Mixed electoral rules’ impact on party systems

The growing literature about mixed electoral systems has addressed their effect on party systems, voting behavior, campaign strategies, legislative roll-call voting, and other issues in a handful of countries. But, the effect of mixed systems has not been fully evaluated cross-nationally or longitudinally. Using data from the World Bank’s Database of Political Institutions, we address this gap in the literature by investigating two related questions. First, do mixed electoral rules produce different election outcomes than other election rules? Second, are these results attenuated by the definitions of mixed systems that scholars employ? We find that mixed systems generate outcomes that are distinct from other electoral systems and that these findings are generally robust across different definitions.     

What encourages households to adopt rice as a new crop? Understanding gender roles and perceptions in households in northern Namibia

This article investigates how the introduction of new crops influences intra-household decision-making among the Ovambo in northern Namibia where women are responsible for crop farming, while men are engaged in livestock farming. It examines gender relations that underlie daily activities. The findings of the study show that women try new crops on their own or with the help of their children and do not negotiate with their husband, mothers, or brothers over household resources such as land, labour, and the cash of other family members. Women avoid conflicts with family members, but may have an increased perception of contribution to the household if they succeed in introducing new crops.     

East Asia's new economic integration strategy: Moving beyond the FTA

After the Asian currency crisis, a number of cooperative efforts within an ASEAN?+?3 (APT) framework and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between the countries were implemented side-by-side in East Asia.1 1. ASEAN?+?3 meetings were started in 1997 at the ASEAN 30^th anniversary meeting, to which Japan, Korea, and China were invited. Naturally, the motivation for regional cooperation was heightened in the face of the crisis. View all notes An East Asia Summit is scheduled for the end of 2005. If a summit were held, Japan, China, and Korea would be able to participate in regional cooperation along with ASEAN, as equal partners rather than guests, and the discussion about forming a community, the East Asia Community, would reach a new stage.2 2. The exact definition of “East Asian Community” is not necessarily clear, but at the ASEAN business investment summit in October 2004, Prime Minister Koizumi said in his speech that strengthening FTAs and other economic cooperation, implementing joint economic reforms, and closing the development gap were some of the issues that needed to be addressed when building a community. However, there has not been any discussion about the organization of the East Asian Community, such as establishment of treaties or an office. View all notes However, compared to the largely unobjectionable strengthening of “cooperation,” free trade under an official FTA might require adjusting various economic interests, and there is no guarantee that the merits of free trade will outweigh the costs of these adjustments.3 3. It is well known that WTO Article 24 is essentially an FTA agreement, requiring that “substantially all” trade restrictions be lifted within 10 years, but developing countries are exempt from this particular requirement through an enabling clause. The definition of “substantially all” is itself vague, and because of the enabling clause, the majority of FTAs between developing countries are limited to low-level FTAs. The FTA between China and ASEAN is also subject to an enabling clause. View all notes If for a number of reasons the FTA never goes beyond an APEC-style “voluntarism,” the East Asian economic integration on which the community will be built will be a long time coming. For integration to move steadily forward, a new approach is needed that is different from that of the West and that reflects the political and economic structure of East Asia. This paper addresses the issues and dilemmas that have emerged from the complex FTA negotiations in recent years, and proposes a new integrated approach that reflects the structure of East Asia.     

Influences of return migration on international collaborative research networks: cases of Japanese scientists returning from the US

The emigration of scientists facilitates the formation of international networks. However, are ties in such networks maintained after the scientists return to their respective home countries? Using data from the Web of Science, this paper analyzes whether Japanese migrant scientists returning from the US maintain the collaborative research network ties that they formed during their stay in the US and, if so, what features of these ties contribute to maintaining these relationships. The geographical distance between the US and Japan can impede the transfer of knowledge that is transmitted most effectively through face-to-face interactions. However, social proximity may compensate for geographical distance. Accordingly, the ties that Japanese scientists have formed with other Japanese scientists living in the US are more likely to be maintained than the ties that they have formed with scientists of different ethnicities. Social proximity was also measured by past experiences in collaborative research. The ties to scientists with whom Japanese scientists collaborated more frequently or co-produced papers with higher citation counts are more likely to be maintained after the scientists return to Japan. When collaborative research of American and Japanese scientists is worthwhile, they obtain mutual benefits through a ‘give and take’ in which they compensate for one partner’s lack of knowledge by the other partner’s knowledge. In a research field with which the developmental gap between the US and Japan is great, ties are less likely to be maintained.     

