Influence of bleaching on stability of benzodiazepines in hair

In order to study the influence of hair bleaching on benzodiazepines concentrations, hair was treated with a bleaching product (Poly Blonde, Schwarzkopf & Henkel) for 20 min. The treated hair specimen was obtained from a person who died after an overdose of several illicit drugs associated with benzodiazepines. Bleached and non bleached hair were washed (acetone and water), pulverised and then incubated for 2 h in a thioglycolic solution. In the extracts obtained by solid-phase extraction on C18 columns, the different drugs with the corresponding deuterated standards were derivatized and determined by GC-MS in a SIM mode. These results show that the concentrations of all the drug detected decreased in bleached hair in comparison with non treated hair. Whereas the diminution was less important for cocaine and benzoylecgonine (decrease of 24.6 and 36.4%, respectively), concentrations for codeine, 6-monoacetylmorphine and morphine decreased more significantly (decrease of 57.5, 88.6 and 67.4%, respectively) as well as those of diazepam, nordazepam and 7-aminoflunitrazepam (decrease of 39.7, 67.7 and 61.8%, respectively). The results in this study agree with those of other authors that bleaching affects the stability of cocaine and opiates incorporated in hair. These findings also point out that bleaching influences the stability of entrapped benzodiazepines in hair. Finally, these results reconfirm that it is very important to consider the cosmetic history of a hair sample in the interpretation of hair analysis results.     

涉及死亡医疗纠纷的发生:27年医疗纠纷法医尸检回顾性研究之一

为了探讨医疗纠纷法医尸检的特点,回顾性研究了1972～1998年27年间318例医疗纠纷尸检资料.在这第一篇报告中,介绍与死亡有关医疗纠纷发生上的一些特点:医疗纠纷尸检的案例数从1972～1983年的23例上升到1984～1998年的295例;死者中男女性别无显著差别;年龄分布有两个高峰,10岁以下有104例(32.71%),20～40岁组161例(50.63%);发生在市(县)级中等大小医院的纠纷最多见,有195例,占61.32%,近年私人诊所的医疗纠纷明显增多;医疗纠纷尸检最常涉及外科(71例,22.33%)和产科(58例,18.24%);也简略讨论了206例非医疗过失纠纷和99例医疗过失纠纷发生的原因.     

上肢运动诱发电位研究

目的 :上肢运动神经诱发电位 (MEP)记录及分析方法。方法 :采用电磁刺激技术跨颅刺激大脑皮质运动区（ Cz）及颈脊髓神经根（ C7）,在拇短展肌 (APB)及小指展肌 (ADM)肌腹处记录复合肌肉动作电位（ CMAP）。结果：健康人 MEP正常值： Cz－ APB潜伏期左右两侧分别为 25.23ms和 25.19ms,两侧潜伏期差为 2.24ms,两侧波幅比和面积比分别为 0.45和 0.37。 C7－ APB潜伏期左右两侧分别为 16.46ms和 16.73ms,两侧潜伏期差为 1.60ms,两侧波幅比和面积比分别为 0.49和 0.39,两侧中枢传导时间（ CCT）分别为 11.79ms和 11.75ms,两侧差为 2.00ms。 Cz－ ADM潜伏期左右两侧分别为 25.18ms和 24.80ms,两侧潜伏期差为 1.82ms,两侧波幅比和面积比分别为 0.47和 0.46。 C7－ ADM潜伏期左右两侧分别为 16.70ms和 17.44ms,两侧潜伏期差为 1.69ms,两侧波幅比和面积比分别为 0.41和 0.42,两侧中枢传导时间（ CCT）分别为 11.71ms和 11.80ms,两侧差为 1.86ms。结论：健康人跨颅电磁刺激 MEP潜伏期具有相对的稳定性及良好的重复性,可作为神经电生理学检测的一个可靠指标,但波幅及面积变异性较大,能否作为一个可靠的检测指标尚有待于进一步研究。     

Determining the time and day of photography

Photographs taken by crime victims and perpetrators are at times important evidence. Their time of photography may also affect their value as such. Three methods of determining when a picture was taken by using the content of the picture are presented. The methods utilize solar direction-measured from shadows in the photograph, identifying flowering wild plants and correlating cloudiness with meteorological observations. Solar direction is the most accurate and involved method and therefore is the main part of this paper. A case using all three methods is described.     

