Nondestructive Differentiation of Polyester Single White Fibers Using Synchrotron Radiation Microbeam X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry with Vertical Focusing

In this study, the nondestructive differentiation of individual white polyester clothing fibers was accomplished via synchrotron radiation microbeam X-ray fluorescence (SR-μ-XRF) analysis. SR-μ-XRF with vertical focusing is a useful nondestructive method for the analysis of a single polyester clothing fiber. Kirkpatrick–Baez (KB) mirror was used to vertically focus 20 keV X-rays for the analysis of 22 individual white polyester fibers taken from clothing commonly sold in Japan. SR-μ-XRF with a vertical focused 2 μm (V) × 300 μm (H) beam was approximately 12.8 times more sensitive than SR-XRF with an unfocused 300 μm (V) × 300 μm (H) beam for the detection of elements in single fibers. The minimum detection limits (MDLs) of the SR-μ-XRF method were 8.15 ppm for Cl and 0.06 ppm for Br. In addition to Ti in TiO₂ delustering agents, Zr and Nb impurities in the delustering agents were detected in individual fibers. Sb from a polymerization catalyst and Co from a transesterification catalyst were also detected in individual fibers. Comparing the Ti K_β/Sb L_α,β and Zr K_α/Nb K_α X-ray intensity ratios was a useful way to distinguish individual clothing fibers, and 98% of the fibers were differentiated when additional trace elements were used as discrimination indicators.     

Law's Wars,Law's Trials

The rule of law is a foundation of the liberal state. The US ‘War on Terror’ under Presidents Bush and Obama threatened and violated the rule of law in multiple ways. This article surveys those challenges and analyses how US institutions responded in order to assess the capacity of the legal system to resist political pressure in moments of crisis.     

Significant Differences in PostMortem Heart Weight Before and After Dissection Using the Short-Axis Dissecting Method

Correctly assessing heart weight can be critical at postmortem examination. The current international guidelines advocate using the short-axis method in dissecting the heart and the heart weighed when the blood is emptied. However, it did not specify at what point the heart should be weighed or how the blood should be emptied. This study compared heart weights at three different time points during the heart examination (immediately after dissecting out of the pericardial sac with blood still in chambers, blood washed/removed from heart chambers without the heart opened, and the heart completely opened, blood emptied, and pad dried). This was to illustrate the variation in measurement and potential errors when the heart is weighed at different time of dissection. The results show that there were statistical and clinical significant differences between the heart weights at each weighing points. We recommend the heart to be completely dissected with any blood and residual washing/rinsing water emptied before being weighed. Although performed in this study, the effect of pad drying the heart on heart weight was not explored and was a limitation in this study.     

U.S. child custody outcomes in cases involving parental alienation and abuse allegations: what do the data show?

ABSTRACT

Family court and abuse professionals have long been polarized over the use of parental alienation claims to discredit a mother alleging that the father has been abusive or is unsafe for the children. This paper reports the findings from an empirical study of ten years of U.S. cases involving abuse and alienation claims. The findings confirm that mothers’ claims of abuse, especially child physical or sexual abuse, increase their risk of losing custody, and that fathers’ cross-claims of alienation virtually double that risk. Alienation’s impact is gender-specific; fathers alleging mothers are abusive are not similarly undermined when mothers cross-claim alienation. In non-abuse cases, however, the data suggest that alienation has a more gender-neutral impact. These nuanced findings may help abuse and alienation professionals find some common ground.     

I Nomi Degli Dei: A Reconsideration of Agamben’s Oath Complex

Law and Critique - This essay offers an exegesis and critique of the moment of community formation in Agamben’s Homo Sacer Project. In The Sacrament of Language, Agamben searches for the site...     

The Reform of Skill Formation in Russia: Regional Responses

Abstract

Effective systems of vocational education are crucial to economic and social development. However, the coordination of labour market demand and the supply of skill requires either well-functioning labour market institutions or institutionally embedded strategic partnerships among government, labour and employers. In particular, the transplantation of German-style dual education methods to a different environment poses significant institutional dilemmas. Russia presents a useful case for examining the conditions under which such arrangements can be established. Based on a series of interviews in six Russian regions and a set of case histories, we seek to draw testable hypotheses that can be applied to other settings.     

Human Services Providers’ Perspectives on Refugee Resettlement in the United States before and after the 2016 Presidential Election

Abstract

The United States has historically accepted and resettled refugees by opening its doors to those fleeing violence, armed conflict, or persecution around the world. However, the degree of receptivity toward refugee resettlement has vacillated over time. This study examines the challenges and opportunities that Refugee Resettlement Agencies (RRAs) experienced prior to and after the 2016?U.S. Presidential election. The findings presented in this paper, based on focus groups with the RRA staff, revealed that there is a greater need for understanding the refugee resettlement process and how changing immigration policies impact state-federal funding.     

A Census of Medicolegal Death Investigation in the United States: A Need to Determine the State of our Nation’s Toxicology Laboratories and Their Preparedness for the Current Drug Overdose Epidemic

In 2007, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported on 2004 data collected from the Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices (CMEC). The CMEC was one of the first comprehensive reports on the state of the medicolegal death investigation system in the United States and included information on administration, expenditure, workload, specialized death investigations, records and evidence retention, and resources. However, the report did not include responses on questions that were related to toxicology such as specimen retention and type of testing. The purpose of this publication is to provide the community with toxicology laboratory-specific responses from nearly 2000 medical examiner and coroner (MEC) offices. Data obtained from a BJS CMEC public use dataset for any remaining information that was not reported in the 2007 BJS report were evaluated specific to the operation of toxicology laboratories within a MEC office or specific to toxicology testing. The CMEC includes information on average operating budget for MEC offices with internal or external toxicology services, budget for toxicology/microbiology services, respondents’ routine uses of toxicology analysis, toxicology specimen retention time, average turnaround times, use of computerized information management systems, and participation in federal data collections. These historical data begin to address the present state of our nation’s toxicology laboratories within the medicolegal death investigation system and their preparedness for the current drug overdose epidemic.