Distinguishing Between Legally and Illegally Produced Gold in South Africa

The identification of gold‐bearing material is essential for combating the theft of gold in South Africa. Material seized in police operations is generally a mixture of gold from different mines, and as such cannot be traced back to a single location. ICP‐OES analysis of material dissolved by acid dissolution provided a database of gold compositions comprising gold from South African mines, illegal gold stolen from the mines, and commercial gold alloys and jewelery. Discrimination between legal and illegal gold was possible due to the presence of Pb, As, Sb, Sn, Se, and Te in the stolen material, elements which are not present in legally produced gold. The presence of these elements is a quick and simple way to distinguish between gold alloys based on refined gold, such as in commercially manufactured jewelery, and gold alloys containing a proportion of unrefined and therefore illegally obtained gold.     

N-cyanomethyl-N-methyl-1-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2-propylamine: an MDMA manufacturing by-product

This paper describes the structural elucidation of a compound produced during the synthesis of 3,4-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) via the reductive amination of 3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl-2-propanone (3,4-MDP-2-P) with methylamine and sodium cyanoborohydride. The compound was isolated from MDMA by column chromatography, proton and carbon nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, LC/mass spectrometry, and total synthesis were used to identify the compound as N-cyanomethyl-N-methyl-1-(3',4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2-propylamine. This compound has been identified as a potential synthetic route marker for the reductive amination of 3,4-MDP-2-P with methylamine and sodium cyanoborohydride and as such it should prove valuable to forensic scientists engaged in profiling illicit drugs. Profiling MDMA can provide useful information to law enforcement agencies relating to synthetic route, precursor chemicals and reagents employed and may be used for comparative analyses of different drug seizures. This paper also describes the structural elucidation of the analogous methylamphetamine synthetic route marker compound, N-cyanomethyl-N-methyl-1-phenyl-2-propylamine, produced during the reductive amination of phenyl-2-propanone using methylamine and sodium cyanoborohydride.     

Fourier transform infrared reflectance spectra of latent fingerprints: a biometric gauge for the age of an individual

To determine if changes in fingerprint infrared spectra linear with age can be found, partial least squares (PLS1) regression of 155 fingerprint infrared spectra against the person's age was constructed. The regression produced a linear model of age as a function of spectrum with a root mean square error of calibration of less than 4 years, showing an inflection at about 25 years of age. The spectral ranges emphasized by the regression do not correspond to the highest concentration constituents of the fingerprints. Separate linear regression models for old and young people can be constructed with even more statistical rigor. The success of the regression demonstrates that a combination of constituents can be found that changes linearly with age, with a significant shift around puberty.     

日军遗华化学武器诉讼案及其前景析——兼论日本的战后责任问题

近年来,日军遗华化学武器致人伤亡事件不断发生,从1996年起中国受害者就开始在日本法院提起民间索赔诉讼,但迄今无一最终胜诉.民间赔偿不同于战争赔偿,中国受害者的民间索赔诉讼属日本未尽的战后责任问题,这不仅涉及受害者利益,而且关乎中日关系.2006年4月3日中国民间对日索赔联合会在北京成立,开启了中国民间对日索赔的国内诉讼程序.另一方面,中国政府也应从各方面给受害者的索赔诉讼提供支持,包括尝试国际求偿.但这一问题的解决最终还有赖于日本正确看待其侵略历史,彻底履行战争责任.     

Recommended Practices for Macerating Human Thyroid Cartilage

Visible abnormalities on the thyroid cartilage may be indicative of perimortem trauma including fractures or sharp force trauma. During autopsy, the thyroid cartilage must be freed of surrounding soft tissue before these abnormalities can be clearly observed. Several processing methods were first experimentally tested on pig ears to narrow down which might work best to process human thyroid cartilage. Several methods in the categories of hot water maceration, chemical/enzyme maceration, and dermestid beetles were then tested on a sample of 37 human thyroid cartilages. An adapted 22-point scoring system was used to score the efficacy of each processing method. Chemical maceration using bleach was found to be the best method for removing surrounding tissue from thyroid cartilage, with Arm & Hammer^TM powdered laundry detergent as a close second. These methods are inexpensive, quick, and easy to implement, making them a simple addition to busy medical examiner’s offices or forensic anthropology laboratories.     

