Consensus rationales in negotiating historical responsibility for climate change

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - This article explores strategies in consensus-making processes in international climate diplomacy. Specifically, it examines...     

Comparative histologic studies of the origin of petechial thymus hemorrhage

Systematic histological investigations were carried out on the thymus with regard to the incidence and genesis of petechial thymus hemorrhages in 145 cases of death (fetuses from pregnancy terminations and stillbirth, mature and immature neonates, SIDS cases, other baby deaths, deaths during infancy and childhood). Petechial thymus hemorrhages were most frequently found in SIDS cases (87%). Even though distinguishable, a distribution pattern similar to that of thymus hemorrhages in SIDS cases (including hemorrhages mainly in the cortical zone of the lobes) could be detected in the group of fetuses from pregnancy terminations and stillbirth, as well as in mature and immature neonates. Histologically, deaths in babies and infants without extrinsic suffocation showed a different histological bleeding pattern (irregular hemorrhages of varying size in the cortex and medulla of the lobes). In violent extrinsic suffocation of babies and infants, thymus hemorrhages were much rarer and less pronounced in quantitative terms. Acute and subacute or chronic forms of asphyxia, the cause of death and the duration of the death struggle are discussed as pathogenetic factors to explain the different patterns of the findings.     

On Where We Differ: Sites Versus Grounds of Justice,and Some Other Reflections on Michael Blake’s <Emphasis Type="Italic">Justice and Foreign Policy</Emphasis>

Blake’s book conveys a straightforward directive: the foreign policy of liberal states should be guided and constrained by the goal of helping other states to become liberal democracies as well. This much is what we owe to people in other countries—this much but nothing more. The primary addressees are wealthier democracies, whose foreign policy ought to be guided by the idea of equality of all human beings. My approach in On Global Justice bears important similarities to Blake’s, but with those similarities also come equally important differences. The purpose of this piece is to bring out these similarities and differences and in the process articulate some objections to Blake.     

Simultaneous screening and detection of drugs in small blood samples and bloodstains

A gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method is described for the screening and detection of morphine, codeine, cocaine, benzoylecgonine, methylecgonine, cocaethylene, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), 11-nor-9-carboxy-THC (THC-COOH), 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC), amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) and N-methyl-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2-butanamine (MBDB) in small blood samples and bloodstains using solid phase SPE columns and a pipetting robot (Gilson Aspec XL). The detection limits are in the order of 1.62-4.10 ng/50 microl spot (amphetamines), 0.15-0.82 ng/50 microl spot (cannabinoids), 1.67-4.70 ng/50 microl spot (cocaine and derivatives) and 4.53-4.91 ng/50 microl spot (opiates) and the correlation factors are between 0.9957 and 0.9999. The method has proven useful in forensic cases with only small sample volumes or bloodstains.     

Age-dependent morphologic findings of the thyroid in sudden infant death

Age (eight days to 12 months) and degree of colloid depletion or colloid content of the follicles (normal, partially depleted, depleted) were correlated on the basis of 176 thyroid investigations in cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In the 176 SIDS cases, a resting thyroid gland with normal colloid content could only be found in 14%, whereas partially depleted follicles were found in 35% and depleted follicles in 51%. 60% of all cases showed a large degree of epithelial desquamation up to collapse of all follicles. A marked capillary hyperemia was found in 48%. 80% of the cases showed a normal colloid content in the first month of life, and colloidfree follicles should not be detected in any case. An increased incidence of thyroid activation was obtained in the total number of cases only from the second month of life. The histomorphological appearance of the thyroid gland thus corresponds to that of healthy infants only in the first month of life. The question as to why there is an evidently raised thyroid activity in the subsequent months of life in SIDS cases is discussed.     

The hydrodynamic effect of gunshots in cranial explosive shots

Case report on five fatal gunshot injuries in which discharge of the cranial contents had occurred owing to a skull blast. Despite an appreciable explosive action with destruction of the bony cranium, the brains were not completely destroyed. In analogy to the "Kr?nlein shot", comparative reflections were made concerning wound ballistics. The case reports show that injury patterns resembling "Kr?nlein shot" may arise in cranial blast shots in rare cases despite destroyed projectile parts and even in a mouth shot.