Iran’s Latin America Strategy: 2005 to Present

Iran has expanded its trade relations with Latin America since 2005. Many argue that the reasons for such activities are for financial gain and to bypass the sanctions. This article argues that economic gain are miniscule and that the primary objectives of Iran are two-fold: first, to assist its nuclear program; and second, to develop deterrence against the U.S. possible military option against Iran.     

Reassembling Gender: On the Immanent Politics of Gendering Apparatuses of Bodily Production in Science

Abstract

Arguing that new feminist materialist work has insufficiently attended to how gender is differently materialized and embodied in practices with non-human others, this article examines ethnographically what genderings come to matter in the knowledge-making practices of mass spectrometry and peer review in a Czech research laboratory. The article returns to Donna Haraway's analytics of the ‘apparatus of bodily production’ and its extension by Karen Barad as a productive device for tracing the situational making and unmaking of gender in specific human–technology assemblages and the sedimenting histories of such intra-actions. Through a triple movement of disassembling, contextualizing and reassembling particular embodiments, the author brings unstable, implicit and absent genderings, and their affective textures, affordances and valuations to the fore, including the corporeal orientations associated with enterprising adrenalin-driven masculinity and denigrated forms of embodiment such as shame and defeat. The article shows how these (de)genderings render present tensions and exclusions in prevailing apparatuses of knowledge production and pose questions of responsibility.     

A farewell to urban/rural bias: peripheral finance capitalism in Mexico

Based on a discussion of the structural transformation of the Mexican economy, this paper investigates the impact of financialization on agriculture’s role in capitalist development. It argues that the peripheral financialized economy is a rural–urban economy. On the one hand, agriculture and industry are bifurcated into a growing export sector and a stagnating local economy, and there are no functional ‘developmental’ links between capitalist agriculture and industry. On the other hand, the economic structures have resulted in the consolidation of a huge mass of rural–urban ‘classes of labour’. Capitalist agriculture and industry are linked through and dependent on cheap labour sustaining the export economy. I argue that the current economic formation is not due to ‘urban bias’, ‘rural bias’ or any misallocation of resources among economic sectors. Rather, it can be explained in relation to ‘finance bias’: the taking over of debt relations as the key driving force of economic activities. A major contradiction in peripheral finance capitalism arises from the financing of cheap labour through debt. This is likely to result in new financial crisis, when the contradictions between increasing levels of (private and public) debt, a stagnating domestic economy, and below-subsistence level wages become too large.     

Tian Longxin's Musical Journey

正Tian Longxin is known today as the "living soul of Tujia music" and "leader of aboriginal Tujia folk music in China."Born in Hunan Province,Tian is fluent in the Tujia language and an expert in Tujia folk music.Having devoted himself to preserving traditional Chinese culture,     

西双版纳傣族母亲教养方式--对两个傣族村寨的比较研究

父母的教养观念是影响孩子行为的重要因素,同时也间接影响到一个民族的生存与发展,特别是母亲的教养观念是影响孩子价值观、人生观、世界观等的主要因素.本文试图通过对西双版纳两个傣族村寨中傣族母亲教养观念差异与成因的分析与研究,探讨影响教养观念的因素--母亲教养观念是否因个人年龄、教育程度、以及环境的不同而有差异.     

The 2016 Austrian Presidential Election: A Tale of Three Divides

The 2016 Austrian presidential election was remarkably different than the previous ones in the history of the country characterized by its stable political system. Not only did it open the role of president in Austria to debate, but it also sidelined the two political parties that had dominated Austrian politics since World War II. Alexander Van der Bellen won the election with one of the closest margins in recent history. This article argues that the election divided the country in more than one way. Besides the near 50–50 divide between the candidates, the results show that it generated important dynamics in territorial politics as well, notably in the states and cities of Austria. These results point towards a party system transformation in Austrian politics.     

Analysis of some commonly found inhalants using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC MS) – Effect of substrates on the identification of inhalants

Inhalant abuse is a serious and ever-evolving problem for our society. Inhalants are abused more commonly by teenagers and adolescents. Inhalants such as glue, paint thinners, correction fluid, and nail paint remover are easily available in the market which makes them readily abused. Out of various methods of abuse, huffing (placing a piece of cloth soaked with inhalant is placed in the mouth), bagging (placing head in a polythene bag containing inhalant), and ballooning (balloons filled with inhalant are used for inhaling vapors through the mouth) are most common. Inhalant abuse results in multiple target organ dysfunction with neuritis and brain damage due to the dissolution of the myelin sheath. In acute poisoning cases, it might cause death due to asphyxia and sudden sniffing syndrome. In such cases, various articles containing traces of inhalants could be retrieved from the scene of incidence and to detect these traces become an important facet of the investigation. However, it might be difficult due to the rapid evaporation of inhalants and the formation of reaction product species. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the effect of three substrates (balloon, cloth, polythene) on component profiles of four paint thinners and four nail paint removers. The study suggests that although some components are retained, there is the formation of a large number of reaction product species and these must be taken into consideration before furnishing the opinion. These reaction product species might also be inhalant specific which must be further explored.     

