Multi-Stage: A Rule-Based Evolution of Future Commitments under the Climate Change Convention

This article presents the regional emission targets corresponding to different climate regimes for differentiating commitments beyond 2012 on the basis of the Multi-Stage approach. This approach assumes a gradual increase in the number of Parties involved and their level of commitment according to participation and differentiation rules. The analysis focuses on two global greenhouse gas emission profiles resulting in CO₂-equivalent concentrations stabilising at 550 and 650 ppmv in 2100 and 2150, respectively. Three Multi-Stage cases have been developed in order to assess different types of thresholds. These share three consecutive stages representing different commitments: stage 1 – no quantitative commitments; stage 2 – emission–limitation targets and stage 3 – emission reduction targets. The analysis shows that by 2025 all three cases result in emission reduction objectives for all Annex I regions of at least 30–55% below their 1990 levels for 550 ppmv, whereas for 650 ppmv target they range from 0 to 20%. Furthermore, early participation is required of the major non-Annex I regions through emission limitation targets i.e. before 2025 and 2050 for the 550 and 650 ppmv targets, respectively. The first participation threshold for adopting emission–limitation targets on the basis of a capability–responsibility index (as introduced here) can provide for a balanced and timely participation of non-Annex I regions. Major strengths and weaknesses of the climate regimes are discussed and important obstacles and pre-conditions for their feasibility and acceptability are highlighted.     

At the Movies: A Continuing Dialogue on the Challenges of Teaching with Film

As part of ISP's ongoing effort to provide a scholarly venue for the exchange of ideas on a variety of topics, this issue's ISP Forum presents one set of reactions to the February 2001 article by Lynn Kuzma and Patrick Haney titled "And Action . . . ! Using Film to Learn About Foreign Policy" (February 2001:33-50). Vincent Pollard's comments represent what we hope will be the first in a series of comments on teaching international studies with film. Profs. Kuzma and Haney in their rejoinder urge for an ongoing discussion of the topic, as they see the use of film growing in the field. More broadly, the Editors of ISP invite readers to submit their own comments and reactions on this and other pieces that appear within the pages of ISP. Please note that all submissions undergo a peer review process.     

Teaching International Studies from a Regional Perspective: An ISP Symposium on Power, Wealth and Global Order: An International Textbook for Africa

Thanks to a suggestion made by Tim Shaw (Dalhousie University), the Editors of ISP decided about a year ago to commission a discussion of the textbook Power, Wealth and Global Order: An International Relations Textbook for Africa. This symposium aims at increasing our understanding of the different, regionally specific perspectives that can be brought to bear when studying international relations outside of North America and Western Europe. We want to thank Prof. Donald Gordon for the time he spent on examining the volume at hand and for his insightful analysis of the contribution made by the editors and authors of the textbook. Based on this discussion, we then asked four other authors from diverse areas of the world (Venezuela, Korea, Slovenia, and Russia) to read Prof. Gordon's analysis and respond to a set of questions we posed to them. Those questions and their comments follow Prof. Gordon's essay. We would also like to invite other ISA members from anywhere in the world to comment on this subject, as a continuing effort to engage important pedagogical topics in the pages of ISP.     

From alcohol to liquid ecstasy (GHB)--a survey of old and modern knockout agents. Part 3: gamma-hydroxybutyric acid ("liquid ecstasy")

Currently, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB/"liquid ecstasy") is frequently abused as a knockout substance. Its detection and the interpretation of the results present numerous problems which are illustrated by case reports. In this context, hair analysis and the increasing significance of gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) are also discussed.     

Quantitative MRI in Isotropic Spatial Resolution for Forensic Soft Tissue Documentation. Why and How?*

Abstract: A quantification of T1, T2, and PD in high isotropic resolution was performed on corpses. Isotropic and quantified postmortem magnetic resonance (IQpmMR) enables sophisticated 3D postprocessing, such as reformatting and volume rendering. The body tissues can be characterized by the combination of these three values. The values of T1, T2, and PD were given as coordinates in a T1–T2–PD space where similar tissue voxels formed clusters. Implementing in a volume rendering software enabled color encoding of specific tissues and pathologies in 3D models of the corpse similar to computed tomography, but with distinctively more powerful soft tissue discrimination. From IQpmMR data, any image plane at any contrast weighting may be calculated or 3D color‐encoded volume rendering may be carried out. The introduced approach will enable future computer‐aided diagnosis that, e.g., checks corpses for a hemorrhage distribution based on the knowledge of its T1–T2–PD vector behavior in a high spatial resolution.     

Postmortem interval of skeletal remains through the detection of intraosseal hemin traces. A comparison of UV-fluorescence, luminol, Hexagon-OBTI®, and Combur® tests

With the goal of obtaining additional practically applicable methods for estimating the PMI of skeletal remains, 39 samples of human and 5 samples of domestic animal long bones with known PMI (PMI=1 to approximately 2000 years) were tested with two established methods (UV-fluorescence of a freshly sawn cross-section and the luminol test) and two screening tests (Hexagon-OBTI? test and Combur? test) that were being tried out in this context for the first time. The hypothesis underlying this experiment was the supposition that the PMI-related chemiluminescence of the luminol reaction for bone is based on the presence of persisting hemin from hemoglobin molecules in bone. Our results showed that lack of luminescence and reduced UV-fluorescence were more meaningful results for estimating PMI and excluding forensic relevance than a positive luminol reaction or strong UV-fluorescence, as both of the latter findings revealed the limitations of these methods in this particular context. Particularly for cases showing a positive luminol reaction, the use of additional absolute dating methods may be indicated. Against our expectations, both the Combur? test strips and the Hexagon-OBTI? test, which were both devised to demonstrate blood, delivered negative results for all samples. They are thus not suitable for estimating the PMI of skeletal remains. Future research will be necessary to elucidate whether the negative results obtained for these tests may be due to the poor solubility of potentially present hemoglobin or hemoglobin breakdown products in the Tris buffer used in this experiment.