Fast LC-MS/MS method for the determination of amphetamine, methamphetamine, MDA, MDMA, MDEA, MBDB and PMA in urine

A fast method was designed for the simultaneous determination of amphetamine (A), methamphetamine (MA), PMA, MDA, MDMA, MDEA and MBDB in urine. The drugs were analysed by LC (ESI)-MS/MS, after a simple liquid-liquid extraction in the presence of the deuterated analogues. Reverse phase separation on an Atlantis dC18 Intelligent Speed column was achieved in less than 4 min under gradient conditions, and the total run time was 8 min. The method was fully validated, including linearity (1-1000 ng/mL for A, MDMA, MDEA and MBDB; 2-1000 ng/mL for MDA and PMA; 1-200 ng/mL for MA; r2>0.99 for all compounds), recovery (>80%), within-day and between-day precision and accuracy (CV and MRE<12.7% for intermediate level and ULOQ, and <17.2% for LLOQ), limit of detection (0.2 ng/mL for MDMA, MDEA and MBDB; 0.5 ng/mL for A, MA and PMA; 1 ng/mL for MDA) and quantitation (1 ng/mL for A, MA, MDMA, MDEA and MBDB; 2 ng/mL for MDA and PMA) and relative ion intensities. No matrix effect was observed. The procedure proved to be sensitive, specific and rapid, and was applied to real forensic cases.     

Justice,Morality, and the Dehumanization of Refugees

Three studies were conducted to test the role of the dehumanization of refugees (through claims that they are immoral) in determining emotional reactions to refugees, attitudes toward refugees, and attitudes toward current refugee policy in Canada. We also examined determinants of such perceptions. In Studies 1 and 2, correlational analyses and structural equation modeling were utilized. In both studies, it was demonstrated that individuals who are higher in social dominance orientation are especially likely to dehumanize refugees, and this dehumanization leads to greater contempt and lack of admiration for refugees, resulting in less favorable attitudes toward the group and toward the nation’s current refugee policy. Study 3 was an experiment in which we examined the effects of information presented about refugees on emotions and attitudes. Results demonstrated that dehumanizing media depictions of refugees as violating appropriate procedures and trying to cheat the system cause greater contempt and lack of admiration for refugees in general, which in turn lead to less favorable attitudes toward the group and less support for the current refugee policy. Results are discussed in terms of the functions that dehumanization may serve, and potential strategies for counteracting such effects. Preparation of this article was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant to the first author. Portions of this research were presented at the 2005 EAESP Small Group Meeting on Social Justice and Intergroup Conflict, Lisbon, Portugal, and at the 2005 Meeting of the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology, Wurzburg, Germany     

Cocaine, fetal loss, and the role of the forensic pathologist

Adverse obstetrical outcomes are often associated with maternal cocaine use. These have included intrauterine growth retardation, abruptio placentae, and an increased incidence of spontaneous abortion and pre-term labor. This report details the case of an 18-week-gestation fetus recovered from a sewage treatment plant. A brain specimen was positive for cocaine. With the present epidemic of cocaine abuse, it is important for the forensic pathologist to seek toxicologic evidence of cocaine in all suspicious fetal and neonatal deaths.     

Male Violence,Marital Unity,and the History of the Interspousal Tort Immunity

The interspousal tort immunity has been understood as a common law rule that was codified in the English Married Women's Property Act, 1882. It was explained as a necessary consequence of the wife's coverture and was justified by the doctrine of marital unity. This conventional account mischaracterizes the complexities underlying the development of the immunity and the reasons for its reformulation in the nineteenth century. This article traces a different trajectory, showing that the interspousal tort immunity was not articulated until Phillips v Barnet in 1876, and examining the way it came into being as a result of the reforms to divorce law and to the property rules of coverture. Although already implicit in the governing principles of the pre-reform law, the nineteenth-century expression of the rule concerning interspousal tort immunity was a product of the contemporary reforms to coverture at least as much as it was a product of coverture itself.     

Corporate Volunteerism,the Experience of Self-Integrity,and Organizational Commitment: Evidence from the Field

We examined the relationship between the motives underlying employees’ participation in corporate-sponsored volunteerism and their organizational commitment. In both a pilot study and in the main study, employees’ motivation to volunteer based on the desire to express personally meaningful values (also known as the values function of volunteerism) was positively related to their organizational commitment. Additional findings from the main study helped to explain why this was so: being motivated by the values function of volunteerism was positively related to how much participants experienced self-integrity in the workplace, which in turn was positively related to their organizational commitment. That is, experiencing self-integrity in the workplace mediated the relationship between how much employees were motivated by the values function and their organizational commitment. The results of subsidiary analyses provided further evidence that corporate volunteerism was positively related to organizational commitment, and that the experience of self-integrity mediated this relationship. Implications for both the corporate volunteerism and functions of volunteerism literatures are discussed, as are practical implications and suggestions for future research.     

