A comparative study on the concentrations of 11-nor-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in head and pubic hair

In this study, the concentrations of 11-nor-Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in pubic, axillary and beard hair were measured and the correlation between the concentrations of THCCOOH in head and pubic hair from same cannabis users were evaluated. The papers on body hair analysis for THCCOOH were rarely found although police officers submit body hair as a complimentary specimen to forensic laboratories in case cannabis users had no hair. Head, pubic, axillary, and beard hair were collected. All hair samples were cut into 0.5mm segments and decontaminated with methanol, digested with 1 mL of 1M NaOH at 85 °C for 30 min and extracted in 2 mL of n-hexane:ethyl acetate (9:1) two times after adding 1 mL of 0.1N sodium acetate buffer (pH = 4.5) and 200 μL of acetic acid followed by derivatization with 50 μL of PFPA and 25 μL of PFPOH for 30 min at 70 °C. The extracts were analyzed using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry operating in negative chemical ionization mode (GC/MS/MS-NCI). We determined the concentrations of THCCOOH in both pubic and head hair. The concentrations of THCCOOH in pubic hair were higher than those in head hair. We also evaluated the concentrations of THCCOOH in body hair (pubic, axillary and beard hair) and head hair according to the positive/negative urine test results. There was no statistically significant difference in the concentrations of THCCOOH in head and body hair according to urine results.     

General strain and non-strain theories: A study of crime in emerging adulthood

Purpose

Despite continued increase in research on general strain theory (GST), previous studies on the relationship between GST and other criminological theories has been limited. To fill this gap in GST research, the present study aims to examine whether non-strain variables of social bonding theory, social learning theory, and self-control theory, as well as negative emotions mediate and moderate the effects of strain on crime and drug use.

Methods

Ordinary least squares regressions were applied to conduct a simultaneous analysis of mediation and moderation effects, using multiple waves of the restricted-use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health).

Results

The non-strain variables of social bonds and low self-control, but not deviant peer association, as well as trait anger and state depression/anxiety mediate the effects of strain on crime and drug use, but hypotheses about the moderating effects of these variables receive less support.

Conclusions

The central claims of GST need to be expanded to include non-emotive mediators of the effects of strain on crime, given that negative emotions are not expected to fully mediate the criminogenic effects of strain.     

The ‘Invisible Institution’ and Black Youth Crime: The Church as an Agency of Local Social Control

We examine the degree to which an individual's religious involvement significantly mediates and buffers the effects of neighborhood disorder on youth crime. To test this hypothesis, we analyzed the fifth wave of data from the National Youth Survey, focusing on black respondents given the historical as well as contemporary significance of the African-American church for black Americans. Results from estimating a series of regression models indicated that (1) the effects of neighborhood disorder on crime among black youth are partly mediated by an individual's religious involvement (measured by the frequency of attending religious services) and (2) involvement of African-American youth in religious institutions significantly buffers or interacts with the effects of neighborhood disorder on crime and, in particular, serious crime. Theoretical and methodological implications of the present findings are briefly discussed.     

Sonia Delaunay: Fashioning the Modern Woman

Focusing on questions of gender and modernity, Gronberg examines representations of Simultaneous fashions designed by the Paris-based artist Sonia Delaunay in the German illustrated press of the 1920s. Simultaneous dress was presented as a means of rendering woman 'modern' both through fashion and through association with Parisian artistic avant-gardism. Gronberg explores the figure of the fashionably dressed Parisian femme moderne in relation to 1920s concepts of the neue Frau. The identity of Sonia Delaunay as an artist turned professional designer marked her out as a 'modern woman' and was crucial in the promotion of Simultaneity to international audiences. Delaunay's persona as a 'modern woman' also related to her status as a wife. The German press depicted Sonia Delaunay and her husband, the painter Robert Delaunay, as a Knstlerehepaar, an artist-couple exemplifying contemporary notions of 'companionate marriage'. Gronberg shows how such concepts of the modern woman were important not only in marketing Sonia Delaunay's fashions but also in claims for Robert Delaunay's post-war painting as a renewed form of avant-gardism. The essay concludes by considering Paris as a milieu in which women interacted with each other professionally-as writers, artists and photographers-engaging with and reformulating the visual imagery of modernity. The production, promotion and consumption of Simultaneous fashion during the 1920s reveals the 'modern woman' as both subject and object of representation. A preoccupation with fashion could be as much to do with challenging and overcoming, as with acquiescing to, stereotypes of femininity.     

Correlation Between Average Tissue Depth Data and Quantitative Accuracy of Forensic Craniofacial Reconstructions Measured by Geometric Surface Comparison Method

Accuracy is the most important factor supporting the reliability of forensic facial reconstruction (FFR) comparing to the corresponding actual face. A number of methods have been employed to evaluate objective accuracy of FFR. Recently, it has been attempted that the degree of resemblance between computer‐generated FFR and actual face is measured by geometric surface comparison method. In this study, three FFRs were produced employing live adult Korean subjects and three‐dimensional computerized modeling software. The deviations of the facial surfaces between the FFR and the head scan CT of the corresponding subject were analyzed in reverse modeling software. The results were compared with those from a previous study which applied the same methodology as this study except average facial soft tissue depth dataset. Three FFRs of this study that applied updated dataset demonstrated lesser deviation errors between the facial surfaces of the FFR and corresponding subject than those from the previous study. The results proposed that appropriate average tissue depth data are important to increase quantitative accuracy of FFR.     

