Part Of 1990s Research Articles

Communist Insurgency in Manticao, 1980-1986

This study re-examines the history of the NPA in Manticao in 1980 to 1986. It specifically determines the factors that influenced both its formation and demise in 1986. Thirty (30) NPA returnees served as key informants of the study. They were gathered through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. In addition, the data of the study was gathered through in-depth interviews and Key Informant Interviews (KII). The findings of the study revealed that in 1980, FGU12, a NPA unit was established in Manticao. Its formation in the municipality was motivated by a Catholic priest of Irish descent. The growth of its members was influenced by the constant lectures or recruitment by one of his students, ‘ka Mario. Moreover, the military abuses in the municipality and fear from both the military and the NPA added to its growth. In the succeeding years, the members of the NPA in Manticao tremendously grew. In the latter part of 1980s, the CPP-NPA launched “Operasyon Ahos”, the anti-infiltration purge campaign against the suspected Deep Penetration Agents (DPAs) of the party. Finally, the campaign resulted in the massive death of its members all over the Philippines which resulted to their surrender.

Determination of 137Cs content in fuel assemblies of a zero power reactor by Monte Carlo based efficiency calibration

In the Training Reactor of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics EK-10 fuel assemblies are applied and some slightly irradiated EK-10 fuel assemblies are stored as spare fuel. These fuel assemblies were used in a critical assembly in the first part of 1970s. Due to the lack of exact data related to the power history of these assemblies the long-lived fission product (137Cs) content was determined by gamma spectrometry. Some fuel assemblies were measured in a predetermined geometric arrangement using a portable Canberra GX2518 XtRa coaxial type HPGe semiconductor gamma detector. In order to determine the energy dependent detection efficiency function for this rather complex measuring geometry Monte Carlo model was constructed. For calculation of the specific activities of radioisotopes located in the fuel assemblies MCNP6 transport code was applied. The MC simulation model such as the material composition of fuel rods, cladding and the exact geometry of fuel assemblies were designed by original documents of EK-10 fuel assembly. The MC model calculation was verified by the measured intensities of the gamma lines emitted by 235U isotope and of the gamma lines of the daughter elements of 238U.

New politics of governing global capitalism: Sovereign governments and living law

Since the crisis of 2007–2009, sovereignty, government and politics are on the agenda of social sciences and of international policy platforms, most recently in Davos. This is a departure from anti-statist, free-tradist visions of global market development in the 1980s and 1990s when sovereignty was simply associated with freedom of action of economic actors (most significantly, global corporations and banks) and governance simply referred to technical rules serving the ends of these actors posed in terms of dictates of the market. This paper points to societal dislocations (e.g. income discrepancies, unemployment) incumbent on global market development and to a time lag in which these made themselves felt in the developed and developing world. It argues that the developing world experienced the disillusionment with markets in the latter part of 1990s and early 2000s and sought solutions in effective governments, putting them in the service of reaping the benefits of global market expansion for individual regions. It meant non-liberal ways of governing markets, distancing from abstract formulations of individual rights, turning the ‘rule of law’ into living law deeply rooted in societal concerns not limited to commercial actors but including those of both blue-collar and white collar workers, of migrant populations, and women. At issue is an introduction of politics, of political agency and initiatives. The developed world rejected what is labeled as an ‘autocratic turn’; and is lost for a solution to market woes, except for further measures to maximize gains by major commercial actors, as in the case of the Greek crisis.

Neonatal Psychology: Theories and Practice

Não se aplica

Evaluation of simulated decadal variations over the Euro-Mediterranean region from ENSEMBLES to Med-CORDEX

