The detection of ephedrine by solid-phase immunoenzyme analytical and gas chromatographic methods

Comparative analysis of ephedrine derivative content in 96 urine specimen obtained from people suspected in abuse with these drugs. Physical and chemical methods of the analysis (gas and thin-layer chromatography) as well as ELISA were used. It was stated that the latter is specific for determination of compounds related to ephedrine by structure and it allows one to detect its analogues in 87 cases. Gas chromatography made it possible to detect ephedrine derivatives in 94 specimen tested and thin-layer chromatography--in 64 specimen tested. The given ELISA may be recommended for medicolegal expert purposes and narcology practice.     

Gunshot wounds: visual and analytical procedures.

Visual examination of clothing and tissue from gunshot wounds provides information pertaining to the range of discharge of a firearm. Identification of powder grains or soot is evidence of close range discharge by a handgun. Analyses of tissue by EDX and FAAS technics are shown to supply corroborating data to visual examination in estimation of range. These methods are of particular value in differentiating contact and distant wounds when decomposed bodies are examined and when multiple layers of clothing are present.     

Drugs and driving: a systematic analytical approach

To collect useful epidemiological data about drug involvement in highway safety, it is essential that sensitive and specific analytical procedures be used to establish the presence of and to determine the concentrations of drugs and metabolites in samples collected from drivers. This paper describes a comprehensive and systematic screening procedure requiring 6 mL of blood, which has been used for the analysis of samples collected from injured and fatally injured drivers. The procedure uses radioimmunoassay, gas chromatography with selective detectors, and high performance liquid chromatography. Drugs and metabolites presumptively identified are then confirmed primarily using gas chromatography--chemical ionization mass spectrometry.     

Drugs and the impaired driver in Northern Ireland: an analytical survey

The techniques used to analyse 212 "under-the-limit" drink-driving blood and urine specimens for drugs during a 3-year period (1982-85) in Northern Ireland are described. In all of these specimens (representing 15% of all below-limit cases) either the police surgeon who carried out the clinical examination, or the police, strongly suspected that drugs may have been a contributory factor in driving impairment, considering the lower than expected alcohol concentration. Thirty-eight (18%) samples were found to contain significant drug(s). Benzodiazepines were the most frequently encountered group of drugs (87% of all positive cases) with diazepam being that most frequently encountered (18 cases). The analytical procedures were radioimmunoassay, gas chromatography using nitrogen selective and electron capture detection along with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using ultra-violet detection. Drugs and their metabolites were identified using a mixture of these techniques along with GC/MS where possible. The usefulness of HPLC coupled with a rapid-scanning diode-array spectrophotometer is also demonstrated, the technique being particularly useful in the analysis of some of the more "difficult" benzodiazepines (e.g. lorazepam, temazepam, nitrazepam) not directly amenable to gas chromatography without derivatisation.     

Recidivism as a feedback process: An analytical model and empirical validation

A feedback model of the criminal justice system (CJS) incorporates the continuing input of people arrested for the first time (virgin arrests) and the recycling of individuals with prior arrests (recidivists). Such a model is needed to enable CJS planners to assess the impact of possible actions on the future arrests and system workloads. Using an empirically determined estimate of the number of virgin arrests in the U.S. as input to a feedback model of the CJS, recidivism parameters, probability of rearrest, and average time between arrests were estimated by matching the output of the model to the total arrests in the U.S. in the period 1960–70. The average deviation between the model output and total U.S. arrests was minimized at less than 4% when the probability of rearrest is equal to 0.875 and the average time between arrests equal to 1.1. years. The relative sensitivity of total arrests to changes in virgin arrests and the probability of rearrest are also presented.     

Relationship between reported crime rates and victimization survey results: An empirical and analytical study

Changes over time in crime as measured by reported crime counts and victimization survey counts are compared. A simple analysis is done using data from the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration's (LEAA) National Crime Survey for the years 1973, 1974, and 1975. These data are used to provide some understanding of why Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) results for these years show a much greater increase in crime than the LEAA/Census Bureau National Crime Surveys. A mathematical model is constructed to determine whether changes in the proportion of victimization reported to the authorities produces systematic bias in reported crime estimates of changes in actual victimizations. It is found that reported crime counts: (1) either exaggerate the amount of changes in victimizations or, (2) tend to misrepresent the direction of change in victimizations. It is highly likely that the amount of measurement error in changes in reported crime is significantly large in comparison with, if not larger than, the normal amounts of change in reported crime.     

Death by potassium chloride intravenous injection: evaluation of analytical detectability

Potassium chloride intravenous injection is used in suicide attempts and lethal procedures for state-sanctioned punishment. Owing to its relatively high concentrations in hemolyzed blood (25-80 mM) compared to serum (about 4 mM), it is difficult to conclude potassium poisoning by postmortem analysis of biologic samples. A 41-year-man was found dead with an injection sign on his foot and a syringe close to the corpse. No particular signs were noted during the autopsy. Blood, bile, and urine were submitted to xenobiotic screening procedures used in the laboratory. Syringe content was found positive to potassium ions. Blood potassium concentration was determined by ion-selective electrode measurement (range 3.0-150 mM). Blood was found positive for diazepam at therapeutic level. Potassium concentration was 160.0 (cardiac) and 87.3 mM (femoral blood). Our results show that potassium concentration was significantly higher in heart blood in a suicide case. Hence, the general issue of considering potassium poisoning hardly demonstrable by toxicology needs to be questioned and thoroughly studied.     

