Compound muscle action potential analysis in different death models: significance for the estimation of early postmortem interval

In this experimental study, we investigated the varieties of excitability of gastrocnemius muscle via sciatic nerve as per different death models (asphyxia, abundant-bleeding and gradual-bleeding) on rats and the significance for the estimation of postmortem interval was evaluated. For this purpose, the rats were applied different stimulus intensities (5, 20, 40 mA) with 0.1 ms duration, before, during and every 5 min after death, using rectangular impulses, and the mean amplitude, onset latency and area values for each compound muscle action potential (CMAP) were elicited. It was detected that amplitude and area increased and onset latencies prolonged in the first postmortem 15 min. From the 15 min, CMAP area and amplitude showed an ever-increasing decrease and the prolongation of onset latencies became apparent. The decrease rate of area and amplitude was found to be statistically significantly different in asphyxia and abundant-bleeding models compared with in gradual-bleeding model, at 30 min measurements. However, there was not any significant difference in onset latency increase rates of three groups. Separately, any significant correlation between the agony and excitability periods among the groups could not be detected. The fact that the increase rate of onset latency did not show a significant difference as per death models indicated that onset latency ratios would be more appropriate criteria in determination of postmortem interval, regardless the reason of death.     

GEOPOLITICS AND NEW SPATIAL IMAGINARIES

The three articles that follow in this CAS feature collection—those by Candela, Harrar, and Fisher Onar—were first written for a workshop entitled “Shifting Geopolitical Ecologies and New Spatial Imaginaries,” during the third Inter- Asian Connections conference in Hong Kong, in June 2012. The aim of the workshop was to identify and bring into discussion emerging mental, cultural, and political conceptions of spatial categories in Asia. Workshop organizers Caglar Keyder and Ravi Arvind Palat introduce the articles below and Palat provides background and context for the articles in his own article, “Maps of Time, Clocks of Space: Changing Imaginaries of Asia” (397–410).     

The dissolution of the Asiation mode of production

The article is an attempt to trace out the contradictions accompanying the integration of a pre-capitalist formation into the world economy. Historical examples are taken from the Ottoman Empire, which, it is claimed, can be characterised as a transformation of the Asiatic Mode of Production. As merchant capital begins to dissolve the existing relations of production, a struggle over the division of the surplus ensues. This struggle is discussed first in the context of an economy with a negligible escape of surplus, and secondly when the surplus transfer abroad begins to condition the contradictions within. In the first situation merchant capital in its trading and production-organizing functions, claims a larger portion of the surplus which traditionally belonged to the ruling class of the pre-capitalist formation. The result of this struggle is analysed under two different assumptions: one that the division of the surplus is achieved without the intervention of the political instance, and two that the state becomes the platform for the struggle.

When the economy begins to lose some of its surplus abroad, the internal contradictions are aggravated. The eventual consequence of the loss is a balance-of-payments crisis, as a result of which the merchant class will find themselves discredited, and the political balances may shift in favour of the traditional ruling class. The conclusion states that this series of contradictions is characteristic of the history of peripheral capitalism.     

When and How Parliaments Influence Foreign Policy: The Case of Turkey's Iraq Decision

Turkey's decision on its role in the Iraq war in 2003 illustrates the power—and limits—of parliaments as actors in foreign policy. Traditionally, assemblies are not seen as important players in the foreign policies of parliamentary democracies. Instead, cabinets are generally considered the chief policymaking authorities. If the government enjoys a parliamentary majority, legislatures typically support the cabinet, if they are brought into the process at all. The March 1, 2003 vote by the Turkish parliament to not allow the United States to use Turkey as a base for the Iraq invasion challenges this conventional wisdom on parliamentary influence (in addition to many interest-based explanations of foreign policy). This paper examines this decision in the context of the role of parliaments in foreign policies and explores the relationships between parliamentary influence, leadership, intraparty politics, and public opinion.