Med-CORDEX simulations over the period 1979–2011 are evaluated with regard to their capability to represent observed decadal variations over the Euro-Mediterranean region and improve upon previous generation simulations from the ENSEMBLES project in their various experimental set-ups. Such an evaluation is needed to inform the use of these simulations and also future model development. For temperature, both Med-CORDEX and ENSEMBLES simulations tend to provide comparable results: they generally capture the sign and timing of the anomalies but not the amplitude. In general, no clear stratification appears when considering different types of Med-CORDEX regional modeling systems. Rather, it is remarkable that certain periods are poorly represented by all systems with a general underestimation of the observed long-term temperature trend, mostly in the summer season, even with respect to the corresponding global drivers. For precipitation, the Med-CORDEX simulations are closer to observations than the other datasets, with some improvement with respect to ENSEMBLES dataset. In general, all the systems experience difficulties in representing anomalies during specific periods or for specific regions. These appear in part due to limitations in the reanalysis boundary forcing data. For instance, in the second part of 1980s, the spatial patterns of surface air temperature during DJF/MAM are generally poorly represented, as well as the regionally averaged MAM/JJA surface air temperature decadal anomalies. Overall, the evaluation suggests limited improvement in Med-CORDEX simulations compared to ENSEMBLES, and a lack of sensitivity to resolution or coupling configuration, with persisting problems in part likely related to the representation of surface processes that could also affect the viability of future projections (e.g. the estimation of temperature trends). A set of decadal variability evaluation metrics, as applied in this study, could be useful in the context of a broader evaluation framework.

UN Peacekeeping Challenges, Solutions and South Asia’s Stance

The term peacekeeping is not included in the United Nations (UN) charter. The UN defines peacekeeping as ‘an operation involving military personnel, but without enforcement powers, established by the United Nations to help maintain or restore international peace and security in areas of conflict’ (White 1997). During the Cold War period, peacekeeping was mainly confined to Middle East, parts of Africa and other regional conflicts, which were mainly associated with de-colonisation. The major limitations are created when the states decline to offer forces for the peacekeeping operations, as is evident in the case of recent peacekeeping operations in Africa. The UN peacekeeping underwent a great expansion along with new mandates in the early part of 1990s. This resulted in a huge increase in the requirement of peacekeepers along with a rising budget and this led to a huge gap in terms of commitment and capability needed and what was provided. Greater number of resources including peacekeeping troops were required than what was actually made available. The two most egregious failures occurred in Srebrenica, Bosnia–Herzegovina, and in Rwanda. These failures have resulted in UN taking up several new measures in order to improve the peacekeeping operations. This article tries to highlight the impending governance issues of UN along with the adopted solutions to solve the issues. It also tries to highlight South Asia’s and India’s stance with respect to the UN peacekeeping operations and tries to argue that South Asian Nations should rethink its policy with respect to UN peacekeeping and adopt a smarter and more strategic approach towards its future engagement.

Japan policy towards Russia in the second part of 1990s: infrastructural projects of Suzuki Muneo (1995-2000)

Japan policy towards Russia in the second part of 1990s: infrastructural projects of Suzuki Muneo (1995-2000)

Flexible Estimation of Copulas: An Application to the US Housing Crisis

Summary Zimmer (‘The role of copulas in the housing crisis’, Review of Economics and Statistics 2012; 94: 607–620) provides an interesting case study of the pitfalls of using parametric copulas to understand the US housing crisis in the latter part of 2000s. The original study by Zimmer (2012) employs a finite-mixture copula to illustrate that the symmetry of the Gaussian copula may not be tenable, especially for US housing price data during the time period from 1975:Q2 to 2009:Q1. We undertake a replication of his study in a wide sense. First, we replicate the study by incorporating revised data and then extending the dataset to include the most recent data. Second, we implement a nonparametric copula estimator recently proposed by Racine (‘Mixed data kernel copulas’, Empirical Economics forthcoming) to the parametrically filtered data used in Zimmer (2012). Our replication finds that the application of the nonparametric copula to the same and extended filtered data provides an alternative flexible specification for copulas. However, the overall cautionary message of the flexible-form copula espoused in Zimmer (2012) remains. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

