The Rituals of Public Meetings

Public meetings are often referred to as “rituals” to denote a largely symbolic activity with little concrete meaning. This essay explores how public meeting rituals may produce very real impacts on participants and pragmatic outcomes. Whereas tangible outputs of rituals are not always evident, ritual theory suggests that participants can derive latent meaning and significant comfort from their application. Although rituals serve to reify certain norms or control behaviors, they may also reaffirm civic values and encourage group cohesion. A deeper appreciation of public meeting rituals will enable participants and officials to respond more effectively to restructured or nontraditional formats as well as better deal with the challenges of maintaining participation when rituals lose their meaning.     

Depressive styles in adolescence: Assessment,relation to social functioning,and developmental trends

Examined the relation of dependency and self-criticism to social functioning among adolescents. Subjects were 7th–11th graders from a suburban high school who completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire for Adolescents (DEQ-A) and the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP). The results showed that self-criticism was strongly associated with reporting a greater number of interpersonal problems, particularly in the areas of sociability and control. Dependency was only marginally related to interpersonal difficulties. The results also showed that levels of self-criticism tended to decline steadily across the high-school years, whereas levels of dependency followed a U-shaped curvilinear pattern in which it was higher in the early and late high school years relative to the middle years. Finally, the present study provides initial evidence of a reliable, shortened 20-item version of the DEQ-A.This research was funded by a team grant to David Zuroff, Richard Koestner, and Debbie Moskowitz from the Fonds Pour La Formation De Chercheurs Et L'Aide A La Recherche (FCAR-Quebec). Richard Koestner was also funded by a McGill Faculty grant.Received B.A. from McGrill University. Research interests include personality development and psychosocial adjustment.Received Ph.D. from University of Rochester. Research interests include motivation, personality, and life-span development.Received Ph.D. degree from University of Connecticut. Research interests include dependency, self-criticism, and vulnerability to depression.     

Quantitation of Synthetic Cannabinoids in Plant Materials Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography with UV Detection (Validated Method)

Plant based products laced with synthetic cannabinoids have become popular substances of abuse over the last decade. Quantitative analysis for synthetic cannabinoid content in the laced materials is necessary for health hazard assessments addressing overall exposure and toxicity when the products are smoked. A validated, broadly applicable HPLC‐UV method for the determination of synthetic cannabinoids in plant materials is presented, using acetonitrile extraction and separation on a commercial phenylhexyl stationary phase. UV detection provides excellent sensitivity with limits of quantitation (LOQs) less than 10 μg/g for many cannabinoids. The method was validated for several structural classes (dibenzopyrans, cyclohexylphenols, naphthoylindoles, benzoylindoles, phenylacetylindoles, tetramethylcyclopropylindoles) based on spike recovery experiments in multiple plant materials over a wide cannabinoid contents range (0.1–81 mg/g). Average recovery across 32 cannabinoids was 94% for marshmallow leaf, 95% for damiana leaf, and 92% for mullein leaf. The method was applied to a series of case‐related products with determined amounts ranging from 0.2 to >100 mg/g.     

Issues in Coverage for Preexisting Pollution Conditions under Pollution Liability Insurance Policies

Pollution liability insurance policies provide coverage for claims and costs associated with pollution conditions that develop and commence during the policy period. Coverage under such policies for claims arising from pollution conditions that existed before the policy incepted, however, varies significantly under different policy forms. This article addresses the two principal means that insurers have utilized to limit the risks associated with preexisting pollution conditions under pollution policies: the known conditions exclusion and retroactive date provisions. The article explains that these provisions have received mixed treatment in the courts and are likely to continue to be a focus of future coverage litigation involving environmental impairment liability and pollution legal liability policies.     

The Regulation of Xenotransplantation in the United Kingdom After UKXIRA: Legal and Ethical Issues

Xenotransplantation - the transfer of living tissue between species - has long been heralded as a potential solution to the severe organ shortage crisis experienced by the United Kingdom and other 'developed' nations. However, the significant risks which accompany this biotechnology led the United Kingdom to adopt a cautious approach to its regulation, with the establishment of a non-departmental public body - UKXIRA - to oversee the development of this technology on a national basis. In December 2006 UKXIRA was quietly disbanded and replaced with revised guidance, which entrusts the regulation of xenotransplantation largely to research ethics committees. In this article we seek to problematize this new regulatory framework, arguing that specialist expertise and national oversight are necessary components of an adequate regulatory framework for a biotechnology which poses new orders of risk, challenges the adequacy of traditional understandings of autonomy and consent, and raises significant animal welfare concerns. We argue for a more considered and holistic approach, based on adequate consultation, to regulating biotechnological developments in the United Kingdom.