Accountability, New Public Management, and the Problems of the Child Support Agency

This paper seeks to evaluate the accountability of Next Steps Agencies through the medium of a case study of the Child Support Agency (CSA). The CSA was widely considered to offer a substandard service to its customers. It was the subject of multiple reports by the House of Commons Social Services Select Committee, the Select Committee on the Parliamentary Commissioner, and the Public Accounts Committee. In addition, these committees had at their disposal internal reports from an adjudicator and the Child Support commissioner. The interlock between internal and external machinery for accountability is also considered.     

Pervasive developmental disorders, psychiatric comorbidities, and the law

Scattered reports propose that pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) are risk factors for criminal behavior, yet the association between PDD and delinquent behavior is untrue for the majority of patients. However, individuals with PDDs may be at risk for legal trouble in the presence of comorbid psychopathology, and not solely on the basis of their developmental disability. This article analyzes theoretically the relationship between complex developmental disorders and delinquency with the hypothesis that the delinquent behaviors reported in it resulted from comorbid psychopathology and not as a direct consequence of a developmental disorder. A small series of patients diagnosed with a PDD and comorbid psychiatric illnesses whose admission to the hospital was precipitated by delinquent behavior is presented.     

Bloodstain characterization in the EAP, Hp, Hb, AK and Glo I typing systems using minigels and the PhastSystem

Application of minigels and the PhastSystem to obtain phenotyping results from bloodstains in the EAP, Hp, AK, and Glo I typing systems was investigated. Nonequilibrium isoelectric focusing with 4-6.5 PhastGel produced readily interpretable phenotypes in the EAP typing system. Both 4-6.5 and 5-8 PhastGel produced AK typing system phenotypes using nonequilibrium isoelectric focusing conditions. The 8-25% PAG PhastGel developed by two staining techniques allowed discrimination of phenotypes for the Hp typing system. Phenotypes from the Glo I typing system were also obtained with this gel type. Variant haemoglobins could be detected on pH 5-8 PhastGel using isoelectric focusing conditions. Much potential for standardized, rapid phenotyping of bloodstains was found to exist utilizing the PhastSystem.     

Revisiting the relationship between age,employment, and recidivism

Employment theoretically serves as a source of informal social control that can promote desistance from crime (Sampson & Laub, 1993). Findings from studies assessing the effects of employment, however, have been mixed. In a seminal study, Uggen (2000) reanalyzed data from the National Supported Work (NSW) Demonstration Project and found that employment significantly reduced the rate of recidivism among individuals aged 27 and older but had no impact on younger individuals. We reproduce and replicate Uggen's (2000) findings with data from four distinct employment programs: The National Supported Work Program (1975–1979), the Transitional Aid Research Project (1976–1977), the Employment Services for Ex-Offenders (1981–1984), and the Enhanced Services for the Hard-to-Employ Center for Employment Opportunities (2004–2008). We closely reproduced Uggen's original findings in the NSW but found evidence that the statistically significant interaction between age and employment in the NSW was only present at the year 3 follow-up and the observed effect is highly sensitive to minor threats to internal validity. Furthermore, a significant age–employment interaction was not observed in the three other data sources. These findings should encourage scholars to continue to investigate the age-graded nature of employment and crime, especially through a sociohistorical lens.     

Distribution of HLA DQA1, LDLR,GYPA, HBGG,D7S8, and GC locus alleles in the population of Russia

The distribution of chromosome locus alleles HLA DQA1, LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, and GC of PolyMarker molecular genetic individualizing system was studied for the first time in a representative "mean statistical" sampling of Russian population. Typing of these locuses was carried out in 391 donors (no relatives) from 63 regions of the Russian Federation. The incidence of genotypes of all 6 locuses corresponded to the expected values, estimated on the basis of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium hypothesis. This allows us to use the frequency characteristics of HLA DQA1 locus and the PolyMarker locuses determined in our study as the reference parameters for standard probability estimations in DNA identification. The frequencies of PolyMarker locuses alleles in the Russian sampling (in comparison with other ethnic groups) coincided best of all for allele frequencies in Europeoids living in the USA. For expert evaluation of the efficiency of using these locuses as molecular genetic markers with identification purposes, the discrimination potential was estimated separately for each locus and combinations thereof. HLA DQA1 locus was the most informative of the studied 6 locuses. The main population characteristics of this locus (probability of accidental coincidence, potential of discrimination--PD, polymorphism coefficient--PIC, exclusion potential--Pe, and mean value of parentage index--PI) were estimated for the population of Russia. The frequency distribution of alleles of the studied panel of locuses in the mean statistical Russian population obtained in our study can be used in molecular genetic personality identification and in anthropological studies.     

