China and Africa: economic growth and a non-transformative political elite

Prevailing narratives in the discourse on China-Africa engagement are that China is developing Africa. This paper departs from those narratives because they disregard the agency of Africa's political elite. Basing its argument on the nature of the African political elite, the paper analyses their role in determining the impact of China's economic and trade engagement on economic development in their respective countries. To do that, it first discusses the nature and identity of African political elites, and examines how they control their states and scarce resources. Having done that, the paper then analyses their role in determining the nature and extent of development emanating from their countries’ economic engagement with China. It then concludes that it is not how much foreign states invest in African countries that determines Africa's rise, but rather political elites who influence the direction of their states’ development.     

A study to narrow down the time when a hyoid bone fracture was sustained

An unstable hyoid bone that can be loosely moved during autopsy is initial reason to suspect trauma to the neck. The question to be answered is whether the increased mobility is due to incomplete ossification of the hyoid, a postmortem injury (damage), or an ante-mortem injury, possibly related to the cause of death. This is the first study to systematically assess whether stereomicroscopic examinations and flat-panel CT-scans of isolated, unstable hyoid bones can add information to the macroscopic examination by helping to determine when the instability arose. Sixteen isolated hyoid bones (8 female, 8 male; 4-87 years-old) were examined after being macerated. Four of the hyoid bones were already classified as unstable during autopsy. Of the other 12, 7 were fractured immediately after autopsy before being macerated, and 5 were fractured after being macerated. There were, in total, six different diagnostic constellations. Stereo-microscopic examination did not yield additional information compared with the macroscopic examination. Flat-panel CT allowed distinction between an incomplete ossification of the hyoid and a fracture, but did not help in determining whether the fracture had been sustained peri- or postmortem.     

Ossification Degrees of Cranial Sutures Determined with Flat‐Panel Computed Tomography: Narrowing the Age Estimate with Extrema

Abstract: Since Broca’s time (1824–1880), ossification of the neurocranial sutures has been used as a characteristic of age. Current approaches include the visual macroscopic examination of ecto and endocranial sutures. The evaluation of the cross‐section of sutures usually necessitates the destruction of the neurocranium. In a nondestructive alternative approach that was tested within the context of the “Digital Forensic Osteology” project that ran in cooperation with the Virtopsy^®‐Project, it emerged that the resolution of conventional multi‐slice computed tomography data sets was not high enough to image sutures. Thus for the experiments presented here, the eXplore Locus Ultra flat‐panel computed tomography scanner from GE Healthcare was used. Calottes were scanned during autopsy and then immediately returned to the corpse. So far, the skullcaps of 221 individuals have been scanned. The cross‐sections of 14 suture segments could be assessed for seven previously defined stages of ossification. In a converse step, the 14 highest and lowest age estimate values corresponding to the individual stages of suture closure found were estimated for each calotte. The obtained ranges narrowing down the age estimate were evaluated with statistics. A mean value of 43.31 years for the range of narrowed age estimates shows that this method can be a useful aid in estimating age. The results of intra‐ and inter‐observer tests showed good overall agreement between the findings of three observers. This method is suitable for a nondestructive age estimation and can be used for the entire calotte.     

Decentralisation and recentralisation in the historical development of the local government system in zimbabwe

Local government as an institution constitutes one of the many resources at the disposal of central government for achieving certain ends. The local government system is therefore a means directly related to some perceived ends although in certain cases it can also be pursued as an end in itself. In many countries including Zimbabwe the ends of local government are often unclear and multidimensional including the promotion of local democracy and participation in national politics and development; providing structural framework for the provision of local services, promoting local administrative efficiency and in rather few cases, providing a framework for local economic development.

In many countries local government system is used to either strengthen a top-down hierarchical approach or a bottom-up or horizontal approach to administration and national economic development. Such goals of local government inevitably result in different types of philosophy, administrative theories and strategies, decentralisation models, organisational structures, centre-local relations and the nature of powers ceded to local government by central government. The main theme of this paper is that within the context of Zimbabwe, there has been a major discrepancy between the largely territorial goals or ends to be achieved by post colonial local government transformation and its continuing functional organisation inherited from colonialism. This contradiction is described in the title as decentralisation and recentralisation.     

