Okun's Law in the Visegrád Group Countries

Abstract

The article assesses the empirical validity of Okun's law on the relationship between a country's unemployment and its output with a focus upon the Visegrád Group economies and upon the post-transition period from the first quarter of 2000 until the first quarter of 2016. The study also accounts for cyclical fluctuations in male and female unemployment and applies different approaches to the estimation of Okun coefficients. Fixed long-run Okun coefficients are compared to the trajectories identified under the state space approach based on the Kalman filter in an attempt to capture their possible time non-constancy. The findings cast doubt about the universal validity of Okun's law in the Visegrád countries in the investigated period.     

社会整合:新时代推进党建引领城市基层治理的有效路径

党建引领城市基层治理是党中央强化基层党建、推动基层治理的重大战略部署,亟待学术界予以研究和回应。城市基层党组织可以充分发挥社会整合功能,通过利益整合、结构整合和价值整合达成稳固党的基层政权、提升社区可治理性和强化社区凝聚力等目标,以此实现政党领导和治理绩效之间双向促进的良性循环。城市基层党组织应当以社会整合为着力点,从以推动利益协调和红色网格建设强化党组织权威、以形塑家庭关系和公益网络培育横向合作关系、以培育文化共同体和议题设置能力提升传播有效性等方面来构建党建引领基层治理的实践路径。     

植物新品种案件中的独占实施许可与合法来源抗辩

【裁判要旨】仅在特定地域范围内获得植物新品种权实施许可的,不构成独占实施许可;超生产经营许可范围而销售主要农作物种子的行为,侵害的并非流入地被许可人所享有的合同权利,而是该主要农作物种子品种权人依法享有的植物新品种权;在涉及主要农作物的植物新品种侵权纠纷案件中,由于法律规定了生产经营许可制度,因此不能仅因销售者说明了涉案繁殖材料来源,就认定其不存在过错而免除其赔偿责任。     

When do societal stakeholders matter for agency-CEOs? The role of stakeholder arrangements and social media attention

Public agencies have to deal with accountability demands from various societal stakeholders. Stakeholders may address their accountability demands via formal stakeholder arrangements but can also use social media for account-holding purposes. This contribution analyzes to what extent these different venues of social accountability affect the perceived relevance of societal stakeholders to agency-CEOs—their so-called “stakeholder orientation.” By combining quantitative and qualitative data, this study shows that agency-CEOs' stakeholder orientation is strongly associated with actual social media attention. In contrast, the relationship between formal stakeholder arrangements and stakeholder orientation is weak. Qualitative insights from focus group discussions suggest that the associations between social media attention and stakeholder orientation can be explained by mediatization processes within agencies and the reputational risks of social media storms. Overall, the findings support that social media attention is the most important catalyst for stakeholder orientation, rather than stakeholder arrangements.     

关于“南向通道”合作与中国西部开放发展的思考

本文结合中国西部地区开放发展面临的问题,认为当前推动"南向通道"合作有助于西部地区弥补开放短板、促进经济发展,并就"南向通道"合作提出思路建议。     

From Research Evidence to “Evidence by Proxy”? Organizational Enactment of Evidence‐Based Health Care in Four High‐Income Countries

Drawing on multiple qualitative case studies of evidence‐based health care conducted in Sweden, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, the authors systematically explore the composition, circulation, and role of codified knowledge deployed in the organizational enactment of evidence‐based practice. The article describes the “chain of codified knowledge,” which reflects the institutionalization of evidence‐based practice as organizational business as usual, and shows that it is dominated by performance standards, policies and procedures, and locally collected (improvement and audit) data. These interconnected forms of “evidence by proxy,” which are informed by research partly or indirectly, enable simplification, selective reinforcement, and contextualization of scientific knowledge. The analysis reveals the dual effects of this codification dynamic on evidence‐based practice and highlights the influence of macro‐level ideological, historical, and technological factors on the composition and circulation of codified knowledge in the organizational enactment of evidence‐based health care in different countries.     

Sex assessment using measurements of the first lumbar vertebra

Sex determination is a vital part of the medico-legal system but can be difficult in cases where the integrity of the body has been compromised. The purpose of this study was to develop a technique for sex assessment from measurements of the first lumber vertebrate. Twenty-nine linear measurements and five ratios were collected from 113 Chinese adult males and 97 Chinese adult females using digital three-dimensional anthropometry methods. By using discriminant analysis, we found that 23 linear measurements and two ratios identified sexual dimorphism (P<0.01), with predictive accuracy ranging from 57.1% to 86.6%. Using a stepwise method of discriminant function analysis, we found three dimensions predicted sex with 88.6% accuracy: (a) upper end-plate width (EPWu), (b) left pedicle height (PHl), and (c) middle end-plate depth (EPDm). This study shows that a single first lumber vertebra can be used for this purpose, and that the discriminant equation will help forensic determination of sex in the Chinese population.     

Investigation of morphine and morphine glucuronide levels and cytochrome P450 isoenzyme 2D6 genotype in codeine-related deaths

Compared to morphine and morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G), codeine and its other major metabolites codeine-6-glucuronide and norcodeine have weak affinity to opioid μ-receptors. Analgesic effects of codeine are thus largely dependent on metabolic conversion to morphine by the polymorphic cytochrome P450 isoenzyme 2D6 (CYP2D6). How this relates to toxicity and post-mortem whole blood levels is not known. This paper presents a case series of codeine-related deaths where concentrations of morphine, M6G and morphine-3-glucuronide (M3G), as well as CYP2D6 genotype, are taken into account. Post-mortem toxicological specimens from a total of 1444 consecutive forensic autopsy cases in Central Norway were analyzed. Among these, 111 cases with detectable amounts of codeine in femoral blood were identified, of which 34 had femoral blood concentrations exceeding the TIAFT toxicity threshold of 0.3mg/L. Autopsy records of these 34 cases were retrieved and reviewed. In the 34 reviewed cases, there was a large variability in individual morphine to codeine concentration ratios (M/C ratios), and morphine levels could not be predicted from codeine concentrations, even when CYP2D6 genotype was known. 13 cases had codeine concentrations exceeding the TIAFT threshold for possibly lethal serum concentrations (1.6 mg/L). Among these, 8 individuals had morphine concentrations below the toxic threshold according to TIAFT (0.15 mg/L). In one case, morphine as well as M6G and M3G concentrations were below the limit of detection. A comprehensive investigation of codeine-related fatalities should, in addition to a detailed case history, include quantification of morphine and morphine metabolites. CYP2D6 genotyping may be of interest in cases with unexpectedly high or low M/C ratios.