Even honey may become bitter when there is too much of it: Islam and the struggle for a balanced existence in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan

In Kyrgyzstan, as in the rest of Central Asia, recent decades have witnessed a proliferation of distinctions between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Islam. What is perceived as a growing ‘religiosity’ is often seen as a symptom of post-Soviet chaos and excess, but people equally tend to see Islam as an important source of well-being, for themselves and for society as such. It is argued that a general feature of the Islam many Muslims strive for – and occasionally experience glimpses of – is one that expresses, embodies and enables a balanced existence: a balance between well-being in this world and in the afterlife; a balance between the acceptance of one's fate and the attempt to improve one's situation; or a balance between adherence to abstract dogmas and respect for local moralities.     

铅镉联合染毒对大鼠大脑皮质神经细胞的氧化损伤及NAC的保护效应

为研究铅、镉联合对新生大鼠大脑皮质神经细胞的脂质过氧化损伤及N-乙酰半胱氨酸(N-ace-tylcysteine,NAC)的保护效应,以体外培养的新生大鼠原代大脑皮质神经细胞为试验对象,分17个组进行了不同铅、镉浓度的染毒和保护试验,染毒时间为12 h.经超声波粉碎细胞后,测定神经细胞超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(GSH-Px)、乙酰胆碱酯酶(TChE)活性和丙二醛(MDA)含量.结果表明,与对照组比较,铅、镉单独染毒组GSH-Px、SOD和TChE活性随染毒越量的增加呈逐渐下降趋势(P<0.05),而CAT活性及MDA含量则呈升高趋势(P<0.05),两者之间具有明显的剂量一效应关系;铅、镉联合染毒对神经细胞GSH-Px、SOD、TChE、CAT活性和MDA含量的改变均较相应的铅、镉单独染毒更为明显,部分组间有显著差异(P<0.05);NAC保护组的MDA含量显著低于相应的染毒组(P<0.05),SOD、GSH-Px、TChE和CAT活性不同程度地高于相应的染毒组,但部分组间差异不显著(P>0.05).铅、镉联合对新生大鼠大脑皮质神经细胞的氧化损伤表现协同毒性效应,NAC可以提高神经细胞的抗氧化能力,对铅、镉及其联合暴露所致的脂质过氧化损伤有一定的保护作用,但保护作用不明显.     

精神分析与公共行政:从弗洛伊德到戴蒙德

在传统公共行政学的组织理论中,一个基本的理论前提就是假设人类的行为是理性的,因而对组织的研究总是局限于研究基于人类理性所产生的规范和制度.而自从弗洛伊德创立精神分析方法以来,很多的学者开始运用这一方法来解释组织的行为,创立了精神分析的组织理论.其中,戴蒙德就是著名的代表.精神分析方法在组织理论研究中的运用,拓宽了公共行政研究的视野和思路.但同时也把组织理论从传统发展到了另一个极端,那就是过于强调人类行为的非理性,使得对组织的研究易于陷入不可知的状态。可见,精神分析方法对于公共行政学是有意义的。     

A Sequence Analysis of Nonverbal Behaviour and Deception

The ability to correctly interpret nonverbal communication (NVC) is an important ability in everyday interactions, which may use NVC techniques to identify the concealment of information. In the present study, a novel approach was used to understand NVC. Behaviour sequence analysis identified specific sequences of behaviours that indicate psychological distress caused by deception. The study involved the analysis of 55 videos of real criminals and high-power individuals that were filmed fabricating statements, which were later exposed as being untruthful at the time of being filmed. In addition, 53 clips of criminals making truthful statements were also analysed as a contrast group. Results indicated clear differences between honest and deceptive responses, such as furrowing of eyebrows in the deceptive sequences occurring more often than honest statements. In addition, sequences of behaviours were shown in the present data set, which could indicate a new method for analysing NVC and detecting psychological distress caused by deception. The possible implications and applications for police and forensic investigation are also outlined.     

