Human Rights and Tear Gas: The Question of Carter Administration Officials Opposed to the Shah

Jimmy Carter’s arrival to the White House and Washington’s new focus on human rights caused an early, although subtle, rift between the United States and the Shah’s Iran. The aim of this paper is to explore how the Bureau of Human Rights’ activist approach, under the leadership of the outspoken Patricia Derian, muddied the waters between Tehran and Washington, while using the export of riot control equipment as the spearhead of Carter’s human rights policy abroad.     

An Analysis of the Characteristics of Thoracic and Abdominal Injuries Due to Gunshot Homicides in Israel

De‐identified wound data from 197 homicidal gunshot postmortems were obtained between 2000 and 2008. Forensic ballistics data were only available for cases between 2004 and 2008. Males represent 91% of gunshot victims and were struck in the thorax/abdomen with an average of 2.3 bullets. The type of firearms involved were semi‐automatic pistols in the predominant caliber 9‐mm Luger and assault rifles in caliber 5.56 × 45 mm and caliber 7.62 × 39 mm Soviet, using full metal jacket bullets. The majority of shootings occurred at ranges of 1 m or greater. The most common bullet path was front to back in 66% of cases. Entry wounds occurred more often on the left side of the thorax, abdomen, and back. The most common critical organs/tissues to sustain bullet trauma in descending order were as follows: heart, lungs, liver, aorta, spleen, kidneys, and vena cava. Ribs were struck by most bullets that entered the thorax.     

Regional Corporate Spawning and the Role of Homegrown Companies

This paper presents the results and policy implications of a study that examined the spawning of founders who had previously been employed at large corporations. We found that spawning of founders is positively associated with the parent companies' productivity, innovativeness, and headquarter location. Furthermore, we found that the spin‐off per employee rate is higher in smaller establishments. We also found that the local entrepreneurial culture is significant in explaining local spawning of founders. Finally, we present new empirical evidence on the crucial role of successful homegrown companies in regional cluster development. More specifically, we found that the existence of successful homegrown companies is significantly correlated with the level of the regional entrepreneurial activity. This finding is consistent with the finding of many cluster development case studies. Thus, we argue that successful homegrown companies have a unique role in cluster development. This role can seldom be replaced by nonhomegrown companies. This is related to the notion that prior to the development of an entrepreneurial cluster, some intangible precondition should be realized such as the appearance of local role models and a shift toward a more entrepreneurial culture. In a more general perspective, these results support the notion that knowledge‐based regional development is a complex process that requires a long‐term and continuously adjusting supporting policy rather than being based mainly on attracting established companies' R&D centers to the region.     

The symbiotic tensions of the regulatory–carceral state: The case of cannabis legalization

Recent scholarship has emphasized the need to develop a polymorphic conceptualization of the regulatory state. This article contributes to this theory-building project by outlining a research agenda for exploring the symbiotic interactions and tensions between the regulatory and carceral morphs of the state. Using the case study of cannabis legalization reforms in the United States, we argue that the legitimation deficits of the carceral state stimulate the proliferation of new regulatory frameworks for governing social problems that were traditionally handled by the criminal justice system. We demonstrate how the polymorphic approach illuminates the ways in which the regulatory and carceral morphs of the state compete for influence over shared policy domains, but also complement and reinforce one another. Thus, rather than precipitating the demise of the carceral state, cannabis legalization reforms sustain a bifurcated governance structure perpetuating long-standing patterns of using drug law as a means for racialized social control.     

Sarcomeric gene mutations in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

In developed countries, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) represents the most prevalent cause of death in children between 1 month and 1 year of age. SIDS is a diagnosis of exclusion, a negative autopsy which requires the absence of structural organ disease. Although investigators have confirmed that a significant percentage of SIDS cases are actually channelopathies, no data have been made available as to whether other sudden cardiac death-associated diseases, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), could be responsible for some cases of SIDS. The presence of a genetic mutation in the sarcomeric protein usually affects the force of contraction of the myocyte, whose weakness is compensated with progressive hypertrophy and disarray. However, it is unclear whether in the most incipient forms, that is, first years of life, the lack of these phenotypes still confers a risk of arrhythmogenesis. The main goal of the present study is to wonder whether genetic defects in the sarcomeric proteins, previously associated with HCM, could be responsible for SIDS. We have analysed 286 SIDS cases for the most common genes implicated in HCM in adults. A total of 680 mutations localised in 16 genes were analysed by semi-automated matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDITOF-MS) using the Sequenom MassARRAY(?) System. Ten subjects with completely normal hearts showed mutated alleles at nine of the genetic variants analysed, and one additional novel mutation was detected by conventional sequencing. Therefore, a genetic mutation associated with HCM may cause sudden cardiac death in the absence of an identifiable phenotype.     

Analytical method for the determination of strychnine in tissues by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry: two case reports

This paper describes an analytical method for strychnine determination in biological samples by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry and their application in the investigation of two cases involving strychnine ingestion: A fatal case and a clinical one. The strychnine is isolated from biological samples using a liquid-liquid extraction procedure. The clean-up procedure is performed using an acid solution. Papaverine is used as internal standard in the quantification of strychnine. In the analysed specimens, the limits of quantification were 0.1 microg/ml or 0.1 microg/g. The recovery rate ranged from 75.0% to 98.7% and the coefficients of variation ranged from 4.8% to 10.5%.     

Asymmetry and Corrective Public Policy in Contests

The proposal of an inefficient policyusually stimulates a political strugglebetween the affected interest groups. Theresulting wasteful lobbying activities mayreduce welfare, even if the proposed policyis not approved. In this paper weshow that sufficient asymmetry in payoffsnot only tends to reduce lobbying effortsin standard rent-seeking contests, as iswell known, but it is, in fact, a necessarycondition for the implementation of asuccessful effective correctivetax-transfer policy that complements theproposal of the inefficient policy. Such apolicy induces an efficient equilibriumoutcome which is, in addition, optimal fromthe viewpoint of the players that take partin the public-policy game.