External shocks,economic reforms,and the foreign trade behavior of the Soviet Union,China, and Hungary, 1970–1987

This article examines the external shocks and subsequent adjustment processes in the Soviet Union, China, and Hungary during 1974–76, 1979–81, and 1984–87. It compares the experiences of the three socialist countries with regard to external shocks to those of inward-and outward-oriented groups of newly industrializing countries (NICs). In contrast to the NICs, terms of trade effects were of secondary magnitude to export demand effects of external shocks in the three socialist countries during the first two periods. The oil-exporting Soviet Union had beneficial terms of trade effects during the first two periods, with unfavorable effects coming only in the third period. The adjustment responses to the external shocks varied greatly in the Soviet Union from the other two reform-oriented socialist countries and from both groups of NICs. It is interesting to note that the types of responses in the Soviet Union were quite opposite to that one observes for market economies. However, reform-oriented China and Hungary seemed to have response patterns similar to those of market economies, though China's response was similar to the outward-oriented NICs, while Hungary's was similar to the inward-oriented NICs.     

Severity of penalty,seriousness of the charge,and mock jurors' verdicts

It has been suggested that jurors in criminal trials are less likely to convict when the penalty is more severe or the charge is more serious. This was explained by Kerr (1975) in terms of a perceived increase in the cost of a Type I error (convicting an innocent person) that resulted in a criterion shift in the amount of evidence jurors required to vote guilty. The previous research found only weak support for the prediction regarding severity but consistent support for the predicted effect of seriousness. However, in the case materials used in these studies, more evidence was legally required to prove guilt on the more serious charges. This article presents studies in which the amount of evidence needed to prove guilt was equated for all charges. Under these circumstances, there was no effect on verdicts of seriousness of charge or severity of penalty and no evidence of a criterion shift due to either variable. There may still be reason to believe that these factors affect real juries, but this belief is not supported by the systematic evidence from mock jury studies.     

Rules, Principles, Algorithms and the Description of Legal Systems

Abstract .
Although the Hart/Dworkin debate has as much to do with Dworkin's affirmative theory of judicial discretion as with Hart's more comprehensive theory of law, the starting point was of course Dworkin's attempt to demolish the "model of rules," Hart's alleged analysis of legal systems as collections of conclusive reasons for specified legal consequences. The continuing relevance of this attack for the prospects for any theory of law is the subject of the present essay.     

"Special treatment": BiDil, Tuskegee, and the logic of race

BiDil, a drug approved in 2005 by the FDA only for African Americans, was seen by many as almost reparations for the horrors of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-72) where treatment for black men was denied. The logic of race, however, rather than racism, links BiDil to the past many thought it was escaping.     

PTSD,Endophenotypes, the RDoC,and the DSM-5

The search for endophenotypes that stand between genetics and disease has been applied to the diagnostic entity of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Advances are being made in understanding the pathway to disorder in PTSD in terms of brain regions, neuronal networks, stress-related systems (e.g., the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis), and their underlying genetic and neurogenetic bases. The latter are affected by gene–environmental interactions and epigenetic effects, and the environment and context reciprocally interrelate with them, as well. Therefore, a primary focus on (neuro)pathophysiological intermediates in the disease pathway, as appears emphasized in the research domain criteria (RDoC) approach to etiology of psychiatric disorder, and to which the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5) subscribes, might detract from a more inclusive biopsychosocial approach that would be more applicable in the case of PTSD. The paper undertakes a comprehensive review of the recent literature in the areas of endophenotypes, neurogenetics, epigenetics, neural networks, HPA axis, neuronal networks, pathways, the PTSD five-factor model, allostasis, and the RDoC criteria for psychiatric diagnosis, and then returns to the topic of endophenotypes. Neuronal networks constitute one integrating area that could help in arriving at an appropriate model of PTSD endophenotype. Pathway analysis provides a rich field for discerning individual differences in PTSD development, more so than the static approach of using DSM-5 symptom criteria. A model of endophenotypes is presented, which considers these factors in relation to PTSD. The paper concludes with implications for the DSM-5, for practice and for court, especially that it would be premature to seek individual biomarkers of PTSD given the current state of knowledge, even if it is burgeoning.     

