Multiple Nationality and International Law

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Klebsiella meningitis mimicking clinical deterioration from hemorrhage of a complex posterior fossa arteriovenous malformation

We report a case of a 33-year-old male with a history of complex posterior fossa arteriovenous malformation (AVM) with partial resection done in China; at follow-up in our unit, he presented with a 1-day history of acute deterioration of consciousness level after minor head injury. The clinical and radiologic features were compatible with spontaneous hemorrhage from the AVM, and the patient died 1 day after admission. However, postmortem examination revealed the direct cause of death was due to Klebsiella meningitis. The clinical catch is highlighted, and the importance of early and prompt detection of this condition is emphasized.     

Legitimacy and Internet in the Judiciary: A Lesson From the Italian Courts' Websites Experience

Judiciaries in democratic countries have been facing problemsof low legitimacy due to increasing judicial activism. Traditionalforms of accountability have shown to be inadequate to the presentsituation. The purpose of this article is to examine whethereasy access to information on judicial systems, courts’activities and cases available through the Internet can increaselegitimacy. Although websites can be a tool to enhance accountability,transparency, legality and representativeness of the judiciary,the results of this article show that this is not always thecase. The authors hypothesize that enhancements occur when certaincombinations of four core elements (organization of the webservice provision, access to information, content, and users)take place. Based on an examination of all websites of threejudicial systems, we seek to provide an initial outlook on theuse of websites in facilitating legitimacy, and a contributionto knowledge in the field of courts and ICT.     

Parental Demandingness and Executive Functioning in Predicting Anxiety among Children in a Longitudinal Community Study

Journal of Youth and Adolescence - Theoretical models and empirical studies of anxiety have predominately focused on the main effects of various predictors such as executive functioning deficits on...     

Campaign‐Style Enforcement and Regulatory Compliance

This article examines the recoupling mechanism of campaign‐style enforcement and its effects on environmental regulatory compliance. Drawing on the policy implementation literature and institutional theory, the authors develop a conceptual model of campaign‐style enforcement in which both resource mobilization and power redistribution are theorized to address decoupling problems in regulatory compliance. The two‐pathway recoupling mechanism is evidenced by an empirical investigation of the implementation of China's energy conservation and emission reduction policy as part of that country's 11th Five‐Year Plan. Findings suggest that campaign‐style enforcement can effectively improve regulatory compliance when it addresses the efficiency/legitimacy conflict by providing policy incentives and reorganizing a clear hierarchy of political authority. The article concludes with a discussion of the strengths and limitations of campaign‐style enforcement.     

Optimization of recovery of human DNA from envelope flaps using DNA IQ™ System for STR genotyping

An optimized protocol based on the DNA IQ™ System has been tested for the extraction of DNA from envelope flaps. DNA is extracted directly without the need for opening and swabbing the flaps. The method is repeatable with <10% R.S.D. (relative standard deviation). The results of a systematic study show that it is an equilibrium extraction, and a small sample volume as well as high lysis buffer content in sample contribute to high extraction efficiency. The extracted DNA requires no further purification steps following its extraction with the DNA IQ™ System. Complete but skewed 15-locus short tandem repeat (STR) profiles, which is typical of degraded of DNA, have been generated from the DNA extracted from 6 to 9 years old casework envelope samples.     

Environmental management by law in China: The Guangzhou experience∗

Taking enviornmental management in Guangzhou as an example, this article explores the theory and practice of Communist China's idea of “environmental management by law.” Based on the Guangzhou experience, it argues that environmental management by law in China is mainly an administrative system of environmental management which takes law strictly as a tool for efficient and effective environmental protection. This system is operated on the principle of ‘rule by law’, and is the antithesis of the Maoist practice of “rule by person.” Contrary to its Western counterpart, China's environmental management system is built on a state‐centered conception of administrative law instead of a ‘right‐centered’ one which is the core of the ‘rule of law’ tradition.     

Political context,policy networks and policy change: the complexity of transition in Hong Kong

Abstract

Central to the debates on the transition of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty is how this process has affected change in the policy process and policy outputs. Many see policy change as a result of the evolving political environment in Hong Kong following the political transition. This article, however, adopts the notion of policy networks and argues that the analysis of policy change cannot be reduced to a simple contextual stimulus – the policy alteration model. A case study – ‘the development of civic education’ – demonstrates the importance of policy networks, as a particular structure of government and group relations in decision making, in explaining the course of policy change. It is apparent that the relationship between regime change and political liberalization, on the one hand, and established networks, on the other, tends to be complex and dialectical in Hong Kong. Despite the importance of sovereignty transition and political restructuring, the effect of contextual factors on public policy greatly depends on the nature of the network involved.