The challenges of China-European Union security cooperation in Africa

Asia Europe Journal - The EU-China cooperation on security in Africa has remained on the level of aspirations and policy formulation with insignificant tangible results. Traditionally, the EU has...     

A review of the main determinants and characteristics of centre-local relations in Zimbabwe

This paper examines the main determinants shaping the ultimate nature of centre -local relations in the world' s countries with particular reference to Zimbabwe. These determinants are seen to result in two broad and generalist types of centre-local relations, namely, functional and territorial centre-local relations. Zimbabwe's colonial and post-colonial centre-local relations are then examined within the framework of the two broad models of centre-local relations, and are seen to be largely consisting of functional centre-local relations despite the post-colonial politicians's rhetoric in favour of more territorial relations. The Regional, Town and Country Planning Act (1976), the Urban Councils Act, the Rural Councils Act and the District Councils Act, all indicate a functional prevalence in the content of centre-local relations. The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe's 1984 Directive on decentralisation of administrative structures and the appointment of provincial governors equally indicates a functional preference by design or default in centre-local relations. The paper concludes by emphasizing the relationship between centre-local relations and planning systems at national, regional and local levels.     

Comparative dental radiographic identification using flat panel CT

A skull without lower jaw was found and brought in for identification. It was suspected to be that of a man reported missing five years ago. An undated antemortal dental chart and two dental films of the 1st and 2nd dental quadrants, both taken about 4 years before the man went missing, were available for comparison. The method of choice in solving the identity question was comparative dental radiography. Despite numerous attempts, it was not possible to obtain radiographs of the upper jaw that duplicated the X-ray beam angulation of the antemortem dental films. The skull was thus scanned with a multislice computed tomography (MSCT) scanner, and virtual radiographs with the desired angulation were generated from the data with the maximum intensity projection (MIP) technique. The resulting virtual radiographs could, however, not be used for superimposition with the antemortem radiographs because of their poor resolution and the occurrence of artifacts caused by metallic dental fillings. The upper jaw was therefore scanned again, this time with a high resolution eLU-CT (eXplore Locus Ultra flat panel CT). The resulting eLU-CT datasets were visualized with the MIP technique and yielded virtual radiographs that could be compared with the antemortem radiographs. Positive identification could be assumed with near certainty after dental features could be matched in the superimposition of antemortem and postmortem radiographs. In the presented case, eLU-CT was used for the first time for a comparative dental radiographic identification.     

The Coevolution of Public and Private Security in Nineteenth‐Century Chicago

The coevolution of private detective agencies and municipal police bureaucracies in mid‐nineteenth‐century Chicago arose from the breakdown of an older system in which the provision of law enforcement was delegated to local communities. The growth of anonymity and the presence of strangers in a city undergoing massive changes in transportation undermined this delegative system and created the perception of new public security threats. These threats were compounded by the mobilization of ethnicity in partisan politics. To address these new concerns, political and e conomic elites did not innovate, but turned to traditional practices like special deputization. The use of deputization allowed some law officers to sell their services as entrepreneurs to private firms, while also paving the way for a new bureaucratic police department. Networks of security providers locked in this transformation and made public and private policing alike a permanent feature of the city's institutional landscape.     

Representation and new party survival in multi-level systems

This contribution investigates how the structure of new political parties’ success influences their survival. Improving on the standard of previous studies, we argue in particular that there is no simple linear relationship between vote shares and the likelihood of party survival. Rather, the probability of survival increases sharply if new parties gain enough votes to secure representation. Furthermore, we argue that new parties should be more likely to survive when they are successful at the subordinate (local) level. We test our expectations using a new data set that includes information on 107 newly founded Czech regional parties. Our results show that studies on party lifespans and the electoral success of new political parties require an understanding of the impact of representational thresholds. Most importantly, the reported analyses indicate that models of party survival need to consider the significance of parliamentary representation and the multilevel structure of party competition.