162,243 research outputs found
Interventions, Productions and Collaborations:the relationship between RAI and visual artists
No full textOn the 17th May 1952, before RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana Studios began their regular broadcast from Milan, the Spatialist painter and sculptor Lucio Fontana broadcast his own experimental ‘artwork’ on Italian television, beginning a fruitful relationship between RAI and visual artists. For some, it provided careers as designers and art directors, such as the painter Mario Sasso and the Arte Povera artist Pino Pascali, while for others, who were given unique access to RAI’s television apparatus, it was an opportunity to explore their own artistic experimentations with an expensive and exclusive medium, such as Carlo Quartucci and Gianni Toti. RAI also hosted seminal artists’ performances on screen including John Cage and Fabio Mauri. This article, based on documents and interviews collected during the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project REWINDItalia, discusses these and other seminal cases as well as tracing and assessing the history of this fruitful and complex exchange between RAI and visual artists
[Report to Chief J. E. Curry, by an unknown author #1]
No full textReport to Chief J. E. Curry, by an unknown author. The report contains a list of officers who gave depositions to the United States Attorney
[Report to Chief J. E. Curry, by an unknown author #2]
No full textReport to Chief J. E. Curry, by an unknown author. The report contains a list of officers who gave depositions to the United States Attorney
New challenges and innovation in forensic toxicology: focus on the "New Psychoactive Substances".
No full textIn the recent years, new molecules have appeared in the illicit market, claimed to contain "non-illegal" compounds, although exhibiting important psychoactive effects; this heterogeneous and rapidly evolving class of compounds are commonly known as "New Psychoactive Substances" or, less properly, "Smart Drugs" and are easily distributed through the e-commerce or in the so-called "Smart Shops". They include, among other, synthetic cannabinoids, cathinones and tryptamine analogs of psylocin. Whereas cases of intoxication and death have been reported, the phenomenon appears to be largely underestimated and is a matter of concern for Public Health. One of the major points of concern depends on the substantial ineffectiveness of the current methods of toxicological screening of biological samples to identify the new compounds entering the market. These limitations emphasize an urgent need to increase the screening capabilities of the toxicology laboratories, and to develop rapid, versatile yet specific assays able to identify new molecules. The most recent advances in mass spectrometry technology, introducing instruments capable of detecting hundreds of compounds at nanomolar concentrations, are expected to give a fundamental contribution to broaden the diagnostic spectrum of the toxicological screening to include not only all these continuously changing molecules but also their metabolites. In the present paper a critical overview of the opportunities, strengths and limitations of some of the newest analytical approaches is provided, with a particular attention to liquid phase separation techniques coupled to high accuracy, high resolution mass spectrometr
New psychoactive substances. An actual problem or an overestimated phenomenon?
No full textIn last years, international and national Institutions have been completely focused on the new psychoactive substances (NPS) phenomenon. Many contrast policies have been planned in order to control their spread. Even scientific entities, such as our Forensic Toxicology Division, have spent time and resources for NPS identification in biological (from clinical and forensic caseworks) and non-biological (seized material) samples. Last reports show a low prevalence of NPS across the Europe and Italy, while the classical drugs are still the main cause of drug-related deaths. In particular, a worrisome datum is represented by the increasing number of deaths due to heroin. Seen these statistics, is the NPS phenomenon overestimated? Is the interest in classical drugs decreased? Were we diverted by NPS
The Origin of the State: Land Productivity or Appropriability?
