Analyzing Brazilian vehicle documents for authenticity by easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry

Using desorption/ionization techniques such as easy ambient sonic-spray ionization mass spectrometry (EASI-MS), it is possible to analyze documents of Brazilian vehicles for authenticity, providing a chemical profile directly from the surface of each document. A method for the detection of counterfeit documents is described, and the falsification procedure is elucidated. Forty authentic and counterfeit documents were analyzed by both positive and negative ion modes, EASI(±)-MS. EASI(+)-MS results identified the presence of (bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate plasticizer and of dihexadecyldimethylammonium biocide in both types of documents. For EASI(-)-MS results, the 4-octyloxybenzoic acid additive ([M + H](+): m/z 249) is present only in counterfeit documents. It was also found that counterfeit vehicle documents are produced via Laserjet printers. Desorption/ionization techniques, such as EASI-MS, offer therefore, an intelligent way to characterize the counterfeiting method.     

‘Reintegration’ of Ex-combatants and Former Fighters: a lens into state formation and citizenship in Namibia

This article explores Namibian state formation and citizenship through the case of ex-combatant ‘reintegration’, particularly its focus on government employment provision since the mid-1990s. It examines the discourses that have motivated the targeting of ex-combatants, the practical measures taken towards ‘reintegration’, and ex-combatants' own initiatives and responses. Analytically it focuses on the implications of ‘reintegration’ for relations between the state and its population or citizens, particularly the drawing of lines of inclusion and exclusion, and the tension that appears between personalised and bureaucratic tendencies of rule.