Aberrent group B reactions detected in mixtures of semen and vaginal secretions possibly due to acquired B

Routine ABO grouping tests performed on vaginal swabs from a group O female showed the presence of blood group B activity as well as the expected A and H activity after intercourse with her group A partner. The source of the B activity was readily detectable using the Laboratory's routine elution test, but it was not detectable when a monoclonal anti-B was used and detection by the inhibition technique was possible only with a selected antiserum. A possible explanation of the reactions observed is that the acquired B is capable of reacting with only a portion of the antibodies present in normal polyclonal anti-B sera.     

Non-voluntary licensing of antivirals under patent: options the Australian Government should consider in light of a potential bird flu pandemic

In the face of a potential bird flu pandemic, Australian Federal Health Minister, Tony Abbott, has recently dismissed expert advice that the government should begin, or even publicly consider, authorising generic manufacturers to produce antivirals, such as Tamiflu and Relenza, under patent via non-voluntary licensing methods. This is despite the fact that the demand for antivirals in Australia, and throughout the world, cannot be met by manufacturers under the control of limited patent owners alone. This article proposes that Australian patent law, which allows for non-voluntary licensing when it comes to important public health issues that affect Australian citizens, is relevant in meeting the demand for increased antiviral treatments during a possible bird flu pandemic, domestically and abroad. It argues that the Australian Government must go beyond what is currently being done and investigate and pursue such options.     

Reviews

Nigel Swain, Hungary—The Rise and Fall of Feasible Socialism. London and New York: Verso, 1992, vii + 264 pp., £13.95 p/b.

Ágnes Horváth & Árpád Szakolczai, The Dissolution of Communist Power: The Case of Hungary. London and New York: Routledge, 1992, xviii + 254 pp., £40.00.

Lewis H. Siegelbaum, Soviet State and Society between Revolutions, 1918–1929. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xiii + 284 pp., £40.00 h/b, £13.95 p/b.

Gerald Segal‐ et al., Openness and Foreign Policy Reform in Communist Slates. London and New York: Routledge for The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1992, x + 248 pp., £40.00.

Joan Barth Urban, ed., Moscow and the Global Left in the Gorbachev Era. New York: Cornell University Press, 1992, xii + 204 pp., $32.95 h/b, $14.25 p/b.

Donald Filtzer, Soviet Workers and De‐Stalinization: The Consolidation of the Modern System of Soviet Production Relations, 1953–1964. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xv+ 318 pp.

Stefan Hedlund, Private Agriculture in the Soviet Union, London: Routledge, 1990, xiv + 208, pp. £30.00.

Bruno Dallago. The Irregular Economy, Aldershot: Dartmouth Publishing Company, 1991, xxi + 202 pp., £29.50

Marie Lavigne, L'Europe de l'est: du plan au marché. Paris: Editions Libris, 1992, 191 pp., 89 francs.

Paul Calloway, Soviet and Western Psychiatry—a Comparative Study. Keighley, The Moor Press, 1992, xv + 266 pp., £22.95 h/b, £9.95 p/b.

David Wedgwood Benn, From Glasnost to Freedom of Speech. London: Pinter Publishers, 1992, vi + 106 pp., £22.50 h/b, £8.95 p/b.

Gail W. Lapidus & Victor Zaslavsky, eds, From Union to Commonwealth: Nationalism and Separatism in the Soviet Republics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, vii + 127 pp., £25.00 h/b, £9.95 p/b.

Robert F. Miller, ed., The Development of Civil Society in Communist Systems. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1982, iv+ 188 pp., £10.95.

Geoffrey A. Hosking, ed., Church, Nation and State in Russia and Ukraine. London: Macmillan/School of Slavonic and East European Studies, 1991, xv + 357 pp., £45.00.

Richard Taylor & Ian Christie, eds, Inside the Film Factory: New Approaches to Russian and Soviet Cinema. London and New York: Routledge, 1991, xvii + 256 pp., £40.00.

Linda Edmundson, ed.. Women and Society in Russia and the Soviet Union, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, ix + 233 pp., 35.00 h/b.

Chris Corrin, ed., Superwomen and the Double Burden. Women's Experience of Change in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. London: Scarlet Press, 1992, 297 pp., no price.

Mary. Buckley, ed., Perestroika and Soviet Women. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xiii+ 183 pp., £30.00 h/b, £10.95 p/b.

Rajendra K. Jain, Germany, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, 1949–1991. London: Sangam Books Limited, 1993, xv + 368 pp., £25.95.

Philip J. Bryson & Manfred Melzer, The End of the East German Economy: From Honecker to Reunification. London: Macmillan, 1991, xiii+ 148 pp. £40.00.

Liliana Saiu. The Great Powers and Rumania 1944–1946. A Study of the Early Cold War Era. East European Monographs, Boulder, CO: 1992, xiii + 290 pp., $42.00.     

China fuels its future with Africa's riches

There have been mixed reactions to China's aggressive pursuit of Africa's energy resources both within African countries and in the international community, for a range of different reasons. The extent of the Chinese penetration means Africans need to look at how to best exploit the situation for sustainable development, rather than for short‐term gain.     

Perceptions and prevalence of stalking in a male sample

Abstract

Most research into stalking has focused on males as perpetrators and females as victims. The present study investigated firstly how males perceive the crime of stalking and secondly the prevalence of stalking and other intrusive activities in a male population. A sample of 210 British men was asked to indicate which of a continuum of 42 behaviours they believed to represent stalking. Clear subtypes of perceived stalking were identified, and these did not significantly differ from those produced by a female sample in earlier work (Sheridan, Davies and Boon, 2001). Thus, male and females hold similar views on which activities do and do not constitute ‘stalking’, Respondents were then asked to indicate whether they had personal experience of the same 42 behaviours and if they had, to provide free narrative on their ‘worst experience’. As expected, males reported substantially less experience of intrusive behaviour than females, and just 5.2% were judged to have suffered ‘stalking’. Whilst this figure is significantly below estimates made for females, it still indicates a notable risk for males and suggests that complaints of stalking made by males should be taken as seriously as those made by females.     

Washington's Growth and Opportunity Act or Beijing's ‘Overarching Brilliance’: will African governments choose neither?

Growing criticism of Chinese engagement in Africa centres on the risk to African development posed by China's aggressive export policies and the threat to the Washington Consensus and African governance posed by China's ‘non-interference’ approach to engagement. This article challenges both these assumptions. The growth of Chinese trade has a wide range of impacts, depending on the sector in question, and the current terms of trade Washington extends to Africa under the auspices of the agoa do not result in uniformly beneficial effects. With regard to African governance, it is argued that the ‘Washington Consensus’ has been based on competing and often muddled perceptions of US national interest. This fact tempers the regret felt at Washington's loss of influence over the good governance agenda. Evidence is provided to show that China can work within properly regulated countries and industries, if the African governments in question can provide fair, efficient and transparent environments in which to operate.