Statistical examination of hair color as a potential biasing factor in hair analysis

We review eight different data sets in this paper for the purposes of assessing the possibility that reported color of hair can produce a systematic bias in the interpretation of hair assays. We review studies or data sets that include heroin and its metabolites, cocaine and its metabolites, MDMA and its analogs, and amphetamine and methamphetamine. The studies have utilized a variety of different degrees of color categorization, ranging from the simple dichotomy of brown and black, to a high of 12 categories. The mean number of categories reported approaches 6 (mean = 5.875). There are a total of 2791 data points in this analysis. We utilize two major statistical techniques for assessing significance; one-way analysis of variance, and Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference procedure. In circumstances were only dichotomous contrasts are possible, one-way analysis of variance is used. In contrasts involving three or more categorical groups, Tukey's procedure is used. In circumstances where the homogeneity of group variances is not sustained by the Levene statistic, we use the Tamahane procedure, allowing an assessment that assumes unequal variances. The analysis of this data fails to discern a significant color effect. We speculate that it may be that variance is large in many domains affecting analyte recovery from hair. In large groups these variations tend to regress towards a typical or mean value. Thus the data here show that while there are group or aggregate differences in these 'typical' values, they are not great when considered in relation to the within-group variations which exist for those values. It is our view that color may play a role in the accumulation of drugs in hair, however it is likely to account for only a very small part of the complex process of drug accumulation.     

Improving Luminol Blood Detection in Forensics

The aim of this study was to develop chemical improvements to the original Weber protocol, in order to increase the intensity and time length of light emission and to eliminate false‐positive reactions. The intensity and duration of light were measured on serial blood dilutions using a plate reader chemiluminometer. Blood stains of various concentrations were impregnated in pure cellulose, dried, and luminol solution was added with/without the potential enhancers. An in silico study was also conducted, aiming to demonstrate the enhancing mechanism of hemoglobin denaturation using 8 M urea. The luminol blood detection test revealed important improvements after urea pretreatment or in the presence of monochloro‐triazinyl‐β‐cyclodextrin. This approach also eliminated the false‐positive reaction from sodium hypochlorite. These improvements could provide a higher sensitivity under particular circumstances such as old or washed blood stains, leading to a better localization for further DNA typing and higher quality photographic analysis.     

Party strategies and electoral competition in post-Communist countries: Evidence from Poland

Poland's major post-Communist party, the SLD, was an electorally successful legacy party during the 1990's. An analysis of Polish National Election Studies data and data from a separate study of new firm creation in Poland indicates their success was built on two important and related factors. One is the growth of new firms, which stimulated the growth of a centrist constituency who voted for parties supporting economic reforms. Second, the SLD adapted to this constituency by themselves becoming more economically liberal, as documented by Grzyma?a-Busse (2002). A conditional logit model of voter choice in the 1997 and 2001 elections relates votes to the distance between voters' preferences on economic policies and the positions of the competing parties. From this analysis we estimate that if the SLD had remained an ideological non-reformist party as did the KS?M in the Czech Republic and the CPRF in Russia it would have been a far weaker party as measured by vote and seat shares. Without the new firm creation, an ideological SLD cum KS?M could have been electorally successful as was the CPRF. The paper concludes by contrasting the the Polish, Czech and Russian post-Communist parties and extending the implications of the results to other developing and industrial economies faced with the need for structural change.     

Book reviews

Martin McCauley and Stephen Carter, eds., Leadership and Succession in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1986. xiii, 256 pp.

Murray Yanowitch, Work in the Soviet Union: Attitudes and Issues. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1985. 196 pp.

Elizbieta Szczepanik, Republiki Azji Sródkowej. Oblicze gospodarczo‐spolteczne. Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk, 1983. 310 pp.

David Berger, ed., The Legacy of Jewish Migration: 1881 and Its Impact, Social Science Monographs‐Brooklyn College Press: 1983. 187 pp.

Janka Kupala andJakub Kolas in the West: Bibliography. Vitaut Kipel and Zora Kipel, compilers., New York: Belorussian Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1985. 350 pp.

Borys Lewytzkyj, Politics and Society in Soviet Ukraine, 19531980. Edmonton, Alberta: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, 1984. 219 pp.

James E. Mace, Communism and the Dilemmas of National Liberation; National Communism in Soviet Ukraine, 1918–1933. Cambridge, Mass. Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S., 1983. 334 pp.

