Police interrogation practice in Slovenia

Interrogation techniques are well explored, but in Slovenia it has remained unknown what interrogation techniques are used and what the basic characteristics of suspect interrogations are. The Slovenian interrogation manual proposes some coercive interrogation techniques and neglects their weaknesses. The aim of the current study was to examine Slovenian police officers’ beliefs as to the basic characteristics of their interrogations and whether techniques proposed by the manual are used in practice to begin to provide some insight into what actually happens in such interrogations. A survey instrument was used to obtain selfreport data from a sample of criminal investigators. From 86 completed questionnaires it was found that a typical interrogation of a suspect lasts around 90 minutes and is not recorded. Interviewers typically use three interrogation techniques namely (i) conducting interrogations in isolation; (ii) identifying contradictions in the suspect’s story; and (iii) confronting the suspect with evidence. Findings suggest that some coercive interrogation techniques are used in practice (e.g. offering moral justifications, alluding to have evidence of guilt, good cop/bad cop routine, and minimization). The study is the first insight into the practices of Slovenian investigators when questioning suspects. Differences among general, white-collar and organized crime investigators are also discussed

Chemical composition, anti-toxoplasma,cytotoxicity, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatorypotentials of Cola gigantea seed oil

Context:Cola giganteaA. Chev. (Sterculiaceae) is an important medicinal tropical flora.Objective:The seed oil ofC. gigantea, an underutilized tropical plant was investigated for its antioxidant,anti-inflammatory, anti-Toxoplasma,and cytotoxicity activities as well as the chemical composition.Materials and methods:The physicochemical parameters of the seed oil obtained via Soxhlet extractionwas determined while the fatty acid and non-fatty acid component were analyzed by gas chromatog-raphy-mass spectrometry. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) and 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS) assays (10–50mg/mL) while theanti-inflammatory property was determined through Cell Membrane Stabilization assay. The anti-parasiteand cytotoxicity activity were evaluated (0–1000mg/mL) usingToxoplasma gondiiand mammalian cell lineassays, respectively.Results:The oil had fatty acids which ranged from C-12 to C-23 with linoleic (18:2) and palmitic acids(16:0) being dominant. The oil had 89.41% unsaturated fatty acids with sterolic acid, an uncommon acety-lenic fatty acid reported for the first time. Non-fatty acids obtained include cholesterol (2.12%), campes-terol (14.12%), stigmasterol (34.07%) andb-sitosterol (49.68%). The oil had a significantly (p50mg/mL) compared with ascorbic acid. In contrast, theoil showed better activity against ABTS radicals (IC5044.19 ±6.27mg/mL) compared with ascorbic acid orquercetin. Furthermore, the oil showed anti-T. gondiiand dose-dependent cytotoxicity in HFF cells withselectivity index (IC50/EC50<1).Discussion and conclusions:The antioxidant potential of the oil suggests that it may serve as a potentialsource for various preparations for pharmaceuticals and cosmeceuticals

Chemical composition, antioxidant, anti-lipooxygenase, antimicrobial, anti-parasite and cytotoxic activities of Polyalthia longifolia seed oil

This work investigates the chemical compositions of Polyalthia longifolia Thw. seed oil with the associated antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasite and cytotoxicity potentials. The oil of P. longifolia seed obtained by soxhlet extraction was trans-esterified and the fatty acid profile characterized using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The antioxidant activity was evaluated using DPPH and ABTS assays. The anti-bacterial and anti-fungi properties of the oil were determine on clinical isolates of the organisms using agar diffusion method. The anti-inflammatory activities, cytotoxicity and anti-parasite potential were evaluated using lipooxygenase, mammalian cell and Toxoplasma gondii assays respectively. P. longifolia seed was observed to contain oleic (30.31%), linoleic acid (19.27%) and palmitic acid (15.11%) as the major fatty acids with low proportion of tricosylic acid (6.10) and stearic acid (5.56%). The oil had significant anti-lipooxygenase activity (IC50 = 0.70 ± 0.02 µg/mL) comparable to indomethacin (IC50 = 0.53 ± 0.07 µg/mL). The DPPH (IC50 = 55.91 ± 31.18 µg/mL) and ABTS (IC50 = 16.89 ± 15.50 µg/mL) antioxidant activity of the oil was lower to the ascorbic acid (IC50 = 0.34 ± 0.04 and 0.54 ± 0.04 µg/mL). The oil also showed activities against all the tested bacteria and fungi. The highest inhibition was recorded against S. aureus (17 ± 1 mm) at concentration 200 mg/mL. Further, the oils showed strong potential to restrict growth of Toxoplasma gondii in vitro, but the parasite growth inhibition was mildly abated in the presence of α-tocopherol. The seed oil of the underutilized P. longifolia possesses essential fatty acids which could be responsible for the numerous biological potentials which include anti-lipooxygenase, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-parasite, anti-microbial and cytotoxic activities. The incorporation of the natural oil into pharmaceuticals or cosmetics may enhance antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and cytotoxicity potential of such products