Varieties of regional monetary cooperation: a tool for reducing volatility in developing economies?

Can regional monetary cooperation shield developing regions from global volatility? The article argues that the main contribution of regional monetary cooperation to enhancing the shock-buffering ability of its member countries is to provide short-term liquidity and to increase regional trade and financial links. In contrast, traditional optimum currency area (OCA) theories formulate the advantages of regional monetary cooperation in terms of allocative efficiency gains and aim at a full currency union as final stage. As such, traditional theory widely ignores the shock-buffering capacity of regional monetary cooperation as well as their varieties. In contrast, the article argues that intermediate stages of regional monetary cooperation have their own rationales related to such shock-buffering capacity. This paper systematically examines the variety of regional cooperation arrangements in the developing world that range from regional payments systems over the pooling of reserves to exchange rate coordination. We propose that the potential for shock buffering is dependent on the chosen form of cooperation. Furthermore, in contrast to full monetary integration, which is highly demanding in terms of policy coordination, the requirements for regional policy coordination are significantly lower, depending on the form and aim of the arrangement.     

The EU and Multidimensional Forms of Power: Critical Moments and Change in Actorness and Power

This article introduces a framework for studying the European Union (EU) as power by focusing on what EU does rather than what EU is. Conceptualizing EU as a regional international society, EU is constituted along multidimensional lines. While a code of conduct limits internal and external practices, critical moments are important junctures for practitioners to reinterpret norms and rules, leading to the reproduction of EU as power. The practice of minority rights illustrates how a lack of intersubjectivity limits the EU’s power. It is first through practitioners’ engagement with norms and rules that new practices are established.     

公司对外担保权能研究评新《公司法》第16条第1款之规定

新《公司法》第16条第1款虽赋予了公司对外担保较大的自由权,但对公司超出经营范围的对外担保问题规定模糊。在世界性的废除法人越权行为原则之际,国内法律界对公司越权对外担保依然讳莫如深。国际经验显示,对外担保是公司固有之权能已渐成共识,我国法律等待时机作出修正实乃大势所趋。     

Narrators’ perspectives: communicating the EU in Ukraine,Israel and Palestine in times of conflict

ABSTRACT

The role of newsmakers as intermediaries in the shaping of external perceptions and reception of narratives advanced by different actors remains sparse in EU studies. This contribution fills this gap and addresses the personal images of the EU of newsmakers. We contribute to the understanding of those personal perceptions and their link to professional values of audience interest, newsworthiness and objectivity in reporting the EU. The article will demonstrate that all journalists perceive EU coverage in their respective locations are led by local priorities. Negative views of the EU as a weakening, biased, ineffective, elitist and arrogant actor are dominant. Arguably, they create conditions for the birth and dissemination of Euro-distant and even Euro-sceptic media narratives. The article will explain why this is the case while drawing on political/ideational and business/financial explanations.     

中国法学走向世界的困境与出路

清末法律改革以来，中国法学在一百多年里经历了继受、批判和反思的过程。然而直到现在，中国法学仍然没能在整体上获得世界法学界的承认与尊重，这其中有外部语言文化和社会政策条件的限制，也有法学界内部缺乏规范性、自主性、批判性的因素。我们必须仔细分析、反思并克服这些阻碍因素，才能促使中国法学走出困境，迈向通往世界法学学术殿堂的康庄大道。     

针刺配合耳穴压豆治疗失眠36例

目的 观察针刺配合耳穴压豆治疗失眠的疗效。方法 将72例失眠患者随机分为治疗组（针刺配合耳穴压豆）和对照组（口服佐匹克隆）,每组各36例,观察两组的临床疗效。结果 治疗组治愈率和总有效率分别为58.3%、94.4%,对照组分别为30.5%、75.0%,两组治愈率和总有效率比较,差异均有统计学意义（P<0.05）。结论 应用针刺配合耳穴压豆治疗失眠,效果良好。     

Cross-sectional anthropometric study of the external ear

This cross-sectional anthropometric study was aimed at estimating expansion of the external ear during adult life, in order to evaluate the extent to which anatomical features appearing in earprints may vary with time. A review of the literature was provided. Data extracted from photographed ears of 1353 subjects were analyzed. The effect of age on auricle length, earlobe length, and auricle width was explored using univariate analyses of variance. The regression coefficients of age on these dimensions were, respectively, 0.178, 0.115, and 0.073 mm/yr for males, and 0.162, 0.100, and 0.073 mm/year for females (p=0.000). Regression coefficients of age corrected for stature were assumed to be less accurate. Anthelix prominence and helix width were analyzed using data of 175 subjects, and appeared unaffected by age. As lobe expansion appeared to exceed the estimated cartilage expansion, it was assumed that particularly the imprint of the lobe would be less stable with time.     

Fiji Economy: Muddling Through

Abstract

Twenty-five years since the first military coup in 1987, Fiji continues to muddle through both politically and economically. The promise of a general election under a race-free constitution remains the fervent hope of all citizens. Economically the country continues to slide downwards, reflected in poor economic growth in 2010 and 2011. A poor level of private sector investment remains a feature of the macroeconomic picture, and it is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future. This article provides an overview of the Fiji economy and reflections on future prospects.     

The Validity of Ear Prediction Guidelines Used in Facial Approximation*,†,‡

Abstract: This study examined eight previously published ear prediction methods by Welcker, Gerasimov, Fedosyutkin and Nainys, and Broadbent and Mathews. Computed tomography scans of 78 living adults (n₁) did not support any of these previously published recommendations. Free earlobes were found to accompany protruding supramastoid crests (Pearson’s χ² < 0.05); and ear length [l] and width [w] differed by sex (p < 0.05), correlated with age (r = 0.38[l]; 0.32[w]), and correlated with facial height (r = 0.37[l]; 0.30[w]). New regression equations (for ear length and width) were generated using these variables in several samples and, where possible, cross‐validated using independent data (n₁ = 78, n₂ = 2190, n₃ = 1328, n₄ = 1010, and n₅ = 47). As a result of these analyses, four valid and tested methods for ear prediction were identified, but large degrees of error continue to make accurate prediction of the ear, from the skull, problematic.     

探析目的论视角下优化高职高专英语教学环节的策略

目的论是用目的或目的因解释世界的哲学学说,可以分为＂外在目的论＂和＂内在目的论＂。本文以目的论为理论基础,以实践调研结果为依据,从高职高专英语教学的现状出发,把高职高专英语教学环节的＂外在目的＂和＂内在目的＂诠释为＂整体教学环节＂和＂课堂教学环节＂,在分析高职高专英语教学目的的基础上,探索优化高职高专英语教学环节的方式和手段。