Quantitative Determination of Cannabinoids in Cannabis and Cannabis Products Using Ultra‐High‐Performance Supercritical Fluid Chromatography and Diode Array/Mass Spectrometric Detection

Ultra‐high‐performance supercritical fluid chromatography (UHPSFC ) is an efficient analytical technique and has not been fully employed for the analysis of cannabis. Here, a novel method was developed for the analysis of 30 cannabis plant extracts and preparations using UHPSFC /PDA ‐MS . Nine of the most abundant cannabinoids, viz . CBD , ?⁸‐THC , THCV , ?⁹‐THC , CBN , CBG , THCA ‐A, CBDA , and CBGA , were quantitatively determined (RSD s < 6.9%). Unlike GC methods, no derivatization or decarboxylation was required prior to UHPSFC analysis. The UHPSFC chromatographic separation of cannabinoids displayed an inverse elution order compared to UHPLC . Combining with PDA ‐MS , this orthogonality is valuable for discrimination of cannabinoids in complex matrices. The developed method was validated, and the quantification results were compared with a standard UHPLC method. The RSD s of these two methods were within ±13.0%. Finally, chemometric analysis including principal component analysis (PCA ) and partial least squares‐discriminant analysis (PLS ‐DA ) were used to differentiate between cannabis samples.     

Excuses, excuses

Justifications and excuses are defenses that exculpate. They are therefore much more like each other than like such defenses as diplomatic immunity, which does not exculpate. But they exculpate in different ways, and it has proven difficult to agree on just what that difference consists in. In this paper I take a step back from justification and excuse as concepts in criminal law, and look at the concepts as they arise in everyday life. To keep the task manageable, I focus primarily on excuses and excusing activities, distinguishing them from justifications as well as from other close relatives, in particular, forgiving and pardoning. I draw upon J.L. Austin’s classic “A Plea for Excuses,” but expand on his account, suggesting that we offer excuses for reasons besides those he mentions. My hope is that my examination of excuses and excusing activities will help us rethink our views on just how justifications and excuses differ, views which often are worked out without much attention to how these concepts function in everyday life and to the connection between offers of excuses and justifications and the “rules of civility.”

Anforderungen an einen Europäischen Vollstreckungstitel für unbestrittene Forderungen

Eine Entscheidung, die im Ursprungsmitgliedstaat als Europ?ischer Vollstreckungstitel (EuVT) best?tigt wurde, wird in anderen Mitgliedstaaten anerkannt und vollstreckt, ohne dass es einer Vollstreckbarerkl?rung bedarf und ohne dass die Anerkennung angefochten werden kann. Nach der EuVTVO (Art 21 Abs 1) wird nur noch die Verletzung der Rechtskraft einer Vorentscheidung unter bestimmten Voraussetzungen als Grund für die Verweigerung der Vollstreckung normiert. Dagegen kann weder die Zustellung der zu vollstreckenden Entscheidung noch ein allf?lliger Versto? gegen den ordre public des Vollstreckungsstaats in diesem überprüft werden, wie § 21 Abs 2 EuVTVO unmissverst?ndlich klarstellt. Dass die Best?tigung als EuVT an den Schuldner zuzustellen w?re, wird in der EuVTVO nicht angeordnet. Art 20 Abs 1 lit c EuVTVO verlangt "gegebenenfalls" eine übersetzung der Best?tigung in die Amtssprache des Vollstreckungsmitgliedstaats. Berücksichtigt man, dass es nicht von den Sprachkenntnissen des Entscheidungsorgans im Vollstreckungsmitgliedstaat im Einzelfall abh?ngen darf, ob die in der EuVTVO verlangte übersetzung beizubringen ist oder nicht, ist es angebracht, streng vorzugehen, zumal die formalen Voraussetzungen an einen Exekutionsbewilligungsantrag nach der genannten Verordnung ohnedies auf das Mindestma? reduziert wurden. Demnach muss – sieht man von der W?hrungsbezeichnung, die aber nach dem Formular ohnedies nicht schriftlich angegeben werden müsste, ab – immer dann eine übersetzung angeschlossen werden, wenn die in der fremden Sprache ausgestellte Originalbest?tigung samt Unterschrift nach Art 20 EuVTVOW?rter dieser Fremdsprache enth?lt. Dieses Erfordernis müsste nur dann nicht erfüllt werden, wenn eine vom Titelgericht vollst?ndig in deutscher Sprache ausgefüllte Best?tigung vorl?ge.     

