Death Penalty Politics and Symbolic Law in Russia

In contemporary Russia there is widespread support for the death penalty. Recent Russian presidents have endorsed the nation’s entry into the European Community (EC). The dilemma is that the price of membership into the EC is total abolition of capital punishment. The Russian Duma is much less popular than the president, even though it sides with public opinion in supporting capital punishment. Since 1997, these conflicting political positions have been temporarily neutralized by leaving capital punishment legislation in place but allowing the Russian president to offer clemency to all sentenced to death. In 1999, the Constitutional Court of Russia placed a moratorium on all death sentences until jury trials are re-introduced throughout the nation

The Israeli woman solider: The under-utilized potential of women in the Israeli defense forces [abstract]

Abstract only availableWomen have always been a part of the Israeli military. From the first wars fought post- independence to the most recent conflicts with Lebanon women have been required by law to participate in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Due to the compulsory military service requirements for both sexes much of the world views Israel as a progressive model for gender equality. However, not only are the requirements for service different for men and women, but the number of exemptions from service granted is much higher for women than for men due to more lenient standards applying to women. Upon further inquiry into the true role women take on as soldiers in the IDF it is apparent that historically women have been relegated to less meaningful tasks than men. Women are only allowed to occupy specific positions in the military, and until recently were completely barred from any combat position. Not only does this functionally render the sexes unequal, it also translates into fewer rewards for women such as achieving higher ranks within the military. Women also must struggle with the general notion held within Israeli society that women's most meaningful contribution to the military is bearing sons who will be the next generation's soldiers. While the IDF and Israeli society have recognized this variation in treatment the process to correct it has resulted in women becoming either gender neutral objects or women embracing masculine characteristics. In order to receive respect in new positions females must lose much of their femininity. This is a result of the Israeli "nation-in-arms", a culture fixated on constant conflict. The military could work to find meaningful ways for women to contribute; however, they have yet to embrace a model of inclusion that allows for women to do satisfying tasks, instead expecting women to simply fulfill men's role. Through these actions the IDF sheds the responsibility of being a trail-blazer in women's rights in Israel. Yet in a society where the military is the culture bearer, the military should lead the charge in promoting women's rights more seriously, ensuring women and men are truly equal

Michigan's Continuing Abolition of the Death Penalty and the Conceptual Components of Symbolic Legislation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68316/2/10.1177_096466399300200304.pd

NMR methods to monitor the enzymatic depolymerization of heparin

Heparin and the related glycosaminoglycan, heparan sulfate, are polydisperse linear polysaccharides that mediate numerous biological processes due to their interaction with proteins. Because of the structural complexity and heterogeneity of heparin and heparan sulfate, digestion to produce smaller oligosaccharides is commonly performed prior to separation and analysis. Current techniques used to monitor the extent of heparin depolymerization include UV absorption to follow product formation and size exclusion or strong anion exchange chromatography to monitor the size distribution of the components in the digest solution. In this study, we used 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) survey spectra and NMR diffusion experiments in conjunction with UV absorption measurements to monitor heparin depolymerization using the enzyme heparinase I. Diffusion NMR does not require the physical separation of the components in the reaction mixture and instead can be used to monitor the reaction solution directly in the NMR tube. Using diffusion NMR, the enzymatic reaction can be stopped at the desired time point, maximizing the abundance of larger oligosaccharides for protein-binding studies or completion of the reaction if the goal of the study is exhaustive digestion for characterization of the disaccharide composition. In this study, porcine intestinal mucosa heparin was depolymerized using the enzyme heparinase I. The unsaturated bond formed by enzymatic cleavage serves as a UV chromophore that can be used to monitor the progress of the depolymerization and for the detection and quantification of oligosaccharides in subsequent separations. The double bond also introduces a unique multiplet with peaks at 5.973, 5.981, 5.990, and 5.998 ppm in the 1H-NMR spectrum downfield of the anomeric region. This multiplet is produced by the proton of the C-4 double bond of the non-reducing end uronic acid at the cleavage site. Changes in this resonance were used to monitor the progression of the enzymatic digestion and compared to the profile obtained from UV absorbance measurements. In addition, in situ NMR diffusion measurements were explored for their ability to profile the different-sized components generated over the course of the digestion

Analysis and characterization of heparin impurities

This review discusses recent developments in analytical methods available for the sensitive separation, detection and structural characterization of heparin contaminants. The adulteration of raw heparin with oversulfated chondroitin sulfate (OSCS) in 2007–2008 spawned a global crisis resulting in extensive revisions to the pharmacopeia monographs on heparin and prompting the FDA to recommend the development of additional physicochemical methods for the analysis of heparin purity. The analytical chemistry community quickly responded to this challenge, developing a wide variety of innovative approaches, several of which are reported in this special issue. This review provides an overview of methods of heparin isolation and digestion, discusses known heparin contaminants, including OSCS, and summarizes recent publications on heparin impurity analysis using sensors, near-IR, Raman, and NMR spectroscopy, as well as electrophoretic and chromatographic separations