Taras Hunczak, ed., Ukraine and Poland in Documents, 1918–1920. Parts 1 and 2. New York ‐ Paris ‐ Sydney ‐Toronto: Shevchenko Scientific Society, 1983. 456 pp., 468 pp.

David Saunders, The Ukrainian Impact on Russian Culture; 1750–1850. Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, 1985. 415 pp.

J[urij] Bojko‐Blochyn, ed., Ukrainische Romantik and Neuromantik vor dent Hintergrund der europäischen Literatur: Symposium der Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität München und der Weltvereinigung der ukrainischen Exilschriftsteller, Literaturwissenschaftler und Kritiker “Slovo” am 11. und 12. Januar 1983. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, 1985. 152 pp.

Stephan M. Horak, The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1985. 373 pp.

Stephan M. Horak, ed., Eastern European National Minorities 1919–1980: A Handbook. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1985. 353 pp.

Bela K. Kiraly ed., East Central European Society and War in the Era of Revolutions, 1775–1865. New York: Brooklyn College Press, 1984. 651 pp.

Steven L. Sampson, National Integration through Socialist Planning. Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs, 1984. 352 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press, 1984.

The Birth of Solidarity: The Gdansk Negotiations, 1980, translated and introduced by A. Kemp‐Welch. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983.

Anthony Hyman, Afghanistan Under Soviet Domination, 1964–1983. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984. 247 pp.

Paul Bödy, Joseph Eötvös and The Modernization of Hungary, 1849–1870. Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs, CLXXIV, 1985. 134 pp. 2nd revised edition.     

Hair analysis for drugs of abuse. Hair color and race differentials or systematic differences in drug preferences?

There is currently a debate in the literature on chemical drug analysis concerning the contribution of biophysical attributes associated with specimens and specimen donors to assay outcome. In recent years this debate has focused on hair analysis, but has in the past also been raised in urinalysis interpretation. In this article we examine several aspects of that controversy. First, we present data regarding the effects of hair color on the distribution of positive hair testing results for three drug classes. We compare these results to negative hair samples from comparable donors. This data is derived from head hair from preemployment donors that was classified according to seven visual color categories. We determined the distribution of colors for hair samples devoid of any of three assayed drugs (amphetamines, cocaine, and cannabinoids). Subsequently, this distribution was compared with the distributions for hairs that had tested positive for amphetamines, cocaine or cannabinoids. We examined a total of 2000 randomly selected samples; 500 negative hair samples and 500 positive samples for each of three drugs: cannabinoids, cocaine, and amphetamine. We also evaluated ethnic/racial factors in relation to positive urinalyses for various ethnic/racial groups. We examined approximately 4000 urine specimens from two different groups, each constituting around 2000 specimens. In addition to ethnicity/race and urinalysis outcome, we also examined the relationship between the hair color distributions of urine donors and the corresponding urinalysis results for the three drug classes. We also compared them to drug-negative samples. Our summary impression is that the observed outcome patterns were largely consistent with differences in drug preferences among the various societal groups. There was little evidence of a pattern attributable to hair color bias alone or selective binding of drugs to hair of a particular color. Likewise, there was no discernible pattern associated with race or ethnicity that would lend support to a "race effect" in drug analysis.     

Market and State in Times of Globalisation

In this paper we present the relationships between Market and State in Times of Globalisation. This relationship depends not only on the level of a country's development but also on the dominant orientation of its economic and social policy.     

Organizational and Procedural Aspects of the Institution of State Agent before the ECHR and ICJ: Some Romanian Perspectives

Being a State Agent before an international jurisdiction isa task of responsibility. A background of personal experienceis an advantage in explanation. This article tries to buildupon the author's experience as an Agent for Romania beforetwo quite different forums of international justice—theEuropean Court of Human Rights and the International Court ofJustice. As any institution, the institution of State Agententails a set of organizational and procedural requirementsto be met in order for the case(s) to be managed successfullytowards the solution of disputes. The selection of the Agent,of his home team, of his foreign counsel (if needed) is essential.The provision of sufficient financial resources as well as thedecision power, both as far as substantial and administrativeaspects involving the case(s), is also important. The in-depthknowledge of all procedural details and the way of making useof them, the respecting of deadlines, the realistic assessmentand fixing of time limits and also the manner of leading theteam are essential for a positive outcome of the proceedings.     

Old Topics,New Formulations: Khaṇḍadeva and Navyanyāya (Studies in Vedic Hermeneutics in Early Modern India, 1)

Journal of Indian Philosophy - This article is first in a series dedicated to issues in the intellectual history of Mīmā?sā in early modern India and part of a larger effort to...