The presence of trace amines in postmortem cerebrospinal fluid in humans

The postmortem levels of biogenic amines in cerebrospinal fluid may represent a useful tool in defining some pathological conditions; no information is available concerning the occurrence of trace amines in postmortem cerebrospinal fluid. Thus, the occurrence of octopamine, synephrine and tyramine were evaluated by using a HPLC system in 20 postmortem samples of cerebrospinal fluid (obtained from 11 males and 9 females) and their levels were compared with those of 20 living subjects (obtained from 11 males and 9 females). The results show that trace amines dramatically increase in the postmortem cerebrospinal fluid (100, 20, and 4 fold increase for tyramine, octopamine, and synephrine respectively). To our knowledge, our data represent the first time trace amines have been identified in postmortem cerebrospinal fluid and the dramatic increase observed for tyramine has the potential of becoming a new tool in forensic science for better defining the time of death.     

Towards a "crime pollen calendar" - pollen analysis on corpses throughout one year

A palynological study was carried out on 28 corpses brought in one year (June 2003-May 2004) to the morgue of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Parma (Northern Italy). This preliminary research focuses on the date of death, which was known for all corpses examined. Pollen sampling and analyses were made with the first aim of comparing the pollen grains found on corpses with those diffused in the atmosphere in the region in the same season as the known date of death. Eyebrows, hair-line near the forehead, facial skin and nasal cavities were sampled. Most of the corpses had trapped pollen grains, with the exception of two December corpses. All pollen grains were found with cytoplasm and in a good state of preservation. In this way, a series of reference data was collected for the area where the deaths occurred, and we examined whether pollen grains on corpses could be an index of the season of death. To verify this hypothesis, the pollen analyses were compared with data reported in the airborne pollen calendars of Parma and the region around. Pollen calendars record pollen types and their concentrations in the air, month by month. The quantity of pollen recorded on corpses did not prove to be directly related to the quantity of pollen in the air. But qualitatively, many pollen types which are seasonal markers were found on corpses. Main corpse/air discrepancies were also observed due to the great influence that the local environmental conditions of the death scene have in determining the pollen trapped by a corpse. Qualitative plus quantitative pollen data from corpses appeared helpful in indicating the season of death. A preliminary sketch of a "crime pollen calendar" in a synthetic graphic form was made by grouping the corpse pollen records into three main seasons: A, winter/spring; B, spring/summer; C, summer/autumn. Trends match the general seasonal trend of pollen types in the air.     

Keeping the faith: Psychosocial correlates of activism persistence into middle adulthood

This study was conducted to determine certain ideological, personological, lifestyle, and familial correlates of activism persistence into middle adulthood. Almost 15 years following their arrest for participation in the Free Speech Movement, 30 former Berkeley activists responded to a political activity scale and measures selected to tap variables in each of the contextual domains. Although persisters did not differ from nonpersisters with respect to most lifestyle dimensions, they were distinguished by more radical beliefs, stronger repudiation of Protestant ethic values, and a stronger family legacy of social concern. The results provide more support for theories of activists' adult development based on notions of generational continuity, rather than generational rebellion.received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Major interests are politics and personality and politics and clinical psychology.Received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis. Major interests are adult development and health psychology.     

The European Community: A Balancing Act

The European Community has traditionally been analyzed usingtheories and concepts drawn from international relations ratherthan from federalism. This article emphasizes the balance betweenthe representation of territorial and nonterritorial interestsin the Community and argues that concepts drawn from federalismcan be useful in analytically understanding the Community aslong as the American model of federalism is not viewed as thenecessary federal referent. It describes the relative importanceof the territorial dimension within the major Community institutions—theCommission, the Council of Ministers, the European Council,the European Parliament, and the European Court of Justice.The Court of Justice, it is argued, is particularly importantin giving the Community a "federal" contour. However, its methodof operation differentiates it in important ways from the Americanjudiciary. The role of territorial politics within the Communityis such that the Community's policymaking process, while unique,is certainly recognizable to students of comparative federalism.     

Small Firms’ Formalisation: The Stick Treatment

Firm informality is pervasive throughout the developing world, Bangladesh being no exception. The informal status of many firms substantially reduces the tax basis and therefore impacts the provision of public goods. The literature on encouraging formalisation has predominantly focused on reducing the direct costs of formalisation and has found negligible impacts of such policies. In this paper, we focus on a stick intervention, which to the best of our knowledge is the first one in a developing country setting that deals with the most direct and dominant form of informality, that is registration with the tax authority with a direct link to the country’s potential revenue base and thus public goods provision. We implement an experiment in which randomly selected firms are visited by tax representatives who deliver an official letter from the Bangladesh National Tax Authority stating that the firm is not registered and the consequential punishment if the firm fails to register. We find that the intervention increases the rate of registration among treated firms, while firms located in the same market but not treated do not seem to respond significantly. We also find that only larger revenue firms at baseline respond to the threat and register. Our findings have at least two important policy implications: i) the enforcement angle, which could be an important tool to encourage formalisation; and ii) targeting of government resources for formalisation to high-end informal firms. The effects are generally small in levels and this leaves open the question of why many firms still do not register.     

Conclusion to Special Issue on the Institutional Balance and the Future of EU Governance: The Treaty of Nice, Institutional Balance, and Uncertainty

Debates about institution–building within the European Union focus on how national power and transnational representation and accountability should be organized institutionally within the context of regionalism. An "institutional balance" allows the EU to benefit from administrative capacity and the representation of both national executives and national electorates while not being transformed into either a transnational political system or a traditional federation. The Treaty of Nice laid the groundwork for enlargement by re–examining issues of representation that had previously been accepted as givens. In so doing, the member states made clear that the evolution of the EU was going to be subject to uncertainty and institutional fluidity.     

National Judges,Community Judges: Invitation to a Journey through the Looking‐glass—On the Need for Jurisdictions to Rethink the Inter‐systemic Relations beyond the Hierarchical Principle

The historical conflict between the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the national constitutional courts regarding primacy is a misunderstanding. In going through the looking‐glass, we can understand that, on the contrary, the ECJ and the national constitutional courts adopt comparable solutions in their treatment of legal pluralism, and that they see the negation of pluralism as essential for the survival of their own legal orders. Therefore, these judges must be offered a new theoretical context to help them reconcile their role as supreme guardian with the taking into account of the pluralist context. Finally, practical proposals must be made to give judges the instruments and techniques that are capable of reflecting this plural structure.