Japan’s strategic contrast: continuing influence despite relative power decline in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Since 2008 the Japanese government has become more responsive to the exercise of Chinese economic, diplomatic and military power in Southeast Asia, suggesting an intensifying rivalry. The Japanese government has thrown off any reticence about self-promotion by more forcefully positioning Japan as a sensitive and sustainable strategic partner for Southeast Asian nations in a strategic contrast with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Rather than trying to contain China, Tokyo is seeking to mediate how China turns its material resources into influence. Despite an increasing asymmetry in material resources between China and Japan, this article argues that Japan maintains a surprising ability to influence the preferences of Southeast Asian nations and responses to exercises of PRC power, which in turn has allowed Japan to influence China’s regional strategy.     

The Potential of High-throughput Metagenomic Sequencing of Aquatic Bacterial Communities to Estimate the Postmortem Submersion Interval

Human remains can be discovered in freshwater or marine ecosystems, circumstances where insects and other invertebrates have infrequently been used for understanding the time of postmortem submersion. In this study, the identification and succession of epinecrotic bacterial communities on vertebrate remains were described during decomposition in a temperate headwater stream during two seasons (summer and winter). Bacterial communities were characterized with 454 pyrosequencing and analyzed at phyletic and generic taxonomic resolutions. There was a significant increase in genera richness over decomposition during both seasons. Additionally, multivariate statistical modeling revealed significant differences in bacterial communities between seasons at both taxonomic resolutions and siginificant genera differences among sampling days within each season, suggesting a succession of these communities. These data are the first to describe aquatic bacterial succession using high-throughput metagenomic sequencing on vertebrate remains submerged in a freshwater habitat, and provide initial evidence for their potential use in forensic investigations.     

Identification properties of the office binding machine

The office binding machine is designed to punch a series of rectangular shaped holes along the edge of paper stock. These holes facilitate insertion of a plastic ring to bind the pages into a notebook.Research was conducted to determine if punched holes in paper could be identified as the work of a particular binding machine. Alignment, spacing and imperfections along the edges of the punch marks were considered.It was concluded that in some instances it is possible to identify the product of a binding operation with the punching machine.     

Health policy for the elderly

also director of the human development program at his university. He is the author of The Decision-Makers: The Power Structure of Dallas; The Aging Enterprise; Long-Term Care of the Elderly,and Political Economy, Health, and Aging.     

Assay of free and total tocainide by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with ultraviolet (UV) detection

A rapid high performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of tocainide, using N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-amino-butanimide as an internal standard, was developed. A methylene chloride extraction involving salting out at pH 9.0 was employed. An 85:15 mixture of 0.025M monobasic potassium phosphate at pH 3.0 and acetonitrile was used as the mobile phase. The separation and quantitative analysis of tocainide was performed on a mixed phase column with a 1.0-mL/min flow rate and detection at 210 nm. Separation of tocainide from some of its metabolites required the use of heptane sulfonic acid as an ion-pairing reagent. For the free-drug assay, the specimen was centrifuged through an Amicon Centrifree filter before being processed.     

An Analysis of Presidential Preferences in the Distribution of Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities

Critics regarded the selection of urban empowerment zones and enterprise communities by Secretary Cisneros in 1994 as sympathetic to President Clinton's considerations. However, the secretary countered that cities were chosen based on their ability to revitalize their communities successfully, as outlined in their applications. To determine whether the secretary responded to top-down presidential preferences, data from the complete list of applications is used to test four hypotheses derived from principal—agent theory. The results of the logistic regression models do not validate the significance of the presidential variables (for instance, presidential support score for each city's congressional delegation, marginal districts, and 1992 state vote for President Clinton). Rather, many of the nonpresidential variables (community participation, size of the empowerment zone or enterprise community, and poverty) were significant in supporting the secretary's contention.     

Mass Reentry,Neighborhood Context and Recidivism: Examining How the Distribution of Parolees Within and Across Neighborhoods Impacts Recidivism

Recent scholarship focuses on the role neighborhood context plays in reoffending. These studies lack an examination of how the size of the parolee population at the neighborhood-level impacts individual recidivism. We examine how the size and clustering of parolee populations within and across neighborhoods impacts individual-level recidivism. Using data from parolees returning to three Ohio cities from 2000 to 2009, we examine how concentrations of parolees in neighborhoods and in the surrounding neighborhoods impact the likelihood of reoffending. We also examine whether parolee clustering conditions the relationship between neighborhood-level characteristics and recidivism. Results show concentrated reentry increases recidivism, while parolees in stable neighborhoods are less likely to recidivate. Also, the positive effect of parolee concentration is tempered when parolees return to stable neighborhoods. These findings suggest that augmenting resources available in neighborhoods saturated by parolees, as well as bolstering residential stability in these same neighborhoods might reduce reoffending.