Analytical studies on some nitrogenous hallucinogens

Detection and identification of six members of the nitrogenous hallucinogens (glycolates, benzilates and phenyl acetamides) using thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry were attempted. The methods used are sensitive, valuable and applicable in routine forensic analyses.     

Gunshot wound with asphalt related pseudo-soot, pseudo-tattooing, and pseudo-scorching

Artifacts which mimic the tattooing and soot deposition of close range gunshot wounds have been described as "pseudo-soot" and "pseudo-tattooing." The origin of such findings includes glass, intermediate targets, insect bites, medical manipulation, graphite, and sutures. The authors present a case of pseudo-soot and pseudo-tattooing as a result of asphalt pavement, and describe the associated entity of pseudo-scorching.     

A Guide to Benchmarking COVID-19 Performance Data

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it is that policy makers, experts, and public managers need to be capable of interpreting comparative data on their government's performance in a meaningful way. Simultaneously, they are confronted with different data sources (and measurements) on COVID-19 without necessarily having the tools to assess these sources strategically. Because of the speed with which decisions are required and the different data sources, it can be challenging for any policy maker, expert, or public manager to make sense of how COVID-19 has an impact, especially from a comparative perspective. Starting from the question “How can we benchmark COVID-19 performance data across countries?,” this article presents important indicators, measurements, and their strengths and weaknesses, and concludes with practical recommendations. These include a focus on measurement equivalence, systems thinking, spatial and temporal thinking, multilevel governance, and multimethod designs.     

An experimental comparison of adversarial versus inquisitorial procedural regimes

This article reports the results of a multiyear series of economicexperiments comparing the two dominant types of legal proceduresused in adjudication: (1) the 'adversarial' model of party-controlledprocedure versus (2) the 'inquisitorial' model of judge-controlledprocedure. The principal finding is that the relative fact-findingefficiency of the two systems, in terms of both the 'revelation'of hidden facts and the 'accuracy' of decision, depends significantlyupon the information structure. Under a 'private' informationstructure, inquisitorial procedure is relatively more efficient,whereas under a 'correlated' information structure, adversarialprocedure is relatively more efficient.     

West Nile virus encephalitis

West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne virus that has caused a large number of deaths in the United States since the first outbreak in New York City in 1998. The outbreak initially was limited to the northeast but has since spread across the entire continental United States. WNV causes a variety of clinical symptoms, but the most severe consequences result from central nervous system infection, resulting in meningitis, encephalitis, or meningoencephalitis. We present a case of a 62-year-old male with metastatic cancer, who died as a result of WNV encephalitis. This is followed by a discussion on the epidemiology of WNV and a detailed summary of the methods and resources available to make a diagnosis of WNV infection postmortem. The material presented in the discussion should provide the forensic pathologist with all the information necessary to make a diagnosis of WNV infection postmortem. If nothing else, the routine collection and storage of serum, cerebrospinal fluid, and tissue for every case can enable the forensic pathologist to make this diagnosis even in cases in which WNV is not suspected until after autopsy.     

Does Globalisation Threaten the State? Thesis on the Fractal State

There has been much recent debate concerning the role of the state. What should we make of this unease? There are two possibilities: the first involves taking a clear position on the debate by stating that globalisation leads to the downgrading of states in global regulation, to the benefit of the market. This suggests that the era of the state will be followed by the era of the market. While this thesis has many elements of truth, it underestimates the capacity of the state to transform itself, at the risk of opposing the state too systematically to the market. The second takes the opposite point of view by saying that the globalisation leaves the state neither defenceless nor weakened. The tenants of this analysis use the historical plasticity of the state and the falling numbers of states in the world as evidence. At the same time, they hide the size of the crisis of legitimacy of public policies. The problem comes from the fact that these two theses, reputed to be mutually antagonistic, are in fact perfectly complementary. Accordingly, instead of choosing between them, it seems useful to address them simultaneously before moving beyond them to propose the following thesis: globalisation develops at once against and with the state. This inherent contradiction transforms the state into a fractal actor, that is to say a state that no longer poises itself over society, but who at the same time remains the guarantor of a public rationality.     

Unusual blunt force wound produced by a gun muzzle

Most blunt force injuries produced by guns are associated with gun butts, and patterned, muzzle/sight impressions are usually produced by discharging firearms. An unusual and distinct forehead laceration produced by a blow with the muzzle end of a .32 caliber revolver is presented.