Validation of Ultrastructural Analysis of Mitochondrial Deposits in Cardiomyocytes as a Method of Detecting Early Acute Myocardial Infarction in Humans*

Abstract: In the present study, ultrastructural analysis of mitochondrial deposits (black dots within mitochondria) as a method for the detection of early acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was evaluated. In 24 patients with AMI and six controls, analysis was performed in the heart of infarcted patients and noninfarcted controls. In the infarction area in lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)‐diagnosed AMI, the percentage of positive mitochondria was significantly higher compared to corresponding heart tissue in control patients and compared to noninfarcted areas within these patients. Also in patients with a clinically diagnosed AMI but no LDH decoloration, a significant higher percentage of positive mitochondria was found in the left ventricle compared to controls and noninfarcted areas. In patients with AMI, an increase in mitochondria with deposits was found in the infarction area compared to controls and noninfarcted tissue within the same patient, suggesting that electron microscopical changes in mitochondria can be used for the diagnosis of AMI less than 3 h old.     

The ‘relics of Joan of Arc’: A forensic multidisciplinary analysis

Archaeological remains can provide concrete cases, making it possible to develop, refine or validate medico-legal techniques.In the case of the so-called ‘Joan of Arc's relics’ (a group of bone and archaeological remains known as the ‘Bottle of Chinon’), 14 specialists analysed the samples such as a cadaver X of carbonised aspect: forensic anthropologist, medical examiners, pathologists, geneticists, radiologist, biochemists, palynologists, zoologist and archaeologist. Materials, methods and results of this study are presented here.This study aims to offer an exploitable methodology for the modern medico-legal cases of small quantities of human bones of carbonised aspect.     

When does the Apple Fall from the Tree? Static Versus Dynamic Theories Predicting Intergenerational Transmission of Convictions

Criminal behavior of parents substantially affects the criminal behavior of children. Little is known, however, about how crime is transmitted from one generation to the next. In order to test two possible explanations against each other, we pose the question whether the timing of the criminal acts of fathers is important for children’s chances of committing crime. Static theories predict that it is the number of delinquent acts performed by fathers that is important, and that the particular timing does not affect the child’s chance of committing crime. Dynamic theories state that the timing is important, and children have a greater chance of committing crime in the period after fathers have committed delinquent acts. Results show that the total number of convictions of a father is indeed very important, but also the exact timing is key to understanding intergenerational transmission of crime. In the year a father is convicted the chance his child is also convicted increases substantially and it decays in subsequent years. This decay takes longer the more crimes father has committed. Our results show that some of the assumptions of the static theories at least need to be adjusted.     

The EU PNR framework decision proposal: Towards completion of the PNR processing scene in Europe

The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty has suspended discussions over the release of a EU PNR processing system. Plans to introduce an intra-EU PNR processing system initiated since 2007, although strongly supported by the Commission and the Council, did not bear fruit before the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and the, institutional, involvement of the Parliament. While discussions have been suspended since October 2009 and most probably a new draft proposal will be produced, it is perhaps useful to present in brief the proposal currently in place so as to highlight its shortcomings for European data protection and suggest ways individual protection may be strengthened in future drafts.     

Spanish legislation against trafficking in human beings: punitive excess and poor victims assistance

The article seeks to provide a perspective of human trafficking as one of the fastest growing criminal activities of the last few years in the area of organised crime and one that affects human beings’ most basic rights. In the main, the response to the problem has been its criminal prosecution, but without tackling the issues of need that underlie this conduct and which the traffickers take advantage of to abuse, assail and exploit the people they traffic. In this context, the evolution of Spanish legislation in terms of the criminalisation of this problem has made it one of the most repressive, although there is no clear evidence of its effectiveness. This punishment, which covers a wide range of criminal conducts, has not however been accompanied by any policies to support and integrate the victims of trafficking, which has led to a large number of victims being subjected to slavery who, in the majority of cases, fall under the control of the trafficking networks again.     

How much should we trust crime statistics? A comparison between EU and US

We discuss measurement issues in crime rates in a cross-country comparative perspective. We show that while homicide and general crime rates follow quite similar patterns in the US this is not always the case in Europe. We provide an explanation of the observed patterns based on the use of fire harms.     

Behind the GDP: some remarks on the shadow economy in Mediterranean countries

It is common knowledge that in the past decades the focus on the shadow economy (SE) has increased and the range in the estimated size of this phenomenon is very divergent. The comprehensive coverage of economic production is important in order to ensure good quality of national accounts and exhaustive estimates of the gross domestic product. The purpose of this paper is to approach the SE by means of the latent variable method and the structural equation model–partial least squares and to explore similar behaviors in terms of the obtained results, by analyzing the subsamples of the countries under observation. Political measures need to be implemented carefully to counter the effects of the SE and policy-makers should have to adopt economic policy practices to drive the SE into the formal economy, particularly in less-developed countries.     

A Legacy of Harm: Punitive Drug Policies and Women’s Carceral Experiences in Canada

There is limited research on the gendered impacts of drug policies in Canada, despite the fact that women, Indigenous women in particular, are the country’s fastest growing prisoner population, with many incarcerated for drug-related crimes. This article highlights the results of a larger qualitative study with former prisoners in Ontario and community and medical experts from across the country. Focusing on the women research participants, we consider the lack of adequate and culturally-relevant substance use and harm reduction programming in federal prisons, and suggest a reformulation of Canada’s punitive drug policies toward a health and social welfare approach.     

Access to justice and human rights in Afghanistan

In anthropological and legal literature, the phenomenon termed ‘legal pluralism’ has been interpreted as a co-presence of legal orders which act in relation to their own ‘levels’ of referring ‘fields’. The Afghan normative network is generally described in terms of pluralism, where different normative systems such as customs, shari’a (Islamic law), state laws and principles deriving from international standard of law (e.g., human rights) coexist. In order to address the crucial question of access to justice, in this article, I stress the category of legal pluralism by introducing the hypothesis of an inaccessible normative pluralism as a key concept to capture the structural injustices of which Afghans are victims. Access to justice can be considered a foundational element of every legal project. Globally, the debates concerning the diffusion and application of human rights develop at the same time ideologically, politically, and pragmatically. Today in Afghanistan, these levels are expressed in all their complexity and ambivalence. It is therefore particularly significant to closely observe the work done by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and to discuss the issue of human rights by starting from a reflection on what might be defined a socio-normative condition of inaccessibility.     

Eyes Wide Shut: On Risk,Rule of Law and Precaution

The rule of law offers legal certainty, laying down boundaries to the state's playing field. The precautionary approach stipulates that the absence of scientific certainty is no reason not to act to prevent harm. Here, uncertainty frames action. The precautionary approach potentially expands the state's playing field, and this expansion might well undermine the precepts of the rule of law. The certainty‐uncertainty axis exposes a tension between the rule of law and the precautionary approach in what Ulrich Beck has termed the world risk society in second modernity. It is this tension that is the focus of analysis in this article.