Review of analytical methods for screening and quantification of fentanyl analogs and novel synthetic opioids in biological specimens

Fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and other novel synthetic opioids (NSO), including nitazene analogs, prevail in forensic toxicology casework. Analytical methods for identifying these drugs in biological specimens need to be robust, sensitive, and specific. Isomers, new analogs, and slight differences in structural modifications necessitate the use of high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS), especially as a non-targeted screening method designed to detect newly emerging drugs. Traditional forensic toxicology workflows, such as immunoassay and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS), are generally not sensitive enough for detection of NSOs due to observed low (sub-μg/L) concentrations. For this review, the authors tabulated, reviewed, and summarized analytical methods from 2010–2022 for screening and quantification of fentanyl analogs and other NSOs in biological specimens using a variety of different instruments and sample preparation approaches. Limits of detection or quantification for 105 methods were included and compared to published standards and guidelines for suggested scope and sensitivity in forensic toxicology casework. Methods were summarized by instrument for screening and quantitative methods for fentanyl analogs and for nitazenes and other NSO. Toxicological testing for fentanyl analogs and NSOs is increasingly and most commonly being conducted using a variety of liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC–MS)-based techniques. Most of the recent analytical methods reviewed exhibited limits of detection well below 1 μg/L to detect low concentrations of increasingly potent drugs. In addition, it was observed that most newly developed methods are now using smaller sample volumes which is achievable due to the sensitivity increase gained by new technology and new instrumentation.     

Fatal intoxication with 1,4-butanediol: Case report and comprehensive review of the literature

A fatal case of 1,4-butanediol (1,4-BD) oral ingestion is reported here, in which a 51-year-old man was found dead in his bed. According to the police report, the deceased was a known drug user. A glass bottle labeled (and later confirmed to be) “Butandiol 1,4” (1,4-BD) was found in the kitchen. Furthermore, the deceased's friend stated that he consumed 1,4-BD on a regular basis. The autopsy and histological examination of postmortem parenchymatous organ specimens did not revealed a clear cause of death. Chemical-toxicological investigations revealed gammahydroxybutyrat (GHB) in body fluids and tissues in the following quantities: femoral blood 390 mg/L, heart blood 420 mg/L, cerebrospinal fluid 420 mg/L, vitreous humor 640 mg/L, urine 1600 mg/L, and head hair 26.7 ng/mg. In addition, 1,4-BD was qualitatively detected in the head hair, urine, stomach contents, and the bottle. No other substances, including alcohol, were detected at pharmacologically relevant concentrations. 1,4-BD is known as precursor substance that is converted in vivo into GHB. In the synoptic assessment of toxicological findings, the police investigations and having excluded other causes of death, a lethal GHB-intoxication following ingestion of 1,4-BD, can be assumed in this case. Fatal intoxications with 1,4-BD have seldom been reported due to a very rapid conversion to GHB and, among other things, non-specific symptoms after ingestion. This case report aims to give an overview to the published of fatal 1,4-BD-intoxications and to discuss the problems associated with detection of 1,4-BD in (postmortem) specimens.     

GC–MS analysis of eight aminoindanes using three derivatization reagents

Aminoindanes are a class of novel psychoactive substances (NPSs) that have become more prevalent over the past decade. GC–MS is often utilized for identifying seized drugs and is well regarded for its ability to separate mixtures. However, certain aminoindanes have similar mass spectral data and require specific gas chromatographic stationary phases for separation. Derivatization is an alternative method that can be applied to GC–MS to enhance chromatographic results, providing more selective analysis in seized-drug identification. This study investigates derivatization techniques to provide options for forensic science laboratories in accurately identifying aminoindanes. Three derivatization reagents, N-methyl-bis(trifluoroacetamide) (MBTFA), heptafluorobutyric anhydride (HFBA), and ethyl chloroformate (ECF) were evaluated for the analysis of eight aminoindanes by GC–MS using two common gas chromatographic stationary phases, Rxi®-5Sil MS and Rxi®-1Sil MS. All three derivatization methods successfully isolated eight aminoindanes, including the isomers 4,5-methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane (4,5-MDAI), and 5,6-methylenedioxy-2-aminoindane (5,6-MDAI) that could not be differentiated prior to derivatization. Reduced peak tailing and increased abundance were observed after derivatization for all the compounds, and mass spectra of the derivatives contained individualizing fragment ions that allowed for further characterization of the aminoindanes. This excluded 4,5-MDAI and 5,6-MDAI as they shared the same characteristic ions and were only distinguishable by their retention times. All three derivatization techniques used in this study allow for successful characterization of the aminoindanes and give forensic science laboratories flexibility in their analysis approach when they encounter these compounds.