印度与阿富汗关系中的中亚因素

中亚地区作为当前地缘政治博弈的中心之一,吸引了众多国家的目光,印度也不例外.其巨大的能源储备、战略性的地缘位置、有待开发的广阔商机都令印度在1998年后执行了明显倾向于积极的政策.尽管印度将中亚作为“扩展的邻国”,但印度和中亚并不直接接壤,于是,连接印度和中亚的阿富汗就成了印度“西北向”战略中的关键一环.美国发动阿富汗战争后,印度对阿富汗展现出积极姿态,不仅恢复了外交关系,而且还全面参与到阿富汗的重建工作中.随着美国撤出阿富汗的最后日期逐渐临近,阿富汗及中亚地区的前景也随之蒙上了一层阴影.确保阿富汗的稳定,反对恐怖主义、极端主义成为印度对阿富汗政策的优先战略目标.作为连接印度与中亚的通道,阿富汗的稳定与否直接关系到印度能否实现在中亚的战略利益.印度近年来在地区和全球的影响力逐步提升,希望能够在中亚地区的“新大博弈”中占有一席之地,以确保本国的国内安全、能源安全并拓展在本地区的经济合作空间.分析和理解哪些因素以及在何种程度上促使印度对作为连接印度和中亚的通道的阿富汗采取积极主动的政策,以及印度在中亚地区有哪些经济和地缘政治利益,是很重要的研究项目.     

Rapid in situ repeatable analysis of drugs in powder form using reflectance near-infrared spectroscopy and multivariate calibration

This study takes the first step toward in situ analysis of powder drugs which does not require any alteration of the samples. A fast, inexpensive analytical method based on reflectance near-infrared (NIR) spectrometry and multivariate calibration was applied. A diode-array fiber-optic portable spectrometer in the 900-1700 nm range was employed. Samples were laboratory-prepared ternary powders (diacetylmorphine, caffeine, and paracetamol). Partial least squares regression was applied. The choice of the standard samples for calibration and validation was performed through a D-optimal experimental design. The explained variance was higher than 90%, and the relative root mean square errors were <2%. The number of principal components (6) was very low when compared with the number of raw variables (356 absorbance values). Response plots showed slopes and intercepts were very close to optimal values. Correlation coefficients ranged between 0.909 and 0.989. The method here proposed proved to be competitive with Fourier transform NIR spectrometry.     

Animal-related fatalities--part II: characteristic autopsy findings and variable causes of death associated with envenomation, poisoning, anaphylaxis, asphyxiation, and sepsis

In addition to blunt and sharp trauma, animal-related fatalities may result from envenomation, poisoning, anaphylaxis, asphyxiation, and sepsis. Although the majority of envenomation deaths are caused by hornets, bees, and wasps, the mechanism of death is most often anaphylaxis. Envenomation resulting from the injection of a poison or toxin into a victim occurs with snakes, spiders, and scorpions on land. Marine animal envenomation may result from stings and bites from jellyfish, octopus, stonefish, cone fish, stingrays, and sea snakes. At autopsy, the findings may be extremely subtle, and so a history of exposure is required. Poisoning may also occur from ingesting certain fish, with three main forms of neurotoxin poisoning involving ciguatera, tetrodotoxin ingestion, and paralytic shellfish poisoning. Asphyxiation may follow upper airway occlusion or neck/chest compression by animals, and sepsis may follow bites. Autopsy analysis of cases requires extensive toxinological, toxicological, and biochemical analyses of body fluids.     

Personal identification of cold case remains through combined contribution from anthropological, mtDNA, and bomb-pulse dating analyses

In 1968, a child's cranium was recovered from the banks of a northern Canadian river and held in a trust until the "cold case" was reopened in 2005. The cranium underwent reanalysis at the Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, using recently developed anthropological analysis, "bomb-pulse" radiocarbon analysis, and forensic DNA techniques. Craniometrics, skeletal ossification, and dental formation indicated an age-at-death of 4.4 ± 1 year. Radiocarbon analysis of enamel from two teeth indicated a year of birth between 1958 and 1962. Forensic DNA analysis indicated the child was a male, and the obtained mitochondrial profile matched a living maternal relative to the presumed missing child. These multidisciplinary analyses resulted in a legal identification 41 years after the discovery of the remains, highlighting the enormous potential of combining radiocarbon analysis with anthropological and mtDNA analyses in producing confident personal identifications for forensic cold cases dating to within the last 60 years.     

