The role of mercantilism, humanitarianism, and gaiatsu in Japan's ODA programme in Asia

Objective. Three competing explanations for the distributionof Japan's ODA in Asia are empirically examined in this paper.The first explanation hypothesizes that Japan reacts to US pressureand interests as it formulates its foreign aid policy. The competingexplanations argue that Japanese ODA is used to promote Japan'snational economic interests or humanitarian goals. Methods.We examine the determinants of Japanese ODA in 14 Asian countriesfor the period of 1979–1998. The effects of the independentvariables are estimated using ordinary least squares (OLS) withpanel-corrected standard errors. Results. US strategic interestswere found to have no effect on aid disbursements for the periodin question. Rather, we find that Japan's national economicinterests have shaped Japanese aid decisions in Asia. The disbursementpattern of Japanese ODA is also influenced by poverty in therecipient country. Employing measures from the Political TerrorScale, Freedom House, and Polity IV, we find no effect for democracyor human rights.     

The case of the unreliable SNP: recurrent back-mutation of Y-chromosomal marker P25 through gene conversion

The Y-chromosomal binary marker P25 is a paralogous sequence variant, rather than a SNP: three copies of the P25 sequence lie within the giant palindromic repeats on Yq, and one copy has undergone a C to A transversion to define haplogroup R1b (designated C/C/A). Since gene conversion is known to be active in the palindromic repeats, we reasoned that P25 might be liable to back-mutation by gene conversion, yielding the ancestral state C/C/C. Through analysis of a set of binary markers in Y-chromosomes in two large samples from Great Britain and the Iberian Peninsula we show that such conversion events have occurred at least twice, and provide preliminary evidence that the reverse conversion event (yielding C/A/A) has also occurred. Because of its inherent instability, we suggest that P25 be used with caution in forensic studies, and perhaps replaced with the more reliable binary marker M269.     

Japan's cautious new activism in the Middle East: a qualitative change or more of the same?

This article analyses Japanese policy towards the Middle Eastin the post-Cold War era. The article argues that Japanese policyhas begun to move beyond the reactive diplomacy of the ColdWar years. The focus of this new approach has been Japan's growingcontribution to ‘soft’ security in the region. However,Japan retains a tendency to focus on its narrow interests withoutfully taking into account the broader strategic consequencesof its policies. Yet, in order to protect its overall interestsin the region, Japan needs to recognize the diminishing utilityof this ‘free rider’ approach and adopt a more activerole regarding ‘hard’ security issues. Even allowingfor the domestic constraints on Japanese policy, there is muchJapan can do in this regard, especially in coordination withthe US.     

Ecstasy (MDMA) deaths in New York City: a case series and review of the literature

MDMA ("ecstasy") has gained renewed popularity as a drug of abuse. To access the epidemiology and causes of death of MDMA-positive fatalities, all deaths investigated by the OCME that tested positive for MDMA (22 deaths) between January 1997 and June 2000 were reviewed. There were three deaths in each 1997 and 1998, eleven in 1999, and five in the first part of 2000. Of these 22 deaths, 13 were due to acute drug intoxications, 7 due to mechanical injury (blunt trauma, gunshot wounds), and 2 due to a combination of natural disease and acute drug intoxication. Evidence of recent opiate and/or cocaine use was found in 7 of the acute intoxication deaths and in none of the traumatic or combination natural/intoxication deaths. The race of all decedents was White between the ages of 17-41 years, and 18 of 22 were men.     

Interpreting small quantities of DNA: the hierarchy of propositions and the use of Bayesian networks

The dramatic increase in the sensitivity of DNA profiling systems that has occurred over recent years has led to the need to address a wider range of interpretational problems in forensic science. The issues surrounding questions of the kind "whose DNA is this?" have been the subject of considerable controversy but now it is clear that the emphasis is shifting to questions of the kind "how did this DNA get here?" Such issues are discussed in this paper and new insights are provided by two particular recent developments. First, the notion of the "hierarchy of propositions" that has arisen from a project called Case Assessment and Interpretation (CAI) that has been running in the British Forensic Science Service (FSS). Second, a technique for drawing inferences in the face of many interacting considerations, known as "Bayesian networks"--or "Bayes' nets" for short--that has been the subject of an earlier paper in this journal (1). The discussion is carried out by means of case studies, based on actual cases. It is clear that, whereas the inference in relation to the source of the DNA in a crime sample might be overwhelmingly strong, the inference in relation to the propositions that a jury must consider relating to the identity of the actual offender may be much more tentative.     

Biosafety considerations for autopsy

An autopsy may subject prosectors and others to a wide variety of infectious agents, including bloodborne and aerosolized pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B and C viruses, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Other hazards include toxic chemicals (e.g., formalin, cyanide, and organophosphates) and radiation from radionuclides used for patient therapy and diagnosis. These risks can be substantially mitigated through proper assessment, personal protective equipment, appropriate autopsy procedures, and facility design.     

Competing Knowledge Systems in the Management of Fish and Forests in the Pacific Northwest

In this paper I investigate the interaction of knowledge and institutions in the context of First Nations in the Pacific Northwest of Canada who have evolved management systems for fish and forest resources over hundreds of years. These management systems are viewed as institutions that are based on and apply knowledge systems over time. In the Nisga'a and Haida nations, knowledge systems guide management regimes that govern access, rights and responsibilities, harvesting, allocation of benefits and costs, technology, education and training. For the past hundred years these institutions and knowledge systems have come into conflict with knowledge and management systems imposed first by missionaries, settlers and colonizers and later from Provincial and National governments and corporations holding tenure rights assigned by those governments. National and international regimes such as the Law of the Seas and the Exclusive Economic Zones conflict with traditional institutions and knowledge systems by privileging one level of governance and consequently one form of knowledge and devaluing others. The paper is based on research conducted in the Pacific Northwest over the past eight years, primarily through interviews with elders, decision-makers, and resource users, as well as observation of cultural and resource practices. The research investigated the impacts of conflicting knowledge systems and the attempts to resolve those conflicts. The paper raises questions about knowledge systems and institutions, about institutional interplay, and the impact of international institutions on local institutions as they come into contact and conflict.