Marine bacterial succession as a potential indicator of postmortem submersion interval

The process of decomposition of bodies in the marine environment is poorly understood and almost nothing is currently known about the microorganisms involved. This study aimed to investigate the microbes involved in decomposition in the sea and to evaluate the potential use of marine bacterial succession for postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) estimation, for which there is currently no reliable method. Partial pig remains were completely submerged during autumn and winter and were regularly sampled to document marine bacterial colonisation and the changes in community composition over time. Five stages of decomposition were recognised, some of which exhibited characters specific for partial carrion. Marine bacteria rapidly colonised the submerged remains in a successional manner. Seasonal differences were observed for the rate of decomposition and also for several groups of colonising bacteria. Marine bacteria specific for particular PMSIs were identified. This study provides an insight into the involvement of saprophytic marine bacteria in the decomposition of mammalian remains in the sea and is the first to explore the use of marine bacterial colonisation and succession as a novel tool for PMSI estimation. We propose that with further study, marine bacterial succession will prove useful for determination of the length of time a body may have been immersed in a marine environment.     

Becoming ‘European’ through police reform: a successful strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina?

Police reform plays a key role in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s internationally-supervised statebuilding process. It is one of the four key conditions to move the country closer to its European future. Against this background the article analyses the role that the European Union Police Mission (EUPM) plays in preparing Bosnian police agencies for this challenge. Using as guiding tools some of the key elements of the Mission’s leitmotif—local ownership, European police standards—the article comes to the conclusion that EUPM has introduced much needed reforms but these have been overshadowed, among other things, by the police restructuring process and its unnecessary politicisation of “European police standards/practices” to fit a model of statehood not shared by all local stakeholders.

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Development and validation of a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay for hair analysis of atomoxetine and its metabolites: Application in clinical practice

Atomoxetine (ATX) is a potent inhibitor of the noradrenaline reuptake transporter approved since 2002 for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, adolescents, and adults as alternative treatment to methylphenidate. A procedure based on liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has been developed for the determination of ATX and its main metabolites (4-hydroxyatomoxetine - 4 hydroxyATX - and N-desmethylatomoxetine - des-methylATX) in hair of one treated child and five treated adolescents. Since hair samples can be easily collected without the need for specials skills and exposing a patient to discomfort, hair testing of ATX and eventually of its metabolites should be useful, especially in case of pediatric patients, to check compliance in a wider time-window. After addition of duloxetine as internal standard, hair samples were overnight digested with 2ml 1M NaOH at 45°C. Then, analytes were extracted from alkaline solution with two different 2ml aliquots of tert-butyl methyl ether. Chromatographic separation was achieved at ambient temperature using a reverse-phase column and a mobile phase of 40% of water-60% 5mM ammonium acetate, 50mM formic acid, 4mM trifluoroacetic acid in acetonitrile-water (85:15, v/v). The mass spectrometer was operated in positive ion mode using multiple reaction monitoring. The method was linear over the concentration range 0.2-50ng/mg hair for the all analytes under investigation, with an intra- and inter-assay imprecision and inaccuracy always less than 20% and an analytical recovery between 33.1% and 76.1%, depending on the considered analyte. Only ATX and 4-hydroxyATX were detected in hair samples with concentrations varying from 0.2 to 2.0ng/mg hair and from 0.3 to 1.0ng/mg, respectively. Notwithstanding the absence of any dose-hair concentration relationship, hair monitoring of ATX and concomitant medications commonly administrated in ADHD children and adolescents can be crucial in verifying long-term compliance to prescribed medication in individuals displaying a non negligible tendency to refuse drugs and to lie on the adherence to therapy as a specific symptom of the disease.     

Islam and politics in Europe and in Asia: Comparative reflections

This article compares the role of religion, and of Islam in particular, in politics in Europe and in South and South East Asia. It starts out with the policy dilemmas facing France, Europe's most secular country that also has Europe's largest immigrant Muslim community. After long debates nation-wide Muslim organisation is now sponsored by the state in order to strengthen moderate Islam in France. In contrast, explicit Christian parties are in decline in most of Europe. Those who are still electorally successful are Christian mostly in name only and have turned into centre-right conservative people's parties instead. Religious discourse in politics has hence vanished almost entirely in Europe. In difference in Asia Islamic opposition parties have managed to set increasingly the political agenda in the majority Islamic states. In those countries with an Islamic minority their public religious agitation serves to strengthen their ethnic minority identity. Meaningful bi-continental dialogue needs to be aware of this discrepancy in religious politics.     