Effective injection in pulsed splitless mode for impurity profiling of methamphetamine crystal by GC or GC/MS

Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) are commonly used for the impurity profiling of illegal drugs. For the impurity profiling of methamphetamine, it is very important to obtain information about impurities related to the manufacturing route and the precursor chemicals [B. Remberg, A.H. Stead, Drug characterization/impurity profiling, with special focus on methamphetamine: recent work of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, Bull. Narcotics LI (1999) 97-117 ]. There are many artifact impurities arising from the preparation of samples and conditions of GC. Moreover, some impurities pose a barrier to the statistical processing of methamphetamine profiling. We investigated capillary GC analysis using pulsed splitless (PS/L) injection to minimize the thermal decomposition of impurities at the injection port and improve the transfer of samples into the column. We confirmed that the optimal conditions of PS/L-mode are 230 degrees C (injection temperature), 50 psi (pulsed pressure) and 1.1 min (pulsed time) for the methamphetamine profiling. Based on the impurity profiles of 48 methamphetamine crystals in PS/L-mode, we can achieve very easy handling and obtained, good results.     

Screening test of stimulants in human urine utilizing headspace gas chromatography for field test

An accurate and simple screening method of stimulants in human urine using headspace gas chromatography utilizing heat of dissolution of potassium carbonate was developed. A 4.9-g portion of potassium carbonate was put into the vial prior to sending to the field, and a 5-ml aliquot of urine, suspected of containing stimulants and internal standard components was pipetted. After the vial was sealed and shaken by hand, 1 ml of its headspace gas was taken by disposable syringe and injected into the gas chromatograph. A compact gas chromatograph device with flame ionization detector and fused silica capillary column was developed for this experiment. Detection limits of methamphetamine and amphetamine were 1.0 micrograms/ml and 1.5 micrograms/ml, respectively.     

环境激素及其对内分泌系统的干扰

近年来,由被排到环境中的化学物质而引起的野生生物的两性化(主要是雌性化),生殖器的异常,成长中的胚胎的异常,性行为的异常以及繁殖数量的减少等的报告不断增加.因这些现象与化学物质所具有的似激素及抗激素--统称"环境激素"的作用有关,有必要从干扰内分泌作用的新观点出发,对化学物质引起的环境污染采取相应措施.     

Three cases of sudden death due to butane or propane gas inhalation: analysis of tissues for gas components

We report three cases of sudden death due to inhalation of portable cooking stove fuel (case 1), cigarette lighter fuel (case 2), and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (case 3). Specimens of blood, urine, stomach contents, brain, heart, lung, liver, kidney, and fat were collected and analyzed for propylene, propane, isobutane, and n-butane by headspace gas chromatography. n-Butane was the major substance among the volatiles found in the tissues of cases 1 and 2, and propane was the major substance in case 3. A combination of the autopsy findings and the gas analysis results revealed that the cause of death was ventricular fibrillation induced by hard muscle exercise after gas inhalation in cases 1 and 2, and that the cause of death in case 3 might be hypoxia. It is possible that the victim in case 3 was under anesthetic toxicity of accumulated isobutane which is a minor component of liquefied petroleum gas.     

The Reality of Protecting the Rohingya: An Inherent Limitation of the Responsibility to Protect

ABSTRACT

This article explores the applicability of the notion of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in reference to the crisis faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar, and it discusses why the R2P has limited usefulness in certain cases. Since R2P came to be recognized by ASEAN, ongoing community-building activities within the ASEAN led to optimism that member countries would give increased attention to human rights, despite the organization’s historic practice of non-intervention in individual states’ internal affairs. However, the ASEAN’s stance regarding the Rohingya crisis can be described as all talk and no action. While recognizing the value of the R2P in protecting people from mass atrocities in certain contexts, the article points out the critical flaw that R2P rests on a particular discourse of sovereignty. Thus, it argues that the R2P not only has limited usefulness in the case of the Rohingya (whom Myanmar treats as stateless non-citizens) but could even exacerbate the situation.     

Performance of immunoassays in screening for opiates,cannabinoids and amphetamines in post-mortem blood

Several immunoassay methods for screening of abused drugs in whole blood were evaluated in post-mortem forensic toxicology. Blood samples known to be positive or negative for opiates, cannabinoids or amphetamines by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were analysed by EMIT II Plus and EMIT d.a.u., Syva RapidTest and Triage 8 after acetone precipitation. In these experiments, the EMIT immunoassay method was modified by using the Dade Behring VIVA analyser to detect substances more sensitively. Low concentrations of abused drugs were detected in blood samples. The sensitivities of the modified EMIT method for opiates, cannabinoids and amphetamines were 100, 86 and 98%, respectively, whereas the values were below 86% with the other methods. The specificities of all immunoassay methods for opiates and cannabinoids were 83% or above but 51-85% for amphetamines. Sample rejection occurred in a few cases with the EMIT amphetamine assays. The modified EMIT immunoassay system presented here seems to be useful for screening of drugs of abuse in post-mortem blood samples, especially when urine is not available.