Thoughts about a model of constitutional articulation of the public power in the field of biomedical sciences]

This article analyses from a substantive and organizational point of view the current scope of competence of the Spanish public powers in the field of biomedical sciences. The general rule is established whereby the competence belongs to the State. The autonomous communities opt for silence, except for exceptional cases (Cantabria, Catalu?a, Madrid). Given this situation coupled with the lack of rulings by the Consitutional Tribunal on the possible conflicts that could arise between an autonomous community and the State in the field of biomedical sciences, Profesor Fonseca correctly concludes that there is a need to draft an express distribution of competences between the different public powers in this matter.     

Cyanide ingestion. Case studies of four suicides.

Deliberate ingestion of cyanides is relatively rare, as reflected in the Registrar General's figures. There are no pathognomonic specific autopsy findings and even the distinctive smell may be missed by some individuals. We present four cases of cyanide ingestion, one of which appears to be the first reported case of magnesium cyanide poisoning in humans. The problems involved in investigating deaths from cyanide ingestion are discussed.     

What's real in realism? What's construction in constructionism? The case of criminology

Résumé Les auteurs abordent, sous différents angles, l'opposition entre réalisme et constructionnisme, en criminologie. Ils soutiennent qu'il n'y a pas nécessairement de contradiction entre les approches qui, d'une part, étudient le crime comme une production socio-légale et, de l'autre, celles qui s'attardent sur la génèse des situations-problème. Les concepts traditionnels de crime et de déviance sont ici examinés, tout comme les critiques dont ilsont fait l'objet de la part des premiers constructionnistes et des criminologues “radicaux”. En s'appuyant sur l'étude de Veyne sur Foucault, ainsi que sur les Speech Acts de Searle les auteurs posent un regard critique sur la notion de crime en tant que production socio-légale. En conclusion, ils indiquent les différences, au plan épistémologique, qu'il convient de souligner entre les concept de crime et de déviance, et soutiennent qu'il n'y a pas d'équivalence nécessaire entre réalisme et positivisme, pas plus qu'entre constructionnisme et nominalisme ou idéalisme.      

Exit From Terrorism: A Qualitative Empirical Study on Disengagement and Deradicalization Among Members of ETA

Terrorists disengage from the groups or organizations to which they belong as a result of structural, organizational, or personal factors. These types of factors seem to operate with relative mutual independence. All this can be analytically induced from research conducted at an individual level of analysis, based on 35 long interviews with former members of ETA who voluntarily decided to conclude their militancy at some point between 1970 and 2000. Until the mid-1980s, the individual decision to leave ETA tended to be linked to a subjective perception of ongoing political and social changes. From then on, disagreement with the internal functioning of the ethno-nationalist terrorist organization or the tactics adopted by its leaders became more salient motivations for those militants who decided to walk away. All along, however, there were ETA members who left terrorism behind for reasons of a rather personal nature. As expected, in this qualitative empirical study, disengagement was found to be a process seldom concomitant to that of deradicalization.     

Culture and Revolution Transaction Strategies: A Project of the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba

If society is the people, and culture is behavior, this confers upon revolutions a genuinely cultural nature. The immediate link among the topics dealt with in this article is the creation and development of Cuban cultural policy, the very policy through which the nation's artistic creativity—with all its beauties and blunders—is articulated. Yet it is impossible to outline the scope and complexity of this process in a single article and to do so would be nonsensical. This means a radical change in perspective: instead of using macro-history and generalizations, relying on observing events on a much smaller scale in an attempt to shed light on the whole through its parts. As a result, this article focuses on a specific cultural institution—The Ludwig Foundation of Cuba—with a brief mention of its fundamental aims and an overview of one of its emblematic exhibitions, which was the result of long-term research.     

The Significance of Adrenal Hemorrhage: Undiagnosed Waterhouse‐Friderichsen Syndrome,A Case Series

A retrospective series of five cases of nontraumatic gross adrenal hemorrhage were identified in 800 consecutive forensic autopsies. All patients were males, of different ethnicities and with ages ranging from 2 to 48 years. All patients had a clinical history and autopsy findings suggestive of sepsis. Pre‐ or postmortem microbiological cultures were variably positive for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The fifth case was positive for yeast and a coagulase negative staphylococcus; contamination of this culture medium cannot be excluded. No cases had a culture positive for Neisseria meningitidis. We find that the reviewed patients with grossly or microscopically identifiable adrenal hemorrhage were otherwise healthy individuals who died suddenly as a consequence of bacterial infection. In each case, signs and symptoms compatible with premortem adrenal insufficiency were reported; in no instance was the adrenal hemorrhage clinically identified.     

Solving underwater crimes: Development of latent prints made on submerged objects

Underwater crime scenes always present a challenge for forensic researchers, as the destructive effect of water considerably complicates the chances of recovering material of evidential value. The aim of this study is to tackle the problem of developing marks that have been left on submerged objects. Fingermark deposition was randomly made on two surfaces — glass and plastic whilst the material was submerged under tap water and then left for one to fifteen days before drying and development. For their later development, various reagents – Black Powder, Silver Metallic Powder, Fluorescent Powder, Sudan Black (powder and solution) and Small Particle Reagent – were used and the effectiveness of each of them on this particular type of evidence was then evaluated.The results show the possibility of obtaining good quality developed marks, even under such adverse circumstances. Further and wider research should, therefore, be undertaken in which other variables are introduced such as different substrates, other types of liquids, and environmental or time factors.     

Comparison analysis of illicit cocaine samples.

A rapid method for comparison analysis of illicit cocaine samples has been developed. The raw data are obtained by capillary gas chromatography using a nitrogen-phosphorus detector. The area ratios of four alkaloids (tropacocaine, norcocaine, cis-cinnamoylcocaine, and trans-cinnamoylcocaine) to cocaine are calculated for each sample. These ratios are compiled in a computer database which allows easy comparison of samples and makes possible reliable conclusions regarding their commonality of origin.     

Cluster analysis of a forensic population with antisocial personality disorder regarding PCL-R scores: differentiation of two patterns of criminal profiles

Fifty six cases of a forensic population were submitted to a cluster analysis to observe the aglomerative behavior in relation to the total scores of the items comprising the PCL-R Psychopathy Checklist Revised [R.D. Hare, Manual for the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, Multi-Health System, Toronto, 1991]. The analysis indicated two independent types of antisocial personality disorders, not identified in the PCL-R in its standardized form, one of them being strongly associated with criminal conduct and the other with psychopathic personality. Such clusters were stable when the analysis was replicated with other hierarchical algorithms, and also, they were independently extracted via the k-means method without having previously fixed the value for k. One of the clusters concentrated the PCL-R highest scores, indicating that it is the prototypical psychopathic character determinant.