Analytical Characterization of Erythritol Tetranitrate,an Improvised Explosive

Erythritol tetranitrate (ETN), an ester of nitric acid and erythritol, is a solid crystalline explosive with high explosive performance. Although it has never been used in any industrial or military application, it has become one of the most prepared and misused improvise explosives. In this study, several analytical techniques were explored to facilitate analysis in forensic laboratories. FTIR and Raman spectrometry measurements expand existing data and bring more detailed assignment of bands through the parallel study of erythritol [¹⁵N₄] tetranitrate. In the case of powder diffraction, recently published data were verified, and ¹H, ¹³C, and ¹⁵N NMR spectra are discussed in detail. The technique of electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry was successfully used for the analysis of ETN. Described methods allow fast, versatile, and reliable detection or analysis of samples containing erythritol tetranitrate in forensic laboratories.     

THE LEGACY OF HARVARD PROFESSOR RONALD DWORKIN FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT： WHY AND HOW HE CHALLENGED PHILOSOPHERS OF LAW,SUPREME COURT JUSTICES,AND POLITICIANS TO TAKE RIGHTS SERIOUSLY

The weaker members of a political community are entitled to the same concern and respect of their government as the more powerful members have secured for themselves.     

Cultivated ties and strategic communication: do international environmental secretariats tailor information to increase their bureaucratic reputation?

International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics - The past few years have witnessed a growing interest among scholars and policy-makers in the interplay of international...     

Changing Patterns of Privatization: Ideology,Economic Necessity,or Political Opportunism

This article considers privatization decisions by governments in four Australian states over twenty years of micro-economic reform. It focuses on the policy frameworks and political context for privatizing government enterprises, drawing on Kingdon's framework for policy change to analyze differences in the substance and timing of decisions. In the 1990s, governments considered privatization as an economic and political strategy to resolve the problem of state-level fiscal crises, but the patterns of adoption were variable. Two states resisted the general trend toward privatization, but recently changed their position. We argue that the recent financial crisis provided a window for reintroducing contentious reform initiatives that had lost momentum.     

‘Sexing the city’

Sexing the City: Lesbian and Gay Politics within the Activist State. By Davina Cooper. London, Rivers Oram Press, 1994. Pp.216. £30 hb, £11.95pb.     

Tiananmen as treated by the Christian Science Monitor

Focusing on one medium's specific responses to a specific news crisis, print coverage by the Christian Science Publishing Company on the Tiananmen Square incident is compared to that of the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, New York Times (Springfield, MA), Sunday Republican, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. The Christian Science Monitor, a newspaper internationally known for its objective, balanced reportage, is described and discussed, particularly regarding its pre‐ and post‐Tiananmen coverage. Its 185 articles beginning June 4, 1989, until a year later are delineated, along with the eight that appeared in the Christian Science Publishing Company's new monthly magazine, World Monitor. The argument is advanced that, despite major changes, the Monitor remains an invaluable media resource to both scholars and the lay public for unbiased reportage.     

Book Reviews

John F. Manley and Kenneth M. Dolbeare, The Case Against the Constitution: From the Antifederalists to the Present (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharp, Inc., 1987), 199 pp.

Mark Tushnet, Red, White, and Blue: A Critical Analysis of Constitutional Law (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988), 328 pp.

Sheldon S. Wolin, The Presence of the Past: Essays on the State and the Constitution (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989), 228 pp.

Peter Brown, Minority Party: Why Democrats Face Defeat in 1992 and Beyond (Washington, DC: Regnery Gateway, 1991).     

Means and Ends: A Theory Framework for Understanding Entrepreneurship in the US Arts and Culture Sector

This article provides a framework for the conceptualization of arts entrepreneurship in the US by first examining a range of perspectives on the boundaries of the “arts and culture sector” in the US and then exploring in some depth four theories of entrepreneurship and how such theories may be realized within the arts and culture sector. Theories of firm formation are considered both generally and as potentially applied to the arts and culture sector, with examples of firm formation drawn both from existing literature and the author's direct observation of entrepreneurial activity. Finally, the essay connects these theories in a means and ends framework to provide a context for understanding arts entrepreneurial activity, especially in the US arts and culture sector. The theory that emerges from the examples provided to illustrate the framework is a simple one: artists form firms or otherwise undertake entrepreneurial action toward the end of creating art sustainably and they do so by discovering or creating new connections between their means and that desirable end.     

Factors related to recidivism for youthful offenders

Little is known about youth who were previously placed in a detention facility and what factors predict a subsequent recidivism to placement. This study of a two-county juvenile offender population (one urban and one rural) investigates what demographic, educational, mental health, substance dependence, and court-related variables predict recidivism to detention placement. Findings from logistic regression analysis indicate that seven variables significantly predict juvenile offenders’ recidivism placement, some expected and some unexpected. Predictors that made recidivism more likely include youth with a previous conduct disorder diagnosis, a self-reported previous suicide attempt, age, and number of court offenses. Conversely, predictors that made recidivism less likely include race (Caucasian), a previous attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder diagnosis, and a misdemeanor conviction. These findings indicate that the use of a community-based suicide and mental health screening and referral approach may help to identify and assist these high-risk youth in receiving needed services prior to juvenile court involvement or during delinquency adjudication.