The fate of the chemical warfare agent during DNA extraction

Forensic laboratories do not have the infrastructure to process or store contaminated DNA samples that have been recovered from a crime scene contaminated with chemical or biological warfare agents. Previous research has shown that DNA profiles can be recovered from blood exposed to several chemical warfare agents after the agent has been removed. The fate of four toxic agents, sulfur mustard, sodium 2-fluoroacetate, sarin, and diazinon, in a lysis buffer used in Promega DNA IQ extraction protocol was studied to determine if extraction would render the samples safe. Two independent analytical methods were used per agent, selected from GC-MS, 1H NMR, 19F NMR, (31)P NMR, or LC-ES MS. The methods were validated before use. Determinations were carried out in a semi-quantitative way, by direct comparison to standards. Agent levels in the elution buffer were found to be below the detectable limits for mustard, sarin, sodium 2-fluoroacetate or low (<0.02 mg/mL) for diazinon. Therefore, once extracted these DNA samples could be safely processed in a forensic laboratory.     

Law, autonomy and advance directives

The principle of autonomy underpins legal regulation of advance directives that refuse life-sustaining medical treatment. The primacy of autonomy in this domain is recognised expressly in the case law, through judicial pronouncement, and implicitly in most Australian jurisdictions, through enactment into statute of the right to make an advance directive. This article seeks to justify autonomy as an appropriate principle for regulating advance directives and relies on three arguments: the necessity of autonomy in a liberal democracy; the primacy of autonomy in medical ethics discourse; and the uncontested importance of autonomy in the law on contemporaneous refusal of medical treatment. This article also responds to key criticisms that autonomy is not an appropriate organising principle to underpin legal regulation of advance directives.     

论警察人权的保障

警察作为一个特殊的社会群体,其人权状况不容乐观。警察执行公务过程中的人权受损现象未有改观,警察人权潜在的受损状况日益突出。构建和谐社会必须高度重视警察人权保障工作。保障警察人权的核心是树立＂以警为本＂的全新理念,以此为指导创新警察人权保障机制,建立专门的警察人权监督保障组织,建立健全法律法规和相关制度,加强舆论宣传,提高警察的自我维权意识。     

Capital formation and government capital policy in developing economies

Readings in the History of Economic Growth. By E. M. Falkus. Oxford University Press, Nairobi. 1968. Pp. 391. U.K. price 40s.

Economic Growth in Japan and the U.S.S.R. By Angus Maddison. George Allen and Unwin, London. 1969. Pp. 174. 35s, paper 18s.

Economic Growth: The Japanese Experience since the Meiji Era. By Lawrence Klein and Kazushi Ohkawa. (Publication of the Economic Growth Centre, Yale University.) Richard D. Irwin, Inc., Homewood, III. 1968. Pp. 424. $8.50.

Stratagems and Spoils. A Social Anthropology of Politics. By F. G. Bailey. Basil Blackwell, Oxford. 1969. Pp. xiv, 240. 36s. (18s. paperback.)

Issues in the Future of Asia. Ed. by Richard Lowenthal. Praeger, London. 1969. Pp. xi, 177. No index. 50s.

District Voting Trends in India‐a Research Tool. By Craig Baxter. Southern Asian Institute, School of International Affairs, Columbia University, New York. 1969. Pp. 378. 50s.

History of Kenya's Trade Union Movement to 1952. By Makhan Singh. East African Publishing House, Nairobi. 1969. Pp. 320. Index. EASh 56.00.

Toward ‘Uhuru’ in Tanzania: The Politics of Participation. By G. Andrew Maguire. Cambridge University Press. 1969. Pp. xxix, 403. £4.50.

Political Development in Rural Tanzania: A West Lake Study. By Goran Hyden. East African Publishing House. 1969. Pp. 282. Limp, E.A. sh.2l.00, $3 or £1 8s. Cased, E.A. sh.42.00, 57 or £2 10s.

Portrait of a Nationalist: The Life of Ali Migeyo as told to G. R. Mutahaba. Historical Association of Tanzania Paper No. 6. East African Publishing House. 1969. Pp. 28. E.A. sh.2.50.

The Agricultural Development of Argentina. A Policy and Development Perspective. By Darrell F. Fienup, Russell H. Brannon and Frank A. Fender. Praeger, New York. 1969. Pp. xxxvii, 437. No index. £7 6s.

An Introduction to Argentina. By Robert J. Alexander. Pall Mall Press, London. 1969. Pp. ix, 197. Index. £2 14s.

Planning and Productivity under Soviet Socialism. By Abram Bergson. Columbia University Press, New York and London. 1968. Pp. 95. No index. 36s.

Settlement Schemes in Tropical Africa. A Study of Organization and Development. By Robert Chambers. Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. 1969. Pp. xxv, 294. Index. 55s.

Fiscal Policy in Under‐developed Countries. By Raja J. Chelliah. George Allen and Unwin, London. 1969. Second edition. Pp. 216. 35s. (cloth) and 20s. (paper).

Capitalism, Primitive and Modern: Some Aspects of Tolai Economic Growth. By T. Scarlett Epstein. Manchester University Press. 1968. Pp. xxiv, 182. Index. Bibliography. 28 tables. 5 maps. Plates. 45s.