Screening for Corticosteroid Adulterants in Korean Herbal Medicines

The objective of this study was to determine the presence of corticosteroids in illegal herbal medicines using ultra‐high‐performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. We collected 212 herbal medicine samples that were advertised as being effective for treatment of joint pain and bone aches. Samples were from the Korean commercial market during a span of four years (2010–2013), and the method was validated. The limits of quantification ranged from 0.47 to 15.0 ng/mL, and recoveries ranged from 80.6% to 119.5%. The intra‐ and interday precision ranged from 0.18% to 8.82% and from 0.09% to 8.96%, respectively. Among the samples, three samples (1.4%) were identified as adulterants. Dexamethasone was the only compound detected in the adulterated products. As the corticosteroid–adulteration of herbal medicines may become a major problem and lead to side effects, the continued development of screening procedures for herbal medicines is critical.     

The Impact of Radical Right-Wing Parties on the Positions of Mainstream Parties Regarding Multiculturalism

What are the political effects of rising radical right-wing parties (RRPs) in Western Europe? Does the rise of the parties drive mainstream parties (MPs) to become more restrictive on issues mobilised by RRPs, such as multiculturalism? Analysing manifesto data from 1981 to 2008, it is found that the rise of RRPs makes right-wing MPs adopt more restrictive positions regarding multiculturalism. However, left-wing MPs do so only when the opinion of party supporters on foreigners becomes more negative or when the parties lost more votes in the previous election than their opponent right-wing MPs did. The result implies that niche parties with extremist positions can benefit from their own electoral success by dragging MPs toward their own positions. However, the impact of rising niche parties on MPs should be understood against a broader background of party competition, and the impact can be dissimilar between MPs with different ideological commitment and strategic opportunities.     

Establishment of the measurement uncertainty of 11-nor-D9-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid in hair

The quantitative analysis of 11-nor-D(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in hair requires a sensitive method to detect a low-pg level. Before applying the method to real hair samples, the method was validated; in this study, we examined the uncertainty obtained from around the cut-off level of THCCOOH in hair. We calculated the measurement uncertainty (MU) of THCCOOH in hair as follows: specification of the measurand, identification of parameters using "cause and effect" diagrams, quantification of the uncertainty contributions using three factors, the uncertainty of weighing the hair sample, the uncertainty from calibrators and the calibration curve, and the uncertainty of the method precision. Finally, we calculated the degrees of freedom and the expanded uncertainty (EU). The concentration of THCCOOH in the hair sample with its EU was (0.60 ± 0.1) × 10(-4)ng/mg. The relative uncertainty percent for the measurand 0.60 × 10(-4)ng was 9.13%. In this study, we also selected different concentrations of THCCOOH in real hair samples and then calculated the EU, the relative standard uncertainty (RSU) of the concentration of THCCOOH in the test sample [u(r)(c0)], the relative uncertainty percent, and the effective degree of freedom (v(eff)). When the concentrations of THCCOOH approached the cut-off level, u(r)(c0) and the relative uncertainty percent increased but absolute EU and v(eff) decreased.     

A study on the concentrations of 11-nor-Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (THCCOOH) in hair root and whole hair

In this study, we investigated the patterns of cannabis users (n=412) according to their sex, age, and the results of urinalysis and hair analysis, and classified the concentrations of THCCOOH in hair into three categories to examine the levels of cannabis use. We also compared the concentrations of THCCOOH in hair root, hair without the hair root and whole hair and examined the relationship among them according to the results of urinalysis. The hair samples were washed, digested with 1ml of 1M NaOH at 85°C for 30min and extracted with 2ml of n-hexane:ethyl acetate (9:1) two times after adding 1ml of 0.1N sodium acetate buffer (pH 4.5) and 200μl of acetic acid. The final mixture was derivatized with 50μl of PFPA and 25μl of PFPOH for 30min at 70°C. The solution was evaporated, and the residue was reconstituted in 40μl of ethyl acetate and transferred to an autosampler vial. One microlitre was injected into the GC/MS/MS-NCI system. The concentrations of THCCOOH ranged from 0.06 to 33.44pg/mg (mean 2.96; median 1.32) in hair from cannabis users who had positive urine results and ranged from 0.05 to 7.24pg/mg (mean 1.35; median 0.37) in hair from cannabis users who had negative urine results. The average concentration of THCCOOH in hair from cannabis users who had positive urine results was higher than that from cannabis users who had negative urine results. Male cannabis users in their forties were predominant. We classified the concentrations of THCCOOH in hair into three groups (low, medium and high), and could use the grouping of THCCOOH in hair as a guide for determining the level of use. The low, medium and high concentration ranges for THCCOOH in hair were 0.05-0.24, 0.25-2.60 and 2.63-33.44pg/mg, respectively. We also investigated 28 hair samples with the root. The highest concentrations of THCCOOH were seen in the hair root from 18 out of the 28 hair samples. The average concentrations of THCCOOH in hair root, hair without hair root and whole hair from cannabis users who had positive urine results were higher than those who had negative urine results.     

Developmental patterns of sex differences in delinquency among African American adolescents: A test of the sex-invariance hypothesis

This paper addresses a developmental issue concerning longitudinal patterns of sex differences in delinquency. Hirschi and Gottfredson argue that the age-delinquency relation is invariant across sex and that sex differences in delinquency are invariant over time as well. A combination of these two propositions generates a hypothesis, called here the sex-invariance hypothesis, that sex differences in delinquency are invariant over developmental stages of adolescents. To test the sex-invariance hypothesis, nine waves of panel data collected from a representative urban sample of African American adolescents are analyzed. The overall findings show that sex differences in delinquency tend to vary as the subjects grow older, rather than remain constant as the invariance thesis posits. Specifically, sex differences in delinquency peak at the age of 15 and thereafter declines with age. We also find that parental supervision significantly explains sex differences in delinquency for younger adolescence, but not for older adolescence.