POISONED DEVELOPMENT: ASSESSING CHILDHOOD LEAD EXPOSURE AS A CAUSE OF CRIME IN A BIRTH COHORT FOLLOWED THROUGH ADOLESCENCE

The consequences of lead exposure for later crime are theoretically compelling, but direct evidence from representative, longitudinal samples is sparse. By capitalizing on an original follow‐up of more than 200 infants from the birth cohort of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods matched to their blood lead levels from around age 3 years, we provide several tests. Through the use of four waves of longitudinal data that include measures of individual development, family background, and structural inequalities in how lead becomes embodied, we assess the hypothesized link between early childhood lead poisoning and both parent‐reported delinquent behavior and official arrest in late adolescence. We also test for mediating developmental processes of impulsivity and anxiety or depression. The results from multiple analytic strategies that make different assumptions reveal a plausibly causal effect of childhood lead exposure on adolescent delinquent behavior but no direct link to arrests. The results underscore lead exposure as a trigger for poisoned development in the early life course and call for greater integration of the environment into theories of individual differences in criminal behavior.     

食品药品犯罪侦查专业力量建设实证研究

在食品药品犯罪猖獗的情形下,构建专业的侦查力量无疑是解决问题的关键。虽然目前对组建专业食品药品犯罪侦查队伍还存在争议,但是食品药品安全在保障人民群众生命健康、社会发展、国家稳定中的基础地位是不言而喻的。为此,在实证调研的基础上,通过剖析目前食品药品犯罪案件侦查的队伍现状,分析问题产生的原因,论证建设专业侦查队伍的必要性,以期解决食品药品犯罪侦查中的瓶颈。     

The labor of agrodiversity in a Moroccan oasis

This paper examines the recent history of peasant farming in a Moroccan oasis to reflect on the relationship between agrodiversity, labor and tradition in contemporary smallholder systems. Many agrarian scholars and food sovereignty activists emphasize the role of peasant farmers in protecting agricultural biodiversity. This paper argues that certain kinds of agrodiversity may in fact be ‘new', a product of recent agrarian transformations that adapt and in some cases reject agricultural traditions. Ethnographic research in pre-Saharan Morocco found that some households used migration remittances to experiment with new crops and produce for the market for the first time. In recognizing the ambivalent relationship peasant farmers may have towards tradition, this paper contends that it is important to locate a political economy of agrodiversity in the larger context of the contemporary agrarian question and to relate agrodiversity to the changing labor regimes that enable peasant farming systems.     

The Food Preferences of the Blow Fly Lucilia cuprina Offered Human Blood,Semen and Saliva,and Various Nonhuman Foods Sources

As human DNA profiles can be obtained from blow fly artifacts, this study aimed to establish the feeding preferences of Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) blow flies when offered human biological fluids and nonhuman food sources. One‐day‐old and 3‐day‐old blow flies of both sexes were simultaneously offered human blood, semen and saliva, pet food, canned tuna and honey, and the number and length of visits documented over 6 h. One‐day‐old flies visited pet food and honey most often, but stayed longest on honey and semen. Three‐day‐old flies visited semen and pet food most often, and stayed longest on these food sources. Blood and saliva were the least preferred options for all flies. Overall, flies preferred dry blood and semen to the wet forms. These findings demonstrate that even when other food sources are available, flies at a crime scene may feed on human biological fluids if present, potentially transferring human DNA.     

Human Fatality Due to Thallium Poisoning: Autopsy,Microscopy, and Mass Spectrometry Assays,

Thallium has been responsible for many intoxications since its discovery; however, toxicological profiles for thallium in human fatalities have not been updated recently. Autopsy, microscopic investigations, and toxicological analyses were performed on a married couple who died from thallium sulfate intended homicidal poisoning. The distribution of thallium was established by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with hair samples showing the highest thallium concentration. Electron microscopy revealed a dystrophic condition of hair with disorganized cuticle and atrophy of the hair bulb. Thallium interacts with cells at different levels, with prominent ultrastructural injuries in the mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum, and high concentration of electron dense granules observed in the cytoplasm and mitochondria of several organs. Alopecia, toxic encephalopathy, and peripheral neuropathy were diagnosed in the victims and suggested to be crucial implications for thallium poisoning. The analytical procedures used in this case are of considerable forensic importance in the diagnosis of thallium poisoning.     

食品监管渎职罪的主观罪过探析

食品监管渎职罪条文中“滥用职权或者玩忽职守”的规定表明其与滥用职权罪和玩忽职守罪有直接的联系,故此有学者认为食品监管渎职罪兼具故意和过失两种罪过形态,突破了传统刑法的单一罪过说。刑法总则中故意和过失的确定是针对危害结果而非危害行为而言,滥用职权罪和玩忽职守罪的主观罪过均应是过失,食品监管渎职罪没有突破单一罪过说。     

论食品安全责任中的惩罚性赔偿

针对食品安全案件中食品生产者、销售者的惩罚性赔偿责任,《消费者权益保护法》第四十九条规定为合同责任,《侵权责任法》第四十七条规定为侵权责任,《食品安全法》第九十六条根据具体情况既可附加于合同责任又可附加于侵权责任中。三法所规定惩罚性赔偿责任在构成要件、赔偿范围方面各有不同。在构成竞合的情况下,在合同责任内部,《食品安全法》第九十六条第二款应为特别法;在侵权责任内部,应当允许受害人根据个案选择适用《食品安全法》第九十六条或《侵权责任法》第四十九条。     

International sources of environmental policy change in China: the case of genetically modified food

Abstract

China's agricultural biotechnology policy has undergone a profound transformation over the last decade, from a strongly promotional to a more precautionary approach. From the 1980s onwards, China invested heavily in biotechnology development and in the early 1990s emerged as the leading biotech country in the developing world. In the late 1990s, however, it halted the authorization of new genetically modified crops and introduced stringent safety regulations. This paper investigates this policy shift and argues that international factors have played a central role. Two trends, in particular, are identified as key sources of the move towards greater precaution: China's ongoing international socialization, particularly in the context of the international scientific debate on biosafety and the negotiations on a biosafety treaty; and the growing globalization of agriculture and trade, which has exposed China to international competitive forces and trade restrictions in food trade. As the case of genetically modified food in China shows, political integration and economic globalization can work together to promote a strengthening of the domestic environmental policy agenda.     

The Fatal Poisoning Pattern of Ankara (Turkey) and Nearby Cities from 2007 to June 2011: A Retrospective Study in Forensic Autopsies

We aimed to obtain an outline of the nature and number of fatal poisonings which still appear to affect widely the population in Turkey. A total of 5921 forensic autopsies were performed between 2007 and 2011 in Ankara and nearby cities and 366 of them were fatal poisonings (219 male, 147 female). Most of the cases were between 41 and 60 years old (n = 84). Most of the fatalities were reported during winter months (48.1%). Carbon monoxide exposure was the most common reason (66.7%) within all the causes followed by medicine and narcotics (13.9%). Postmortem blood alcohol concentrations in ethyl and methyl alcohol poisonings were 385.1 ± 61.9 and 206.8 ± 138.9 mg/dL, respectively. The most common location of deaths was home (71.3%). Fatal poisonings have been a growing global problem because of some shortcomings about the socioeconomic conditions and increasing illicit drug abuse. The level of education, socioeconomic conditions, and legal approaches are very important for the prevention fatal poisonings.