Validation of a large Italian Database of 15 STR loci

Results from a collaborative exercise with proficiency testing conducted by 20 Italian laboratories on the 15 loci included in the Identifiler kit were analyzed by allele sharing methods and by standard population genetics tests. The validated database, including about 1500 subjects, was merged with that of a previous exercise conducted on nine loci, and the resulting allele frequencies, subdivided by Italian region, were published on-line.     

Justice and emotional reactions to the disadvantaged

Various attitutidinal, cognitive, emotional, and actional reactions to problems and needs of less fortunate people (unemployed, poor people in the developing countries, foreign workers in West Germany) were assessed in a questionnaire study with 865 respondents. The external validity of self-report data was established by external ratings. The focus was on emotional reactions (existential guilt, sympathy, moral outrage because of unjust disadvantages, anger about the disadvantaged, contentment with one's own advantages, fear of losing these, hopelessness with respect to the fate of the less fortunate). Several justice-related variables (beliefs, views, appraisals) as well as responsibility-related variables and social attitudes were assessed as predictors of emotions. The importance of justice-related variables for the arousal of different social emotions was clearly shown. The use and usefulness of cognitive models of discrete emotions is discussed. The impact of emotions on the readiness to various forms of prosocial activities in favor of the less fortunate was also shown: Moral outrage and existential guilt proved to be much more salient predictors than sympathy. Crucial differences between these three prosocial emotions as well as the impact of justice-related variables on readiness to prosocial activities are discussed.     

近三十年来研究东南亚的中国学者:一个初探性的研究

中国的东南亚研究兴起于后毛泽东时代。我们可以把在过去三十年间研究东南亚的中国学者划分为三代,在第二代学者时期,来自东南亚的“归国华侨”在东南亚研究领域里发挥了主要的作用,他们与中国本土出生的学者一起推动了该领域的发展;第三代东南亚研究学者则都是中国本土出身。尽管研究东南亚的中国学者已经取得了重要的成绩,但与他们的西方同行相比,中国的东南亚研究还存在许多不足,如学术质量不高、因合作不够而导致学术上的重复工作、基础研究与应用性研究同样薄弱等。但目前在中国,一些受过良好学术训练的研究东南亚的学者以及优秀的作品正在不断涌现。     

Theories on the information society and development: recent theoretical contributions and their relevance for the developing world

Abstract

The rise and effects of information and communcation technologies (ICTs) form the starting point of a few interesting theoretical accounts on the information economy and society. Even some more critical authors proceed in their argumentation from economic and social change in relation to major changes in the area of ICTs. This recent literature is often confusing, as the role of ICTs is perceived as all pervasive. As such, authors do not always distinguish between evolutions in specific sectors, at the economic level or at the level of social institutions and structures. This article has a twofold goal. First, it provides a systematised discussion of recent theoretical contributions on the information society. Second, it analyses these contributions in the light of its accounts of, relevance to, the developing world. It starts from the assumption that all too often no specific attention is paid to the developing world or that – in the case of more policy-orientated accounts – the theory on the information society is seen to be universal in character.