African Integration and Disintegration. Ed. by Arthur Hazlewood. Case Studies in Economic and Political Union. Oxford University Press, London. Pp. xii, 414. 75s.

Economic Integration among Developing Countries. By F. Kahnert, P. Richards, E. Stoutjesdijk and P. Thomopoulos. O.E.C.D. Development Centre, Paris. Pp. 162. 27s. 6d.

Turkey, the Challenge of Growth. By Z. Y. Hershlag. E. J. Brill, Leiden. 1968. Second edition. Pp. xviii, 406. Index. 86 guilders.

An Economic Profile of Mainland China. Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, with a Foreword by Senator William Proxmire. Praeger Special Studies in International Economics and Development. Praeger, New York. 1968. Pall Mall Press, London. 1969. Pp. 604. $18.50 and 155s.

The Spatial Economy of Communist China. By Tuan‐li Wu with H. C. Ling and Grace Hsiaolok. Published for the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, by Frederick A. Praeger, New York. Pall Mall Press, London. 1967. Pp. vii, 367. $10.

Capital Formation and Economic Development in Mexico. By Joseph S. La Cascia. Praeger, New York. 1969. Pp. xix, 191. No index. £6 5s.

Economic and Social Development Plan for Eastern Thrace (Turkey). By the Ministry of Reconstruction and Resettlement, Turkey, and the Association Bretonne de Géographie Appliquée, France. Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, Paris. 1968. Pp. 165. No index. 20 maps and diagrams. Tables. $2.50.

Economic Planning in Turkey. By Z. Y. Hershlag. The Economic Research Foundation (P.O.B. 423, Beyoglu), Istanbul. 1968. Pp. 75, No index. $2.00.

Economic Policy‐Making and Development in Brazil 1947–1964. By Nathaniel H. Leff. John Wiley and Sons, New York. 1968. Pp. xi, 201. Tables. Index. $79.

Regional Economic Growth: Theory and Policy. By Horst Siebert. International Textbook Company. 1969.

The Soviet Economy. By Alec Nove. George Allen and Unwin, London. 1968. 3^rd revised edition. Pp. 373. Index. 28s. (paper).

The Soviet Economy. By Nicolas Spulber. W. W. Norton, New York. 1969. Revised edition. Pp. xiv, 329. Index. $8.95.

Evaluating the Results of Foreign Policy: Soviet and Amercian Efforts in India. By Richard L. Siegel. The Social Science Foundation and Graduate School of International Studies Monograph Series in World Affairs, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado. Volume 6, Monograph No. A—1968–69, Pp. 35.

Economic Development and Structural Change. Edited by I. G. Stewart. Edinburgh University Press. Pp. 193. 1969. 50s.

International Economics. By Sidney J. Wells. George Allen and Unwin, London. 1969. Pp. 332. 48s.     

The Privatization of Public Safety in Urban Neighborhoods: Do Business Improvement Districts Reduce Violent Crime Among Adolescents?

The business improvement district (BID) is a popular economic development and urban revitalization model in which local property and business owners must pay an assessment tax that funds supplementary services, including private security. BIDs constitute a controversial form of urban revitalization to some because they privatize economic development and public safety efforts in public space. This study examines whether BIDs provide tangible benefits beyond their immediate boundaries to local residents in the form of reduced violence among adolescents. The empirical analysis advances an existing literature dominated by evaluation studies by introducing a theoretically driven dataset with rich information on individual and neighborhood level variables. The analysis compares violent victimization among youths living in BID neighborhoods with those in similarly situated non‐BID neighborhoods. We find no effect of BIDs on violence. However, we do find that youth violence is strongly correlated with neighborhood collective efficacy and family‐related attributes of social control. In conclusion, we argue that BIDs may be an agent of crime reduction, but this benefit is likely concentrated only in their immediate boundaries and does not extend to youths living in surrounding neighborhoods.     

Public Opinion and Military Intervention: Afghanistan,Iraq and Libya

Britain has participated in several military interventions of varying duration, extent and political controversy in recent years. This article analyses public opinion towards the most recent intervention in Libya in 2011, looking at three different aspects of the topic. First, it examines differences in cross‐national attitudes towards military action in Libya amongst NATO countries. Secondly, it then looks in detail at which social groups were more or less likely to approve of British involvement, comparing this with group attitudes towards Britain's role in Afghanistan and Iraq. Thirdly, it assesses how public opinion shifted during the course of the action in Libya, looking at three key indicators of the popular mood: whether Britain was right or wrong to take military action; how well the war is going; and assessments of David Cameron's handling of the conflict. Broader reflections are then made about public opinion towards British involvement in future military action.     

The Foreign Research and Press Service: Britain's Primary Source of Intelligence from the German-occupied Baltic States during the Second World War

The article investigates how the Foreign Research and Press Service succeeded in overcoming internal government prejudice to become His Majesty's Government primary supplier of intelligence from the German-occupied Baltic states during the Second World War. As the Foreign Office had banned the covert intelligence agencies from operating within the Soviet sphere, which included the Baltic states, the non-covert Foreign Research and Press Service Baltic States Section could operate without offending the USSR. The article charts how the Foreign Research and Press Service supplied crucial information from the enemy press that helped to form British war and post-war policy towards the USSR.