The redistribution of selected psychiatric drugs in post-mortem cases

The post-mortem redistribution of a number of psychiatric drugs was investigated. A portion of liver, the gastric contents and blood collected from heart and femoral sites was obtained from 13 cases and analyzed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Drugs detected included five selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; venlafaxine, a serotonin/noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor; and risperidone, an atypical antipsychotic. Heart blood concentrations were significantly higher (3.4-fold on average) than those measured in femoral blood when results from all drugs were included together. The range for parent drug concentrations in these two blood specimens was 0.5-6.2. There was no significant correlation of the post-mortem interval, the liver concentration and content of drugs in the gastric contents to the heart:femoral blood concentration ratio. These data serve to demonstrate that variable increases in blood concentration occur post-mortem and limit the interpretative value of such toxicological data.     

The incidence of drugs in drivers killed in Australian road traffic crashes

The incidence of alcohol and drugs in fatally injured drivers were determined in three Australian states; Victoria (VIC), New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA) for the period of 1990-1999. A total of 3398 driver fatalities were investigated which included 2609 car drivers, 650 motorcyclists and 139 truck drivers. Alcohol at or over 0.05 g/100ml (%) was present in 29.1% of all drivers. The highest prevalence was in car drivers (30.3%) and the lowest in truckers (8.6%). WA had the highest rate of alcohol presence of the three states (35.8%). Almost 10% of the cases involved both alcohol and drugs. Drugs (other than alcohol) were present in 26.7% of cases and psychotropic drugs in 23.5%. These drugs comprised cannabis (13.5%), opioids (4.9%), stimulants (4.1%), benzodiazepines (4.1%) and other psychotropic drugs (2.7%). 8.5% of all drivers tested positive for Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and the balance of cannabis positive drivers were positive to only the 11-nor-Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol-9-carboxylic acid (carboxy-THC) metabolite. The range of THC blood concentrations in drivers was 0.1-228 ng/ml, with a median of 9 ng/ml. Opioids consisted mainly of morphine (n=84), codeine (n=89) and methadone (n=33), while stimulants consisted mainly of methamphetamine (n=51), MDMA (n=6), cocaine (n=5), and the ephedrines (n=61). The prevalence of drugs increased over the decade, particularly cannabis and opioids, while alcohol decreased. Cannabis had a larger prevalence in motorcyclists (22.2%), whereas stimulants had a much larger presence in truckers (23%).     

Enhancing Smallholder Access to Agricultural Machinery Services: Lessons from Bangladesh

Resource poor smallholders in developing countries often lack access to capital goods such as farm machinery. Enabling adequate access through machinery services can thereby significantly contribute to food security and farm incomes. At the core of the service provision model is the lead farmer, who makes the initial investment in agricultural machinery, and provides services to others on a fee-for-service basis. Profiling the lead farmers can thereby provide important lessons and scaling implications. The present paper provides a case study of Bangladesh, using primary data to characterise the lead farmers. General education, credit availability and risk taking attitude play significant roles in whether or not a farm household will be a lead farmer in Bangladesh.     

Die Haftung des Veräußerers für öffentliche Äußerungen Dritter – insbesondere durch Werbung – nach § 922 Abs 2 ABGB

Mit der Umsetzung der Verbrauchsgüterkauf-Richtlinie durch das Gew?hrleistungsrechts-?nderungsgesetz wurde im ?sterr Recht das Einstehenmüssen des übergebers nicht nur für eigene ?ffentliche ?u?erungen, sondern auch für jene Dritter ausdrücklich festgeschrieben. Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht die einschl?gige Regelung des § 922 ABGB sowohl unter dem Gesichtspunkt gemeinschaftsrechtlicher Vorgaben als auch im Lichte des (nationalen) Privatrechtssystems und stellt dabei in Frage, dass ein Einstehenmüssen für ?ffentliche ?u?erungen jedenfalls deren Einbeziehung in die Parteienvereinbarung voraussetzt.     

Mietvertragsklauseln auf dem Prüfstand des Verbraucherrechts

In einer jüngst in einem Verbandsklageverfahren ergangenen Entscheidung erkl?rte der OGH zahlreiche Klauseln eines Mustermietvertrages, der von einer gro?en ?sterreichischen Hausverwaltung verwendet wurde, für unzul?ssig. Der vorliegende Beitrag er?rtert die Entscheidung des 7. Senats, was angesichts ihres Umfanges nur hinsichtlich einiger ausgew?hlter Aspekte erfolgen kann. Den Schwerpunkt der Analyse bildet dabei die in den meisten Mietvertr?gen wohl ganz zentrale Regelung der Erhaltungspflicht. Ausgehend von den Ausführungen des OGH wird auch versucht, alternative Regelungsm?glichkeiten für Mietvertragsformulare aufzuzeigen.     

The Role of Just World Beliefs in Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Social Justice Research - This study investigated whether people’s personal belief in a just world (BJW) is linked to their willingness to physically distance themselves from others during...     

Culture,Contiguity and Conflict: On the Measurement of Ethnolinguistic Effects in Spatial Spillovers

Research on ethnolinguistic heterogeneity has so far mostly focused on domestic measures, while little attention has been paid to ethnolinguistic relations between nations. In this paper, I propose a way of measuring ethnolinguistic affinity between nations. This index measures the degree of similarity two randomly drawn individuals from two different populations are expected to display. I show that this measure has several attractive theoretical characteristics, which make it particularly useful. Subsequently, I construct the measure for all countries in Africa and use it to show that civil conflict in Africa is likely to spill over between contiguous ethnolinguistically similar countries.     

Der Haftrücklass im Bauträgervertrag

Das BMJ hat vor Kurzem den Begutachtungsentwurf für eine Novelle zum Bautr?gervertragsgesetz vorgelegt. Ein zentrales Regelungsanliegen des Entwurfs ist die Einführung eines zwingenden Haftrücklasses zur Sicherung allf?lliger Gew?hrleistungs- und Schadenersatzansprüche des Erwerbers auf Grund mangelhafter Leistung des Bautr?gers. Der vorliegende Beitrag setzt sich mit diesem Vorschlag kritisch auseinander.