The GC–MS detection and characterization of reticuline as a marker of opium use

Reticuline (a precursor of opium alkaloids) was detected and characterised as its trimethylsilyl ethers, acetyl esters and methyl ethers by GC–EIMS and GC–CIMS in opium and the urine of opium users after hydrolysis by acid or β-glucuronidase as coextractive of morphine. Because this compound cannot be detected in heroin and poppy seeds, it is suggested as a differentiating marker between opium and heroin use, opium and poppy seeds use, or opium and “pharmaceutical” codeine use in cases when opiate use has been confirmed by detection of morphine and codeine in the urine. As well as being a constituent of opium, reticuline in the urine of opium users may also result from the metabolic demethylation of the three other benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline opium alkaloids: codamine, laudanosine and laudanine.     

Personality Disorder Symptoms in Women as a Result of Chronic Intimate Male Partner Violence

This study explores the personality disorder symptoms of women victims of intimate male partner violence (IPV), after controlling for the contribution of experiences of childhood abuse. Victims of both physical and psychological violence (n = 73) or psychological violence alone (n = 53) were compared with non-abused control women (n = 52). Information about sociodemographic characteristics, childhood abuse, and personality characteristics (MCMI-II) was obtained through face-to-face structured interviews. Women victims of IPV had higher scores than controls in schizoid, avoidant, self-defeating personality scales, as well as in the three pathological personality scales (schizotypal, borderline and paranoid). Both physical and psychological IPV were strongly associated with personality disorder symptomatology, regardless of the effects of childhood abuse. These findings underscore the need to screen for personality disorder symptoms in women victims of IPV when dealing with therapeutic interventions.     

谈检察机关提起民事公益诉讼——评浙江省浦江县国有资产流失案

现代型诉讼的出现,检察机关提起民事诉讼成为社会的需要,然而由于民事诉讼法未赋予其提起民事诉讼的职权,因此理论界和实践中对检察机关能否提起民事诉讼莫衷一是.笔者认为,检察机关提起民事诉讼具有重大的现实意义;为了便于检察机关提起民事诉讼,要建立相应的配套机制.     

Can Mercosur Survive? Domestic and International Constraints on Mercosur

Mercosur has survived several crises by resorting to presidential diplomacy, but it risks becoming an empty shell unless member states work to coordinate macroeconomic policies. Its survival depends on the outcome of domestic political struggles in Brazil and Argentina and on the harmonization of exchange-rate policies between the two countries. This article examines the Argentine-Brazilian "trade wars" provoked by successive devaluations of the Brazilian currency, aggravated in 2001 by the Argentine economic crisis. The social explosion in Argentina in December 2001 showed that domestic actors can successfully challenge proglobalization policies. To consolidate, Mercosur will have to address the democratic deficit while building supranational institutions and an effective dispute-settlement system.     

Parentage testing on blood crusts from firearms projectiles by DNA typing settles and insurance fraud case

We describe a case of a fraudulent insurance claim. The family of an adult white male (DLF) notified the police of their son's disappearance. After a few weeks, a corpse that presented characteristics similar to those of the DLF was found in advanced stages of decay and was identified by the family as being DLF. The family then filed a claim for the life insurance that DLF had taken out just before he disappeared. Suspicions were raised about the identification of the corpse, because it had been done only visually, and because the insurance policy had been taken out just prior to DLF's disappearance. The insurance company requested a postmortem examination for identification. As the corpse had been cremated immediately after identification by the family, the biological material that was encrusted on the two projectiles removed from the body was used for analysis. The blood crusts provided enough genomic DNA for us to carry out PCR base typing of HLA-DQA1, D1S80, HUMCSF1PO, HUMTPOX, HUMTH01, D3S1744, D12S1090, D18S849, and amelogenin. Results from all loci typing from the corpse presumed to be that of DLF were then compared with that of his alleged biological parents, revealing genetic incompatibility.