Analytical aspects in doping control: challenges and perspectives

Since the first anti-doping tests in the 1960s, the analytical aspects of the testing remain challenging. The evolution of the analytical process in doping control is discussed in this paper with a particular emphasis on separation techniques, such as gas chromatography and liquid chromatography. These approaches are improving in parallel with the requirements of increasing sensitivity and selectivity for detecting prohibited substances in biological samples from athletes. Moreover, fast analyses are mandatory to deal with the growing number of doping control samples and the short response time required during particular sport events. Recent developments in mass spectrometry and the expansion of accurate mass determination has improved anti-doping strategies with the possibility of using elemental composition and isotope patterns for structural identification. These techniques must be able to distinguish equivocally between negative and suspicious samples with no false-negative or false-positive results. Therefore, high degree of reliability must be reached for the identification of major metabolites corresponding to suspected analytes. Along with current trends in pharmaceutical industry the analysis of proteins and peptides remains an important issue in doping control. Sophisticated analytical tools are still mandatory to improve their distinction from endogenous analogs. Finally, indirect approaches will be discussed in the context of anti-doping, in which recent advances are aimed to examine the biological response of a doping agent in a holistic way.     

Problems of Constitutional Design in Canada: Quebec and the Issue of Bicommunalism

This article traces the attempts by Canada to redesign its federalconstitution to reflect that political reality which most effectivelydistinguishes it from its American neighbor, namely, its bicommunalcharacter. Reviewing various explanations for the constitutionalimpasse, notably that of a conspiracy by English-speaking provincesor of bad faith by the Québec provincial government,the author concludes that in the case of two territorially-basedsocieties, constitution-making becomes a battleground wherelocal elites strive to maintain societal autonomy and make useof governmental institutions to achieve their own objectives.Thus the retreat from bicommunalism, which has characterizedthe 1982 and 1987 constitutional reform exercises, should beseen not so much as a failure of federal-provincial diplomacy,but of the difficulties in accommodating two competing and mutuallyexclusive strategies of state-building.     

Belgium

European Journal of Political Research -     

The Production of Social Science Knowledge beyond Occidentalism: the quest for a post-exotic anthropology

This article makes the case for a post-exotic anthropology as an alternative disciplinary practice adapted to the emerging historical conjuncture that is reconfiguring the political and epistemic relations between different parts of the world. This is raising anew a legitimation challenge to mainstream social sciences but especially academic anthropology, as its a practice is still characterised by a chronic exoticist inflection thanks to its allegiance to the epistemology of Occidentalism. The article calls for a revision of anthropology's geo-theoretical premises in light of an emergent post-exotic historical conjuncture, which entails the abandonment of the duopoly exercised by the epistemic regimes of postmodernism and postcolonialism, in favour of a post-exotic standpoint. It suggests the adoption of mesography as the optimum means of operationalising a post-exotic anthropology as well as an alternative mode of social science knowledge production. Finally, it proposes an ethic of reciprocity to rectify the extractive fieldwork practices that sustain the illiberal politics of interpretation of academic anthropology.     

Privacy,trust and policy-making: Challenges and responses

The authors contend that the emerging ubiquitous Information Society (aka ambient intelligence, pervasive computing, ubiquitous networking and so on) will raise many privacy and trust issues that are context dependent. These issues will pose many challenges for policy-makers and stakeholders because people's notions of privacy and trust are different and shifting. People's attitudes towards privacy and protecting their personal data can vary significantly according to differing circumstances. In addition, notions of privacy and trust are changing over time. The authors provide numerous examples of the challenges facing policy-makers and identify some possible responses, but they see a need for improvements in the policy-making process in order to deal more effectively with varying contexts. They also identify some useful policy-making tools. They conclude that the broad brush policies of the past are not likely to be adequate to deal with the new challenges and that we are probably entering an era that will require development of “micro-policies”. While the new technologies will pose many challenges, perhaps the biggest challenge of all will be to ensure coherence of these micro-policies.