Camouflaging Facial Emphysema: A new syndrome

Some cosmetic products manufactured in Korea for the treatment of eczema, seborrhea and psoriasis have been suspected to contain anti-inflammatory corticosteroids such as prednisolone, hydrocortisone, betamethasone, dexamethasone and triamcinolone acetonide without these ingredients being indicated on the label. Due to their severe side effects such as permenent skin atopy, these corticosteroids have to be monitored in cosmetic products from a forensic point of view. Many cosmetic product samples (N=65) have been collected from both local and online markets in Korea. The corticosteroid content of these samples was analyzed by LC-MS/MS with diagnostic ions (m/z). Linearity was studied with 0.1-10 μg/mL range in all corticosteroids. Good correlation coefficients (r(2)≥0.997) were found and the limits of quantification were 4.68-7.97 ng/mL for each of the corticosteroids. At three different concentrations spanning the linear dynamic ranges, mean recoveries were 97.2-113.5%and precisions (RSD) for intra-day and inter-day analysis were less than 8.9%. Also, accuracy (Bias %) was less than 11.8%. The results showed that between 0.76-0.94 μg/g levels of prednisolone were detected in four cosmetic products and triamcinolone acetonidewas detected with a concentration in the range of 11.5-272 μg/g in nine samples. This fact reveals that some manufacturers have arbitrarily added these corticosteroids in their cosmetic products without indicating them on the label. Thus, these cosmetic products have to be monitored and if proven illegal preparations removed from the market.     

A comparison of email versus letter threat contacts toward members of the United States Congress

To better understand inappropriate correspondence sent to public officials, 301 letter cases and 99 email cases were randomly selected from the United States Capitol Police investigative case files and compared. Results indicate that letter writers were significantly more likely than emailers to exhibit indicators of serious mental illness (SMI), engage in target dispersion, use multiple methods of contact, and make a problematic approach toward their target. Emailers were significantly more likely than letter writers to focus on government concerns, use obscene language, and display disorganization in their writing. Also, letter writers tended to be significantly older, have more criminal history, and write longer communications. A multivariate model found that disorganization, SMI symptoms, problematic physical approach, and target dispersion significantly differentiated between the correspondence groups. The group differences illuminated by this study reveal that letter writers are engaging in behavior that is higher risk for problematic approach than are emailers.     

Speaking the Language of Friendship: Partnerships in the Political Construction of the Late Sixteenth-Century South-East Charcas Frontier

The present article discusses the importance of partnerships in the political construction of the south-east frontier of late sixteenth-century Charcas, focused on foundation and destruction of San Miguel de la Laguna. In a challenge to the narrative of ‘constant war zone’, the events are here framed as part of a process described as territorialisation, which transformed geographies into territories of the polycentric Catholic Monarchy, politically equipping the land with relations that were expressed through institutions. San Miguel was the product of the ‘friendship’ between its founder and the Chiriguanaes who inhabited the area. Its fate was not the result of untrustworthy natives.     

The Disappeared and the Mesa de Diálogo in Chile 1999–2001: Searching for Those Who Never Grew Old

This paper describes steps taken in order to deal with information regarding human rights abuses in Chile during the Pinochet regime, focusing on the most recent initiative, the Mesa de Diálogo (1999–2001) whose final report was given to president Lagos in January 2001. Two national initiatives, i.e. the establishment and reports of the Comisión de Verdad y Reconciliación (1991) and the following-up of this inquiry by the Corporación Nacional de Reparación y Reconciliación (1996) preceded La Mesa and are discussed in this paper. The paper concludes by suggesting that the Chilean transition to democracy will remain incomplete if the fate of the disappeared is not fully known and legally investigated.     

Using Stationarity Tests in Antitrust Market Definition

In this article it is argued that, if two products or geographicareas belong in the same market, their relative price must bestationary. Hence stationarity tests like the Augmented Dickey-Fullerand the KPSS can be helpful in delineating the relevant marketfor antitrust purposes, particularly for abuses of dominantpositions and agreements between competitors. The proposed procedureis strictly related to cointegration analysis but is simplerand has more general validity. An application to the Italianmilk market illustrates the technique.     

Myths about workplace violence, harassment and bullying

The objective of this article is to examine myths about various forms of violence which occurs in the workplace. Harassment, bullying or hounding at work, is a problem which has increased in magnitude and needs to be addressed. We therefore analyse the nature, perception, accusations and prevention of such myths with the objective of clarifying the tangible and intangible effects on the health of the victim, and the results such harassment provokes on the organisation of the workplace.     

Introduction to the special issue on the importance of Simple Rules for a Complex World

European Journal of Law and Economics -     

Soziale Mechanismen und mechanismische Erklärungen

Researchers in all fields dealing with reality wish to explain facts once they have described them. The prevailing account of explanation in the philosophical literature is the “covering law model”. According to this opinion, to explain a fact is to deduce the proposition(s) describing it from a theory together with the appropriate data, such as initial conditions. This is not how explanation is conceived of in the advanced factual sciences. In these, to explain a fact consists in unveiling the mechanism that makes the thing in question “tick”. In turn, a mechanism consists in the process(es) characteristic of the given thing. For example, metabolism is the central mechanism of living beings, learning is that of schools, and trade that of markets. I call mechanismic this kind of explanation. Therefore, anyone wishing to control a concrete system had better start by finding out its typical mechanisms, so as to maintain or alter them. This is what social control mechanisms, from cooperation and charity to legislation and violence, are supposed to accomplish. Typically, social mechanisms involve at least two levels, micro (individual) and macro (institutional). Consequently they can be neither understood nor designed on the basis of either individualism or holism. I argue that only systemism, the view that every thing is either a system or a component of one, can satisfactorily account for the centrality of mechanisms. Warning: Merton, Giddens and others often called “structure” what I call “mechanism”. Following mathematical usage, I define the structure of a system as the set of all the relations (in particular cohesive bonds) among the system component (endostructure), as well as the relations between the system components and things in the environment.     

Reform and regulation of electricity in colombia -uk experiences taken across the atlantic

The Colombian reform of its electricity industry was inspired in the British experience. The theoretical support and the actual application of the reform in the UK and Colombia are examined in this paper. Both theory and the British experience show the importance of designing an appropriate institutional framework for the sector that takes into account its specific features. The main challenges presented by the reform in Colombia are the control of the concentration of property, the introduction of antitrust and anticorruption mechanisms, as well as the development of new managerial skills that are required to confront the complex dynamics of the new environment.