Combined time- and space-resolved Raman spectrometer for the non-invasive depth profiling of chemical hazards

A time-resolved inverse spatially offset Raman spectrometer was constructed for depth profiling of Raman-active substances under both the lab and the field environments. The system operating principles and performance are discussed along with its advantages relative to traditional continuous wave spatially offset Raman spectrometer. The developed spectrometer uses a combination of space- and time-resolved detection in order to obtain high-quality Raman spectra from substances hidden behind coloured opaque surface layers, such as plastic and garments, with a single measurement. The time-gated spatially offset Raman spectrometer was successfully used to detect concealed explosives and drug precursors under incandescent and fluorescent background light as well as under daylight. The average screening time was 50 s per measurement. The excitation energy requirements were relatively low (20 mW) which makes the probe safe for screening hazardous substances. The unit has been designed with nanosecond laser excitation and gated detection, making it of lower cost and complexity than previous picosecond-based systems, to provide a functional platform for in-line or in-field sensing of chemical substances.

Non-invasive, quantitative analysis of drug mixtures in containers using spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) and multivariate statistical analysis

In this paper, spatially offset Raman spectroscopy (SORS) is demonstrated for non-invasively investigating the composition of drug mixtures inside an opaque plastic container. The mixtures consisted of three components including a target drug (acetaminophen or phenylephrine hydrochloride) and two diluents (glucose and caffeine). The target drug concentrations ranged from 5% to 100%. After conducting SORS analysis to ascertain the Raman spectra of the concealed mixtures, principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the SORS spectra to reveal trends within the data. Partial least squares (PLS) regression was used to construct models that predicted the concentration of each target drug, in the presence of the other two diluents. The PLS models were able to predict the concentration of acetaminophen in the validation samples with a root-mean-square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 3.8% and the concentration of phenylephrine hydrochloride with an RMSEP of 4.6%. This work demonstrates the potential of SORS, used in conjunction with multivariate statistical techniques, to perform non-invasive, quantitative analysis on mixtures inside opaque containers. This has applications for pharmaceutical analysis, such as monitoring the degradation of pharmaceutical products on the shelf, in forensic investigations of counterfeit drugs, and for the analysis of illicit drug mixtures which may contain multiple components.

Justice, globalisation and human rights

Criminal Justice: Local and Global covers the way the 'local' can be widened out to look at international, transnational and supranational aspects of justice. This means that issues such as corporate crime and human rights can be discussed in a comparative and critical way, examining the possibility, for example of an International Criminal Court, cross-national jurisdictions of regulation and control (such as Interpol) and so on. Each chapter covers a different area of regulation, punishment and process.

Contemporary Critical Criminology

The concept of critical criminology – that crime and the present day processes of criminalization are rooted in the core structures of society – is of more relevance today than it has been at any other time. Written by an internationally renowned scholar, Contemporary Critical Criminology introduces the most up-to-date empirical, theoretical, and political contributions made by critical criminologists around the world. In its exploration of this material, the book also challenges the erroneous but widely held notion that the critical criminological project is restricted to mechanically applying theories to substantive topics, or to simple calling for radical political, economic, cultural, and social transformations. This book is an essential source of reference for both undergraduate and postgraduate students of Criminology, Criminal Theory, Social Policy, Research Methodology, and Penology.

Toxic state–corporate crimes, Neo-liberalism and green criminology : the hazards and legacies of the oil, chemical and mineral industries

This paper uses examples from the history and practices of multi-national and large companies in the oil, chemical and asbestos industries to examine their legal and illegal despoiling and destruction of the environment and impact on human and non-human life. The discussion draws on the literature on green criminology and state-corporate crime and considers measures and arrangements that might mitigate or prevent such damaging acts. This paper is part of ongoing work on green criminology and crimes of the economy. It places these actions and crimes in the context of a global neo-liberal economic system and considers and critiques the distorting impact of the GDP model of ‘economic health’ and its consequences for the environment.

Philanthropy and sociology : a logical pairing

In philanthropic studies we hear about a growing academic discipline of ‘philanthropic psychology’ but arguably there is an equal role for ‘philanthropic sociology’, both from a research and a teaching perspective. This commentary begins by noting the early links between philanthropy and sociology. It then introduces a few Australian studies that show how sociology is enriching an understanding of philanthropy, its institutions and its place in society.

Prison rates, social democracy, neoliberalism and justice reinvestment

This chapter will begin with a brief summary of some recent research in the field of comparative penology. This work will be examined to explore the benefits, difficulties and limits of attempting to link criminal justice issues to types of advanced democratic polities, with particular emphasis on political economies. This stream of comparative penology examines data such as imprisonment rates and levels of punitiveness in different countries, before drawing conclusions based on the patterns which seem to emerge. Foremost among these is that the high imprisoning countries tend to be the advanced western liberal democracies which have gone furthest in adopting neoliberal economic and social policies, as against the lower imprisonment rates of social democracies, which variably have attempted to temper free-market economic policies in various ways. Such work brings both social democracy and neoliberalism into focus as issues for, or subjects of, criminology. Not in the sense of new ‘brands’ of criminology but rather as an examination of the connections between the political projects of social democracy and neoliberalism, and issues of crime and criminal justice. In the new comparative penology, social democracy and neoliberalism are cast in opposition, simultaneously raising the questions of to what extent and how adequately both social democracy and neoliberalism have been constituted as subjects in criminology and whether dichotomy is the only available trope of analysis?

Gas-Phase Transformation of Phosphatidylcholine Cations to Structurally Informative Anions via Ion/Ion Chemistry

Gas-phase transformation of synthetic phosphatidylcholine (PC) monocations to structurally informative anions is demonstrated via ion/ion reactions with doubly deprotonated 1,4-phenylenedipropionic acid (PDPA). Two synthetic PC isomers, 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PC16:0/18:1) and 1-oleoyl-2-palmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PC18:1/16:0), were subjected to this ion/ion chemistry. The product of the ion/ion reaction is a negatively charged complex, \[PC + PDPA - H](-). Collisional activation of the long-lived complex causes transfer of a proton and methyl cation to PDPA, generating \[PC - CH3](-). Subsequent collisional activation of the demethylated PC anions produces abundant fatty acid carboxylate anions and low-abundance acyl neutral losses as free acids and ketenes. Product ion spectra of \[PC - CH3](-) suggest favorable cleavage at the sn-2 position over the sn-1 due to distinct differences in the relative abundances. In contrast, collisional activation of PC cations is absent of abundant fatty acid chain-related product ions and typically indicates only the lipid class via formation of the phosphocholine cation. A solution phase method to produce the gas-phase adducted PC anion is also demonstrated. Product ion spectra derived from the solution phase method are similar to the results generated via ion/ion chemistry. This work demonstrates a gas-phase means to increase structural characterization of phosphatidylcholines via ion/ion chemistry. Grant Number ARC/CE0561607, ARC/DP120102922