特朗普政府重整核军备动因研究

特朗普当选美国第45任总统后致力于重整核军备,大力推进美国核武器系统的现代化。其奉行这一政策的主要动力有：美国认为,俄罗斯积极谋求世界大国地位,中国经济与军事实力迅猛发展,其他新兴大国的群体性崛起,世界政治重回大国地缘政治竞争,美国世界霸权地位面临严峻挑战;俄罗斯在冷战结束后把核力量作为追求世界大国地位的基石,不仅大力推进战略核武器的研制与部署,还重建战术核力量,中国的核力量现代化也取得了较大进展,朝鲜和伊朗在核力量建设方面也取得进展,美国对上述国家核力量发展高度疑虑;美国战略核力量因受精确打击威慑等军事学说的影响在国家安全中的地位降低,长期投入不足,核武器库老化严重;美国核力量部队因冷战后爆发核战争可能性降低,战备松懈,管理混乱。特朗普政府的重整核军备政策固然可以进一步提升美国战略核力量的优势地位,但它也会相对削弱美军常规力量优势,甚至会出现边际收益小于边际成本的情况。美国重整核军备必定会引发核军备竞赛,从而动摇全球战略稳定。     

太空战争:国际安全的新视角

随着军事航天技术迅速发展,太空军事化已成为不可阻挡的发展趋势。太空军事化主要表现为两方面:导弹和反导弹系统的矛盾较量和卫星与反卫星武器的矛盾较量。这两对矛盾不断激化而且相互交错,构成了未来发生"太空战争"的主要物质基础。从20世纪50年代甚至更早,导弹与反导弹系统的矛盾斗争就已开始,特别是在60年代中期,美苏展开了旨在"确保相互摧毁"的以洲际核弹道导弹为中心的军备竞赛。为了应对进攻性洲际弹道核导弹的发展,美苏在20世纪五六十年代相继开始研制和部署反弹道导弹防御系统。导弹与反导弹系统的矛盾较量从冷战时期一直延续下来,直至2017年"萨德"入韩在相关大国间引起激烈争端。1957年苏联发射第一颗人造卫星后,美苏迅速开始研制和发射军事卫星,卫星与反卫星武器的矛盾斗争也随之开始。1991年海湾战争中美国的军事卫星发挥了重要作用,以致这场战争被称为"最初的太空战争"。太空是在新科技革命强力驱动下发生深刻变化的国际安全战略新空间、新领域,我们必须高度重视关乎国家安全顶层设计的太空军事战略课题。     

Japan’s uncertain security environment and changes in its legislative‒executive relations

Abstract

Focusing on Japan, this paper explores whether powers and competences in the political system are likely to be recalibrated in favour of the executive when the environment is perceived as increasingly threatening. It shows that the executive has been significantly strengthened during the past two decades of political reforms, though a closer look reveals that only the most recent efforts are motivated by security concerns. Case studies on military deployments and arms exports do not expose any clear trend towards curbing parliament’s formal control powers, but they indicate two related mechanisms that affect executive?legislative relations. Firstly, the executive has sought to ensure faster decision-making in security policy, which may limit the Diet’s ability to scrutinise policies in depth. Secondly, the level of contestation over security policy issues has been decreasing, especially given the securitisation of North Korea and China. This provides the executive with more leeway in devising policies.     

普通红外光谱法快速检验化学修饰后的毛发

该研究的目的是建立一种无损快速检验化学修饰后毛发的方法。将样品清洗后,染色使用仪器：傅立叶红外光谱仪水平ATR装置,扫描范围设定为4,000厘米-1到650厘米-1,扫描次数设定为32次,分辨率设定为4厘米-1;分别取适量毛发样品,置于水平ATR仪锗晶体表面上,并压平;样品扫描,采集样品红外光谱谱图;红外光谱谱图处理,基线自动校准,9点平滑处理。结果28种样品实验结果表明,重现性较好,能够区分不同处理的样品。