Population study of HLA DQA1, LDLR,GYPA, HBGG,D7S8, and GC loci in Caucasians living in the Ural region of Russia

Allele frequencies have been determined for 6 tested locuses. The distribution of HLA DQA1 gene and locuses of Polymarker kit (Perkin Elmer, USA) for population studies conformed to the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE). Inequilibrium for linkage for all possible locus pairs was tested by an accurate test. No statistically significant inequilibrium was detected. Paired comparison of allele frequencies of tested locuses of the Ural population with other Caucasoid populations showed homogeneity for GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, and HLA DQA1 locuses. Significant differences for 1 and 2 of the 4 compared pairs were detected for LDLR and GC locuses, respectively. The total discrimination potential for 6 tested locuses was 0.9995. Our population study showed that high informative value of the tested genetic markers and conformity to HWE make them a useful tool for forensic genetic studies in the Ural Caucasoid population. Preliminary assessment of the efficiency of PCR of 6 studied locuses by capillary electrophoresis is highly effective in typing of DNA samples isolated from material evidences with negligible content of biological material with presumably high degree of degradation and for evaluating the positive and negative amplification controls.     

三甲基硫赶磷酸酯在甲胺磷农药中毒检验中的作用

目的探讨三甲基硫赶磷酸酯在甲胺磷农药中毒检验中的作用。方法利用气-质联用仪器(GC-MS)分析了甲胺磷中毒者的检材(血,胃内容物)。结果检出了O,O,S三甲基硫赶磷酸酯,却未检出甲胺磷。结论研究了这一现象的原因和确定了O,O,S三甲基硫赶磷酸酯(O,O,S-TMTP)可作为甲胺磷中毒的佐证物。     

A rapid GC-MS method for the determination of dihydrocodeine,codeine, norcodeine,morphine, normorphine and 6-MAM in urine

The presence of the heroin metabolite 6-monoacetylmorphine (6-MAM) in urine is used to definitively identify recent heroin abuse. A rapid and sensitive GC-MS method for the simultaneous analysis of codeine, norcodeine, morphine, normorphine and 6-MAM in urine was developed and successfully applied to the analysis of 321 'heroin-positive' urine specimens from individual subjects (identified by the presence of 6-MAM), to provide quantitative urinary opiate excretion data for heroin abusers.The cohort analysed was composed of 238 males (age range 16-53 years) and 83 females (age range 16-50 years). The concentrations of free 6-MAM, morphine and codeine determined in these 321 specimens ranged between 103-246,312, 129-193,600 and 103-519,000 microg/l, respectively. Free norcodeine and normorphine concentrations were found to range between 143-50,200 and 205-149,700 microg/l, respectively. A statistically significant relationship was determined between the subject age and the 6-MAM concentration, possibly indicating opiate tolerance in these individuals.     

Clinical assessment and the detention, disposition, and treatment of emotionally disturbed delinquent youths

This study examines the relationship bbetween the traditional psychodiagnostic assessment-and-treatment recommendation process and the subsequent disposition, detention, and treatment of “emotionally disturbed” delinquent youths.Results revealed that a specially funded crisis unit was significantly faster than the regular clinic in completing the diagnostic-recommendation process. However, for youngsters in both groups, the mean time between the completed recommendation and final case disposition by the court was over fifty days! Compared with the regular clinic, the crisis unit made significantly more treatment recommendations favoring institutionalization and fewer recommendations for community-based treatment strategies. Contrary to the predicted outcome, however, fewer crisis unit recommendations were approved by the court. The trend was for the court to reject recommendations for institutionalization and to support requests for community-based approaches. Furthermore, and again opposite to the outcome predicted, crisis unit clients spent significantly more days in secure detention.Results of a follow-up study on the actual treatment of crisis unit clients revealed that only nineteen percent could be documented as having received part or all of recommended treatment plans. Furthermore, there was no evidence of improved client adjustment as a result of treatment efforts. It is concluded that a tremendous need exists for effective service accountability models and heuristic management strategies within our juvenile court-corrections systems lest we continue to do $5,000 worth of diagnosis for every $5.00 worth of successful treatment.