Validation of a method to detect cocaine and its metabolites in nails by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

The objective of the present work was to compare previously published methods and provide validation data to detect simultaneously cocaine (COC), benzoylecgonine (BE) and norcocaine (NCOC) in nail. Finger and toenail samples (5mg) were cut in very small pieces and submitted to an initial procedure for external decontamination. Methanol (3 ml) was used to release analytes from the matrix. A cleanup step was performed simultaneously by solid-phase extraction (SPE) and the residue was derivatized with pentafluoropropionic anhydride/pentafluoropropanol (PFPA/PFP). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to detect the analytes in selected ion monitoring mode (SIM). Confidence parameters of validation of the method were: recovery, intra- and inter-assay precision, as well as limit of detection (LOD) of the analytes. The limits of detection were: 3.5 ng/mg for NCOC and 3.0 ng/mg for COC and BE. Good intra-assay precision was observed for all detected substances (coefficient of variation (CV)<11%). The inter-assay precision for norcocaine and benzoylecgonine were <4%. For intra- and inter-assay precision deuterated internal standards were used. Toenail and fingernail samples from eight declared cocaine users were submitted to the validated method.     

Getting Carded: Border Control and the Politics of Canada's Permanent Resident Card

This article is concerned with the ways in which border control has been reconstituted through Canada's Permanent Resident Card (PRC). Some questions examined with this paper include: how did the PRC come to exist as a technology of border control? Does it function as a symbol of the Canadian nation-state's imperative to manage transnational movement and access to the geopolitical space of the nation and, if so, how? Through what means does the PRC and the events surrounding its introduction and use facilitate processes of serialization and racialization? Does the PRC, as a technique of reason of state, do the work of producing the category “responsible immigrants”? The notions of “economies of bodies” and “bordering” are important here. “Bordering” opens up the concept of the border from a fixed place to a verb, or a process. Given this, bordering does not only occur at the territorial boundaries of the nation-state, it can also be internal to it. By examining how the category of “permanent resident” is organized, gains meaning and is maintained, this article demonstrates how the technology of the PRC and similar technologies of the regulation of mobility operate as practices of bordering and nation-making and constitute Canadian citizenship.     

Trusting in Trust(s): TheFamily Home and Human Rights

In July 2002, the U.K. Law Commission published its Discussion Paper No.287 on home-sharing. The conclusion drawn by the Law Commission was that it would not be possible to devise a statutory scheme for the resolution of family property disputes which is both workable and flexible enough to deal with the wide range of personal relationships that exist. It further took the view that, with appropriate changes to the way in which trusts principles are currently interpreted and applied by the courts, these trusts principles are sufficiently flexible and coherent to deal with the question of ascertaining and quantifying property rights over the family home. The aim of this paper is to examine the implications of these particular conclusions drawn by the Law Commission for both the law of trusts and the resolution of family property disputes between cohabitants. In particular, the paper will consider the extent to which trusts law remains a workable and desirable option and whether any mileage may be gained by drawing on the human rights culture that is emerging in U.K. legal and political discourse. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Access and allocation in global biodiversity governance: a review

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - Access and allocation is one of the five analytical themes of the science plan of the Earth System Governance (ESG) project....     

'Deeds and Words': The Woman's Press and the Politics of Print

The political and constitutional impact of the early twentieth-century British women's suffrage movement has been the subject of extensive research since the advent of second-wave feminism, yet the broader cultural impact of the movement remains a developing scholarly area. Murray examines the role of the Woman's Press, the publishing house established in 1907 as a strategic component of the Pankhursts' influential Women's Social and Political Union. The press is located within multiple and interpenetrative analytical contexts: examined in turn are its role in the various power struggles of the WSPU and the broader British suffrage movement; its significance as an independent means of cultural production around the contested site of the suffragette; and its ambiguity as a feminist publishing house run by male pro-suffragist and lobbyist, Frederick Pethick Lawrence. The Woman's Press and its central London retail outlet figured prominently in WSPU administration as a material concern-as literature packing department, revenue raiser and recruiting centre. Yet, symbolically, the Woman's Press was also integral to the campaigning of the WSPU to an extent that has generally remained under-examined. As an independent publishing house the press constituted a vital conduit guaranteeing the entry of suffrage arguments into public discourse, and a crucial tool for appropriating and refashioning the contested image of the suffragette in the wider politico-cultural landscape of the day. Acknowledging the significance of the Woman's Press provides both a necessary historical context for the post-1970 feminist press boom, as well as a counterpoint to the ongoing political-financial conundrums that beset its modern descendents.     

“Upholding the Correct Political Direction”. The PLA Reform and Civil-Military Relations in Xi Jinping’s China

The military reform launched in late 2015 has significant implications for China’s civil-military relations. One of the stated goals of the reform is to “uphold the correct political direction” by strengthening party control over the People’s Liberation Army. This has been achieved by centralising power over the PLA in the hands of the Central Military Commission, while at the same time centralising power within the Commission in the hands of its Chairman. This dual centralisation of power might considerably change the way in which the ‘conditional compliance’ model of civil-military relations works in Xi Jinping’s China.     

Management Tools for Quality Performance Improvement in Italian Hospitals

ABSTRACT

Leadership plays a decisive role in improving the quality performance in healthcare organizations. Research examines how Italian hospitals generate conditions to support leadership, at both top management and department/unit level, in improving quality. It focuses on the role of the management in processes for the delegation of responsibilities, and tools implemented to facilitate clinical leadership. Data show that: mandate is linked to full accountability; top management supports leadership for reinforcing outputs; and evaluation processes are systematically implemented. Furthermore, data show that leaders require performance systems to enhance clinical professionalism and to commit to improving performance.