Situations of poisoning and analytical toxicology in Japan

Unprecedented poisoning terrorism by use of sarin took place in Japan in 1994 and 1995. On July 25, 1998, a curry poisoning incident in Wakayama occurred resulting in the death of four people and injury of 63 people. Since then, more than 30 imitative poisoning cases have been reported by mass communication within 1 year. In this brief review, we present some details of a series of poisoning cases and measures taken by the Japanese Government and non-government groups. In addition some research projects on analytical toxicology being conducted in our laboratories are also introduced; gas chromatography (GC) with cryogenic oven trapping for volatile organic compounds, and GC/surface ionization organic mass spectrometry for tertiary amino compounds are described especially as new techniques for biological samples.     

Social preference function and policy prioritisation for Bangladesh: An experiment with analytical hierarchy process

The difficulty in assigning priority weights in the multiple objective optimisation exercise of the planning process often leads to arbitrariness in the determination of priority weights. However, Frish (1957) has demonstrated that despite Arrow's famous impossibility theorem, a social preference function can be numerically established by systematically interviewing the decision makers or responsible politicians. In the light of the above, this paper attempts to achieve two goals: (a) that it is, indeed, possible to find intuitively plausible numerical priority weights and (b) the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) can be used to translate the interview responses into cardinal ordering. The close correspondence between the investment allocations of the Planning Commission and those derived from the priority weights of our exercise with AHP implies that AHP can be used to by-pass detailed planning exercises and thereby make planning more flexible.     

Not by accident: An analytical approach to traffic crash harm reduction

Purpose

This study examines whether a problem-oriented approach used by police in Cincinnati, Ohio called the Crash Analysis Reduction Strategy (CARS) corresponded with a change in the number of traffic crashes that resulted in injuries after implementation onset. Under the CARS model, police developed tactics that focused on targeting high-risk driving behaviors, impaired drivers, and crash hotspot locations within the city.

Methods

Using a two-phase strategy we first assess local impact by examining injury-related traffic crash patterns at targeted locations. Second, we examine whether traffic crashes that resulted in injuries in Cincinnati significantly diverged relative to similar outcomes across a number of comparison sites.

Results

Difference-in-difference negative binomial regression analyses indicates that traffic crashes were significantly lower in Cincinnati - down roughly 5.7% to 10.3% in the post-intervention period - when contrasted with comparison sites.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that comprehensive problem solving approaches can significantly reduce the risk of life changing events such as automobile crashes that result in injuries beyond traditional policing efforts that explicitly focus on crime and violence.     

A temporal analytical approach to decentralization: lessons from Brazil's health sector

This article introduces a new concept to the study of decentralization processes: policy dynamism. At its core is the notion that the sequential and temporal process of health decentralization affect the nature of intergovernmental relationships and municipal bureaucratic capacity. Examining the case of Brazil, I argue that the rush to decentralize health services to municipalities has, in the absence of sufficient financial and technical assistance from the federal and state governments, increased state-municipal conflict over the management of health policy, limiting municipalities' ability to increase bureaucratic capacity. Consequently, some states have attempted to recentralize reforms, generating further conflict between both subnational levels of government. While some municipalities have tried to overcome these problems by creating associations and working with international organizations, several bureaucratic obstacles remain. This article attributes these outcomes not to federal institutions and economic constraints (the traditional approach in the literature) but rather to the noninstitutional, temporal policy dynamics of decentralization.     

地芬诺酯中毒及检验方法研究进展

地芬诺酯为临床常见的止泻药,近年来常因药物用量不当而发生中毒,尤其是在10岁以下儿童人群中中毒发生频率极高。除此之外,地芬诺酯常被吸毒人员作为海洛因的替代品大量使用而引起滥用中毒。本文对地芬诺酯的药理、中毒机制、临床表现和检验方法进展进行了综述,旨在为地芬诺酯中毒患者的快速诊断和抢救提供科学依据。     

Using morphometric and analytical techniques to characterize elephant ivory

There is a need to characterize Asian elephant ivory and compare with African ivory for controlling illegal trade and implementation of national and international laws. In this paper, we characterize ivory of Asian and African elephants using Schreger angle measurements, elemental analysis {X-ray fluorescence (XRF), inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS)} and isotopic analysis. We recorded Schreger angle characteristics of elephant ivory at three different zones in ivory samples of African (n=12) and Asian (n=28) elephants. The Schreger angle ranged from 32 degrees to 145 degrees and 30 degrees to 153 degrees in Asian and African ivory, respectively. Elemental analysis (for Asian and African ivory) by XRF, ICP-AES and ICP-MS provided preliminary data. We attempted to ascertain source of origin of Asian elephant ivory similarly as in African ivory based on isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and strontium. We determined isotopic ratios of carbon (n=31) and nitrogen (n=31) corresponding to diet and rainfall, respectively. Reference ivory samples from five areas within India were analyzed using collagen and powder sample and the latter was found more suitable for forensic analysis. During our preliminary analysis, the range of delta13C values (-13.6+/-0.15 per thousand and -25.6+/-0.15 per thousand) and delta15N values (10.2+/-0.15 per thousand and 3.5+/-0.15 per thousand) were noted.     

甲卡西酮概述及其分析方法

甲卡西酮吸食后具有精神刺激剂作用,有时候作为娱乐药物,具有成瘾性,长期高剂量使用可能导致急性神经紊乱。甲卡西酮R位的碳氧双键具有极性,因此像安非他明一样可以通过血脑屏障。它是潜在的中枢神经系统刺激剂和多巴胺再吸收抑制剂。甲卡西酮在美国是I类精神管制药物,任何情况下都是非法使用。本文还综述了甲卡西酮的检验分析方法,包括物理分析方法和仪器分析方法。仪器分析方法主要是气相色谱／质谱法（GC／MS）、高效液相色谱法（HPLC）,此外还有紫外光谱法（uV）,红外光谱法（IR）,核磁共振光谱法（NMR）以及毛细管电泳（CE）等方法。