Selbstentfesselung in kleinen Schritten? Deutschlands Außenpolitik zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts

Ohne Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag wurde bereits Anfang Januar 2003 abgeschlossen und konnte bis Mitte Februar nur noch geringfügig erg?nzt werden. Der Verfasser ist Herrn Fariborz Zelli, M.A., für seine Mithilfe bei der Vorbereitung dieses Essays zu gro?em Dank verpflichtet.     

Effect of hair care and hair cosmetics on the concentrations of fatty acid ethyl esters in hair as markers of chronically elevated alcohol consumption

Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEE) can be used as alcohol markers in hair. It was investigated in this study whether this diagnostic method is disturbed by hair care and hair cosmetics. Traces of ethyl myristate, ethyl palmitate, ethyl oleate and ethyl stearate were detected in all of 49 frequently applied hair care products by headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The highest concentration was 0.003% in a hair wax. From experiments with separated hair samples of alcoholics as well as from the evaluation of the FAEE concentrations and the data about hair care of 75 volunteers (alcoholics, social drinkers and teetotalers) follows that usual shampooing, permanent wave, dyeing, bleaching or shading are of minor importance as compared to the drinking amount and other individual features. However, false positive results were found after daily treatment with a hair lotion containing 62.5% ethanol, with a deodorant and with a hair spray. As an explanation, it is assumed that FAEE are formed in the sebum glands also after regular topical application of products with a higher ethanol content.     

Democratic states,aid agencies and world society: What's the name of the game?

This article discusses some aspects of the changing structure and dynamics of the global humanitarian system with particular reference to non-governmental agencies and their increasingly diverse organisational philosophies and modes of intervention. The article has two goals. First, an analytical framework is proposed, based on game-theoretical concepts, which allows us broadly to classify different forms of non-governmental humanitarian action and their relations with states. Second, crucial changes regarding constraints and orientations which have reshaped the interactions between humanitarians and states in global society are explored – changes which cannot be understood without a closer look both at the interpretive cultures of specific aid agencies in different countries and at the operational arenas in which these agencies find themselves today.     

Information Exchange in Policy Networks

Information exchange in policy networks is usually attributed to preference similarity, influence reputation, social trust, and institutional actor roles. We suggest that political opportunity structures and transaction costs play another crucial role and estimate a rich statistical network model on tie formation in the German toxic chemicals policy domain. The results indicate that the effect of preference similarity is absorbed by institutional, relational, and social opportunity structures. Political actors choose contacts who minimize transaction costs while maximizing outreach and information. We also find that different types of information exchange operate in complementary, but not necessarily congruent, ways.     

Corporate response strategies to regulatory uncertainty: evidence from uncertainty about post-Kyoto regulation

A better understanding of firms’ response strategies to regulatory uncertainty enables policymakers to improve policymaking efficiency and to enhance the effectiveness of regulation. Based on a literature review, we categorize responses according to their objective toward regulatory uncertainty into four strategies: avoidance, reduction, adaptation, and disregard strategies. Unique data from a worldwide cross-industry survey show that firms predominantly pursue reduction, and to a lesser extent adaptation and disregard strategies, in response to post-Kyoto regulatory uncertainty. Surprisingly, firms in fact only sporadically pursue avoidance strategies, in contradiction to their own public announcements commonly made during policymaking to realize such strategies. The degree of regulatory uncertainty perceived and its interpretation as a threat increase the pursuit of most of these strategies. In addition, firms’ response strategies to post-Kyoto regulatory uncertainty differ across industries and partly across regions.     

Computer assisted modeling of ethyl sulfate pharmacokinetics

For 12 volunteers of a drinking experiment the concentration–time-courses of ethyl sulfate (EtS) and ethanol were simulated and fitted to the experimental data. The concentration–time-courses were described with the same mathematical model as previously used for ethyl glucuronide (EtG). The kinetic model based on the following assumptions and simplifications: a velocity constant k_form for the first order formation of ethyl sulfate from ethanol and an exponential elimination constant k_el. The mean values (and standard deviations) obtained for k_form and k_el were 0.00052 h^?1 (0.00014) and 0.561 h^?1 (0.131), respectively. Using the ranges of these parameters it is possible to calculate minimum and maximum serum concentrations of EtS based on stated ethanol doses and drinking times. The comparison of calculated and measured concentrations can prove the plausibility of alleged ethanol consumption and add evidence to the retrospective calculation of ethanol concentrations based on EtG concentrations.     

Political ecology of industrial tree plantations and large dams

Ricardo Carrere and Larry Lohman: Pulping the South: Industrial Tree Plantations and the World Paper Economy. London and New Jersey: Zed Books, 1996.

Patrick McCully: Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and the Politics of Large Dams. London and New Jersey: Zed Books, 1996.     

Relativierung des Rechts durch Digitalisierung

Das Recht ist in modernen Gesellschaften ein wichtiges Steuerungsmittel. Schon bisher ist es allerdings nicht das einzige Instrument gewesen, um gesellschaftliche Entwicklungen und individuelles Verhalten zu beeinflussen. Es gab und gibt Bereiche, die sich selbst organisieren und in denen staatliches Recht aus unterschiedlichen Gründen nicht das entscheidende Steuerungsmittel ist. Dieser Beitrag untersucht, wie sich die zunehmende Digitalisierung der modernen Gesellschaften auf die Steuerungsfähigkeit des Rechts auswirkt. Er kommt dabei zu dem Ergebnis, dass die Bedeutung des Rechts in der digitalisierten und hoch fragmentierten Welt abnimmt. Das Recht muss sich deshalb Verbündete in anderen Bereichen der Gesellschaft suchen, um weiterhin Steuerungsfunktionen für die Gesellschaft wahrnehmen zu können. Der Beitrag skizziert, wer als Verbündeter des Rechts in Frage kommt und wie die notwendigen transrechtlichen Kooperationen aussehen könnten.     

Affect Regulation and the Cycle of Violence Against Women: New Directions for Understanding the Process

The process of the intergenerational transmission of violence is not well understood. A risk and resilience model of criminal violence against women was investigated using secondary data. The sample was composed of adolescent male juvenile delinquents who had been physically abused by their parents, and who were followed up at ages 25 and 31. A series of structural equation models were fit to investigate whether dysregulated affect mediated the effects of attachment and family chaos on the adult perpetration of violence against women. These models support the hypothesis that affect dysregulation may act as a mediator. Results raise new ideas about the mechanisms by which violence may be transmitted across generations.