Reformperspektiven für den Bundesrat

Eine Ländermitwirkung an der oberstaatlichen Willensbildung (insb Gesetzgebung) gehört unbestreitbar zu den Merkmalen eines (echten) Bundesstaates. Über die Formen und Wege, vor allem über die Gegenstände und die Intensität einer solchen Länderbeteiligung wird seit längerem in Wissenschaft und Öffentlichkeit kontrovers diskutiert. Das Vorhaben der neuen Koalitionsregierung für eine "Staatsreform" gibt Anlass zu neuerlicher Reflexion. Der Beitrag unterzieht die wesentlichsten früheren Reformideen (einschließlich jener im Österreich-Konvent und der Äusserung des Bundespräsidenten von 2005) einer kritischen Analyse und rechtspolitischen Bewertung. Abschließend werden Möglichkeiten einer Verbesserung und Flexibilisierung der Entscheidungsverfahren im Bundesstaat erörtert.     

An Assessment of the Utility of Universal and Specific Genetic Markers for Opium Poppy Identification

Abstract: The proper identification of illicit plants such as Papaver somniferum L (opium poppy) is important for law enforcement agencies. The identification of opium poppy was presently tested using 10 genetic markers that are universal for all plants or specific to a few poppy plants. The genetic distances of universal markers such as nuclear internal transcribed spacer (ITS), 18S rRNA, plastid rbcL, and trnL‐trnF intergenic spacer (IGS) of 14 species included in the Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae family were acquired by sequence comparisons. Both the ITS region and trnL‐trnF IGS showed high levels of interspecific divergence. Six Papaver genera‐specific markers were developed from coding regions involved in morphine biosynthesis. Three markers (TYDC, NCS, and BBE) produced amplicons only in opium poppy, providing a presence/absence test for opium poppy, while three additional markers (CYP80B1, SAT, and COR) were genus specific. These 10 markers might be useful for the forensic DNA analysis of opium poppy.     

大麻遗传标记的法医学应用研究进展

大麻是大麻科大麻属一年生雌雄异株的草本植物,其内含有具有强烈成瘾性和麻醉性的四氢大麻酚(THC).大麻价格低廉、获取方便、且受到一些国家和地区合法化的影响,目前已成为滥用最广泛的毒品之一.因此,大麻植株的鉴定对于打击毒品犯罪、维护社会稳定具有重要意义.近年来,基于DNA遗传标记的大麻鉴定为案件侦破提供了新的技术手段,针...     

Proof of concept centers: accelerating the commercialization of university innovation

Innovation drives economic growth. Economic growth leads to longer, healthier lives by transforming yesterday’s luxuries into better, cheaper, and more efficient goods and services. University research is a key component of our nation’s innovative capacity. In an increasingly dynamic and global economy, the institutional infrastructure is inefficient at moving university innovations to the marketplace. University researchers often face convoluted procedures with insufficient guidance to commercialize their innovations. As angel investors and venture capitalists increasingly invest in later stage enterprises (See PricewaterhouseCoopers, and National Venture Capital Association. MoneyTree™ survey report. 2007. and VentureOne, “Venture Capital Industry Report.” DowJones 2006), researchers face difficulty finding early stage funding to develop and test prototypes and conduct market research. In order to fill this funding gap and accelerate the commercialization of university innovations, a new type of organization has emerged—the proof of concept center. An analysis of the Deshpande Center at MIT and the von Liebig Center at UCSD provides valuable insight into how proof of concept centers can facilitate the transfer of university innovations into commercial applications.

Why football players may benefit from the ‘shadow of the transfer system’

Transfer restrictions have a long tradition in professional sports but came under heavy attack in recent years (e.g. Bosman ruling, Monti system). Based on a bargaining model with stochastic player productivity, we show that less restrictive transfer rules reallocate ex post bargaining power from players to clubs. This reallocation is efficient and in the ex ante self-interest of players. The right to charge transfer fees enables clubs to insure their players. The players, in turn, benefit by converting risky future income into riskless current income. Overall, player utility is higher under more than under less restrictive transfer rules.

提单与票据之比较研究

有关提单的法律规定尚不完整 ,因提单和票据实质上有许多相似之处 ,人们可以利用票据法的一些规定来解决提单的一些问题。本文比较研究了提单和票据的法律性质以及二者在转让中的前后手权利优劣等事项。     

Care-Politiken,Care-Arbeitsmarkt und Ungleichheit: Schweden,Deutschland und Italien im Vergleich

Social and demographic changes in western societies have led to a (re-)definition of social rights related to care-dependency and the introduction of further regulations of formal and informal care delivery. Care has increasingly become provided in the public sectors – the state, market and civic sector – and new types of cash benefits to support informal family care have been introduced. In this article, the concept of social care is used as a theoretical tool to analyse the relationship between the (re-)definition of social rights, the growth of a regular or grey care labour market and the related development of new forms of inequality according to socio-economic class and ethnicity in the female dominated area. The empirical comparison of the developments in Sweden, Germany and Italy reveals the dimensions of social rights – eligibility criteria, level and types of benefits – which are decisive for the growth of a regular and grey care labour market and the intersection of different forms of inequality.