Functioning and Effectiveness of Electronic Control Devices Such as the TASER® M‐ and X‐Series: A Review of the Current Literature

Abstract: Conducted electrical weapons (CEWs) such as the TASER^® M‐ and X‐series deliver short high‐voltage, low‐current energy pulses to temporarily paralyze a person by causing electrical interruption of the body’s normal energy pulses. Despite many scientific publications, which classify the health risks of an appropriate use of the TASER device as minor, there still is a continuous uncertainty about possible side effects with human application. Based on a literature search of the National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINE database’s PubMed system of current publications, the following article describes the mechanisms by which the device operates and discusses possible pathophysiological consequences. The majority of current human literature has not found evidence of clinical relevant pathophysiological effects during and after an exposure of professionally applied CEWs. However, to be able to exclude possible health risks, a medical checkup of people who have been exposed to CEWs is essential.     

Determination of venlafaxine in post-mortem whole blood by HS-SPME and GC-NPD

Venlafaxine is a phenethylamine derivative widely prescribed for the treatment of depression which inhibits both serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake (SNRI). In treatment with antidepressants of patient with depression and other psychiatric disorders there is also increased risk of suicidal thought and behaviour. Several lethal intoxications involving venlafaxine usually among psychotic patients have been reported in the literature. Sample preparation is of the greatest significance for a successful toxicological analysis. The development of simple, effective and rapid extraction procedures of drugs from post-mortem biological samples is a challenge. Headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) offers significant advantages such as simplicity, low cost, compatibility with analytical systems, automation and solvent-free extraction. The aim of our work was the optimization of a HS-SPME procedure for the determination of venlafaxine in post-mortem biological samples by gas chromatography (GC) with nitrogen-phosphorous detection (NPD). Venlafaxine was extracted on 100 μm Polydimethylsiloxone Coating-Red (PDMS) SPME fiber and determined by GC-NPD. Salt addition, extraction temperature, preheating and extraction time were optimized to enhance the recovery of the extraction from aqueous solution spiked with venlafaxine. Finally the developed procedure was applied to post-mortem biological samples of a fatally poisoned woman by venlafaxine. The drug was quantified in post-mortem blood gastric and oesophagus contents of the deceased woman. A simple and rapid procedure using HS-SPME was developed for sample preparation of venlafaxine in post-mortem biological samples prior to GC-NPD determination. Validation data was satisfactory, thus enabling application in the toxicological analysis of forensic samples.     

Clozapine--a dangerous drug in a clozapine-naïve subject

Clozapine is a uniquely effective antipsychotic, but is very toxic in clozapine-na?ve subjects. A 34-year-old male patient in a mental health facility, who was not prescribed clozapine, took 350 mg clozapine obtained from another patient at night. He was found dead the next morning. The presence of cardiomegaly related to obesity may have increased the risk of suffering an acute cardiac event after ingestion of clozapine. The medication prescribed to the patient was not thought to have contributed to the fatal outcome. Post mortem femoral blood clozapine and norclozapine concentrations were 0.48 and 0.20mg/L, respectively. By way of comparison, audit of 104,127 plasma samples (26,796 patients) assayed for therapeutic drug monitoring purposes 1993-2007, showed plasma clozapine 0.35 mg/L or more in 57.5% samples (8.4% 1mg/L or more). Those involved in the investigation of clozapine-associated deaths need to be aware that that death in an adult may occur after a single 'therapeutic' dose. A diagnosis of fatal clozapine poisoning cannot be made solely on the basis of a post mortem blood clozapine measurement.     

