"We Have A Consensus": Explaining Political Support for Market Reforms in Latin America

By the 1990s, to the astonishment of many ob0servers, most Latin American countries had reformed their systems of national economic governance along market lines. Many analysts of this shift have assumed that it circumvented normal political processes, presuming that such reforms could not be popular. Explanations emphasizing economic crisis, external assistance, and politically insulated executives illustrate this approach. Through a qualitative investigation of the reform process in the region's four most industrialized countries, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico, this study argues, to the contrary, that reforming governments found or created both elite and mass political support for their policies.     

Fatal accidental intrathecal injection of vindesine

ABSTRACT: A 25-year-old woman being treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was accidentally given vindesine intrathecally. The error was recognized immediately and a spinal cord washing was performed through syringing with isotonic saline. However, the patient died 6 weeks later with increasing paralysis, which was followed by neurologic failure. The deceased was autopsied and the central nervous system was removed for a microscopic examination. The results showed microscopic lesions extending from the lumbar to the thoracic portion of the spinal cord, which included pseudocystic transformation of the cells, degeneration of myelin, and microhemorrhages. The brain was edematous and, in the cerebellum, the vermis showed a loss of granule and Purkinje cells. The authors compare this report on vindesine toxicity with cases in the literature involving vincristine. The treating physician admitted responsibility and was sentenced to both a fine and imprisonment.     

What is the incidence and significance of "dry-lungs" in bodies found in water?

BACKGROUND: Drowning without aspiration of liquid, generally attributed to death from asphyxia while submerged and in laryngospasm, has been reported to occur in approximately 10% to 15% of drowning victims. OBJECTIVES: The occurrence of "dry-drowning" recently has been questioned and the hypothesis developed that "dry-lungs" in bodies found dead in the water could conceal more natural deaths than previously recognized. METHODS: Based on 578 selected adult victims who presumably drowned, we analyzed the correlation between the cases with a low combined lung/pleura liquid weight (< 1000 g and < 750 g) and a wide set of individual, circumstantial, and postmortem (PM) variables, using multivariate logistic regression analysis. Victims with lung weight < 1000 g were screened for long-QT syndrome (LQTS) founder mutations in KCNQ1 and KCNH2 genes. RESULTS: Of the 578 victims, 120 (20.7%) had a lung weight of < 1000 g, and 22 of these (3.8%) of < 750 g. Multivariate analysis showed a significant correlation for women (P < 0.001), for women aged 65 years or older (P < 0.001), and for men with prolonged PM submersion time (P < 0.001). "Normal" lungs were found in only 8 (1.4%) victims. Low-weight (< 1000 g), overdistended lungs with no sign of liquid penetration were seen in 11 (1.9%). No LQTS founder mutations were detected. CONCLUSIONS: The actual incidence of death of persons found in water who have normal lungs or do not have penetration of liquid into their airways, based on our study, is much lower (below 2%) than currently assumed.     

Four major disasters in Aquitaine,France: use of odontologic techniques for identification

The 4 mass disasters that have affected the Aquitaine region (France) in the previous 15 years are related through the specificity and the efficiency of dental methodology in identifying the victims. The results point to the decisive influence and the efficiency of dental methodology for identification of bodies that are burned or disfigured after an accident or a prolonged period in water.     

Citizenship in an Eventual Euro-Democracy

The European Union is not (yet) a functioning democracy, but it has begun to develop some of the institutions of democracy. Among these is the practice of citizenship. This essay explores this uniquely democ-ratic status and how it would have to be modified in an eventual Euro-democracy. The EU's larger scale and limited scope, its more heteroge-neous socioeconomic composition, its multiplicity of (sub-)national identities and, above all, its restricted “stateness” make it difficult to develop an effective and significant Euro-citizenship. I offer six “mod-est reform proposals” that might help to overcome this difficulty. I conclude that we must not expect too much from Euro-citizenship. It is definitely not the panacea that will resolve the EU's rising legitimacy problems. What is required if the process of European integration is to shift from a logic of functional interdependencies to one of politicized exchanges is an even broader package of reforms not just in the scope of citizenship, but also in its forms of representation and its rules of decision-making.     

Is group memebership a prerequisite for group identification?

The purpose of this research is to examine the theoretical considerations and empirical evidence for the operationalization of an important concept. I attempt to determine if group membership is a necessary condition for group identification and discuss the role of group identifications for translating political interests into political preferences.     

Trade mark cartoons 'FOR LIFE(R)'

‘A book may be good for nothing; or there may be onlyone thing in it worth knowing; are we to read it all through?’(Samuel Johnson) This section is dedicated to the review of ideas, articles,books, films and other media. It will include replies (and rejoinders)to articles, the evaluation of new ideas or proposals, and reviewsof books and articles both directly and indirectly related tointellectual property law. Writing a book review has never been more entertaining. The‘book’ under review is a 12 page trilingual (English,French, and Spanish) comic book compiled and co-published byWIPO and the National Institute for