Eastern industrialization and its effects on the west

There have always been factions within the Chinese Communist Party. Four recent books on China show that the pragmatic basis for the Party's continuing rule is the success of its economic policies and the preservation of law and order. Economic progress has been remarkable, but the political system is not well suited to cope with popular resentment at corruption and the abuse of power by officials. Nor is the concept of. Human Rights well understood. But with more and more |Chinese students studying overseas and the influence of the internet, ideas and influences from abroad are bound to be reflected in the increasing debate about the future of the political system. The recent dismissal and disgrace of Bo Xilai lifts the curtain on the realities of the struggle for power at the top. But a far greater challenge would arise if there were to be any marked and prolonged slowing of economic growth.     

Determination of nimetazepam and 7-aminonimetazepam in human urine by using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

We report determination of metabolites of popular drugs of abuse, including nimetazepam and nitrazepam, in urine by using liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Nimetazepam and its metabolites, 7-aminonimetazepam and nitrazepam, were extracted by solid-phase extraction using a DAU cartridge. An ammonium acetate buffer solution (pH 4) and a Luna polar-RP column were selected as the mobile and stationary phase, respectively, for liquid chromatography. Mass spectrometry was used for analysis and was optimized for operation in the positive mode for all analytes. The urine specimens were screened for the presence of nimetazepam and its metabolites nitrazepam and 7-aminonimetazepam at a concentration of 0.1 ng/mL. Presence of 7-aminonimetazepam in the urine was an indicator of the subject being a probable abuser of nimetazepam.     

The Impact of Psychological Consequences of Rape on Rape Case Attrition: The Police Perspective

This paper examines whether the psychological sequelae of rape relate to rape case attrition by leading police to see the victim as less reliable. A mixed methods approach with two linked studies, one qualitative and one quantitative, was used. In Study 1, the qualitative study, interviews with 12 specialist police officers were analysed using Framework Analysis. In Study 2, the quantitative study, 76 specialist officers completed an online questionnaire to assess the generalisability of Study 1’s findings. In Study 1, officers’ perceptions of victims clustered into three stereotypes, which we label “the real victim”, “the mad discloser”, and “the bad discloser”. Victims who exhibited signs of shame, self-blame, and post-traumatic stress reactions which impeded their ability to give a coherent account of the rape were perceived as less reliable “mad” or “bad” victims. The findings of Study 2 supported these results. Although police interview strategies have improved in recent years, there is evidence that signs of trauma and shame in the victim are sometimes misinterpreted as signs of lying. This may affect attrition by impacting on victim-officer relationships. Further training on recognising trauma and understanding its consequences is recommended both for specialist officers and front-line staff.     

W.E.B. Du Bois in Turn-of-the-Century Atlanta, 1897–1910

In the decade and a half between the completion of his Harvard Ph.D. (1895) and his founding of The Crisis for the NAACP (1910), African American historian and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois laid the empirical foundations for modern sociology and the revisionist interpretation of history. Despite his prodigious academic efforts, he eventually lost faith in the ability of scholarship to help African Americans and he left academe for the NAACP and the world of advocacy.     

IMF and the crisis of the marginalized urban sector in Korea

The “Asian economic crisis” brought with it horrendous social consequences in Korea such as mass unemployment, unparalleled rises in poverty, diminished social services, rising school dropouts, increasing suicide rates, divorce and domestic violence. The primary aim of this study is to identify policies that would ameliorate these effects on the urban poor in Korea. In order to do so, we clarify how the nature and magnitude of urban low-income households in Korea have changed since the economic crisis. After providing an overview of macroeconomic events associated with the crisis and the main links between these events and economic conditions of the urban poor, we identify the socioeconomic characteristics and changes of household income for the urban poor during the crisis periods, 1997–1999. We investigate how the IMF program has changed the lives of the low-income households by adopting regression analyses and the decomposition method. The study concludes with key policy issues that would help prevent or offset the deterioration of the urban poor in Korea.