Electoral-system change in Latvia and the elections of 2010

Latvia’s highly distinctive proportional electoral system owes its origins to Latvia’s 1922 Constitution and the new democracy’s electoral legislation of 1919 and 1922. Latvia’s unique feature lies in its preference system, offering the voters the opportunity to judge each candidate on their party’s list. Although the system appears to maximise responsiveness to voters’ preferences, in practice this promise remained unfulfilled and the representative quality of parliament was questionable. This was in large measure because of the capacity of candidates to stand in multiple constituencies. In 2009 amendments to the electoral law altered this key provision. This change clearly made a difference, but it could not resolve fundamental problems of Latvia’s political process in general and its political parties in particular.     

Constraints to conservation at Okomu National Park: a ranger’s perspective

Park rangers form an integral part of national parks because they help to ensure that the objectives of the park are achieved. The objective of the study was to investigate the challenges facing rangers at the frontiers of conservation at Okomu National Park, Nigeria. Questionnaires and structured interviews using the purposive sampling method was used to collect data. Atlas.ti version 8.0 was used to analyse the data. The findings indicated that 46% of the respondents are natives of the area, major constraints faced by the park rangers are inadequate funding (86%), poaching (82%), and poor salaries (82%). These limitations affect the output of the rangers. The findings indicate that both internal factors (which can be solved by the management of the park) and external factors (which need to be addressed at the national level) affecting rangers in the field, which needs to be addressed to improve ranger productivity conservation efforts.     

Prolonged Impunity as a Continuing Situation of Torture or Ill-Treatment? Applying a Dignity Lens to So-Called ‘Historical’ Cases

Netherlands International Law Review - Around the world many survivors of so-called ‘historical’ abuses persist in seeking truth and justice decades after rights violations have been...     

The contour characteristics of the mucous membrane of the hard palate as dependent on the form of its osseous base]

Analyzes the relief of the hard palate mucosa, depending on the shape of osseous base. Presents data on the prevalence of various morphological shapes of lateral folds in the hard palate mucosa and the levels of their disposition in the ipsiloid, ellipsoid, and parabolic osseous base of the hard palate. Demonstrates the possibility of using the characteristics of the hard palatal mucosa relief as an extra test for personality identification by the oral status.     

The erosion of rights by past breach

Legal rights may erode as a result of past, uncontested, breach.In light of ongoing violations, the rightholder's lacklusterenforcement may result in the loss of the entitlement. The doctrinesof course of performance in contract law and adverse possessionin property law are prominent examples of this widespread erosionphenomenon. In analyzing the effects of such laws, the articleconfronts two conflicting intuitions. On the one hand, the 'licence'to continue breach prospectively encourages opportunism. Onthe other hand, the risk of erosion may reinforce the rightholder'smotivation to take antierosion measures, bolstering the credibilityof the threat to enforce, thus better preserving the entitlement.The article proves that these two effects of erosion rules alwaysbalance out. The same amount of value will be extracted fromthe rightholder, irrespective of the law's erosion doctrine.The article also demonstrates the limits of this 'irrelevance'claim and the factors that may lead to its collapse. It appliesthe analysis to offer new perspectives on various prominentlegal rules.     

Psychopathy Factors and Risk for Aggressive Behavior: A Test of the “Threatened Egotism” Hypothesis

The primary purpose of this study was to examine psychopathy within a model of aggressive behavior that encompasses narcissism and "threatened egoism." This model was advanced by Baumeister and his colleagues (e.g., R. F. Baumeister, L. Smart, & J. M. Boden, 1996; B. J. Bushman & R. F. Baumeister, 1998). We examined whether the threatened egotism model extends to the construct of psychopathy and whether the two factors underlying psychopathy exhibit different associations with aggression within this model. Self-report data, correctional officer and counselor reports, and disciplinary report information obtained for 98 male inmates provided partial evidence that psychopathic individuals tend to respond aggressively when confronted with an ego threat. Moreover, psychopathic individuals exhibited this pattern of aggression more strongly than did narcissistic individuals. These findings bear potentially useful implications for the understanding and treatment of aggression in forensic populations.     

Estimation of ethanol concentrations in biological media. Comparison of alkylnitrite and direct vapor-phase methods

Ethanol assays in the blood, saliva and urine were made according to two methods: alkylnitrite gas-liquid chromatography and direct vapor-phase method without thermostating. N-propanol was used as an internal standard. For saliva and urine the methods produced similar results. For blood, the direct vapor-phase method detected significantly lower level of ethanol compared to alkylnitrite one (p = 0.001). 24-h storage of the samples in refrigerator does not deviate the results. Recommendations are provided for most effective usage of each method.