Rapid determination of carbohydrates in heroin drug seizures using capillary electrophoresis with short-end injection

A simple and rapid method for the analysis of carbohydrates in heroin samples by capillary electrophoresis utilizing a borate complexation method is described. Separations were performed using an uncoated fused silica capillary, 50 cm x 50 micro I.D. x 360 microm O.D. with an effective separation length of 9 cm. The system was run at 60 degrees C with an applied voltage of -8 kilovolts. Injection of each sample was for 1 sec at -50 mbar. UV detection was employed with the wavelength set at 195 nm. The background electrolyte consisted of 65 mM borate, pH 12.0. Samples and standards were prepared in the run buffer containing 2 mg/mL of mannose as an internal standard. Under these conditions a test mixture containing glucose, sucrose, lactose, mannitol and mannose as an internal standard was resolved within 5 min. The method was used to determine the concentration of carbohydrates in heroin seizure samples and synthetic heroin samples. The results were in good agreement with the reported values.     

Optimal Pricing of Court Services

Litigants are generally charged for using court services. The charges involved are usually set to achieve a combination of efficiency, equity and funding goals. This paper presents a simple model, based on regulated monopoly pricing, to address the question of how these charges should be set. We find that fixed fees generally form part of the optimal charging package, despite concerns about their regressive nature. Per-unit fees will also be used though they may be set below cost; in this case, a trade-off emerges and the fixed fee is used to achieve funding goals. Our model is a useful one for developing extensions from the nonlinear pricing literature.JEL K40, L50     

The New Forest Suicide Prevention Initiative (NFSPI)

A retrospective suicide study revealed that the Forestry Commission car parks in the New Forest in southern England were a previously unrecognized magnet for nonlocal suicides, attracting as high a proportion of "visitors" (35/43 in 1993-97) as among suicides who jumped from the cliffs at the infamous Beachy Head (39/48 in 1993-97). Over 95% of the car park suicides died from car exhaust gas poisoning. A multiagency initiative aimed to reduce the number of suicides in the 140 New Forest car parks where restricting access was impossible, and environmental issues paramount. Signs displaying the Samaritans' national telephone number were erected in the 26 car parks in which 50% of the car park suicides had occurred. Numbers, location, and residence of all car park deaths were monitored for 3 years. Corresponding changes in other forest registration districts were also monitored. During the 3-year intervention period the number of car park suicides fell significantly from 10/year, 1988-1997, to 3.3/year. The average annual total number of suicides in the New Forest registration district also decreased. No significant changes were found in comparable forest districts. The number of suicides in the New Forest car parks remained low during the 2 years following the evaluation.     

Comparison of presumptive blood test kits including hexagon OBTI

Four presumptive blood tests, Hexagon OBTI, Hemastix(R), Leucomalachite green (LMG), and Kastle-Meyer (KM) were compared for their sensitivity in the identification of dried bloodstains. Stains of varying blood dilutions were subjected to each presumptive test and the results compared. The Hexagon OBTI buffer volume was also reduced to ascertain whether this increased the sensitivity of the kit. The study found that Hemastix(R) was the most sensitive test for trace blood detection. Only with the reduced buffer volume was the Hexagon OBTI kit as sensitive as the LMG and KM tests. However, the Hexagon OBTI kit has the advantage of being a primate specific blood detection kit. This study also investigated whether the OBTI buffer within the kit could be utilized for DNA profiling after presumptive testing. The results show that DNA profiles can be obtained from the Hexagon OBTI kit buffer directly.     

A new approach to amino acid racemization in enamel: testing of a less destructive sampling methodology

Aspartic acid racemization has been found to be an accurate measure of age at death for recent forensic material. This paper examines the practicality of using acid etching of the tooth surface to extract amino acids from the enamel for racemization analysis. By serial etching of the tooth and contamination of the teeth with bovine serum albumin prior to etching, the ability of etching to remove contamination was assessed. The destructiveness of the method was visualized and quantified using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT). By bleaching the teeth and by deeper etching it was possible to obtain more consistent values. While etching had little effect on the enamel at the macroscale, it did have an impact at the microscale. The quantities of enamel removed varied depending upon the tooth morphology, but were not large. Acid etching of enamel thus appears to be a promising new method for extracting proteins for amino acid racemization age estimation noninvasively.     

Excretion of Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol in sweat

The aims of this study were: first, to determine the accuracy of the Cameriere method for assessing chronological age in children based on the relationship between age and measurement of open apices in teeth and, second, to compare the accuracy of this method with the widely used Demirjian et al. method and with the method proposed by Willems et al. Orthopantomographs taken from white Italian, Spain and Croatian children (401 girls, 355 boys) aged between 5 and 15 years were analysed following the Cameriere, Demirjian and Willems methods. The difference between chronological and dental age was calculated for each individual and each method (residual). The accuracy of each method was assessed using the mean of the absolute values of the residuals (mean prediction error). Results showed that the Cameriere method slightly underestimated the real age of children. The median of the residuals was 0.081 years (interquartile range, IQR=0.668 years) for girls and 0.036 years for boys (interquartile range, IQR=0.732 years). The Willems method showed an overestimation of the real age of boys, with a median residual error of -0.247 years and an underestimation of the real age of girls (median residual error=0.073 years). Lastly, the Demirjian method overestimated the real age of both boys and girls, with a median residual error of -0.750 years for girls and -0.611 years for boys. The Cameriere method yielded a mean prediction error of 0.407 years for girls and 0.380 years for boys. Although the accuracy of this method was better for boys than for girls, the difference between the two mean prediction errors was not statistically significant (p=0.19). The Demirjian method was found to overestimate age for both boys and girls but the mean prediction error for girls was significantly greater than that for boys (p=0.024), and was significantly less accurate than the Cameriere method (p<0.001). The Willems method was better than that of Demirjian (p=0.0032), but was significantly less accurate than that of Cameriere (p<0.001).     

Cumulative experiences of violence among high-risk urban youth

This study examines type-specific and cumulative experiences of violence among a vulnerable population of youth. Sixty high-risk, shelter-dwelling, urban youth were interviewed regarding their history of childhood maltreatment, exposure to community violence (ECV), and experience with intimate partner violence (IPV). Results show a high prevalence and high degree of overlap among multiple types of violence exposure. Childhood physical, sexual (CSA), and emotional (CEA) abuse were interrelated and were associated with ECV. Cumulative experiences of childhood abuse (CCA) had a graded association with IPV victimization. In multivariate analyses, CCA and ECV were independently associated with IPV victimization. Gender moderated the effect of one association: CEA raised the risk of IPV victimization for girls but not for boys. Only CSA predicted IPV perpetration. Findings suggest that cumulative exposures to violence create cumulative risk for experiencing more violence. Shelter-dwelling, urban youth may be particularly vulnerable to this additive effect.     

False Consciousness or Class Awareness? Local Income Inequality,Personal Economic Position,and Belief in American Meritocracy

Existing research analyzes the effects of cross‐national and temporal variation in income inequality on public opinion; however, research has failed to explore the impact of variation in inequality across citizens’ local residential context. This article analyzes the impact of local inequality on citizens’ belief in a core facet of the American ethos—meritocracy. We advance conditional effects hypotheses that collectively argue that the effect of residing in a high‐inequality context will be moderated by individual income. Utilizing national survey data, we demonstrate that residing in more unequal counties heightens rejection of meritocracy among low‐income residents and bolsters adherence among high‐income residents. In relatively equal counties, we find no significant differences between high‐ and low‐income citizens. We conclude by discussing the implications of class‐based polarization found in response to local inequality with respect to current debates over the consequences of income inequality for American democracy.