Trivial pursuits? Serious (video) games and the media representation of refugees

This article critically analyses the representational practices of serious (video) games that focus on refugees. It argues that the technological form of serious games can simulate the historical, political and socio-economic factors that shape why refugees leave their home country and their experiences when travelling to host countries. They are able to mobilise intellectual agendas which challenge the de-contextualised representations of refugees typical in traditional media. As such, they challenge players to critically reflect on the complexities of refugee experiences and politics, thereby presenting a potential to move away from grand emotional discourses of pity and compassion.     

Working the Spaces in between: A Case Study of a Boundary‐Spanning Model to Help Facilitate Cross‐Sectoral Policy Work

Since the 1990s, ‘joined‐up government,’ ‘whole‐of‐government,’ and ‘horizontal governance’ approaches have emerged in many industrialized countries, resulting in the devolution of government functions to diverse policy networks. From these shifts, complex systems of networked actors have emerged, involved in designing, implementation, and influencing policy. Arguably, networked approaches to policy may solve some problems. However, as with all paradigm shifts, new problems have emerged. Specifically, skill and knowledge gaps have opened up, reflecting the need for new collaborative and networked relationships that can increase the capabilities and agility to work in these ways. In response to these gaps, we developed the Power to Persuade initiative. Power to Persuade is an annual symposium and online forum, aimed at deepening knowledge and awareness of current problems faced by policy networks, and providing the skills and knowledge to overcome them. In this paper, we discuss how Power to Persuade works within the spaces in between as a vehicle for relationship building and better policy.     

Influencing the Penal Agenda? The Justice Select Committee and ‘Transforming Justice’, 2010–15

This article assesses the policy influence of the House of Commons Justice Select Committee, established to oversee the work of the Ministry of Justice following its creation a decade ago. The committee has, from the outset, overseen many contentious policy and legislative developments in the penal field, although none so extensive as those introduced following the formation of the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2010. Despite the newsworthy nature of its business, the committee has, to some extent, operated in the shadows of its high‐profile sister, the Home Affairs Select Committee, and has received surprisingly limited attention from criminologists and political scientists alike. Forming part of a wider investigation into the work of the committee, this article examines the extent to which it was able to influence penal developments during the coalition years. This period is of particular interest given that it heralded the end of the New Labour administration and welcomed the ‘fresh thinking’ of a coalition leadership keen to emphasise its progressive attitude towards law and order. While the committee was able to influence the direction of penal policy on several occasions, this mostly occurred as a result of its proactive or niche inquiries. The committee had less impact when conducting inquiries that assessed the government's flagship policy agenda, however. Such findings brought into question the ability of the committee to influence the most significant justice transformations in this era of new penal governance.     

Capacity builders for governance: community-driven reconstruction in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Community-driven reconstruction (CDR) has become a new paradigm in post-conflict development. It combines infrastructure restoration with introducing good governance at the local level. Recent evaluations show that governance objectives are not easily met and significant change cannot be demonstrated. This paper adds to this argument on the basis of ethnographic research on a CDR programme in eastern DRC. It seeks to find explanations for the lack of demonstrable governance impact in the content and implementation of training. It identifies room for improvement by better adjusting capacity building to locally prevailing accountability mechanisms and by coordinating capacity building with other development programmes.     

Implementing Joined‐Up Government: Lessons from the Australian Social Inclusion Agenda

‘Joined‐up government’ (JUG) approaches have emerged in many industrialized countries as a means to tackle persistent ‘wicked’ public and social policy problems (Pollit 2003 ). Despite this, limited evidence exists concerning their implementation or effectiveness. ‘JUG’ was popularized by the Blair Government (UK) with its focus on addressing social exclusion. Following in these footsteps, in 2007 the Australian Government launched the Social Inclusion Agenda: a joined‐up approach to improving the wellbeing of all Australians and addressing disadvantage. This paper focuses on findings from a study that examined the SIA as a natural experiment in JUG. Drawing on the implementation experiences of federal policy makers, our findings lend weight to emerging research into JUG that suggests that compatibility and consistency between goals, instruments, and processes is critical to success. We argue that closer attention needs to be given to developing ‘supportive architecture’ around joined‐up initiatives to facilitate implementation.