Working hard on the outside: a multimodal critical discourse analysis of The Biggest Loser Australia

The Biggest Loser (TBL) is a reality television weight-loss programme that positions itself as a response to the so-called “obesity crisis”. Research on TBL has thus far focussed on audience responses and its effect on viewers’ beliefs about weight loss. This article focuses instead on how meaning is constructed in TBL. We conducted a multimodal critical discourse analysis of a key episode of TBL (the 2012 Australian season finale) to examine how the textual, visual and auditory elements combine to construct meanings beyond the ostensible health messages. Although the overt message is that all contestants have worked hard, turned their lives around and been “successful”, examination of editing choices, lighting and colour, clothing and time spent on contestants allows us to see that the programme constructs varying degrees of success between contestants and provides accounts for these differences in outcomes. In this way the programme is able to present itself as a putative celebration of all contestants while prescribing narrow limits around what constitutes success. TBL reinforces an ideology in which “success” is a direct result of “the work” of weight loss (both physical and emotional), which can apparently be read straightforwardly off the body. TBL’s “celebration” of weight loss thus reproduces and strengthens the widespread view of fat bodies as physical manifestations of individual (ir)responsibility and psychological dysfunction, and contributes to the ongoing stigmatisation of obesity.     

Long‐term Geophysical Monitoring of Simulated Clandestine Graves using Electrical and Ground Penetrating Radar Methods: 4–6 Years After Burial

This ongoing monitoring study provides forensic search teams with systematic geophysical data over simulated clandestine graves for comparison to active cases. Simulated “wrapped,” “naked,” and “control” burials were created. Multiple geophysical surveys were collected over 6 years, here showing data from 4 to 6 years after burial. Electrical resistivity (twin electrode and ERI), multifrequency GPR, grave and background soil water were collected. Resistivity surveys revealed that the naked burial had low‐resistivity anomalies up to year four but then difficult to image, whereas the wrapped burial had consistent large high‐resistivity anomalies. GPR 110‐ to 900‐MHz frequency surveys showed that the wrapped burial could be detected throughout, but the naked burial was either not detectable or poorly resolved. 225‐MHz frequency GPR data were optimal. Soil water analyses showed decreasing (years 4 to 5) to background (year 6) conductivity values. Results suggest both resistivity and GPR surveying if burial style unknown, with winter to spring surveys optimal and increasingly important as time increases.     

完善我国商品房预售制度的立法建议

对于商品房预售制度问题层出不穷的今天,一个重要的问题是如何保证房地产金融安全高效地运作。从其他国家和地区的国际经验来看,房屋预售制度促进房地产业的良性循环关键在于设计合理的风险担保机制以分散其各个环节的风险。无论是严格的准入或退出制度,预售资金的专项管理,严格的法律监管,或是为购房者提供更多的合约形式等这些都是风险分担机制的重要组成部分。     

关于探索与建立食品药品行政重点监控“黑名单”制度研究

本文结合我国食品药品监管的实际现状,借鉴了国内外相关部门的立法和实践经验,着重解析美国FDA黑名单制度的设立背景、制度架构及典型案例,阐述了值得我国食品药品监管部门采纳的相关启示,并提出了我国构建食品药品重点监控名单和市场退出机制的具体构想,形成了相关的基本制度。     

无问而问与不答之答——读邓正来《中国法学向何处去》

中国法学受着一种源自西方的"现代化范式"支配,只有充分、坚实地证明当下中国法学已经从根本上无力解释和解决中国法律实践中所存在的基本问题或关键问题,才能断言中国法学存在着总体性危机.邓正来先生并没有有效进行这种证明,无法断言中国法学存在着总体性危机,"中国法学向何处去"就是"无问而问",即便不是一个假问题,在它的提出理路里也很难被认为是一个真问题.邓正来先生并没有给出"中国法律理想图景"或"邓正来的中国法律理想图景",他并没有真正回答"中国法学向何处去"这一问题,但是在他的论述中给出了一个问题解决套路.因种种原因,该问题解决套路的有效性十分可疑.经过邓先生的立论和笔者的驳论,显示出一些对中国法学发展可能有意义的问题.     

The economics of the Internet of Things in the Global South

While the Internet of Things (IoT) is not new, its key components are becoming increasingly affordable now, which makes the technology extremely attractive for the Global South. By collecting data from various IoT sources, combining them with data from other sources and using big data analytics, decisions can be made and actions can be taken that can have important economic, social, ecological and environmental implications in these countries. The most visible impacts of the IoT in these countries include improvements in agricultural and food systems, enhancement of environmental security and resource conservation, achievement of better healthcare, public health and medicine, and enhancement of the efficiency of key industries. This paper provides an overview of how the IoT is currently being used in the Global South. It also discusses the opportunities and challenges that IoT initiatives present there. The analysis indicates that the IoT may address some of the institutional bottlenecks, technological challenges and key sources of high transaction costs. On the other hand, various sources of underdevelopment may act as barriers to full utilisation of the IoT.     

Organizational Forms and Incentives in Public Procurement: Natural Experiment at a Large Public Sector Organization in Russia

This article analyses how the intensification of centralized monitoring within public organization may impact incentives for efficiency in those divisions of the organization that have different levels of financial autonomy. The efficiency of divisions’ activities was estimated through their procurement effectiveness. All the divisions were classified as non-commercial units (NCU) funded by the government or as income earning units (IEU) operating in the market and having broader financial autonomy. The results show that under standard monitoring, the IEU had more efficient procurements compared to the NCU. After intensification of centralized monitoring, the differences in performance became insignificant. These findings show that stricter monitoring is efficient for organizations with soft budget constraints, while for organizations with hard budget constraints it is preferable to use more flexible regulations.     

Domestic Institutions,Trade Disputes,and the Monitoring and Enforcement of International Law

Why do some governments participate more actively in the enforcement of international law than others? In the context of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO), I argue that domestic institutions – and, specifically, the electoral rule – can account for these differences. Interest groups are frequently harmed when foreign governments violate international law and have compliance information, but they lack access to formal enforcement mechanisms, such as dispute settlement bodies. I identify two complementary effects of domestic institutions. Where domestic institutions increase the government’s responsiveness to interest groups, the government is more likely to enforce international law on their behalf. In turn, because they expect that rule violations are more likely to be enforced, interest groups are more willing to contribute to the monitoring of international law. Hence, interest groups are more likely to provide the information necessary for enforcement, and governments are more likely to be aware of rule violations and to provide enforcement. Empirical evidence from the GATT/WTO is consistent with these propositions.     

关于两个宪法问题的探讨

成熟的法治社会需要理性的宪法学,在中国建设法治社会的进程中,依法治国首先是依宪治国,关注宪法制宪权的价值与现实根源,探析宪法规范最高性的表现与宪法制裁性实现问题,对于提高民众宪法意识,树立宪法权威具有重要的现实意义。     

对我国产品质量监督实践模式的探讨

三鹿奶粉事件折射出我国产品质量监督存在着质量监督机关权责不明、处罚过于轻缓和质量监督方式单一等问题,导致监督效果大打折扣。因此,面对较为严重的产品质量问题,我国应借鉴国外在产品质量监督方面成功的经验和做法,建立我国产品质量安全长效机制,尽快完善法制和行政监督机制,合理运用各种检验方法,使政府监管和社会监管相结合,切实保障产品质量安全。