India’s ‘Connect Central Asia Policy’: Emerging Economic and Security Dimensions

Central Asia is strategically positioned as an access between Europe and Asia and offers extensive potential for trade, investment and growth. The region is richly endowed with commodities such as crude oil, natural gas, cotton, gold, copper, aluminum and iron. The increasing importance of the region's oil and gas resources has generated new rivalries among external powers. A scramble for resources has begun in the Central Asia between Russia and other external players like US, China resulting in a Great Game rivalry. India wants to gain a foothold in the region for its huge energy reserves and also to secure a stable extended neighbourhood in Afghanistan. Today in the post-cold war years, India is increasingly looking toward Central Asia as both a reliable source of oil and natural gas and a focus of its strategic interests in Asia. Trade and economic ties with the landlocked Central Asia are point of interest for India. In this age of globalization, economic ties hold the key to any bilateral, trilateral and multilateral cooperation. Both India and Central Asia share common perceptions about the need to have friendship and mutually advantageous economic relations especially in the backdrop of globalization. Through its 'connect Central Asia Policy', New Delhi aims to actively take part in Central Asia's regional cooperation and security arrangements. This paper attempts to highlight the need for India's holistic approach towards Central Asia with in a neo-liberal framework in the context of globalization. commodities such as crude oil, natural gas, cotton, gold, copper, aluminum and iron. The increasing importance of the region's oil and gas resources has generated new interests and rivalries among external powers. Central Asia is also a strong market for millions of consumers. India can benefit immensely out of promoting stronger ties with the countries of the region. Direct Indian-Central Asian link were limited during the Soviet period. In the backdrop of Indo-Soviet special friendship, New Delhi was virtually present in the everyday lives of Central Asia through television, movies, music and cultural exchanges. (Laruelle(10)) In the immediate post-Soviet years India's presence in the region became symbolic. Things however started changing since later part of 1990s when the major powers namely the US and China made inroads into the region in various ways that led to the rise of 'New Great Game' with Russia, China and the US vying over security and energy interests in a politically unstable region. India, though not a party to this great game rivalry, took keen interest in Central Asia primarily in view of its huge ever growing energy requirements. In brief, apart from economic factors, Central Asia is important to India because of its strategic location, geographical proximity and of its energy resources. Therefore, restoring traditional linkages with Central Asia has been one of the primary strategic priorities before India today. It is in this backdrop, this paper will highlight the need for India's holistic approach towards Central Asia with in a neo-realist framework. This write up also attempts to explore the concerns and interests that motivates India's recent efforts to step up its engagements in Central Asia. The paper tries to find out answers of the following key questions: (a) How should India, a late comer, strategize its arrival on the Central Asian scenario? (b) What should be India's approach towards key external players - Russia, China and the US - in the region? (c) How far it is true that Central Asia could promote India's energy security to a considerable extent?

The Politics of BV: New Labour’s Vision and the Policy Makers’ Agenda

Purpose - The paper’s aim is to understand the origins and development, as well as implementation, of Best Value (BV) policy. In doing so, it explores both ambiguities in the concept and complexity in its delivery.Design/Methodology/approach - Interviews with policy advisors were carried out to explore the development and introduction of BV. Documentary analysis is used to provide contextualisation and support for the interviews and covers the period of the development of BV. To analyse the data, the study followed a critical realist approach because it recognises the significance of social, economic and political context of policy development and implementation. Research limitations/implications – There are many policy implications from the results of the paper for all local authorities. There seems to be some value in local authorities defining themselves much more as community leaders and governors rather than service deliverersFindings - BV was a politically-driven policy. The paper indicated that the development of BV policy was largely a political response to repeal the Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) Thatcherism regime as the result of a political compromise between the trade unions and the Labour Party.Originality/value - The paper makes important contributions to existing understanding about Value for Money (VFM) and BV. For example, it argues that the development of BV policy was largely a political compromise between the Labour Party and the trade unions to remove the unpopular policy of CCT introduced under a previous Conservative Government. This is in contrast to the arguments of previous studies which tend to focus on BV as part of 1980s’ and 1990s’ reforms designed to improve value for money. While the aim was to scrap CCT, the politics around the decision about the replacement policy were very important. In effect, BV is more flexible in the interpretation of VFM and the requirement to use the lowest-cost principle to guide contracting out decisions. However, it is also far more demanding in terms of the requirement to review and assess all aspects of local service delivery.

