Chinese and Japanese development co-operation: South–South,North–South,or what?

This article compares the evolution and characteristics of Chinese and Japanese aid, assessing the impact of their aid policies in sub-Saharan Africa from the 1950s to the present. It argues that China and Japan's aid programmes share more similarities than dissimilarities. Both pursue aid strategies that spread allocations across a region rather than concentrating upon specific countries. The article seeks to clarify the following questions. In what way are Chinese and Japanese aid strategies different from each other and Western donors? Should their aid be seen as a form of South–South co-operation that provides an alternative to the West's hegemony in Africa? Or is aid from these donors simply another strategy to control African resources and state elites in the guise of a partnership of equals?     

“It makes it legit”: local semiotic perceptions of the linguistic landscape in a market in Soshanguve,South Africa

This article explores the linguistic landscape (LL) of a semi-informal market in a South African township called Soshanguve. The fieldsite is situated in an area that is characterized by diversity and longstanding multilingualism. An ethnographic approach draws on the semiotic reading of the LL by a participant whose analysis of the multilingual commercial signage provides insight into local perceptions on language use and materiality. The study focuses on the participant’s analysis of the indexicality of African languages and traders’ names used in the LL that is in general dominated by English. Furthermore, the use of Sepitori (mixed language) in the signage will be explored for the first time. Findings contribute to disentangle and expand the notion of luxury and necessity. More specifically, we suggest that these concepts can be extended to include the notions of sponsorship and mediation, which can potentially involve reinterpreting the process of production, use and perception of the materials in signage.     

Ticket-splitting in mixed-member systems: on the importance of seat linkage between electoral tiers

Abstract

In mixed-member electoral systems, voters usually have two votes: a nominal and a list vote. According to some studies, voters are increasingly using them to cast a split-ticket vote. However, very little is known about whether the type of mixed-member system, and in particular whether the allocation of seats across tiers is linked or not, creates different sets of incentives for this behaviour. This article provides new insights into the topic by analysing survey data from seven countries and 18 elections since 1990. It is found that the proportion of split-ticket votes is greater in mixed-member proportional than in mixed-member majoritarian systems. The results suggest that voters understand the operation of the electoral system and its consequences for the distribution of seats among parties, and adapt their behaviour accordingly.     

Seizures of Clandestinely Produced Tablets in Santa Catarina,Brazil: The Increase in NPS from 2011 to 2017

Ecstasy is the name given to a large group of substances known as “club drugs” traded in the form of tablets, powder and liquid that present a varied composition, including mainly 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and analogous substances, in addition to the growing presence of new psychoactive substances. Based on this, clandestinely produced tablets (“ecstasy tablets”) seized by police in Santa Catarina in the period from 2011 to 2017 were analyzed. During the study period, 3472 seizures occurred, which resulted in total 498,443 tablets seized. Seventy nine substances were identified. In the year 2011, about 90% of the tablets contained MDMA. This number decreased to 66.6% in 2017. On the other hand, there was an increase in the number of tablets that mainly contained synthetic cathinones, as well as tryptamine and piperazine derivatives. Police seizures in the metropolitan region of Florianópolis and on the coast prevailed over the rest of the state.     

The 2019 Portuguese general elections

Abstract

The 2019 Portuguese general elections have led to the formation of another minority government of the Socialist Party. Right-wing parties suffered a resounding defeat. The election had two key consequences. First, after four years of contract parliamentarism with an extreme-left party, the Socialists returned to their historical position of pivotal party in the system. Socialist leader Costa refused to replicate alliances with parties to his left. Second, the 2019 election witnessed the emergence of three new parties, Chega, Iniciativa Liberal and Livre. The election of Chega marks a watershed moment in Portuguese democratic history, as for the first time an extreme-right populist party has gained representation in the country.     

What are the best quorum rules? A laboratory investigation

Public Choice - Many political systems with direct democracy mechanisms have adopted rules preventing decisions from being made by simple majority rule. The device added most commonly to majority...     

