Simultaneous analyses of cocaine, cocaethylene, and their possible metabolic and pyrolytic products

A method was developed for simultaneously analyzing cocaine (COC), benzoylecgonine (BZE), norbenzoylecgonine (BNE), norcocaine (NCOC), ecgonine (ECG), ecgonine methyl ester (EME), m-hydroxybenzoylecgonine (HBZE), anhydroecgonine methyl ester (AEME), cocaethylene (CE), norcocaethylene (NCE), and ecgonine ethyl ester (EEE) in blood, urine, and muscle. Available deuterated analogs of these analytes were used as internal standards. Proteins from blood and muscle homogenate were precipitated with cold acetonitrile. After the removal of acetonitrile by evaporation, the supernatants and urine were subjected to solid-phase extraction. The eluted analytes were converted to their hydrochloride salts and derivatized with pentafluoropropionic anhydride and 2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoro-1-propanol. The derivatized products were analyzed by a gas chromatograph (GC)/mass spectrometer by selected ion monitoring. The limit of detection (LOD) for COC, BZE, NCOC, EME, CE, NCE, and EEE was 2ng/ml, while the LODs for BNE, ECG, HBZE, and AEME were 25, 640, 50, and 13 ng/ml, respectively. This method was successfully applied in analyzing 13 case samples from aviation accident pilot fatalities and motor vehicle operators. AEME concentrations found in the 13 samples were consistent with those produced solely by the GC inlet pyrolysis of COC controls in blood. Anhydroecgonine cannot be used as a marker for the abuse of COC by smoking because it is also pyrolytically produced from COC metabolites on the GC inlet. The developed method can be effectively adopted for analyzing COC and related compounds in urine, blood, and muscle by a single extraction with increased sensitivity through formation of hydrochloride salts and using a one-step derivatization.     

Some principles of Pānini's grammargrammar

The following principles are seen to operate in the rules Pānini provides for Sanskrit grammar.

1. The obvious principle that the introduction of affixes and augments which condition sound replacements necessarily precede the latter.
2. Bracketing, whereby an operation whose condition is internal relative to a condition causing another operation applies prior to the latter.
3. The derivational prehistory of a form is pertinent to the operations which apply to it.
4. Blocking: a rule R₂ is said to block an R₁ if, in a given domain, R₁ tentatively applies (and would apply in the absence of R₂) wherever R₂ can apply, while R₂ would be vacuous if R₁ applied.
5. Limited blocking, which obtains where R₁ and R₂ overlap but also have independent domains of application.

These principles account for correct derivations in cases where post-Paninian grammarians invoked rule order: where two rules conflict, that one takes precedence which is stated later in the grammar. This principle is not generally tenable, since some derivations require that a rule stated previously in the grammar take precedence. Hence, the grammarians who invoke such rule ordering in cases of conflict must admit that only a knowledge of the correct results to be obtained by applying the rules allows one to correctly apply the rules in the first place. It is argued that Pānini avoided this weakness.     

Pā $$ \underset{\raise0.3em\hbox{$\smash{\scriptscriptstyle\cdot}$}}{n}$$ ini,s kārakas: Agency,animation and identity

Journal of Indian Philosophy -     

Distribution of ∆9‐Tetrahydrocannabinol and 11‐Nor‐9‐Carboxy‐∆9‐Tetrahydrocannabinol Acid in Postmortem Biological Fluids and Tissues From Pilots Fatally Injured in Aviation Accidents

Little is known of the postmortem distribution of ?⁹‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and its major metabolite, 11‐nor‐9‐carboxy‐?⁹‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH). Data from 55 pilots involved in fatal aviation accidents are presented in this study. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis obtained mean THC concentrations in blood from multiple sites, liver, lung, and kidney of 15.6 ng/mL, 92.4 ng/g, 766.0 ng/g, 44.1 ng/g and mean THCCOOH concentrations of 35.9 ng/mL, 322.4 ng/g, 42.6 ng/g, 138.5 ng/g, respectively. Heart THC concentrations (two cases) were 184.4 and 759.3 ng/g, and corresponding THCCOOH measured 11.0 and 95.9 ng/g, respectively. Muscle concentrations for THC (two cases) were 16.6 and 2.5 ng/g; corresponding THCCOOH, “confirmed positive” and 1.4 ng/g. The only brain tested in this study showed no THC detected and 2.9 ng/g THCCOOH, low concentrations that correlated with low values in other specimens from this case. This research emphasizes the need for postmortem cannabinoid testing and demonstrates the usefulness of a number of tissues, most notably lung, for these analyses.     

On the efficiency of equilibria in a legislative bargaining model with particularistic and collective goods

Voter initiatives are important for policy making in many countries. While much research shows that the initiative process affects policy choices, almost no evidence explains how the initiative process affects policy. Initiatives might change policy directly through voters approving laws that override the legislature; or the initiative process may change policy indirectly by providing a threat that induces the legislature to change policy. This article develops an empirical strategy to measure the direct and indirect effects of the initiative based on the idea that direct effects can be inferred from states that actually pass initiatives while indirect effects can be inferred from states where the initiative is available but not used. Evidence from 50 states on nine separate issues suggests that both direct and indirect effects are important, but the direct effect is several times larger than the threat effect.     

Distribution and optical purity of methamphetamine found in toxic concentration in a civil aviation accident pilot fatality

Toxicological evaluation of postmortem samples collected from a pilot involved in a unique fatal civil aircraft accident is described in this paper. A one-occupant airplane was substantially damaged upon colliding with terrain in poor visibility. Remains of the pilot were found outside the aircraft. Pathological examination revealed multiple blunt force injuries and vascular congestion. The fluorescence polarization immunoassay disclosed 8.0 microg/mL amphetamines in urine. Gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric analyses determined the presence of methamphetamine (1.13 microg/mL in blood and 59.2 microg/mL in urine) and amphetamine (0.022 microg/mL in blood and 1.50 microg/mL in urine). Methamphetamine was distributed throughout the body, including the brain. The amount of methamphetamine in gastric contents was 575-fold higher than that of amphetamine. The (+)- and (-)-forms of methamphetamine were present in equal proportions in gastric contents. The methamphetamine concentration found in blood was in the range sufficient to produce toxic effects, causing performance impairment.     

Inhabiting Mourning: Spectral Figures in Cases of Extrajudicial Executions (False Positives) in Colombia

In this article we analyse various forms of emotional management of mourning in the experiences of six female relatives of victims of extrajudicial executions in Colombia. Referencing the concept of the ‘spectral’, we discuss the ways in which family members establish ways of living with mourning that emphasise the impossibility of achieving closure, and explore the ways in which they keep the wounds of their suffering open as a means of organising themselves politically, in pursuit of justice. The article suggests an alternative to a teleology of closure, suggesting that, in contexts of impunity such as the one prevailing in Colombia, mourning becomes a scenario of habitability.