No full textThe conventional theory about the origin of the state is that the adoption of farming increased land productivity, which led to the production of food surplus. This surplus was a prerequisite for the emergence of tax-levying elites and, eventually, states. We challenge this theory and propose that hierarchy arose as a result of the shift to dependence on appropriable cereal grains. Our empirical investigation, utilizing multiple data sets spanning several millennia, demonstrates a causal effect of the cultivation of cereals on hierarchy, without finding a similar effect for land productivity. We further support our claims with several case studies
Recent advances in the application of CE to forensic sciences, an update over years 2009-2011
No full textThe present article reviews and comments the applications of capillary electrophoresis in the different areas of forensic sciences covering the time from the second half of 2009 until the first part of 2011, being the latest update of previous reviews covering the years from 2001 to 2009. Numerous articles reporting applications of capillary electrophoresis to analytical problems of potential interest for the forensic researchers and scientists can be found in the most qualified journals of analytical chemistry, analytical biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology, laboratory medicine, human genetics, etc. However, the present review has been focused on discussing only the most relevant examples of analytical applications of capillary electrophoretic and electrokinetic techniques published in the following fields: (i) illicit and abused drugs, (ii) ions and small molecules of forensic interest, (iii) proteins and peptides of forensic interest, (iv) dyes and inks, (v) forensic DNA. The present review collects and comments on 60 references. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Current role of capillary electrophoretic/electrokinetic techniques in forensic toxicology.
No full textThe current application of capillary electrophoresisin forensic toxicology has been critically reviewedwith special focus on the areas where this technique hasshown real advantages over chromatographic methods. Forexample, capillary electrophoresis has been most successfullyapplied to the chiral analysis of some drugs of forensicinterest, including amphetamines and their congeners.Another typical application field of capillary electrophoresisis represented by protein analysis. Recently, specialinterest has been paid to carbohydrate deficient transferrin(CDT), the most important biological marker of chronicalcohol abuse. Other specific applications of capillaryelectrophoresis of potential forensic toxicological concernare also discussed. The review includes 62 references
Determination of phorbol esters in seeds and leaves of Jatropha curcas and in animal tissue by high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry
No full texttIn order to improve the economic sustainability of the Jatropha-biofuel chain, seed cake detoxificationand utilization of ‘non toxic’ Jatropa curcas accessions are the main activities pursued with the aim ofusing J. curcas seed cake in animal feed. Given this growing interest, a robust and reliable method forphorbol esters (PEs) determination is necessary. HPLC-UV is a well-established method to detect andquantify the PEs content in Jatropha seeds and related products, but it seems to be unsuitable for morecomplex matrices like Jatropha leaves and animal tissues, due to the presence of interfering compounds.The objective of this work was to develop and optimize a LC–MS/MS method for the quantitative determi-nation of PEs in seeds and leaves of J. curcas L. plants from Ghana and Mexico and in liver (as an organ withthe function of accumulation) from goats fed with PEs in their diet. The HPLC-UV analysis evidenced fivechromatographic peaks in the toxic seed kernels corresponding to the factors C1, C2, C3, C6 and C4–C5,respectively, with a PEs concentration of about 5100 microg/g (as TPA equivalent). No PEs related peaks weredetected in Mexican kernel seeds while in the case of leaves and liver the analysis was hampered bythe presence of interfering compounds. The toxic kernel seed extract was used as a standard solutionfor the PEs quantitation in leaves and liver samples by LC–MS/MS, with the standard addition method.The most intense MRM transitions used to quantify and qualify the PEs were: 675 → 311, 693 → 311, and293 → 265 m/z. The LC–MS/MS method with a LOD and a LOQ of 0.07 and 0.21 microg/g, respectively, resultedin more sensitivity and selectivity than the HPLC-UV method. All three MRM transitions were present inGhanaian toxic kernel seed, while no peaks were present in the supposed non-toxic Mexican kernel seed.PEs concentration in the leaves of toxic Ghanaian accession resulted in about 1/10 of that in the kernel, while no PEs peaks were found in the J. curcas leaves from Mexico and in liver samples
Toxicokinetics of cocaine and metabolites: the forensic toxicological approach.
No full textCocaine is one of the most used psychomotor stimulants all over the world. On this basis, the interest for the pharmacological activity and the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic aspects of this drug is very prominent in both clinical and forensic toxicological environments. The review presents and discusses 65 scientific publications covering all the aspects of cocaine toxicokinetic, including absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination of the drug. Particular attention has been dedicated to the studies on the disposition of the drug in alternative biological matrices, such as oral fluid, hair, fetus fluids and tissues, and sweat. In fact, in the last years the use of these matrices has been proposed in clinical and forensic drug analysis in order to obtain additional information to that which can be obtained by analyzing the traditional biological matrices, such as blood and urine
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