ACCOMPLISHING THE MULTIPLE TASKS OF DIVORCE AND SEPARATION

This article presents two checklists (Child-Related Agreements and Spousal-Related Agreements) that facilitate professionals who assist couples in accomplishing the multiple tasks of divorce and separation. These two checklists have been and are being used in several court settings and in private mediation practices.     

Low blood alcohol levels. Experimental study on attention and body sway control functions

Objective

Attempting to prevent alcohol-related road accidents requires sensitive, reliable and easy-to-use methods and instruments for ascertaining drivers’ state of intoxication. This paper examines the scientific validity of a method for assessing psychomotor performance combining measurement of neurosensory functions with the effect of low blood alcohol levels: body sway control and attention functions.

Methods

A double-blind, placebo-controlled study, with cross-over and random distribution on the effects of low blood alcohol levels. Psychomotor performance and body sway control were studied in 16 healthy volunteers after they had drunk a small dose of ethyl alcohol (0.5 g/kg) or placebo. Neurosensory and psychomotor functions were assessed by a Divided Attention Test (DAT), composed of the association between one test exploring short-term memory (Memory Test) and one exploring attention (Response Competition Test). Alterations in body sway were recorded by stabilometry. Tests were administered at 30, 60, 120 and 180 min after intake of alcohol. After a wash-out period of at least one week, subjects repeated the test after taking a second dose of alcohol or placebo. Blood alcohol concentrations were monitored by analysis of concentrations in expired air.

Results

A BAC under 50 mg/dL did not reveal statistically significant impaired memory capacities or motor coordination. Instead, statistically significant oscillations of body sway were measured (p-values = 0.0001), especially when stabilometry was associated with deviant stimuli like those of the DAT (p-values = 0.0001).

Conclusions

This study showed: (1) impaired performance, at the limits of statistical significance, on a complex psychometric test like the DAT; (2) some cognitive, attentive and visual perceptive functions are not compromised or at least not in a statistically significant manner; (3) a considerable alteration in the capacity for control of body sway after intake of alcohol becomes further and massively impaired when deviant stimuli are given; (4) this impairment appeared early and was more marked 1 and 2 h after intake of alcohol.     

Normalization and Anti-normalization： Value Differences in Sino-EU Relations

As a would-be normative power, the European Union （EU） has the willing to expand its values to the rest of the world, especially to the developing countries. However, China always adheres to sovereignty principle and cultural diversification, never accepting to be normalized by European values. This indicates that there is some ideological collision between these two global actors, which could undermine the base of their bilateral relations. The collision is reflected by the conflict of China＇s exceptionalism, modernity, and socialist-label with the EU＇s universalism, post-modernity and capitalist-label. In order to escape the ideological conflicts, both sides should concentrate on shared values, interests and global governance rather than only on the bilateral political issues.     

PROFESSIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON COURT-CONNECTED CHILD CUSTODY MEDIATION

This article presents the initial findings of a research project in five judicial settings where there is the provision of child custody mediation within the court. A sample of judges, members of the Bar, and court mediators completed the Professional Study Questionnaire, which examined opinions regarding the efficacy of child custody mediation and requested suggestions for judicial policy and procedure in cases of custody conflicts.     

Exploring Seasonal Poverty Traps: The ‘Six-Week Window’ in Southern Malawi

Conventional wisdom in Malawi holds that seasonal food deficits force smallholders to hire out their labour to buy food during the critical first six weeks after planting, thereby reducing maize yields on their own fields and reinforcing poverty. This model was tested empirically for the Blantyre Shire Highlands using evidence from a panel survey and household case studies. Results showed no significant relationship between the supply of hired labour (ganyu) and the timeliness of weeding for maize, and that timely weeding was not a significant determinant of household maize deficits. This puzzle is explained by the diversification of the rural economy that has allowed households to develop alternative livelihood strategies to cope with maize deficits. Livelihood diversity helped poor households avoid the seasonal poverty trap and also helps explain the paradox of why the poorest region in Malawi escaped the 2001–2002 famine.     

Detection of thiopental and pentobarbital in head and pubic hair in a case of drug-facilitated sexual assault

The quali-quantitative determination of two barbiturates, thiopental and its metabolite pentobarbital, in head and pubic hair samples of a woman who had been sexually assaulted during hospitalisation, is reported. Hair was analysed by means of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-multiple mass spectrometry (GC-MS-MS), in chemical ionisation conditions. Thiopental and pentobarbital were found in three proximal head hair segments (sample 1A: 0.30 and 0.40 ng/mg; sample 1B: 0.20 and 0.20 ng/mg; sample 3: 0.15 and 0.20 ng/mg) and pubic hair sample. Two distal head hair segments were negative for both barbiturates. Despite the lack of collection and toxicological analysis of blood or urine samples within the hospital setting, analytical findings from hair revealed the use of the anaesthetic agent thiopental to sedate the victim quickly and deeply and commit sexual assault.     

A case of beta-carboline alkaloid intoxication following ingestion of Peganum harmala seed extract

Beta-carboline alkaloids harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine can stimulate the central nervous system by inhibiting the metabolism of amine neurotransmitters, or by direct interaction with specific receptors; they are found in numerous plants, including Peganum harmala, Passiflora incarnata and Banisteriopsis caapi, and in the entheogen preparation Ayahuasca, which is traditionally brewed using B. caapi to enhance the activity of amine hallucinogenic drugs. The ingestion of plant preparations containing beta-carboline alkaloids may result in toxic effects, namely visual and auditory hallucinations, locomotor ataxia, nausea, vomiting, confusion and agitation. We report a case of intoxication following intentional ingestion of P. harmala seed infusion; P. harmala seeds were bought over the Internet. The harmala alkaloids were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the seed extract and the patient's urine. This is, to our knowledge, the first case of P. harmala intoxication corroborated by toxicological findings.