Headspace/solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-mass spectrometry: a screening technique for the recovery and identification of volatile organic compounds (VOC's) in postmortem blood and viscera samples.

This paper describes the application of Headspace/Solid-Phase Microextraction/Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (HS/SPME/GC-MS) to the recovery and identification of volatile organic compounds in blood and viscera samples from deceased persons. The technique is used as a screening procedure to rapidly obtain information relating to toxicological investigations. The technique is suitable for the detection of volatiles (of wide boiling range) including butane, halothane, toluene, xylenes, and petrol residues in blood and viscera (lung, brain, and body fat).     

Mock Defendants' Procedural Justice Judgments of Alternative Trial Procedures in a Medical Malpractice Case

Mental health professionals were asked to imagine themselves in the role of defendant in a medical malpractice case. Each participant was told that their case could be tried according to standard adversary trial procedures or by an alternative procedure. The alternative procedures involved either varying the way that expert testimony would be developed or bifurcation of issues at trial. Participants rated the available alternative procedure relative to the ADVERS procedure in terms of preference, fairness, willingness to comply with trial outcomes, and other procedural justice dimensions. Results indicated a strong endorsement of potential alternatives to the standard adversarial trial process for resolving medical malpractice claims.     

The Strange Death of Blasphemy

Recent years have witnessed a considerable growth in legislation and litigation concerning religion. This article examines the implications of the latest change, namely the abolition of the offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel by section 79 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. First, the article provides the context by examining what has been lost, analysing the ambit of the offence, focussing on litigation in the twentieth century both in domestic courts and at the European Court of Human Rights. Second, the article seeks to explore why blasphemy has been abolished now, scrutinizing five developments that led to the abolition. The article concludes by examining the extent to which the criminal law continues to protect religious beliefs and believers, contending that while the body of the blasphemy laws is dead, its soul lives on in a plethora of other criminal laws and, more problematically, in non‐legal means of control.     

"Lateral Angle" of the Internal Auditory Canal: Non-Association with Temporal Bone Pneumatization

Abstract:  The "lateral angle," the angle with which the posterior wall of the internal auditory canal meets the posterior fossa plate, is arguably wider in females (>45°) than males (<45°). Not previously addressed, however, are repeatability of angle determination, and whether the extent of temporal bone pneumatization is a confounder. Forty-one adult human cranial specimens (82 clinically normal temporal bones) were studied; no sex information was available for this United States sample. Two casts were created from each ear; each cast was independently categorized twice. No association of lateral angle with mastoid size was found. Repeatability was good. Although bilateral symmetry was suggested (phi = 0.60, p  = 0.05), two crania had oppositely categorized right-left angles. We observed a new finding: narrowed but clinically normal canals in 10% of crania. The lateral angle is a good candidate to be a morphological method in determination of sex.     

Climate Change and a Just Transition to the Future of Work

Rapidly growing concerns about the adverse effects of climate change are prompting a re-thinking of how companies view their strategies and operations and spurring legal and regulatory responses around the world. The overarching objective of these efforts is to facilitate and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable economy. The green transition will have substantial distributional and structural implications for workers and the workplace across companies and economic sectors. Indeed, the future of work will be significantly shaped by climate change. However, relatively scant scholarly attention has been devoted to the forward-looking legal implications of climate change for work. Similarly, legal scholars writing on climate change have largely neglected the laws governing employment. This article seeks to help fill that gap. How can companies, workers, and society respond to the green transition in a manner that enables better jobs, a safe and stable workplace, and more resilient companies? To answer this question, this article draws on the theory of just transition, which is rooted in environmental justice and labor rights. We offer an interpretation and application of just transition that expands its scope to serve as a blueprint for ethical business conduct and legal reform to improve the world of work and the lives of workers.