Simultaneous determination of trace benzodiazepines from drinks by using direct electrospray probe/mass spectrometry (DEP/MS).

This study presents a novel means of rapidly determining benzodiazepines in various drinks. Electrospray mass spectrometry with a direct probe design is used as the analytical instrument. Samples are treated only by a simple liquid-liquid extraction prior to direct electrospray probe/mass spectrometry (DEP/MS) analysis. The proposed method provides a relatively easy and efficient means of identifying the drugs in a very short time interval. On average, sample analysis is completed in less than five minutes including sample pretreatment. It is especially useful in forensic science since the technology can provide a rapid identification for unknown samples. Thus, the method proposed herein is highly appropriate for rapidly screening a large number of samples.     

Confessions: a Model of Officials' Perspectives on Accepting Gifts from Clients in Post-communist Europe

There is widespread criticism of the behaviour of junior officials in post-communist Europe where they are often accused of treating citizens unfairly and soliciting presents or bribes to solve citizens' problems. To get the perspective of officials themselves we interviewed 1307 junior officials and state employees in Ukraine, Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. This paper focuses on their willingness to accept gifts from clients, their confessions to having done so, and the factors that lead some officials to accept gifts while others do not – factors such as occupational bargaining power and the (related) frequency of offers from clients, economic pressures, national and institutional cultures, fear of punishment, and moral perspectives on charging clients for favours. Economic pressures make officials more inclined to feel that they 'could not afford to refuse' gifts, but this motivation is only weakly related to actual behaviour. Occupational bargaining power and the frequency of offers from clients make them more likely to 'welcome' gifts or accept them 'out of politeness'– and these less excusable motivations are more strongly related to actual gift-taking.     

Aconitum alkaloid content and the high toxicity of aconite tincture

Although proprietary medicines and decoction of processed aconite roots are the most widely used, tincture accounts for the great majority of aconite poisoning cases in China, indicating that it is much more toxic than other formulations. Aconite tincture is often self-prepared at home and raw aconite plants or roots are often used. Even if processed aconite roots were used to make the tincture, the amount of Aconitum alkaloids is highly variable, depending on the adequacy of processing and quality control. Aconitum alkaloids dissolve efficiently in alcohol. For these reasons, tincture contains very high concentrations of Aconitum alkaloids. Despite its high intrinsic toxicity, overdose of aconite tincture by the users has been common. Severe aconite poisoning can be complicated by fatal ventricular tachyarrhythmias and asystole. The public should be repeatedly warned of the danger of taking aconite tincture by mouth.     

Cytochrome b gene for species identification of the conservation animals

A partial DNA sequence of cytochrome b gene was used to identify the remains of endangered animals and species endemic to Taiwan. The conservation of animals species included in this study were: the formosan gem-faced civets, leopard cats, tigers, clouded leopards, lion, formosan muntjacs, formosan sika deers, formosan sambars, formosan serows, water buffalo, formosan pangolins and formosan macaques. The control species used included domestic cats, domestic dogs, domestic sheeps, domestic cattles, domestic pigs and humans. Heteroplasmy was detected in the formosan macaque, domestic pig and domestic cats. The frequencies of heteroplasmy in these animals were about 0.25% (1 in 402bp). Sequences were aligned by Pileup program of GCG computer package, and the phylogenetic tree was constructed by the neighbor-joining method. The results of sequence comparison showed that the percentage range of sequence diversity in the same species was from 0.25 to 2.74%, and that between the different species was from 5.97 to 34.83%. The results of phylogenetic analysis showed that the genetic distance between the different species was from 6.33 to 40.59. Animals of the same species, both the endangered animal species and domestic animals, were clustered together in the neighbor-joining tree. Three unknown samples of animal remains were identified by this system. The partial sequence of cytochrome b gene adopted in this study proved to be usable for animal identification.     

涉及死亡非医疗过失纠纷的类型,死因和发生原因——27年医疗纠纷法医尸检回?

对1992～1998年间206例非医疗过失尸检资料进行回顾性研究,表明涉及死亡的非医疗纠纷中各类疾病死亡占53.88%,难以避免的并发症占39.81%,医疗意外占6.31%.发生原因中对死因怀疑占44.66%,怀疑输液(血)错误占15.05%,怀疑治疗出问题占9.71%,怀疑用药错误或诊治延误各占8.74%,其它13.11%与医护人员态度不好、医院管理有关.     

Translation and Legal Terminology: Techniques for Coping with the Untranslatability of Legal Terms between Arabic and English

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique - The issue of untranslatability of legal terms, particularly between originally unrelated...     

Arguing Against the Expressive Function of Punishment: Is the Standard Account that Insufficient?

Law and Philosophy - This paper critically appraises the arguments that have been offered for what can be called ‘the expressive function of punishment’. According to this view, what...     

Trust in the Police in Rural China: a Comparison Between Villagers and Local Officials

Although the past decade has witnessed the rise of studies on Chinese evaluations of the police, rural villagers’ assessments of the police remain under-researched. Drawing upon performance theory and survey data from China’s countryside, this study tested whether variations in satisfaction with government performance and life are linked to villagers’ and officials’ trust in county and local/town police. We found that villagers displayed lower levels of trust in the police than local officials. Higher satisfaction with government performance and integrity were associated with greater trust in county police among both villagers and officials. Villagers’ greater satisfaction with crime control and safety led to their stronger trust in both county and town police, but such satisfaction was not significantly related to officials’ trust in both levels of police forces. Rural residents’ generalized trust and particularized trust were associated with a greater likelihood of viewing the police as trustworthy. Meanwhile, female respondents, both villagers and officials, and higher-income officials were more likely to view the police as trustworthy. Directions for future research and policy are discussed.