Branscomb,Lewis M. and James H. Keller,eds. (1998). Investing in Innovation: Creating a Research and Innovation Policy that Works

The Journal of Technology Transfer -     

PROACTIVE POLICING AND ROBBERY RATES ACROSS U.S. CITIES*

In recent years, criminologists, as well as journalists, have devoted considerable attention to the potential deterrent effect of what is sometimes referred to as “proactive” policing. This policing style entails the vigorous enforcement of laws against relatively minor offenses to prevent more serious crime. The current study examines the effect of proactive policing on robbery rates for a sample of large U.S. cities using an innovative measure developed by Sampson and Cohen (1988). We replicate their cross-sectional analyses using data from 2000 to 2003, which is a period that proactive policing is likely to have become more common than that of the original study—the early 1980s. We also extend their analyses by estimating a more comprehensive regression model that incorporates additional theoretically relevant predictors. Finally, we advance previous research in this area by using panel data, The cross-sectional analyses replicate prior findings of a negative relationship between proactive policing and robbery rates. In addition, our dynamic models suggest that proactive policing is endogenous to changes in robbery rates. When this feedback between robbery and proactive policing is eliminated, we find more evidence to support our finding that proactive policing reduces robbery rates.     

If Brain Scans Really Detected Deception,Who Would Volunteer to be Scanned?

Abstract: Recent neuroimaging studies investigating the neural correlates of deception among healthy people, have raised the possibility that such methods may eventually be applied during legal proceedings. Were this so, who would volunteer to be scanned? We report a “natural experiment” casting some light upon this question. Following broadcast of a television series describing our team’s investigative neuroimaging of deception in 2007, we received unsolicited (public) correspondence for 12 months. Using a customized template to examine this material, three independent assessors unanimously rated 30 of an initial 56 communications as unequivocally constituting requests for a “scan” (to demonstrate their author’s “innocence”). Compared with the rest, these index communications were more likely to originate from incarcerated males, who were also more likely to engage in further correspondence. Hence, in conclusion, if neuroimaging were to become an acceptable means of demonstrating innocence then incarcerated males may well constitute those volunteering for such investigation.     

POVERTY,INFANT MORTALITY,AND HOMICIDE RATES IN CROSS-NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE: ASSESSMENTS OF CRITERION AND CONSTRUCT VALIDITY*

This article assesses the extent to which the infant mortality rate might be treated as a “proxy” for poverty in research on cross-national variation in homicide rates. We have assembled a pooled, cross-sectional time-series data set for 16 advanced nations from the 1993–2000 period that includes standard measures of infant mortality and homicide and contains information on the following commonly used “income-based” poverty measures: a measure intended to reflect “absolute” deprivation and a measure intended to reflect “relative” deprivation. With these data, we assess the criterion validity of the infant mortality rate with reference to the two income-based poverty measures. Also, we estimate the effects of the various indicators of disadvantage on homicide rates in regression models, thereby assessing construct validity. The results reveal that the infant mortality rate is correlated more strongly with “relative poverty” than with “absolute poverty,” although much unexplained variance remains. In the regression models shown here, the measure of infant mortality and the relative poverty measure yield significant positive effects on homicide rates, whereas the absolute poverty measure does not exhibit any significant effects. The results of our analyses suggest that it would be premature to dismiss relative deprivation in cross-national research on homicide, and that disadvantage is conceptualized and measured best as a multidimensional construct.     

Challenging DNA: Assessment of a range of genotyping approaches for highly degraded forensic samples

It is common in forensic casework to encounter highly degraded DNA samples from a variety of sources. In this category bone and teeth samples are often the principal source of evidential material for criminal investigations or identification of long-deceased individuals. In these circumstances standard STRs are prone to fail due to their long amplicon sizes (since DNA becomes progressively more fragmented as it degrades). To successfully resolve such cases alternative markers can be used and until recently the only other tool available was mitochondrial DNA, which despite being more resistant to degradation, is much less informative. A rapidly developing approach to analyzing degraded DNA is the typing of loci from short-amplicon PCR products based on markers such as mini-STRs and autosomal SNPs. We have performed an analysis of several cases with naturally degraded DNA using established STRs plus mini-STRs and autosomal SNPs in order to make an objective comparison of the performance of each method using challenging DNA. The main aim was to establish the benefits and drawbacks of each marker set to help the practitioner choose the DNA analysis method most suited to the circumstances of each case.