Role of IASLIC in Developing Computer Skills Among LIS Professionals in India

Indian Association of Special Libraries & Information Centres (IASLIC) is a pioneer association in India that has been working for the development of library and information services since its inception in 1955. IASLIC has adopted various multifaceted activities for the healthy growth of library services and to safeguard the interest of library professionals as well as library users. IASLIC has been working to resolve various discrepancies particularly in selection of hardware and library software packages, interchange formats, training for digitization and to set a standard that ideally suits the most of the libraries in our country. After introduction of computer applications in LIS in the later part of 1980s, libraries urgently required adequate computer trained workforce to perform library services. Understanding the scenario and anticipating the future needs, IASLIC has been giving prime importance to manpower development programme. A brief overview of IASLIC activities like Conferences, Seminars, Workshops, Study Circles, Special Interest Groups, publications, lectures by experts, etc. related to computer training organized by IASLIC and its role as a advisory organization to Government for making policies related to LIS has also described in this article. Bangladesh Journal of Library and Information Science Vol.2(1) July 2012 pp.39-47DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjlis.v2i1.12917

Casemix system in Nordic countries

The five Nordic countries are characterized by stable political systems based on consensus and interactive contracts between the populations and their governments. There has been a prosperous development through more than half a century, which also has resulted in a model of ’good health care for all’. However from late part of 1980s and during the 1990s it was realised that the cost of health care escalated beyond what was considered to be sustainable. The concept of Casemix was introduced to all the Nordic countries over a few years in the 1990s, but the implementation of Casemix systems differed considerably between the five countries. From 1966 the NOMESCO (Nordic Medico-Statistical Committee) presented statistical analyses to facilitate comparisons between the Nordic countries, and based on experiences from the NOMESCO collaboration, the Nordic Centre for Classifications in Health Care was established as a WHO Collaborating Centre in 1987. The Centre has been a common arena to develop and manage health classifications (NCSP, NCECI) and the NordDRG Casemix grouper, as well as support to the WHO ICD-10 update process with views from the Nordic medical profession. At the presentation elaboration on the historical development will be given with focus on the various paths of development, which the Casemix concept took in each of the Nordic countries. The differences in governance (state engagement or not) are discussed, as is the need for knowledge and education. Innovation and future trends will be mentioned.

Distribution of Overseas Satellites Ground Stations and Their Operational Characteristics

Earth observing technology was used in civilian fields since the initial part of 1970s.Satellites ground stations are the basic establishments of earth observation system and basic source of space data,and they play the role of public data flat in national economic construction activities,and their development got wide attentions of governments.There 21 ground stations in different countries were investigated in this paper,including America,the Europe,Japan,Canada and Australia,etc.The properties,distribution characteristics,management system,personnel size and data types received of overseas satellites ground stations were analyzed in this paper.The results showed these overseas satellites ground stations had automatization,commercial,market-oriented,civilian,internationalization,systematization,net-oriented operation characteristics.Future development direction of satellites ground stations was put forward in this paper.

Scale and uncertainty in modeled soil organic carbon stock changes for US croplands using a process‐based model

AbstractProcess‐based model analyses are often used to estimate changes in soil organic carbon (SOC), particularly at regional to continental scales. However, uncertainties are rarely evaluated, and so it is difficult to determine how much confidence can be placed in the results. Our objective was to quantify uncertainties across multiple scales in a process‐based model analysis, and provide 95% confidence intervals for the estimates. Specifically, we used the Century ecosystem model to estimate changes in SOC stocks for US croplands during the 1990s, addressing uncertainties in model inputs, structure and scaling of results from point locations to regions and the entire country. Overall, SOC stocks increased in US croplands by 14.6 Tg C yr−1 from 1990 to 1995 and 17.5 Tg C yr−1 during 1995 to 2000, and uncertainties were ±22% and ±16% for the two time periods, respectively. Uncertainties were inversely related to spatial scale, with median uncertainties at the regional scale estimated at ±118% and ±114% during the early and latter part of 1990s, and even higher at the site scale with estimates at ±739% and ±674% for the time periods, respectively. This relationship appeared to be driven by the amount of the SOC stock change; changes in stocks that exceeded 200 Gg C yr−1 represented a threshold where uncertainties were always lower than ±100%. Consequently, the amount of uncertainty in estimates derived from process‐based models will partly depend on the level of SOC accumulation or loss. In general, the majority of uncertainty was associated with model structure in this application, and so attaining higher levels of precision in the estimates will largely depend on improving the model algorithms and parameterization, as well as increasing the number of measurement sites used to evaluate the structural uncertainty.

