Analysis of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) in vitreous humour as a forensic tool for detection of alcohol misuse

Analysis of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin concentration in vitreous humour (VH-CDT) has recently been demonstrated to be useful for diagnosis of pre-mortal alcohol misuse, but more knowledge considering possible methodological problems is warranted. In a forensic sample we examined the stability of VH-CDT during laboratory handling as well as the possible affection of time-dependent changes of total transferrin concentrations in vitreous humour (VH-Transferrin) in the dead body on VH-CDT as indicator of alcohol misuse. By use of a commercial assay designed for serum analysis (CDTect) it was possible to measure VH-CDT with high precision, and detectable amounts were found in 20 of 21 alcoholics and in two of seven controls. The compound was demonstrated to be stable in vitreous humour during laboratory handling, since the results of the first analysis were well reproducible after 4 months storage of the specimens (rs=0.86, P=0.0002). Transferrin concentrations in vitreous humour (VH-Transferrin) correlated to the estimated time since the individual last time had been alive before the forensic examination (rs=0.57, P<0.005). However, in this small sample the discriminating property of VH-CDT as indicator of alcohol misuse was not decisively affected, whether or not the variables "VH-Transferrin" and "estimated time since the individual last time had been alive" were considered in a multivariate logistic regression analysis (minor change in the beta-coefficient from 0.57 to 0.52, P=0.086). We conclude that CDT is stable in vitreous humour during proper laboratory handling and that detection of VH-CDT is primarily a marker of alcohol misuse before death. However, the results of this study do not exclude that time-dependent changes of VH-Transferrin, possibly affecting VH-CDT, may occur in the dead body. VH-CDT analysis should thus, at present, be restricted to cases with rather short post-mortal time interval.     

Fatal diphenhydramine intoxication in infants

Diphenhydramine is an antihistamine available in numerous over-the-counter preparations. Often used for its sedative effects in adults, it can cause paradoxical central nervous system stimulation in children, with effects ranging from excitation to seizures and death. Reports of fatal intoxications in young children are rare. We present five cases of fatal intoxication in infants 6, 8, 9, 12, and 12 weeks old. Postmortem blood diphenhydramine levels in the cases were 1.6, 1.5, 1.6, 1.1 and 1.1 mg/L, respectively. Anatomic findings in each case were normal. In one case the child's father admitted giving the infant diphenhydramine in an attempt to induce the infant to sleep; in another case, a daycare provider admitted putting diphenhydramine in a baby bottle. Two cases remain unsolved; one case remains under investigation. The postmortem drug levels in these cases are lower than seen in adult fatalities. We review the literature on diphenhydramine toxicity, particularly as it pertains to small children, and discuss the rationale for treating these cases as fatal intoxications.     

Integrating Voting Theory and Roll Call Analysis: A Framework

Scholars of legislative studies typically use ideal point estimatesfrom scaling procedures to test theories of legislative politics.We contend that theory and methods may be better integratedby directly incorporating maintained and to be tested hypothesesin the statistical model used to estimate legislator preferences.In this view of theory and estimation, formal modeling (1) providesauxiliary assumptions that serve as constraints in the estimationprocess, and (2) generates testable predictions. The estimationand hypothesis testing procedure uses roll call data to evaluatethe validity of theoretically derived to be tested hypothesesin a world where maintained hypotheses are presumed true. Wearticulate the approach using the language of statistical inference(both frequentist and Bayesian). The approach is demonstratedin analyses of the well-studied Powell amendment to the federalaid-to-education bill in the 84th House and the Compromise of1790 in the 1st House.     

Questioning Appeals to Community within Crime Prevention and Control

This article casts a critical eye over some of the (often ignored) assumptions which underlie recent appeals to community in crime prevention and control. The article considers the philosophical origins, ambiguities and tensions within such appeals. In so doing, it draws explicitly upon the growth of community safety and to a lesser extent restorative justice in Britain and considers some of the implications to which this shift may give rise. In particular, it focuses upon the manner in which appeals to community converge and collide with changing social relations which may undermine their progressive potential. Specific attention is given to the implications of: increasing social and spatial dislocation; the commodification of security; and policy debates about a growing underclass. It is argued that there is much confusion as to how, and to what extent, communities can contribute to the construction of social order. Within the dynamics of community safety and crime control practices there are dangers that security differentials may become increasingly significant characteristics of wealth and status with implications for social exclusion. This questions the extent to which crime is an appropriate vehicle around which to (re)construct open and tolerant communities.