Modernizing small manufacturers in Japan: The role of local public technology centers

Japan's hundreds of thousands of small manufacturing enterprises not only provide high-quality inputs to large Japanese companies, but also are becoming innovators and growth generators in their own right. In addition to help from larger customers, small Japanese companies can call upon an array of public support mechanisms, including about 170 local Kohsetsushi examination and technology centers which provide research, testing, training, and guidance for firms with under 300 employees. With their intensive geographical coverage, broad range of technical services, and nominal fees, these centers offer small Japanese firms a readily available and effective source of assistance to improve their manufacturing operations, technology, and products. After reviewing the changing context for small manufacturers in Japan, the article examines the role of local Kohsetsushi centers in small firm modernization. This article considers the history, organization, and services of the Kohsetsushi system, explores the operation of five case study centers, and discusses how small Japanese firms benefit from Kohsetsushi services. Finally, there is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Kohsetsushi system.     

Narcotics trafficking and the American mafia: The myth of internal prohibition

Numerous books assert that the Mafia long had a prohibition against engaging in narcotics trafficking, either for reasons of morality, or else because of the public stigma attached to drugs. In reality, there are many problems with the belief in voluntary abstention. The mythical nature of internal prohibition, and the far different reality, will be illustrated from the case of Philadelphia, supposedly the base for one of the most powerful and traditional-minded of all the American Mafia groups, the family headed from 1959 to 1980 by don Angelo Bruno. We will attempt to explain the roots of the prohibition myth, both for writers and for the wider public that appears so endlessly enthusiastic about sagas of organized crime. Finally, the paper examines the implications of this myth for policy makers in successive wars on crime.     

Widows and neighbors,cornfields and magueys. The impact of population increase in the Toluca Valley: the case of Tenango del Valle during the eighteenth century

The author examines the effect of rapid population growth due to migration on the parish of Tenango del Valle, Mexico, during the eighteenth century. She gives special consideration to the impact on quality of life in indigenous villages, especially for widows and female heads of households who were impoverished as a result of discriminatory land transactions. Data are mainly from the parish register for 1770.     

The right to die: state courts lead where legislatures fear to tread

The right to die may be among the most legally complex and culturally sensitive areas of civil rights to emerge in our time. The thorny issues associated with a terminally ill individual's right to self-determination, and the disposition of individuals who are incompetent to make right to die decisions for themselves, promises to keep all parties involved - health care professionals, medical ethicists, families, lawyers, judges, and state legislators -busy for some time to come. To this point, the state courts have taken the lead in the right to die debate, while the state legislatures have tended to drag their collective feet. This article lays the case law groundwork for right to die decision making, then goes on to assay the legislative responses to the issue that have been rendered in the fifty states.     

The "mini-packer" syndrome. Fatal ingestion of drug containers in Baltimore, Maryland

We report seven fatalities resulting from the ingestion of illicit drugs packaged in condoms, rubber balloons, or plastic bags which were observed in the last 4 years at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, State of Maryland. All the victims, with the exception of one, were men ranging in age from 19 to 37 years. There was no racial predominance. No drug paraphernalia was found at any scene. In two cases, seizure-like activity was documented. One victim had recently returned from Nigeria; therefore, Lassa fever was initially suspected. Two of the victims were "body packer" contrabanders who had just arrived from Africa. They used body cavities to hide large amounts of heroin to avoid U.S. Customs. The other five cases were "mini-packers," small-time illicit drug dealers who had swallowed a single bag of cocaine to avoid police detection. The possible mechanism of leaking or rupture of the latex container is discussed.     

Sex determination with the head of the radius

Analysis of a sample of 1108 radii corresponding to 567 black and white North Americans in the Terry Collection at the Smithsonian Institution demonstrates that the diameter of the radial head is an accurate sex discriminator for human remains. A simple "radial-head method" of sex determination consists of measuring the maximum and minimum diameters of the head and comparing such measurements with the test cutoff points. The subject is female when the maximum radial head diameter (either left or right) is less than or equal to 21 mm, and male when the maximum diameter (either left or right) is greater than or equal to 24 mm. The same decisions apply to the minimum diameters of 20 mm or less and 23 mm or more, respectively. When the maximum diameter is 23 mm or the minimum is 22 mm, the subject is more likely male; when the maximum diameter is 22 mm or the minimum is 21 mm, the subject is more likely female. The sample frequency of any one of these latter diameters is never more than 16%. Cross-validation of the method with a sample of 50 pairs of radii of the Terry Collection, different from the original specimens, resulted in 92% sexing accuracy when using the left radius singly, 94% accuracy when using the right radius singly, and 96% accuracy when using both radii jointly.     

Identification of a red "fiber": chironomid larvae

During preliminary examination of the body of a homicide victim, a peculiar red "fiber" was noticed and recovered. Initially believing this to be a carpet fiber, the item was subjected to fiber analysis. It was found to be a short coiled particle not like any known natural or synthetic fabric fiber. Subsequent examinations determined this "fiber" to be the larva of a common freshwater midge (Diptera; Chironomidae). Chironomid larvae have been observed on other bodies recovered from freshwater environments. Entomological studies of this organism have led to the conclusion that the presence of chironomid larvae indicates submersion of the body.