A case of sudden infant death due to a primary cardiac sarcoma

The case reported herein concerns the unexpected death of a 3-month-old female newborn who suddenly collapsed in her mother's arms and was dead on arrival at the hospital. The clinical histories of the baby and her parents were negative for symptoms or signs of illness, even those of cardiovascular origin. Furthermore, no clinical appearance of a pathologic status was noted by pediatricians after the birth until the last emergency recovery. The autopsy excluded external and internal signs of violence but revealed a large primary cardiac tumor arising from the free wall of the left ventricle, which had totally invaded the heart causing mitral valve deformation. Histological examination showed a low-grade sarcoma that completely infiltrated the myocardial tissue. The pathogenesis of this sudden infant death was postulated as being owing to a fatal ventricular fibrillation combined with a tumor-related restrictive cardiomyopathy obstructing left ventricular filling.     

Intoxicated eyewitnesses: Better than their reputation?

According to law enforcement, many witnesses are intoxicated either at the time of the crime, the interview, or both (Evans et al., Public Policy Law 15(3):194-221, 2009). However, no study to date has examined whether intoxicated witnesses' recall is different from sober witnesses' and whether they are more vulnerable to misinformation using an ecologically valid experimental design. Intoxicated, placebo, and sober witnesses observed a live, staged theft, overheard subsequent misinformation about the theft, and took part in an investigative interview. Participants generally believed they witnessed a real crime and experienced a real interview. Intoxicated witnesses were not different from placebo or sober witnesses in the number of accurate details, inaccurate details, or "don't know" answers reported. All the participants demonstrated a misinformation effect, but there were no differences between intoxication levels: Intoxicated participants were not more susceptible to misinformation than sober or placebo participants. Results are discussed in the light of their theoretical and applied relevance.     

Physical restraint in a therapeutic setting; a necessary evil?

Physical restraint of people experiencing mental health problems is a coercive and traumatic procedure which is only legally permitted if it is proportionate to the risk presented. This study sought to examine the decision-making processes used by mental health staff involved in a series of restraint episodes in an acute care setting. Thirty nurses were interviewed either individually or in focus groups to elicit their views on restraint and experience in specific incidents. Four factors which influenced the decision to restrain were identified: contextual demands; lack of alternatives; the escalatory effects of restraint itself; and perceptions of risk. While some of these factors are amenable to change through improvements in practice, training and organisational culture, nurses viewed restraint as a necessary evil, justified on the basis of the unpredictable nature of mental illness and the environment in which they worked.     

Mentally challenged patients in a forensic hospital: a feasibility study concerning the executive functions of forensic patients with organic brain disorder, learning disability, or mental retardation

The past years have seen an increasing number of patients of lower intelligence or with organic brain disorder being committed into our forensic psychiatry. Our clinic has an ongoing scientific project to investigate the possibilities of reducing costs while at the same time guaranteeing adequate treatment and enforcement practice in forensic hospitals. This current project did not take these kinds of patients into consideration initially. This feasibility study is intended to examine if and to what extent these patients can be part of the scientific project. All patients of forensic psychiatry in Rostock (Mecklenburg-Western-Pomerania) with an IQ<80 (learning disorder) or a primary or secondary organic brain dysfunction that have been committed to the clinic since 2009 are included. These patients went through an extensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Furthermore, the treating psychotherapists had to rate the prognoses for criminal re-offending at discharge. Patients affected by lower intelligence or an organic brain dysfunction achieve lower results in neuropsychological testing than other patients participating in the main project. Nevertheless, participation in neuropsychological testing does not appear to overtax them. Future examination of the patients will be conducted to investigate to what extent certain therapeutic methods have been of noticeable benefit to this problematic group.     

Development of an immunoassay for the differentiation of menstrual blood from peripheral blood

This study examined all unintentional firearm fatalities while hunting that occurred in Sweden between 1983 through 2008. The circumstances as well as the impact of the hunter's exam on fatality frequency were analysed. During these 26 years, there were 48 such fatalities, representing 53% of all (n=90) unintentional firearm deaths during the same period. The average annual number of fatalities decreased over the last few decades. Very restrictive firearm legislation in Sweden combined with the introduction of a mandatory hunter's exam since 1985 accounted, at least partly, for this finding. Moose hunting accounted for 46% of the fatalities and small game hunting for the remaining cases. The mean age of the victims was 50 years and 96% of them were males; all shooters were males. During moose hunting, most of the victims were mistaken for game, whereas in small game hunting most of the fatalities were related to falls and improper handling of the weapon. Human error was thus the main cause of these fatalities.