The Costs of Changing Our Minds

This isn’t quite a draft yet – it’s a concept paper. You’ll see after the first 10 pages a good bit of text in brackets, which are primarily notes for me, but it’ll give you a sense of the content of those sections. I’d like to talk through the concept – the “duty” to mitigate emotional distress damages and how courts have struggled with it, as a foray into a broader dichotomy that I see in a number of areas of law that suggest an implicit value in “cognitive liberty.” This is a smaller version of a broader book project “On Cognitive Liberty” that I’m writing, but I’d like to talk through how I might structure this as a standalone article. Forgive its brevity and incompleteness, but it’s a great time for me to workshop the concept with you

Foreword

I min förra krönika hävdade jag att de förhärskande metaforerna får oss att handla ”endimensionellt” när vi driver ett IT-projekt; vi koncentrerar oss på enskilda delar och tappar därför helhetsperspektivet. Idag är den drivande metaforen utan tvekan ”molnet”, men om man bara har det i huvudet är det lätt att gå bort sig i dimman. Kan man hitta metaforer som får oss att tänka mer fler-dimensionellt; d.v.s. hålla flera aspekter i luften samtidigt, utan att därför försumma kopplingarna mellan dessa? Om detta finns olika meningar, men en alltmer dominerande gren inom forskningen (till vilken jag själv räknar mig) är praktik-perspektivet (praktik i samma betydelse som ”läkarpraktik”).

Behavioural Genetics in Criminal Cases: Past, Present and Future

Researchers studying human behavioral genetics have made significant scientific progress in enhancing our understanding of the relative contributions of genetics and the environment in observed variations in human behavior. Quickly outpacing the advances in the science are its applications in the criminal justice system. Already, human behavioral genetics research has been introduced in the U.S. criminal justice system, and its use will only become more prevalent. This essay discusses the recent historical use of behavioral genetics in criminal cases, recent advances in two gene variants of particular interest in the criminal law, MAOA and SLC6A4, the recent expert testimony on behalf of criminal defendants with respect to these two gene variants, and the future direction of behavioral genetics evidence in criminal cases

Alpha-tocotrienol as a possible indicator for monitoring the presence of palm mid-fraction in dark chocolate

The compositional variations of tocopherols and tocotrienols composition of the genuine CB and PMF were investigated to introduce a more reliable indicator in detecting as well as quantifying the PMF in CB. The results suggested that the α-tocotrienol data presented could be utilized for the detection of the PMF admixture to CB. Detection and of PMF admixture to CB in a chocolate model system was conducted using α-tocotrienol as an indicator. This study focused on mono-addition of PMF to CB. The PMF was added to CB at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% levels. HPLC was used to detect the presence of PMF admixture to CB. The results derived from the model system indicated that by increasing the PMF amount at 0 to 15% to CB resulted in an increase in the concentration of the α-tocotrienol significantly (P<0.05). However, the addition of PMF amount more than 15% did not have any effect on the α-tocotrienol concentration. A linear plot with a high correlation of 0.9967 was obtained with standard error (SE) of 1.527. The PMF amount in chocolate was at 1.4, 2.8, 4.2, 5.6, 5.9, 6.2, 6.4, 6.7 and 7% levels. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) between the detected concentrations of the α-tocotrienol when the amount of the PMF was increased from 1.4% to 5.6%. However, the addition of PMF amount at 5.6 to 6.4% level did not have any effect on α-tocotrienol concentration. The interesting results were obtained when the amount of the PMF was increased from 6.4 to 7% where a significant difference was observed. A linear plot (R2 = 0.9837) was obtained with SE of 1.986. A validation test was conducted to verify the equation obtained from the regression analysis. The high correlation obtained indicated a good accuracy, reflecting a close relationship between the predicted and actual values obtained by theoretical and experimental, respectively. From these studies the use of α-tocotrienol as a promising indicator for detection and quantification of PMF in chocolate was demonstrated. The results suggested that the amount of the added PMF in the CB in chocolate was predictable in the condition when smaller and more than 5% PMF was added. Therefore, it can be concluded that the identification of the foreign fat added was made possible because only one type of the foreign fat was added in this experiment scheme

Bad Nature, Bad Nurture, and Testimony Regarding MAOA and SLC6A4 Genotyping in Murder Trials

Recent research—in which subjects were studied longitudinally from childhood until adulthood—has started to clarify how a child’s environment and genetic makeup interact to create a violent adolescent or adult. For example, male subjects who were born with a particular allele of the monoamine oxidase A gene and also were maltreated as children had a much greater likelihood of manifesting violent antisocial behavior as adolescents and adults. Also, individuals who were born with particular alleles of the serotonin transporter gene and also experienced multiple stressful life events were more likely to manifest serious depression and suicidality. This research raises the question of whether testimony regarding a defendant’s genotype, exposure to child maltreatment, and experience of unusual stress is appropriate to present during the guilt or penalty phases of criminal trials, especially when capital punishment is a consideration. The authors present their experience in genotyping criminal defendants and presenting genetic information at criminal trials

Bad Nature, Bad Nurture, and Testimony Regarding MAOA and SLC6A4 Genotyping in Murder Trials

Recent research—in which subjects were studied longitudinally from childhood until adulthood—has started to clarify how a child’s environment and genetic makeup interact to create a violent adolescent or adult. For example, male subjects who were born with a particular allele of the monoamine oxidase A gene and also were maltreated as children had a much greater likelihood of manifesting violent antisocial behavior as adolescents and adults. Also, individuals who were born with particular alleles of the serotonin transporter gene and also experienced multiple stressful life events were more likely to manifest serious depression and suicidality. This research raises the question of whether testimony regarding a defendant’s genotype, exposure to child maltreatment, and experience of unusual stress is appropriate to present during the guilt or penalty phases of criminal trials, especially when capital punishment is a consideration. The authors present their experience in genotyping criminal defendants and presenting genetic information at criminal trials

Influence of noodle processing (industrial protocol) on deoxynivalenol.

The effects of processing for two types of Asian noodles production (yellow alkaline and instant) on DON levels were investigated. Deoxynivalenol (DON) level at each step of processing was determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a PDA (photodiode array) detector at 218 nm. An acetonitrile: water (17:83 v/v) mixture was used as mobile phase and a MycosepTM #225 column as clean-up method. Significant reductions of the initial DON levels were found, 43.2% and 66.6% in yellow alkaline and instant noodles, respectively. The presence of alkaline salt as an ingredient appeared to be the primary factor influencing the extent of reduction in the two types of noodles. The data indicated that significant reduction of DON have occurred during cooking and frying of both yellow alkaline and instant noodles, respectively. The mechanism of reduction due to cooking is probably a leaching of DON out of the noodle into the cooking medium