that the miniSTRs could be useful for forensic analysis of degraded DNA.     

A Study of PCR Inhibition Mechanisms Using Real Time PCR*,†

Abstract: In this project, real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was utilized to study the mechanism of PCR inhibition through examination of the effect of amplicon length, melting temperature, and sequence. Specifically designed primers with three different amplicon lengths and three different melting temperatures were used to target a single homozygous allele in the HUMTH01 locus. The effect on amplification efficiency for each primer pair was determined by adding different concentrations of various PCR inhibitors to the reaction mixture. The results show that a variety of inhibition mechanisms can occur during the PCR process depending on the type of co‐extracted inhibitor. These include Taq inhibition, DNA template binding, and effects on reaction efficiency. In addition, some inhibitors appear to affect the reaction in more than one manner. Overall we find that amplicon size and melting temperature are important in some inhibition mechanisms and not in others and the key issue in understanding PCR inhibition is determining the identity of the interfering substance.     

Analysis of cannabis in oral fluid specimens by GC-MS with automatic SPE

Methamphetamine (MA) is the most commonly abused drug in Korea, followed by cannabis. Traditionally, MA analysis is carried out on both urine and hair samples and cannabis analysis in urine samples only. Despite the fact that oral fluid has become increasingly popular as an alternative specimen in the field of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) and work place drug testing, its application has not been expanded to drug analysis in Korea. Oral fluid is easy to collect and handle and can provide an indication of recent drug abuse.In this study, we present an analytical method using GC–MS to determine tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its main metabolite 11-nor-Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THC-COOH) in oral fluid. The validated method was applied to oral fluid samples collected from drug abuse suspects and the results were compared with those in urine. The stability of THC and THC-COOH in oral fluid stored in different containers was also investigated.Oral fluid specimens from 12 drug abuse suspects, submitted by the police, were collected by direct expectoration. The samples were screened with microplate ELISA. For confirmation they were extracted using automated SPE with mixed-mode cation exchange cartridge, derivatized and analyzed by GC-MS using selective ion monitoring (SIM).The concentrations of THC and THC-COOH in oral fluid showed a large variation and the results from oral fluid and urine samples from cannabis abusers did not show any correlation. Thus, detailed information about time interval between drug use and sample collection is needed to interpret the oral fluid results properly. In addition, further investigation about the detection time window of THC and THC-COOH in oral fluid is required to substitute oral fluid for urine in drug testing.     

Religion and Misconduct in “Angola” Prison: Conversion,Congregational Participation,Religiosity, and Self-Identities*

Prior research tends to find an inverse relationship between inmates’ religion and misconduct in prison, but this relationship has lacked empirical explanation. We therefore propose the religion-misconduct relationship is mediated by inmates’ identity transformation on existential, cognitive, and emotional dimensions. To test the mediation, we conducted a survey of inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary (a.k.a. “Angola”). Controlling for inmates’ sociodemographic and criminal backgrounds, we estimated a latent-variable structural equation model of disciplinary convictions. Results showed that inmates’ religious conversion and, to a lesser extent, religiosity itself were positively related to existential and cognitive transformations as well as a “crystallization of discontent,” which were in turn associated with two types of emotional transformation in the expected direction. The crystallization of discontent and transformation in negative affect were related to disciplinary convictions as hypothesized, and their mediation of the effects of conversion and religiosity on misconduct were found to be significant.     

Legislative voting in the pork-dominant parliament: evidence from the Philippine House of Representatives

In this paper I investigate how legislators behave in extremely pork-oriented, or pork-dominant, systems where virtually no party-line voting takes place and politicians strive to deliver individual/local benefits instead of national public policies. I argue that, in the pork-dominant context, most legislators vote with the president, who controls access to the pork pipeline, irrespective of their party affiliations. Thus, the president’s party legislators should have little incentive to vote against the president, regardless of voter demands for pork or policy; however, sometimes opposition-party legislators elected particularly from more-developed districts (where voters often desire policy over pork) should have strong incentives to vote against the president. These arguments are supported with quantitative studies of the post-authoritarian Philippine House of Representatives. It is found that, in the highly homogeneous legislature dominated by pork-seeking politicians, (1) most bills are passed with unanimous or near-unanimous consent, (2) governing-party legislators almost always vote with the majority of the members of the parliament, regardless of voters’ socio-economic conditions, and (3) opposition-party legislators, especially in more-developed areas, tend to vote against the parliamentary majority. These findings indicate that voters’ high socio-economic status promotes programmatic accountability, leading their representatives to undermine voting unity within the extremely cohesive pork-dominant legislature.     

东亚电子贸易区及电子贸易税制的构建

东亚地区的相互依赖程度日益加深 ,为了促进东亚地区的贸易便捷化 ,使用信息和通讯技术工具构建电子贸易区成为一种必然。在东亚地区建立PAA等电子贸易区是可取的 ,为了建立电子贸易区 ,有必要改进电子商务的法律和税收制度。为了准备对电子商务进行税收激励 ,政府必须营造出一种能够使电子商务得以蓬勃发展的财政氛围 ,而不必单纯考虑其维护公平、可预测的税收体系的职责