The Urban Policy-making and Development Dimension of Fordism and Post-Fordism: A Toronto Case Study

This paper investigates urban policy-making and development from a regulation theory perspective. It describes major Toronto urban trends of the past 50 years in order to gauge their conformity to changing regulation conditions. Results indicate that in the 1950s and 1960s, policies in Toronto were in accord with the Fordist mass consumption and welfare orientation. They also suggest a coincidence between the post-1995 period of public-sector retrenchment and the market-driven nature of post-Fordism. The intermediary period, however, was dominated by unsuccessful efforts at maintaining Fordist-type policies in a regulation context shifting towards post-Fordism. These findings confirm the non-functionalist interpretation of links between policy-making and regulation professed by regulation theory researchers. They also cast light on the role the city plays in the changing nature of regulation. Assertive metropolitan planning and socially balanced sub-divisions characteristic of the Fordist period of regulation gradually made way for market-driven development. With a reduced government presence, urban development has become less co-ordinated and more socially polarised, thus reflecting at the urban level society-wide features of post-Fordism.     

The challenges of measuring food security and sovereignty in the Yucatán Peninsula

In a study of food security and sovereignty (FSS) in 22 indigenous Mayan communities in Yucatán State, Mexico, a participatory action research (PAR) methodology was combined with an analytical framework comprised of 10 FSS indicators to measure food security in the study area and identify strengths and weaknesses of the analytical framework. While some of the FSS indicators were approaching satisfactory, the majority were only partially satisfied, and food self-sufficiency was for the most part unsatisfactory. It was also found that food security indicators are relatively easier to measure, while sovereignty indicators present challenges in terms of defining progress.     

Arbitrage and Abuse of Rights in the EC Legal System

Abstract:  This article contrasts species of regulatory and tax arbitrage with the ECJ's approach to abuse of rights. Its aim is to explain the concepts, describe their relationship and identify the legal and policy issues which they raise within the EC legal system. Arbitrage and abuse figure prominently in the ECJ's case-law, especially on the freedom of movement. In its more recent case-law, the ECJ has adopted a more developed approach to abuse of rights by laying down a two-prong test. This article seeks to draw legal and policy conclusions by examining inter alia the virtues and vices of the EC doctrine of abuse of rights.     

Controlling federal expenditures in the national school lunch program: The relationship between changes in household eligibility and federal policy

Under the assumption of widespread fraud and abuse, procedures were implemented in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) in 1981 to detect and deter misreporting by applicants for subsidized meal benefits. We, however, find that the incidence of fraud is actually small relative to normal temporal variation in income and household composition that leads to legitimate changes in eligibility for benefits. It is estimated that each month about 3 percent of all households approved for meal benefits have changes sufficiently large to alter their benefit status. Further, the amount of misreporting at the time of application, estimated to be 4.8 percent, is far smaller than previously assumed. Instead of focusing on the static problem of deterring initial applicant misreporting, the policy problem is now a dynamic one that includes how (or whether) to deal with normal changes in income and household size.     

Profiling of counterfeit medicines by vibrational spectroscopy

Counterfeit pharmaceutical products have become a widespread problem in the last decade. Various analytical techniques have been applied to discriminate between genuine and counterfeit products. Among these, Near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy provided promising results. The present study offers a methodology allowing to provide more valuable information for organisations engaged in the fight against counterfeiting of medicines. A database was established by analyzing counterfeits of a particular pharmaceutical product using Near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy. Unsupervised chemometric techniques (i.e. principal component analysis - PCA and hierarchical cluster analysis - HCA) were implemented to identify the classes within the datasets. Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) were used to determine the number of different chemical profiles within the counterfeits. A comparison with the classes established by NIR and Raman spectroscopy allowed to evaluate the discriminating power provided by these techniques. Supervised classifiers (i.e. k-Nearest Neighbors, Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis, Probabilistic Neural Networks and Counterpropagation Artificial Neural Networks) were applied on the acquired NIR and Raman spectra and the results were compared to the ones provided by the unsupervised classifiers. The retained strategy for routine applications, founded on the classes identified by NIR and Raman spectroscopy, uses a classification algorithm based on distance measures and Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curves. The model is able to compare the spectrum of a new counterfeit with that of previously analyzed products and to determine if a new specimen belongs to one of the existing classes, consequently allowing to establish a link with other counterfeits of the database.     

Applications of a transportable Raman spectrometer for the in situ detection of controlled substances at border controls

A transportable Raman spectrometer was tested for the detection of illicit drugs seized during border controls. In a first step, the analysis methodology was optimized using reference substances such as diacetylmorphine (heroin), cocaine and amphetamine (as powder or liquid forms). Adequate focalisation distance and times of analysis, influence of daylight and artificial light sources, repeatability and limits of detection were studied. In a second step, the applications and limitations of the technique to detect the illicit substances in different mixtures and containers were evaluated. Transportable Raman spectroscopy was found to be adequate for a rapid screen of liquids and powders for the detection and identification of controlled substances. Additionally, it had the advantage over other portable techniques, such as ion mobility spectrometry, of being non-destructive and capable of rapid analysis of large quantities of substances through containers such as plastic bags and glass bottles.     

Methadone determination in puparia and its effect on the development of Lucilia sericata (Diptera, Calliphoridae)

This paper describes a sensitive UPLC-MS/MS method for quantification of methadone and 2-ethylidene-1,5-dimethyl-3,3-diphenylpyrrolidine (EDDP) in single empty puparial case of Lucilia sericata. Larvae were reared on substrates spiked with different concentrations of methadone (0-4 μg/g). Methadone was quantified in puparia reared on high concentrated substrates (0.8-4 μg/g). The major metabolite of methadone (EDDP) was not detected, confirming rapid elimination of metabolites by the larvae before pupation. The effects of methadone on the development of L. sericata were also investigated. No effect on sex ratio was detected. A significant difference was calculated for emerged adults but no trends could be observed. Concerning the developmental curve, a significant difference was observed between control and high methadone concentrations using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.