Editor's Introduction: Images and Narratives of International Law And Regulation

International Journal for the Semiotics of Law - Revue internationale de Sémiotique juridique -     

Fatal amphetamine-associated cardiotoxicity and its medicolegal implications

Amphetamines are popular drugs of abuse, particularly among youngsters and at dance scenes. Cardiotoxicity (manifested as cardiomyopathy, acute myocardial infarction/necrosis, heart failure, or arrhythmia) after the recreational (mis)use of amphetamine and its synthetic derivatives has been documented but is rather rare. Amphetamine-related cardiac fatalities are even more rare. We present 6 cases of young persons who died unexpected after the chronic abuse of amphetamines. Death was not attributed to a lethal intoxication but to an acute myocardial necrosis, a right ventricle rupture, a cardiomyopathy, or an arrhythmia. Two of the deceased persons presented prior to their death to the emergency department, but their complaints were not considered (probably due to their young age) to be of cardiac origin. One case was a sport-related fatality where medical screening failed to identify the underlying cardiac pathology or the amphetamine abuse, and 1 case was a so-called idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy where substance abuse was not considered by the treating physician. We think that amphetamine-associated cardiotoxicity is a rare but probably genuine entity that should be considered both in forensic and clinical/emergency medicine because of its potential medicolegal implications.     

From Justus Hostis to Rogue State the Concept of the Enemy in International Legal Thinking

This article examines the changing image of war in international law and politics. In classical international law, the ideal typical image of war was a duel between equal states, represented as 'magni homines', This conception of war was based on a particular reading of the sovereign equality of states and a corresponding interpretation of the enemy in war. Due to the attempts to outlaw war and the growing enthusiasm for the use of force in the name of humanity, this image of war has changed significantly. In current international relations, the use of force is increasingly defined as enforcement or a preventive action against wrong-doers, risks to international peace and security or against 'rogues'. This article examines the changing conceptions of sovereignty and war as well as the changing image of the international community that underlie this changing conceptualisation of the enemy.     

Barriers to technology transfer and their elimination

An analogy between the flow of technology and the flow of electricity is used as a method to analyze technology transfer. This effort is expanded by an analogy to the Lewin's field theory in Social Science. An effort is then made to understand better the types of barriers to technology transfer. Several classes of barriers are identified and are then discussed in detail.