Do we need warm leaders? Exploratory study of the role of voter evaluations of leaders’ traits on turnout in seven European countries

Previous research on leader effects has focused exclusively on the impact of voters’ evaluations of leaders on vote choice, disregarding possible effects on the prior step of deciding whether or not to turn out to vote. In line with the personalisation of politics thesis, leaders have a higher impact among dealigned voters. Previous studies have demonstrated that leader effects are stronger among voters who voice their dealignment – namely party switchers. However, the potential impact of leaders among those who exited (i.e., who have abstained) is still unstudied. Could leaders have a mobilisation effect and therefore trigger turnout decisions? What characteristics of party leaders are more relevant in this regard? This article is the first comparative study to examine how the evaluation of party leaders’ traits influences voter turnout in general elections. The work incorporates data from election studies across seven countries with different social contexts (Portugal, Spain, Ireland, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Hungary). Characteristics of leaders were grouped into two dimensions – competence and warmth – in accordance with the stereotype content model and relevant studies on leaders’ traits evaluation. Multiple binary logistic regression models were performed to analyse the predictive power of competence and warmth on turnout, controlling for sociodemographic, political ideology variables and voters’ past political behaviour. Results reinforce the personalisation of politics theory, showing the utmost relevance of warmth personality traits of leaders in voter turnout decisions. Competence personality traits were found to be relevant only in some situations. Interaction effects were also demonstrated between warmth evaluations and identifying with a right-wing party as well as past political behaviour with both warmth and competence.     

Les Cortes et le Parlement au Portugal. 750e anniversaire des Cortes de Leiria de 1254: Congrès International, 26–28 novembre 2004—Leiria

SUMMARY

The Scottish Parliament, established in 1999, was to be a novel type of parliament and to herald a ‘new politics’. While it was inevitable that the Scottish parliamentary model would inherit some of the features of the Westminster system, one of the major parliamentary models in the world, Home Rulers insisted on the Scottish Parliament's need to adopt novel procedures and principles right from the start to keep it from becoming a ‘Westminister’. An analysis of Scottish Home Rule discourse in documents from the late 1980s and the 1990s shows that at the time, Westminster was constructed as an ‘anti-model’. This article establishes in what respects Westminster was an anti-model for the architects of the Scottish Parliament and describes the ideal parliamentary model which they defined. It then considers whether the Scottish model as it exists today conforms to their expectations. The case presented here is that the Scottish parliamentary system is indeed different from the British system in several fundamental respects, such as the fact that it is more committee-based and less executive-oriented, but that it is closer to the Westminster model than has been acknowledged, and that in some respects, the Scottish Parliament has moved towards that model by adopting typically British modes of functioning. Some characteristics of the Westminster system which it has integrated are the Presiding Officer's power to have a casting vote or, more controversially, the way the executive is held to account, through adversarial Question Times. The Scottish Parliament is thus neither a mini-Westminster nor an anti-Westminster: the Scottish parliamentary model is a hybrid of the West European and the Westminster models.     

Mass media advertisements: Responses to selected advertisements in semi-urban Limpopo

Abstract

This article developed from pilot research in a coursework Master's module in African Languages into combined outcomes of persuasive messages and visual literacy based on semiotics. It tested assertions by various writers about mass media, as applicable to a semi-urban or rural group of (black) South Africans with educational levels ranging from Grade 10 to Honours level. Owing to the fact that interviewees are financially constrained (and therefore cannot always afford television access or the acquisition of magazines), the focus of ‘persuasive messages’ was on billboard advertising in their living and work contexts. It was found that the consumers (respondents to the questionnaire) reacted positively to billboards that supported products on which they have been relying; that once they have been introduced to a product and found it efficient, competitive campaigns do not impinge on their stance; but also that – in this particular semi-urban area – traditional values folklore and usages have to be taken into consideration by advertisers for effective communication.     

Duverger's Laws: Between social and institutional determinism

Abstract. The purpose of this article is to relocate Duverger's Laws within the debate about the effects of electoral systems on the number of parties. Although Duverger's theory has always been seen as the best example of a purely institutionalist approach to the issue, it is possible to argue that this is only true if one overemphasises the meaning of the laws without considering Duverger's justification and explanations for them. However, if one takes into consideration not only the laws, but also Duverger's theories about the effects of electoral systems on the number of parties as a whole, one can argue that his theses do not have a purely institutionalist character and can therefore coexist with theories that try to take into account variables other than electoral rules.