A survey of buprenorphine related deaths in Singapore

Buprenorphine is available in Singapore as substitution treatment for opioid dependence since 2002. This study surveys buprenorphine related deaths in Singapore between September 2003 and December 2004. The aims are to establish the autopsy prevalence of buprenorphine related deaths and the demographical and toxicological profile of the cases. Toxicological screening was performed for all unnatural deaths, deaths involving known drug addicts, as well as when autopsy revealed no obvious cause of death. Twenty-one cases had buprenorphine detected in post-mortem blood and/or urine samples. Eighteen were sudden deaths. There were two fatal falls from height and one death by hanging. All subjects were male. The age range was 24-48 years. Fourteen subjects were between 30 and 39 years of age. The mean age was 35 years. The majority (62%) were Chinese. Eleven (52%) were known drug abusers. For sudden deaths, two groups were identified. Six cases died from natural causes. Blood buprenorphine levels ranged from undetected (detected in urine) to 3.2 ng/mL (mean 1.4 ng/mL). Twelve cases were attributed directly and indirectly to mixed drug poisoning. Blood buprenorphine levels ranged from undetected (detected in urine) to 17 ng/mL (mean 3.2 ng/mL). Nineteen cases showed concurrent abuse of buprenorphine and benzodiazepine, diazepam being the most frequently detected, followed by nitrazepam and midazolam. The availability of buprenorphine as substitution therapy is associated with an increase in buprenorphine related deaths. The danger of co-abuse of buprenorphine and benzodiazepines is highlighted.     

东莞溺死案多发河段硅藻种群分布及其法医学意义

目的调查东莞溺死案多发河段硅藻种群分布,探讨其在溺死地点推断中的意义。方法于2009年6月至9月收集东莞市东江沙田、道滘、麻涌、石碣、石龙、茶山和企石共7个河段采样点江水样本126份,并收集2例已知落水地点溺死尸体;制作各样本硅藻涂片,计算样本间Sprensen相似系数及弦平方距离(SCD),并进行聚类分析。结果 126份水样中共鉴定出70种硅藻,其中优势度>0.02的优势种群有4种;2个案例样本分别与道滘和石碣河段样本的相似度最高,与实际落水地点基本一致。结论建立区域性溺死多发河段硅藻数据库,利用Sprensen相似系数及SCD值及聚类分析进行落水地点推断具有一定可行性。     

网络犯罪分析:用户及系统的多视图分析方法

近年来网络犯罪数量呈快速上升的势头,但是却缺乏一种有效的取证方法来处理这些案件.调查人员通常依靠调查大量繁琐的源代码来了解犯罪模型及提取证据,但这种方式需要很多的人力与时间,并可能导致人为错误.为了克服调查人员可能出现的这些潜在错误,我们在本文中提出了一种半自动的方法来解决这些问题.该方法集成了用户视图(基于取证调查人员的高级别研究)和系统视图(基于对源代码的自动分析),来帮助调查人员精确调查的范围.本文应用此方法分析了一个真实案件,证明了方法的可行性,同时帮助调查人员高效地确定了调查范围和犯罪模型.可见这种半自动方法可以对大量有多个来源的电子证据进行有效分析,提高了网络犯罪案件取证的效率和可靠性.     

领导力发展视角下的职业女性工作-生活平衡策略研究

职业女性诞生之初就遭遇到家庭角色与社会角色冲突的挑战。尽管知识经济时代两性在体力上的差异对职业选择和发展的影响越来越小,职业女性的规模与影响力都在持续上升,但由女性双重角色冲突而导致的工作与生活平衡困难并未明显减弱,不仅阻碍职业女性的高层发展道路,甚至束缚了年轻女性的职业选择。本文提出从领导力发展的视角探索职业女性工作与生活的平衡策略,从个人层面和组织层面两个角度分析了如何借助领导力效应帮助职业女性走出角色冲突困境、建构工作与生活的平衡机制,同时享受生活的快乐与工作的成就。     

Transitional Justice and Its Discontents: Socioeconomic Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Limits of International Intervention