Camouflaging Facial Emphysema: A new syndrome

Some cosmetic products manufactured in Korea for the treatment of eczema, seborrhea and psoriasis have been suspected to contain anti-inflammatory corticosteroids such as prednisolone, hydrocortisone, betamethasone, dexamethasone and triamcinolone acetonide without these ingredients being indicated on the label. Due to their severe side effects such as permenent skin atopy, these corticosteroids have to be monitored in cosmetic products from a forensic point of view. Many cosmetic product samples (N=65) have been collected from both local and online markets in Korea. The corticosteroid content of these samples was analyzed by LC-MS/MS with diagnostic ions (m/z). Linearity was studied with 0.1-10 μg/mL range in all corticosteroids. Good correlation coefficients (r(2)≥0.997) were found and the limits of quantification were 4.68-7.97 ng/mL for each of the corticosteroids. At three different concentrations spanning the linear dynamic ranges, mean recoveries were 97.2-113.5%and precisions (RSD) for intra-day and inter-day analysis were less than 8.9%. Also, accuracy (Bias %) was less than 11.8%. The results showed that between 0.76-0.94 μg/g levels of prednisolone were detected in four cosmetic products and triamcinolone acetonidewas detected with a concentration in the range of 11.5-272 μg/g in nine samples. This fact reveals that some manufacturers have arbitrarily added these corticosteroids in their cosmetic products without indicating them on the label. Thus, these cosmetic products have to be monitored and if proven illegal preparations removed from the market.     

Experimental forensic scenes for the characterization of ground-penetrating radar wave response

Over the last few decades, the use of non-intrusive geophysical techniques, which allows for coverage of an entire crime scene in a reasonable amount of time, in forensic investigation has increased. In this study, we analyze the effectiveness of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) in forensics. Experimental scenes were simulated and some of the most commonly buried items in actual crime scenes were introduced, such as bone remains, guns and drug caches. Later, a GPR survey was conducted on the experimental grids with a 500 MHz antenna. The final purpose was to characterize the radar wave response expected for each set of remains to assist with its identification in later actual investigations. The results collected provided promising information that can be used when surveying real cases. Nevertheless, there were some interpretational difficulties regarding the sizes of the items and the electromagnetic properties of the materials. For these cases, finite-difference time-domain modeling was employed to achieve an advanced interpretation of the field data. The simulated models used were built from accurate geometric data provided by photogrammetric methods, which replicate the experimental scenes in fine detail. Furthermore, this approach allowed for the simulation of more realistic models, and the synthetic data obtained provided valuable information for assisting in the interpretation of field data. As a result of this work, it was concluded that GPR can be an effective tool when searching for a variety of materials during a crime scene investigation.     

Voltammetric determination of Δ9-THC in glassy carbon electrode: An important contribution to forensic electroanalysis

Teeth are recently drawing attention for their potential as biological modeling investigation samples due to their ability to be collected and their slow substance metabolism. There is no active metabolism of elements after the completion of dentin. Dentin is surrounded by enamel and cementum, and is not affected by the oral environment. Therefore, the amount of trace elements in dentin may change with age, and this is considered to be a reliable biological load index. The objectives in this study are to demonstrate concentrations of elements in the dentin of healthy Japanese subjects by sex and age, and to reveal the relationship between element levels and age. 121 healthy teeth samples were extracted due to periodontal disease or orthodontic treatment. Each tooth was sliced from the crown to the root apex into 0.5-1mm thickness, then enamel, cementum, and the pulp were removed; the dentins were used as samples. The concentration of 10 trace elements (B, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Mo, Cd, and Pb) in the dentin was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). The differences Co and Pb in the dentin between men and women were significant (p<0.01). Significant positive correlation was observed between B, Co, Cu, Zn, Sr and Pb concentrations in the dentin and age (p<0.001). The results of the present study suggest that human dentin is an appropriate substance for relativity with sex and age at further future research.     

13 STR loci frequencies in the population from Paraíba, Northeast Brazil

As part of a long-term project on Northeastern Brazilians, population genetic data were obtained from 323 unrelated individuals from the state of Paraíba. The loci studied were CSF1P0, TPOX, TH01, vWA, D16S539, D7S820, D13S317, D18S51, D21S11, D8S1179, F13A01, F13B and LPL. Their distributions are in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Forensic parameters were calculated and a comparison was made with geographically nearby populations.