Negotiated Autonomy: Transforming Self-Governing Institutions for Local Common-Pool Resources in Two Tribal Villages in Taiwan

The current literature on common-pool resources suggests that appropriators'autonomy in determining access and harvesting rules is a pre-condition for successful local self-governance. Yet few studies have been done to examine how local communities that are faced with outside intrusion can regain such autonomy. This paper examines this issue by studying how two mountain tribal villages in Taiwan have attempted to rebuild their indigenous rules governing the use of their local stream fisheries. One village, Shan-Mei, has been more successful than the other village, Li-Chia, in restoring self-governance in fishery conservation. Shan-Mei's relative success is explained by its villagers' willingness and ability to develop mutually beneficial relationships with external stakeholders and to attain a negotiated autonomy from the larger society.     

The Principle of Self-Determination and National Minorities

The principle of self-determination is one of the basic principles of international law but as a right, it is only granted to peoples, defined as whole populations of internationally recognized territories. Thus, the claims to self-determination voiced by national minorities are not seen as legitimate by international legal standards. This article examines the underlying assumptions of the principle of self-determination and by combining legal and moral arguments, tries to show that withholding this right from national minorities is unjustified. If one of the reasons why minorities are not granted the right is that they are entitled to collective rights, one would have to maintain that peoples have the relevant characteristics for the possessing group rights while minorities do not, and this view cannot be sustained. The right to self-determination should be understood as abroad notion and the restrictive view according to which the right only applies to colonial peoples and its implementation amounts to independent statehood, should be rejected. Furthermore, it should be noted that although the internal dimension of self-determination can ground a right to freedom from external interference, this freedom is a matter of degree; therefore, minorities can exercise the right to self-determination without this leading to secession or break-up of the state.     

At the Edge of the State: Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination

At the Edge of the State: Indigenous Peoples and Self-Determination. Maivân Clech Lâm. Ardsley, NY: Transnational Publishers, Inc., 2000. 232 pp.     

Nematicidal Principles from Two Species of Lamiaceae

Aqueous extracts of Ocimum sanctum and O. basilicum leaves contained compounds that killed Meloidogyne incognita larvae in 160 min. Thin layer and gas-liquid chromatography, and infrared spectrophotometry indicated that the essential oils eugenol and linalool were the active nematicidal compounds.     

The Struggle for Self-Determination: History of the Menominee Indians since 1854

The Struggle for Self-Determination: History of the Menominee Indians since 1854 . David R. M. Beck. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005. 290 pp.     

Xenopus nucleoplasmin: egg vs. oocyte

Nucleoplasmin has been purified from either oocytes or unfertilized eggs of the frog, Xenopus laevis. We find that the pentameric form of egg nucleoplasmin exhibits an apparent molecular mass approximately 15 000 daltons larger than its oocyte counterpart upon sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Egg nucleoplasmin monomers are more heterogeneous, substantially more acidic, and overall larger in apparent molecular weight than oocyte nucleoplasmin monomers when analyzed by isoelectric focusing or SDS gel electrophoresis. Protease digestions indicate that the structural differences between egg and oocyte nucleoplasmin are primarily confined to the N-terminal halves of the proteins. The structural diversity observed is accompanied by a difference in the ability of nucleoplasmin from the two sources to act as a nucleosome assembly agent in vitro. Egg nucleoplasmin efficiently promotes the formation of nucleosomes onto circular pBR322 DNA in vitro at physiological ionic strength and at physiological histone:DNA ratios, while oocyte nucleoplasmin is markedly deficient in serving as an in vitro chromatin assembly agent under all conditions which we have tested. Treatment of egg nucleoplasmin in vitro with alkaline phosphatase demonstrates that the structural diversity between egg and oocyte nucleoplasmin results primarily from extensive additional phosphorylation of the egg protein. The relevance of nucleoplasmin phosphorylation in leading to differences in the chromatin assembly activity of this protein both in vitro and in vivo is considered.     

Concerted vs. sequential. Two activation patterns of vast arrays of intracellular Ca2+ channels in muscle

To signal cell responses, Ca(2+) is released from storage through intracellular Ca(2+) channels. Unlike most plasmalemmal channels, these are clustered in quasi-crystalline arrays, which should endow them with unique properties. Two distinct patterns of local activation of Ca(2+) release were revealed in images of Ca(2+) sparks in permeabilized cells of amphibian muscle. In the presence of sulfate, an anion that enters the SR and precipitates Ca(2+), sparks became wider than in the conventional, glutamate-based solution. Some of these were "protoplatykurtic" (had a flat top from early on), suggesting an extensive array of channels that activate simultaneously. Under these conditions the rate of production of signal mass was roughly constant during the rise time of the spark and could be as high as 5 microm(3) ms(-1), consistent with a release current >50 pA since the beginning of the event. This pattern, called "concerted activation," was observed also in rat muscle fibers. When sulfate was combined with a reduced cytosolic [Ca(2+)] (50 nM) these sparks coexisted (and interfered) with a sequential progression of channel opening, probably mediated by Ca(2+)-induced Ca(2+) release (CICR). Sequential propagation, observed only in frogs, may require parajunctional channels, of RyR isoform beta, which are absent in the rat. Concerted opening instead appears to be a property of RyR alpha in the amphibian and the homologous isoform 1 in the mammal.     

Ketamine kinetics: decerebrate vs. intact cats.

Pharmacokinetic parameters of a ketamine (10 mg/kg, iv) bolus in decerebrate and intact cats were compared. A two-compartment open model best described the data in both groups. The apparent volume of distribution of the peripheral compartment, the apparent volume of distribution of the drug in the body, and the half-life of the postdistributive phase were significantly less (p less than 0.05) in the decerebrate animals. These results emphasize the importance of correlating behavior and neuronal activity with plasma or blood concentrations of drug in animals rather than assuming that, for a given drug dose, blood (and thus tissue) levels of the agent will be similar regardless of how the animal is prepared for study.