The Legal Context and Contributions of Dostoevsky\u27s \u3cem\u3eCrime and Punishment\u3c/em\u3e

Dostoevsky\u27s Crime and Punishment is of more than average interest to lawyers. The title perhaps says it all in terms of content. The chief protagonist, the murderer Raskolnikov, is a law student on a break from his studies. And the pursuer of the murderer is a lawyer, an examining magistrate. But the more subtle and more important legal aspects of Crime and Punishment concern the time period in Russian legal history in which the novel was written and is set. The 1860s in Russia were a time of tremendous legal change. Among other things, an 1861 decree emancipated the serfs and monumental reform of the court system took place in 1864. Dostoevsky was not a lawyer, nor did he have any formal legal training. Still, law played a major role in his life. Dostoevsky spent a great deal of time watching trials and had contact with some of the greatest lawyers of his time. Whether from some innate fascination with the human condition as revealed in criminal cases or from his own personal run-ins with the law, the real cases of his day inspired much of Dostoevsky\u27s work and he was painstaking in his efforts to reflect the legal context of those cases accurately. Dostoevsky, of course, had the benefit of experiencing the criminal justice system first-hand from the wrong side of it, personally traversing most of its stages as a criminal defendant. In 1849, after achieving considerable notoriety as a novelist, he was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death for treason. After eight months is prison, he and his fellow conspirators were marched out to a public square to be shot. They were tied to execution posts in threes before a firing squad. Just before the order to fire, however, the soldiers received a sudden command to disperse and Dostoevsky and his fellow prisoners had their death sentences commuted to terms of imprisonment at hard labor and exile in Siberia, by order of Nicholas I. Dostoevsky served his full term, only being permitted to return to European Russia and then to St. Petersburg in 1859

Epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of human clinical isolates of Staphylococcus intermedius group

ABSTRACT The veterinary pathogens in the Staphylococcus intermedius group (SIG) are increasingly recognized as causes of human infection. Shared features between SIG and Staphylococcus aureus may result in the misidentification of SIG in human clinical cultures. This study examined the clinical and microbiological characteristics of isolates recovered at a tertiary-care academic medical center. From 2013 to 2015, 81 SIG isolates were recovered from 62 patients. Patients were commonly ≥50 years old, diabetic, and/or immunocompromised. Documentation of dog exposure in the electronic medical record was not common. Of the 81 SIG isolates, common sites of isolation included 37 (46%) isolates from wound cultures and 17 (21%) isolates from respiratory specimens. Although less common, 10 (12%) bloodstream infections were documented in 7 unique patients. The majority of SIG (65%) isolates were obtained from polymicrobial cultures. In comparison to S. aureus isolates from the same time period, significant differences were noted in proportion of SIG isolates that were susceptible to doxycycline (74% versus 97%, respectively; P &lt; 0.001), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (65% versus 97%, respectively; P &lt; 0.001), and ciprofloxacin (78% versus 59%, respectively; P &lt; 0.01). Methicillin resistance (MR) was detected in 12 (15%) of 81 SIG isolates. All MR isolates detected by an oxacillin disk diffusion test would have been misclassified as methicillin susceptible using a cefoxitin disk diffusion test. Thus, SIG is recovered from human clinical specimens, and distinction of SIG from S. aureus is critical for the accurate characterization of MR status in these isolates. </jats:p

Biology of the peregrine and gyrfalcon in Greenland

A ten year study began in 1972 in West Greenland to investigate the breeding biology of the peregrine falcon. Data on nesting gyrfalcons were also collected. Thirty-four peregrine nesting sites were examined in the 6050 km2 inland study area near Søndre Strømfjord. Limited research also centered in Disko Bugt and Frederikshåb. Peregrines were found nesting predominantly on high, south-facing cliffs which overlooked large areas. The mean minimum distance between peregrine eyries was 7.7 km for the inland area (1972 and 1973) and 55 km for the coast (1974). Approximately 60 percent of the inland nesting sites were occupied each year. A ten-year average production of 1.90 young per occupied site and 2.78 young per successful site was determined. Lapland longspurs, snow buntings, wheatears, and redpolls comprised 90 percent of the peregrine's diet. Raven nests and prey availability may affect gyrfalcon nesting. Gyrfalcons and peregrines did not breed successfully on the same cliffs as they do in Alaska where prey species number and density is greater. Competition for nest sites probably occurs, but prey availability may be the most significant factor affecting falcon density. Addled peregrine eggs, eggshell fragments, and peregrine prey species were collected. Whole eggs averaged 14.3 ppm wet weight (305 ppm lipid weight) DDE, while eggshell measurements showed a 16 percent thinning compared with pre-1940 eggs from Greenland. Prey species carried low levels of DDE. The peregrine population appears to be at a near critical con­tamination level, and a small increase in DDE level could contribute to a population decline. No indication of a decline has been observed during the study, and the population appears stable. The project banded 185 peregrines, from which 8 recoveries occurred. The recoveries suggest peregrines migrate south to winter in South America

Pitfalls associated with the use of molecular diagnostic panels in the diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis

Abstract We report the case of a kidney transplantation patient on chronic immunosuppressive therapy presenting with subacute meningitis. The final diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis was delayed due to 2 false-negative cryptococcal results on a molecular diagnostic panel. Caution with such platforms in suspected cryptococcal meningitis is needed.</jats:p