A note on the effects of graduation under the US GSP on Africa

The Trade and Tariff Act of 1984 includes a new measure, country graduation, designed to shift a greater share of the benefits of the US Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) from the more advanced developing countries to poorer beneficiary countries. This note presents estimates of the effects of graduating Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan on the poorest countries of Africa. Our results show that the removal of these four countries will do little to increase the GSP benefits of the African beneficiary countries.     

Spain: The fragile democracy

The attempted military coup of 23 February 1981 underlined the fragility of democracy in Spain, recently restored after forty years of dictatorship by General Franco. The article argues that the ultimate reason for Spanish democracy's precarious state lies in the existence of a traditionally interventionist Army, an Army not identified with the values and ideals of democracy. A minority of right‐wing officers thought that terrorism by the Basque group ETA, the regional problem, and the political disenchantment of many Spaniards, related to the decline of Suárez, called for a new intervention by the Army against the legally constituted democracy.     

Domestic credit and the balance of payments in Ghana: A comment

This article provides evidence from a randomised control trial conducted among potato farmers in Ecuador about the impact of mobile phone text messages on farmer knowledge about and adoption of integrated pest management (IPM) practices. Using psychological constructs, we examine competing explanations for non-standard decision-making leading to low adoption of beneficial agricultural technologies. Farmers who received text messages have significantly higher knowledge and are more likely to adopt most IPM practices than those in the control group. Findings provide evidence that text messages lead to behavioural changes by reducing inattention and sub-optimal heuristics in the face of complex decisions.     

On the Relationship between Violent Conflict and Wages in Colombia

We analyse how forced displacements caused by violent conflict are related to the wages of workers in Colombia. Using data from the Quality of Life Survey (2011–2014), we analyse the differences in wages between those forced by violence to move to other regions, and those who moved for other reasons. We apply Propensity Score Matching techniques to compare workers from the two groups, finding that forced displacement is related to decreases of between 10 and 29 per cent in the wages of males, and between 18 and 37 per cent in the wages of females, relative to their counterparts. Thus, forced displacements are related to poorer labour market outcomes in terms of wages.     

Radicalization in Prisons? Field Research in 25 Spanish Prisons

This article has two principal objectives: (1) to study the behavioral dimensions of Muslim prisoners which predict their Islamist radicalism and (2) to study whether the behavior manifested by them is higher in prisons with a greater concentration of Muslims and a higher presence of prisoners convicted for Islamist terrorism than in prisons with fewer Muslims and no convicted Islamist terrorists. We conclude that some Spanish prisons may provide favorable social environments for jihadist radicalism and that the questionnaire utilized is a useful diagnostic tool for evaluating the magnitude of this phenomenon.     

Is Local Development Good Politics? Local Development Expenditures and the Re-Election of Governors in the Philippines in the 1990s

Abstract

Are incumbent governors who put more weight on development spending likely to be re-elected? To answer this question, an economic model of a re-electionist local chief executive is introduced and validated with a panel data of provincial governors who ran for another term of office during the election years 1992, 1995 and 1998 in the Philippines. It is found that incumbent governors improve their re-election chances with higher spending on economic development services, other things being constant. Moreover, governors who are members of political clans also have higher development spending especially when faced with rival clans. Thus, elections are still an effective disciplining device, more especially when rivalry is intense among political clans. The policy implication then is to enhance political competition rather than just ban political dynasties to improve the performance of elected officials under decentralization.     

Are older workers really different ? the effects of age,tenure, and education on work preferences of registered nurses

The aging of the workface has generated interest in the special needs of older workers. This research on registered nursed in nursing homes investigated the relationship between nurses' age and their work preferences, as well as the effects of tenure and education on this relationship. Older nurses assigned greater importance to work flexibility and lesser importance to development, career advancement, and socialization than did younger ones. Tenure and education contributed to the predictive power of age but did not moderate the relationship.     

抗菌肽RSRP与常用抗菌药的体外联合药敏试验

为探讨家兔圆小囊抗菌肽(RSRP)的体外抗菌活性以及与抗菌药之间的协同效应关系,采用琼脂糖弥散试验检测RSRP对8株供试细菌的抗菌活性,然后采用棋盘微量稀释法,选取11种常用抗菌药,分别测定其对临床分离的耐药大肠杆菌的最小抑菌浓度,再采用分级抑制浓度指数来定量检测RSRP与抗菌药之间的抗菌作用关系。结果显示,RSRP对8株供试菌均有不同程度的抗菌活性,分级抑制浓度指数从小于0.3到大于5不等。证实该抗菌肽与不同的抗菌药之间协同、相加、无关和拮抗作用关系均存在,其中与β-内酰胺类药物氨苄西林钠、头孢噻呋钠表现明显的协同作用。     

麋鹿朊蛋白全基因的克隆及序列分析

为获得中国麋鹿朊蛋白(PRNP)的全基因,并利用DNAStar软件与已报道的其他动物的朊蛋白全基因序列进行同源性分析,根据GenBank中马鹿朊蛋白基因序列设计特异性引物,采用PCR方法从提取的总基因组中扩增得到麋鹿PRNP基因;将其连接到pGEM-T Easy载体中,获得克隆产物并测序。结果,成功扩增出了中国麋鹿PRNP基因,构建了重组质粒pGEM-T-ML;对克隆产物的序列分析表明,麋鹿PRNP基因的开放阅读框包含771bp,编码256个氨基酸的前体蛋白,前体蛋白的分子质量约为28 200u;与已报道的其他鹿科动物朊蛋白全基因的核苷酸及氨基酸序列的同源性均在98.8%以上,与几种非鹿科动物的同源性在96.5%～98.4%之间。结果表明,麋鹿PRNP基因的核苷酸和编码蛋白的氨基酸序列与其他鹿科动物的序列具有高度保守性,而与几种非鹿科动物间的同源性也较高,说明朊蛋白是一种古老的高度保守的蛋白。