The Pace of Fertility Decline in Iran: Finding from the Demographic and Health Survey

The fertility transition experiences of many countries in Asia have been very slow and stalling. Yet, Iranian fertility rates have shown signs of sharp decline. The recent censuses and surveys, both regional and national, all are consistent with a strong declining trend which started in the later part of 1980s and seem to be continuing into the new century. The Demographic and Health Survey of Iran shows below replacement level fertility for urban areas and a very low fertility level for rural areas. A trend analysis of fertility levels suggests an unprecedented pace of fertility transition for Iran. Following Casterline (2001) we attempt to theorize about the cause of fast paced fertility transition. We conclude that the strong emerging economic aspirations among all families in all classes and communities, the high actual and perceptual level of child survival, and very low social and economic cost of birth control have been behind the speed of fertility transition in the Islamic Republic of Iran. We submit that the high economic aspirations of families will not only continue but will shift to higher levels among all classes and especially among the generations entering marriage in the coming years. The strong economic aspiration will curtail their desire for more than one child once they are married. Hence a strong public family planning program must continue to provide birth control supplies and services with low social and economic cost. Any effort to reduce the public support of family planning program will result in socially undesirable consequences such as an increase in abortion.

Determinants of high-royalty contracts and the impact of stronger protection of intellectual property rights in Japan

This paper first reviews how Japan has strengthened the protection of intellectual property rights (IPRs), focusing on the expansion of the patentable subject matter, the restriction of the possibility of compulsory licensing, stronger deterrence against infringement and the introduction of the doctrine of equivalents. Second, based on the statistical analysis of sector-level panel data, it shows that (1) R&D intensity of domestic industry, trademark licensing, cross-licensing and, to a smaller degree, monopoly provisions are the significant determinants of the incidence of high-royalty contracts, and (2) Stronger protection of intellectual property rights looks to have increased the incidence of high-royalty contracts in the latter part of 1990s in the Japanese industries for which patent is important for appropriability. J. Japanese Int. Economies 19 (2) (2005) 233–254.

Stabilization of an Increasing Trend in Physician-Diagnosed Asthma Prevalence in Saskatchewan, 1991 to 1998

To determine the prevalence of asthma, bronchitis, and COPD using the physician services database of the Saskatchewan Health Department from 1991 to 1998. Descriptive population-based study. The Province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Residents of Saskatchewan covered by universal health care in the province. In all age groups, asthma prevalence increased between 1991 and 1995 and either was stable or declined between 1996 and 1998. Preschool children had the highest asthma prevalence during the study period, followed by children aged 5 to 14 years, young adults aged 15 to 34 years, and adults aged 35 to 64 years. Children aged 0 to 4 years and adults aged 35 to 64 years in the Registered Indian population had greater asthma prevalence than persons in other urban or rural populations during the study period. Asthma prevalence rates in rural populations were less than or similar to the rates of urban populations in all age groups during the study period. The prevalence of bronchitis was greater in the Registered Indian population than in urban and rural populations in all age groups throughout the study period. When persons who had visited a physician for bronchitis were excluded from the prevalence calculation, the original increases seen in asthma prevalence among very young children and older adults of Registered Indian origin disappeared, with the urban population having greater asthma prevalence in all age groups. In the Registered Indian population, adults aged 35 to 64 years had almost twofold increases in the prevalence of COPD in comparison to other Saskatchewan populations. Asthma prevalence, which had been on the increase in the 1980s and early 1990s, was either stable or declining during the latter part of 1990s in Saskatchewan. Preschool children and older adults from the Registered Indian population had greater asthma prevalence than did those from other Saskatchewan populations. Asthma prevalence among the rural populations was either similar or lower in comparison to the rates for the urban populations in all age groups during the study period. Further research is required to elucidate the findings in this study.