ABSTRACT

The incorporation of socioeconomic concerns into transitional justice has traditionally, as a result of prevailing liberal notions about dealing with the past, been both conceptually and practically difficult. This article demonstrates and accounts for these difficulties through the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country which has been characterized by a complex transition process and a far-reaching international intervention, encompassing transitional justice and peacebuilding as well as political and economic reforms. Examining the limits of international intervention in Bosnia and the marginalization of socioeconomic justice issues, the article analyses the events surrounding the protests that broke out in February 2014, and the ensuing international engagement with the protest movement. Faced with a broad-based civic movement calling for socioeconomic justice, the international community struggled to understand its claims as justice issues, framing them instead as problems to be tackled through reforms aimed at completing Bosnia’s transition towards a market economy. The operation of peacebuilding and transitional justice within the limits of neoliberal transformation is thus instrumental in explaining how and why socioeconomic justice issues become marginalized, as well as accounting for the expression of popular discontent where justice becomes an object of contestation and external intervention.     

The Criminal Trial,the Rule of Law and the Exclusion of Unlawfully Obtained Evidence

If the criminal trial is aimed simply at ascertaining the truth of a criminal charge, it is inherently problematic to prevent the prosecution from adducing relevant evidence on the ground of its unlawful provenance. This article challenges the starting premise by replacing the epistemic focus with a political perspective. It offers a normative justification for the exclusion of unlawfully obtained evidence that is rooted in a theory of the criminal trial as a process of holding the executive to the rule of law. On this theory, it is the admission rather than exclusion of such evidence that is inherently problematic. The differences between this theory and others that are in currency will be noted, as will its implications and limitations.     

The Emperor’s new clothes? Perceptions of the EU’s strategic partnerships in Asia

Asia Europe Journal - In order to adapt to a changing global order, the European Union (EU) has established an important mechanism for cooperating with some of the world’s most influential...     

基于一个案例展开对绑架罪疑难问题的思考

绑架罪中的故意不具有可分性,完整的绑架罪故意涵盖非法拘禁和敲诈勒索两方面内容,但不能人为地将绑架罪的故意进行分割,认为仅仅是非法拘禁故意和敲诈勒索故意的简单叠加.诱骗可以成为绑架罪的实行行为,但需具备控制被害人人身自由的现实性.实力控制被害人与发出勒索的威胁原则上无需具备同时性.但是“诱骗型”绑架由于对于被害人人身的危险是比较微弱,所以“诱骗”成立绑架要求在实力控制被害人的同时向其亲友发出威胁.在向其亲友敲诈勒索之后杀害被绑架人的,对罪数不产生影响,仍然定绑架罪一罪.在杀害被绑架人之后向其亲友敲诈勒索的,前行为构成绑架罪,后行为构成敲诈勒索罪和诈骗罪的想象竞合.     

Initial Findings from a Feasibility Trial Examining the SafeCare Dad to Kids Program with Marginalized Fathers

Few studies have explored the direct impact of behavioral parent training programs on child maltreatment behaviors among marginalized, at-risk fathers. This feasibility study examined SafeCare® Dad to Kids (Dad2K), an augmented version of the evidence-based child maltreatment prevention program SafeCare, to determine the acceptability and initial efficacy of the program for improving father parenting skills and reducing maltreatment risk. Ninety-nine fathers were enrolled in the study and randomized to the SafeCare Dad2K Intervention (n?=?51) or comparison (n?=?48). Intervention fathers participated in 6 home visiting sessions and comparison fathers received parenting materials via mail. All fathers participating in the study completed a baseline and 8-week assessment (post-intervention) of maltreatment behaviors. In addition, intervention fathers completed feasibility and parenting skill measures. A significant main effect emerged indicating decreases for both groups in psychologically aggressive behaviors. No significant group by time findings emerged for child maltreatment behaviors. Father intervention completers endorsed high satisfaction ratings for the program and demonstrated significant improvements in targeted father-child interaction skills. Based on the high rates of acceptability and initial improvement in positive parenting skills, findings demonstrate the feasibility for involving at-risk fathers in behavioral parent training programs targeting child maltreatment prevention.