The politics of state compliance with international “soft law” in finance

Why do jurisdictions comply (or not) with international soft law in finance? This research systematically links international and domestic explanations of compliance by highlighting the “disjuncture” between the international standard‐setting process and the process of domestic compliance. Two causal mechanisms that affect compliance are identified. In the uploading stage, elected officials delegate the making of international soft law to domestic regulators; large, internationally active financial institutions mobilize extensively and, to a large extent, successfully. In the downloading stage, domestic interest groups team up with elected officials in order to resist compliance with international soft law that has negative distributional implications for domestic constituencies. These arguments are illustrated through a structured, focused comparison, and process tracing of the mixed record of compliance of the two main jurisdictions worldwide—the United States and the European Union—with the main international banking standards, the Basel Accords.     

A case of fatal intoxication from metformin

A case of fatal intoxication from metformin is presented. The decedent was an obese 58-year-old-woman with type II diabetes, in whom severe lactic acidosis secondary to metformin accumulation was precipitated by acute renal failure. She had been on metformin 500 mg twice a day. Postmortem blood was deproteinated with acetonitrile, washed with dichloromethane, and the resulting supernatant injected into high-performance liquid chromatography system. Separation was performed on a analytical 125 x 4 mm i.d. RP-8 column. The wavelength was set at 235 nm. The mobile phase was acetonitrile (40%), sodium lauryl sulfate, and sodium dihydrogen phosphate adjusted to pH 5.1 (60%) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The concentration of metformin in postmortem blood was 77.3 microg/mL. The qualitative result was also confirmed by LC/APCI/MS/MS analysis.     

Determination of the active principles of Catha Edulis: quali-quantitative analysis of cathinone, cathine, and phenylpropanolamine

In the last years, all the vegetable material supposed to belong to the Catha Edulis species, seized at the Malpensa and Orio al Serio airports, were analyzed in our laboratory on behalf of the Tribunals of Busto Arsizio and Bergamo, respectively. After a preliminary botanic examination, the quali-quantitative determination of the active principles cathinone, cathine and phenylpropanolamine (PPA) was carried out by means of GC/MS and GC/FID techniques, which meet the requirements of the forensic analyses. We developed a fast, effective and reliable derivatization procedure which allowed to simultaneously detect cathine and PPA, whose discrimination is mandatory since PPA is not a psychoactive agent. Cathine was distributed in the various parts of the plant (leaves and stems) and its quantity ranged from 0.03% to 0.17% of the weight of the vegetable material; PPA was not detected in the twigs and its quantity in the leaves ranged from 0.07% to 0.16%. The quantitative determination of cathinone was carried out directly on the methanol solution after maceration of the vegetable material, its quantity ranging from 0.02% to 0.10%. No significant difference in the content of the two active principles was found between the fresh and the dried material.     

Effects of Different Temperatures on the Development of Dermestes Frischii and Dermestes Undulatus (Coleoptera,Dermestidae): Comparison Between Species

Dermestidae could be useful in forensic investigations to assess the PMI as adults and larvae colonize dried remains. We reared two species of Dermestidae (Dermestes frischii and Dermestes undulatus) to understand the effects of different temperatures on the length of their whole life cycle and on their immature stages. Both species were reared at 23°C ± 0.5, RH 75% and at 26°C ± 0.5, 75% RH. Our result shows that the temperature is the main factor that influences the development of those species; in fact, increasing temperature leads to a shorter development cycle (59.8 ± 0.5 and 38.1 ± 0.2 for D. frischii; 50.6 ± 0.6 and 36.2 ± 0.2 for D. undulatus). Furthermore, we found that the number of the molts before the pupa decreases from 5–7 to 5–6 for D. frischii and from 4–6 to 4–5 for D. undulatus, respectively, at 23°C and 26°C.     

Accidental death of disoriented persons in long term care facilities

Five cases of accidental death occurring in connection with physical restraints in long-term care facilities are reported. The position in which the deceased were found, autopsy findings, police investigations as well as the evaluation of each case under criminal law are described. The investigations by the prosecution as well as the attention of the public media have meanwhile contributed to an improvement of the technical standards and a reduction of the risk in applying such restraints under the Law on Medical Devices.     

Community engagement and public administration: Of silos,overlays and technologies of government

The public policy process in Australia is changing towards a more interactive, collaborative model, where governments seek to develop partnerships with civil society and private sector organisations to manage complex policy challenges. This article discusses research conducted into a project implemented by a Victorian government department that sought to involve stakeholders in addressing natural resource management issues in the agricultural sector. The research revealed that public administration practices associated with the new public management approach impeded the ability of the project to facilitate participation by diverse stakeholders in the decision‐making process. The article challenges the view that the discourse of collaboration and community engagement takes public administration down a constructivist path and suggests that agencies need to become reflexive about the way in which public administration practices are constitutive of the community engagement process if they are to facilitate genuine participation of other stakeholders.     

Serum norharman and harman analysis using high pressure liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and value of beta-carbolines as blood alcohol markers

Firstly, a method for LC-MS/MS-analysis of the beta-carbolines norharman and harman in serum was established and validated. Secondly, serum samples from persons during ethanol loading conditions were investigated (n = 26). Norharman was regularly found positive only in persons with BAC > 1.6@1000. In this subgroup harman was detected in 5 out of 9 cases. The finding of norharman concentrations > 50 pg/mL in the serum of 4 out of 5 control persons was of high interest. In addition serum samples of smokers (n = 9) were analyzed for the beta-carbolines. All samples from smokers were tested positive for norharman with concentrations > 50 pg/mL in 7 cases. These results were in accordance with recent reports in literature and underline that the beta-carbolines norharman and harman do not meet the criteria of alcohol state-markers and positive serum sample testing may result from endogenous as well as from exogenous sources.     

Partition coefficient, blood to plasma ratio, protein binding and short-term stability of 11-nor-Delta(9)-carboxy tetrahydrocannabinol glucuronide

11-Nor-Delta(9)-carboxy tetrahydrocannabinol glucuronide (THCCOOglu) is a major metabolite of tetrahydrocannabinol in blood. Despite its mass spectrometric identification already in 1980, further physicochemical data of THCCOOglu have not been established. Therefore, the octanol/buffer partition coefficient P and the blood to plasma ratio b/p for THCCOOglu concentrations of 100 and 500ng/ml were investigated. Protein binding of the glucuronide was established from spiked albumin solutions at a level of 250ng/ml as well as from authentic samples. The data were compared to those of 11-nor-Delta(9)-carboxy tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH). In addition, the short-term stability of THCCOOglu in plasma at different storage temperatures was studied. Analysis was performed by LC/MS/MS. The glucuronide partition coefficient P (mean: 17.4 and 18.0 for 100 and 500ng/ml, respectively) was unexpectedly lipophilic at pH 7.4. Its blood to plasma ratios averaged 0.62 and 0.68 at 100 and 500ng/ml, respectively. THCCOOglu was highly reversibly bound to albumin (mean: 97%), and the mean fraction bound did not differ from that determined from authentic samples. THCCOOglu degraded even at a storage temperature of 4 degrees C and THCCOOH was identified as a major decomposition product.