CYNICAL STREETS: NEIGHBORHOOD SOCIAL PROCESSES AND PERCEPTIONS OF CRIMINAL INJUSTICE*

Studies have found that African Americans are more likely to perceive racial biases in the criminal justice system than are those from other racial groups. There is a limited understanding of how neighborhood social processes affect variation in these perceptions. This study formulates a series of hypotheses focused on whether perceived racial biases in the criminal justice system or perceptions of injustice vary as a function of levels of moral and legal cynicism as well as of adverse police–citizen encounters. These hypotheses are tested with multilevel regression models applied to data from a sample of 689 African Americans located in 39 neighborhoods. Findings from the regression models indicate that the positive association between structural disadvantage and perceptions of injustice is accounted for by moral and legal cynicism. Furthermore, adverse police encounters significantly increase perceptions of injustice; controlling for these encounters reduces the strength of the association between cynicism and injustice perceptions. Finally, the findings reveal that cynicism intensifies the association between adverse police encounters and perceptions of criminal injustice. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for research regarding perceived biases in the criminal justice system and neighborhood social processes.     

College Students’ Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence: a Comparative Study of China and the U.S.

Although attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV) have been the subject of many studies, little research has been conducted to comparatively assess public definitions of IPV in Western and non-Western countries. Drawing upon survey data collected from approximately 500 Chinese and American college students, this study compared and contrasted Chinese and American college students in their beliefs about what constitute IPV. Chinese students were found to be less likely to define abusive acts as IPV than their U.S. counterparts. Gender-role attitudes, such as beliefs of male dominance and IPV as crime, were among the most prominent predictors of students’ definitions of IPV. Chinese and American college students’ attitudes differed not only in what was defined as IPV, but also in what were the factors that shaped such attitudes. Directions for future research and policy were discussed.     

Revolutionizing Academic Activism: Transpraxis,Critical Pedagogy,and Justice for a People Yet to Be

One strain of thought that is both consistent with and an amplification of academic activism (Belknap in Criminology 53(1):1–22, 2015) is the critical criminological literature on transpraxis. As a theory of change, transpraxis advances a thesis on the dialogical and relational pedagogy of mutual struggle, of shared being and becoming. In addition, this literature critiques the dominant philosophy of human risk management and the current culture of captivity politics in which the struggle for transformative (i.e., interdependent and collective) change is “finalized.” We argue that, in the present era, processes of humanness and expressions of culture de-vitalize (e.g., homogenize, normalize, territorialize) this existence. In so doing, humanness and culture tend toward Hegelian reaction-negation dynamics, thereby forestalling and/or foreclosing justice for an awaiting people. Accordingly, this article outlines the dimensions of transpraxis as theory, explains how revolutionary academic activism necessitates a critical pedagogy for a people yet to be, and it reconceives the educational terrain of criminological activism as the pedagogy of becoming. We argue that the transpraxis properties of this pedagogy facilitate revolutionary academic activism and further the radical potential of transformative justice. This activism and potential exist for the multitude.     

A Chinese View of China's Energy Security

This article attempts to examine how China perceives its energy security issues. A survey of its research on energy issues offers hints on how experts influence the Chinese leadership. This article briefly looks at the assessment of the energy situation in China and the policy programmes released to tackle the problems. It then analyses the policy programmes and evaluates the overall strategy. It mainly relies on published data from China to reflect a Chinese view. China in some ways would like to follow Japan's example in response to the international oil crises in the 1970s, i.e. upgrade its industrial structure, introduce energy conservation measures, develop new sources of energy supply, and engage in an ‘energy diplomacy’ to diversify and guarantee its energy supply.     

A global and historical exploration: Legislative reform in Muslim family laws in Muslim-majority versus Muslim-minority countries

Thirty-five Muslim-majority and 18 Muslim-minority countries formally integrate Muslim Family Laws (MFLs) into their legal systems and enforce them through state courts. Both Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority governments have undertaken legislative reforms to alleviate the effects of religious laws on fundamental human rights, increase accountability and accessibility, and strengthen the rule of law within their MFL systems. Extant literature is silent on whether MFLs are more reformed or more human rights and the rule of law compliant in Muslim-majority or Muslim-minority countries. Utilizing a novel methodological tool, the MFL Index, this exploratory article surveys cross-national and historical trends in MFL reform (1946–2016). It shows that Muslim-majority and -minority governments have opted for different forms of legislative reform. Muslim-majority countries favored substantive reform, while Muslim-minority states prioritized exit reforms. The type and extent of reform were strongly associated with colonial heritage, secularism, women's activism, ethnoreligious diversity, and prevailing multicultural arrangements. These findings have implications for studying multicultural theory, human/women's rights, and democratization in the Muslim world and beyond.