New findings on the transfer of computing applications among cities

This paper presents a study of the concepts of transferring computer technology among city governments. A sample of cities from a domestic population and an international population are used as the basis of the research. Contrary to expectation, and for both populations, the survey indicated the level of computer applications transfer among cities was found to be low compared to the amount of total application development. It was determined that an important source of transfer information was from “centers” such as the federal government, vendors, and transfer agencies, rather than city to city. International cities that were studied seem to experience a propensity toward centralized control at the national level. These controls often include the transfer of technical information. Further, the types of transfer may vary widely between the domestic vs the international cities. That is, domestic city transfers tend to be operations-oriented, while transfers from national centers tend to be management oriented. In general the study supported prior conclusions concerning the difficulties of transfer. The problem of mismatch and difficulties in modification make transfers very risky. Even so, there are many persons willing to take the risks in order to try to achieve lower costs and to realize the opportunity to obtain sophisticated applications.     

Statutory interpretation and the counterfactual test for legislative intention

In this paper I examine the counterfactual test for legislative intention as used in Riggs v. Palmer. The distinction between the speaker's meaning approach and the constructive interpretation approach to statutory interpretation, as made by Dworkin in Law's Empire, is explained. I argue that Dworkin underestimates the potential of the counterfactual test in making the speaker's meaning approach more plausible. I also argue that Dworkin's reasons for rejecting the counterfactual test, as proposed in Law's Empire, are either too weak or unsound. A deeper reason for rejecting the counterfactual test as a method for the speaker's meaning approach is proposed in this paper. The difference between the counterfactual test and other tests for legislative intention which seem also to make use of counterfactual conditions in explained.     

The development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for 19-OH PG F1 alpha/F2 alpha

An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed for the detection of semen-specific 19-OH prostaglandin F1 alpha/F2 alpha (PGF). The assay can reliably and reproducibly detect as little as 2 pg 19-OH PGF/100 microliters and allows for the rapid analysis of large numbers of swab and stain extracts for the presence of semen.     

Sexual violence among men in the military in South Korea

This research is about sexual violence among men in the military in South Korea. The authors investigated the frequencies, causes, and circumstances surrounding sexual violence and looked for characteristic features of sexual violence among men in the military in South Korea. They found a high frequency of physical sexual violence and a high level of repetition of sexual violence. Of perpetrators, 81.7% had themselves been victimized. However, the soldiers tended to minimize sexual violence, preferred not to address the issue if possible, criticized or ignored the victims, and did not trust the reporting procedures in place. The authors found that sexual violence was mobilized as a tool in the military to control hierarchy and to create certain masculinities. Regarding the relevance of masculinity, as a salient feature of militaries in general, they believed it might emerge as a common feature across national and cultural differences.     

Population genetics for Y-chromosomal STRs haplotypes of Chinese Korean ethnic group in northeastern China

Y-chromosomal STRs loci were analyzed from a sample of 201 healthy unrelated male individuals of Chinese Korean ethnic group. Allele and haplotype frequencies for DYS19, DYS385a/b, DYS388, DYS389 I, DYS389 II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438 and DYS439 were determined by the general PCR and silver staining methods. The gene diversity values for the Y-STRs loci ranged from 0.4146 (DYS437) to 0.9631 (DYS385a/b). A total of 194 haplotypes were identified in the Y-STR loci, among which 188 were unique, while 6 occurred more than once. And the combined haploytpes diversity was 0.9996. The results in the present study can be used for routine forensic application in the region, and enrich Chinese ethnical genetic informational resources.     

Competitors and Cooperators: A Micro‐Level Analysis of Regional Economic Development Collaboration Networks

Predispositions and orientation toward cooperation or competition with other jurisdictions can play a critical role in implementing regional collaboration. By examining collaboration at the micro level, this article investigates how individual factors, including perceptions of cooperation and competition, as well as institutional and environmental factors, are related to regional collaboration. In particular, the authors assert that competitive motivation may support the emergence of regional governance mechanisms. This article explores the relationships between competitive/cooperative motivations and interlocal collaboration networks based on a network survey conducted in the Orlando, Florida, metropolitan area. The authors apply a quadratic assignment procedure regression analysis to examine how dyadic conceptual ties of cooperation and competition, along with the effect of community characteristics, affect policy network structures for economic development. By comparing estimated coefficients with sampling distributions of coefficients from all of the permuted data sets, the regression results indicate the influences of perceived competition/cooperation on the network exchange.     

Who teaches and who learns? Policy learning through the C40 cities climate network

This study examines the network structure of policy learning in the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, which is a network of the world??s largest cities committed to tackling climate change issues. Among forty members and nineteen affiliate members, we ask the question with whom do cities learn and why? How are policy-learning relationships associated with cities?? multi-stakeholder governing body, policy performance, and cultural similarities? While studies on learning have analyzed conditions facilitating learning, quantitative studies of local government learning in global networks are rare. To facilitate the investigation into learning, we conceptualize learning as a process comprising information seeking, adoption and policy change, and focus on information seeking as the foundation step in the learning process. This social network analysis using the exponential random graph model reveals the cities that seek information and those that are information sources are different subgroups. Furthermore, analysis of nodal attributes suggests that transmunicipal learning in the C40 network is facilitated by the presence of a multi-stakeholder governing body; homophily of culture (language and regional proximity); and higher level of climate change policy performance. Creating a multi-stakeholder governing body could ensure participatory representativeness from citizens and relevant stakeholders to enhance climate change policy engagement and decision making as well as policy learning.     

Tolerance and economic growth revisited: a note

Berggren and Elinder (BE) in this journal write on the relationship between the degree of tolerance in a nation and its rate of economic growth. They are disturbed to find in their cross sections that faster economic growth statistically goes together with intolerance of homosexuals. In this comment, we revisit the issue and demonstrate that the concern expressed by BE is unwarranted if we properly account for ??conditional convergence?? in the regressions for economic growth. Other things being equal, a country grows faster if it starts from a poorer initial position. In the BE dataset, China since the Deng reforms is a prime example. At about the same time, another group of countries managed to accelerate their economic growth after a long period of stagnation: the ex-communist countries in central and Eastern Europe. Many of these nations also grew exceptionally fast for a number of years, once freedom had been regained and the initial chaos overcome. With simple modeling of these historical initial conditions, we find no statistical pattern that associates bias against homosexuals with weaker economic growth. Our results are robust under alternative specifications.     

Sex determination from the talus of Koreans by discriminant function analysis

The aims of this study were to investigate the sex discriminating potential of the talus in Koreans and compare this with other analyses in different populations. Statistical analyses were performed using data from nine measurements acquired from 140 tali (70 men, 70 women). The talus of Koreans is dimorphic between sexes in all measurements (p < 0.01). Discriminant function equations were generated by univariate, multivariate, and stepwise methods with a range of accuracy from 67.1 to 87.1%. Stepwise equations of other populations did not discriminate the sex of the Korean sample as accurately as each equation's own accuracies. The variables with high accuracy in this study are useful for sex determination of Koreans on the basis of confirmation of population specificity.