Death scene gas analysis in suspected methane asphyxia.

Two cases of methane asphyxia occurring in two boys (age 11 and 12 years) who were found at the bottom of a 37-ft (11.1-m)-deep sewer shaft are described. Attempted resuscitation of the first patient was unsuccessful and achieved only temporary stabilization of the second, who died 48 h after his discovery. Autopsies revealed relatively minor multifocal traumatic injuries, with evidence of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in the patient who survived for 2 days. Subsequent analysis of gas in the shaft revealed 21% oxygen at the surface, 14.3% at a depth of 5 ft (1.5 m), and only 4.8% at depths of 10 ft (3 m) and below. Other gases detected at the lower levels were methane, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide (4.3%). These cases demonstrate the value of atmospheric gas analysis in cases of possible methane asphyxia in confirming the presence of methane and in demonstrating levels of oxygen below that necessary to support life.     

WILL WOMEN JUDGES REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

This article details the experience of Canada's first woman Supreme Court Justice, now retired and teaching law at the University of Ottawa. Like many by virtue of their unique perspective, she casts light on the central core of being a judge and examines the human side of this important, albeit, lonely task. The article specifically considers the issue of gender in the judiciary.     

“Where's Whitey?”: Black Mass, ethnic criminality, and the problem of the informant

The essay is an interdisciplinary examination of the popular American tradition of organized-crime narratives based on the testimony of criminal informants. Primarily, it examines the most prominent current instance of this tradition: a book entitled Black Mass: The Irish Mob, the FBI, and a Devil's Deal (2000), depicting the recent scandal involving James “Whitey” Bulger. While this book is often received as a contemporary exposé of the ethical perils of informant use in combating organized crime, it actually reiterates the chronic interpretive pitfalls of more traditional “gangland” informant narratives like Murder, Inc. (1951) or Peter Maas's The Valachi Papers (1968). Black Mass's adoption of a classical “noir” literary form, meanwhile, imports certain traditional assumptions that often make these popular narratives immune to recent academic revisions: assumptions about the “Fordist” character of criminal organization, about the uncanny but invisible skills of modern ethnic gangsters, and about the relationship of the state to organized crime. Portions of this paper were presented at a conference hosted by the University of Chicago in May 2004: “Constructing the Current: Theorizing Media in a New Millennium”.