Turkish-Bulgarian relations in the post-c old war era the exemplary relationship in the Balkans

Turkish-Bulgarian relations have been full of fluctuations throughout the history, and they reached lowest point in the second part of 1980s. The assimilation campaign against Turkish minority in Bulgaria, which peaked in 1989 when Bulgaria forced hundreds of thousands of Turks to migrate to Turkey, caused a serious crisis in relations with Ankara. The assimilation process led to isolation of Bulgaria in the international arena, thus leading to overthrow of the Zhivkov regime. This was the turning point both in the modern history of Bulgaria and also Turkish-Bulgarian relations. The country entered a new era both in its domestic and foreign policies. With the end of the Cold War, it turned its face toward West and began to take steps to establish democratic political system and free market economic model. Similarly, its foreign policy priorities became integration to Western instituitions, especially NATO and the EU. Ali these changes in domestic and foreign policies have reflected in Turco-Bulgarian ties: The bilateral relations experienced an unexpected boost and the two countries become partners in many areas. Accordingly, this article tries to shed light on the changing state of Turkish-Bulgarian relations after the collapse of the bipolar vvorld order. It argues that the changes in Turco-Bulgarian relations prove the falsity of the ethnic-hatred theory often attributed to the Balkans. The improvement in ties between Ankara and Sofia shows that when there is an appropriate state of international affairs and rational leaders, Balkan countries can also achieve friendly relations

TURKISH-BULGARIAN RELATIONS IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA : THE EXEMPLARY RELATIONSHIP IN THE BALKANS

Turkish-Bulgarian relations have been full of fluctuations throughout the history, and they reached lowest point in the second part of 1980s. The assimilation campaign against Turkish minority in Bulgaria, which peaked in 1989 when Bulgaria forced hundreds of thousands of Turks to migrate to Turkey, caused a serious crisis in relations with Ankara. The assimilation process led to isolation of Bulgaria in the international arena, thus leading to overthrow of the Zhivkov regime. This was the turning point both in the modern history of Bulgaria and also Turkish-Bulgarian relations. The country entered a new era both in its domestic and foreign policies. With the end of the Cold War, it turned its face toward West and began to take steps to establish democratic political system and free market economic model. Similarly, its foreign policy priorities became integration to Western instituitions, especially NATO and the EU. Ali these changes in domestic and foreign policies have reflected in Turco-Bulgarian ties: The bilateral relations experienced an unexpected boost and the two countries become partners in many areas. Accordingly, this article tries to shed light on the changing state of Turkish-Bulgarian relations after the collapse of the bipolar vvorld order. It argues that the changes in Turco-Bulgarian relations prove the falsity of the ethnic-hatred theory often attributed to the Balkans. The improvement in ties between Ankara and Sofıa shows that when there is an appropriate state of international affairs and rational leaders, Balkan countries can also achieve friendly relations

When the Bubble Burst: Planning and Reality in Japan's Resort Industry

The harbingers of the economic crisis that hit Japan in the latter part of 1990s were clearly visible since at least the beginning of the decade. An assessment of the effects that the bursting "bubble economy" had on Japan's domestic tourism market provides important guidelines for future economic policies within Japan, and has implications for other Asian countries where Japanese tourists and companies provide export earnings and investments. In 1987, prospects seemed bright for the Japanese economy and the tourism industry. That year, the "Law for the Development of Comprehensive Resort Areas" was passed making the creation and development of domestic holiday and leisure facilities a national project. Japan's prefectures were to implement a land development framework covering 18% of Japan's land area. Development was to be realised by private entrepreneurship, which would be attracted by financial incentives and a relaxation of landuser egulations. Ten years later, very few projects have materialised and most of these include considerable public investment. A geographical perspective proves helpful in analysing the background of the Resort Law, its plans and projects, problems hampering their realisation, and the reason why they were so strongly affected by the economic crisis. It is argued that the roots of the problem lay in spatial conditions and the structure of planning and investment rather than in declining domestic tourism demand.